It is that time again! Unity of Berkeley will elect a new Leadership Team on February 5, after service. Please plan to attend as we need a quorum of Unity of Berkeley members to vote in a new team.

Four (4) current team members are stepping down.

According to the by-laws 4.04(d), “The two nominees receiving the largest number of votes will be elected to full two (2) year terms. The candidate receiving the next highest number of votes will be elected to the longest unexpired term, etc. All persons elected in such a manner will be considered to be fulfilling a term of office.”

Vote for:
3 2-year term openings
1 1-year term opening
2 alternates

Please make it a priority to attend this meeting and be a part of the forward motion of our community!

Below are our candidates and there bios:

DEE CLUTTS
My name is Dee Clutts, I have been a member of Unity of Berkeley, since Easter 2003. I ran my own business from 1993 to 2005, at which time I retired. Most recently have been employed as a nanny.

I have served several terms on the Unity of Berkeley Leadership Team between 2004 – 2011. I have a strong commitment to Unity of Berkeley – it has been my extended family. I do see a future for us and want to be a part of that. I can be a leader or I can take a back seat and support others. I like to think I have some wisdom, I’m flexible and most of the time can hear all sides of an issue, without judgment. I am the leader of the Unity of Berkeley Prayer Chaplains, I’m in Unitas, the Unity of Berkeley Choir, and have had home study groups at my home.

TIM MCGRAW
Tim McGraw was raised near Kansas City, Mo. and in 1997 joined Christ Unity Church in San Francisco. A Berkeley resident since 1996, he has been involved in Unity of Berkeley since 2002 and has previously served on the Leadership Team. Tim is a consultant specializing in business-to-business marketing and has been self-employed for most of his professional life.

ANNE RICHARDS
Anne Richards has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1976. She began reading the Daily Word in 1984 and joined Unity Christ Church in San Francisco in 1987 where she was on the Board of Directors was also a Lay Minister. She has also attended Unity of Richmond, Unity of Walnut Creek and Unity of Shepherdstown (WV). For 5 years Anne acted in the capacity of Lay Chaplain at VNA Home Hospice in Emeryville. She is an interdisciplinary social scientist in psychology and anthropology and has worked in behavior medicine and public health research since 1989.

DAVID OWEN
I have been a member of Unity of Berkeley for 3 years and have been attending services for nearly 5 years. My work background is in Engineering working on network planning for AT&T Mobility (previously Cingular Wireless). I have worked with AT&T Mobility for about 15 years and before that worked for Vodafone in Sydney, Australia, I moved to California in 1997.

My interests are restoring and working on cars, seeing plays at the Berkeley Rep, wine appreciation, cooking, jogging and dog walking/hiking.

I work with the sound and lighting team on setting up the sound for the regular services and special events, concerts , etc. I am willing to put in the time required for being on the Unity of Berkeley Leadership Team and to make a contribution to improving Unity of Berkeley.

I live in Berkeley with my wife Robyn and our cat Sneezy and dog Wolfie

Tad’s powerful presence and his enduring music urged us to love and peace and celebration. His transition on November 16 struck this community a blow. Please join us as we now lift up into spirit knowing and seeing that Tad’s legacy to us is alive and brilliantly singing through our lives. Knowing that death is not an end but a putting out of the lamp to welcome the dawn.

In this YouTube, Tad and the Unity House Band sing his song “Speak Peace.”

As part of the Transition Team’s continued movement towards the growth of ourselves and our community, it has focused on:

Major Theme: HEALING

Learning to embrace conflict
We are working towards embracing and healing conflict within our church as a way to move forward and create a thriving spiritual community:
• We are participating in The I of the Storm Workshop to learn to use conflict to identify what is missing, in ourselves and in our relationship with others:
o We accept the idea that “no one is against us.” We are learning to act not from defensiveness but from the belief that no one means to harm us.
o When a storm does arise, we are learning to return to our wholeness, our God (Good) inside.
Forgiveness Practice -
Since we believe that forgiveness of ourselves and others clears the field for greater abundance, team members are engaged in one of the several options for forgiveness practice, which were presented to us by our Transitional Ministry Specialist, Jeannette Monterio:
• Journaling Exercise – forgiveness exercise;
• Writing out 70 times each day for 7 days, that which we seek to release and let go (forgive); or
• Using the Day by Day Reconciliation Journal.

