The Prologue Monday, April 15, 2013 Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, Indiana Congregation founded 1949 GLBTQ Welcoming Congregation since 1995 Green Sanctuary since 2007 Seeking the Spirit Building Community Changing the World Table of Contents Sunday, April 21, 2013 9:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Maintaining the Circle 2 Multigenerational Earth Day and Solar Panel Celebration Religious Education 3 Reverend Emily Manvel Leite and Reverend Mary Ann Macklin That’s My Church! 4 Join us as we celebrate our wonderful home planet, our new metal roof, Auction May 5 5 and our new solar panels! We will offer thanks to those who have brought us this Sabbatical Information 8 far and think together about what we can do next to care for our earth. The UU UU History 9 Children's Choir, directed by Jill Courtney, will sing for this service. An Earth Fair Social Justice 10-11 will occur take place after each service. It will include free tree seedlings, information about solar for your home, and lots more. Sunday, April 28, 2013 9:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Credo: a Coming of Age Recognition Service Coming of Age Participants, Reverend Emily Manvel Leite and Reverend Mary Ann Macklin We welcome into our congregation and into our pulpit the 9th and 10th graders who have completed our Coming of Age program. They will each share with the congregation something about what they believe right now. Don't miss this moving opportunity to hear from our youth and to acknowledge them as newly adult members of our community. Wednesday, May 1, 2013 6:15 p.m. Sunday, April 21 May Day Celebration Earth Day Celebration 5:30 PM Dinner 6:15 PM May Pole Dance Reverend Emily Manvel Leite, Saturday, April 27 Tamara Loewenthal, and the Heartland String Band Beltane Celebration All ages are invited to come for supper and to dance around the May Pole as we welcome in the fine warm springtime! Fabulous dance leader Sunday, May 5 Tamara Loewenthal will lead the dance, which will be accompanied by our very Goods and Services own Heartland String Band. Dinner (with vegan and gluten free options) will be Auction provided. A $2 donation per person is requested. Right after church! Sunday, May 5, 2013 9:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Sunday, May 19 Still Building Our Own Theology Reverend Barbara Child Flower Communion Rev. Barbara Child recently taught an Adult Religious Education course here that she called "Still Building Our Own Theology: A Credo for the Time Being." It was based on the premise that Unitarian Universalists -- not subscribing to a creed prescribed by somebody else -- are responsible for figuring out our own beliefs and refining and changing them over time as we continue to learn from study and experience. The class members talked over everything from the varieties of their religious experience and their beliefs about human nature to their understanding of ethical living and what gives meaning to their lives. Every week they did some writing too. This morning Rev. Child will share some of the richness of those writings as well as some of her own discoveries during the six-week series. Monday, April 15, 2013 Page 1 Maintaining the Circle At a recent Sabbatical Committee meeting, we mentioned the four Prologue columns I will be contributing between now and December while first Rev. Breeden and then Rev. Macklin is away. We agreed that “Maintaining the Circle” is just the right title for my columns. Circles are important in this church. Rev. Breeden’s Common Prayers speak of drawing a circle around people to keep them in our caring concern. Chalice Circles deepen people’s connections here. The church Board and other groups meet at a round table in the library. The whole encounter changes when people gather in a circle. I have thought so for a long time. When I was settled minister in Tampa, I called our Adult Religious Education program “Moving Circles.” People were not just emotionally moved during classes, though that certainly did happen. But they also often found their thinking moved from some point of view or position they had long held. Much of the value of being in those circles came from moving regularly from one circle to another, not staying with the same small group over long. There needs always to be whatever it takes to keep from getting stuck. Something else important about circles I learned from the Quaker teacher Parker Palmer, who says there needs to be something in the center of the circle for people to focus on so that they don’t get fixated on themselves. Sometimes an idea is at the center, sometimes an image. Often for us it’s a chalice. Albert Schweitzer wrote: “Each day we must hold out the chalice of our being to receive, to carry, and to give back.” I am honored to help maintain the