This Week on the Peak



This Week on the Peak
Mission Peak UU – Fremont, CA
The Home of Liberal Religion in the Tri-Cities and Beyond!
November 22, 2017

 

This Sunday’s Service:
The Listening Post
Rev. Barbara Meyers will talk about the latest activity in her community ministry: Listening to people in the Tenderloin in San Francisco.

 

Leading the service will be Rev. Barbara F. Meyers and Worship Associate Ilze Duarte.  Music will be provided by Eric Niessner.
Our Transition Team (left to right): Beckett Gladney, Mark Rahman, Eric Dittmar, Terri King, Shaun Klopfenstein
Transition Team
Hello Mission Peak!
We would like to introduce everyone to our Transition Team for this first half of our Interim period, and explain what we will be doing for MPUUC.
The Transition Team will support Rev. Benson in her work with our congregation. We will be listening and learning as a congregation, sharing about our past and present to help clarify who we want to be and where we want to go into MPUUC’s future. All of our work is geared to better prepare us as a congregation for a successful search.
As a congregation we will share and examine our congregation’s history and our individual experience in the congregation. There will be workshops and meetings the Transition Team will coordinate with Rev Benson. We will support her, in order to make the best use of her skills and talents, and will access other resources including the services of consultants from the Pacific Central Region of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) to move us forward. We will look at ways to develop new leadership at MPUUC while valuing and utilizing our acquired knowledge and existing leadership, making room for healthy and sustainable decisions that our congregation will need to make as a whole. When the time comes we will pass the baton to the search committee that will take us through the second year of our search process. If you have any comments or questions please feel free to approach any of us.
A Message from Your DRE
Hi Everyone!

 

One of the things I love most about the Harry Potter and UU curriculum is the real-world application of learning. Last month we collected over 100 books that were distributed among Little Libraries in Fremont to promote literacy. Over the next 2 months we will hold a food drive. Click here for more info!
https://goo.gl/U2uvUh
 Right Now:
Call your representatives in House and Senate. Let them know how you feel about tax reform proposal (benefits largely to corporations and wealthiest Americans)  net neutrality (repealing this will allow providers to limit what you will see) and healthcare ( are you for ACA repeal or Medicare for All or something else?)
Eric Swalwell
510-247-1388 or go to
house.gov

 

Save the date:
 
 

 

 

 

  • UUA Pacific Western Region Conference! Follow this link for details!
MPUUC Habitat for Humanity
Joyfully awaiting an opportunity to serve, MPUUC Habitat build participants. Rev Benson offered a blessing for all the build participants by request and Shyno, Jay, Barbara and Ana did real construction work side by side with other volunteers including future residents of the buildings going up.

 

Get Involved!
*Are you a congregation member with social media skills? If so we may have a great way for you to get involved in the work of the community. Posting, in collaboration with the Marketing Team and Rev Benson, to Facebook, Instagram, MeetUp, etc. Newer members, please don’t be shy! Contact Rev. Benson,
minister@mpuuc.org.
*Are you a congregation member  trained as a mediator, counselor, or noted for being a terrific listener with good boundaries?  Please contact Rev Benson if you would like to be in conversation about **a possible new project: creating a Right Relations Team.  This team would be available to support congregant-to-congregant conflict resolution.

 

Old issues left unattended or newer issues left on simmer can bubble up in ways that cause pain and destruction. It’s best to address issues directly with the person with whom you have issues. “When you did/said/didn’t do/didn’t say ______, I felt __________ and in future I’d appreciate it if you would _____________ instead.”  Looks simple but it can be very hard to take that next step.  That’s where the Right Relations Team could be of help.  Contact
minister@mpuuc.org if you have the skills and the interest to discuss this idea.

 

*Looking for other ways to get involved? Contact someone from the membership or leadership committee, or Rev Benson to talk about ways you can step up and step in!
Home Warming and Hand Warming
Many of us have experienced REAL winter somewhere else at some time during our lives. I know I did! I grew up in Saskatchewan (try to beat that for cold!). But can you imagine going without shelter during one of our east bay winters when the frost covers car windows and your furnace kicks in? Some local families have nowhere to go when it’s cold outside.

Every year Mission Peak UU generously partners with Abode Services to re-home an individual or family who has fallen on hard times through The Homewarming Sponsorship Program. In early fall we made a commitment to help with the deposit on an apartment and to donate furnishings and other household goods for someone in need. We will collect funds towards that deposit (for someone as yet unknown to us) during our Second Sunday Share the Plate Collection on December 10. All donations that Sunday will go towards this unless specially marked as pledge fulfillment. Make checks out to Abode Services, and mark Mission Peak UU in the memo line. We will call on you as soon as we are assigned a family to re-home to request your donations of homewarming goods.

Are you gift buying?

