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This West Valley UU congregation owes a great debt of thanks and gratitude to our Facilities Person, Ann Harper. Ann has spent much of her vacation time here at our building, working to keep the building and grounds in good shape.

Much of her time is spent on a ladder caulking holes in the stucco, seeing to the repairs on the roof, painting doors, and recruiting people to help keep the grounds looking good.

So we see that Ann is not only a talented stained glass artist, as the two beautiful examples of her work in our front windows show, nor just a talented musical singing star as her recent performance at our Coffee Concert shows, but she is also a talented carpenter and doesn't mind getting hot, sweaty and dirty working to keep our building up.

Thank you, Ann, for all you do for us.

Lucy Trissel

They are the couple that you always see with the happy baby boy whose name is Caelin.

Bo is a stay-at-home dad, while Amy is employed as a social worker.

Bo comes from Vermont, and Amy is originally from Connecticut. They both enjoy hiking and camping. Like several other members of our church, Amy says she is a recovering Catholic.

Welcome Bo, Amy, and Caelin!

We will have additional new member biographies coming in future issues of the WVUU newsletter, including:

Mia Laine, who joined on February 5th of this year

Eddie Smith, who joined on April 16th, and Genevieve (Gen)

Volotta, who is our newest member, joining June 11.

Anne recently received her Masters of Social Work from ASU, and she is active in civil rights issues.

Anne also serves on the board of directors of the Arizona Council of the Blind, where she is 1st Vice President.

Anne is legally blind, and is looking for someone to catch a ride to Church with some Sundays. She lives in the area of 67th Avenue and Bell Road.

Anne is a former Orthodox Roman Catholic. Welcome Anne!

Church Bulletin Bloopers

The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday:

"I upped My Pledge, - Up Yours."

Our next song is "Angels We Have Heard Get High."

Don't let worry kill you, let the church help.

For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.

COURAGE

Courage has always been regarded as one of the major human virtues. Today, modern psychology has sought to make it possible for a greater portion of society to accept without condemnation an individual's admission to a lack of courage. But collectively--on a nation-by-nation basis--courage still must always be proclaimed. Nations fear that giving up without a fight may mean have to give up more tomorrow. On an individual basis, the most courageous act is often that of finding a peaceful solution. Perhaps the best point to remember is that the courage to accept a difficult and disagreeable fact has often been demonstrated by gallant people.

UUA Bookstore Offers

Reading for All Ages

www.uua.org/bookstore is a most attractive website that shows books to feed your spirit such as A Guest of the World, Rejoice Together, Being Liberal in an Illiberal Age, to seek a different path, I.e. Moral Courage, Peace in Our Lifetime, BIG Questions, WORTHY Dreams, and books honoring Life's Passages such as Bless This Child, Crossing the Bridge from Youth to Young Adulthood,.and Beyond Absence.

The 42 page catalog describing many of the books and materials available in the UUA bookstore is posted on the Church bulletin board.

The catalog includes ways to help UUs to publicize ourselves, i.e. Wayside community Pulpit, Pamphlets, Bumper stickers, and many other eye-opening items.

Top Ten Reasons You Should Come

to Games Night

10. Our Church is Air

Conditioned.

9. Potluck snacks--Yum!

8. Good family activity.

7. Who wants to watch

summer reruns anyway?

6. Guaranteed parking slot within 50 yards of Church.

5. You will NOT be asked to do yard work.

4. NO clipboards will be passed.

3. The inside scoop on upcoming Sunday Services will be available.

2. Dress is very casual--come as you are.

1. Scientific studies have proven that using your brain can prevent

Alzheimer's:

Use it or Lose it.

July 15th 6:30 p.m.

Bring your favorite games and snack to share !

Questions? Call

Amy 602-380-2098, or

Cindy 623-535-7060.

July 2, 2006, Katherine Sheffield "Giving Voice: The Role of Storytelling in Religion" - Recent research has shown that the hu man mind evolved as a "storytelling machine," set up to perceive and create the world through stories. Stories are not, therefore, just fictional entertainment. All human know- ledge--history, science, religion--is made up of and transmitted through stories. Are religious stories different from other types? If so, how? And do which religious stories we choose to tell and believe make a difference to our lives?

July 9, 2006, West Valley UU Church Potluck Brunch. Arrowhead Highlands Apartments San Lagos Club house, 5901 W. Behrends Dr., Glendale AZ See map on page 5. .

July 16, 2006, "The Promise and the Passion: Death in American Society" - Jana Vargas, a leader in the field of death and loss, examines through story, the common experiences of loss and death. She de monstrates a way of living, a state of grace, that can be found in the harsh truths of human existence. The sermon is based on her book The Promise and the Passion: Death in American Society.

July 23, 2006, Terry Sims "Liberal Religion NOW"

July 30, 2006, Katherine Sheffield "The Da Vinci and Other Codes: Why do We Argue over Stories?" - As the current controversy over The Da Vinci Code shows, even fictional stories about religious figures can touch us deeply. Why should this be? Discovery of previously unknown Gospels such as the

Gospel of Judas indicate that early Christianity had many more stories, with many different "truths" about Jesus, than we have today. Can Christians today, like those of old, make room for more than one canonical story?

West Valley Unitarian Universalist Church

PO Box 2505

5904 W Cholla Street

Glendale, AZ 85311

Phone: 623-846-6004

Newsletter E-mail: uniquedorothy@cox.net

www.wvuu.org

This Church provides a safe place to celebrate diversity, draw inspiration for our lives, foster

social and environmental justice, and compassionately support each other in our spiritual searches.

We currently have 81 members and many more friends.

Our Sunday Services begin at 10:30 AM followed by a coffee house style social hour and light lunch.

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I expect and hope West Valley

will be ready for a full-time professional minister before Surprise will be ready for a full-time associate, and before I will be ready to accept a full-time position."

The Ad Hoc Committee is trying to find a quarter-time minister. We plan to contact the placement offices of four seminaries and will place an ad in the UU World as well. We were hopeful someone from the Church would attend GA so that we could advertise the position there, but no one from our church went. We have discussed at length the time involved and the cost of conducting a full search. This would necessitate going to hear a person speak or bringing him or her to Glendale in person to interview, and perhaps needing to assist with moving expenses. It will take considerable time and money to find a new minister.

Sandra Mahoney

half time minister in our geographic location is $30,000 and that is the amount we recommended he be offered.

We were quite discouraged when we learned that only $15,000 was included for a minister's salary in the new budget. Reverend Sims turned down our offer. His letter read in part, "It is with real sadness that I must inform all of you I have decided, after much soul searching and hand wringing, to accept the position at UUC in Surprise, which unfortunately means I must decline the position at West Valley. I am deeply honored by, and grateful to, the West Valley Board for its offer to allow me to minister to the congregation, as well as to the congregation for its support and trust in me. I believe your entire community worked hard to be in a position to make the offer, and I appreciate it very much. "

"I want you to know that I considered accepting your offer very seriously and, candidly, that I was torn in deciding which position to accept."