ever-moving, ever-changing circle that is the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington. -- Rev. Barbara Child Heartland District Delegates Vote to Form New UU Region On Saturday, April 13th ten delegates from this congregation helped vote for the new Mid-America UU Region: Shari Woodbury, Beckie Wagner, Pam Backstrom, Patrick Brantlinger, Lloyd Orr, Jackie Hall, Molly O'Donnell, Steve Dillon, Iris Kiesling and Rev. Mary Ann Macklin all attended this historic event. This meeting was led by our own Amy Taylor, a member of our congregation who has served as president of the Heartland District and has successfully helped shepherd this transition from District to a Regional organization. In addition, Molly O'Donnell, along with a colleague from one of the Indianapolis congregations, led a workshop on "Greening Your Congregation" sharing our successful move to a more efficient building complex and our Green Sanctuary activities. If you have any questions, please ask any of our delegates. Our Folks… Our sympathy to Vic Kelson and his family upon the passing last week of Vic’s mother, Jane Kelson. Monday, April 15, 2013 Page 2 Middle School Group Meeting Again! Perhaps you haven't heard, but our 7th and 8th grade students (YUUMS) are meeting in Room 110 at 11:15 each week! Abby Gitlitz, John Summerlot and Melissa St. John are facilitating their adventure into Neighboring Faiths. In March, they welcomed Rev. Macklin to talk with them about what it means to be a Welcoming Congregation. Just this past Sunday, they took a field trip to the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center where they went on a tour, shared a meal with the congregation, meditated and experienced a teaching by Arjia Rinpoche. They are planning a few more trips, including a day retreat where they will construct a sand mandala, and will continue to welcome special guests to their class. Newcomers and visitors are always welcome! If you would like to share a spiritual practice with this class or have a middle school student and have not been receiving emails about upcoming events, please contact Adrienne Summerlot [email protected] Best, Adrienne Summerlot Director of Religious Education [email protected] Special Adult Religious Education Event May 8 (also suitable for older children and teens) Wednesday, May 8, 7-9PM in Fellowship Hall Documentary Film Presentation: Reviving Ophelia Facilitated discussion to follow. This film, based on the best-selling book by Mary Pipher, explores the troubling impact of cultural influences, especially media messages, on the well-being, development, and mental health of adolescent girls. Dr. Pipher takes a practical look at this growing problem and offers concrete solutions for parents, adolescents, teachers and schools. The screening is an educational collaboration between the Adult Religious Education program and Matthew Lucas, MS, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist, who specializes in treating child, adolescent and family problems. Springtime Grounds Spiff-up April 27! Please join us for a morning of weeding, trimming, a bit of raking, and fellowship in the dirt. Saturday, April 27th, 9:00am to noon. Come anytime; stay as long as you can. We have some tools, but do bring your favorites if you wish. Don't forget your gloves! Questions? Call Julie or John Lawson, 335-1856. -- UU Grounds Committee Monday, April 15, 2013 Page 3 Seeking the Spirit Building Community Changing the World That’s My Church! What a great start to our Stewardship Campaign! We have many first time pledgers and a majority of those pledging have increased their pledge from last year's contribution. Thank you! If you have not yet pledged, today is the day to do it. See the options below for making your pledge and join in the effort to sustain our church for the coming year and future generations. Find your place on the Fair Share Giving Guide https://sites.google.com/site/uubloomingtonstewardship/home/giving- guidelines Then, Go to our webpage www.uubloomington.org and click on the donate tab, or Go to the Stewardship page at https://sites.google.com/site/uubloomingtonstewardship/ and click Pledge Today, or Call or email the church 332-3695 or [email protected] , or Contact Mary Boutain or Jackie Hall ([email protected] or [email protected]) If you would like to set up an online automatic credit or debit card payment, or automatic withdrawal from your checking (new this year!) to pay your pledge, please contact the office, [email protected] or [email protected] and we will be happy to help you with that process. We hope you will join a growing number of people in this congregation who have increased their pledge this year. We need to get this information to the Finance Committee of the Board of Directors soon, so they can create next year's budget.