Mission Peak UU Congregation
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"A Spiritual Community of Caring Hearts and Open Minds"

 


 Rev

Rev. Barbara Meyers' Ministry

Quarterly Report to MPUUC Board of Trustees

December 2007

 

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 Program

  • Gave a Training in the Chicago area Nov 9-11 on how to lead Caring Congregation classes in their churches. The UUA Grant covered some of the expenses. The Central Midwest UU District office organized the training. Representatives of four congregations and two other religions/medical professionals attended. Thirteen attendees in all. Highly successful!
  • New York Metro area UU churches have set a training date for March 28-30. Several ministers are interested and they are recruiting others.
  • Invited by San Diego Congregation to give seminar and worship service on mental health in spring
  • Pacific Northwest Group has asked about my availability to do a training there in the spring.

Classes and Seminars Given

  • Will be speaker at seminar at Starr King School for the Ministry as part of Legislative day.
  • Proposal for workshop on spirituality and mental illness at Alternatives Conference was accepted.

Classes and Seminars Taken

  • Reducing Stigma for American Soldiers, conducted by SAMHSA Resource Center to Address Discrimination & Stigma Associated with Mental Illness, December 20, 2007.
  • County Education Effort Continues
  • With the Consumer Affairs Director of Alameda County Behavioral Healthcare, continued an effort to educate county administration of the importance of religious faith to recovery from mental illness. Plans include helping to plan a state-wide Spirituality Conference in October, 2008. This activity is on hold for me since August 13. I expect that it will be started again early in 2008.

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, and led one all-day training for new associates in October.
  • Made several visits to congregational members with mental health problems, at home and in the hospital.

Priestly

  • Worship associate on October 28 on the Day of the Dead
  • Worship associate on Christmas Eve

Social Justice

Community Awareness

  • Mental Health Matters Public Access TV Show
  • Planned for initial set of 8 shows; subjects to cover, and people to invite
  • Taped first show on September 19 with a show on the subject of Suicide and the second on Schizophrenia on October 17. The next 6 shows will be on: Recovery, Bipolar Disorder, the African-American mental health experience, Peer support and Alternative Therapies, Mental Health Problems in Children, and Religion and Spirituality and Mental Health. Many of the speakers have been lined up.
  • I expect that regularly scheduled airing date will be set in December or early January.
  • Public Awareness Committee of the Mental Health Board is highly involved with financial and moral support.
  • Shows put on the internet for download and watching from anywhere
  • 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. This activity was on hold for 4 months and has started again in December.

UUA Accessibility Committee

  • Helped to start new Accessibility Group called EQUUAL ACCESS with members throughout the UUA. Will confer via email and teleconference with this group.
  • The UUA Board of Trustees has decided that the Accessibility Committee will be combined with the Journey Towards Wholeness Transformation Committee. I can lobby for the accessibility statement for mental health without being in a committee.

Books Read

  • Musicophilia - Tales of Music and the Brain, by Oliver Sacks, New York: Knopf, 2007.
  • Nightmare in Napa, by Paul LaRosa, New York: Pocket Star Books, 2007
  • The Suicide's Wife, a novel, by David Madden, Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1978.
  • Thank God for Evolution! - How the Marriage of Science and Religion will Transform Your Life and Our World, by Michael Dowd, San Francisco: Council Oak Books, 2007.

Other

  • My daughter was married on October 21 in Livermore!
  • 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 mentor Rev. Dave Sammons every 4-6 weeks
  • Met with other UU community ministers every 2 months