Sunday Services. The Monthly Newsletter of Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church. Searching for truth through reason, love and diversity

Transcription

1 Searching for truth through reason, love and diversity September 2016 Edition 611 The Monthly Newsletter of Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church Sunday Services September 4th The Rights of Workers Rev. Elwood Sturtevant I don t usually preach from Biblical texts, but I thought I d begin with James 5:4 this Labor Day weekend as I look at what has been happening to the labor movement in America and why that matters as we remember that our ongoing UU Study/Action issue is escalating inequality. - ERS September 11th Invitation The Rev. Elwood Sturtevant This year, we ll be trying out thematic ministry once a month so that you can have a taste of what it s like. The theme for this month is Invitation - what does it mean to be a people of invitation. One of the questions for consideration involves exploring whether there is enough space, enough silence in your life for you to hear an invitation, a call, to step outside the ordinary. - ERS September 18th Defying Hate Rev. Elwood Sturtevant See the announcement about the new Ken Burns film featuring UUs who helped save refugees from the Nazis. I ll share some of why I think telling the Sharps story matters today. - ERS September 25th Poetry, Politics, and York Frank X. Walker Our guest speaker, Frank X Walker, is the celebrated former poet laureate of Kentucky, University of Kentucky professor, and founding member of the Affrilachian Poets. A lover of history and truth telling, Frank has been a long-time poet/visual artist and social justice activist. He will talk about how his roles as artist and activist have been intertwined, and will read from his work, including his newest book on York. Music composed by Frank Richmond and inspired by Frank X's poetry will be a special part of the service. Frank X Walker's books will be available for sale and signing immediately following the service. October 2nd Letting Go Rev. Elwood Sturtevant Here s the beginning of the description of October s theme: We cling. You name it, we ve wrapped our grasping fingers and anxious hearts around it: success, safety, society s standards of beauty, personal desires to be accepted, perfectionism, duty, fear, grudges, hurts, hopes, stuff, shame and privilege. Whether the object of our grasping is good or bad is not, as we learn, truly the issue. It s the grasping itself. That s the real problem. Holding on too long and too tightly is never good for the soul. And, it s our annual Apple Communion. - ERS

2 minister S musings At the end of July, the Rev. Dawn Cooley, the settled minister at the First Unitarian Church of Louisville, sent out a letter telling her congregation It is with a whole spectrum of emotions that I write to let you know that my time as your minister will end on October 23, I have accepted a job as Congregational Life Staff with the Southern Region of the Unitarian Universalist Association, serving over 215 congregations in 12 states, Mexico, and the US Virgin Islands. I understand that the Board of First Unitarian has decided that an interim minister will not be hired until next summer, such that a new settled minister likely won t be called until the next year, Until next summer, the hours and duties of their Director of Religious Exploration and of their student intern will be expanded. I don t expect this development to have any major impact on either TJ or me, with the exception that I will be the teaching supervisor for the intern, Christe Lunsford. That supervision is to take place mostly through an hour-long conversation once a week. I share this with you because I think you should know what s happening, and because I think it fits with the theme of the month: Invitation. That is, everyone connected with TJ has had a standing invitation over the summer to review and comment on the draft of the five year goals that we ll consider in October, but I think the transition at First Unitarian may be an invitation for both congregations (and maybe Clifton, too) to think about whether there are any ways for us to begin to engage in some creative collaboration. Most of you know that First Unitarian church started TJ back in the late 1950 s by buying the property here and holding services in the farmhouse until the congregation here was recognized by the American Unitarian Association and was given the deed to the property. When I came to town in 1987, First Unitarian reported having 316 members, TJ reported having 64 members, and Clifton 50. In 2011 the membership numbers were: First 228, TJ 217, Clifton 50. The 2016 reported membership numbers are First 191, TJ 233, and Clifton 20. That is, there are something like 14 more reported UUs in Louisville than there were 30 years ago, but they are distributed differently. Perhaps we can all grow more if we work together on some things? One of the things the UUA is inviting congregations to do is to explore our theology of interdependence by investigating ways of collaborating with each other. See For example, the UUA suggests that if any of the following things are true, it might be that a yoked arrangement could be helpful: Your youth program or social justice ministry may be strengthened if you joined with a neighbor Unitarian Universalist (UU) church. You are open to sharing staff, but still want to retain your own board, bylaws and budgets. You are willing to share your staff with a sibling congregation to create a more vibrant ministerial team. You believe that combining resources can make you stronger together. That is, a yoked model is made up of two or more independent congregations (each retains its board, bylaws, and budgets) bound by shared (lead) staff & shared (major) programming motivated by a "spirit of sharing hoping to combine resources to strengthen ministry, create a more powerful ministerial team and be more impactful than either could be alone. Let me be clear this is something that I think is worth exploring, but there are no plans in place, and no one from the UUA has suggested any of this for Louisville. The UUA s invitation has only been made through offering general information about possibilities for multisite congregations. (See growth/multisite/ways-being-multisite-congregations/ comparsion-chart and multisite/ways-being-multisite-congregations for some of the other possible arrangements that other UU congregations are part of these days.) Share your thoughts with me (elwood@tjuc.org), and/ or the TJ Board, and/or the goals committee (sargents47@gmail.com) As the UUA reminds us, Congregational polity calls us to protect each congregation s right to govern itself, but its power is also found in congregations covenanting with each other in mutual support. After all, that s why we re part of the UUA. - ERS

