DOCSLIB.ORG

UUMA News Sermon Awards 17

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
UUMA News Sermon Awards 17 Winter 2009/10 From the President ... Volume 43, Issue 2 In the early 1970’s while studying at Starr King School I took a course called “The Courage to Be a Minister.” It was taught by Byrd Helligas, a wizened old-school humanist who wouldn’t stand for any guff. I dearly loved Byrd. He taught me a lot. The course covered the nuts and bolts. It was a pragmatic primer for how to stay out of trouble while still taking good care of your people. I have to assume the course title intentionally echoed Tillich’s Courage to Be . Byrd certainly shared Tillich’s existentialist perspective and taught minis- try as a way of being, as an existential reality. It’s taken many years for me to understand the kind of courage he was calling for. Though we spent considerable time listening to Byrd regale us with stories about, shall we say, the situational ethics of ministry, the courage he asked us to summon had to do with actually living out Emerson’s adage that we should give them “our lives passed through the fire of thought.” That takes real courage. I think we need to learn to testify. I think we need to learn to risk the wrath of the literalists among us by trying to talk about what really matters most. Too many of our colleagues tell me they’re afraid to go deep theologically. “They’ll kill me if I even try it,” they complain. And so they refrain from doing the very work our people need us most to do. It’s time for us to learn to testify. And it’s time, as Paul Rasor likes to remind us, for us to let the laity do their own translating. Just as we need to learn to testify to the depth and power of the experience of the holy in our lives those with whom we serve need to learn to listen with more open hearts and minds not only to us but also to each other. It’s with that holy work in mind that UUMA Vice-President Sarah Lammert, following–up on an idea which arose at the Summit on Excellence in Ministry last December, prepared a proposal entitled “Whose Are We.” The program will prepare colleagues from every chapter to help to facilitate theologi- cal conversations among our members. You can read more about this exciting project on page 3 of this Newsletter. Friends, this is a rewarding time to serve on the UUMA Executive Committee. I’m in my third and final year as your president. It hasn’t always been easy. We’ve made some bold moves which, we know have made some of you uncomfortable. I want you all to know that our boldness has been grounded in our understanding of the best interests of our ministry and of our members. My colleagues on the Executive Committee and I deeply appreciate the confidence so many of you have expressed and we are committed to working to regain the trust and yes, the active support of those who disagree with our vision for the future of the UUMA. I can assure you that we’re listening and that we treasure the organization you have entrusted to our care. Yours in Faith, Inside this issue: Rob Eller-Isaacs [email protected] Introducing the Acting Executive Director 2 Whose Are We?: A Theological Conversation 3 CENTER Institute for Excellence in Ministry 4-5 It’s time for us to learn to testify. From Communications 5 UNITARIANUNIVERSALIST MINISTERS ASSOCIATION to the depth and power From the UUMA Treasurer 6 of the experience of From Chapter Connections 8 the holy in our lives . CENTER Chapter Presenters 9-10 And We Remember . 11-17 UUMA News Sermon Awards 17 Announcements 18-20 Introducing the Acting Executive Director ... For more than ten years I have gotten in a rhythm as a parish minister. Staying up late on Satur- day, or getting up early on Sunday, to finish writing a sermon. Worshipping on Sunday morning. Taking a nap Sunday afternoon and struggling to enjoy Sabbath on Monday. Writing a newsletter column once a month, whether or not I had anything much to say. Pledge drives. Staff meetings. Committee meetings. Board meetings. Meetings to plan meetings. All of us, no matter where our ministries have taken us, have rhythms. Hopefully they are rhythms that serve us, and those we serve, well. The UUMA has rhythms too. Gathering at chapter meetings and cluster meetings to learn, to have fun, to connect more deeply with colleagues. Coming to General Assembly early for CENTER and Ministry days, to learn, worship and listen together. A time for connecting with colleagues and honoring those who have served so long and so well. UUMA mem- bers volunteering to serve on committees and task forces, spending days and weeks in more meetings so that we can be the best professional association, and the best religious movement, we can be. I am learning new rhythms these days...and so is the UUMA. One of the joys of my first three months on the job has been the chance to visit and talk with so many colleagues at re- treats, cluster meetings, CONVO and on the phone. The two most frequent questions I get are: why did you want this job and what do you do? Since I am the first Acting Executive Director of the UUMA they are both good questions. I wanted this job because I believe we can be a better professional association and because I feel a deep calling to help my colleagues more fully live their callings. Before I had the honor and privilege to serve on the UUMA Executive Commit- tee, I did not think the UUMA was much more than my two chapter retreats, a monthly cluster meeting, CENTER and Ministry Days and dues that I felt obligated to pay. My service on the Exec