Unitarian Universalists of
the
Online
Newsletter for June
2006
July Newsletter
Deadline is Monday, June 19
Submit items to
kivana@comcast.net
Potlucks
and Picnics and Yard Sales, Oh My!
Congregational Happenings in June
UUCV
at Harrisburg GLBT Pridefest
UUCV
Sponsors an Eco-Thriller at the Carlisle Theater
Painless
Fundraising On the Internet
Our monthly minister’s column, this month from Rev. Judy Welles
This is a fun time of year for anticipation and planning. As we look ahead to the less-filled-in pages in our planners for June and July (that is, less-filled in so far!), Duane and I are scheduling blocks of time together for major planning for next year. We learned this year how much of a difference it makes when plans are integrated and coordinated, and we are very pleased with how well things fit together this year for us and the congregation.
For example, we had seven RE tie-in worship services, where the adult service was focused on the same topic that the children were addressing in their classes. We hope that this tie-in engendered some meaningful conversation between parents and children that day. We also created several discussion guides for the Small Group Ministries from sermon topics this year, adding to their resources for further fruitful conversations. Duane scheduled three evening meetings for people to come and discuss recent sermon topics in more depth; these were sparsely attended, but those who came had some lively conversations. And we used some of the sermon topics as springboards for Adult R.E. classes — notably the one on Process Theology. Look for a continuation (and possibly an expansion) of this integrated planning for next year. We welcome your suggestions.
From our perspective as your ministers, a lot of the life at UUCV revolves around the Sunday worship experience. We are delighted to be working with another wonderful group of Worship Associates next year: Carla Claycomb, Dan Cozort, Dot Everhart, Virginia Jackson, Bev Motich and Kim Van Alkemade will be continuing into a second year. Carol Lindsay, who has been a Worship Associate before, will be starting another term after a few years’ break. And our new Worship Associates will be John Kallmann and Ellen Buller. (There’s room for a few more; if you are interested, please call me right away!) Planning for next year begins on a Saturday in July, when we will lay out the topics for Sunday programs through January.
Right now a lot of attention (from us, from the Board, from the Committee on Ministry, from the RE committee and Kevin, and from several of our families) is going toward becoming a more family-affirming congregation. This is one of the major goals of our Five Year Plan, and it’s a topic of particular interest to Kathy Ellis, our student minister, who took a seminary class on this subject in January and wrote a very helpful paper on the topic. We are looking for ways to encourage connections between our children and the adults who don’t already know them, so you can expect to see children wearing name tags and being more visible in our Sunday services next year. Please make a point of asking parents to introduce their children to you and learn their names and interests.
Coming up soon will be some
forums for parents to discuss together their specific needs and the ways that
they and the church leadership can address those needs. Parents, please be alert for notices of these
meetings (hopefully in June over a potluck supper). And even sooner than that
will be our All-UUCV Picnic on June 4 at
Other plans for next year include the new web site design (Greg Bear, Keith Bittinger and I are working on layout and text, while Anne Gero has been taking some terrific photos). I am part way through writing a little booklet called “How Things Work Around Here,” which will have useful information about everything from how to nominate a Change for the World recipient to who purchases the paper towels. And we are gradually putting together a Communications Council to take full advantage of the PR opportunities generated by our programming and to streamline our internal communications as well.
There’s never a dull moment
around here, is there? Ain’t it grand!
See you in church! Love, Judy
June 4 “Let’s Hear It For
(and From) the Kids!”
Presented by The Rev. Judy Welles; Kevin Snow, Director of Religious Education; Sally Beaver, musician.
Today is our annual celebration
of the children’s Religious Education program.
After a year of becoming familiar with the seven foundational UU
principles, our elementary-age children will put on a play which includes all
of the principles. We will also hear
about the Youth Group’s activities this year and get an update on the first
year of our two-year Coming of Age class.
And we’ll learn about the successful Our Whole Lives (sexuality
education) workshop.
And remember that this is the day of the church picnic! See related article in Congregational
Happenings.
June 11 “Creation/Creativity: What Can We Make of It?”
Presented by Rev. Judy Welles; Dan Cozort, Worship Associate; Sally Beaver, musician.
All the excitement this year
about how/whether evolution should be taught has caused me to think about the
Biblical creation story and wonder what’s in it for Unitarian Universalists. Today
I’ll talk about the love implied in that story, and try out some other ideas
about the creative impulse and how we can use it to express our love. We will welcome new members in an Ingathering
ceremony today!
June 18 (Fathers' Day) “The Only Measure of Your Words and Your Deeds”
The Rev. Duane H. Fickeisen and Virginia
Jackson, Worship Associate. Ken Laws,
Carole Knisely, and the UUCV Choir, Musicians.
