Arts Fair a Success. Important Upcoming Dates

Transcription

1 VOLUME 57, ISSUE 20 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF SALT LAKE CITY MAY 4, 2015 Arts Fair a Success -submitted by Bill Reed The 2015 Art Fair was held at First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City on April 18th and 19th. It continues to be a premier church social event and fun fund raiser. The event is an outstanding opportunity that is open to all church members and local artists who are Unitarian friendly. Saturday hours were 5 pm to 10 pm. Entertainment on Saturday was provided by Aerial Arts of Utah, First Unitarian Church Junior Choir, Aere Greenway, Art Lee, John Major, and Quattro Amici" (Four Friends) a madrigal choir of church members: Jessica French, Jim Thornburg, John Major, and Kathleen Wilson. Sunday hours were between services and after last service. Sales were essentially evenly split between the two days. We had 22 artists participating in the event. Total sales were $6, The church retained 25% of sales, the artists 75%. The art sales made a total (after expenses) of $ for the church and an additional $ for YRUU (a church sponsored youth program). One artist was the winner selling close to $1, of her art and art items, of course she only got to keep 75% of that. Expenses covered by the church included wine and Square transaction charges (the cost of accepting credit cards). Food was donated for the event by Bill Reed and Diane Johnson. Chairs: Bill Reed - Visual Arts, Marcia Walker Performance Arts, and Jim Turner Head Cashier. Visual Artists and Authors: Bill Reed, Mary Pusey, Victoria Sethunya, Randy Laub, Stephanie Saint-Thomas, Christy Montrone-Burns, Heather Hawks, Susan Mumford, Art Lee, YRUU, Jan Crane, Joan Johnson, Molly Hames, Ron Molen, Norma Important Upcoming Dates May 17th - Congregational Meeting following the 2nd Sunday services. YRUU youth will be selling sandwiches. May 24th - One Sunday Service only at 10:00 a.m. May 31st - One Sunday Service only at 10:00 a.m. June 7th - One shorter Sunday Service only at 8:30 a.m. followed by the Pride Parade June 14th - Once Sunday Service only at 10:00 a.m. followed by the Annual Church Picnic at Sugarhouse Park June 21st - Summer Forum begins; Summer Forum will happen each Sunday for 10 weeks at 10:00 a.m. Molen, Barbara Pence, Jane Grau, Lissa Lander, Thatcher Goff, Cooper Goff, Keifer Goff, and Harold Straughn. Special thanks to all who made this event possible, including: Bill Reed, Marcia Walker, Jim Turner, Diane Johnson, Donna Drown, Greg Johnson, Hal Gonzales, David Owens, Lee Schuster, Richard Bliss, Dave Click, Mary Pusey, Molly Hames, Jane Grau, Lori Shields, CJ Sadiq, and Sonia Carnell. And a very special thanks to Aerial Arts of Utah.

