Chalice News and Notes 8.14.26
Chalice Admin
We Nurture Spiritually Courageous People
Who Transform the World through
Justice and Compassion
Explore our website to learn more about everything we are doing.
Upcoming Events
August 16 (THIS SUNDAY!) - Blessing of the Backpacks during service - 10 am Sanctuary
August 16 - Open Mic Nite - 6 pm in the Lounge
August 21 - Community Forum “Save Our Starry Nights” - 7 pm on Zoom
Please register for the forum in advance here:
https://tinyurl.com/saveourstarrynights
August 23 - Chalice Climate Action Team (CCAT) - 12:30 on Zoom
August 29 - Queeraoke - 6 pm in the Lounge
Sept 9 - Monthly Meditation with Rev. Nica - 5:30 pm in the Lounge
Sept 13 - Ingathering Picnic - Following Ingathering Service @ Borchard Park Picnic Area C
Sept 27 - Starting Point Session #1 - Noon - 2:00 pm in the Nest
SUNDAY SERVICE
Onsite & Online ~ 10 am
Reverend Nica Eaton
Ten Years Together
On August 16, we mark ten years to the day since Rev. Nica began her ministry at Chalice. Together, we will honor all we have accomplished and weathered, and celebrate the thriving community we have become. Also, bring your backpacks, work totes, laptop bags and carryalls to service this week as we hold our tradition of blessing these for a joyful new year.
The registration link below will allow you to register for the service with your preferred email address. A service link will then be sent to that email. This service link will be active 5 minutes prior to the service. As an added benefit, you’ll be sent a recording of the service after it is done streaming!
Registration Link for the StreamYard Meeting:
You can also view our Livestream on FB: https://www.facebook.com/ChaliceUUF
Chalice Lighting
To start your day, a meeting, or before a meal
We gather as many drops, each winding our own path down life’s surfaces and ruts.
Here we pool together as a single body, flowing together for a time.
Together we are a stream, at times even a river,
for with our shared force we can travel toward oceans of meaning and seas of connection.
~ Leslie Takahashi
Read Our Minister Emerita - Rev. Dr. Betty Stapleford’s article in the V.C. Star!
Retired T.O. pastor makes sure Adelanto detainees are 'seen and heard'
If you subscribe to the VC Star, you can read about her work with Adelanto.
We are so proud of her and all of our congregants who embody our UU Values out in the world!
Save Our Starry Nights
Why light pollution matters and what we can do about it
Celeste Andersen, JD
David Newman
City Councilmember and Former Mayor, City of Thousand Oaks
Friday, August 21, 7pm PT (via Zoom)
Find out:
· What is light pollution?
· How it affects us all
· What are the solutions?
· Local ordinances and efforts
· Easy actions you can take
Please register for the forum in advance here:
https://tinyurl.com/saveourstarrynights
Monthly Meditation with Rev. Nica
Begins September 9th 5:30 pm
Take an hour in the middle of your week to slow down, breathe, and reconnect with yourself.
Join Rev. Nica for a monthly meditation gathering on the second Wednesday of each month (except November, when we will meet on the first Wednesday) from 5:30–6:30 p.m. at Chalice in the lounge.
No previous meditation experience is necessary. Each month we'll explore a different approach to meditation and contemplative practice, drawing from a variety of wisdom traditions, as well as contemporary mindfulness, silence, guided visualization, loving-kindness, breath awareness, movement, and other forms of deep presence. This is not a class in any one particular tradition, but an opportunity to discover practices that help you cultivate greater peace, awareness, compassion, and connection in your everyday life.
Afterward, if you'd like, bring a sack dinner and stay for informal conversation and community. All are warmly welcome.
FOR NEWCOMERS - Coming Soon, Register Now!
A Chance to Explore Unitarian Universalism
and your Spiritual Path more deeply during Starting Point
All are welcome to this class by prior registration. We request, to the best of your ability, a commitment to all three sessions.
Session 1 begins on September 27th at Noon, upstairs in the Nest. We hope you can join us!
Session 1 will explore our personal spiritual journeys.
Session 2 will examine UU and Chalice’s history.
Session 3 will look at our UU Theological journey.
For more information, or to register, you can email SPi...@chaliceuu.org
Chalice, Santa Monica & UU Neighbors Retreat
Camp deBenneville Pines
Friday, October 2 - Sunday, October 4, 2026
https://bit.ly/ChaliceRetreatRegistration
Several UU congregations in the greater Ventura County area are retreating together at the UU Pacific Southwest Service Area's beautiful camp in the San Bernardino Mountains. (www.uucamp.org). This is your opportunity to relax, hike, meditate, play games, enjoy nature, and participate in other activities that may be organized by fellow campers, all in the company of members of neighboring congregations.
In addition to campers, we are looking for volunteers to conduct workshops, children's activities, and other programs that would interest our fellow campers.
Registration includes meals: Friday Dinner - Sunday Grab & Go Lunch. For an extra fee, campers are welcome to come up on Thursday, October 1st*, however, no meals will be served until Friday evening.
Fees start at $217 per adult, $142 for youth, $82 for children 3+ yrs.
Scholarships available!
