First Unitarian Church

Transcription

1 First Unitarian Church A Member Congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association Vol. 19 No. 7 July 2013 Rev. Dawn Cooley, Senior Minister, minister@firstulou.org Chris Rothbauer, Intern Minister, intern@firstulou.org Linette Lowe, Director of Religious Exploration, dre@firstulou.org Christe Lunsford, Music Director, music@firstulou.org Barbara Creasy, Office Administrator, office@firstulou.org Earl Reynolds, Building Supervisor Claudia Runge, President, Board of Trustees, president@firstulou.org Celebrations of Life Sunday Services begin at 11:00am July 7 July 14 July 21 July 28 What Does it Mean to be Spiritual? Speaker: Michelle Fugate Pederson Intern at Bowling Green UU Church Sharing Ministry Speaker: Jo Ann Dale to be announced Speaker: Ben Luoma Atonement in Unitarian Universalism Speaker: Chris Rothbauer What's Inside? 2 Message from the Rev. Dawn 3 Intern s Perspective 4 RE Highlights Linette Lowe 5 Description of RE Classes 6 From the Board 6 Ministry Updates 9 First U Happenings 11 GA Memories 12 Energy March & Rally 14 News from the Groups Calendar Highlights for July July 4 Happy Birthday, USA! Office Closed 7 First Sunday Luncheon 28 Ebb & Flow Group at Bernheim Forest Save the Dates August 1 Choir Potluck August 3 the Cooleys The complete calendar can be viewed on our website: Love is the spirit of this church... 1

2 Speaking Of... The Rev. Dawn Cooley It is July, so that means it is time for me to take some time off. Particularly this year, with General Assembly wrapped up and finished, I find myself in need of some rest and rejuvenation. Ministry is a highly satisfying and highly demanding profession we don't typically get holidays off, we don't get weekends many of us are lucky if we can find one day off each week. So each year, I am gone from the church for a few weeks in January and then again in July. Half of this time off is taken as vacation, and half is study leave. Study leave is a time for catching up on all that stuff that the day to day business of the church pulls me away from it is a time for reading, planning, studying and spiritual renewal to help get ready for the next part of the year.. Next year, July 2014, however, will find me taking a different kind of leave. I will be taking my first sabbatical as your minister. Sabbaticals enable ministers to step back from daily demands of ministry to discover new directions of thought and vision. Ministers use sabbaticals for reflection, education, writing and forms of professional religious growth to benefit the minister and the congregation the type of in-depth and intense growth that can only be done with a prolonged stepping away of the day to day of ministry. A sabbatical is a unique opportunity for renewal time for a congregation, as well, as it gives the congregation a chance to get more involved in and engage in shared ministry. The Unitarian Universalist Association encourages congregations to offer their ministers a sabbatical with full pay, and First U included that in my Letter of Call and Ministry Agreement. The Letter of Call entitles me to a sabbatical after 5 years of ministry, with one month for every year served. And so it is that July 2014-January 2015 I will be taking 1 month of vacation and 5 months of sabbatical. It is hard for me to believe that next year is our 5th year together and that it is time to be planning this sabbatical already! I know it might seems strange for me to write about something like this a year in advance, but we have such a rich, wonderful year coming up I wanted to make sure that this doesn't take anyone by surprise. First U already has a very able and adept Sabbatical Planning Team that is meeting regularly and who you will be hearing from in the near future. In the meantime, if you have thoughts or suggestions as to how I, or the congregation, might best use that time, I would love to hear them! See you in August! Rev. Dawn Cooley s picture on the large overhead monitor as her name was called out during the Service of the Living Tradition during GA. This is when she was recognized as gaining Final Fellowship as a UU Minister....and service is its law. 2

