To help with Sunday morning hospitality, click here.

Last week I joined music program participants at an end of year celebration that was joyful and delicious. Sunday, we celebrated our diversity and pluralism through a Flower Communion. As you may have noticed, we have experienced a near-miraculous financial re-bound as so many of you have stepped up to increase your pledge, make new donations, and recommit to our shared ministry here at Valley UU. 

What we have experienced together this last month has been an intense and beautiful recognition of the importance of this community in our lives and its role in connecting us to something bigger than ourselves. I am deeply grateful for the ways in which this has unfolded–from individual insights, to deep listening, to shared responsibility and a willingness to be vulnerable and courageous. We are learning to build our capacity for difficult conversations and to recognize when we each need to ground ourselves and to orient ourselves in ways that allow us to stay in relationship with each other. I have re-learned the truth that being in relationship often means letting go of my own certainty–my own sense of righteousness and need to be right in order to be present to people I want to be in relationship with. We don’t have to agree with each other to see each other and listen, to understand how someone else might experience the same situation differently than we do and to not make them wrong. 

Thanks to each of you that had the courage to participate in and learn from the work we've done with Rev. Sam. Your vulnerability and commitment have made a huge difference for so many others, and I am clear that we are only beginning to see the beautiful future we are creating together. 

New Participant Make up Class! Saturday, June 8, 9:30-12:00 in the Board room.

RSVP minister@vuu.org Join Rev. Sarah on Saturday June 8 for a new participant class. Technically, this will be Part II of the set we didn’t finish last month. But…if you haven’t done part I, you can still come! We’ll make it work. The important thing is to bring your questions and meet each other. If you need to join us as an online participant, let me know that, too, in your RSVP.  

-Rev. Sarah

VUU Preliminary Budget

We continue to update the budget for FY 2024 as pledges come in and we work to fund the deep cuts presented two weeks ago. These preliminary budgets are working tools not usually released beyond Board/Staff/Finance. They represent where we are; they are frequently updated and are works in progress. The final budget presented to the congregation in June WILL BE DIFFERENT and depends on you.

With these understandings please examine the budget numbers in detail here. Contact any Finance or Board member if you have questions or concerns.

Also please note: Our pledge year is the calendar year; our fiscal year is July 1 – June 30. This operational year is what the budget and most programs are aligned to.

The Final budget will not be available until the Board approves it.  The budget vote will occur at the June 9 Annual Meeting.

Between now and then please use the link above to see where we are and pledge what you can; every dollar pledged is a staff position or program that will not be cut.

-Submitted by David Sheh, Finance Chair

List of Candidates

On behalf of the Leadership Development Committee, the following candidates are presented who will be running for the open positions of our three elected committees.

Board of Trustees:

Larry Johnson

Mark Foote

Special Funds:

Anne Schneider

Laura Rohfling

Joanne McGrath

Leadership Develpment Committee:

Teri McGovern-Nintzel

Pam Spence

Mikaela Foote

An email was sent on May 21 to all VUU members, which included candidate bios. Please review the candidate bios and email any questions to rozmyhawk@gmail.com. She will solicit answers from the candidates with answers published in Happenings.

The election will be held on June 9 immediately after service.

Proposed Revisions to Article 2

The delegates to General Assembly will be voting on proposed revisions to Article 2 of the UUA bylaws that contain the purposes, principles, and sources of UUism. 

For more information about reasons for the rewrite of Article 2, go to the UUA website.

For more information against the proposed rewrite go to this website.

These are important changes! Please educate yourself about them.

-Submitted by Anne Schneider

Ain't We Got FUUNd?



VUU Chooses You! Pokemon Party – Tickets are Available!

Do you have Pokemon fans in your family? Are they (and you!) for FUUNd now that school is out? Why not by them a ticket to an afternoon filled with 4-5 Pokemon games, activites and a light snack? Each ticket holder will leave with some Pokemon loot and new trainer friends. Parents are not required to purchase a ticket or to stay, but we appreciate your consideration in advance. Maria W. and Amanda L. and their boys will be your hosts.