For more information: https://bit.ly/ChaliceRetreatEvent
For registration: https://bit.ly/ChaliceRetreatRegistration
Contact all three at Cluster...@chaliceuu.org or one of the following at:
David Barker (Co-Dean), davida...@gmail.com, 805-415-4919
Annie Barker (Registrar), anniez...@gmail.com, 805-415-4918
Cynthia Littleton, (Co-Dean/Programs), cynthia....@variety.com
Love In Action Link
Looking for ways to put your love into action? Check out these opportunities!
https://bit.ly/LoveInActionOpportunities
Chalice has many Social Action groups
to engage with on a monthly basis!
Racial & Cultural Justice Team: 1st Wednesday of the month at 5:30 pm on Zoom
The Citizen’s Climate Lobby Meeting: 2nd Saturday of the month at 9:00 am Hybrid
Chalice Climate Action Team Meeting: 4th Sunday of the month at 12:30 on Zoom
Community Forum Team Meeting: 3rd Monday of the month at 7:00 pm on Zoom
Pride Squad Meeting (LGBTQ+ & allies): 1st Sunday of the month at 11:30 Library
Contact Justicecom...@chaliceuu.org for more information
Consider joining the Chalice Social Justice Facebook group. To learn about latest events supporting Black Lives Matter, Climate Justice, and other concerns, click on:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1260868657268458/
Public Townhall: The Future of Our Wild Roadless Forests
August 26 6pm - 8:30 pm
Dos Vientos Community Center 4801 Borchard Rd. Newbury Park
The Chalice Climate Action Team's partner organization, the Conejo Climate Coalition, is cosponsoring a very important event that could help protect our beloved forests. The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to roll back the Roadless Area Conservation Rule—one of the most important protections for our national forests—while limiting public input in the process.
For 25 years, the Roadless Rule has protected millions of acres of intact forest from new road construction, large-scale logging, and mining, safeguarding clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation - including more than 635,000 acres in Los Padres National Forest and surrounding public lands.
Join us for a community meeting to learn what the Roadless Rule rollback could mean for our local forests, hear from experts and advocates, and stand with others in defense of the wild places we all cherish. Together, we can show that our communities are paying attention—and that we will fight to protect our forests.
Register here: https://tinyurl.com/24f2jmy2
"Moms Club" Documentary Film Screening and Discussion Panel
August 30th 2pm
New Thought Now! Spiritual Center,
880 Hampshire Rd Ste W, Westlake Village, CA 91361
Our friends at the Thousand Oaks based community groups 805 Speakeasy and Conejo Together invite you to an in-person screening of Moms Club, a powerful documentary about everyday parents in a fight to protect public education!
Do you remember when the Proud Boys and other outside groups showed up at our school board meetings? When there were organized efforts to remove books from CVUSD libraries?
Those events weren't isolated. Moms Club follows parents across Southern California who experienced similar conflicts and set out to understand who was driving them. Their investigation became a powerful story of ordinary moms organizing to put the pieces together, a true testament to just how powerful mama-bears can be.
Join us for a special screening of Moms Club and meet several of the moms featured in the film during a discussion panel afterward. With school board elections approaching, it's an opportunity to learn, ask questions, and hear directly from the people who lived this story.
Because people who think together, learn together, laugh together, celebrate together, and care for one another’s children build the strongest communities! Come learn the history, ask questions, and meet other locals. Come alone or bring a friend, but don’t miss this opportunity. Space is limited!
To Register: Click the link below to make a $15+ donation to the film's Go Fundme and forward your confirmation email to 805spe...@gmail.com. The folks at 805 Speakeasy will add you to the list!
Registration link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-finish-moms-club-documentary
Questions? Contact 805 Speakeasy at 805spe...@gmail.com and visit https://www.momsclubfilm.com/ for more information about the film and to watch the trailer.
Joys & Sorrows
Please email any joys and sorrows prior to service by 8 am on Sunday mornings to this address: j...@chaliceuu.org.
You may still fill out cards if you are attending in person.
Put this on your Calendar!
Visiting or New to Chalice?
If you would like to connect and share more about yourself, take this survey: Let's Get Connected
Stay informed as a Chalice Member
Leadership Documents can be accessed from our website, click on the Members pull-down, then Members Resources to reach our Google Members Shared Drive. Members Shared Drive
Get more involved, connected and learn more about Chalice structure & Governance as a member: view links here: Making Connections 2026
We hope this is helpful. Please feel free to reach out if you need assistance or have questions: Pres...@chaliceuu.org, and Trea...@chaliceuu.org for Financial questions.
If you have special news to share with the congregation in Sunday services please write to j...@chaliceuu.org.
Or reach out to us here:
Chalice Office # (805) 498-9548 - Messages will be checked regularly.
Rev. Nica Eaton, Minister: Mini...@chaliceuu.org
Anthony Concepcion, Music Director: musicd...@chaliceuu.org
Samantha Dickerson, Director of Wisdom Exploration: d...@chaliceuu.org
Ana Krista Johnson, Office Administrator: ad...@chaliceuu.org or Bookkeeper, bookk...@chaliceuu.org
Explore our website to learn more about everything we are doing.