revealed the UUMA is much more and, more importantly, can be so much more than what we have been. I took this job because I want to help make that so. Which leads to the second question I am asked, what do I do. The question more appropriately should be, what will I do. I will help the CENTER committee host the first CENTER Institute for Excellence in Ministry in February 2011. This will not only be a residential learning experience it will provide a model for how we will integrate continuing education, coaching and stronger collegial and chapter connections. I will be working with Sarah Lammert, our Vice President, on facilitating a year long process of theological reflection on the question, Who Are We? I will be working with our Chap- ter Connections portfolio holder, Kathleen McTigue, on producing a chapter handbook which will share the best practices for how our chapters are working and be part of a regular chapter leaders’ training program. I will be working with our Communications portfolio holder, James Kubal-Kumato, and our Administrator, Janette Lallier, on improving the ways the UUMA communicates with, and among, our membership. I will be meeting with our partners throughout the UU movement including UUA staff, LREDA, UUMN, UUSCM, UURMaPA, theological schools, identity ministry groups and, hopefully, with leaders in other faith traditions as well. I will be working on fund development to help build the UUMA’s capacity to make continuing education and chapter connections more available to more of our members. And I will be working closely with you, visiting your chapters and gatherings, to make sure everyone of our 1600 members’ ministries and lives are better because of their association with the UUMA. My to do list is long and our vision is large. That is one rhythm of life that has not changed. For me and for you. Be- cause that is the life of a Unitarian Universalist minister. I am honored to serve and lead you, my beloved colleagues, in the hope that our professional association helps make the list a little easier and the vision more real. I am excited about the work ahead and I hope you are too. Blessings, Don Southworth, Acting Executive Director [email protected] Page 2 UUMA NEWS “Whose Are We:” Spiritual Discernment and Theological Reflection Your UUMA Executive Committee has some exciting news to share! At its fall meeting, the Fund for Unitarian Uni- versalism made a grant of $18,000 to support a new initiative of the UUMA supporting spiritual discernment and theo- logical reflection in our chapters. Specifically, the grant will enable us to train two facilitators from each of our twenty chapters to convene meetings and retreats centered on theology and spiritual depth, and to help convene small groups for continuing spiritual discernment. The training will take place prior to General Assembly in Minneapolis, and we hope that chapter discussions will be scheduled for the fall of 2010. In her sermon during the June 2008 Service of the Living Tradition, Victoria Safford quoted the Quaker teacher Douglas Steere: Douglas Steere, a Quaker teacher, says that the ancient question, “What am I?” inevitably leads to a deeper one, “Whose am I?” – because there is no identity outside of relationships. You can’t be a per- son by yourself. To ask “Whose Am I?” is to extend the questions far beyond the little self-absorbed self, and wonder: Who needs you? Who loves you? To whom are you accountable? To whom do you answer? Whose life is altered by your choices? With whose life, whose lives, is your own all bound up, inextricably, in obvious or invisible ways? Similarly, as a collective body, we Unitarian Universalists have expended a great deal of energy talking about the endur- ing core of our identity.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Faith Voices Letter
    In Support Of Keeping Houses Of Worship Nonpartisan August 16, 2017 Dear Senator: As a leader in my religious community, I am strongly opposed to any effort to repeal or weaken current law that protects houses of worship from becoming centers of partisan politics. Changing the law would threaten the integrity and independence of houses of worship. We must not allow our sacred spaces to be transformed into spaces used to endorse or oppose political candidates. Faith leaders are called to speak truth to power, and we cannot do so if we are merely cogs in partisan political machines. The prophetic role of faith communities necessitates that we retain our independent voice. Current law respects this independence and strikes the right balance: houses of worship that enjoy favored tax-exempt status may engage in advocacy to address moral and political issues, but they cannot tell people who to vote for or against. Nothing in current law, however, prohibits me from endorsing or opposing political candidates in my own personal capacity. Changing the law to repeal or weaken the “Johnson Amendment” – the section of the tax code that prevents tax-exempt nonprofit organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates – would harm houses of worship, which are not identified or divided by partisan lines. Particularly in today’s political climate, engaging in partisan politics and issuing endorsements would be highly divisive and have a detrimental impact on congregational unity and civil discourse. I therefore urge you to oppose any repeal or weakening of the Johnson Amendment, thereby protecting the independence and integrity of houses of worship and other religious organizations in the charitable sector.
