​Dearest community,
As vaccines begin to roll out and we mark the longest nights of the year, many of us are celebrating our first hints of future light and hope at the end of what has been a long and lonely ten months. Your re-opening committee has been meeting ​regularly to discuss not how to open our church – our church community has always been open – but when we might be able to see one another in person and how we can best do that safely. 

Friday, Dec. 18th at 7:00pm. This is a ‘one-time-event’, so mark your calendars NOW!  All lyrics will be scrolled during the Zoom Singalong, or you can download the lyrics in advance here, or you can use a separate device to download and view the lyrics. A maximum of 100 devices will be able to sign-on to the Singalong. There will be some time to say ‘Hello’ to others before and after the Singalong.   Hope to 'see' you for an hour of singing some of your favorite holiday songs with your UU community!

In September 2020, members of the Living the Homestretch committee shared a presentation on many different ways that people can learn, explore, and entertain themselves while remaining safe at home or socially distancing.  The ideas shared ranged from scenic local walks, to programs offered by universities, to virtually visiting museums, and even to taking a peek into outer space! While some programs are specific to elders, many options are open to people of all ages. At the end of the meeting, participants shared their own ideas for fun and enriching pandemic activities, adding more options for anyone looking for a meaningful way to spend some winter weeks indoors. Check out the list here:  safe_pandemic_activities.pdf.

By Maureen McNair 
Less than two miles from our South Bay Food Pantry in Chula Vista, UC San Diego Medical School is conducting a Covid-19 prevention study to evaluate a vaccine. Pantry volunteer Jude Outwater, a senior at Lesley University in Boston and son of Board Vice President Julie Forrest, organized a visit by a representative from the Medical School to recruit study volunteers. Medical School Community Outreach Specialist Aaron Gutierrez spoke to Pantry clients and volunteers to find adults, aged 18 and older, who are more likely to be exposed to Covid-19 and who might be interested in participating in the study, which does provide compensation. 

​Sunday, Dec 6, 10:30 am, https://bit.ly/FirstUUBoardChat. Chat with Board members to find out what the Board is working on or voice your accolades and/or concerns for our congregation.

We won't be putting up an actual tree this year, but we will be creating a two-dimensional paper tree for Bard Hall's window!  If you'd like to help decorate that tree, print out the PDF, decorate the ornament and/or paper chain strips, cut them out and return to church. You can drop them off at the Holiday Drive Through or drop them in the Main Office mail slot no later than noon on Dec 19, 2020.

​On this week where we focus on gratitude we recommend watching two short videos:

1. Never forget dismantling white supremacy culture is spiritual work grounded in our values & principles. From First Unitarian Church of Chicago "Who Is Freedom For? A Reading for Thanksgiving" (4:14)
2. And, a radical vision a future without oppressive systems: "A Message From the Future II: The Years of Repair" (8:57).

​Following the leadership of BIPOC folks & admitting we can (& do) harm others are important learnings. Gain some insights by listening to:

• Brittany Packnett's TED Talk "It's About Time to Value Young Women of Color in Leadership" (9:34).
• Our former Intern Minister, Rev. Emily Hartlief's sermon "The Courage to Be Wrong" (20:42 but especially 0-5:56 & 11:52-13:44).

From our partners at the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium (SDIRC):
"Thank you to everyone for your hard work in making the 2020 TRUTH Act Forum a success! Collectively we:

• Got the Board of Supervisors (BOS) to hold an evening meeting.
• Got the BOS to translate the announcement into 4 different languages and to have Spanish interpretation. The Sheriff also translated their presentation and statistics into 5 languages.
• Held a car caravan of 20 cars and had incredible media coverage
• Had multiple SDIRC members and partners interviewed by the media
• Submitted over 82 eComments
• Had 113 people register to give public comment live during the meeting

Amazing work, everyone! This sets a really solid foundation for our 2021 campaign - to #StopICETransfers!"

By Maureen McNair 
For the first time since the food pantry opened, Lead Minister Rev. Kathleen Owens had her Saturday morning schedule freed up enough that she visited a food distribution. Kathleen did more than visit, though, she worked helping unload a delivery of food donated by Starbucks.  There is nothing quite like repeatedly carrying 30 pound boxes of food across the parking lot to put into the cars of our pantry guests to drive home how labor intensive and physically exhausting pantry work can be. Kathleen is definitely up to the task!  Rev. Kathleen also got to talk with regular volunteer, retired Rev. Arvid Straube, and some pantry volunteers that she knows because they are congregants. She also got to meet some, not all, of our volunteers from the wider community.  

By Maureen McNair.
Inclement weather was bound to happen! Last Saturday, volunteers gave out food during three squalls which brought rain and wind during our distribution. It was a crazy day all around! As of Friday evening, we thought we would be receiving a delivery of 192 boxes of food on Saturday morning. But, at 6:30 am Saturday, the delivery company sent an email cancelling the order because the food was bad. It all worked out, I think. We had plenty of food on hand to substitute and who needed soggy cardboard boxes anyway? You Can Still Make Financial Donations Directly to the Food Pantry! Both one-time and monthly sustaining donations help us stay open! No amount is too small, or too large. Donate online. If you need food, there are lots of options, get all the details on our Food Pantry page. 

Journey Toward Wholeness: What Can I Do? Learn about the role of race in Biden's victory & Trump's relative success by listening to NPR's podcast "How Whiteness Affected the Election" (35:39).  Listen to Krista Tippett's interview [51:00] with a trauma specialist "Resmaa Menakem in Conversation with Robin DiAngelo." It has made an impression with Beloved Conversations Virtual participants and may challenge you.

By Maureen McNair
Deer Park Monastery, located on 400 acres in the chaparral mountains near Escondido, is a monastery established in 2000 under the guidance of Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist, and author Thich Nhat Hanh. It is a mindfulness practice center and monastic training center with two hamlets, one for monks and laymen and another for nuns and laywomen.

Read our UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick Gray's UU World column "A Message to White Unitarian Universalsists" about how her attitudes on policing has changed over the past years & the resource list at the end of the article. Then watch the brief (2:13) interview with Sonya Renee Taylor on combating racism with action.

​By Pat Gordon, First UU of San Diego Board Member
Our UU camp, Camp de Benneville Pines, located in the San Gorgonio wilderness, has been repeatedly hit hard this year and is in trouble. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all on-site events are canceled through April 1, 2021.The aftermath of the El Dorado Fire damage and the seriousness of the pandemic could require even further delays before we can consider re-opening. If we're to have a camp to bequeath to our children's children, then preserving what we have now is imperative. We almost lost our camp in the El Dorado Fire, this fire, and had it not been for the work of our staff and volunteers performing fire clearance duties throughout the summer, we would have. And yet, we'll still need more help during the spring and fall to rake pine needles and trim ladder fuels in camp- live or dead vegetation that allows a fire to climb up from the forest floor into the tree canopy. Please continue to send healing thoughts and good words of appreciation to our devoted staff, as they navigate through all the added responsibilities that come with the fire aftermath. We must now address the newest threat to camp's existence - flooding.