Sunday May 11, 2025
Happy Mother's Day!
Nurturing and Bridging Service
Rev. Sarah and Worship Associate Amanda Schneider
explore what it means to nurture an organization and to be "long haul people"--people who stick together through thick and thin and commit to a shared future. We'll honor our HS graduates who are bridging into adulthood; Lynn DeMuth and Laurie Fagen will songlead with a special song from our graduates, Klarissa and Alex.
Bridging is a ceremony we’ve created for HS seniors who are joining the world of adulting. They cross the bridge from childhood to adulthood, welcomed by the young adults. If you know a VUU high school senior who has not been involved lately in FF but wants to be part of the Bridging ceremony, we need to know ASAP! I have three seniors on my list so far. Contact Rev. Sarah or IDLFF Sara Sautter. If you are a young adult (18-25 ish) and can be with us this Sunday to welcome our bridgers to adulthood, we’d love to have you join us for the short ceremony.
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| |  | IN THE EDUCATION BUILDINGS | |
FAITH FORMATION
This is our second week exploring The Practice of Imagination. This week we are exploring how we can use our imaginations to help others and find hope. This Sunday falls on Mother’s Day. We will weave honoring our mothers into the lesson and use it to think about how we have all kinds of nurturers in our lives. We will also get into how we can be nurturers ourselves, offering healing and hope to others.
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DALAI LAMA AND FRIENDS
8:30 am Meditation
9:00 am Discussion
In person, in the board room, and
Via Zoom here
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Find Jesus Game
Continue the search for Jesus... when you find him, take a picture, send it to Sarah, and then rehide him on campus. The game is afoot!
No burials. Jesus has risen;-). No dangerous locations. Plain sight is fine. Let those who have eyes… Note where you’ve left him in case he's too hard to find.
| | Love is our doctrine · Service is our prayer · Justice is our calling | | | | | |
Calendar
Thursday, May 8
Friday, May 9
Saturday, May 10
Sunday, May 11
Monday, May 12
Tuesday, May 13
Wednesday, May 14
Thursday, May 15
Friday, May 16
Saturday, May 17
Sunday, May 18
Click here for the most current calendar, to view locations, contact information details for above events
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Abbreviated information about upcoming events
more than two weeks out or without an article below
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EastVUU Online - May 22
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Janey Marquez Celebration of Life - May 23
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Pacific West Region Meeting - May 29
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New Participant Class - Jun 7 RSVP Here
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Congregational Annual Meeting - Jun 8
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UUA General Assembly - Jun 18-22 Register Here
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CERT training: Rev. Sarah is attending a Community Emergency Response training over the next two weekends offered by Chandler Fire. I will be integrating this learning with developing plans for training individuals and groups at VUU for emergency and preventative responses we can engage to maintain safety on our campus. There were limited slots, and we are lucky to have this offering in our community.
Chandler Interfaith presentation: Rev. Sarah has been part of the organizing team for the new Chandler Interfaith Initiative. This week at our quarterly gathering we will bring VIP representatives to share with our group about our work on affordable housing.
May Day March: Last Thursday several VUUers joined the May Day march, led by local unions, to demand worker rights and to highlight the impact of the current administration on worker rights. I was glad to be part of the clergy that marched together that day (photo below).
—Rev. Sarah Oglesby-Dunegan
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Announcing our Interim Music Coordinator, Meg Palermo
Over the last month VUU conducted a search for an interim music coordinator. The search team included: Rev. Sarah, Beth Wyman, Lynn Demuth (also on Personnel team), Lisa Bonine (serves on Board of Trustees), Laurie Fagen, and Felix Werwer. We made an amazing match!
After interviewing Meg Palermo, we knew she was “the one!” Meg has had a rich career in music, and she has continued to grow and learn along the way. She began with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education with a piano performance minor and worked in several public high schools as a choral music teacher. During this time she also completed a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting at Westminster Choir College, graduating with distinction. She has conducted for and performed with many choral groups and has the honor of being chosen to travel to Italy this summer to conduct in the Sarteano Choral Workshop in Sarteano, Italy. She is currently finishing a Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting with a minor in Jazz Studies at University of Arizona. (She is finishing her dissertation.) She has experience working with faith communities, too. She is enthusiastic about all kinds of singing and music–from contemporary and pop music to jazz and classical and everything in between. She is excited about the diversity of music at VUU and the engagement of our volunteer musicians and music leaders as well as the opportunity to do interim work with us while she completes her PhD. We look forward to beginning our work with her. She’ll begin meeting with the choir, ensemble, band and other interested musicians and singers over this month.