3 Joys and Concerns -

4 EACM Back To School Supplies - Thank You! Thank you to all who so generously donated to our annual school supply collection! We provided 17 backpacks that were filled with needed supplies - and donated many additional school supplies - for distribution to EACM client families. Our TJUC community continues to support outreach projects to our neighbors in need. Building Bridges Can The Monarch Butterfly Be Saved? Over the past two decades, the population of monarch butterflies has plummeted, bringing the butterfly dangerously close to extinction. The key factor in the monarch s demise is the loss of milkweed habitat across the United States. Look for the Green Sanctuary Monarch display in the Welcoming Space to see what TJ and TJ members are doing to help. Interested in World Religions? Our Middle School youth are interested too! Join the adventure: be part of the Guide Team Judaism, Liberal Christianity, Islam, Baha i, Buddhism, Humanism, Earth Centered traditions- all through the lens of our UU faith. Please contact DLRE Barb right away for more information. Senior Youth Group Meeting for all interested high school youth on Sunday, September 11 th in the Young Room at 12:30 pm Bring a lunch with you! Caregiver Support Group The Caregivers Support Group Tuesday, September 6th at 4 pm in the Hearth Room at TJ. All are welcome. This group is for anyone in a caregiving situation, either local or long-distance.

5 Sunday Mornings at 9:30 September 4th - First Sunday Contemporary Issues Discussion The new UUA Study/Action issue selected at the recent General Assembly is The Corruption of Our Democracy which calls us to look at issues of corporate personhood and money as speech. We ll begin our exploration of the topic by looking at Bill Moyers interview segment with historian Steve Fraser called The New Robber Barons. 9:30 AM Discussion Group We are making our way through The African Experience: From Lucy to Mandela a general introduction to Africa and its history. Even those of us who have studied history have often missed out on learning about Africa. Professor Kenneth P. Vickery says, Our objective is to provide a fuller and more balanced view, a greater appreciation and understanding of the complexity of the African experience. See for details, or just come and see for yourself. 9/11 The Atlantic Slave Trade The Scope 9/18 South Africa The Dutch Cape Colony 9/25 South Africa The Zulu Kingdom Did you know that TJ is on facebook? Please like our pages: TJUC Lifespan Religious Exploration Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church/ Louisville, KY Touting TJ! Touting (Definition): advertising, hyping, flaunting, plugging, puffing, piling it on, laying it on thick. What does it mean for you? For the last four years, the Promotions Committee s mission is to promote TJ s unique character to our community. Our purpose? To attract new members and to promote our values and venue to the bigger community. TJ s Promotion Committee has accomplished a lot in the past years. Regarding social media, our Facebook Page Likes have increased from 65 to 487 in just a few years! This means that Friends of TJ within our Facebook family care about what we do and may someday be interested in joining our church community! Let s keep posting! The Promotions Committee hopes that we all will TOUT TJ in our own way: if you follow TJ s Facebook Page, do you know how effective it is to share an upcoming event, Invite your FB friends to it, and proudly display that you re GOING? If you are not a Facebook user, then share our events with friends and family in your own way. Don t keep us a secret! TJ s website now has a TJ Blog- check it out. Ask your committee to contribute a relevant article expressing your purpose, or write up a recent activity and send it along with optional photos to either Ellen Sisti Wade, bigole@aol.com or Daniel Sturtevant, daniel.a.sturtevant@gmail.com. We are proud of TJ and we hope you will help us TOUT IT!!

