Plans for Restroom Upgrades Being Considered

Before the ACC Council decides to upgrade our restrooms, it is time for the Congregation to see what is being considered.  Two alternative plans, known as Plan B Alt and Plan F Alt, will be posted in the Fireside Room starting this coming Sunday--they are also attached. The Restroom Planning Committee will also host two “town halls” on Zoom to discuss the benefits of each plan as well as the probable costs.  If the Council votes to proceed on one of these plans, there will be a long process ahead before any construction begins including development of working drawings, review by the Sanitary District, and Permitting by the County. Construction would likely begin late May or June of 2023.

 This is a voluntary upgrade that considers the desire to increase the number of fixtures (especially in the women’s restroom), and to create accessible space for wheelchairs.  It would be the last project using funds from the Capital Campaign. Council decision will be based on the long-term benefits of the project to the church community, funding, and input from the Congregation.  Many different iterations of design possibilities have been studied, and Council has narrowed it down to two options, Plan B Alt and Plan F Alt.  

 Members of the congregation are invited to participate in one or both of the Zoom town halls regarding plans being considered, the expected costs, and possible funding sources: August 31 at 4:00 PM and September 1 at 7:00 PM. We will welcome your questions and opinions.

Attached are the two plans (CLICK HERE TO VIEW)

 Plan B Alt would involve the use of the cloak closet as well as our existing restroom spaces. Existing restrooms would be expanded slightly by bringing the south wall (where the drinking fountains currently are) forward to the level of the little wing walls in front of the men’s and women’s doorways.  Those restrooms would not need to have space for wheelchair turn around, because an accessible unisex restroom would be created in the current cloak closet. The increased space would allow two more toilets to be added to the women’s restroom, and one more sink. The men’s room could have an additional sink and a more private screened urinal than the existing restroom.  Each would have a fold -down baby changing table.

 An added value of Plan B Alt, reflecting ACC’s commitment to equity and inclusion, is a unisex restroom. The accessible unisex restroom would be completely private with accessible toilet, urinal, and sink.  Javier’s mop sink, currently in the cloak closet, would be moved next to the women’s restroom or an existing storage closet in the corridor between the Social Hall and the Fireside Room.  A proposed new cloak closet would likely be furniture conveniently located in the Narthex niche currently holding a narrow table and mirror (just to your left after entering the building). Given the rare use of the cloak closet for coats, this is likely an acceptable alternative.

Plan F Alt would only use the current restroom space including expansion of the wall holding the drinking fountains.  It would create a unisex accessible space that would also serve as the men’s room.

The women’s room would gain 2 more toilets for a total of 3. Note: one of the women’s stalls is wider and has a sink in it that would be comfortable for someone with a walker. All three restrooms would have baby changing tables. 

 If you have any questions before the town hall’s, please feel free to ask any of us on the planning committee.   

Linda Young, Eleanor Crump, or David Hertzer. 

Restroom Upgrade Progress Report: July, 2022

The congregation may recall that we launched our “20/20 Capital Campaign” around Fall of 2016.  The purpose was to raise funds for much needed capital improvements to our building. Before 2016 we conducted congregation surveys and meetings to receive input from the congregation on what those improvements should be. Priorities were set, and over time some projects were eliminated due to feasibility issues. Many have been accomplished.  The next project on the list after the sidewalks were rebuilt, was to be upgrading our restrooms. A reminder of our goals: 

·        Create ADA accessible restroom space for all genders.

·        Increase the number of toilet fixtures, especially for women. 

The Restroom Upgrade Committee and Council have been carefully discussing options and reviewing architect sketches for well over a year. At this stage, the Upgrade Committee is seeking contractors to give us “ballpark” estimates on two proposed architect schematics. Once we have those estimates, the Upgrade Committee will share them with the Congregation (hopefully this Fall).  No work will progress until we have Council approval to proceed on one plan and its financing, adjustments have been made, working drawings have been developed, and Contra Costa County has issued permits. 

Details Coming Up: 

·        Narrow down the options to 2. (Council selected those July 8)

·        Submit proposed schematics to contractors for “ballpark” estimates. (In progress)

·        Present the 2 options to the congregation along with “Ball Park Estimates” for feedback. (Hopefully in Fall)

·        Architect makes feasible adjustments.

·        Council reviews funds available, votes on whether to proceed, and if so, selects a single plan.

·        Architect develops working drawings, and they are reviewed by Council.

·        Architect submits working drawings to the County for permits. Our architect will help negotiate with the county under their hardship considerations. We are doing a voluntary upgrade so there is wiggle room.

·        Council accepts a formal contractor bid accepted by the Council.

