Author: StarrKingOffice

Recipe for Nurturing Our Church: Pledge Online

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Recipe for Nurturing Our Church

Ingredients

The ingredients in the bread may be simple or exotic. To the starters of yeast, sugar and water,  a variety of flours, seeds, spices, and herbs may be added. In much the same way, our Church begins with our basic UUA principles, then we add the sweetness of love, gratitude, and gifts of service and money.

Instructions

With great care, respect, and responsible action the bread is mixed, kneaded, … Read the rest

Breaking Bread Together, Sustaining Each Other

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Stewardship Season 2022

Breaking Bread Together, Sustaining Each Other is the theme of our Stewardship season this year. “Let Us Break Bread Together” is ancient hymn dating to the 1300s. Perhaps it lives on because bread, in all of its forms, is a life-giving and ubiquitous source of nourishment, and symbolizes friendship and sustaining hope. Almost every society in the world eats bread in some form. Breads are made out of flour or corn, water, … Read the rest

From the Minister: Coastal Salish Family Day

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Beloveds,
This month I had the blessing of being part of a wonderful event: The Coastal Salish Family Day. We gathered via Zoom with Melanie Schambach, who came up with the mural idea, and other artists and community members who participated in the creation of a mural that accompanied the Red Road Totem Pole on its way to Washington, D.C.

The mural is an amazing collective creation! Claudia and I painted together the red and … Read the rest

From the Minister: The Miracle of Transformation

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Beloveds, as you may have seen on our Facebook page, I have been deeply engaged in the nurturing of monarch butterfly caterpillars. I had read about the scarcity of milkweed plants causing a decline in the monarch butterfly population. But it wasn’t until one day when Darryl Ray and I were sitting outside that I got the idea to actually help the monarchs.

Darryl had brought his medicine bag to share with me his spiritual … Read the rest

From the Minister: Gather the Spirit

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Beloveds, here we have re-gathered, both in person and virtually, both just as powerful! It is so good to be together. To gather in peace, to gather in thanks, to gather in hope, to gather in strength. To gather to celebrate once again! It is so good to see you all, to see all your beautiful faces, and to see people, lovely people here with me in the sanctuary. To know that there are children … Read the rest

Five Year Anniversary

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I read somewhere that traditionally the five year anniversary gift is wood…and I think back to our installation ceremony four years ago…and the drums made of wood, that were such an important cultural element. I can hear the drums as the Aztec dancers blessed me with sacred copal incense. I asked Xiomara, who is an Aztec danzante, if her calpulli would offer the blessing and she immediately said yes! She understood that Drumming and dancing are … Read the rest

May: A Month for Celebration

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Minister’s Blog, by Rev. Dr. Maria Cristina Vlassidis Burgoa  

It might seem too early to celebrate when we are still in the midst of a pandemic, still witnessing acts of violence and injustice all around us, and feeling uncertain about the future. And yet there are so many reasons to celebrate in order to nourish our sense of hope. I keep going back to Chardi Kala, a Sikh practice which encourages us to maintain a … Read the rest

Moving Forward Together

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As I admire the beauty of new Spring blossoms, I am reminded that last year in March we closed our building and began to navigate the COVID pandemic as best we could. Despite all the fear and uncertainty, we regrouped and with great leadership and a core group of volunteers, we moved forward together. Since then, we have not skipped a beat and actually have been able to strengthen our connections. I feel so blessed … Read the rest