Major Theme: COMPASSIONATE COMMUNICATION

Since we are committed to encouraging better communication with (and within) the congregation, we have agreed to the following actions:
• We have adopted the principles of Agreeing and Disagreeing in Love.
o As we practice the in action items, we are committed to ending the practice of “Parking Lot” conversations and agreed to speak directly to anyone with whom we have conflict and refrain from behind- the- back conversations.
o We have established several communication opportunities to hear what the congregation wants and needs.
? Tea with the Team after church each Sunday at the transition team table
? Weekly opportunity to speak with members of the team
? Publish minutes of team meetings in the bulletin and online in Topica
? Telephone outreach to members who have not been coming to church
Team members have spent many hours on this project. A Subcommittee report on findings will be submitted at the 4/13 meeting.
As we continue to move forward with our efforts to improve Communication at Unity of Berkeley:
• We are exploring the process of speaking about feelings & needs rather than engaging in “story.” (This is part of compassionate communication)
• We will decide if we will adopt the materials provided from the non-violent communication model (which includes the Feelings and Needs model) and meet with the Board to see how we can incorporate these communication practices into the congregation; and
• We intend to deepen our understanding of Deep Listening, (which is part of the Rhythms in Peace materials, Day 16) and focus our communications with one another on listening for and exploring the underlying (and sometimes not well expressed) feelings, meaning, needs and longing, rather than to evaluate, advise or fix.

Members are invited to attend the Annual Membership Meeting to vote in the New Leadership Team. If you are not a member, you are welcome to attend and find out what is happening at Unity of Berkeley!

An annual Global event, the World Peace Meditation, is a powerful experience of joining with other worldwide in the quiet wee hours of the last day of the year to reflect on the past year and vision for the new year. Melissa Heckman has led the Unity of Berkeley World Peace Meditation for the last three years. Melissa creates peaceful, inspirational environment for you to enjoy the sacred space of going in, envisioning world peace and setting your new year’s intentions. Participants will also share selected readings and enjoy a candle lighting ceremony.

Paul Kohut will make Blueberry Pancakes for all at 5am.

Taking place in the wee hours of the morning on the last day of the year, Friday December 31, World Meditation Day is an annual event at Unity of Berkeley and all Unity ministries across the world. For the last three years our World Meditation Day has been led by Melissa Heckman. Melissa creates a peaceful, inspirational environment for you to enjoy the sacred space of going in, envisioning world peace and setting your new year’s intentions. Participants will also share selected readings and enjoy a candle lighting ceremony.

This year, as an added extra special sweet gift, Paul Kohut is making Blueberry Pancakes for all who attend the meditation.

Day 1 – Vision – Imagine Peace

What is your vision of personal peace?
How does it look and feel?

How is your vision of world peace:
How does it look and feel?

You must give birth to your images.
They are the future waiting to be born.
Fear not the strangeness you feel.
The future must enter into you long before it happens.
Ranier Maria Rilke

Consider taking some time to write down your vision of peace, and plan to review and renew it on the first of each month. Reach for it every day, call it forth. Give it your energy and your care. Allow it to grow in vitality, faith and clarity. Bring it to life and let it guide your actions.

Day 2 Inner Peace – Cultivate Peace within

Who looks outside dreams
Who looks inside awakens.
C.G. Jung

Looking deeply at our own mind and our own life, we begin to see what to do and what not to do to bring about real peace in ourselves and in society.
Thich Nhat Hahn

If there is to be peace in the world,
there must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
there must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
there must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace in the neighbors,
there must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
there must be peace in the heart.
Lau Tzu

Some questions to ponder, to journal about and to reflect upon.

What are the unnecessary conflicts in my life today that create turmoil, waste energy, and distort my ability to think clearly, feel deeply and take authentic action?

