Unitarian Universalists of
the
Online
Newsletter for January
2007
February Newsletter
Deadline is Monday, January 22. Submit
items to kivana“at”comcast.net
Adult RE Begins Sunday Morning, January 7
Serious Stuff Bookclub Gears Up for 2007
Participate in the Third Tri-Annual Evaluation of the
Ministry
December 31 “Tolling of the Bells”
The Revs. Duane Fickeisen and Judy Welles; Musician
Julie Moffit
We will honor the memory of those who have died in the past year by tolling the bell for friends and family members whose lives have ended. We will remember some of the public figures who died in 2006 in brief eulogies. And we will mark the New Year by burning away that which we wish to leave behind and stepping into new possibilities through our intentions for transformation.
January 7 “The Pretense of Accident”
The Rev. Judy Welles; Carla Claycomb, Worship Associate.
This INTERGENERATIONAL service introduces our fourth principle to the children in our Religious Education program: a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We will play with some ideas of what “truth” is and how to recognize it when we stumble on it. And we will attempt to discern what is truly meaningful. Note: There will be no children’s R.E. program this morning for grades K and up; the nursery will be open.
January 14 “Grief and Anger”
Virginia Jackson & Ellen Buller, Worship
Associates., with music from the
The world appears to be an increasingly angry place. Is it possible that the source of this anger is grief and despair? How can we incorporate these sometimes frightening emotions into our daily lives?
January 21 “Censorship: Its Heavy Cost On Our
Society and Culture”
Clara Claycomb and John Kallmann,
Worship Associates
In our quest for truth and understanding in our lives, we sift daily through a great volume of information, some dependable, some not so dependable. In the last fifty years we have experienced vast changes in the media, among them unprecedented consolidation to the point where only five international conglomerates control the lion’s share of our print and electronic media coverage. We will examine how this change has a direct effect on the electoral process and what implications this has for our democracy and peace in the world.
3:00PM January 21 “A Special Service to Commemorate Roe v. Wade”
UUCV will host a special service
in honor of the Supreme Court decision in 1973 which made abortion legal. It will be held at 3:00 p.m. in our sanctuary
on Sunday, January 21. Participants in
the service include Rev. Judy Welles; Rev. Sandra Strauss, part of the Clergy
for Choice Network; and Rabbi Carl Choper, Chair of
the Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania.
A special offering will be taken for the Fund for Choice of Planned Parenthood
of the
January 28 “The
Pursuit of Happiness”
The Rev. Duane Fickeisen and Dan Cozort, Worship Associate
Duane and Dan will explore the sources of happiness. It's pursuit is asserted to be inalienable, but how can you seek it effectively? We'll take a look at recent research findings and offer some suggestions for finding lasting happiness.
Our monthly minister’s column, this month by
Rev. Judy Welles
Does anyone else feel, as I do, just the slightest sense of relief and gladness when the winter holidays are over? Does anyone else settle gratefully into January with a contented sigh, looking forward to cozy, calm nights of reading and reflection? Yes, the long winter still stretches ahead for many weeks; the weather will be cold and unpleasant. But the busyness of the holidays is over, the noise of excitement fades into a peaceable silence, and one can rest and be quiet.
Back in the early years of this congregation, which were also the early years of my ministry, I felt that I had to cram every idea, every thought, every inspiration into each sermon—and if not into the sermon, then at least into the service somewhere, perhaps in a reading or a prayer.
Beloved members (you know who you are) who came out of the Quaker tradition of silent meeting approached me after the service one day and said “We’re missing the silence. Your services have too many words in them. We need some time for silence, for reflection, for absorbing what you are saying.”
Too many words, indeed. Isn’t that the story of our lives? Too many words, too much music, the radio or the TV on every minute, background music playing while we are attempting to do something else. We have become unfamiliar with silence, so that when we encounter it, it makes us uncomfortable, and we rush to fill that silence with some familiar noise.
On a recent visit to the
Silence is a blessing. Silence gives us time to be with our own thoughts, to explore the inner landscape of imagination and memory, to allow the muse of creativity to visit.
