Unitarian Universalists of
the
Online
Newsletter for June 2005
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June Newsletter
Deadline is Monday, June 20
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Congregational Meeting and
Discussion June 5th
Changing Lives, Inside and
Out
The End Is Near (of the
fiscal year)
June Congregational
Happenings
Project S.H.A.R.E. In the
News and Changing the World
While we were walking our dogs in the park one morning recently, a friend asked me “What do you think about when you’re not thinking about religion?” I nearly laughed out loud. “I hardly ever think about religion!” I replied.
Then I immediately felt a twinge of guilt. Maybe I should be thinking about religion a lot more than I do. After all, I’m a minister. Aren’t ministers supposed to think about religion all the time?
I said to my friend, “What interests me is people. I think about people a lot: should I call that person to find out what that “look” meant when we were talking on Sunday? What is going to happen in this relationship? Should this child be tested for a diagnosis to explain his or her peculiar behavior? How can I make things right between so-and-so and that other person? Who would be the best person to ask to do such-and-such? I’m concerned that someone is making a bad decision; should I intervene? Thank goodness for [insert name here]: how would we ever get along without her/him?”
I’ve been pondering this question for several days now. My friend is unchurched; she probably thinks that ministry is a lot about theology and spiritual matters. In my experience, ministry is a tiny bit about theology and spiritual matters and a lot about organizing projects, holding meetings, and picking up stuff and putting it somewhere else. A lot of the work of ministry is ordinary and unexciting.
However, I’m not complaining! Ministry turned out to be different from what I thought it would be — less reading and more phoning; less thinking and more strategizing; less theology and more politics. But do you know what? I love it! It turns out that I’m good at strategizing, and I’m good at picking stuff up and putting it somewhere else, and I get kind of a kick out of reading and researching a topic I’m interested in and writing a paper about it (you’d call it a sermon).
At the District annual meeting in early April, I encountered a colleague in the hallway whom I don’t see very often. “Hey, how are you?” I asked her. Without skipping a beat, she replied “I’m grateful.” That got my attention, because this woman has had a very rough year with her congregation, and in my opinion she would have every reason to be not grateful at all. But I could tell from the way she answered my rhetorical question that she uses every opportunity (and how many times a day are we asked “How are you?”) to remind herself that she has plenty to be grateful for.
Ever since then, I have been reminding myself about gratitude. Each evening when we sit down for dinner, Duane and I join hands for a moment of silence before we begin to eat. Recently, I have been using that silence to say to myself “Grateful, grateful, grateful.” Immediately things start popping into my mind for which I am grateful—the first one is nearly always “I am so grateful for my wonderful work, which I absolutely love.”
Gratitude, prayer, love, people — maybe I think about religion more than I realized. An embodied religion, a religion that lives in our hands and our voices, a religion where we break bread together and wash the dishes together afterward. Picking stuff up and putting it somewhere else. I am grateful for my religious life, and grateful that you are a part of it.
See you in church! Love, Judy
June 5 “January in June: Looking Back and Looking Forward” Rev. Judy Welles; DRE Kevin Snow; members of the RE Committee and teaching teams
Each year, RE Sunday gives us the opportunity to look back
at our children’s experiences in Religious Education and celebrate with
them. This year we also look forward to
an exciting new approach to children’s learning and worship which the RE
Committee plans for the Fall. We’ll be inspired by the adventures of
June 12 “The Fine Art
of Wandering” The Rev. Duane Fickeisen and Judy Marti, Worship Associate
The long, sultry days of summer offer fine incentive for the spiritual
practice of wandering: following intuition or whim as you choose a path with no
particular destination or schedule in mind. As a practice, wandering is about
being open to discovery and wonder, making time for sensing the environment
around you and simply noticing. It’s a call to leave your watch and map behind
and pay full attention. During this morning’s service, we will celebrate our
newest members with an Ingathering Ceremony.