We shall celebrate fatherhood as
we consider how a father’s actions and values might be measured. How might we
become better fathers or support our partners and sons in becoming more effective
fathers? How does our faith lead us to become more effective role models in
order to assure that all children thrive to become loving people dedicated to
personal transformation and to care for the world?
June 25 “Stonewall Then and Now: Stonewalling or Building Bridges?”
Presented by Dot Everhart, Worship
Associate, with members of the Social Action Committee assisting in various
capacities.
We will remember the Stonewall Riots and the beginning of the liberation movement for gay rights. We will discuss the current consideration of the "defense of marriage" initiatives and our commitment as UU's to support "justice, equity and compassion in human relations and the inherent worth and dignity of every person." This service is sponsored by the GLBT Initiative of the UUCV Social Action Committee.
From UUCV’s Director of Religious Education, Kevin Snow
There are three very important
things I have to tell you about this month and I intend to cut to the chase and
get down to business . . . add in your own cliche
about moving full steam ahead. Summer is a busy, busy time for all of us at
UUCV, but don’t forget that RE still moves along for our kids and
teachers/helpers over the summer. As you look into the future at your plans be
sure to include the following three things on those calendars.
First of all, please come June 4th for
the annual RE Sunday service. This year we have another new and unique service
that will highlight features of the past season of RE and thank our kids and
many teachers and helpers for their hard work all year long. Come to enjoy a
fun play that will illustrate some of the things your kids learned as they
embarked on the Great Principle Quest this past year. Teachers and helpers, we
want you there too! In the past some of you have been shy and stayed away from
the service. Please come and enjoy the fun of the service, no pressure to
perform from you (unless you have a designated role that day, sorry!!).
The second most important thing that the entire
congregation needs to be aware of is our urgent need for RE Teachers and
Helpers for the summer program. To date there are only a few Sundays that have
helper spots occupied. Now, I know many of you have your summer plans on your
calendars, so why not look for some Sundays that you might be free and join us
as a teacher downstairs? And did we mention that the downstairs is waaayyy cooler than upstairs? Of course, the temperature is
cooler, but our kids are pretty cool too! The summer curriculum, What If
Nobody Forgave?,
is easy to follow and provides plenty of suggestions for activities and games.
You can check it out online at the UUA bookstore via UUA.org. Plus with summer
weather we can go outside and play games in the sun. Our older kids (grades 5-7
roughly) will be choosing as a group among several Newberry award winning books
for their curriculum to read and discuss as the summer progresses. We need
teachers for two classes each Sunday and we know you will come through and join
us. Please sign up on the RE table in the Social Hall.
The third most important thing for summer at UUCV
is Peacemakers Camp! Mark these dates on your calendar, July 19-22nd. Once
again Jim Freeman will be our host at his cabin in the woods for a fun and
exciting summer camp. More information and registration forms will be available
soon. We are always excited to have new kids join us. Look on the RE Table in
the Social Hall for a photo album with last year’s fun displayed. We hope to
have all our camp staff back and if you are interested in helping out or
joining your child for the fun, please contact me at 249-8104. Peacemakers Camp
is the place to be for summer fun.
Alright, I have everything off my chest now and I
expect to see lots of names on sign up sheets and in attendance at camp and RE
Sunday. People make RE happen, so come one and all.
See you on Sunday!
JUNE 2 Join us at
JUNE 3 Strawberry
Shortcake Sale at Boiling Springs
Foundry Day will be Saturday June 3rd. Strawberry preparation night will be
Friday evening June 2nd. Look for volunteer sign-up sheets. We need shortcake
bakers, strawberry slicers and booth volunteers. Sign
up for one or all three! It's fun to work together! Questions?
Contact Kathy Ellis: elliskl@comcast.net
or 245-9525.
JUNE 4 Mark your calendars now for the annual UUCV Summer Picnic on Sunday, June 4th! The festivities
will take place at
JUNE 17 Our second summer Yard
Sale will be held at the home of Bob and Wendy Hankes on Saturday, June 17. The hours will be 7
a.m. to 3 p.m., the same as the times for the event we hosted at the DeWall's, and we're looking again for folks to sign up to
help. If you can, put your name on the sign-up sheet on the first table to
the left of the door as you come into the Social Hall from the sanctuary. We may have unsold items from the DeWall's sale to transfer to the Hankes
home, but we're also looking for things from those of you who haven't yet
checked your "nooks and crannies" for
saleable items. Bring them to the Hankes home
from
JUNE 17 The Writer's Group will meet on Saturday, June 17 from
JUNE 25 The Serious Stuff Book Group’s book for Sunday, June 25, will be
Jeffrey Sachs' "The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our
Time." He focuses on the one billion poorest in the world, and
proposes a plan to help these people reach the first rung on the "ladder
of economic development" so they can rise above mere subsistence
level. It's a hopeful book, says reviewer Shawn Carkonen.