3 An Intern s Perspective Chris Rothbauer Loved Into a Community Ah, the childhood memories July brings back to me: swimming, barbeques, fireworks under the stars on the Fourth of July, and, of course, no school. Times have changed (I now go to school in July after all) but the memories are still fond ones that I cherish. But I m aware not everyone has such memories, nor do they have someone to create them with. One way I ve tried to reach out to those who may be alone is by volunteering at the Saint John s Men s Center. I do it because I want to, because there was a time when I was going through a crisis and my closest loved one was thousands of miles away. I had a crisis of faith while in England, and I began searching spiritually for answers. This lead me to the door of the Unitarian church in town, and a loving group of people who accepted me for who I was and where I was on my spiritual path. It was them who encouraged me to follow my calling to be a minister, and it was through them that I found the courage to come home a failure in one endeavor, the quest for a PhD, but a success in another, the search for the path my life would take me. When I felt alone, this group of people who had just met me took me in and made me one of my own. I do quite a bit of interfaith work and one question I m costantly asked is why I m a Unitarian Universalist, especially when I m also a Buddhist. I m a Unitarian Universalist because I was loved into this faith. I m a Unitarian Universalist because I value membership in an organization where I m encouraged to be myself rather than beat down with the notion that I m sinful. And I m a Unitarian Universalist because I want to pay forward the love by welcoming those into my community who may be at a crossroads like I was not so long ago. I was an atheist in a congregation with a theist minister and quite a few Christian members, and they valued me because of our differences. As I look forward to my second year serving you, I want to love you into our community as well. We all have our up and down moments and I would be honored to share them with you. The Postcard Chris sent to the Church: It said: Hello from Japan! On the front is the shrine I ve been working at. Really enjoying it here. I m learning a lot. Thinking of you all and looking forward to seeing you at GA! Yours, Chris Rothbauer Love is the spirit of this church... 3

4 Religious Exploration Highlights for June Linette Lowe While the summer months are a time when I m busy planning next fall s curricula, recruiting teachers and advisors, reading and researching about religious education, it s also time for playing in the creek or pond, catching fireflies, camping out, fishing, working in the garden, and enjoying time with family and friends. I will be on vacation the first and third weeks of July, so if you have an urgent RE need, please contact Kathy Thackeray or Rhonda Green. Here s wishing that all your ifs for the summer come true! We re having a great time in first hour RE this summer, with adults meeting for Ebb and Flow to discuss family living and Summer Explorations hosting a variety of topics. Children are enjoying gathering in the Preschool room for some all-ages community and fun. A special thanks to the Women s Alliance for providing some new activities to engage our children! Thanks also to Calvin Barron and Christina Roberts for volunteering to help out in children s first hour this summer. In July by Evaleen Stein Let us find a shady wady Pretty little brook; Let us have some candy handy, And a picture book. There all day we'll stay and play and Never mind the heat, While the water gleaming, streaming, Ripples round our feet. And we'll gather curly pearly Mussel. shells while bright Frightened minnows darting, parting,? Scurry out of sight What if, what if, - heigho! my oh! - All the "ifs" were true, And the little fishes wishes, Now, what would you do? Upcoming RE events: July 10: Adult RE planning meeting, 5:00 No RE Ministry meeting in July July 28: Ebb and Flow meets at Bernheim, 1:00 Aug. 18: Children s RE registration Aug. 25: Children s RE classes resume...and service is its law. 4

5 Adult Religious Exploration 9:45-10:45 am Participants engage in their own faith development and 1 st Sunday contribute to that of others who are July 7 present.church doors open at 9:30 to get your coffee or tea, enjoy a few Round Table conversations, take children to their room, and settle into your class in time for a 9:45 prompt start. Children will meet in the Pre-School room. Please be respectful and courteous to classroom teachers, program leaders, and other people attending Exploration classes by settling into your classroom in plenty of time for an on-time start of class, and by picking up children preschool and older 10:45 for the Celebration of Life. Thank you! More Information The First Unitarian website has the latest updates about the curricula described above. To learn more, visit firstulou.org or contact Linette Lowe, Director of Religious Exploration dre@firstulou.org. Adult RE Programming: Adult RE Programming for June 2 nd Sunday 3 rd Sunday 4 th Sunday July 14 July 21 July 28 Sunday Round Round Books Table Table Ebb and Flow Round Table Round Table. First, third, and fourth Sundays. July 7 Do The Math. Video on carbon dioxide build-up. (in Social Hall) July 21 Theology: Topic to be determined. (in Library) July 28 Frederick Douglass & Harriet Beecher Stowe. Their views of abolition and Douglass s influence upon Mrs. Stowe s evolving views. (in Library) Adult RE Programming: Sunday Morning Books Sunday Morning Books. Selections focus on science, environment, theology, leadership, history, politics and their connection to Unitarian Universalism and to the life of First Unitarian Church. Second Sundays; Jill Sampson and Kathy Rogers, facilitators. July 14 August 11 Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference by Cordelia Fine God Revised: How Religion Must Evolve in a Scientific Age by Galen Guengerich Adult RE Programming: Ebb & Flow Explore the dynamics of family living. This group is for any adult, age 18 or over, who is part of a family. Weekly conversations range from parenting challenges, dealing with conflict with loved ones, living life as a UU, and whatever else comes up for the group. Lisa Mascio- Thompson and Bill Van Rooy, co-facilitators; room 203. July 28: Meet at Bernheim Forest for some outdoor family fun. Please contact Lisa Mascio-Thompson (pixielam@yahoo.com) for more information. Love is the spirit of this church... 5

