Septemb er The Touchstone The Newsletter of the Unitarian Fellowship of Fredericton York Street Fredericton NB EB R Sunday Service am Web Site httpwwwuca Email tunbnetnbca Contents for Septemb er Septemb er Rev David Hutchinson Unitarian So ci ety of Houlton Hippo Eats Scott Alexander What is Sunday Services the Meaning of Life Rev Scott Alexander former Joyful Noises Director minister at the Houlton Church was my ro ommate Womens Pot Luck at GA this summer in Portland Oregon While there Sunday Services Committee were no hipp os in Portland we did discuss their TUFF Ride Registry Players and Rules relevance over breakfast one morning at a pancake Grace House Emergency Shelter house Come and hear my answer to one of the most Kate Green of USC OTtawa to Visit frequently asked questions around Bridge Childrens Program Committee Septemb er Nasnan No qtok Where the Sidewalk Be Wanted to buy Slipp ers gins An integenerational service inspired by and Scarves for International Students containing some works of Shel Silverstein Wheelchair campaigns Church of the Larger Fellowship UUCSJ Gets National Coverage Septemb er Saint John UUCSJ Dedication day for Spirituality Bo ok Club at STU their new home Sandy Point Road Saint John CUC Presidents InfoTopics August At pm Letter to Prime Minister We anticipate that a numb er of Fredericton mem Message from Mary Bennett b ers will want to join our sister congregation in their CLF Forums celebration and will plan to end on time with a low key so cial hour so that p eople may make their way to Saint John in go o d order if they cho ose Sunday Services Septemb er Ingathering Our traditional start of Joyful Noises Director year Everyone knows that the real new year in our so ciety is the end of the summer vacation p erio d and The Joyful Noises choir is searching for a new director Is the start of scho ol We will have our traditional corn there anyone at the Fellowship who would b e interested in b oil following an ingathering service Please bring this p osition If so please contact either Linda water or another token or symb ol of a pleasant or sig or Margaret nicant summer memory and share a few sentences ab out where and why Septemb er Angus Hamilton Global Warm Womens Pot Luck ingClimate Change in Perspective North American Indian Proverb We do not inherit the earth from The next monthly womens p ot luck will b e held Septem our ancestors we borrow it from our children b er th at pm Joan Brewer will host the gather ing at her home Ridgewell Place The show and tell If you are exp ecting a talk on ecient light bulbs and topic is what song evokes the strongest memories for you hybrid cars youre going to b e disapp ointed What Please tell us ab out the song or songs and the memo I am going to do is touch lightly on many related ries For more information contact Joan Brewer at jr things that will I hop e put global warming and cli jebnbsympaticoca or mate change in p ersp ective moments honouring them in the quiet space of our own hearts and minds pause honour that they shape not just meaning but in some cases direction and action for us pause Honour that we may not choose how or when such events happen in our lives and yet we can with pa tience and time exercise some choice in how we t them into the patterns and context of our lives pause We can exercise some choice in what attention we give these joys and sorrows what intention we surround them with and what direction we move in given their presence in our lives longer pause In some cases it may be important and timely for us to let others here know about these joys and sorrows We may have dierent reasons for doing this For example a brief mention of the joy or sorrow may enable the larger community assembled here to rejoice with us or recognize our wish for support or consoling Since communities bond with their hearts more than their heads this can be an im portant time of bonding To help us individual ly and as a caring community bene t from this time of sharing I suggest we try a number of things today I suggest those who speak do so briey so al l who wish to speak wil l have an opportunity to do so Owen Diamond Janel le Brewer cutting the cake August As individuals we have dierent temperaments and dier at the Fel lowship ent levels of comfort both with sharing and with hearing about the joys and sorrows of others If we choose to share keeping our words brief can also acknow ledge that some of us listening today may be doing the best we can in our Sunday Services Committee lives at this time and are not aware of inner resources to cal l on now to oer support or respond with joy The Adult Programme Sunday Services worship Com mittee has met twice over the summer to plan service The context of a