Celebrate Easter at VUU

Plan to support the Coming of Age Heritage Trip to Boston by participating in our Easter Brunch this year after the worship service on Sunday, April 20. COA youth and their families will be loading the buffet with egg dishes, quiches, bagels, fruit, yogurt, and much more deliciousness. $15 minimum donation.

Easter Sunday will be an All-Community worship day with adults and children taking part in our Spontaneous Easter Pageant. Ever wanted to be a Roman soldier? Here’s your chance! Say “yes” to your inner disciple or John the Baptizer. The Soul Works tables will be up with activities for all ages.

Directly after the Pageant, children from toddlers through elementary school may participate in the Egg Hunt with our whole community cheering them on! Tweens may partner with a younger child in informal parent supervised dyads. 

10:30 am: Easter Service featuring Spontaneous Easter pageant

11:35 am: Easter Egg Hunt on the North side of the sanctuary

11:45 am: Easter Brunch

Let’s enjoy food, fun and each other’s company!

—Submitted by Sara Sautter

To help with Sunday morning hospitality, click here.

Abbreviated information about upcoming events

more than two weeks out or without an article below

• Congregational Conversation - May 4
• EastVUU Dinner - May 8 (Vito's in Mesa at 6:00 pm)
• Pacific West Region Meeting - May 29
• New Participant Class - Jun 7 RSVP Here
• Congregational Annual Meeting - Jun 8
• UUA General Assembly - Jun 18-22 Register Here

We had a very busy week and weekend! Mid-week I attended a small prayer circle with leaders from our partner, Corazon AZ, reuniting with a shared vision of support for migrant communities in the Phoenix metro. Over the weekend I attended an event that my son Sol organized to create community and share resources with folks who are living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrom (EDS), Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and Epilepsy. It was a poetry and story-sharing session as well as a fundraiser for three organizations that help people with these. Sol shared his own journey with POTS and hopes to organize similar events in the future. He also attended, with 12 other youth, a Coming of Age overnight designed to help the COA youth create their own credo–representation of their current belief system.  

I drove up to Prescott to spend the evening with our members and friends attending the Congregational Retreat. I enjoyed making a craft, eating dinner, leading an improvisational worship, and participating in an Un-talent show. We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows with many conversations. I slept in the cooler air and came home to lead service Sunday morning. We are hoping to get a much larger group of us up to Prescott next time! It’s a really great way to connect with each other, to de-stress, and to tend to our own spiritual needs. People of all ages came, people with kids and people whose kids are grown or who never had them or who haven’t crossed those bridges yet. People came with partners, good friends, and on their own. Even with just 15 hours up there, I felt a sense of equanimity that I definitely needed.  

This week I am asking for folks to sign up for a small group conversation about our future and the resources we need to sustain our community. I know it’s a busy time of year–but we need to make some decisions together, and attending a conversation will help prepare you/us for the range of issues we need to consider.  

A member asked me if I have ever shared my scripts from service so folks could go back and read. I said I could try doing that. I will talk to Worship Associates about whether it’s OK to share theirs, too. You can also go back and watch as you like, as well. Here are my words from the centering and my sermon from this Sunday (which is more or less what I actually said, lol). Caveat: I don’t create a script presuming it will be read as an academic document–I don’t have time. You can tell where the references are and what they are from. I write words that I know will be spoken and I sometimes say more than what is written or say it differently.  

Something I was thinking about today as I walked my dog. I use the word “we” a lot in here but I think it’s important to say “I” for some of these. There were times I made mistakes and had to learn how to be a better ally, companion, accomplice, friend, partner, leader, follower. Sometimes these caused harm that was hard to undo, hard to remedy–and sometimes my own growth took time to catch up to do this work. Friends, this is still possible today and everyday. This is true for all humans! We can and do make mistakes/cause harm. While we need systems that hold us accountable, we also need to receive grace from one another and opportunities to make amends and to recognize growth and change. I am grateful that at least some of the time this was available to me, too.  

Finally–new members! Your books came in and they are in the box outside my door. One per household! Everyone else–order yours: "Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies," edited by Sofia Betancourt.

—Rev. Sarah Oglesby-Dunegan

PSW Service Area Annual Assembly

The Annual Assembly will take place Friday-Sunday, April 25-27 at the First UU Church, San Diego. More information and registration is available here.

The Future of VUU Small Group Conversations–please sign up!

On Sunday, May 4 we will host a congregational conversation about our budget, among other things. This is one of the ways we prepare for our congregational meeting on June 8, where we will vote on a budget and elected leadership positions. (Perhaps more! But definitely these items.) This month we invite you to engage in small group conversations where you can share and listen to others share visions for VUU's future and consider how we will support VUU with the resources we have as costs grow and our income resources change. Please register for a small group conversation using this link. 

