by Maureen McNair
​Thanks so to hundreds of individual donors, our South Bay Food Pantry will continue operating in a new space once in-person services resume at our Chula Vista campus. 
We are not moving far, either. We are staying in the same strip mall as the worship space and social hall. In fact, we will be moving into the suite adjacent to the social hall. So, our South Bay church is expanding its footprint. 

     This is a time of hope and looking forward. Our team's "reopening" label isn't quite the right word. We as a community are more like turning a corner, embracing the challenges of a new future for First Church.
     First, we recognize new concerns about Covid variants being more powerful and easier to pass on, about vaccines being our great savior but not quite 100% effective. With an eye on science and faith in human resilience we're willing right now to say OK to certain future plans, knowing anything and everything can change. If so, we'll just have to deal with it.
      "Soft reopening" is a phrase being used for where to start. It means in-person worship service, but not Religious Education, youth group, or social hour just yet. Our beloved Rev. Kathleen's final service will be on August 22. We've okayed the worship planning people to prepare for in-person worship on that day, in the Meeting House, with all of us wearing masks. (Services are open to the public and we can't assure everyone will be vaccinated.) On August 29 we've okayed a similar plan for in-person worship but no other "normal" aspects of gathering together. Rev. Arvid Straube has graciously agreed to lead this service. Masking will be required for everyone.
        We do encourage families to come, we'll have some activities available for youngsters who want to play while the adults worship. (Or the other way around!) Families, please come.
     We'll have more to say about any additional protocols. For now, consider the dates, and consider whether you might want to come: a survey will be forthcoming later this week.
      On September 5 we've given the green light to a "grand" reopening service, led by our Social Justice Ministry Team. This will include an in-person meet-and-greet with our transitional minister, Rev. Michael Brown. This will be a coffee and socializing Sunday, pretty much the whole deal (with some protocols).
      While we'd love to give the go-ahead to South Bay for a similar start-up, this can't happen until October when the Food Pantry is relocated and space is freed up for services. In September, the plan is to meet for services at a park in South Bay; details will be announced in August.
      A survey about interest in attending in-person services will be reaching you. More details about times, on-line alternatives, how we'll continue to stay safe, plans for Rev. Kathleen's going-away, all of that will be coming. For now, please enjoy the moment, and enjoy the steps forward we'll all be taking.
 

by Maureen McNair
​One of the things weighing on my mind as I planned the food distribution for last week was whether or not the food pantry would end up with more perishable food than we could distribute. We had over 1,800 pounds of fresh potatoes, apples, and tomatoes, a few hundred pounds of food from Starbucks, and about 400 pounds of bread. On any given Saturday, we can easily distribute that much perishable food along with many hundreds of pounds of frozen meat and dry goods. 

Our experiences with small group meetings are going well. No major issues have arisen, and we feel more confident about how other meetings may go. Any other small groups that wish to begin to meet on campus should apply for permission through Robie Evans. Church groups are free to meet off campus. Vaccinations are recommended. Mask wearing should continue. Of course anyone with symptoms should not participate. Each group leader should keep track of those who attend. Larger groups, up to about 30 people, will now be permitted to meet on campus. Please apply through Robie Evans to get the okay. The on-campus mask "mandate" continues, along with the other recommendations set out for small groups. The church has acquired a portable sound system which could help facilitate large group meetings.

By Maureen McNair
​Feeding San Diego recently gifted our food pantry with over 2,800 pounds of watermelons. Our pantry clients were thrilled to receive such a classic summer fruit. 
Our volunteers worked too hard for words! I am calling out Steve Gelb here, with gratitude. Steve rode his bike from Mission Valley to Chula Vista, lifted many melons, then rode his bike back home!

By Maureen McNair
​The City of Chula Vista honored the pantry with a public service award during this first full year of operations. Here is what some of our amazing volunteers accomplished during the Covid-19 pandemic. 
The South Bay Food Pantry continues to squat in the three suites that comprise the Chula Vista campus which has been closed to other uses during the pandemic. A team of over 50 volunteers have distributed over 300,000 pounds of free food and over 33,550 free diapers.

We’re happy to share the very good news that Rev. Michael Brown is coming to serve as Transitional Lead Minister from September – December. He will focus on preaching, pastoral care and Board support. He looks forward to meeting members and friends of the congregation beginning on Sunday, September 5. After December, other transition ministers will come between January – June and your Board will keep you posted on this as we continue to work with the UUA’s Transition Office. We look forward to working with Rev. Brown and are excited about his arrival. Rev. Brown writes that he recently completed a 27-year ministry at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Peoria, a pre-civil war church with Universalist roots. During Rev. Brown’s tenure the church grew by nearly 250 adult members, built a new church home, played a leadership role in the community, and received the UUA’s Breakthrough Congregation award. Rev. Brown was a co-founder of the local Interfaith Alliance and received the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Service Leadership Award. After retiring as Minister Emeritus, he and his spouse, lifelong UU Diane F. Brown, moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to start a new path, but that path unexpectedly led him to First UUSD for a new chapter of ministry. He joins us with a sense of excitement, appreciation of our congregation, and readiness to serve in a time of transition and new possibilities for caring, community and transforming action.