Join us from
This year’s Harrisburg Pridefest is going to have a lot of UU spirit. UUCV is teaming up with our sister churches
in
As we have a big role at Pride
this year, we will need volunteers to make everything run smoothly. The first event of the day will be a parade
in the morning before the actual festival starts. We are gathering a delegation of all four
churches to march together and would love to have as many people (adults and
children) as possible from our church participating.
If you are not comfortable marching, the UU booth might be the place for you. This booth is being jointly run by all four congregations. People can sign up for one to two hour shifts and will sit in the booth and be on hand to talk to people interested in Unitarian Universalism. Now, the theme for the booth…you guessed it…Unitarian Universalism! The literature we are planning to have on hand will include fliers about Unitarian Universalism as a whole, our seven principles, information about the Welcoming Congregation, congregational information about each church, and a map showing the locations of each church.
We will also be volunteering at Pridefest itself. Volunteers will help take money and put wristbands on people at the North and South entrances to the festival and to help patrol the grounds. We will also have a kids area that will be a nice safe place at the festival for our children to play. Volunteering will be done in shifts so that everyone can join the festivities.
Harrisburg Pride is Saturday,
July 29, so start marking your calendars!
If you would like to volunteer contact Rachel Teates at willowtrek23@yahoo.com.
The Social Action Committee is
sponsoring an eco-thriller – Kekexili: Mountain
Patrol -- on behalf of UUCV. This award winning National Geographic film
chronicles a people's remarkable mission to put an end to illegal antelope
poaching in the region of Kekexili –
Thanks to all who helped make a
Happy Easter for the clients of the food bank.
Thirty-eight pounds of food totaling 41 items were donated during
April. Due to the Feinstein Grant, this
meant $41 for S.H.A.R.E. Many of S.H.A.R.E.’s clients are on special diets. It would be very helpful if, when selecting
items to donate, you would look for items that are low sodium, fat and/or
sugar. This would be much
appreciated. A reminder that U.U.C.V.
has been designated a “pork and beans” church.
While all donations are greatly appreciated, the emphasis for our
contributions should be on pork and beans.
Thank you for this consideration.
The next in-gathering will be June
11th.
Believe it or not in April, the change bag actually broke while I was on my way
to the bank to cash it in. We collected a whopping $312. Go ahead--I
don't mind mending the bag every month if needed. For the month of June,
Social Actions has chosen STARR, a psychiatric rehabilitation program of
Would you like to make a
small stride for the environment, and keep UUCV from adding to our landfills?
If so, a volunteer is needed to collect the boxes of outdated orders of
service, office junk mail, and other paper every month or two, and take it
where it may be recycled. Carlisle Borough residents can place it in bags on
the street with their trash, for example. If interested in taking over this
small task, please contact Carole DeWall at 249-3900
or carolesdw@paonline.com.
Our pledge payments were
lagging this spring. Please be sure to catch up if you are behind and to
complete your pledge by June 30, which is the end of our fiscal year.
Also, please keep in mind that this is the time of year that drives our
money counters crazy. It is often unclear whether the check you wrote is for
the current fiscal year or for the 2006-07 fiscal year.
Please note in the memo line of checks that you write in June which fiscal year
it is for. If there is no memo on it we will
assume it is for 2005-06. Thanks for your responsible stewardship of our
congregation.
Remember iGive.com! As summer approaches, and you think about purchasing books for summer reading, airline tickets for that big getaway, or comfy clothes to wear in the backyard, remember that you can easily do your shopping online and contribute to UUCV all at the same time! Hundreds of merchants participate in iGive.com, an online “shopping mall” where you can designate a portion of your purchases to support UUCV. Best of all, it won’t cost you a thing! Barnes & Noble, Bass Pro Shops, Best Buy, Boscov’s, Dunham’s Sports, Eddie Bauer, Gap, Harry and David, JC Penney, Lands’ End, Linens–n- Things, Office Depot, REI, the Sierra Club, Starbucks, and United Airlines are just a few of over 600 merchants that participate. Registering is easy. Just go to www.igive.com and start shopping!
Don’t want it? Let UUCV put it
on eBay! If anyone has any weird and
wonderful donations that I can sell via eBay, please drop them off in the
auction room behind the stage. We've raised $112 so far--and that was
just 2 items. Any question call or email Carol McAnulty 249-4433 / paulandcarol913@earthlink.net
We send condolences to John
Kallman on the recent death of his former
father-in-law Albert Smith, followed just a few weeks later by the death of
Albert’s wife Jean; they are the grandparents of John’s three children. And we join Tom and Bill Vernon in grieving the death of Joyce Vernon, Tom’s
mother and Bill’s wife, on April 27. Condolences also to David
Jackson, whose sister died last month after a long illness. Congratulations to Marie Helweg-Larsen on receiving
promotion to tenured professor at