Interim Musings. Jenny. October, Accessible Entrance at Corner of Pine/Proctor & Church Streets AND off Gould Court lot

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1 Volume 5: Issue 10 October, 2014 Newsletter of the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church The First Universalist Church in America Organized in 1779 as The Independent Christian Church THE REVEREND JENNY RANKIN, INTERIM MINISTER Worship Service: 10:00 am 10 Church Street [corner Middle & Church Streets] Gloucester MA (978) new Interim Musings Showing up. The spiritual practice of presence. That is what is on my mind as I write to you on this clear fall day at the end of September. Getting out of my car this morning, the sun is warm on my face and I can smell the salt in the air. The gulls wheel overhead. It s good to be here. Minister s Hours Showing up. I appreciate how many Wednesday and Thursday, by appointment. of you are showing up. For one Please call the church office (978) another, for this community. It is not revjenny@comcast.net easy for a church to be in a time of transition. There is much that feels unsettled. There are changes. You may like some, you may not like others. What will happen next? Who will our new minister be? There is ambiguity. One of the things that matters most of all during a time of transition is that you show up. Simply, be there for one another, on a personal as well as a collective level. And I see you doing that. You show up for worship, you show up for choir. I appreciate how many of you have signed up already for our All-Church Retreat on October 5 th. I m sure the delicious catered lunch is a draw and the big pleasant room with a view at Maritime Gloucester on the harbor where we will meet (thank you, Karen! For making all the arrangements). But I think as well you instinctively know that this is an important year in the life of this church, and you want to be present. You want to show up. It was a little more than a quarter of a century ago that this church had dwindled in numbers, so that it was in danger of closing. Your last settled minister, Wendy Fitting, began as an Extension Minister, her salary paid in part by the UUA in an attempt to revive things here. And revive them, you did and she did, in a ministry partnership together. This time, you are established enough to have a real Search Committee, using the regular search process to find a minister. That is a big deal. It will culminate in the Search Committee bringing one candidate to you in early May 2015 for your vote. But first, a few things have to happen. On October 5 th, you will show up and help put into words the guiding spirit and mission of this church. Your work will be invaluable to the Search Committee as they tell prospective ministers about this community. Who are you? What do you most deeply care about? Where do you want to go? Later in the fall, you will show up and make a pledge. Your pledges will pay the salary of the new minister (you voted last January to increase the minister s time to 3/4). All fall, winter and spring, I know you will show up cooking, singing, teaching, visiting, leading. Showing up. The spiritual practice of presence. I look forward to practicing, with you, this year. Jenny Accessible Entrance at Corner of Pine/Proctor & Church Streets AND off Gould Court lot pages/gloucester- Unitarian-Universalist- Church/

2 Page 2 Welcome! Rose Sheehan Interim Director of Religious Education Meet our new Interim Director of Religious Education: Rose Sheehan Rose at: DRE@gloucesteruu.org Rose comes to us with experience in leading a Unitarian Universalist religious education program in Greenfield, Massachusetts and has had years of experience in teaching, leading child care programs and running groups for parents and children in a variety of settings including parent/ child playgroups, Head start classrooms, private nursery schools, summer programs and Waldorf schools. She has worked with children from infancy through middle school. While at All Souls UU in Greenfield, she co-founded a junior youth group whose members went on to participate in District Youth Conferences. Rose will have registration forms available and will be soliciting teachers and co-teachers when classes formally begin on Sunday, October 5th. If you are interested, please contact her via at rose.siochain@gmail.com Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Rose is a lifelong Bay-stater. She s lived in Boston, Greenfield and Cape Cod. Gloucester has been her home since Rose has had a lifelong passion for children, learning and creative expression. She studied early childhood education at Greenfield Community College, holistic education at UMass Amherst and Waldorf education at Sunbridge College. Rose is a licensed early childhood educator and holds a certificate in Waldorf Elementary Education. During the early 1990 s, she served as Director of Religious Education for All Souls Church, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Greenfield. During her tenure with All Souls, she participated in the UUA s Renaissance Program for religious educators and completed the Ministry with Youth, Teacher Development and Worship modules. In addition to her work in education, Rose is an active folk performer. She plays music for Morris Dance ensembles and sings at a variety of venues from small coffee houses to festival audiences. Adelphi Records is producing a CD of Rose singing with her two sons Owen and Colin. A release date in late 2014 is anticipated. Rose is also a founding member of Folk Life Studio, whose mission is to keep folklife vibrant in our contemporary culture. She has organized a series of contra dances on Cape Ann and has developed a series of traditional music classes for children called Sing through the Seasons. Janet Young (our Facebook administrator), has just concluded a successful Facebook ad program that is likely to draw more visitors on Sunday mornings. From now on, she plans to promote each Sunday service on Facebook and Twitter, by giving the title or theme of the sermon, a headshot photo of the minister/ preacher, and a two-sentence bio. She would also like to feature -- in a separate post -- the composers/titles of the music pieces and the names/photos of guest musicians, if any. Church member, Willie Alexander and his group entertained an appreciative audience recently in the courtyard of the newly renovated Cape Ann Museum. photo by Karen Bell