6 News from the Board of Trustees Claudia Runge BOARD BIZ A lot has happened at First U since the beginning of June! At our Annual Congregational Meeting, new board members, Jill Sherman, Dan Hill, and Greg Gapsis, were elected. The congregation passed the budget of $272,273; we also approved a list of 14 capital projects to be paid for with a loan from our endowment. In addition we took notice of many other worthy capital projects that were submitted by ministries, committees, and individuals but were not funded with the endowment loan The current plan is to tackle those projects with money that will be raised in a capital campaign. The new roof, thicker roof insulation, eight new HVAC unit, and programmable thermostats have been installed. We hope that leaks will no longer be a problem and that heating and cooling will be much more efficient. Our capital campaign leaders, Maureen Taylor and Ward Wilson, have begun to contact fundraising consultants with an eye toward beginning our campaign in late summer or early fall. It s an exciting time at First U; this is the first capital campaign we have undertaken in 25 years. Support it; be a part of it; give generously! Living What We Believe Updates from the Ministries Remember, people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold but so does a hard-boiled egg. Opportunities for Engagement RELIGIOUS COALITION FOR REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE RCRC is a national interfaith reproductive justice organization. Members and friends of First U have been invited to join a delegation of justice-minded Kentuckians at a midwest regional training. The "Leading Faithfully Institute" will be held August 2-4, 2013, in Milwaukee WI, with a sliding scale registration fee. Apply at Further info and ridesharing: call Caitlin Willenbrink YOUTH FOR UNDERSTANDING They are a not-for-profit group whose mission is to prepare young people to excel in a multicultural world. If you would be interested in hosting a foreign high school student for the JCPS school year, contact Heather Reynolds (prospective family interviews need to be completed by 7/29) service is its law. 6

7 Greetings from Resource Ministry --- A lot of activities going on with the end of the church year in sight, and various capital improvements underway inside the church and around the church grounds! Thank You to House and Grounds and Churchyard Friends for maintaining those areas. Spice dust has been flying, pots and pans clanging, and many kitchen items are finding new spots as the Kitchen Wizards tackle organizing our kitchen. We have new trash containers in the kitchen and Social Hall, thus eliminating unsightly and unsanitary open garbage cans. Thank You to Aesthetics for this initiative with much help from Earl Reynolds; Building Supervisor. DRUM ROLL PLEASE --- Yes, the time is here. The time is now. Every 5-8 years the Library Lane door is re-keyed. We have many keys out. Some of them in possession of groups and individuals who are no longer in Leadership positions or renting our space. It is a matter of individual safety and building security to change the lock and have new keys available every so many years.this will happen in July. A new procedure for checking out and returning keys will be in place. Information coming your way. Appreciate your patience and understanding! The amount of time Lost and Found items are stored at church will be slightly decreased. Giving Congregants every opportunity to retrieve forgotten items, left behind articles will be moved to the Social Hall for after church viewing, and then to the Good Will if unclaimed. Happy 4th of July to All, Kathy Drehmel and Resource Teams Resource Ministry Churchyard Friends Churchyard Friends will gather on Saturday morning, July 27 as usual. This can be an important time for watering and weeding all our lovely flowers. Also, it should be time for us to spread the wood chippings from last winter. Collect several 2 gallon jugs to fill with water. Some hoses are available, but sometimes jugs are easier. Weeding the Butterfly garden should be done early, since it's in the sun. Other weeding can be done later. Moving mulch will require a wheelbarrow. Bring a small lightweight one if you have it. Bring loppers and clippers for removing dead branches. Adopt any area you want to care for all year long. This can include sweeping, watering, weeding, trimming, picking up trash, any kind of care you want to give. Choose something and set a time each week or month when you'll work on it. I'll have cards available for you to sign up on. Love is the spirit of this church... 7