6 New Member Recognition On August 28, we honored our new members in a special ceremony during the Sunday service. Since our last New Member Recognition in March, 10 have joined our faith community. Our beloved T.J. continues to grow in ways that enable engagement and support of our members and our community at large. Please welcome our following new members: Wholeheartedly, *Jim Temple *Jesy Bowling *Russ Funk *Angela Kortz Funke *Olfa Nasraovi Janet Taylor Membership Coordinator janet@tjuc.org *Aja Bowling *Amy Mudd *Todd Gruenig *Sara O Neal Bridge Anyone? Every Wednesday night at 7:00 pm. All levels welcome. Just drop in! Church Choir rehearsal - every Tuesday night at 7:00 pm. Drop in! Annual Members and Friends Art Show It's time to gather art work for the Members' Show in our own Marx Gallery! It's time to take creative materials in hand and make something you love to do. Or bring in a piece of art from your walls. Chat with your muse and get busy! Here's the timeline: Sunday 9/ gather art pieces, with all pieces turned in for installing before potluck on Sunday 10/2 (potluck), the Members' and Friends show is on display! 10/2, through 11/8 display continues through Election Day, when all voters from 2 precincts TJ artwork Friday 12/2- Saturday 12/3 display continues through WinterFair, when all Customers will view the show while they shop for juried art gifts for winter holiday giving. Sunday 12/4 after potluck, artists may take their work so the next exhibit can be installed. Art work not picked up will be stored for later pick up. All media ready for hanging or display are accepted, but for answers to questions, contact: Diana Fulner : 502/ h(home), 502/ (cell), dfulner@hotmail.com ( )

7 Board of Trustees (9 3 elected each year to 3 year terms) Do you know who is on the Board of Trustees? These are the people that have the authority to set policy and work with issues that affect the church. However, you elect them. If you have some issue, no matter how small, bring it to their attention. They wear green name badges on Sunday Morning Dennis Neyman - President (May 17) Lori Sargent Vice President (May 18) Kay Omanson - Treasurer - appointed (May 17) Carolyn Brown - Secretary - appointed (May 17) Jim Temple (May 19) Diane Guenthner (May 18) Debbie Weeter (May 17) Brendan Merk (May 18) Phil Young (May 19) Lynn Slaughter (May 17) Walt Anderson (May 19) Paying It Forward with Magazines Folks at TJ subscribe to a plethora of magazines focusing on wideranging topics. Someone had the good idea to collect these magazines and distribute them to places that would appreciate them. (i.e. Center for Women and Families, St. John's Center for Homeless Men, etc.) There will be a box in the coat closet marked MAGAZINES. Don't bring ones that are time-sensitive like The Week or Time. Bring ones like Oprah, Outdoor Life, People, Women's Day, etc. You'll be doing two good deeds: bringing joy to others and recycling. DREAM ON: Part I In an epic road trip, political comedian John Fugelsang retraces the journey of Alexis de Tocqueville, whose study of our young country in 1831 came to define America as a place where anyone could climb the ladder of economic opportunity. Following in the Frenchman's footsteps, Fugelsang speaks with fast -food workers and retirees, prisoners and entrepreneurs, undocumented immigrants and community organizers about their hopes, dreams, and daily struggles. DREAM ON explores whether the optimistic spirit of the American Dream that Tocqueville observed is alive and well in the twenty-first century, or whether George Carlin was right when he famously quipped "It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." Part I will be followed by discussion with Part II being shown October 10th Humanists of Metro Louisville September 12, 2016