As with our Interim Faith Formation Director, this position is not permanent, and offers us an opportunity to learn about ourselves–to ask questions, to experiment and try new things, and hopefully to build a mission and vision we can live into together. As we've experienced, this means we will be learning new ways to do things and also continuing to learn about and from each other. This is an imperfect process, and we will all experience it differently. I like to remind folks that practicing pluralism is about space and grace–making space for other people’s needs and desires which may different from yours and giving each other some grace to make mistakes and make amends–to show up together and learn means sometimes we won’t get it “right” and it also means that “getting it right” is not always an objective experience. When we center love, it is easier to make room for this diversity and to remember that congregational life is about relationships.
-Submitted by Rev. Sarah
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VUU 2025-26 Budget Details
Thanks to everyone who participated in our congregational conversation on May 4, and to everyone who attended small group house meetings to provide input.
One of the items we will be voting on at our annual meeting on June 8 is our 2025-26 congregational budget. This budget takes into account the drop in revenue, and consequently makes staff cuts, most notably in reducing Director of Faith Formation (DFF) to 1/2 time and the Director of Music Ministries (DMM) to 1/4 time.
There are many other changes; to see them all please follow this link. Note there are two workbooks (tabs) - a summary and a detailed spreadsheet with comments.
—Submitted by David Sheh
And Speaking of the Small Group Conversations....
This is the YouTube link for the slides from the Sunday May 4, 2025 Conversation. Forty people have viewed some part of the video so far. The slides and narrative for the ideas from the small group conversations are between 1:20:10 and 1:45:27. To get there, please use the slider at the bottom of the video screen. When you want to study a slide, stop the video and restart it when you are ready.
—Submitted by Nancy Egly
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FUUNd VUUniversity Kicks Off!
This Saturday, May 10, is our first VUUniversity talk! There are still some spots left in We Are the Stories We Tell - The Art of Storytelling, 1:00 - 3:00 PM in the VUU Board Room. Purchase your $20 ticket at www.Auctria.Events/VUUFUUND2025.
The most important reason to both tell and listen to stories is so that we can learn to relate to each other with more understanding and compassion. Storytelling is a path to peace. In this workshop, we will explore the various methods of identifying potential topics for personal stories. Participants will shape and develop a personal story, paying attention to structure, point of view, dialogue, sense description, context and symbolic representation.
Your Instructor, Prof. Pamela Spence, has an Academic Certificate in Storytelling from South Mountain Community College that she earned after completing 3 years of storytelling courses. She has been sharing her stories for several years at schools, organizations, and storytelling events. Her story repertoire includes personal experiences as an anthropologist in Ecuador, regional animal stories, myths, legends, story circles and bilingual stories from Latin American countries. She believes that storytelling is a great tool for community building.
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VUUniversity is a series of 18 talks and workshops being offered by subject matter "experts" on a wide range of FUUNd subjects. Beginning May 10, talks are held at 1PM on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays in the VUU Board Room unless otherwise noted. Meet your presenters, see details, and purchase your tickets today via FUUNd 's Last Chance Auction at www.Auctria.Events/VUUFUUND2025.
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- The Art of Storytelling (5/10/2025)
- From Grave to Coffee Table -- Archaeological Resource Crime (5/24/2025) - Sold-out!
- Retire Well! (06/14/2025)
- Practicing Joy (6/28/2025) - Sold-out!
- Dance Performance Screening and Discussion - Alvin Ailey's "Revelations" (7/12/2025)
- Sharpen Up Your Scrabble Game (7/26/2025; 6:00-7:30 PM)
- Homeopathic Remedies for You & Your Family (08/09/2025)
- Abbott and Costello Re-visited (8/23/2025)
- How to Sing in a Choir Even if You Don't Read Music (9/13/2025)
- SoulCollage® Workshop with Rev. Sarah (9/27/2025)
- "We are called to preach!" Early Unitarian and Universalist Women Ministers Challenge Their Faiths 10/11/2025)
- How Green is Your Garden? The Art of Home Composting (10/25/2025)
- Do YOU Have a Last Will and Testament? (11/8/2025)
- Put That Cookie Down! Living a Healthier Life by Lowering Your Blood Sugar (11/22/2025)
- Exercises to Improve Balance and Help Prevent Falls(1/10/2026)
- Re-Visiting Folk Music of the '60s and'70s (1/24/2026)
- Creating a Connected World with Empathy Circles (2/14/2026)
- Everything (Almost) You Need to Become a First Time Home Buyer (2/28/2026)
—Submitted by Tricia Merrill
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EastVUU Dinner
Thursday, May 8, 6p
Join your UU friends at Vito’s Mesa for a delicious and affordable Italian meal!