8 Worship Ministry Trish Ramey, Co-Chair July is always an exciting month for the Worship Ministry because that's one of the month's that Dawn takes leave and we are responsible for coming up with four worship services. We are very happy this summer to present a special Seminarian's Summer! We will have four individual speaking who are currently in seminary and/or doing their ministerial internship. This July, welcome to our pulpit the ministerial intern from Bowling Green, Michelle Fugate Pederson; the ministerial intern from Thomas Jefferson, our own Ben Luoma; ministerial student and First U member par excellence, Jo Ann Dale; and our own ministerial intern just back from Japan, Chris Rothbauer. July is also the month that we flip into the next 12-month period for committee assignments. Jane Martin Buckley and Trish Ramey have both agreed to continue serving as Worship Ministry Co-chairs. We also say a full-hearted thank you to Cassandra Culin who is moving off the committee, having completed her three-year commitment. We have three openings on the ministry and hope to fill them soon. Let us know if you're interested. Trish at tramey@alum.bu.edu or Jane at jane _buckley@earthlink.net. Partner Church News SPECIAL GUEST Join us June 30 for the Celebration of Life. Jakbabhazi Bela Botund, from Transylvania will be speaking. He is a member of Lexington s Partner Church. He will be speaking on Unitarians in Transylvania. Afterwards, we will share a Hungarian themed meal, then clear the chairs for dancing. It promises to be both interesting and fun. PARTNER CHURCH AT GA Carol Findling was recognized by the Board of the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church at their Annual Meeting during GA. We appreciate Carol s leadership in connection with our Partner Church. Carol receiving the Steward of Partnership Award...and service is its law. 8

9 First U Happenings BROWNBAGGERS TAKE THE SUMMER OFF Our next meeting will be Monday September 9, 2013 in the church library beginning at 11:40 AM or so - Come by to share your summertime adventures. KROGER CARDS HOW THEY WORK ROMEOS STILL MEETING FOR LUNCH If you are a male, like good food and are free Wednesday, July 3, 2013 stop by the Golden Coral on Taylorsville Road at 1:00 to share UU fellowship and some serious chow. BE PATRIOTIC SHOP AT KROGERS WITH A FIRST U GIFT CARD! Well maybe that doesn't qualify for patriotism but it sure helps the church - Contact Gary Drehmel for more details (gdrehmel@aol.com) INK CARTRIDGES Do you have a home computer and printer? Those ink cartridges really add up, don t they? Well, when you re done with them don t throw them away! They are valuable to First Unitarian. Every month, we are allowed to turn in used ink cartridges to Staples for a $2.00 credit for each one. These credits are used towards the cost of office supplies such as the paper we use for the order of service. One used cartridge might not seem like much, but when twenty of them are turned in, that is almost enough for a case of paper! Please put your old cartridge in the box on the counter in the Volunteer Area. Thank you! Each time the Gift Cards are reloaded at Kroger, the amount is tallied. When the reloads reach $5,000.00, First U receives a check for Kroger for 4% of the reloads. From 5/19-6/15, the most recent dates we have available, the First U cards were reloaded for $7, Kroger sent us a check for $ Month after month, checks come from Kroger. This fiscal year, the total money earned in this program is $4,001.00! That is a lot of money! This month, the reloads came from about 25 different cards. Some households use one card, others use more. (Do you have a teenager in the household? If you give him a refillable Kroger card, he will always have gas money Just put money from your debit card onto your Kroger card. Use that card to buy groceries or gas as usual. Just think, 25 people generated $300 in free money for First U this past month. If we d tripled that, 75 people would ve probably generated $900.00! Imagine the possibilities if instead of the $4, generated this past fiscal year, we met the goal of tripling the number of participants each month and earned $12,000.00? Can YOU think of anything you d like to use that money on? We re starting a brand new year at church. If you don t have one already, see Gary Dhremel to get your own Kroger gift card. Use it each month when you purchase the food and gas you d buy at Kroger anyway. It won t cost you a dime, but could bring in thousands of dollars for the church! Love is the spirit of this church... 9