8 Massage - Does it Work? You are invited to a special presentation on Sunday, September 11 at 1pm in the Hearth room after pot luck. Jennifer Jones, a certified massage therapist will be speaking on the importance and validity of massage therapy. Once considered suspect as a true therapy according to western medicine, massage therapy is now considered valid and essential to our emotional and physical well- being. The seminar will include the overall benefits, a demonstration video and studies that demonstrate its effectiveness in conditions such as post traumatic syndrome. To register for the class, please Janet Taylor at janet@tjuc.org. Can you believe it? KEAP after 10 years Members and Friends of Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church on Brownsboro Road have worked for 10 years to support AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in Kenya through the Kenyan Education and AIDS Program (KEAP). I've sponsored Shadrack s education since I met him and his brother at the Vihiga Children s Home in Kenya when he was a young lad struggling to eat nutritious meals, have a roof over his head and learn. Now, he is in his first year of college studying agriculture. At university, Shadrack wrote: Jambo. I am fine. I am happy that you are going to write a story about my school life. I will write something to contribute to the same. I finished my second semester. I shall receive my academic transcripts next semester.. Love, Shadrack Amadi. While on university break, he wrote this: I have a new way of doing exercise. Now that am not committed in books. I will be waking up at 6 am go to dig, feed the cow. Going to fetch water for house use and for the cow would also be useful. I have several activities for the break We need your help to support education and medical needs of 'our' Kenyan children. Come to JAMBO (Swahili for hello) and have fun while your generous contributions help kids. You will meet generous souls, eat dinner, play JAMBO (bingo) for prizes, enter a cake walk and perhaps win a cake, listen to talented musicians and learn a little about a special place in Kenya. Dennis Neyman Dennis and Shadrack 10 years ago Shadrack - now