2 May 4, 2015 PAGE 2 Congregational Briefs Minister, minister@slcuu.org Director of Religious Education, dre@slcuu.org Director of Music, music@slcuu.org Church Administrator, admin@slcuu.org Board of Trustees Board President Next Publication Date Submission Deadline Editor Attention Committee Chairs! It s that time of year again. Please send your committee reports to Jenni at asstadmin@slcuu.org by Sunday, May 3rd to be included in the Annual Report for the church year. Highway Cleanup May 16th Please set aside a couple of hours on Saturday morning, May 16, to keep Utah beautiful by joining our group of volunteers to remove litter along a 4-mile stretch of State Road 65 extending from Mountain Dell towards East Canyon. Remember, you get to keep any treasures you find ($,$$$,$$$-?). Meet at THE church at 9:00 AM to carpool, or at 9:30 AM at the Parleys Canyon UDOT maintenance facility adjacent to the Mountain Dell golf course. The state requires that participants be eleven years of age or older BUT, there is no upper limit. Bring gloves and a positive attitude. We should be finished by 11:30 AM. For any questions, or to sign up, please contact Frank Steffey at We are in need of Dinner & Dialogue hosts It's super easy! Just volunteer your home as a gathering place for a fun dinner. You decide how many guests you'd like, the date and time, and the menu. Friendly people sign up and you assign them what food item to bring. Or to keep it really simple- just say "pot luck" and be surprised. There's a book at the Welcome Table with lots of blank pages for hosts to put in their info. And then... we can have guests sign up to attend. Questions, please call Jan Crane or joyfulheartjan@gmail.com. Open Minds Book Group The Open Minds Book Group meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. in the Haven room at the Church. The book for May 26 is All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. All are welcome. Mindfulness Meditation Guided Meditation: Intention and Attention Discussion: Science, Medicine, Spirituality, Habit? Dates: May 7 and 28 Time: 2:00 PM Location: First Church The Haven Church Summer Campout SUMMER IS ALMOST HERE so mark your calendars for the Annual Church Campout at Wolf Creek Pass Group Campground. Arrival Date: Thu Jul Departure Date: Sun Jul Length of Stay: 3 nights Number of Adult Occupants is 60. This is always a fun family church event. Wolf Creek sits at an elevation of 9,400 feet in aspen and fir trees. Congregational Briefs continued on page

3 May 4, 2015 PAGE 3 Religious Education Dear All, The first week of May is traditionally teacher appreciation week. This time is all the more important and special at church because the folks who teach our children and youth are volunteers. Throughout the church year, our Religious Education teachers generously give their time and attention to preparing lessons and activities and engaging with our young people. They form lasting relationships that help weave the fabric of our congregation. Our Religious Education Teachers for children and youth are: Sonia Hult, Ric Gregory, Samantha Wood, Brenda and Tom Goodwin, John Dillier, Connie Smith, Sunita Shankaran, Kendra and Raleigh Smith, Liz Weight, Mary Elizabeth Mitchell, Paula Baase, Derek Gersdorf, Donna Mary Kroener-Ekstrand Drown, Rob Richardson, Helen Harris, Randon and Nicole Beckstead, Kris Lander, Matt Wilson, Patti and Steve Horton, Marti and John Major, Phil Bossart, and Diane Johnson. I hope that you will take the time to thank each and every one of these dedicated volunteers when you see them around the church. In Service, Mary Religious Education News Bits Church Picnic, Sunday, June 14 Planners Still Needed We have a few folks on board to help with this event, but many hands make light work, so we still need you! It has long been our tradition to end the church year with a picnic at Sugarhouse Park. This is a really fun event for the whole congregation. If you would be willing to be on a Picnic Committee, please let me know. I think it would entail one in-person planning meeting and then carrying out some tasks in the week leading up to and on the day of the event. Possible tasks include Costco shopping, transporting items to the park, set up, grill tending and other food service tasks, planning and running some simple games, and of course, clean up. If you are willing to be a part of the volunteer corps for this event, please contact Mary at dre@slcuu.org. cabaret music will be performed by the likes of Becky Heal, Jim Thornburg, David Owens, and many more. Bring a picnic dinner or snack. $10 cover fee will get you in the door and your first drink is free. (Only $8 if you pay in advance in Eliot Hall after the services.). This is shaping up to be one serious FUNdraiser! Our wonderful Environmental Ministry group did a informative and fun program on trees for our elementary children on Sunday. Thank you to all the congregational members who gave up your quarters and more to help plant trees in Uganda! YRUU Fundraiser Coffee House Save the Date! MAY 16, from 6pm until 10 pm. YRUU is hosting a coffeehouse music event in Eliot Hall. Blues, old-timey, folk and

