Rev. Barbara Meyers' Ministry

Quarterly Report to MPUUC Board of Trustees

March 2008

 

To the MPUUC Board of Trustees,

 

The following is a list of the activities I have engaged in during the last quarter as part of my endorsed community ministry.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

 

Yours in faith,

 

 

 

Rev. Barbara Meyers

 

Education

Caring Congregation

• New York Metro area UU churches training was held on March 28-30. This completes the activities for the UUA Grant that was awarded in the fall of 2005. A final report is being prepared and will be given to the Board when finished, and to the UUA Funding Program.
• San Diego Congregation to contact me in April about giving seminar and worship service on mental health

Classes and Seminars Given

• Gave an all-day Saturday intensive training on Mental Health and Pastoral Care at Starr King School for the Ministry on Feb 23. Students from 6 seminaries attended. The class was completely full and had a long waiting list. Therefore, have arranged to give the class again on April 5 at the Berkeley UU Fellowship.
• Was speaker on mental health at seminar at Starr King School for the Ministry as part of Legislative Health day, on Jan 29.
• With Scotty Scott and Janelle Hargrove, presented a workshop on spirituality and mental illness at Client Forum Conference sponsored by the California Network of Mental Health Clients on Feb 8, 2008 in Sacramento.

Classes and Seminars Taken

• Fighting the Tiger: The Psychological and Spiritual Effects of Emotional Trauma, February 4-2, 2008. The Wayne E. Oates Institute of Online learning.
• Attended Conference of the California Network of Mental Health Clients in Sacramento in February. Attended many presentations and made a joint presentation as discussed above.
• Reducing Stigma and Discrimination among People who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) conducted by SAMHSA Resource Center to Address Discrimination & Stigma Associated with Mental Illness, teleconference seminar 12 March 2008.

County Education Effort Continues

Plans have been made to have a state-wide Mental Health and Spirituality Conference in October, 2008. I will participate in this as much as I can with my other activities.

Healing

Reaching Across

• Continued compensated job at Reaching Across organization, for quarter-time work.

Support Groups

• Continued co-leading new interfaith support group for people with depression and sadness.
• Continued to recommend support group for families of those with mental illness.

Pastoral Associates

• Continue to prepare training materials for Pastoral Associates.
• Made several visits to congregational members with mental health problems, at home and in the hospital.

Priestly

• Worship associate on February 24

Social Justice

Community Awareness

• Mental Health Matters Public Access TV Show
• Taped shows on: Peer Support and Self-Help in February, and Children's mental health in March. Spirituality is planned for April.
• Topics for the second set of 8 shows have been chosen with broad input. They are: Depression, Dual Diagnosis, The Consumer Movement, Trauma, Mental Health in Jail/Prison, First Break, Anxiety and Mental Health in the Asian community. Speakers for Depression, Dual Diagnosis and the Consumer Movement have been lined up.
• Programs are now being aired throughout Alameda County on regular broadcast schedules, in addition to being online. We needed to find three local producers for the Pleasanton/Livermore area, the Berkeley area and the Oakland area. Broadcast schedules are on the MPUUC web pages.
• An article about the TV shows was published in the Argus, and another article was published in the online version of the UU World Magazine.
• Mental Health pages on MPUUC web site continue to be widely accessed.
• Participated in Alameda County Mental Health Services Act Planning Council This group does Alameda County Mental Health Services Act (MHSA Proposition 63) MHSA program portfolio reviews, budgetary actions recommendations, and prioritization of new programs.

UUA Accessibility Committee

• Helped to start new Accessibility Group called Equual Access with members throughout the UUA. Will continue to confer via email and teleconference with this group as it forms. The by-laws have been written and now preliminary leadership is partially in place.
• The UUA Board of Trustees has decided that the Accessibility Committee will be combined with the Journey Towards Wholeness Transformation Committee. I will lobby for the accessibility statement for mental health.

Books Read

• Books about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder:
  • Down Range: To Iraq and Back, by Bridget Cantrell and Chuck Dean, Wordsmith Publishing, 2005.
  • Once a Warrior: Wired for Life, by Bridget Cantrell and Chuck Dean, Wordsmith Publishing, 2007.
• It's Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini, New York: Miramax Books, Hyperion, 2006. A novel about a teenager who has a suicidal episode and checks himself into a psychiatric hospital, where he discovers what happiness really is. Excellent.
• Monday I'll Save the World - Memoir of a Heartland Journalist, by Larry Hayes, Ft. Wayne: LifeQuest, 2004. A newspaper editorial writer who is a UU and a consumer, and who has a son who is also a consumer, has written many editorials on mental health subjects.
• When Everybody Cares: Case Studies of ABA with People with Autism, by Bobby Newman, AMAC, Inc. The author of this book was in my Metro New York District training. A very impressive guy.

Personal

• Rest
• Finished weaving for Terri King with a design based on a Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass window. Very pleased that I can weave geometric shapes!

Other

• Met with Community Ministry Advisory Committee every quarter
• Chaired MPUUC Mental Health Committee which meets every 6-8 weeks
• Met with Committee on Ministry from MPUUC monthly
• Met with other UU community ministers every 2 months