SepulvedaUU is honored and delighted to have children join us during our Sunday services. Though we currently do not have RE (Religious Education) classes for children, we offer a child’s UU Play and Learning Tray, located in the sanctuary, which children are invited to use while sitting with you in the sanctuary. Items included in the UU Play and Learning Tray provide thoughtful and educational amusement that we hope your children will find engaging.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Teri I for more information.

We hope to see you and your whole family this Sunday!

Register Today!

We are having a house party at a private residence in Sunland, CA. It will be outdoors. Come and join the fun for laughter, games, and conversation!

Contact Teri I for details, or she will be calling you. Lunch and drinks are included. 

Did you know you can you make a chalice out of a pot? This Sunday service, we’ll provide the materials for your children to decorate a chalice and have it to light at home. Here is a link so you can watch a Youtube video of the book, “A Cup of Light,” to learn more about the chalice and how to incorporate the lighting of the chalice at home with your family: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQWi59qHEg8.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Teri I for more information. We hope to see you and your whole family!

May 2024

Theme: Love as Equity

Can we talk; or at least engage in a dialogue about something that is on my heart.

I’ve been thinking about Investing your time with people and the fact that it comes at a cost. When you go to visit your relatives, go to dinner with a friend, or stay after work to talk with someone you are investing your time with them. You are giving of yourself and I wonder how often it is a selfless act? I am a counselor, a teacher a minister a chaplain. So much of my life is shared with others yet it is my paid profession. Im called to do these things The fact is most of us spend time with others at work but once free from work you do it instead of doing something else, something for yourself.

Sometimes, it doesn’t always seem worthwhile. If I’m honest, sometimes I would have preferred to have just spent my free time by myself. The gregarious me actually loves his alone time. Imagine that?

Recently, I was in a conversation with a few professional UUs and we were talking about the importance of relationships in our lives. We specifically thought about the need for having mentors, advisor, confidants. People who are happy to invest in us. It matters professionally if they have more experience, maybe age, maybe an academic specialty. I think we came to the conclusion that we really wanted someone with a life experience that might resemble our own (race, class, creed, orientation, gender) or similar stage of life (age, years in the profession) to share openly with, and someone for us to invest in as well. These giving and sharing relationships are an important part of the UU experience. They speak to relationship based on things like equity, equality, common values, etc.

I remembered a passage from seminary that touched my heart about this in some way
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up…”,
Or the song You Lift Me Up.

When you choose to attend a congregation and participate in worship service, book group, a social gathering, or religious education you are also investing your time and I think expecting to receive something in return? The time spent with congregants, friends, family, and coworkers is about investing into the types of relationships that can lead to a higher level of your competencies and even your knowledge base, authenticity of different experiences that lead to greater understanding and love of one another. Expanding outward in ever growing circles of relations, friendships and maybe even deep sense of belongings.

When we know ourselves as a reflection of others and start to really see each other as caring, compassionate being maybe love could be ours.?

The level of investment needed in relationships is huge if we are going to live out the clause about inherent worth and dignity. If we can truly love one another as we love ourselves. If equity and shared ministry are part of what we aspire for then deepening relationships is key to our shared success.

Our conversation, the one with my colleagues, forced us/me to think, is the investment worth it? Oh my goodness how profound it is to say Im so happy to be in those relationships!

Now, building Relational Equity is not easy. Most of our relationships aren’t based on an equal playing field. Even our understandings of the very human differences of experience, gender, orientations, race, etc isn’t all that clear to the average person. You have to be open. You have to be willing. You have to want to understand where another soul is coming from to get to Relational Equity.

I should be clear, the purpose of having good relationships and having relational equity with people isn’t only to help ourselves it is the way forward towards a world that works better than the one we’ve known today. Maybe the hate, the prejudice, the contempt some humans feel toward the otherized peoples of out nation and world could be irradicated if we could see, listen, understand better?

There is much joy to be found in friendships. So much joy in shared experiences. As your relational equity grows with someone, so does the happiness and the ease of being with them is seamless. It will not matter if someone is queer or straight. It will not matter if your educated in schools and Im educated on the streets. It will not matter if Im multiracial/multicultural and your of a single ethnic strain of humanity.

The investment in time leads to more fulfillment as our hearts stretch and grow.
Building relational equity is important. Creating space for people from all walks of life is necessary if we are ever to truly build The Beloved Community.

Learning how to love ourselves will free us all to love each other and then we can build together a better system, a better world.

May it be so,

Rev Gordon

We welcome you to our Death Cafe. It is a respectful space where you can feel comfortable sharing your questions, curiosity, fears, beliefs, and stories about any / all aspects of death, grief, mourning, bereavement. We have learned that there is often lots of laughter, as well as a few tears. We will start in May and meet bimonthly for 1.5 hours. During the sessions we will try writing, maybe delivering eulogies, writing living wills, consider burial options, cremation, video remembrances, create a song list for your memorial service, and so much more. This isn’t morbid or sad, it is a mature way to look at the dual reality of our living and having to die.

