First Church Annual Arts Fair April 18th

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1 VOLUME 57, ISSUE 18 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF SALT LAKE CITY APRIL 6, 2015 First UU Members, Our pledge drive is in full swing! Currently, we have 162 pledges for a total pledge of $334,046. This is a great start, but we still have a long way to go before we reach our goal of $500,000. We can do it! The pledge committee would like to warmly thank everybody who has pledged so far. If you have not had the chance, you can do so by filling out your pledge card and mailing it in. Our big goal for next year is we want to hire a Minister of Congregational Life. This minister would not just assist with membership, religious education, and community care, but would help us set and meet our goals for what we want to be as a congregation, both for each other and for our community. Can't find your pledge card? No problem! You can also fill one out in Eliot Hall after any service. Just find the pledge table. You can also make your pledge online through the main church website, or contact Hal or Jenni and they'll mail you another card. First Church Annual Arts Fair April 18th -submitted by Bill Reed Arts Fair Chair The 2015 Annual First Unitarian Church Fine Arts and Crafts Festival will be held on April 18th from 5 to 10 pm in Eliot Hall, the Sanctuary, and Little Chapel, and weather permitting outdoors. This event has become one of the church s premier fun events. The event is a three ring circus kind of thing with visual art the center piece. The event is open free to all, with free wine and refreshments. There is free aerial ballet performances and free music performances. This is a fund raising event for the church and the church keeps 25% of all art sales. So come be entertained. Calling All Artists: The 2015 Annual First Unitarian Church Fine Arts and Crafts Festival will be held in Eliot Hall on April 18th from 5 to 10 pm. Artists need to sign up prior to April 5 th as space is limited. Please use the link on the church s homepage Any questions contact Bill Reed (801) Thank you! P.S. - In addition to those thanked last month for their help with Celebration Sunday, the pledge committee would also like to thank Nancy Howard and CJ Sadiq. Thank you!

2 April 6, 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 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 April 28 is Deep Down Dark, by Hector Tobar. The book for May 26 is All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. All are welcome. 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. Environmental Ministry News -submitted by Joan M. Gregory, Co-Coordinator, Environmental Ministry Songs of the Earth: A Celebration of Nature Wed, April 22, 2015, 7:30PM, First Unitarian Church The combined choirs of First Unitarian Church and South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society (SVUU) will perform "Songs of the Earth", a Celebration of Nature, on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. at First Unitarian Church. "Songs of the Earth is a cantata composed by Mary Lou Prince, SVUU Music Director. It features piano, strings, and percussion as well as written text by Patty Willis, SVUU Minister. The cantata has been performed at SVUU Society, at Save Our Canyons, and at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. Following the concert the audience is invited to enjoy refreshments and mingle with the musicians and perhaps discuss the question the cantata was intended to provoke: What if we fell in love with the Earth? Suggested Donation: $15 individual and $30 family - at the door. Donations in any amount are welcomed. Proceeds will benefit: Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper a local non-profit based in Moab, UT. From the Rocky Mountains through seven states and Mexico, the Colorado River is the artery of the desert southwest. Its Environmental Ministry continued on page 6

3 April 6, 2015 PAGE 3 Reverendly Yours Long before we became friends I admired the works of the artist Jeff Juhlin. When Mary and I first started going to Torrey, Utah some twenty years ago, when the town had only one art gallery, Jeff s outdoor sculptures filled the backyard of the gallery. I wanted one of each. Friends in Torrey were buying some of these sculptures, so it felt like they belonged to me by extension. Jeff received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, and later worked in the University of Utah College of Fine Arts. He is a local Salt Lake City fellow, and teaches workshops (literally) around the world. The prizes awarded him throughout his career could not be listed in the space of this column. Rev. Tom Goldsmith liked it. We were in business. Jeff was happy to settle on a slice of immortality for his art that now sits in our garden. That was sufficient payment for him. It happened suddenly and quickly, precluding any great unveiling of art or pomp and circumstance. But it s a lovely piece and it looks as though it belongs there and that it has been a part of the landscape for many decades. The whole garden, in fact, is lovely; it even has an inviting stone bench for sitting and contemplating. Although it rests along the new main walkway to the church s entrance, most of us still enter through other doors out of old habits. Be sure to stop along the new route to church, and admire, grab a seat, and whisper a word of gratitude to Jeff. You may want to catch his website as well. Thank you, Jeff Juhlin. TRG Jeff has mostly left the medium of outdoor sculptures, and spends much time working in encaustic. His works sell throughout the country, and they are beautiful and well worth beyond any price I could afford. Still, as a friend, I ventured to commission him for an outdoor sculpture for our newly developed Zen Garden along the north side of the chapel. I said the church couldn t afford him, but I hoped to impose myself shamelessly on his good nature. I mentioned a dollar amount to serve as an honorarium and mostly gratitude if he agreed to the unjust proposition. He did a quick calculation in his head and said that might cover the cost of material. I flinched feeling foolish, but he said let s talk about what we envision in that space. Hal and his husband, Robert Barth, and Layne and I began negotiations. We settled upon a flaming chalice a foreign concept to Jeff, but with Jenni sending him about 30 different images of a flaming chalice, he began to sketch the idea. We