Background, Work Done So Far:

A great deal of work and study has gone into this project for feasibility, codes, ADA requirements, etc.  Council hired Architect, Christopher Gillman at the end of April after months of discussing configuration options, goals, conversations with the county, and Upgrade Committee interviewing architects. Since then, Chris did thorough research on the requirement of ADA upgrades, and Contra Costa County Code requirements.  Based on measurements of our current space, and knowledge of what we are allowed/required to do, as well as our goals, Chris developed 6 schematics of what we could realistically do to upgrade. The Upgrade Committee: Linda Young, Eleanor Crump, and David Hertzer reviewed those options and narrowed them down to three that seemed to best satisfy our goals.

 Council met with Chris Gilman in June, to review the three best options and gave a considerable amount of input and suggestions, so Chris went back to the drawing board. He submitted the same three options with important adjustments considering all the input from Council.  On July 8 Council selected the 2 best options to submit to contractors for likely costs. The Upgrade Committee is currently searching for contractors. Some names have been recommended by the architect but if you have an idea of a contractor licensed for public/commercial buildings let Linda know.   Those 2 options, along with “ballpark” estimates will be shared with the Congregation once we have them, hopefully in the Fall. 

 Linda Young, for the Restroom Upgrade Committee

Shanti's Retirement Letter

May  6,  2022

Dear Pastor Celeste and ACC:

It has been a privilege being your music director, I think 1992 , as that is when I moved to El Cerrito.  I had been directing or playing the organ in churches all my life and had an undergraduate degree in music from Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam '75 and a Masters in Organ performance from SF State University '81.    I am putting down my thoughts of those 30 years,  the programs I started here at ACC,  the major chorale works we performed and the various performing groups  within the church and within the community that made ACC unique.  It's been fun and satisfying to work with the loving community of ACCers, and it helped me grow in ways I never would have imagined.  Thank you for continually being the supportive and a progressive church. I have enjoyed working with.

My job as music director allowed me to be creative and follow my instincts.  My first priority was creating an accepting relationship with our in-church musicians, so they felt appreciated, challenged and satisfied with their accomplishments.  That was my job to bring people together.  I extended that welcome to many community musicians, music students from UC Berkeley, and even some of my personal piano/music students and friends.  My vision was to be a community church connected to Bay area musicians.  Over the years we (the church) develop long standing relationships with many outstanding musicians including Andrew Chung  (Bass soloist/ BACH),  Shira Kammen (Early music director/harpist & viol), Mara Plotkin (PHD Clarinetist)  and many other soloists. 

I started a  Mini Concert Series , with  monthly concerts  bringing in local artists to perform.  I created the schedule, connected with the artists, made the tickets on my computer,  sold the tickets, worked at the door, did  reception ( later Jaime and others helped there) and introduced the artists.  This went on for 7 years.

My work with children began, first with the bell choir (90's) and later with Arlington Children's choir (2001), followed with summer programs performing Peace Child co-directed with Michael Mansfield.  I directed a stunning opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors (Menotti) around 2005 with the young Amahl (Matthew Fox) being one of my children's choir singers and piano student.  That was pretty amazing for his first production.  

Over the years the choir with community singers have sung many major chorale masses:    Vivaldi's Mass is G,  Faure's Mass,  Duruffle's Mass,  John Rutter's Requiem and Mass for Children,  Brahms's Requiem,  Rossini's Mass and a few more.  We created special end of the year concerts featuring Choir, Children and Hand Bells.

My duties, in general, would include choosing anthems, bell music, children's music;  for the whole year and rehearsing these groups weekly.  There was also the advent and Christmas Eve programs and extra performances for Christmas Bazaar and such.  At Lent, we had extra services and often a Major work, like one of the Requiems (John Rutter was a favorite) and I would ask people to remember a loved one and have the name listed in the program.  If one was able,  they would donate $25.00 to help offset the cost of hiring musicians.  In the summer we used our talented ACCer musicians and our music friends from the Bay area to provide special music for the summer months. The regular music groups took off at this time. Occasionally, I would play then organ when Oscar was away.

Also, I want to thank Arlington Church for allowing me to pursue one of my passions:  Person of the Planet.  You allowed me to share my ideas and shape the concept and allow me to bring many diverse speakers, movies and programs about the environment to the church.  It is still a passion for me, but COVID put the brakes on these activities.  I was even able to write many columns for our Person of the Planet website and the Parish Scope.  These were not my music duties and they took considerable time, but I found a lot of satisfaction doing this.

I am happy that even during Covid, I could record many of the hymns that we used during that time for our video services. It allowed me to learn about more advanced recording techniques and a chance to sing solo.  The choir also had a chance to sing their parts as a solo and allow Tim to digitally put it together. I chose music that was not too complicated.   Another big accomplishment during Covic was the renovation of the choir room using the memorial funds from Edie Rodman. Sara was the best partner for working on the many details of this project, first with California Closets and later with Ikia.  Sara and I spend hours shopping and  going through and weeding out older choir music so we could trim-up the number of file cabinets we were using. The choir room now looks beautiful and we should watch that it stays inviting and doesn't become a store room for other stuff.