June 19 “Something Opens Our Wings” Rev. Judy Welles; Kathy Ellis, Worship Associate
Grace is one of those religious concepts that mystifies many Unitarian Universalists. Unearned, unsought, perhaps even undeserved—grace occasionally happens to remind us that life is good and we are loved.
June 26 “Life
isn't Fair--Get Over It” Diane Reed and
Judy Marti, Worship Associates
Why do terrible things happen to good people, and why
does life in general have to be so unfair? We can devote
our lives to righting all the wrongs in the world. We can spend our life
energy being upset about how unfair life is. Or, we can choose to
approach life's intrinsic unfairness with a sense of perspective, a
realistic view of our ability to affect it, and even with a sense of humor.
Gathering of the Waters As you travel near or far over the summer, collect a small sample from a body of water that is somehow significant to you. An old plastic 35-mm film canister will be just fine -- you might have one in the back of the kitchen junk drawer. Our fall season will begin with the annual "gathering of the waters" on September 11 when we'll mingle the collected waters in the worship service. They will be sterilized later for use in various rituals through the year.
By Priscilla Laws,
President of the Board of Trustees
Meeting to Approve Borrowing for Capital Improvements: Shortly after the service on June 5th we need to have a brief Congregational Meeting in order to get your approval on financing important capital improvements to our property. As most of you know, members of our Finance & Fundraising Committee are arranging for a mortgage to pay off the $100,000 dollar debt remaining from the building purchase. The Board will be bringing a proposal to you to borrow additional money for proposed capital improvements. We will provide you with details on our proposal as soon as possible.
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk
of many things:
Of shoes--and
ships--and sealing-wax--
Of
cabbages--and kings--
And why the
sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings."
From Lewis Carroll’s “Through
the Looking Glass”
Congregational Round Table Discussion: Once the business is done we would like you to help us prepare for a Board Planning Retreat on June 9th and 10th. What are the most important initiatives that could help use realize our visions? What process should we use to decide how to spend the seed fund? How can the seed fund best be used to help launch new initiatives? Stay and share your thoughts and ideas with us.
These five words have become more than a slogan for our 2005 pledge campaign; they, in fact, describe what has happened to us as a community. Because of the generosity of members and friends we have exceeded our goal of $132,900 by over $6500. Never before have we been able to achieve this level of support. And in the process we have changed as individuals and as a community. We have always been committed, thoughtful, generous, responsible individuals. Now, however, in our pledging we have expressed more fully these characteristics of liberal religious community members. We are supporting more vigorously than ever our ministry, our education program, our pastoral concerns, and our physical home. With this unprecedented financial commitment we will also be able to go beyond just giving our “pocket change” to support people in need outside our community. We can improve our efforts to invite others to join our community and can initiate new efforts to change the world by caring for those in need and working for peace and justice. Congratulations UUCV!
From our D.R.E. Kevin
Snow
Have you heard about some of the exciting things that are happening in RE lately? Starting with a kick off on RE Sunday on June 5th, the RE Committee is unveiling a new summer and fall curriculum called The Great Principle Quest that involves a stronger thematic emphasis on the seven UU principles. This curriculum actually pulls from many different RE guides from the RE library of curriculums that have been sifted through to find the best lessons to educate your children and youth about the core principles that guide our UU faith. Combined with a new format, The Great Principle Quest just may be the most exciting thing to happen in RE since I took this post 2.5 years ago.
In addition to a whole new curriculum, look for other exciting changes to the structure of RE. Following the Story for All Ages in the main service, our children will adjourn to the dining hall for their own, brief, Children's Service prior to splitting off into age appropriate groups. As well as providing the children with a more cohesive education in the UU principles, the group gathering of the Children's Service will permit RE on Sundays more flexibility to remain as a larger group on the days we have low attendance, promoting more unity across ages and providing a better structure for instruction.
