Tulsa church will move downtown

All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, voted April 9 to launch a capital campaign, reaffirming a 2011 congregational vote to relocate to downtown Tulsa from its current location in the wealthy Maple Ridge neighborhood. Senior minister the Rev. Marlin Lavanhar said just over 80 percent of the congregation voted in favor of the move, which will put the church on a now-vacant full city block by its 100th anniversary in 2021. Those who supported the move cited proximity to more diverse parts of Tulsa, as well as a “renaissance” of activity downtown, as central to the move. “There are a lot of folks who don’t go to church anywhere and they don’t realize there is a church like ours,” Lavanhar told Tulsa’s News 6 following the vote. Bishop Carlton Pearson, also of All Souls, said they want to “see African Americans feel more comfortable mixing in worship.” (See also “Largest UU Church Votes to Move Downtown,” 5/29/17.)

Sacramento UUs work with refugee aid agency

The UU Society of Sacramento, California, has partnered with the Sacramento office of the International Rescue Committee to assist with refugee resettlement in the region. Collaborative activities have included implementing an English-as-a-second-language program, congregational drives for donation of welcome kits with household items for resettled families, and drives for donation of bicycles and biking gear, warm coats, and blankets. They collected and donated 136 coats and fifty blankets in the winter of 2016.

Fellowship endorses carbon fee program

The Board of Trustees of the UU Fellowship of San Luis Obispo County, California, has voted to endorse the national revenue-neutral carbon fee and dividend program proposed by Citizens’ Climate Lobby, becoming the second UU congregation in the United States to do so. The first was BuxMont UU Fellowship of Warrington, Pennsylvania.