So, there you have it, a short reminiscing of my time at ACC.  There is more, of course, but that's what floated up today.

My husband, Lachu, retired in 2015 from his work at his Indian restaurant Ajanta.  That was seven years ago.  He just turned 80 in December.  Last month, his brother-in-law (Haresh) passed away at age 78. Time goes by and I can hardly believe I will be 70 myself next March!  We are both aging and we both love to travel and visit many places including Indian where most of his family live. We figure there's a few more years to get away, but as Haresh's death pointed out, you never know what's ahead.  Best to go while you are healthy.  As much as I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the folks of ACC,.....it  is time for me to join Lachu in retirement! 

As of September 2022, I would like to retire from my position at ACC!  I hope this gives you ample time to find the exact right person to replace me and to move forward with the excellent  music of the church.  Pastor Celeste has beautiful visions of the  church and community coming together to share music.  I can offer my help in this transition.

I am still a member of the church and I am not planning on moving away so I hope to still see your lovely faces in the future. 

Blessings and Peace to you ALL,

Leslie-Shanti  Moorjani

Javier’s 10th Anniversary with ACC!

Please join us this Sunday after church services to celebrate Javier’s 10th year with us. He is the quiet person behind almost everything that takes place here at ACC. His unique experience in his previous career means he can fix the roof, gutters, and decks, replace plumbing and light sockets, trim trees, and set up the rooms for our gatherings, for the Scouts and outside renters, and much, much more. And always with a calm and loving spirit.

His father played on the Uruguay national soccer team in the 50s; the team ultimately won the World Cup. Being the son of a famous man brought perks, although living under a corrupt dictatorship was difficult, and sometimes dangerous. In his 20s, he emigrated to San Francisco.

He is an avid motorcyclist, often taking trips to parks and sanctuaries. He particularly enjoys books on history: world, American, South American, and currently Russian. His favorite thing to do is spend time with his family, especially his two granddaughters, Natalie and Molly. Every school day he could be seen walking Natalie to and from elementary school, and now Molly; always in the company of his two rescue dogs, Shorty and Lilly.

So come, have a piece of Molly’s favorite cake, and let him how grateful we are to have him with us.

Easter Congregational Photos!

Black Wealth Builders Fund Receives First Applications!

Black Wealth Builders Fund Receives First Applications!

Just in time for Easter, our Black Wealth Builders Fund is moving into its next phase: making our first loans. According to the Richmond Community Foundation, where the fund is housed, two applications have been received via Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, one of our partner agencies. That means that soon we will be helping our initial group of Black neighbors into their first home.

Launched last year during Lent, the fund today stands at around $216,000, thanks to generous donations from all over the Bay Area and beyond (beginning with ACC). The goal of the fund is to help repair a small portion of the financial damage of racism and white supremist housing policies. The fund helps Black homebuyers by providing loans for down payments or closing costs. No interest is charged on the loans and they are not required to be paid back until the property is refinanced or sold.

As we learn more about our first loan applicants, we’ll share the details. And this is just the beginning of our journey—the more people we help, the more donations we can attract. It is our hope that other UCC churches around the country will launch funds like ours.

We are gladly still accepting donations to this important cause. You can donate directly by sending a check to the Richmond Community Foundation, 3260 Blume Dr., Suite 110, Richmond, CA 94806. Indicate Black Wealth Builders Fund in the memo line. Or you can donate online: https://www.giveffect.com/campaigns/17536-black-wealth-builder-s-fund

More information on the fund and its importance can be found on ACC’s website:

https://www.arlingtoncommunitychurchucc.org/bwb

REVISED COVID PROTOCOLS: April 10, 2022

· Effective April 10, in keeping with federal, state and local regulatory agency mandates, masks and social distancing will be STRONGLY RECOMMENDED, but no longer required, indoors at ACC, including in the Sanctuary and the Social Hall.

· Each person is encouraged to make the decisions they feel are right for them and to respect and support the decisions of others.

· The requirement to present proof of vaccination or negative COVID test will remain in place but be re-evaluated at the end of April.

Notes from the Moderator: March 18, 2022

Notes from the Moderator: March 18, 2022

All articles for the Parishscope should now be sent to Pastor Celeste initially, with a cc to Jacob at the church office if you wish.  Pastor Celeste will edit what is included in the Parishscope and send on to Jacob for publication.

The in-person worship experience is a real blessing after months of virtual services. Watching the service again on YouTube the next day or later in the week is an experience I’d strongly recommend. Pastor Celeste’s sermons include more than I heard the first time.  Possibly it’s like “warmed up lasagna,” which many conclude is better the second day. Try it, you may just end up liking it.