10 First U Happenings WHEN WE MEET See Rev. Dawn about Covenant Groups Sunday Morning Schedule *begins June 9 See pages 6 or 15 for June 2 9:45 Religious Exploration 11:00 Celebration of Life Sundays 1 st Sun. 12:30 First Sunday Lunch 1 st Sun. 1:00 Covenant Group, parlor 2 nd Sun. 1:00 Covenant Group, parlor 2 nd Sun. 1:00 Covenant Group, library Mondays 2 nd Mon. 6:00 Book Club, parlor 2 nd Mon. 11:30 Brown Baggers, library 2 nd Mon. 5:00 Missions/Outreach, library Tuesdays 2 nd Tues. 5:30 Finance Committee, library 3 rd Tues. 6:00 Board Meeting, library 4 th Tues. 6:00 CG leaders, parlor Wednesdays Weekly: 10:30 Staff meetings, parlor 1 st /3 rd Wed. 7:00 CUUPs Class, library 2 nd Wed. 6:00 RE Meeting, library 4 th Wed. 6:30 Worship Ministry, library Thursdays 1 st Thurs. 5:30 Ministry Council Saturdays 2 nd Sat. 8:00 House and Grounds 4 th Sat. 9:00 Churchyard Friends Gay Pride Parade Youth Lead the Way First Unitarian Church Float in Louisville s Gay Pride Parade...and service is its law. 10

11 A total of 3,426 people participated in the 2013 General Assembly, Trustee Tom Loughrey reported during the final plenary session Sunday night. Of those, 1,732 were on-site delegates, 112 were off-site delegates, and 1,582 were non-delegate participants = Love is the spirit of this church... 11

12 Energy for Change March and Rally...and service is its law. 12

13 Love is the spirit of this church... 13

14 The Women s Alliance The Women's Alliance wishes to express our gratitude toward Jill Sampson and Nancy MacPherson, who finished their terms on the Women's Alliance Steering Committee. They were a joy to work with and provided valuable guidance to the Women's Alliance. We also welcome Lori Martin and Rita Sasse, our new members of the Steering Committee. Thanks, Jill Green Scene: Cleaning Green Carol Findling I found this in a Martha Stewart column, but I ve been cleaning (largely) green for over 20 years. It all began when I was working in an office in New Albany similar to the HELP office. I had a volunteer who once told me she couldn t come into our building because we d been painting. I was puzzled since I knew of no painting in our building. But she was right, someone had been painting upstairs over the weekend. She proved to me many times that she truly was hypersensitive and later died of environmental illness. If you d like to try a less toxic cleaning regime, here are some suggestions. Baking soda and salt are mild abrasives. Distilled white vinegar and lemon juice are effective at removing soap scum and are also gentle bleaches. Liquid soap, hydrogen peroxide and borax will just about complete your cleaning needs. General cleaning can be done with just 2 tablespoons of mild dishwashing liquid and 2 cups of hot water. Sanitize countertops with white vinegar and peroxide. Spray the surface with one and then the other and wipe clean. Never mix them and keep them in well marked spray bottles; do not dilute. To scrub countertops, sinks and faucets, mix baking soda and water into a paste, or use dishwashing liquid instead of water. For cleaning pots and pans (not non-stick ones), try scouring them with salt. I often fill burned surfaces with soapy water, rub off what I can and then fill them with more soapy water and let sit anywhere from an hour to overnight. To clean drains, pour ½ cup baking soda, then ½ cup vinegar down the drain and cover with a plug or cloth. Leave for several hours or overnight and then flush with very hot water. Do not use after trying commercial cleaners, because they may interact, creating dangerous fumes or worse. I generally use ½ cup borax to boost laundry detergent. It is a naturally occurring mineral with antiseptic, antibacterial, water-softening and whitening properties. To clean tub and tile, you can use vinegar for soap scum, and rinse thoroughly. I have a book called Clean & Green by Annie Berthold-Bond from I still pull it out to find furniture polish, air cleaners or other more unusual things. Let me know if you want to learn more. STEEPLETALK Published every month by First Unitarian Church of Louisville 809 South 4 th Street Louisville, KY Editor: Barbara Creasy Next Deadline: July 15 (for the August newsletter) office@firstulou.org picture credits: Nancy Daughterty, Laurie Clark, Claudia Runge, Dawn Cooley, Jill Sampson, Dianna Ott, Barbara Creasy, Kentucky Interfaith Power & Light, Inc., uuworld...and service is its law. 14