Our options for each session are only limited by our collective imaginations. We can use this gathering as a way of considering all of our lives past the midpoint extending towards our ultimate reality.

Please rsvp to Rev Gordon to attend.

April 2024

Our Theme for this month is Love as Generosity:

What does it mean to be generous?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary  translates generous as “characterized by a noble or kindly spirit; liberal in giving; marked by abundance or ample proportions.”

A person who is seemingly generous is willing to give of themselves and provide resources for the community, generally through significant acts of kindness, volunteering, sharing their emotional, spiritual, or mental gifts. This also means donations and in our case pledges. 

Most faith traditions advocate for their followers to give money or some other kind of tangible gift annually in order to support their community and the broader world. Our religious tradition, Unitarian Universalism, not only asks this of us in fact I believe our community via its mission statement actually requires it!

When we give of ourselves it is amazing how those gifts fan out into the community and wider world.  It’s like the Magic Penny song my children used to sing at Sophia Fahs RE Camp.

Love is something if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away,
You end up having more.
It’s just like a magic penny,
Hold it tight and you won’t have any. 
Lend it, spend it, and you’ll have so many
They’ll roll all over the floor.
For love is something if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away,
You end up having more.

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Malvina Reynolds

The English word “charity” can be traced back to the 4th Century when St. Jerome translated the Bible from Greek into Latin. The Greek word “agape” was used in the Bible as a noun, verb and adjective. Agape appeared over 312 times in the New Testament.

What is the ancient word for charity?

The word ‘Charity’ has become a euphemism. A gallic word that entered the English language from the Latin “caritas”, the Latin translation for the Greek word ἀγάπη, (Agape) meaning an unconditional love for others. For the ancient Greeks, Charity was an act itself.

Sadaqa is charity given voluntarily in order to please God. Sadaqa also describes a voluntary charitable act towards others, whether through generosity, love, compassion or faith.

The Hebrew word Tzedakah is often translated as charity, yet it has a profoundly deeper meaning. Tzedakah comes from the Hebrew word Tzedek meaning “justice.” My Jewish friends are required to give money to support causes or organizations that work towards building a more just and peaceful world. We might not always want to give significant donations, but we are required to fulfill this most important commandment.

This requirement to give charitably led to a very interesting debate amongst the ancient rabbis. In fact The rabbis later decided that deeds of loving kindness (gemilut chasadim) were far superior to charitable giving (tzedakah), for:

• Charity can be accomplished only with money; deeds of loving kindness can be accomplished through personal involvement as well as with money.
• Charity can be given only to the poor; deeds of loving kindness can be done for both poor and rich.
• Charity applies only to the living; deeds of loving kindness apply to both the living and the dead.[1] 

I find this reasoning to be quite astute. The rabbis knew that every member of the community is required to give charitable donations; no one is unable to shirk from this commandment. Yet, acts of loving kindness are different. These small actions are always completely voluntary and yet from my UU perspective these acts work hand in hand with one another.

You can give your required donation, but still be an inhospitable individual.  A person who performs an act of loving kindness does so because of a generosity of spirit. It is always a gift of the heart.  I think as we move from a more heady Unitarian Universalism towards a more heart centered faith community we must shift our focus.

The rabbis remind us that in every action, no matter how big or how small, we must be generous of the heart. We must remember that charitable giving is not just pulling out the checkbook or swiping the credit card.  It’s about the love we share.

A truly generous person reflects upon how his/her generosity can change lives. A truly generous person is committed to building connections with others through charity, but also through relationships. Generosity is not about how much you give, but in how your act of giving can build a better world.

In hope, love and faith,

Rev Gordon

The Hospitality Committee of SepulvedaUU invites you to stay after services this Sunday, March 31, 2024 for a Dessert Table and Conversation, from 6:00 pm – 6:45 pm. This is in addition to our snacks and drinks before services, from 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm. In addition to our usual coffee and tea, we will also be offering hot chocolate and sparkling apple cider, along with scrumptious, delicious desserts!

Come and help celebrate the Springtime with other members and friends.

If you are interested in helping out as a member of the committee, please contact either Gary D, Mary K, or Phyllis R; you are most welcome. If you would like to bring snacks to share, we appreciate the additions to the table.

At long last our Easter Egg hunt is back! We will have eggs packed with goodies hidden all around the church. We have put a special surprise in a few eggs, so your child can start a savings account, maybe.

The Egg hunt will begin after the service. During the service the children will have UU Play and Learning Trays they can take to their seats. 

This is a great opportunity to laugh, have fun, and share your favorite potluck dish! We will also be playing party games organized by Marilyn.

Please RSVP by Thursday, April 18 with your name and what you will be bringing. If you can’t bring food, you could bring cups, large plates, or forks and napkins. See you there!

Come Join Us For The NAMI Walk!

Gary Davis has been going on this Walk for over 10 years. He walks to support the National Alliance for Mental Illness and to honor his late father, who was Bi-Polar and died homeless. NAMI provides support for people and their families dealing with the challenges of managing a mental health disorder.

For more information, visit Gary’s FaceBook fundraising page or contact Gary.