    [Show full text]
  • Sermon June 7 2020 Bruce Boce
    “The American Creed & Liberal Religion” Olympic Unitarian Universalist Fellowship June 7, 2020 Rev. Bruce Bode, guest speaker Lighting the Chalice Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action-- Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. (Prayer of Rabindranath Tagore, from Gitanjali, chapter 35) Readings About the middle of this past week as the social protests in our country and around the world rolled on and even gained momentum, I felt I needed to abandon the sermon theme I had prepared in order to engage the energy of this time. And what I see and feel happening, in broad outline, is an affirmation or re-affirmation of the “American dream,” the “American experiment,” or what Unitarian-Universalist theologian, the Rev. Forrest Church, calls “The American Creed,” which I will talk about in my sermon. This affirmation/re-affirmation is being led by some of those who have been the most shut out from the American dream through ongoing racial prejudice, America’s original sin, but who, nonetheless, still have seen the dream and are pointing the way to it – through anguished, angry, and yet, to me, ultimately, hopeful protests.
    [Show full text]
  • Frank Church, And/ Or United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, And/Or U.S
    This document is made available through the declassification efforts and research of John Greenewald, Jr., creator of: The Black Vault The Black Vault is the largest online Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) document clearinghouse in the world. The research efforts here are responsible for the declassification of hundreds of thousands of pages released by the U.S. Government & Military. Discover the Truth at: http://www.theblackvault.com NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY CENTRAL SECURITY SERVICE FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND 20755-6000 FOIA Case: 84652B 11 July 2017 JOHN GREENEWALD Dear Mr. Greenewald: This is our final response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request of 7 June 2016 for Intellipedia pages on the Church Committee, and/ or Frank Church, and/ or United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, and/or U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. A copy of your request is enclosed. In our initial response to you, dated 8 June 2016, we informed you that this request was assigned case number 84652 and that there are no assessable fees for this request. We provided you with two responsive documents on 12 August 2016 and informed you that we continued to work on your case. The final responsive documents are enclosed. This Agency is authorized by statute to protect certain information concerning its activities (in this case, internal URLs) as well as the names of its employees. Such information is exempt from disclosure pursuant to the third exemption of the FOIA, which provides for the withholding of information specifically protected from disclosure by statute.
    [Show full text]
  • Patrick Henry
    LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PATRICK HENRY: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HARMONIZED RELIGIOUS TENSIONS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY BY KATIE MARGUERITE KITCHENS LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA APRIL 1, 2010 Patrick Henry: The Significance of Harmonized Religious Tensions By Katie Marguerite Kitchens, MA Liberty University, 2010 SUPERVISOR: Samuel Smith This study explores the complex religious influences shaping Patrick Henry’s belief system. It is common knowledge that he was an Anglican, yet friendly and cooperative with Virginia Presbyterians. However, historians have yet to go beyond those general categories to the specific strains of Presbyterianism and Anglicanism which Henry uniquely harmonized into a unified belief system. Henry displayed a moderate, Latitudinarian, type of Anglicanism. Unlike many other Founders, his experiences with a specific strain of Presbyterianism confirmed and cooperated with these Anglican commitments. His Presbyterian influences could also be described as moderate, and latitudinarian in a more general sense. These religious strains worked to build a distinct religious outlook characterized by a respect for legitimate authority, whether civil, social, or religious. This study goes further to show the relevance of this distinct religious outlook for understanding Henry’s political stances. Henry’s sometimes seemingly erratic political principles cannot be understood in isolation from the wider context of his religious background. Uniquely harmonized
    [Show full text]
  • JANUARY 2020 ALL SOULS a Unitarian Universalist Congregation
    JANUARY 2020 ALL SOULS A Unitarian Universalist Congregation Connect with All Souls: Sunday Services Services at 10:00 & 11:15 a.m. Facebook: January 5 Galen Guengerich www.facebook.com/AllSoulsNYC January 12 Galen Guengerich Our Website: January 19 Multigenerational www.AllSoulsNYC.org MLK Day Services Led by Audette Fulbright January 26 Lay Sunday Sermon Podcast: Led by the Board of Trustees allsouls-nyc.org/worship/sermons/ or search iTunes! Twitter www.twitter.com/RevGalen January Bulletin Contents Email Message from the Associate Minister 3 [email protected] Message from the Board 4 New to All Souls? 5 Phone Worship and Music 6 (212) 535-5530 1157 Lexington Avenue The Adult Forum 8 New York, NY 10075 Religious Exploration 13 Congregational Life 16 Congregational Groups: 20 Here are ways that you can send us your comments, Fellowship concerns, questions (and praise!) about All Souls: Congregational Groups: 22 Email the entire Board at [email protected] Service Send suggestions to management at [email protected] January Events Calendars 24 The lines are always open. We want to hear from you! JANUARY 2020 2 Reverence Road The turn of the sun this January contribute. Contribute financially -- give generously, ushers in not only a new year, because this is the one place where a vast array of but a new century for All Souls. good in the world is being done. Contribute time, It is also a critical election year. because it takes a village to be a village. Contribute Without question, 2020 is a year in action -- because we cannot change the world of import, a time when we should when only a very few of us show up when the world all take very serious stock of what needs us.