3 You Told Us What You Thought! Now What? Page 3 As we work on the search for our next settled minister, your thoughts about the church and our next minister are very important. We have gathered a lot of information and opinions about who we are as a congregation, where we want to go, and what kind of person will best help us do that, and we thank all who have participated in this effort. Now it s time to put together a truthful, dynamic and positive picture of our church that will attract potential candidates to look at us. We will do this by creating a packet of information for prospective candidates and by enhancing and updating our website. We will update photos of the church, church activities and the congregation. There will be an enhanced section on our church history, another on the Gloucester community and a summary of our survey results. We plan to add information on our building and include a description of the music program. The mission statement that comes out of our retreat on October 5 will be included, and will help us show prospective candidates what the congregation s priorities are. This picture of our church and congregation is our principal recruiting tool and we are working hard to get it right. We have asked various members of the congregation and staff to do some of this work for us in the next few weeks. And then we edit, redo, evaluate and revise the website. Look for this to go live at the end of November. If you have questions or input, please speak to any member of the Search Committee. Filling Our Pulpit During October October 5 October 12 Rev. Jenny Rankin Rev. Edwin Lynn Banana Cream Pie and a Band- Aid: Kindness as a Daily Virtue The Reverend Edwin Lynn is Minister Emeritus of the Northshore Unitarian Universalist Church in Danvers, MA, where he had served the congregation for 33 years. He is a recipient of a first place prize in the Unitarian Universalist Borden Sermon Awards, has served on the Borden Sermon Award jury, and for many years had been a member of the Billings Preaching Prize jury at the Harvard Divinity School. In 1986 Harvard University awarded him a Merrill Fellowship, after which he served there as both Denominational Counselor to Unitarian Universalist students and as a Visiting Lecturer for 22 years, which included teaching the course Unitarian Universalist Polity and Practices. In addition to his serving as a Unitarian Universalist minister for over 40 years, Reverend Lynn is also a registered architect. He is the author of the book Tired Dragons: Adapting Church Architecture to Changing Needs and has served as a lecturer and architectural consultant to over 70 Unitarian Universalist churches. His newest book, published in 2011, is Shore Lines: Life Lessons From The Sea, in which he creates a connection between the seaside environment and human experience through imagery and story. He is a graduate cum laude of the Syracuse University School of Architecture and received his MDiv from the Thomas Starr King School for the Ministry. Rev. Lynn and his wife, Marj, live in the coastal town of Ipswich, Massachusetts. October 19 October 26 Rev. Jenny Rankin Lindsey Crouse This service will be led by a representative of the UUA who will speak to us about the ministerial search process. The theme is "Beyond Categorical Thinking." Later there will be a workshop to help our congregation find the best minister match. Please check the official calendar on our website for updates. As soon as we have titles for the homilies, they will be posted on the calendar. NEW Church info@gloucesteruu.org