FUUNd’s VUU Chooses You! Pokemon Party will take place at VUU in rooms 1 & 2 from 2-4 pm on June 2. The deadline to purchase tickets is midnight on June 1. Click here to purchase tickets; email fuundtogether@vuu.org for more information.

VUU Green Sanctuary Garden Update

The VUU gardeners are happy to report an extremely productive Spring season!

We were able to make multiple trips to AZCEND in Chandler to deliver pounds and

pounds of zucchini, summer squash, lettuce, carrots, and cherry tomatoes. We also

distributed produce to staff members and were able to give away veggies to members

of the congregation after service on one occasion—all of this despite some adorable but uninvited garden guests in the form of bunnies and gophers!

We will continue to provide more vegetables for a few more weeks and then, will leave the garden dormant to build up the soil and save water over the summer.

Thanks to all of our veggie gardeners: Linda Fitzgerald, Alice Bachner, Kat Karpinen,

Krista Zabor, Denise McLeod, and Ken St. John and to Jennie Pixlar for the beautiful

flowers in Row 8. And thanks also to all of you who have swooped in to help with

various projects (like weeding…ugh!!) throughout the season.

If you would like to “own a row” in the fall, or get involved in the garden, we’d love to

have you. Please contact Kat Karpinen or Denise McLeod for more information.

1-Hour Choir – June 2

The 1-Hour Choir’s last rehearsal and performance for the Spring season is June 2. We will then take a break for the summer and resume in the fall. You can still join the 1-Hour Choir and learn an easy song or two on June 2. We meet in the Sanctuary from 9 -10 am and then lead the music in the service at 10:30. Contact Katie for more: MusicDirector@vuu.org.

Save the date - Summer Social Night

Thursday, June 27, 6:00 pm.

Details to follow. It's always a good time! All are welcome!!!

Thank You from Marci

Thank you all for throwing me the most amazing send off party!

I know that many people contributed food, paper products, their time for set up and clean up, and money to make the party an event to remember and I appreciate you all!

What fun it was to visit with you, have our pictures taken in the photo booth and to have all those activities for the kids! 

I cherish my photo book and all the pictures and messages you shared. I love the digital photo frame - I get to see so many of you every day!

The sentiment to rename the education courtyard after me still moves me to tears (though I don't think I could get used to saying "meet in Marci's courtyard!)

Thank you all for being my loving community these past 15 years. I look forward to the day when I rejoin you as a fellow congregant.

Be safe - be happy,

Love,

Marci

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 June 20 at 7:00 pm. We will meet at the home of Johnnie Godfrey in Tempe (near Baseline Rd. and the 101).  The book is On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed.

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, the book provides a historian’s view of the country’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond.



For the meeting address or questions, please contact Johnnie at 480-231-8381 or email Amy.

-Submitted by Amy Monahan

June Donation of the Month

Canned Soup and Chili, Microwaveable Soup

Please support our focus charity, Paz de Cristo, by bringing in a donation of canned soup and chili or microwaveable soup at any time during the month of June. For the sake of convenience, please try to donate cans with pull-top lids. Drop your donation in the designated container in the foyer of the sanctuary. Thanks for your generous donations!

-Submitted by Megan Kimball

Partners in Education (PIE)

There is a lot to celebrate! We have developed an innovative after-school support group for English learners, Rumbo al Éxito. Under the direction Randall Casillas, eight VUU volunteers, six Westwood students, and several community volunteers are making it happen.

Five EastVUU members have volunteered for the Art Masterpiece program. We taught nine classes, 72 sessions, and provided art classes for three classrooms, 24 sessions. We have provided teacher support for classroom materials and teacher appreciation week. With the help of Denise McLeod and PETA, Beverly McCormick arranged an exciting visit from Ellie, the life- size robot elephant, to teach the children kindness and animal rights.

Once again we raised over $4,000 dollars through our ECA Tax Credits. This has allowed the sixth graders a wonderful overnight Science Camp experience, the fourth graders a science camp opportunity, and field trips for several grades to Westwood High for a play, the zoo, and the library. The ECA donations also covered an after-school reading program, Challenge Island, band practice, and the salary for staff of our new afterschool program. Thank you to all the VUU volunteers and contributors for making such a significant impact on Adams and its students.

-Submitted by Perii Skolnick