News in more detail

 

From Chalice UU Church in nearby Newbury Park: 
Please join us for this special community forum event!
Friday, November 21st & Saturday, November 22nd  – 8:00 p.m. PT
In Person only*
Aliens, Immigrants & Other Evildoers
Written & Performed by José Torres-Tama

Torres-Tama treads that dangerously vague turf of performance art gracefully… He takes Latino life on a magical mystery tour with dexterity and daring.—The Village Voice (New York)

ALIENS, IMMIGRANTS & OTHER EVILDOERS is an inventive Sci-Fi Noir performance solo that exposes the hypocrisies of a system that vilifies the same people whose labor it readily exploits.

In a scintillating, utterly absorbing seventy-five minutes, Mr. Torres-Tama dissects the current immigrant situation from a personal viewpoint that reaches back through American history to its earliest days and follows that thread to the present moment… José Torres-Tama is a performance artist of the highest caliber.–Theatre Notes (Los Angeles)

“…One moment we were on the verge of tears, the next, we were laughing uncontrollably. On a visceral level Torres—Tama’s work aims for the heart; on the cerebral level, it blows minds.”–Dr. William Stark, Dept. of Modern & Classical Languages, University of Rhode Island

*Event location: Chalice UU – 3331 Old Conejo Rd, Newbury Park

Please register for the forum in advance here:  https://bit.ly/AliensImmigrantsandOtherEvildoers (if you get a pop-up message, select “continue to destination”)

West Valley Food Pantry Needs Our Help! With the suspension of SNAP benefits for thousands of Americans, our West Valley Food Pantry is being inundated with people needing food assistance on top of the huge population that they already serve.  We need for our Emerson congregation to step up and donate financially and also donate much needed food items that are staples provided by the pantry which will soon be in short supply.

The requested items are:
Peanut butter
Tuna
Oatmeal
Cereal
Cereal bars
Protein bars
Pasta
Pop-top cans of soup & other meal entrees & canned fruit for our homeless
Almond milk
Small toiletries

These items are needed to provide sustenance and nutrition to those in need.

Please: NO expired food items.  NO items that are not shelf stable.
The pantry receives a limited amount of veggies, fruits, meat and bakery items from the LA Food Bank, but these will have to be spread out to so many more families. We can donate on their website at: http://www.westvalleyfoodpantry.org   Food items can be brought here to our sanctuary for delivery to the pantry.
Thank you.
I will give updates on the needs as they come up.
–  Linda Fitzgerald
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Rev. Chloë’s Deep Breaths Meditation Group is back! Thursdays, 6 to 7 pm!  In-person at Emerson or on Zoom 1.
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Emerson UU Board Meetings:
(All Welcome)
1st Tuesday of Each Month at 6 PM
Everyone is invited to attend via Zoom 1
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See this website’s Home Page for current News and Events listings.
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Dear friends in Unitarian Universalism,
 We’re excited to share ways Unitarian Universalist Animal Ministry (UUAM) can support your congregation in living out our shared values of justice and care for all beings. For nearly 40 years, UUAM has been a home for animal-loving UUs, offering education, resources, and community that connect our faith to the interdependent web of life. Throughout the year, UUAM offers virtual programs on a wide range of topics—from interdependence topics and pollinator protection to animal advocacy workshops. Recordings of previous workshops are available on our website.  Upcoming events include: 

  • “Embracing Interdependence” workshop
  • Rev. Jennifer Channin on DefaultVeg food policies
  • Author Gail Eisnitz on her factory farming investigative work
  • Beth Joy Borris and other chefs’ plant-based cooking classes

Visit the website for more info!
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UUA is thrilled to announce the launch of The Woodlands, a new all-ages virtual pastoral care program for trans people and their families, which began this September.

The Woodlands is a monthly online gathering designed for trans children, youth, and adults—as well as the parents and caregivers of trans people. Each session will begin with a shared message and grounding ritual, followed by breakout rooms tailored to different communities within our circle, and we come back together for a release. Sessions will be about an hour and a half.

Each breakout room—co-facilitated by two chaplains—will offer space for meaningful check-ins where we can honor our grief, celebrate our joy, and support one another. The spirit of each room will reflect the people within it.

Register Here
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The UU Neighbors Retreat scheduled for the weekend of Friday, September 26 at‬ Camp deBenneville Pines‬ was canceled due to the powerful rainstorm on Thursday, September 18, 2025 that seriously damaged Highway 38. 

Due to the previous efforts of camp staff and volunteers after the El Dorado fire, our erosion control measures held (sand bags, trap bags, and straw bales), and most of the water flowed through camp and kept on going. There are still some issues to address, but Camp has re-opened.  During the clean-up they had to cancel several retreats, which they are hoping to reschedule.  Still, this has had yet another affect on Camp Finances.  For more information, including new directions to Camp see the Camp website or Facebook page.  
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Are you in need of a tranquil mountain retreat?

Are you searching for a place where you can commune with nature and find the solitude of a mountain glen?  Do you long for the warmth of a welcoming community of peers? Maybe you want to participate in art, music, yoga, theater, or games and other activities in a mountain top setting?

Camp de Benneville Pines is your place! Camp de Benneville Pines welcomes a year-round community of campers of all ages for three- to seven-day camp and retreat sessions. Camps include Youth Camps, Theme Camps for Adults, Family Camps including church retreats sponsored by our affiliated Pacific Western Region Unitarian Universalist Congregations, and others.

For more information, see the De Benneville Pines website (https://www.uucamp.org/)