Soul Matters : My ‘Resistance’ must oppose book censorship

As part of a “Soul Matters Sharing Circle” through my church, I receive a monthly packet to facilitate reflections around the theme for the month. Something that especially resonated for me with this month’s theme of “Resistance” actually came via my American Library Association membership.

Soul Matters : It takes ‘Vulnerability’ to be autistic and queer librarian

Through my local Unitarian Universalist church, I am part of a “Soul Matters Sharing Circle.” The Soul Matters program facilitates “A journey that the whole church takes together” (n.d.), through messages from the pulpit and during Religious Education as well as through small-group discussion. This month’s theme is “Vulnerability.”

In UUCSR library : This year’s UUA Common Read

Good morning to the reading community at Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Santa Rosa. Are you interested in the UUA’s Common Read, and did you know that the program’s current selection is available to borrow from the church library? Mistakes and Miracles, by Nancy Palmer Jones and Karin Lin, is one of many informational books that you’ll find in the browsing cabinet. (We also have several titles from prior years’ Common Read selections.) Learn more about the UUA Common Read, and access discussion guides, at https://www.uua.org/read.

Volunteering for UUCSR Library

Volunteered for a couple of hours this morning in the Social Hall lending library, Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Santa Rosa.

Mass killing of disabled people : No response from UUA

On July 28, 2016, I posted a link to an article on the Facebook page of the Unitarian Universalist Association. The article concerned the killing of 19 people and injuring of 25 more in a facility for people with disabilities in Sagamihara, Japan.

Professional communication and editing

My part-time work for a local church includes posts to social media, “MailChimp” email campaigns and updates to the church blog. The spirit of connecting people with information and resources infuses my work with the church, and is consistent with my work in the field of library service.

Hand-made banner for ‘Religious Explorations’

It’s great to employ my creative abilities for the benefit of employers. In this instance, I assembled and hung a banner depicting the names of famous Unitarian Universalists at the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. (I work for the church as web content editor and administrative coordinator for the church’s “Religious Explorations” program.) The sweatshirt from which the banner’s applique panel came, was donated to Religious Explorations and I made the banner with the donor’s permission to make use of the sweatshirt this way.

‘Strega Nona’ and lesson in Integrity

Strega Nona’s magic pot with spaghetti spilling out of it

I work as both web editor for the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and as administrative coordinator for its Religious Explorations program. When I post announcements about R.E. activities to the church’s blog, these two positions’ responsibilities intersect.

During Religious Explorations classes on Sunday, the pre-kindergarten to second grade had a lesson in Integrity through the story of “Strega Nona” acted out and expressed through art. While Strega Nona is away, her assistant uses her magic pot to make spaghetti. But he can’t make it stop and the spaghetti overruns the town. After Strega Nona gets her magic pot to stop, her assistant must make things right by cleaning up the mess he made.

Religious Explorations: Recent posts

Here are recent posts to social media in my professional role as Administrative Coordinator for the Religious Explorations program at the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. I have worked part-time in this capacity since May 2014.

RVUUF website goes live

A new website went live this morning for Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship​. For the past few weeks, I’ve been working as its web editor: generating or locating content, editing it for style consistency and populating the site.

RVUUF web editor

Among professional developments this week, I signed a letter of agreement to work as web editor for the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF).

Religious Explorations student art exhibit

Religious Explorations lead teacher Liz Bianco and I hung student artwork Saturday in the Great Hall at Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Religious Explorations: Recent posts to social media

Image credit: Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice

Here are recent posts to social media in my professional role as Administrative Coordinator for the Religious Explorations program at the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Religious Explorations: Recent posts

Here are recent posts to social media in my professional role as Administrative Coordinator for the Religious Explorations program at a church in Ashland, Oregon, the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. When curating these items, I look for resources and commentary that strengthen constituent families.

Religious Explorations: Recent posts

Source of image: woodleywonderworks via Creative Commons/Flickr

Since May of this year, I’ve been employed part-time as Administrative Coordinator for the Religious Explorations program at a church in Ashland, Oregon, the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Here are recent posts to social media in my capacity as Administrative Coordinator. With these selections, as with earlier posts, I emphasize connecting people with information that benefits them.

Religious Explorations: Recent posts

Image credit: Call and Response/UUA Blogs

Here are recent posts to social media in my capacity as Administrative Coordinator, Religious Explorations, for the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Reading selections support UU parenting

Image credit: Karen Bellavance-Grace

When it comes to wanting to inform constituents about available resources, there is little difference between me as “Religious Explorations” administrative coordinator for the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and as administrator of a small UU lending library.

RVUUF: Religious Explorations Coordinator

This month, I began working as Religious Explorations Coordinator for the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. This part-time position helps to ensure smooth functioning of programs for children ages 0 to 4, pre-kindergarten through second-grade, third- through fifth- and sixth- through eighth-grade.

‘Acts of Faith’ by Eboo Patel in UUCLC Lending Library

Eboo Patel’s memoir Acts of Faith, a Beacon Press book originally published in 2008, is the UUCLC Lending Library’s Book of the Month for February.

Patel’s book is presently being honored as the 2011-12 Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Common Read.

A 2008 speaker at the UUA General Assembly, Patel is founder and executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), an international, nonprofit, youth service leadership organization.

A Common Read invites participants to read and discuss the same book in a given period of time. A committee of UUA staff selected Acts of Faith.

“Ten years after 9/11, the book describes the vulnerability of youth to violent, fundamentalist influences and makes a case for all of us, particularly youth, to promote pluralism through engagement in interfaith dialogue, education and social justice work.”

For more information about the UUA’s common read, visit http://www.uua.org/publications/commonread/index.shtml.

The UUA Bookstore wants to hear how readers used the UUA Common Read in their congregations or on their own. Stories can be emailed to Ben Jackson at bjackson@uua.org.

Cynthia Parkhill

UUCLC Lending Library

February 2012

Lending Library’s collection policy approved

The UUCLC Lending Library has a collection development policy, created by administrator Cynthia Parkhill for her studies toward an Associate’s degree in Library and Information Technology from Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo. The policy was approved May 1, 2011 by the UUCLC Governing Board.

Author’s update, Aug. 6, 2014: A link to the document in my Slideshare account corrects a severed link on the UUCLC website.