9 September 2016 Thursday, September 1, :00 PM - 08:00 PM Women's Choir Practice Sunday, September 4, :30 AM - 10:45 AM Current Event Discussions 12:15 PM - 01:00 PM Potluck Tuesday, September 6, :00 PM - 05:30 PM Caregiver Support Group 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM Choir Rehearsal Wednesday, September 7, :00 AM - 09:30 AM Personnel Committee 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Bridge Group Thursday, September 8, :00 PM - 08:00 PM Women's Choir Practice Saturday, September 10, :00 AM - 11:30 AM ARE Meeting 05:00 PM - 09:30 PM JAMBO Sunday, September 11, :00 AM - Debbie s birthday 09:30 AM - 10:45 AM Drop In Discussion Group Monday, September 12, :00 PM - 08:30 PM Humanist Meeting Tuesday, September 13, :00 PM - 08:30 PM Choir Rehearsal 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM SURJ Workshop Wednesday, September 14, :00 PM - 09:00 PM Bridge Group Thursday, September 15, :00 PM - 07:30 PM HOTTIES Meeting 07:00 PM - 08:00 PM Women's Choir Practice Sunday, September 18, :15 AM - 10:45 AM Social Justice Comm Meet 09:15 AM - 10:45 AM CYRE Meeting 09:30 AM - 10:45 AM Drop In Discussion Group 12:30 PM - 02:30 PM Sunday Service Planning 12:45 PM - 02:15 PM Promotions Committee Meet Monday, September 19, :00 PM - 08:30 PM Service Auction Meeting Tuesday, September 20, :00 PM - 08:30 PM Choir Rehearsal Wednesday, September 21, :30 AM - 01:30 PM Meditation IPP 06:00 PM - 08:30 PM Open Campus Kickoff Dinner 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Bridge Group Thursday, September 22, :00 PM - 08:00 PM Women's Choir Practice Friday, September 23, :00 PM - 09:00 PM GS Autumnal Equinox Saturday, September 24, :45 PM - 02:00 PM Caring Ministry Sunday, September 25, :15 AM - 10:45 AM Green Sanctuary Committee 09:30 AM - 10:45 AM Drop In Discussion Group 12:45 PM - 01:15 PM Caring Ministry 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM Be SMART Forum 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM Voices of a Liberal Faith Tuesday, September 27, :00 PM - 04:30 PM Exe Committee Mtg 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM Choir Rehearsal Wednesday, September 28, :00 PM - 09:00 PM Bridge Group 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM Open Campus Begins Thursday, September 29, :00 PM - 08:00 PM Women's Choir Practice The next Tapestry Deadline is September 23, 2016 Men s Group The first Monday at noon of every month at Bob Evans Restaurant on Hurstbourne at noon. All men welcome! Womens Lunch Bunch On the first Monday of every month at the Bristol Café on Hurstbourne Lane at noon. All women welcome!

10 Open Campus Classes Climate Change: What does it mean for future life on earth? Facilitator: Dick Heifner Dates: Wednesdays, November 9 and 16 Description: After a year of record-setting heat and extreme weather, this 2-session course is intended to help participants understand what is happening. The latest measures of climate change and its implications for future life on earth will be examined. Progress in slowing global warming will be reviewed. Further actions needed to prevent catastrophic warming will be identified. Included will be Ted talks by two men who helped bring global warming to the world s attention: NASA scientist James Hansen and Nobel Peace Prize joint winner, Al Gore. We will also draw from Joseph Romm s 2016 book, Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know and recent articles. Participants will be encouraged to share their own climate change experiences and insights. Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals Facilitator: Elwood Sturtevant September 28, October 12, 19, 26, and November 2 Format: Book discussion group will utilize a study guide that accompanies purchase of the book. Five fall Open Campus sessions will focus on the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), with the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) discussed in the Winter Open Campus. Collage Facilitator: Lisa Austin Dates: November 2, 9, and 16 Participants: Maximum: 10, Minimum: 5 Description: Lisa Austin is a national collage award winner and has exhibited her work in Europe, South America, as well as around the continental United States. Her work has also appeared in books and magazines. She will be teaching this class to study composition, color, imagery, and narrative in the medium of collage. It is adult only and it will be a fast paced class. Prepare to be challenged and have fun. Materials needed: Most of these can be found at JoAnne s and using the newspaper coupons can make them downright inexpensive. 8x10 Acid free white cardstock (if package is too big, go in with another classmate). Elmer s glue stick, ruler, scissors, magazines and catalogs, optional: colored pencils, markers, crayons.