 

In addition to our monetary donations on December 10 we ask that you bring along a pair of NEW gloves or socks for the children in Abode’s many programs. Let’s keep those little toes and fingers cozy as we head into our coldest time of year.
Your generosity is heartwarming!

 

Holiday Traditions Potluck
Join us on
Saturday, December 2 at 6:30 pm for a Holiday Traditions potluck.  Many different religions/cultures celebrate significant holidays at this time of the year.  We’d like 6-8 members to sign up to share their holiday traditions with the rest of us.  This would entail decorating a table for the potluck and sharing information/stories/music/food from your specific holiday traditions with the rest of us.  Whether you choose to share a holiday tradition or not, we hope that you will join us and bring your favorite holiday dish (or whatever you pick up last minute at the grocery store – we won’t judge).   We hope you’ll all join us as we share food and music and traditions together.

[If you’d like to sign up to share your holiday traditions with the group, please contact Jen King or sign up after Sunday services.]
Stock Donations to Mission Peak UU
Do you have appreciated stock or mutual funds? Instead of selling it and paying taxes on the gains you may want to consider donating it directly to Mission Peak. As long as you’ve owned the stock/funds for more than a year you will be able to deduct the fair market value at the time of the transfer as a charitable contribution and avoid paying federal and state taxes on the gains. It is our policy to sell any donated stocks/funds as soon as they are received. We record your contribution at the high/low average on the date received. For information on making a transfer to our Scottrade Account please contact
treasurer@mpuuc.org.  To ensure closing in 2017, transfers should be requested by the beginning of December.
Holly Ito, co-treasurer
Fundraiser at Applebees
Join fellow MPUUC friends at Applebees on
Wednesday December 6th from 5pm – 8pm.
Applebees will donate 15% of your check to Mission Peak UU.  Please print and bring the flyer below.
Amazon Smile
  • Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation whenever you shop on
    AmazonSmile.
    You can select a different charitable organization after signing in.
  • AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service.
  • Support your charitable organization by starting your shopping at smile.amazon.com.

 

Common Read Book Discussion
Every year the UUA names a Common Read and provides a guide so congregations can have group discussions of the book. This year we had two. The discussion of the second book takes place in room 3/4 Ockerman on Sunday, January 28, 2018, at 11:45am. The book, Centering: Navigating Race, Authenticity, and Power in Ministry, edited by Mitra Rahnema (Skinner House, 2017), centers the stories, analysis, and insights of a number of Unitarian Universalist religious leaders of color as they explore how racial identity is made both visible and invisible in Unitarian Universalist communities.  Please sign up soon to order a copy and let us know if you will need childcare.
Who are Your Heroes?
Mission Peak UU Congregation presents an award each February to a member or group in our area who has been courageously showing up to challenge oppression and violence. Our nomination period is open now!  Contact Rev. Benson by Dec. 10 with your suggestions and a few words about your nominee and why you are nominating them.
Does someone or a group in the Tri-Cities area (Fremont, Union City, Newark) or Milpitas come to mind? Is there someone who has inspired a local movement for love? Is there an organization or individual who has faced oppression, discrimination, and prejudice with grace and inspired determination? The goal is to recognize love’s power to challenge exclusion, oppression and violence based on sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, race, religion, or any other identity.
Here are some ideas for people or organizations you might consider nominating:
* Local legislator who has sponsored legislation such as anti-bullying bills, domestic partner benefits, voting rights for convicted felons, driver’s licenses or in-state tuition for undocumented individuals, etc. Anything that lifts up communities who have faced discrimination and marginalization.
* Community leader or group who has vocally supported religious freedom and racial justice.
* Local public librarian, teacher, or parent who has fought censorship in schools.
* Head of a local interfaith coalition, immigrant rights, or LGBTQ advocacy organization that promotes respect, inclusion, and compassion daily.
* Members of the Gay-Straight Alliance at a local high school.
* Educator, administrator, or guidance counselor who has worked to alleviate bullying.
* Clergy member or lay leader who has exemplified faith in action.
* Religious communities and congregations that have been targeted with hate crimes.
* Individuals who have committed acts of civil disobedience so they could elevate the importance of a social justice issue.
* Local community center, museum, or gallery that faced criticism for showcasing a thought- provoking exhibit.
* Students who have risked deportation to advocate for the DREAM Act or DACA, and those who have stood in strong solidarity with them.
* Communities of color on campus or locally that have dealt with vandalism or hate speech.
* University or college president, professor, or administrator who has spoken up for the DREAM Act.
* Military chaplains or members of the military that have spoken out for greater inclusivity.
* Individuals who actively and passionately engage in registering people to vote, poll watching, and ensuring the protection of voting rights for People of Color.
* Ordinary person who has used their extraordinary power to shine the light on injustice or faced great personal risk to fight for a cause they believe in.
Mission Peak UU | 2950 Washington Blvd Fremont CA | 510.252.1477 | missionpeakuu.org
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