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Betty and Rev. Jim Grant (above photo) are Co-Chairs of Local Arrangements for District Assembly, which will be held on April 25-27 at the Marriott Hotel in Carmel Valley.

Many San Diego Cluster UUs are helping with the three-day event. In addition, several are conducting workshops, including Rev. Dr. Beth Johnson, minister, and Daniel Stracka, president, of Palomar UU Fellowship; Joan Kanter, former president of the former Coronado UU Church; Rob Molek of Chalice UU Congregation; Rev. Tom Owen-Towle, interim minister of UU Fellowship of San Dieguito, and Eddy Perry of First UU Church of San Diego.

Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell, Senior Minister of First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon, is the keynote speaker on Friday night, and Richard Lederer, formerly of “A Way with Words,” will speak and entertain at Saturday night's banquet.

The Sunday Service will be conducted by Rev. Dr. Beth Johnson and Rev. Tom Owen-Towle. San Dieguito and Palomar will both be “dark” that day.

This year's theme is “Weaving the Tapestry of the Beloved Community.” For more information about the 2008 District Assembly, click on the Pacific Southwest District website.

South Bay Growth. Carol Layne, South Bay Intern Minister, says “it looks very promising that we will be able to secure Tiffany Elementary near the corner of East H Street and Otay Lakes Road (near Southwestern College) for our Worship Services and Religious Education Program.” The South Bay campus of First UU Church has an expected target date of October 2008 for opening.

Growth Path. Summit UU Fellowship has established a Task Force on Growth to look at ways to accommodate its growing attendance at Sunday Services and recommend solutions.

Supports Decision. Pamela Puckette, a member of the Ministerial Search Committee at UU Fellowship of San Dieguito, recently shared the Fellowship's reaction to the committee's decision not to present a candidate for settled minister this spring. “The entire Search Committee stood before the congregation as Diane Masser-Frye, our wonderful chairwoman, told the congregation of our decision to call no one rather than the wrong one,” she said. “As you can well imagine, this was not the scenario we had envisioned presenting when we started our Search in August 2006. We are pleased to tell you that our congregation applauded us. With tears in our eyes, our congregation supported our decision. We, each member of the MSC, personally received thanks for courage and decision.”

In addition to Diane and Pamela, the Search Committee included Lawrence Jones, Christopher Kinzie, Dan Ness, Robin Sales and Kathryn Sturch. In her letter to the Fellowship, Diane noted that, “Since our application and paperwork with the UUA is all in order, we do not need to wait until the traditional time (typically in the spring) to invite someone to candidate. We are able to work 'off-track' and may find someone sooner.”

Tickets Available. Chalice UU Congregation still has tickets available for this Friday night's (April 11) grand opening of the LGBTQ Pride Center at Cal State San Marcos. They're $20.00 each and interested UUs should contact Rob Molek at robmolek@gmail.com. The event, which begins at 6 p.m., is expected to be a sellout.

Time Magazine. The April 14 issue of Time magazine (on newsstands now) has the first of two ads that will run as part of Phase II of Unitarian Universalism's National Marketing Campaign. The second will appear in the May 12 issue on newsstands May 2.

Saturday/April 12/Palomar. The PUUF Performers will present a musical variety show celebrating Earth Day two weeks early. Beginning at 3:30 p.m., choir members and instrumentalists will honor Planet Earth in song, dance, comedy and inspiration. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door; children are half price. Proceeds go to the PUUF music program. Contact Jan Boysen at (760) 631-7055.

Saturday/April 12/First Church. Concert pianist Jim Reilly, founder of the Nordvendt Concert Series in Minneapolis, and former Music Director of the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis, will present a solo piano recital beginning at 7:30 p.m. $15 donations will be accepted.

Friday-Sunday/April 25-27/Carmel Valley Marriott. District Assembly comes to San Diego.

Position Open. First UU Church is seeking a new Religious Education Assistant/Adult Education Coordinator. This is a full-time position supervised by the Director of Religious Education and Family Ministry. For more information and a job description, contact Liz Jones at ljonessd@aol.com or (619) 298-9978. April 2 is the application deadline.

Radio Spots. Anyone heard the UU weekend spots on KPBS (“A Way with Words”) and XLNC (104.9), the classical music station? If so, please e-mail Len Pellettieri at lenp@cox.net and let him know what you think.

Musician Sought. Summit continues to search for a Choir Director. Interested candidates should send a letter of intent and a resume in electronic format to Ed Henry, chair of the Sunday Services Committee, at ehenry@mail.sdsu.edu.

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