128 voted. There were 36 absentee votes and 92 regular votes (all weighted equally).
Board Officers (elected with at least 84.38% of the votes): Vice President/Pres. Elect FY21-22 / Pres. FY22-23: Cora Pendergast. Treasurer: David Rogers (one-year term), Rosalba Ciampi (three-year term) and Rhiannon Roselle (three-year term).
Nominating Committee (elected with at least 93.75% of the votes): Sarah Ormond (one-year term) and Mindy Hochgesang (two-year term).
Budget: Passed with 93.75% of the votes.
8th Principle: Passed with 86.72% of the votes.
Statements of Conscience: All passed. #1 (93.75% of the votes), #2 (91.41%), #3 (95.31%), #4 (91.41%), #5 (94.53%), #6 (95.31%), #7 (96.09%), and #8 (92.19%).
If you missed the meeting, please watch the Annual Meeting video (membership login required).

By Rev. Kathleen Owens, LeadMinister
Unitarian Universalism is a covenantal faith. This means we don't follow a fixed creed handed down from a religious authority; we create a covenant for how we want to be in relationship with each other in this faith community. In 2008, this congregation created a church-wide covenant. As I mentioned in my May 23, 2021 "Real Community: Messy, Imperfect and Needed," this covenant hangs in every room at both our Hillcrest and South Bay campuses. It's also on our website - under the About menu tab, click on Governance; under Guidelines, you?ll find our Covenant of Good Relations.

Our virtual annual meeting will be held via Zoom on Sunday, June 20 at 11 am. Please plan on attending to hear about and vote on important issues and learn about how things are going in our church. More detailed information about meeting URL and virtual voting process will be coming soon. See you there!

by Tony Bianca, Program Director
As we begin to host small groups on campus and think about gradually opening back up to in-person gatherings, we're aware that, currently, children under 12 are unable to be vaccinated and which creates a natural inequity around who is able to safely participate in live gatherings on our campuses. Simultaneously, we're thinking about how this reopening offers us a unique opportunity to reimagine our programming in ways that better serve us, and more fully live into what it means to be a Family Ministry Program. 

by Maureen McNair
​While our church, communities, and State have been closed down for most of the last 14 months, the volunteers at our South Bay Food Pantry have lived our values, created beloved community, and established an institution. Our food pantry is the future of our congregational life. The fact that our food pantry is our future became quite clear to me during the two weeks I was taking a stay-cation. I cannot wait for those of you who have never visited us to see what we have created. It will knock your socks off!

When a BBIPoC person shares that they've been harmed by racism, please learn to listen and respond with compassion. It may seem that we hear about racism in our church more often than in our other spaces. This is not because racism is not happening elsewhere, it is because we have members who trust us with their truth because our principles say that we will hear them. How to Respond with Compassion when Someone is Hurt by Racism.

As we continue to consider our reopening situation, here are some factors:

• Small groups of no more than 12 people from the church are now welcome to contact Robie Evans for approval to proceed with outdoor meetings on campus as scheduling permits.

by Nina Douglass
Jeff and I are excited to join other South Bay Food Pantry volunteers in covering Maureen McNair’s much-deserved staycation from the pantry. 
Have you visited the pantry on a Saturday morning during distribution? it’s impossible to distinguish shoppers from volunteers. In fact, some shoppers choose  to volunteer, and some offer small donations to express their appreciation. Some volunteers and workers in the strip mall are also shoppers, along with others.

By Maureen McNair
​Several months ago, Rev. Kathleen Owens asked me what the process was I used to run the food pantry. I told her it has been like laying down the tracks while the train is coming. So, after 17 straight months of creating and operating the food pantry, I am taking a vacation the last two weeks in May. I have planned a stay-cation. 
The food pantry, diaper distribution, congregant food delivery, and feeding people experiencing homelessness will continue thanks to spouses Nina Douglass and Jeff Kline, who have agreed to substitute for me. Many of you may not have met them because they joined our church during the pandemic.

by Maureen McNair
​Saturday pantry volunteers are likely to observe that I live in fear of excess produce. It is perishable and, while the pantry has some refrigeration space, we do not have sufficient refrigeration space to store very much fresh produce for a week. We want food to go into the community right away, not into landfills. 

The pandemic situation and official recommendations are changing rapidly. We as a team are continuing to keep abreast as we prepare guidelines specific to our church situation.
We have stated it will soon be okay to resume the lowest-risk types of in-person gatherings. These are small groups in outdoor settings, provided they observe the several precautions and procedures we outlined in our last update. Opening date for these meetings will be announced soon.

Your team studying how to safely resume in-person activities at church realizes full well how anxious everyone is to return. The team continues to look at government regulations, agency guidelines and scientific details. Much care lies behind any recommendations.

By Maureen McNair
McNair
Our homeless outreach program began by complete accident. To make a long story short, for the last few weekends, we have been providing food to between 80 - 120 people experiencing homelessness. Here is how this part of our pantry story started.
Regular blog readers might recall that an anonymous opera singer donated over 2,000 pounds of food to us which he collected through a food drive. It turns out that a noticeable amount of that food was suitable to distribute to people who are experiencing homelessness.