4 May 4, 2015 PAGE 4 Environmental Ministry News Environmental Ministry Film/Discussion Series Submitted by Joan M. Gregory, Co- Coordinator, Environmental Ministry Standing on Sacred Ground: Fire and Ice Friday, May 15, 2015, 7-9PM, Eliot Hall Around the world, indigenous people stand up for their traditional sacred lands in defense of cultural survival, human rights and the environment. In the film, Standing on Sacred Ground: Fire and Ice, we travel from the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia to the Andes of Peru, where indigenous highland communities battle threats to their forests, farms, and faith. Hope comes from the scientific discovery that traditional practices protect biodiversity and with it, the resilience cultures need to survive. Following the film, Victor Puertas of Peaceful Uprising, will share with us his experience in supporting the Diné (Navajo) Nation as they walk through their reservation to raise awareness and to educate their communities along the way on the issues of fracking and other extreme energy extraction on their land, violence against Indigenous women related to mining, and desecration of sacred sites. Standing on Sacred Ground was produced by the Sacred Land Film Project, a project of Earth Island Institute, to deepen public understanding of sacred places, indigenous cultures and environmental justice. Peaceful Uprising is a nonprofit collective committed to action to combat the climate crisis and build a just, healthy world. Suggested Donation: $5 per person. Donations are appreciated, but not required. Proceeds go towards the purchase of the films in the Standing on Sacred Ground Series and towards the work of the organizations featured in our local screenings of this series. Environmental Ministry continued on page 5

5 May 4, 2015 PAGE 5 Environmental Ministry News (continued from page 4) Thank You for your Generosity: Earth Day Evening/Living Rivers, The SWAP, and Earth Day RE/Trees for Uganda Submitted by Joan M. Gregory, Co- Coordinator, Environmental Ministry The Songs of the Earth: A Celebration of Nature concert on Earth Day Evening was an amazing event. The church was filled to the brim. Among all our guests were Representatives of The Parliament of the World s Religion who came to hear the combined choirs of First Unitarian Church and South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society perform this cantata composed and written by Mary Lou Prince, SVUU Music Director, and Rev. Patty Willis, SVUU Minister. Songs of the Earth will also be performed when The Parliament meets in SLC in October Donations ($1,500) received at the concert will benefit Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper. Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper empowers a movement to instill a new ethic of achieving ecological restoration, balanced with meeting human needs: restoring inundated river canyons, wetlands and the delta; repealing antiquated laws which represent the river's death sentence; reducing water and energy use and their impacts on the river; and recruiting constituents to aid in reviving the Colorado River. If you did not make it to the concert but would like to make a donation to Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper, please visit their website at choose DONATE. On Saturday, April 25, 20015, you got up early (between 7 and 10AM), showed up at First Unitarian Church with all those items you didn t need any more, and loaded them into Richard Anderton s trailer which was used to transport what we accumulated to our sister church, San Esteban Episcopal Church in West Valley City. We held our joint SWAP/ CAMBALACHE at San Esteban from NOON to 4 PM. Some of you dropped by San Esteban to take part in the SWAP too. And many San Esteban families came by, bringing what they didn t need, sharing it, and taking what they needed. It was AWESOME! Rev. Pablo Ramos and the San Esteban Episcopal Church community express their gratitude to you, the members and friends of La Primera Iglesia Unitaria (First Unitarian Church) for your generosity. We re already planning another joint CAMBALACHE in the fall, after Labor Day. On Sunday, April 26, 2015, Environmental Ministry celebrated Earth Day with our children in exploration of trees. We sang a song about trees, learned how trees contribute to the ecosystem, created trees from recycled materials, visited and got to know some of the trees on the church property, and learned about a very important effort of the Interethnic Health Alliance (IHA) and the Forest Keepers Association to help families and children in Uganda plant native trees to reforest their land. Uganda has lost an estimated onethird of its forests in the last 2 decades. If the current rate of deforestation continues, the country will have no natural forests left by The children learned that 25 cents, just one quarter, buys a tree seedling in Uganda for the children and families of Uganda to plant. Through your generosity, the children collected $305 which will be taken by John Shavers of IHA to Uganda to purchase tree seedlings for planting (4 x 305 = 1,220 tree seedlings) by children and families there. John will take photos of our children with him to Uganda, and will take pictures of the children in Uganda planting the trees our children worked to buy. Sharing those photos with our children in the fall when John returns will help build a relationship between the children here and in Uganda as we watch the trees and the children grow. When we asked our children, who had the harder job, they knew for sure, it s the children in Uganda, they said!! Perhaps we should send the children to COP21: The UN Conference on Climate Change [ in Paris in December 2015 to negotiate a binding climate agreement among all the nations of the Earth? If you missed your opportunity to support the Uganda tree planting efforts, you may make your contribution directly on the Interethnic Health Alliance website: interethnichealthalliance.org/donate/