11 Belly Dance Facilitator: Melinda Tallman 8 Wednesday evening Classes, beginning September 28 th Minimum of 6 participants Belly Dance is an ancient art, practiced by men, women and children for centuries. It not only allows us great bodily awareness through isolated movements, but allows an expression of self as movements are rooted in the belly (the proverbial source of emotion), combining breath work and core strengthening with the joy of music. It is a class to benefit everyone!! Open to beginners. Alan Godsave, Facilitator Begins September 28 Building your own theology is something that you have likely been doing for a lifetime. UU s do a great job of giving you the freedom to continue that process. Here is a class designed to give you the tools to do so. This small group will engage in a systematic and communal process to assist each participant to better understand and articulate that core of ultimate meanings, values, and convictions to which we choose to commit our lives. Everyone is welcome, including repeat students! This curriculum discusses important questions of religion from a UU perspective, allowing each participant to come to their own understanding of what makes sense and works. It is a wonderful way to get to know other UUers and to explore your own faith within a supportive group Meaningful Media: Photography as a Spiritual Practice Facilitator Barb Friedland, DLRE 6 sessions: Sept 28, Oct 5, 12, 19, 26, and Nov 2 Materials needed by participants: at least one device for image capture- traditional camera, digital camera, smartphone, etc. Access to photo editing software will be helpful but not required. When photography was invented, it was intended primarily to be a tool for documentation. While that remains an important function for photography, the camera has become a versatile media for creating artistic images that we might think of as visual meditations. This series will explore the possibilities for deepening in our way of seeing, appreciating, and experiencing the world around us. A key component of this exploration will be to share and reflect on participants images and to discover insights about self, about connections with others, and to journey towards spiritual insights. While all experience levels are welcomed, participants do need to understand the functions of their camera or imaging device. While this will not be a Photo 101 class, technical and compositional suggestions will be offered. The facilitator will send out a welcome letter with additional information prior to the first session. About the facilitator: Barb Friedland has been working with photography as a fine art medium for many years and is a graduate of the New England School of Art in Design, where she majored in painting and photography and has been an active exhibitor in the regional art festival circuit.

12 Defying the Nazis The Sharps War September 20, 9:30 PM on KET View this program at home, or come to TJ and watch. Elwood will present an introduction to the film at 9 PM, and plans to show it again at an earlier hour when the video becomes available. Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War is an 87- minute film by Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky, the Sharps grandson. It is an account of a daring rescue mission that occurred on the precipice of World War II: the story of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, a Unitarian minister and his wife from Wellesley, Massachusetts, who left their children behind in the care of their parish and boldly committed to multiple life-threatening missions in Europe. Over two dangerous years they helped to save hundreds of imperiled political dissidents and Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazi occupation across Europe. UU Congregations are invited to help draw parallels between the situation the Sharps faced where Jewish refugees were being excluded from America, and the current situation where significant opposition to the admission of Muslim refugees has been expressed. Your family is invited to CYRE Discovery Day on September 11th On September 25 at 12:45 Lisa Austin will present a BeSmart program to address children and gun safety. Even if you do not own a gun, the children in your life may have access to one. Do you know how to keep them safe? We will address these issues and more in this forum. This program is sponsored by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

13 Rev. Dr. William Barber Coming to Louisville: Tuesday, October 4, :30pm 8:30pm St. Stephen Church 1018 S 15th St., Louisville The Revival: Time for a Moral Revolution of Values is a national tour to redefine morality in American politics and challenge leaders of faith and moral courage to be more vocally opposed to harmful policies that disproportionately impact the poor, people who are ill, children, immigrants, communities of color, and religious minorities. The Revival is co-led by the Rev. Dr. James A Forbes Jr. and the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, architect of the historic Moral Monday Movement in North Carolina. Local faith leaders, citizens, and persons impacted and hurt by regressive policies are invited to participate in direct actions in their state capitals during three Mondays in September, and sign on to the Higher Ground Moral Declaration calling on our political system to rise above hatred, fear, and left and right politics, in order to reach our highest values of love and justice. from Invitation Theme Questions: Is there enough silence, stillness and space in your life to hear the invitation? Are you open to the invitation of the divine? Many traditions talk about the divine as an ache or lure that invites us to transformation. Do you experience such a divine ache or lure in your life? Do you want to? In her song, May I Suggest, Susan Werner sings, May I suggest this is the best part of your life What if that were true for you? What would it mean for you to accept the invitation that right now is the best and most blessed time of your life? Would it change the way you see what s in front of you? Does your discomfort with traditional religious language prevent you from hearing an invitation into relationship? When others talk of praying for you or seeing you or others as children of God or joining together to do God s work, do hear the invitation to connect or do the words sound like nails on a chalkboard? Do your accept their invitation or correct their language? It is said that behind great anger is great pain. If so anger is an invitation to look at your deep sadness or feelings of lack of control. What is anger trying to invite you to see and feel right now? Are you living your calling? Most religions speak of God or Life something beyond ourselves-inviting us to some unique mission or cause. If it is true that each of us has a unique calling, what s yours? Have you found it? Or are you too distracted to notice the invitation? How are you handling Life s invitation to live gracefully and even gratefully with uncertainty and change? When were you the stranger and someone invited you in? More importantly, how are you re-paying that gift in your present day living and loving? What are you doing with the invitation to love yourself? What s your question? Your question may not be listed above. As always, if the above questions don't include what life is asking from you, spend the month listening to your days to hear it.