    [Show full text]
  • Schedule at a Glance TIME EVENT VENUE ROOM DURATION
    Schedule at a Glance TIME EVENT VENUE ROOM DURATION 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. Children's Celebration Bicentennial Plaza, NC Museum of History an Natural Sciences Ongoing 2 p.m. - 11 p.m. Fantastical First Night Ferris Wheel Fayetteville Street Crossing at Hargett Street Ongoing 2 p.m. - 11 p.m. Alien Abduction Attraction Fayetteville Street Crossing at Martin Street Ongoing 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. Animal of the Hour NC Museum of Natural Sciences Windows on the World (Third Floor) Top of the Hour 2 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Henna Tattoos NC Museum of Natural Sciences First Floor Ongoing 3 p.m. The Lang Sisters NC Museum of History Daniels Auditorium 40 min. 3 p.m. - 6 p.m. Teen Improv Venue featuring Happy Accidents and more NC Museum of Natural Sciences Explore on 4 3 hours 3:30 p.m. Paperhand Puppet Intervention Bicentennial Plaza Ongoing 3:30 p.m. Durham Street Piano Player (Tom Merrigan) Bicentennial Plaza 2 hours 3:30 p.m. Storytelling with NC Association of Black Storytellers NC Museum of Natural Sciences Mountain Cove 35 min. 4 p.m. In the Pocket City Plaza Main Stage 45 min. 4 p.m. Sonic Escape NC Museum of History Daniels Auditorium 45 min. 5 p.m. El Gleno Grande NC Museum of History Daniels Auditorium 45 min. 5 p.m. Moving Pieces City of Raleigh Museum - Downstairs Classroom Various 1 hour 5 p.m. Storytelling with NC Association of Black Storytellers NC Museum of Natural Sciences Mountain Cove 35 min 5 p.m.
    [Show full text]
  • F I R S T U N I T a R I a N U N I V E R S a L I S T C H U R C H O F E S S E X C O U N
    First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex County MAKING THE THE MAKING CONNECTIONS IN THIS ISSUE: October 2016 Inside this issue: Where every mind is free and every soul is welcome! Spiritually Speaking: Universalism: A Theology for the Second Sundays: 2 A Spiritual Journey 21st Century [Part 1] by Rev. Forrest Church A Spiritual Jour- 3 ney: Orientation We Unitarian Universalists have inherited a for all who might serve by founding their lives magnificent theological legacy. In a sweep- on Universalist principles. To make good on our ing answer to creeds that divide the human theological inheritance, we must find a way to th 125 Anniversary family, Unitarianism proclaims that we spring come together and proclaim a Universalism fit 3 Luncheon from a common source; Universalism, that for the challenges of the 21st century. we share a common destiny. That we are Letter from the brothers and sisters by nature, our Unitarian Two obstacles thwart fulfillment of this mis- 4 President and especially our Universalist forebears sion. First, Universalism is an exacting gospel. affirmed as a matter of faith: Unitarianism Taken seriously, no theology is more challeng- 2016 Canvass Start 4 by positing a single God, Universalism by ing-morally, spiritually, or intellectually: to love offering the promise of a shared salvation. your enemy as yourself; to see your tears in October Calendar another's eyes; to respect and even embrace 5 With this life-affirming legacy comes an at- otherness, rather than merely to tolerate or, of Events tendant responsibility, even worse, dismiss it. None About The Church 6 especially today on a of this comes naturally to shrinking globe where us.