6 May 4, 2015 PAGE 6 Small Group Ministry -submitted by John Rasmusson The month of May marks the end of the Small Group Ministry (SGM) season with a discussion of Moral Foundations of Belief. Since October, more than 140 people have gathered in monthly meetings to discuss such topics as Materialism and Happiness, Spirituality and Biology and Willpower. We end on a solid footing thanks to the efforts of this year's SGM facilitators Shirley Ray, Wesley Green, Don Walton, Joe Martone, Bill Reed, Darlene Thayne, Gary Widdison, Colleen Bliss, Rick Bliss, Cali Letts, Karen Hayes, Michelle Page, Sue Geary, Bill Ashworth, Louisa Ingalls, and Emily Normandeau. Registration for the SGM season begins in early September. Between now and then, we are recruiting new facilitators to lead one of next year's groups. It is an opportunity for SGM veterans to take a turn in the facilitator s chair, but it is also an invitation for someone who would enjoy leading 12 people in a conversation on a stimulating topic. The investment of time is modest two meetings a month especially when you consider the benefit which accrues to our congregation from a robust SGM program. We need facilitators! (Training provided.) Those willing to serve are asked to contact John Rasmuson, njras@hotmail.com. Refugee Resettlement Committee How many Unitarians does it take to hang a picture in a refugee's apartment? It actually takes four. Three to hang the framed picture plus one (not pictured) to donate it. The Refugee Resettlement Committee needs framed prints and lamps to illuminate them. Please call Joe DuBray at (801) to make make a donation. Congregational Briefs (continued from page 2) Plenty of trails for family hiking and mountain biking. Online registration will be available soon. UU Lunch Bunch A family-friendly group for anyone and everyone who would like to get together for lunch and chat with like-minded people. Meet at the Restaurant on Sundays at 1:00 p.m. For more information contact Sonia Carnell at (801) or lunchbunch@slcuu.org. May 3rd: Taqueria 27 (21615 S. Foothill Drive) May 10th: Flatbread Neapolitan Pizzeria (1044 East 2100 South)

7 May 4, 2015 PAGE 7 May 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 3 Sunday Services 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Committee Reports due for Annual Report (pg. 2) Choir Rehearsal 7:30 pm Sunday Services 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. 11 Torch Submissions Due 10 am Board Meeting 5:30 pm Choir Rehearsal 7:30 pm Environmental Ministry film 7pm (pg. 4) 16 Highway Cleanup (pg. 2) YRUU Coffee House 6 pm (pg. 3) 17 Sunday Services 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Congregational Meeting following 2nd service Open Minds Book Group 7pm (pg.2) 20 Choir Rehearsal 7:30 pm 21 Singing Circle One Sunday Service only at 10:00 a.m. 25 Torch Submissions Due 10 am Choir Rehearsal 7:30 pm Sunday Services May 3rd 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Sailing Calmly On -Rev. Tom Goldsmith May 10th 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Self-Esteem -Rev. Tom Goldsmith May 17th 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Memorial Sunday Requiem by John Rutter -Chancel Choir conducted by David A. Zabriskie Please join us following the 2nd service for our Annual Congregational Meeting

8 Leo vitae diam est luctus, ornare massa mauris urna, vitae sodales et ut facilisis dignissim, imperdiet in diam, lorem ipsum quisque adipiscing. First Unitarian Church nurtures and challenges the spiritual and intellectual journey for all generations and actively engages in building a progressive and just world.