4 April 6, 2015 PAGE 4 Religious Education Mary Kroener-Ekstrand Dear All, Warm thanks to our high school youth for presenting an inspiring worship service, Finding Oz, on March 22 nd and offering a lively evening of entertainment at the Dr. Seuss Spaghetti dinner. If you enjoyed these programs, I hope that you will continue to support the fundraising efforts of our high school youth as they try to earn their way to the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in Portland this summer. The congregation can help! Keep your eyes out for bake sales, tie dye sales, and other entertainments throughout the spring. Thanks for your support of our dynamic youth! In Service, Mary Religious Education News Bits Child Dedications, Sunday, April 12 (please sign up by April 5) Rev. Tom Goldsmith is planning a Child Dedication ceremony during the regular Sunday services on Sunday, April 12 to formally and publicly welcome your child into the world and our church community. Although babies and young children are most commonly dedicated, children of any age may be included in this ceremony. For more information you can pick up a flyer in the infant/toddler room or at the Welcome Table in Eliot Hall on a Sunday morning. To sign up, please contact Nancy at reassist@slcuu.org. gathering for families with kids from infants through 6 th grade. Contact Mary at dre@slcuu.org to be added to the list. Get Your Groove On... Tie Dye is coming back April 12th. YRUU youth will dyeing choice items for your Mother's Day, Father's Day and all other celebration day needs. See us after services on the 12th! Proceeds go to the YRUU Service Trip. April Family Fun Night Date Change - Now April 13 Due to Easter and Spring Break we will move our April Family Fun Night from the usual first Monday to the second Monday, April 13th. Please make a note of the new date and watch for an invitation for this monthly Junior High Trip to Festival of Colors at the at the Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, March 29 Religious Education continued on next page

5 April 6, 2015 PAGE 5 Photos from the High School Service (March 22nd) and the Dr. Seuss Supper Fundraiser (March 21st)

6 April 6, 2015 PAGE 6 Environmental Ministry News (continued from page 1) canyons, ecology and heritage render it an international treasure. However, ignorance, greed and complacency are robbing the Colorado of its ability to sustain life. 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. Let s All Do the SWAP Triple R: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Saturday, April 25, am 10 am, Drop off what you don t need at First Unitarian Church Noon 4:00 pm SWAP at San Esteban, 4615 South 3200 West, WVC Something NEW This time the swap will be at our sister church, San Esteban, rather than at First Unitarian. On Saturday, April 25 th, bring what you don t need to First Unitarian Church between 7 AM and 10AM and Environmental Ministry volunteers will transport what we have accumulated to San Esteban. Join us at San Esteban that afternoon, Noon to 4 PM, 4615 South 3200 West, for the joint swap. You may bring things with you during that time, too. We are doing the swap at San Esteban to share our abundance with the San Esteban community, as well as with each other. No money exchanged; everything is FREE. Start setting things aside today! Purpose: Share what we have with each other and with others in need. Reduce waste, recycle what you don t need, reuse what others don t need, share your abundance with the community. How this works: bring what you don't need (working items only) - clothing, jewelry, books, music, videos, school supplies, kitchen & household items, linens, working electronics, toys & games; NO large items (like furniture) please we do not have a way to haul large items ALL are Welcome. Help Out/Have Questions? Call Judy Help especially needed with transporting items to San Esteban. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate [Book Discussion] Tuesdays, April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5, 7:00-8:30PM The Parlor [above Eliot Hall] Reading 3 Chapters per Week Come join us in reading and discussing: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein (Simon & Schuster, 2014). Discussion 7-8:30PM at First Unitarian Church, 569 S 1300 E, SLC. Climate change, Klein writes, is a civilizational wake-up call, a powerful message delivered in the language of fires, floods, storms, and droughts. Confronting it is no longer about changing the light bulbs. It s about changing the world before the world changes so drastically that no one is safe. Either we leap or we sink. This Changes Everything is a multi-platform project that includes a non-fiction book by Naomi Klein, a feature documentary by Avi Lewis (coming in 2015), movement events, educational materials, a partnership with Beautiful Solutions (see links below) to highlight new economy solutions, and an evolving website, blog, Facebook and Twitter feeds. solutions.thischangeseverything.org thischangeseverything.org thischangeseverything.org/blog thischangeseverythingproject twitter.com/thischanges

7 April 6, 2015 PAGE 7 April 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 5 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. 6 Board Meeting 5:30 pm 7 8 Choir Rehearsal 7:30 pm :00 and 11:00 a.m. 13 Torch Submissions Due 10 am Choir Rehearsal 7:30 pm Annual Arts & Crafts Fair (pg. 1) 19 9:00 and 11:00 a.m Open Minds Book Group 7pm (pg.2) 22 Songs of the Earth performance (pg. 2) 7:30 pm 23 Singing Circle Triple R Swap (pg. 6) 26 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. 27 Torch Submissions Due 10 am Choir Rehearsal 7:30 pm 30 May 1 2 April 5th 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Easter Service Did it Really Happen? -Rev. Tom Goldsmith & the Chancel Choir April 12th 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Children of the Earth -Rev. Tom Goldsmith April 19th 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Finding Refuge & Renewal in Salt Lake City -Refugee Resettlement Committee

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.