Take time to be still, to meditate or take a walk in nature and invite the Divine to release you from these patterns of conflict. Stop focusing your attention in the direction of what you don’t want to create. Instead go back to yesterday’s VISION of inner peace. Create a statement or affirmation that draws you forward into that vision. Post it on your mirror, in your car, by your computer, wherever you will see and speak it often.

A Prayer for You From Rev. Dr. Patricia Keel

Great and gracious God, Divine Presence.
Today I call forth the deepest wisdom of your Grace and Love to center me, to surround me and to fill me with an abiding faith. I let go of my attachment to the outer; to how things look through my limited perception. I open to the realms of infinite creativity and invite your vision for my life to saturate my imagination with colorful pictures. I ask to hear the whisper of direct guidance and trust that my listening will bring inspiration, reassurance, and deep peace to my heart and mind.

In an awareness of your powerful Love and radical forgiving nature, I let go into your Grace and I am grateful. I release what is no longer is mine to hold onto in body, mind, and soul, and surrender to your sweet peace.

Thank you Beloved Presence.
And So It Is.

Day 3 Contribution – Honor your contribution to peace

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action.…
this expression is unique.
And if you block it…the world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is,
nor how valuable, nor how it compares with other expressions.
It is you business …
to keep the channel open.
Martha Graham

The secret of life is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to,
something you bring everything to,
every minute of the day for your whole life.
And the important thing is -
it must be something you cannot possibly do.
Henry Moore

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful that the risk it took to blossom.
Anais Nin

You may search for a soul assignment; that unique divine destiny that only you can fulfill, but a life assignment is also given to some of us. Life assignments are situations that we have to learn to work with and grow from. Examples might be the diagnosis of a challenging disease, a break in a relationship, a death or loss, the aging process itself. We can deny the impact of what happens to us and through us in these challenging situations, or we can allow them to become our greatest teachers.

Often these life assignments lead us more deeply into our soul assignment, or develop our most finely tuned capabilities and capacities to express our highest and best selves.

Identify a current life assignment and be open to its subtle lessons. How is it drawing you more deeply into your divine contribution? How are you a contribution to peace through your life in this moment?

Day 4 Priority – Make peace a priority

We live in a world of noise,
yet our conscience is called the “still, small voice.”
Unless we heed our own conscience,
we shall continue to be attracted by what is loud and garish
and lost our sense of values.
It is important, therefore,
that all of us should determine
to set aside some time each day
to commune with ourselves,
to talk with our own still small voice,
to devote even one minute for thoughts of peace…

U Thant, Sec. General of the UN. (1961-1971)

Today’s theme highlights the way we use time. It’s an invitation to listen within and to prioritize – to say “yes” to what really has meaning for us and “no” to those things that have little genuine value. While this is a concept most of us can agree to, in practice it is often not so easy to carry out. Many of our “priorities” have become such well worn habits to us and to those around us that we believe they are “musts” rather that possibilities awaiting our conscious choice.

Take the time today to make a list of your activities, from the moment you wake up until you go to bed. You can probably write the pattern of your day in the broad brush picture in a few minutes. Then take that with you and fill in the points where you see options; times when you might feel a nudge to make a different choice. Notice if these moments occur in any particular period of your day, or more at home than at work? What are the habits that you feel compelled to continue and what might be open for to change? What are the values that you seem to hold as you look at the time priorities you have created in your daily life? Are these values in alignment with who you really are? Do they bring you a deeper peace?

Just for today, be curious about the choices you have made and be willing to make different choices as you tune into the still small voice.

Day 5 Belief – Believe in peace

That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives and our characters.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Believing in peace is a choice.
Make that choice today
and the path to peace will unfold before you,
one glorious day at a time.
Anonymous

The greatest revolution in our generation
is that of human beings who,
by changing the inner attitudes of their minds,
can change the outer aspects of their lives.
William James

1. Unity reminds us of this universal principle, The Law of Mind Action: “Thoughts in mind produce after their kind.” How does our understanding of this principle support more peace in our individual lives and in the world? How is this working in your life?