    [Show full text]
  • About the Authors
    About the Authors Neville Buch was the Founding Convenor of the Brisbane Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship (1995-1998) and is a founding member of the Unitarian Community of Victoria. He has acted as a consultant to the Australian and New Zealand Unitarian Association on organisational strategy and has published articles on Australian and American religious history. His doctorate from the University of Queensland was on the American influence on Protestant belief and practise in Queensland. He currently works in the Office of Vice-Chancellor at the University of Melbourne. David Bumbaugh is a graduate of Wilmington College in Ohio and of Meadville Lombard Theological School. Ordained by the Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Chicago Heights (Park Forest), Illinois, he has served Unitarian Universalist congregations in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, New York and New Jersey over a career of more than four decades. In 1998, he retired from the parish ministry and accepted appointment as Associate Professor of Ministry at Meadville Lombard Theological School. The author of two books: The Education of God and Unitarian Universalism: A Narrative History, he is minister emeritus of the Unitarian Church in Summit, NJ. Forrest Church is entering his 25th year as senior minister of All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City. He has written or edited 20 books, most recently Restoring Faith: America's Religious Leaders Answer Terror with Hope (Walker, 2001); Bringing God Home: A Traveler's Guide (St. Martins, Spring 2002); and The American Creed: A Spiritual and Patriotic Primer (St. Martins, Fall 2002). Jennifer Crow holds a Bachelor's degree from Smith College and has recently completed her second year of study towards a Master of Divinity degree at Meadville Lombard Theological School.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Environment: from Kyoto to Copenhagen Is Very Much in Doubt
    sPONsORs FRANK CHURCH iNsTiTUTE CONTRibutors Contributions make the Frank Church Chair, Scholarships and Conferences possible. The Frank Church Institute thanks those who have so generously donated during 2008. $5,000 and above $100 to $500 Earl and Jodi Reynolds Hendrickson Blinken Foundation Inc. Mark and Mary Ancel Peter and Betty Emmet and Janet Herndon Alan and Melinda Blinken Thomas and Scarlet Richardson Fairy and Neal Hitchcock Carolyn Buck-Luce Ansbach Patricia Robertson Marilyn Howard The Eric and Kacy Berliner Rocky Mountain River Judith Hume Christensen Corp. $1,000 to $5,000 Adelbert and Rose-Marie Tours Idaho Housing and Exergy Development Group, LLC Anonymous Bowman Marilyn Shuler Finance Association Carl and Gisela Burke Gordon and Barbara Royal and Marjorie Cynthia Jenkins Goddard Claussen Slotten Marvin and Madeleine NVIRONMENT: John and Ruth Carver Brookover E U.S. Geothermal, Inc. Jack and Rosemary Burton Albert Small Kalb LOBAL Forrest Church G Richard Claussen David and Norma Bush Wallace and Mary Smith Andrew and Anne Kaplan Ernst and Young Mr. Ronald E. Bush Linda and Barry Staum Larry and Christine Foundation Ruthann Caylor Bill and Rose Thiel LaRocco from Kyoto to Copenhagen THE FRANK CHURCH iNsTiTUTE Peter and Alison Fenn Pete and Freda Cenarrusa James and Karin Norma Lally Bethine Church, Chair Edwin and Ana Friendly Anne Church Thompson Gail Lebow Carl P. Burke, Vice Chair GC Strategic Advocacy, Bethine Church Carl G. Van Slyke Daniel Mahler Jeffrey and Andrea Karen and Dan Mc Alister Byron Johnson, President Inc. John and Barbara Church The 26TH Annual Larry and Pamela Grant John and Lily Collias Warren Barry Meyers Marilyn Bickle, Vice President Josephine Miller Byron Johnson and Julia and Luciano Del Otha and Helen Watts FRANK CHURCH CONFERENCE Charles Herrington, Treasurer Rodney Miller Patricia Young Guzzo Garry Wenske and Yvonne Dan Williams, Secretary Briane N.