4 Page 4 Gloucester Meetinghouse Benefit Concert & Lecture Series The Fall Concert scheduled for October 11 has been cancelled. The next event in our MMM series will be held on Sunday, October 26th, at 7:30 pm in the Sanctuary. The meditation leader will be Lama Jesse Fallon, from the Rockport Buddhist Center. Music will be provided, but the name of the musician was not available when we went to press. A free will offering of $10 is suggested but everyone is welcome. There will be a reception afterwards in the Entrance House with light refreshments. The meditation leader for the November 30th Music & Meditation will be Lanesville Yoga instructor Janet Green. On November 15th at 7:30 pm, Bob Wech, Music Director at the Gloucester UU Church is giving an organ concert which will include Introduction and Toccata by William Walond, Prelude and Fugue in G Major, and other selections by J. S. Bach, Organ Sonata #2 by Felix Mendelssohn, Choral #3 by Cesar Franck. This concert is a Benefit for the Meetinghouse Preservation Fund, suggested donation at the door is $15. We need Concert & Lecture Series gifts in order to go forward with our proposed schedule. Please consider making a tax deductible gift as a Series "Friend" ($10-499), Series "Supporter" ($500+) of the Series, or as an Event "Sponsor" (varies with cost of event). All contributors will be acknowledged in our programs. We are also willing to name the Series for a personal or corporate "Guardian Angel"...please contact the church office for more information about this. All levels of giving are needed for us to continue presenting concerts whose proceeds will benefit the Meetinghouse Preservation Fund and sustain the ongoing restoration effort. The current need is to fund the repair and re-installation of our 1918 stained glass windows with new external protective glass panels. Looking Ahead Green Initiative Roundtable on November 2 at 7:00 pm in our sanctuary. This is a shared event with the Cape Ann Forum. The title of the event is The Global Climate Change Crisis and Making Gloucester Carbon Neutral, "Where do we go from here?" The event is open to the public there will be a free-will offering which will benefit either the Cape Ann Forum or the Meetinghouse Preservation Fund. We especially thank our Event Sponsor for this event, Harry Hintlian from the Superior Nut Company a firm that has gone beyond carbon neutral. Harry will join the roundtable to explain the work of a foundation called Reforest the Tropics, which plants trees and manages forests in Central America as a means for Americans to offset carbon use and help combat climate change. The motivation for our city to participate and even subsidize Gloucester going carbon neutral is the benefits to economic development. Based on the experience of European towns and communities that have gone this way, that benefit is considerable. The cost of utilities are lowered, ecotourism booms, business are attracted to locate here, especially those with clean energy products. Gloucester s brand as an innovative and beautiful place where creative people live and work, would only be enhanced. Our public goal for our Green Community Plan for Gloucester will be to reduce our carbon footprint, by 80% in a decade. But things are moving so fast, that a 100% or even a net positive reduction of carbon, could be a possible goal soon. More on Page 7

5 When You Give Something You Should Get Something Page 5 Going into the fall, we're continuing the practice of having various committees and groups take turns hosting coffee hour. To help you remember when your turn is, the committees will go in alphabetical order. Building & Grounds 9/21 Care 9/28 Choir 10/5 Finance 10/12 Membership 10/19 Music & Liturgy 10/26 Religious Education 11/2 Social Justice 11/9 And now for that sweetener... You get a chance to engage the congregation and tell them about your committee -- except if that day a congregational meeting, discussion, or other event is taking place. A table will be set aside in the Vestry for your committee to use to introduced yourselves, let people know about a project you're working on, sign up volunteers for an upcoming event, or ask people a question relevant to your work. On a recent Sunday morning, the Social Justice Committee was asking people "What do you think is the most important social justice issue right now?" The only caveats about your engagement table are : (1) that it be opt-in, not mandatory (people must come to you on their own) (2) that it not interfere with anyone's enjoying coffee hour in their normal way. Janet Ruth Young Chair - Membership & Communications Committee Reaching for the Future The 2015 Canvass Launches on October 12 Did you vote in support of a three quarter time minister? Did you vote for the search committee? Do you plan to vote when a candidate for settled minister is presented? Do you want to see religious education strong and growing? Would you like to see fewer or no withdrawals from the endowment? Pledging is your chance to express your heartfelt commitment to all of that and more. This is an absolutely pivotal year for our church. If we all reach for the future with our dollars as well as our work we will show prospective candidates and ourselves that we have the means and the will to fulfill our goals. Read the Canvass Brochure when it comes in the mail. It will tell you where we stand and why this is such a crucial year. It will ask you to think anew about your pledge before making a decision. You have a new choice about how to pay your pledge. You can choose automatic fund transfer from your bank account, an easy way to keep up with your pledge which will greatly benefit the church. (See the Karen in the Church office for details.) Together we are the church. If you and I don t step up, who will? Come to the canvass celebration the weekend of November 22 and 23 at George Smith s wonderful house in Manchester. You will receive an invitation when you make your pledge. If you haven t by then, you can still make your pledge at the party. Exact date and time to be determined. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY PIVOTAL YEAR FOR OUR CHURCH.

6 Page 6 Choir member, G (Georgeanne Hyatt) has finally received a voucher for Section 8 housing. She needs a one bedroom apartment. If you have one available, or know of a source, please call her at 978/ OUR TURN TO HOST AN OPEN DOOR MEAL Saturday, October 18 (3 7 pm)... You don t have to stay the entire time. Any help would be welcome. Contact: Heidi Forrester hlforrester@comcast.net Our Photogenic Congregation Nearly forty members of our congregation posed on the church steps on Sunday, September 7, to send a group blessing to the Unitarian Universalist Association in their new headquarters. The UUA has moved from Beacon Hill to larger quarters in Boston's Innovation District. was also used in the church's recent Facebook ad that went to over three thousand people. Thanks to everyone who participated and to Karen Rembert for taking the photo. Janet Young Membership and Communication Chair The church photo, in which several members wore fishermen's slickers and sou'westers and held fishing rods, Ready... BLESSINGS FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS Photos from all UUA churches to be used as a video which the UUA will produce to introduce their new digs. GO! Set...