Along with the creation of these great new ideas for RE, the RE Committee is requiring greater involvement from all parents in their children's religious education this year. Previously we only requested that parents participated as they were willing to, but due to increased difficulty in finding teaching and helping volunteers, the RE Committee, with the approval of the DRE and the Board, has made parental participation in RE mandatory for next season. However, how you participate is still an option. There are many roles that need to be filled in RE, and we believe it is only fair to request parents who sign their children up to lend a hand, whether that be teaching, helping, making snacks for parties or some other function. This mandatory participation is essential to the continued growth of the quality of RE education we can provide to your children, and we have to have your help to offer high quality religious education.
Don't forget that Peacemaker's Camp is coming up in July as well. Save the dates from July 19-23 for another fun and exciting installment of summer camp at Jim Freeman's Pine Grove Furnace cabin. I would like to encourage all the kids and adults who have participated in the past to grab a friend and sign them up this year. Camp registrations are now available on the RE table or through the DRE. Camp is for ages 7 and up, so join Jim for a wonderful summer time. So many great things are happening in RE that you can't help but have fun and learn some great UU principles while climbing on the RE train. See you Sunday!!!
From UUCV Treasurer Tom DeWall
Please be sure to finish up your
pledge payments for 2004-05 by June 30, the end of our fiscal year. It is
important for UUCV's financial health and the success
of our programs to receive these funds on a timely basis. Also, be sure to mark
on your check whether the payment is for the 2004-05 year, or an
"Advance" payment on your new pledge for the 2005-06 year.
June 30 also marks the end of our
three-year Capital Campaign period. These pledge payments are also due by the
end of June. If your check is for a Capital (or Building Fund) contribution,
please be sure to mark it accordingly. If you have questions about the status
of your pledge, please contact our pledge administrator, Doug Spencer, at
249-3915 or jbsandms@epix.net. Thanks
for your cooperation!
June 3 First Friday Potluck All are welcome, bring a dish to share! Downstairs in the Meeting House.
June 4 Boiling Springs Foundry Day Festival Despite Virginia Jackson and Tania Werry’s best efforts, UUCV will NOT have our Strawberry Shortcake booth at the festival this year! A mailing in January from the festival organizers was missed, with the result that UUCV didn’t registered in April for a booth in June. We will use this unfortunate circumstance to improve our process for next year, but all UUCVers are still encouraged to attend this wonderful community event!
June 5 Path to Membership
June 8
June 12 Unwrapping
Your Gifts This one-session workshop has been rescheduled for Sunday, June
12 from
June
12 & 19 Newcomer’s Orientation Following the service in the Library.
June 17 Welcoming
Congregation Committee and Social Action Movie Night On June 17 at
June 18 The Writer's Group will meet on Saturday, June 18 from
UUA General Assembly
in
Planning ahead? The 2006 meeting will be in
UUCV’s June Change for the World recipient is Project S.H.A.R.E., the local food Bank. Project S.H.A.R.E. is an interfaith, non-profit cooperative effort created to meet the needs of the hungry by providing supplementary food on a monthly basis. Project S.H.A.R.E. is a ministry of the Carlisle Area Religious Council and supported by over 50 local congregations and civic groups. Volunteers are needed by Project S.H.A.R.E. to deliver food to some 90 housebound households. To volunteer, call (717)249-7773. The change you put in the collection basket in June will go to benefit our neighbors in need.
In April, UUCV donated 71 food items totaling 62 pounds to
Project S.H.A.R.E. combined with the 61 items donated in March for a total of
132 items. This means that through the Feinstein matching grant program, UUCV
raised $132 for the food bank. A total of $2,500 was raised through this
grant. May was another busy month at S.H.A.R.E. Six hundred and two (602)
households, comprising 1,430 individuals of which 205 were over age 60 and 499
were children, were served. UUCV contributed 37 pounds of food in May.
Summer bring lots of fresh produce to the food bank thanks to the support of a
growing network of local growers and retailers. Needed are volunteers to
help glean the crops and then process the produce. Gleaning dates are
most Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from
From Sylvia Hardman
The
It’s graduation season!
Lance DeMuth
graduated from