1947 N. Lindsay, Mesa
Save the date for EastVUU Online, Thursday May 22 6p.
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Janey Marquez Celebration of Life
Longtime member Janey Marquez passed away last month and we will celebrate her life with her family and friends on May 23 at 3p. Janey had Alzheimer's and had been away from VUU for a few years, but her heart was always with VUU.
If you are able to help me with setting up or wish to share something about her time at VUU, please let me know. The family is planning a reception at their home afterwards, so our hospitality will be simple.
--Rev Sarah
| | Fellowship and Social Activities | |
VUU Singles Lunch
Friday, May 9, 1:30 pm
Floridino’s Pizza and Pasta, 590 N Alma School Rd, Chandler
Pizza and traditional Italian food with specialties like Pepperoni Pizza Muffins, Butternut Squash Raviolis and Wing Calzones. RSVP to Claudette by phone or text 973-768-6047. (Texts preferred.)
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Page Turners Book Club
The Page Turners Book Club is open to all members, visitors, and friends of VUU who enjoy reading and discussing a variety of books. The next meeting is May 15 at 7:00 PM, we will meet at the home of Johnnie Godfrey in Tempe (near Baseline Rd. and the 101). The book is The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi.
Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman’s struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, the novel opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel.
For the meeting address or questions, please contact Johnnie at 480-231-8381 or email: membership@vuu.org.
--Submitted by Amy Monahan
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Paz de Cristo
Volunteers needed this month!
Continuing the Tradition… Keeping the Commitment… Living our Principles
Friday, May 9, 4-7 pm
424 W Broadway Rd, Mesa, AZ
Click here for the sign up link
Families welcome!
Please join us as we keep VUU’s 34-year tradition of serving the evening meal to Paz de Cristo guests on the second Friday of the month, May 9. Volunteers gather at the Paz kitchen/dining room from 4 to 7 pm to prepare several meal items and then serve the evening meal. Additional tasks include cleanup of dishes, sweeping and mopping of floors and taking out the trash. If you are joining us for the first time, don’t worry, Paz staff and experienced VUU volunteers make the work easy and fun and the evening goes fast. Seventeen volunteers are needed for the evening and can range in age from 12 on up. Volunteers must be able to stand and participate in tasks during the entire evening. Have questions? Contact Joanne at
602-620-3100. Please sign up for this rewarding experience here.
—Submitted by Joanne McGrath
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Valley Interfaith Project’s Delegates Assembly / Medicaid Civic Academy was a great success!
- More than 120 people attended the Assembly at PVUMC—the room was packed!
- Twenty-three people from VUU were there!
- Two of the seven Medicaid storytellers were from VUU or related to VUU members—their stories were originally shared at one of the three house meetings the Core Team hosted on the VUU patio over the last month.
At the end of every VIP meeting or assembly, we agree to Next Steps. Whether or not you attended the Assembly, here’s what you can do now:
- Call your U.S. Congressional Representatives and ask them to oppose any cuts to Medicaid. We especially ask anyone who lives in Congressional District 1 to call Rep David Schweikert. 202-225-2190
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Attend Arizona Interfaith Network’s meeting in Tucson (Rep Ciscomani’s district) on Thursday, May 15, 6:30-8:00 PM at St Cyril of Alexandria Catholic Church, 4725 E Pima St, Tucson 85712. VUU members are organizing a carpool. Contact Eileen Garces for more information.
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Learn more about how cuts to Medicaid and AZ AHCCCS will affect Arizona’s healthcare system, citizens, and economy by attending the VUU VIP Core Team’s Civic Academy on Medicaid in the VUU Sanctuary after the service on May 18.
Questions? Contact VUU’s VIP Core Team at vip@vuu.org
For more information or to get involved, contact the VIP Core Team,
vip@vuu.org.
--Submitted by Barb Quijada
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Paz de Cristo
April Donation of the Month:
Canned Beans and tuna (pull-tab lids preferred)
Paz Donation List
Please leave donations in the "Paz de Cristo" box in the sanctuary foyer.
Contact: Paul Reed
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Border Support
Donations needed for asylum seekers at the border:
- Small handheld fruit cups
- Small handheld juice
- Veggie cups or squeezies
- Used clothing (all sizes, all seasons)
Please put donations in the "Refugee Aid" box in the sanctuary foyer.
Contact: Sharon Kopina
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Partners in Education
Adams Elementary appreciates your TAX CREDIT donations. Get dollar-for-dollar credit to offset AZ tax liability this tax season!
Contact: Adrienne O'Donnell
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Unitarian Universalist Congregation | vuu.org | | | | |