7 Board Notes Page 7 Religious Education: We have a talented new Interim Director of Religious Education who will begin the church school year on October 5. We are in search of a new Chair of the Religious Education Committee. If you are interested, please let Karen (church administrator) or the nominating committee know. Music and Liturgy: Bob Wech, our newly selected Music Director had his first rehearsal with the choir on September 24. He and the choir enjoyed it greatly. It looks to be an excellent year for the music program. Membership: Our new Social Justice chair, Janet Young, is off and running with ideas about coffee hour, engaging visitors and attracting new members. Social Justice: Heidi Forester has stepped into the position of Social Justice chair. We are grateful and excited about her enthusiasm for social justice programs. We look forward to another year of community involvement led by the social justice committee. Finance: The Finance Committee has been hard at work on the canvass, in support of the canvass chairs, Holly Tanguay and Doug Smith. Finance Chair, Ken Belanger and the church staff has worked very hard developing new building use policies that will clarify our expectations of renters. Ken will be meeting with representatives of the Grace Center this month. The finance committee believes a representative from the church should be in the Church Street foyer to monitor comings and goings during Grace Center hours. We will need volunteers to do this. Please let Karen or Ken know if you are interested. Our One Man Technology Committee: Ken Belanger has also been functioning as a one man, ad hoc committee on technology. He just supervised the installation of a high speed internet system throughout the church. Security cameras will be coming soon. Hallelujah and many thanks to Ken. NEW Church info@gloucesteruu.org Building and Grounds: As fall begins and B&G Chair Newt Fink returns from his honeymoon, action on the building and grounds will step up. In case you haven t noticed there is a new sign donated by George Smith sign just outside the main sanctuary entrance porch on the Church Street side. The insert is temporary; a final, weather-resistant insert will be installed later this month. Newt Fink commissioned the reproduction of the wood frame, based upon the historic version in the Entrance House. It s made of Spanish cedar and should last a very long time. He also oversaw painting it in the matching buff trim color with black trim on the edging. Newt also did the wood sign installation, including cement footings and electrical work for the light. The first of five donated granite benches was installed in the front yard recently, because of the efforts of Shep Abbot. Care Committee: The Care Committee is in transition as Peggy Kimball, former chair, has resigned to be active on the Ministerial Search Committee. Please let Karen or the nominating committee know if you are interested in being the new chair. Committee work for those who are ill or otherwise in need goes on nonetheless. Holly Tanguay, Clerk Looking Ahead Continued from Page 4 Lecture on Cape Ann s Participation in the Slave Trade, November 9 at 7:00 pm. Lise Breen s talk will be the second she has given at our church. Her first talk, To Light the Fires: A Sketch of the Daltons- Black Citizens of Gloucester and the World was delivered at a service on Sunday, February 9, 2014, and was supported in part by a grant from the Gloucester Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Lise s research is supported by the Peabody Essex Museum Phillips Library and the Munson Institute at Mystic Seaport. The event is open to the public and there is only a free-will offering to benefit the Meetinghouse Preservation Fund.

8 Page 8 2 Joanne Taveira 4 Linda Kidder 10 Tish Thornley 11 Dick Wilson 14 JoeAnn Hart 19 Kerry Mullen 20 Lucy Garberg 23 Charles Nazarian 24 Megara Wood 27 Barbara Wilson September 14 Given by Dennis and Janis Daulton in loving memory of Dennis s parents, Everett and Marion (Sammet) Daulton, and to honor the late Harold N. Pike Sr., Dennis s mentor and friend, and a good friend of this church. September 21 Given by Ann Leamon in loving memory of her Grandmother Moore, whose birth-month this is. September 28 Given by James Schoel and Nicole Richon-Schoel in honor of their mothers, Georgia Brantingham Schoel and Doris Johnson Graham. Becoming a Pilgrimage Destination Little by Little The latest addition to our upstairs hallway are the first two of a group of small framed portraits of most (if not all) the ministers here since John Murray in Thank you to Holly Tanguay who arranged for the framing. Take a look! They are a great addition as this community takes steps towards becoming a pilgrimage destination for the wider world and the UU movement. --Jenny Rankin Walk to End Homelessness Saturday, October 18th! Gather your friends, family and coworkers and join us for The 1st Annual Family Promise North Shore Boston Walk to End Homelessness The walk (rain or shine!) begins and ends in Beverly s historic Lynch Park. 8:00 am: Registration Confirmation/T-Shirts/Coffee/Breakfast Items -- Arrive Early! 9:00 am 5K (3.1 miles) Walk Begins! 11:00 am Food, Raffle Prizes, Music and much more! To register on line, click here

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