Continued Prayers are encouraged for our Pastor, ACC, the Members, Council,  and the community around us, as well as the people of Ukraine and Russia.

Faith Abel, Moderator

Consideration of a Possible Upgrade of the Narthex Restrooms

Consideration of a Possible Upgrade of the Narthex Restrooms

Back in 2019, soon after the roof replacement, Council revisited the list of proposed projects listed during our Vision 2020 Campaign that began in 2013.  During that process, lists were developed and roughly prioritized, knowing that circumstances might change, requiring us to change direction from time to time.  Those lists have “evolved” for several reasons, feasibility, changing needs, and changed circumstances (such as the roof replacement due to leaks that could not be ignored).  After the roof replacement, we returned to the list and picked up the sidewalk project, addressing safety needs.  Next on the list is upgrading restrooms in the Narthex.  Council’s goal has been to upgrade with a fully accessible ADA restroom and increase the number of fixtures to eliminate inconvenience of long waits when a large group meets in the church.  We are now at the “investigation stage” (which was delayed due to Covid).

This stage has included looking at sketches for possible configuration of our space;  the sketches were provided at no charge by a retired architect and friend of the church.  Council narrowed them down, and I agreed to begin a more serious investigation.  I’ve consulted with 5 architects and a couple of contractors, consulted with the Contra Costa County lead plan checker, and shared information with the Restroom Upgrade Committee:  myself, Eleanor Crump, and David Hertzer.  We have requested proposal from architects, and the Committee will review proposals.  Our objective is to select an architect who will provide us with “schematic” drawings based on requirements of the County for use of space, and number of fixtures - all governed by Code.  We have waited to share possible plans with the congregation until we have some concrete information about what is actually feasible and the possible costs. That information will be vital to deciding whether we will proceed with such a project.  Once we have that information in hand, we’ll arrange for Spectrum-type presentations to the congregation.  

To finance this project, we have funds remaining in the Vision 2020 fund, and available funds in the Endowment have been accumulating for several years. 

Please let me know if you have questions.    Linda Young

Simplified Covid Prevention Protocols for In-Person Worship: REVISED MARCH 7, 2022

Simplified Covid Prevention Protocols for In-Person Worship

Revised March 7, 2022

In effect through at least April 3rd

Vaccination cards or negative Covid test results checked at the door.

Masks are required inside except when actually eating or drinking.

  Masks are optional outdoors.

1.     Effective March 6, 2022: Vaccinations and boosters required for all who are eligible: Please be prepared to show vaccination/booster certificate at the door or, if you have already been cleared, ask the Greeter to check (✔) your name on the “Fully Vaccinated List”.

2.     Effective March 13, 2022: Unvaccinated church members welcome upon presentation of a negative test:  Please be prepared to show a time-stamped photo of a negative Covid test result, the test having been taken within 24 hours. The Greeters will record names of those presenting Covid test results in lieu of vaccination certificates.

3.     Wear a face covering: Masks will continue to be required indoors. Please wear an N95, KN95, or KF94. If these are not available, a surgical mask with tight ear straps that completely covers mouth and nose is acceptable; cloth masks are no longer acceptable.

4.     Stay home when you’re sick: Please stay home if you are experiencing any signs of illness and get tested before coming to ACC. Please plan to stay home for one week if you test positive.

5.     If you test positive: If you test positive within a week after attending in-person worship, please contact Pastor Celeste as soon as possible for contact tracing and other considerations. 

6.     Stay home after traveling by plane: Please stay home for one week after travelling and get tested before coming to ACC.

7.     Stay up to date: Please watch the ParishScope, Wednesday Update, and ACC website for the latest updates. We anticipate frequent changes in this protocol as the public health situation and the concerns of our congregation evolve.

8.     Questions? Concerns? Please contact Pastor Celeste Fields, Moderator Faith Abel, or Re-Opening Chair Eleanor Crump

Church Service Protocols

1.     Greeters check and document vaccination/booster certifications for vaccinated people and negative Covid test verifications for unvaccinated members.

2.     Returning church members no longer need to show their vaccination certificates every Sunday; the Greeter can check them off on the “Fully Vaccinated List.” The Greeter will also record names of those not yet on the list as well as those showing Covid test results in lieu of vaccination certificates.

3.     Worship Host records seating (cell-phone photo).

4.     Maintain social distancing: six-foot minimum distance (except members of same household).

5.     Wear masks the entire time, even while singing. Exception: Speakers and singers at a distance while they are speaking or singing.

6.     Communion: Touch-free with tongs and cups in trays.

7.     Passing the Peace: Stay in place.

8.     Offering: Baskets at entry.

9.     Doors open to enhance ventilation insofar as weather and street noise allow.

10.  No lingering and chatting indoors before/after worship--quick in and out—welcome to greet and chat outdoors.

11.  No indoor Social Hour for the time being. Welcome to Social Hour on the patio.