    [Show full text]
  • Five Lives: Idaho in 1863 Boise State University, Boise, by Received $2,000 to Help Fund a Public Lecture on Nobel Prize-Winning Writer/ Keith C
    IHC awards $148,417 in grants he IHC awarded $148,417 in grants to organizations Tand individuals at its fall and spring board meetings in Boise. Sixty-five awards include 46 grants for public humanities programs, three Research Fellowships, 15 Teacher Incentive Grants, and one Planning Grant. The grants were supported in part by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and IHC’s Endowment for Humanities Education. The following projects were funded: PUBLIC PROGRAMS: Ada Community Library, Boise, received $2,000 to support the “Read Me: The Newsletter of the Idaho Humanities Council Spring 2013 Impressions of Idaho” program in Boise, February 2013. The community-wide reading project for Ada County included numerous titles focused on Idaho to commemorate Idaho’s Territorial Sesquicentennial. Mary DeWalt is the project director. Five Lives: Idaho in 1863 Boise State University, Boise, by received $2,000 to help fund a public lecture on Nobel Prize-winning writer/ Keith C. Petersen philosopher Albert Camus (1913-1960). State Historian BSU hosted a two-day international symposium commemorating the Idaho State Historical Society centennial of Camus’ birth. Noted Camus scholar Raymond Gay-Crosier, professor emeritus of the University of Florida, delivered the public lecture. Jason Herbeck is the project director. Albert Camus Idaho Human Rights Education Center, Boise, was awarded $1,500 to bring award-winning author Gail Tsukiyama to Boise in conjunction with activities celebrating the 10th anniversary of the center. Tsukiyama is the author of The Street of a Thousand Blossoms, a story about life in Japan before, during, and after World War II.
    [Show full text]
  • Qp^Ktericy Uwiiew ^
    .MJLSOTIS ^ QP^KTERICY UWIIEW ^ VOL. XIV N°4 REVIEW OF FALL-WINTER 2009-2010 PUBLISHED WINTER 2010 At this year's Heart & Soul Auction, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was presented with the Forrest Church Award by Forrest's daughter, Nina Church-Adams {left), and All Souls President, Nancy Northup (right). See: The 21st Annual Heart & Soul Auction, p. 3. EDITOR'S CORNER he Fall months of 2009 were a sad period for all of us at All Souls as we hoped against hope that Forrest would beat the odds once Tagain, and then mourned his much too early passing. In some way, his death put a shadow over all the usual November and December festivities. Still, life in our congregation moved on as we voted to approve a program for future development at our special congregational meeting, and changed the dates for our fiscal year. Meanwhile, our much reduced ministerial staff managed to keep the pews filled on Sunday mornings, put on three spectacular musical services on Christmas Eve, as well as the other traditional readings and services. Even the snowy and freezing weather did not keep church members away from the holiday parties, lectures, gift tables and the anniversary celebration we usually attend during these late Fall months. This edition of the Quarterly was delayed by unforeseen circumstances so that much of the information of Fall activities was out of date by the time of publication. We hope you will find the articles we included interesting and promise a more up-to-date edition for the Spring issue.
    [Show full text]
  • THE NEW UU a Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults
    THE NEW UU A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults BY JONALU JOHNSTONE © Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association. This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at http://www.uua.org/re/tapestry 1 ABOUT THE AUTHORS The Rev. Jonalu Johnstone has served as program minister of the First Unitarian Church, Oklahoma City since 2002. Previously, as a growth consultant she helped small and mid-size congregations of the Southwestern UU Conference understand and address their particular strengths and challenges. She has served the Channing UU Church in Edmond as consulting minister, the James Reeb UU Congregation in Madison (Wisconsin) as new congregation minister, and the UUA working with the Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan Strategy for Growth. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Jonalu was ordained in 1993 by the UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland (Maryland). She has contributed leadership to Interweave Continental, the UUMA Committee on Ethics and Collegiality, the Southwestern UU Conference, the Oklahoma Food Co-op, and other organizations. She resides with her partner of 25 years, Jane Powell, in Oklahoma City, where each has a parent nearby. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We gratefully acknowledge the use of the following material: Excerpts from Cathedral of the World, by Forrest Church, copyright 2009 by Forrest Church. Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston. "The Founding of the Dedham Church," from Our Covenant: The 2000-01 Minns Lectures, The Lay and Liberal Doctrine of the Church: The Spirit and the Promise of Our Covenant, by Alice Blair Wesley. (Chicago, IL: Meadville-Lombard Press, 2002). Used with permission.
    [Show full text]