The purpose of these conversations is to give us time to approach these challenges thoughtfully and creatively, while understanding what is most important to each of you. We hope that this approach will help us decrease anxiety and increase our commitment to solutions that we can agree on when the time comes.  

What we really want to center are our hopes for VUU. We know that talking about money can be difficult—we come from different backgrounds and experiences and therefore see abundance and scarcity differently and respond to challenges around resources differently. We hope this will be the beginning of a fruitful conversation that holds each of you with love and respect and invites us to be excited about the possibilities in our future instead of fearful. We're in this together!

Thanks in advance for attending a session and for considering our shared future! Check your email for more information including slides with budget information. 

—Rev. Sarah Oglesby-Dunegan

2025 FUUNd Last Chance Sale Opportunities

The Last Chance Sale for the 2025 FUUNd is open. All items are being offered a “buy-it-now” price. Payment must be made at the time of purchase. You can view the items, make your purchase(s), and pay via credit card at www.Auctria.Events/VUUFUUND2025

So far this month we’ve had a Spring Garden Luncheon (pictured), A Heard Museum Curator’s Tour, Line Dancing Lessons, Tie-Dyed Easter Eggs (pictured), and an EFT workshop. There is still time to join in a couple events this month:

Texas Hold’Em Poker Tournament with Dinner (Saturday, April 26 at 5:00 pm) Bid for your seat at a Texas Hold’Em Poker Tournament with a $750 prize pool (1st Place: $400, 2nd Place: $200, 3rd Place: $150, 4th Place: A commemorative mug). ALL PRIZE MONEY GENEROUSLY DONATED BY YOUR HOST, JOEL S. Your bid serves as your buy-in; dinner (bar snacks) and beverages included. New to poker? A beginner-friendly tutorial will be held 1 hour before the tournament begins.

Workshop on Creating a Connected World with Empathy Circles (Sunday, April 27 from 1:00-2:30 pm) Join us for a supportive practice to strengthen your social engagement nervous system and deepen connection—with yourself and others, guided by Teri McGovern-Nintzel.

Email fuundtogether@vuu.org for questions or other assistance. Come join the FUUNd! Get your bids in today!

—Submitted by Tricia Merrill

Don't Forget! New Start Time for Secondary Faith Formation Classes

Remember! Middle School and high school classes now start after the Time for All Ages. All classes will walk to the education building together with their teachers.

The Future of Faith Formation at VUU

Part Two: Parents and Grandparents

We will continue our discussion of The Future of Faith Formation at VUU with a special focus session on Sunday, May 4 for parents and grandparents whose children are enrolled in VUU. With this focus group we will do a quick review of our learning at the first workshop and then move on to how to make our dreams for the future come true.

Plan to start out in the sanctuary. The workshop will take place in Rooms 1&2 during the worship service. 

Melissa James of the UUA will be with us once again, this time on Zoom!

—Submitted by Sara Sautter

Prescott Retreat: Silly Moments, Serene Spaces, Social Connections

What a weekend! The Prescott Retreat over April 11-13 was full of laughter, friendship, and plenty of good vibes. The weather was great, the company even better, and we had such a good mix of relaxing downtime and fun activities.

Whether we were hiking, performing at the Un-talent show, jumping into a workshop, or just enjoying the peace and quiet, there was plenty to enjoy. The Retreat reminded us how special our VUU community is.

Huge thanks to everyone who helped make it happen. We're already looking forward to the next one, and we hope more of you can join us!

—Submitted by Megan Kimball

Visit from JoAnne Smith's son

I am pleased to announce my son, Preston Smith who grew up in this congregation, will be attending the service on Sunday, April 27 with his wife Emily and their 3-year-old daughter Josephine. I am hoping that those who remember Preston will be at the service and say hello and meet his family.

—Submitted by JoAnne Smith

VUU Singles Dinner

When: Friday, April 25 at 6:30 pm

Where: The Guadalupe on Main

1526 E. Main St., Mesa (480-272-7220)

Jalisco-style Mexican food. Very interesting and tasty choices. Adrienne will be your host this evening.

RSVP here or contact Claudette by phone or text 973-768-6047. (Texts strongly preferred.)

—Submitted by Claudette Wassil

"Hands Off" Protest in Tempe

Join us for another powerful protest on the Tempe Pedestrian Bridge on Saturday, April 19!

📍 Meet at: Cole Park, 2000 E Carson Dr, Tempe, AZ 85282

🕙 Time: 10:00 am–12:00 pm 

If you want to meet up at Cole Park, please look for me (Karen Stucke) with a large 2-sided blue poster board. "Hands Off our Public Lands" on one side (back is TBD)

Use this link to register.

Bring back those HANDS OFF signs. Bring your friends, fellow activists, and your energy. Let’s stand up, speak out, and keep the momentum going. 

—Submitted by Karen Stucke, Co-leader of UU the Vote at VUU