My wish for you for the New Year is to have more silence in your lives. Duane and I often mention to you the value of Sabbath time—time for intentionally doing nothing, for resting your souls. Perhaps you can create some “sound Sabbath” time as well—time to turn off the radio and the TV and let your thoughts wander where they will. In that silence unencumbered by artificial, human-made noise, perhaps you will begin to notice the other sounds that surround us: breezes blowing through the empty branches of trees, bird song (yes, even in winter), the distant sound of church bells, water flowing under a bridge.
This must sound strange, coming from someone who makes her living talking. But I have found that talking just to make some sound is not particularly useful. Talking to fill an awkward moment is—well, awkward. Better just to keep silence, smile, and see what happens. We don’t always have to talk.
As a child, I was taught to answer when someone asked me a question, and I’ve found it difficult to learn that sometimes not answering is much more helpful. In the silence after a question is asked, I can wonder “What is the real question behind this question?” or “Why is she asking me this?” or “What kind of a call for help is this?” If I can force myself for a moment not to answer the question, but instead to keep silence, it’s likely that a more useful response will occur to me.
There is not much in our culture that encourages us toward silence. To insist on silence is to go against the grain, to defy convention, perhaps to cause discomfort to others. But there is a richness to silence that offers us an unexpected grace.
If hell is noise, as C.S. Lewis suggested, then perhaps silence is an attribute of heaven… and more. It is a gift for the taking. Now that the December gift-giving season has passed, consider giving yourself the truly meaningful gift of some silence in your life.
[…and here she refrains from saying any more.]
You asked for it, and you got it! After many requests, we included Sunday morning Adult Religious Education in UUCV’s Five-Year Plan, and now it has come to pass.
Beginning on January 7, there will be an opportunity for spiritual and religious
exploration from a religious perspective every Sunday, with classes running
from 9:00 a.m. to 10:15. The first course, “Bible Stories in Their
Context and Ours: A U.U. Approach to the Bible,” will be offered by Dan Bechtel
on the four Sundays of January. Dan
taught Biblical Studies at
No registration for these classes is necessary; just come to the dining room a bit before 9 a.m., grab a cup of coffee, and expect some enlightened teaching and lively conversation.
Child care will be provided if it is requested by the Thursday previous to that Sunday morning. Please request child care by calling or sending an e-mail to the office: 249-8944 or uucv@pa.net.
Be sure to look on the Sign-Ups Table in the Social Hall for the Winter schedule of other Adult R.E. offerings. Of particular note is the Roots and Branches class for new members or those considering membership. This winter it will be offered as a one-day, four-hour workshop on Saturday, January 27, with a break for shared lunch and child care if requested.
Dear UUCV Members & Friends,
As I write this in December, our Meetinghouse is all decked out in greens, the annual Mitten Tree is gathering colorful hats, scarves, etc., and our Coming of Age Group has boxes in various locations to collect good, used clothing for Project Share. It always delights me to see our wonderful young UUs getting involved in reaching out to others! But now the Holidays, with all the fun, friends, and hoopla, are behind us, and we are left with one of the most precious gifts of all: a brand new, fresh, clean, untarnished year. What will we at UUCV do with it, as individuals and as a community?
One thing we as a community plan to do is host an exciting Anniversary Commemoration of
the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision of January 22, 1973. This will be an interfaith service held in
the Meetinghouse at 3 PM on Sunday, January 21, 2007. Our Judy will be
one of several area presenters, and there will be music (by our Sally Beaver)
and an offering to benefit Planned Parenthood of the
What a wonderful opportunity to welcome like-minded people into our Meetinghouse, and to express how strongly we feel about Choice and Freedom for Women! Please put it in your calendar, and join us. More information is on the Bulletin Board.
This January is also when we will all be asked to help evaluate how UUCV members minister to each other and to our world. This is the third of these important tri-annual examinations of how we are doing. Please be thinking about our performance and be prepared to share your thoughts. Members of the Committee of Ministry (Joan Bechtel, Liz Hoffman and David Bateman) have prepared a questionnaire, and will be contacting each of us. On February 11, after the morning service, there will be a Town Meeting where the results will be presented and discussed.