service like this also places some con topics for each week At b oth meetings we also consid straints on how we as listeners can respond to others ered various other matters dealing with the Sunday service joys and sorrows I have tried as an experiment this week which is a central part of our spiritual life placing this part of the service near the end so people can use the social gathering time after the service if they wish One matter which raised signicant discussion in the to expand on their joy or sorrow or take the initiative to rst meeting but on which I b elieve the committee had approach others who have shared and fol low up with them reached general concensus by the second meeting is the in ways they feel would be appropriate Joys and Concerns sometimes Joys and Sorrows Mary Scott gave a very moving service on August just b efore Are there personal joys or sorrows anyone wishes to share the second summer meeting of the committee and fol at this time lowing discussion with several committee memb ers antic The concensus which the committee has reached is that ipated and incorp orated much of our thoughts on the mat we do not want to signicantly alter the Joys and Sor ter Marys intro duction to Joys and Sorrows was careful rowsConcerns segment of the service We are a small con considered and well phrased and I am repro ducing it with gregation and the numb er of p eople who typically sp eak her p ermission during Joys and Concerns is not so excessive that we have At this time Il l ask us al l to shift from our discussion of to curtail the segment as has happ ened in larger congrega todays topic and move our thoughts and feelings towards tions We will strongly recommend that the Joys segment personal joys or sorrows from the last week or upcoming b e placed near the end of the service so that it do es not week Each of us has joys and sorrows in our lives some interfere with the ow of the service and so that joys and large many of them smal l and yet worth our noting and concerns expressed may remain fresh in the minds of oth paying attention to ers so that they may seek out the individuals who sp oke so as to share in the joy more fully or oer a sympathetic As we individual ly move our focus now to personal joys shoulder to those who need during our so cializing after and sorrows let us reect inward ly and spend a few Dispatcher service The committee also feels that while this will b e our recommendation the nal order of service is the deci sion of the service leader who should organize the service Compiles and maintains the Drivers and Riders lists taking into account whatever sp ecial sp eaker or event is to b e the centre of the service Enjoys the privilege of working with such great p eo Marys intro duction was very well considered however it ple is likely to o lengthy to b ecome a standard intro duction We hop e that p eople who have a joy that must b e shared The Ride Registry at tUFF addresses two needs It pro or a concern that cannot b e contained will learn to b e brief vides friends and memb ers with transp ortation to Sunday and to resp ect that others also have joys and concerns We service It gives friends and memb ers the chance to help also ask that as a lay led congregation we all share in the out Whether you are a driver or a rider call the dis ministry If someone was in obvious joy oer congratula patcher allison calvern Thanks tions during the so cializing or sympathy for those in need Rememb er the Dear Abby advice that expressions of joy or sympathy should b e only that and few of us are qualied to give advice and anyone so qualied would not give advice in a so cial setting Grace House Emergency Shelter To change the tone somewhat I will p oint out that the Marcia Tanner the manager of Grace House Emergency duty of the Sunday Service Committee is to plan our Sun Shelter for Women needs p ersonal care pro ducts for the day services There is no requirement that one b e on the residents Marcia is comfortable accepting partly used committee in order to sp eak or to b e a service leader If b ottles from the Fellowship So if you no longer want you are nervous ab out sp eaking in public then I can attest something you used to use please put it in the green ham from exp erience that the Fellowship is an excellent venue p er in the foyer under the table where our song b o oks are for building public sp eaking condence Anyone with ser stored vice suggestions or who would like to lead a service should approach any of the committee memb ers Haifa Miller Patricia desChamps JoAnne ElderGomes Janet Craw ford AnneLouise Bro okes Betsy Epp erly Al Sharp or the chair In fel lowship Tony Fitzgerald Chair Adult Programme Sunday worship TUFF Ride Registry Players and Rules