2. Can you identify any beliefs that limit your potential for peace in your relationships and/or in the larger world?

3. How can you fully embrace the belief that your efforts for peace make a difference?

Day 6 -Prayer – Pray for peace

There is no peace without the grace of God,
and there is no grace of God without prayer.

Mahatma Gandhi

Whisper your prayers, recite your prayers,
March your prayers, shout your prayers.
Sing, draw, dance your prayers.
Pray as your heart leads you.

Persevere in your prayers, trust in your prayers,
and have faith in a God who hears your prayers.
In this time of trail,
how can we do less?

Jane Vennard

“When I first awakened to the power of prayer, I was praying for
survival, a way out of or through a difficulty over which I felt
powerless – powerless because my best thinking and efforts were not
working…I was praying to bring light into a dark room in my life
or to take away the fear and pain. As my prayer life developed,
however, I came to realize that we can pray from a consciousness
that is not so much about focusing its power on filling a blank in
our lives or removing a barrier as it is on expanding the
good…with dedication and practice..we attune our mind through
prayer in such a way that we begin to lead more synchronistic and
blessed lives. In this expanded perspective, fears lessen
dramatically and our faith grows stronger, opening a doorway to a
truly abundant life. We are transformed into possibility thinkers.”

Sharon Connors, in Adventures in Prayer

1. Do you have a regular prayer or meditation time each day? If
not, you might consider a simple practice of Gratitude. Call to mind
three things you are grateful for and say “Thank You” to the Divine.
Breathing in Thank You God, (or Mother Father, Beloved Spirit, Holy
Presence – whatever if your way to connect with Spirit), breathing
out and relaxing into the moment.

2. Notice what seems to be the result of your prayer time. How do
you feel when you finish prayer and meditation? How does that
continue throughout your day?

3. Create your own Prayer for Peace and use it daily. It could be a
simple affirmation that is easy to remember, or it could be the
prayer that comes from your heart when you center in an awareness of
peace. Write it down. Share it with someone.

Day 7 Rhythms of Life—Restore the rhythms of healthy living.

Tension is who you think you should be.
Relaxation is who you are.
Chinese proverb

When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanse me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused.
Ranier Maria Rilke

Let us breathe deeply in the rhythms of life, of the earth, of action and rest.
Wayne Muller

1. Notice the energy dynamics of the daily rhythms of your life.

2. Are these shifts tied into time, light and dark, work and relaxation, alone time or “people” time. Draw a picture of these rhythms.

3. Is there a personal rhythm that is out of balance in your life? (sleep, food, exercise, reflection, over-doing, over committed, other)

4. Take a slow walk and feel your breathing. Notice where you mind goes when you slow down your body.

Each week the Sunday lesson will focus on a theme to center us in Peace, and to deepen our mystical connection with the Divine. You will have an opportunity to strengthen your personal experience of peace by following our Daily Reading and Journaling in the book, Rhythms of Peace.

Join one of our powerful small home groups and meet for four weeks in October. You have an opportunity to sign up on Sunday morning, or call the office and give us your name, email and phone, as the location and date of the group you wish to join. We will reply to confirm with the address. The required book we will be using is Rhythms of Peace, available at the church for sale.

Alameda meet Tuesday nights 7:30 -9:00pm
with Facilitators Dee Clutts and Ronnie Hersler

El Sobrante Group Meeting Wednesday 7:30-9:00pm
with Facilitator Miguel Hernandaz – This Group is FILLED

Berkeley Daytime Group Meeting at Unity on Tuesday from 12:30 to 2:00pm
with Facilitator May Rose Ceccanese

Berkeley Group Meets Thursday nights 7:30-9:00pm
with Facilitators Dennis Edds and Gina Papen

We are the ones we are waiting for. Find Peace Now.

When we choose to make a commitment, whether to ourselves, to another, or to our spiritual community, we step closer to our ultimate commitment: an alliance with God, our Source. Just imagine everyone in this ministry focusing all our sacred intentions and our attention on deepening our connection to God through personal and community prayer, gathering in small groups, and celebrating the co-creative process that is in each one of us!