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15 CEDAW Event Invitation Lunchtime Conversation in support of Women s and Girls Human Rights Friday, September 9 11:30 am- 1:30 pm Jefferson Square, 6 th and Jefferson Streets Free Coffee provided Food Trucks available for lunch Please join the Louisville Coalition for CEDAW, the Louisville Office for Women, and the Center for Women and Families as you connect with allies in the legal, judicial, law enforcement, social services, and human rights activist communities! The Derby City Sisters is hosting a bingo night at Play (1101 E. Washington St, 40206) on Sunday, Oct. 2, 7:30-9:30. All proceeds will go to LGBTQ non profits and AIDS outreach. There will be several TJ tables playing at Play that night! We will meet at TJ at 7:00 and caravan. Come join us. Nominations!! The Nominating Committee has to have congregational nominees/ suggestions by next Sunday, Sept. 10th to give us time to (1) review the nominees and decide which ones to ask, (2) talk to those that are being nominated or are nominating themselves and then for us as a committee to meet the deadline of turning all of the info. and nominees bio into Debbie Horvay by September 25 th. My experience from other committees is that most of us will put something off until the last minute (for ex., responding and reviewing the TJ s Five Year Goals). If they read it and know it needs to be done within a few days, they will take their idea of a nominee and jump into action by sending it to us. So, if we give them a week, that should be adequate. They either have an idea or do not, want to nominate themselves or do not. That is my opinion. Kroger Community Awards Time to renew your participation in Kroger s Community Rewards Program. Evertime you use your Kroger plus card Kroger keeps track of all the purchases made by people who are enrolled in the program. Every quarter they give us a percentage of total sales no cost to you! Go to enrollcommunityrewardsnow And click on re-enroll. If you have never joined the program, please do. Just go to the same page

16 Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church 4936 Brownsboro Road Hwy. 22 Louisville, KY Return Service Requested September 2016 Edition 611 (a few of you asked for the Jacob Trapp piece I shared on 8/28 - Elwood) Religion as a set of right beliefs and right observances becomes divisive and absurd. Religion as walking with others, listening to others, sharing with others, is not a creed but a way of life. To be religious is to be grateful for the much we are given and to give in return as much as we can. Religion is a way of life with sympathy, responsiveness, reverence for sacred potential, respect for mother earth and all her creatures A way of life that love makes beautiful. Jacob Trapp The Reverend Elwood Sturtevant, Minister Tuesday - Thursday, 1-4 pm and by appointment Barb Friedland, Director Lifespan RE Tuesday & Thursday, 9:00am - 3:00 pm Wednesday & Friday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Frank Richmond, Music Director Janet Taylor, Membership Coordinator Debbie Horvay Administrator/Newsletter Editor Monday - Friday 9:30 am - 4:30 pm Ellen Wade, Rental Coordinator Weddings and Rentals Call the office. Office hours: Monday thru Friday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm 9:30 am - Adult Religious Education 11:00 am - Sunday Service 11:00 am - Children /Youth Lifespan RE debbie@tjuc.org Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church 4936 Brownsboro Rd (Hwy 22) Louisville, KY 40222

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