Latest News & Events

Transylvania, Anyone?

Did you know that we have a Partner UU Church in Arkos, Romania? Carol Hilton and Ann Kay are planning a summer 2011 visit to Arkos, with possible options for Prague, Budapest or . . . ? We will be using a UUA-approved Partner Church Travel Agency.
We invite you to a Translyvania Potluck here at the Fellowship Saturday night, August 21 at 6:00 pm to enjoy the great food of that part of the world, as a late summer celebration and to begin to get an idea of how many of us might be interested in going to Arkos.

Arkos was previously part of Hungary, and our Partner Church is still aligned with that culture. We suggest getting online and searching for "easy Hungarian recipes", like Goulash or Chicken Paprika, to bring to the potluck. We have found Hungarian Stuffed Beef Roll, Cold Cucumber Soup, Hungarian Potato and Egg Casserole and Hungarian Egg Twist Bread. Ann has copies of those recipes if anyone wants one. We even found a "Mad Hungarian" drink recipe – root beer and coconut rum. Yum! Please come whether you're thinking of going on the trip or not.
Janos Szekely, the minister at Arkos, is ready to receive us anytime during summer 2011. We're talking about a maximum of two weeks travel in Transylvania. The highlight of the trip will be a visit to Arkos for several days, but we will also tour other areas of Translyvania, a really lovely part of the world with many historical sites to further enrich our understanding our religious roots.

The cost will be slightly over $100 a day, depending on how often we stay in hotels or take advantage of home hospitality. Airfare will be extra, but we'll be working with a special outfit that can give us church rates. Probably, the ability to carry your own bags combined with relatively good general health ought to be a consideration as you're deciding whether to set out on this grand adventure with us. We do encourage you to explore the details at http://www.uupcc.org/tripplan.html.

Please mark your calendars for the Translyvania Potluck. Looking forward to a new adventure in the old world with you.

Library Update

With the infusion of money from the recent Treasure Trove Sale, there is an opportunity to purchase new books for our Library. Rev. Carol Hilton will work with volunteers to consider the books reviewed in UU World magazine and make suggestions for acquisitions. UU World features titles from Beacon Press and Skinner House, both UUA-affiliated publishing companies that offer stimulating books for readers. Other resources may also be considered.

We have a wonderful resource in our library, with books on a wide range of topics that may interest you. It's a veritable reader's haven! Have you checked out any books lately? If you have donations, please leave them in the donations box for consideration - only non-fiction books at this time, please, and NO magazines. Especially wanted: children's books on UU themes and values.

Thanks again to Rebecca Carper for maintaining the Library!

Social Justice News

Bright yellow tee shirts and Standing On the Side of Love signs have been seen around San Diego County and in Arizona as Rev. Beth, Palomar Fellowship members and others have been public witnesses for justice and for comprehensive immigration reform. Rev. Beth and others from the Fellowship made the drive to Phoenix to join 30,000-50,000 others to protest AZ senate bill 1070. They stood with FaithWorks clergy and members in San Diego a week later to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. Our own members and the bright yellow LOVE message stood out in a local protest against racist comments by a local politician. These are just some of the ways that we have stood on the side of love in the past month. (To order your very own yellow sign or shirt, see http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/).

Rev. Peter Morales, our Unitarian Universalist Association president, wrote a message to us all on the issue of immigration reform. He said, “How we treat immigrants, especially those from Mexico and Central America, is today’s equivalent of the Civil Rights Movement. This is a struggle for America’s soul.” As he wrote of the changing demographics in our nation and area, he said, “Living into this new America is an enormous challenge for our UU movement. Our American roots are in New England. Our movement has always struggled with issues of race, culture, and class. We have also struggled to move beyond our ethnic roots (http://www.uua.org/news/newssubmissions/166693.shtml).

Just a few reasons why comprehensive immigration reform is needed ASAP:

• The number of working visas issued each year is only a fraction of the number of available jobs for unskilled labor. This situation encourages large numbers of undocumented workers.
• Because of their undocumented state, the large pool of migrant workers is subject to abuse by employers.
• The vast majority of undocumented workers pay taxes, and are less likely to be involved in crime.
• In the majority of cases (90%), U.S. workers experience a wage increase as a result of immigration.  
• Due to processing backlogs and insufficient quotas, the wait for a visa to enter the U.S. can be up to twenty years. Families wait years to be reunited. 
• The escalation in raids and deportation by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) results in the breakup of families. Those deported often have children and/or spouses who are U.S. citizens. 
• The U.S. detains over 280,000 people a year, at the annual cost of 1.2 billion dollars to tax payers. Much of this money goes to private contractors. (http://www.uurise.org)
  
  

Listening Campaign Continues

A PUUF member will call you to make an appointment to discuss the things that matter deeply in relation to your life, the Fellowship, and the wider community. This will help us to build deeper relationships and move toward social justice actions that really matter to us.