The Communications Council that I
told you about in last month’s letter is now up and running under the
leadership of Kim van Alkemade. The Council will help spread our message
in the
So take a few minutes to relax after the Holidays, but soon it’s, “Back into Action!”
Cheers, Kit Franklin, UUCV Board President
Serious Stuff will have its first
meeting of 2007 at 6:30pm in the Meetinghouse Library on January 28 with a discussion of The Best Spiritual Writing of
2006 (editor Philip Zaleski). Philip Zaleski, an
acclaimed writer and the editor of the series, has once again assembled an
outstanding collection of thirty-five pieces that range far and wide in subject
matter and style. In "The Cellular Church," Malcolm Gladwell takes a look at the pastor Rick Warren, and Mary Gordon"s "Moral Fiction" explores the place
of value judgments in literature. Michael Chabon
describes his childhood fascination with the darkness and "silliness"
that pervade the world of the Norse gods, and Katherine Paterson, an
award-winning children's book writer, describes how faith plays a role in her
work. Miles Hoffman and Wendell Berry both decry the loss of soul, the former
speaking of modern music and its dire need for a miracle, and the latter of
modern agriculture, which has strayed perilously far from its roots. The range
of the volume is immense, stretching from Edward Hoagland"s
discussion of
And for those of you who like to plan (and read) ahead, here are ALL of the Serious Stuff meeting dates and books for 2007: February 25, 2007 Godless Constitution (Kramnic and Moore); March 25, 2007 The Jesus Mysteries (Freke and Gandy); April 22, 2007 Staying Focused in an Age of Distraction (Hoffman); May 27, 2007 Feminism is for Everybody (hooks); June 24, 2007 Running with Scissors (Burroughs); July 22, 2007 Freedom in Exile (the Dalai Lama); August 26, 2007 The God Gene (Hamer); September 23, 2007 Bel Canto (Patchett); October 28, 2007 Traveling Mercies (Lamott); November 25, 2007 Meeting to choose 2008 booklist.
The Committee on Ministry first announced the beginning of this important process in the December Newsletter; please see p.7, if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet. As directed in the UUCV Working Agreement with its ministers, we are examining all aspects of the Ministry of our church, both lay and professional. We would like to have as many of you as possible tell us what you think we are doing well and give us your suggestions for those things that we can do better. Have you been looking for a way to tell others what you love about UUCV? Have you been looking for a way to say thank you to someone or some group within the church that has ministered to you in a special way? Do you have an idea about how we could do something better, but have been reluctant to mention it? Have you been looking for an opportunity to say how you think you could help to enhance our ministry to the world and to each other? This period of evaluation offers many opportunities for you to express yourself. Here’s how:
1. Attend a group meeting with your membership cohorts and speak with them about your ideas. Can’t come to the one to which you have been invited? No problem, come to one of the others. Can’t come to any of them? See number two below.
2. Fill out a Questionnaire with your ideas. The Questionnaires are available to everyone, members and friends alike. You will find them on a table in the Social Hall next to a big box in which to deposit your completed page. You have nearly the entire month of January to do this because The Committee will have the questionnaires and box available until January 28th.
3. Come to a Town Meeting following the service on Sunday, February 11, in the sanctuary. All are welcome to attend in order to hear and comment upon the results thus far. It is the committee’s intention to incorporate comments from this meeting, as well as comments from the membership groups and the questionnaires, in our final report by the beginning of March.
4. Questions about all of this? Please contact us. David Bateman, dfbateman@yahoo.com, Liz Hoffman, hoffpsych@mindspring.com, And Joan Bechtel, Bechteljo@aol.com.
1. Scheduling musicians for services.
2. Arranging for instrument tuning and maintenance.
3. Recruiting guest musicians.
4. Overseeing the music program budget.
5. Finding creative ways of enhancing the UUCV music program.
The Committee currently meets monthly, but we’re open to changes in our procedures