November 2017 Monthly Schedule 11/3 - Interfaith Service hosted by Church Women United 1:30 p.m. Faith United Methodist Church, 1440 S Walnut Ave., Freeport 11/5 9:00 Worship Committee Guest Speaker Misha Sanders will speak to us on Faith 11/8 - Meditation, Mindfulness and Mirth 10:30-11:30 am Loving Kindness Meditation 11/12 Guest Speaker Rev. Marlene Walker will speak on Creating a Covenant 12:00 Covenant Workshop with Rev. Marlene Walker 11/15 Small Group Discussion on Hospitality ; 10 11:30 a.m. 11/19 Guest Speaker Rabbi Alicia Smith Messianic Judaism 12 2:00 Board Meeting 11/26 Guest Speaker Judy Moe Baha I faith Do you know someone who might be interested in being a guest speaker one Sunday? If so, Susan Busker has made a form to fill out with the speaker s name, contact information and topic possibilities. (Perhaps YOU would like to speak????) The Committee would like to encourage congregation participation by offering you the opportunity to be the Worship Leader one Sunday. For more information contact any Worship Committee member. Wendy Edgington Committee Chair Green Corner The gardening season is over, and what a season it was! A combination of plentiful rainfall and warm (but not too warm) temperatures resulted in record yields. It was decided this year to plant onions instead of green beans. I know, many of you were so looking forward to picking endless rows of beans, but that was not to be. Onions were chosen because our Caritas clients all love onions and because they are so easy to plant and harvest. We ended up with over 600 onions for caritas. Although we only planted a combination of 20 hot and bell pepper plants, the yields were much above normal. We harvested 192 bell peppers and 483 hot peppers - about a 300% increase over previous years. The two tomato plants that we planted for the congregation also yielded very well, with no blight or blossom end rot. The collards are still in the ground because they can withstand frost and actually (according to people who eat them) they taste better after a frost.
A new plant we tried this year was sweet potatoes. Again, low maintenance. The vines grow so rapidly and thickly that they effectively block weed growth. The harvest (again, a single row) was approximately 150 pounds. Wow! This garden was a success because of the many people who stepped up to help with the planting and harvesting. My thanks (in no particular order) to Erin, Calvin, Tricia, Vesta, Mariah, Nina, Connie, Russ and Brock. Thank you, thank you, thank you. (My apologies if I forgot anyone). Ray Herzer UUA Disaster Relief Fund The Sunday Morning Kids started a fundraising campaign to help people affected by recent disasters including those in Texas where Hurricane Harvey hit and those in Florida where Hurricane Irma swept over the state. Children and youth are asked to bring a small donation each week to put in the offering plate during their time together. Envelopes were distributed to members to support this effort (put your name on the envelope if you would like to have your donation reflected in your tax document provided at the end of the year). Funds raised will go to the UUA Disaster Relief Fund to assist congregations in repairing any damage, and to respond to the needs of their members and their community. The children and youth are looking on this project as providing both justice and joy! if you want your church to be authentic, it s good to be small. Brandon J. O Brien As you probably know by now, last fall I took an on-line course through the UU Leadership Institute (www.uuinstitute.org) titled Revitalizing the Smaller Congregation. A couple of the modules focused on vitality in small congregations. As part of the course we read from a book by Brandon J. O Brien titled The Strategically Small Church: Intimate, Nimble, Authentic and Effective. The chapter we read focused on authenticity. O Brien says that authenticity is a consistent factor in a person s choice to join a worshipping community. (p. 65) He talks about how authenticity is measured by the way a church puts its beliefs into practice, saying Action is the evidence of true faith. (p.63) v How do you see our congregation putting our values and principles into action? Just a few examples I thought of include: Our garden to supply fresh produce to community members in need Holding a Fair Trade sale to advocate for fair wages for workers around the world Our children s service projects to support both local (Winnebago County Animal Services) and national and international needs (Unitarian Universalist Disaster Relief Fund) Participating in a community rally using our Standing on the Side of Love banner to respond to the hatred and violence that occurred in Charlottesville, VA Hosting a Trans Family Photo Exhibit open to the community A strong Care and Concern Committee responsive to members needs O Brien notes that small churches are at an advantage when it comes to intimacy saying that Authentic churches are marked by intimacy of fellowship. And because size almost always works against intimacy,
small churches are uniquely equipped to cultivate intimate relationships among their congregants. (p. 67) v A question to ask our newest members is What was the reason you joined this church? Do their answers have anything to do with our authenticity, our actions, our intimacy? What do their answers indicate about what we are doing well? A final list of thoughts about vitality in small churches summarized from the course includes: Be who you are and do what you love Work together to find joy and follow the energy Be curious and become a learning community Find the courage to experiment and fail Work with your neighbors, including both other area churches and the community Get help from UUA Congregation Life Staff to deal with unproductive conflict O Brien says a small church doesn t have to become authentic. It really needs to stay authentic. Or put it the other way around, it needs to stop trying to be something it isn t A big mistake is running a small church like a large church. So let s celebrate our small church while at the same time welcoming others to join us in putting UU values into action. Susan Busker - UUCRV President November Birthdays 1 Paulette Lucas 15 Anders Jenski 15 Emma Clark Women & Religion is proud to present: I AM WILLING - with Holly Near For 40 years Holly Near has been a shining light, combining her music and activism, sharing her joy and passion; she accesses all of these to celebrate the human spirit. Holly will present a workshop on Saturday morning and sing a concert - "Singing For Our Lives" - that evening. On Sunday Holly will participate in the worship service. We expect this conference to fill up so register early! Entry to the concert is not included in the conference price; concert tickets will be made available to conference registrants first. COME JOIN US! WWS2018 will be held at the Unitarian Church of Evanston; 1330 Ridge Avenue, Evanston IL 60201 The Women & Religion Committee, and all Committee sponsored events, are open and welcoming to all those who identify as women http://www.womenandreligion.org/
Kudos to the Membership Committee for a wonderful and fun Halloween Party! Many thanks to all who brought the delicious food! I would be remiss to NOT thank Nina Herzer for making certain that I have all the office supplies that I need. Then there is Denny Broderick who is my computer geek/wizard that fixes the problems I create on the computer/printer. You both are greatly appreciated.. Unitarian Universalists in History Olympia Brown It was brought to my attention that the UUCRV Board as originally formed this year was made up of all women, something that I hadn t thought about until that moment. It called to mind the role of women in our Unitarian Universalist faith, including Olympia Brown, the first woman in the United States to be recognized as a minister in 1863. Today almost 60% of UU ministers are women as compared to 11% of all ministers across different faiths. Olympia Brown s first ministry was in Weymouth Landing, Massachusetts. There she met Susan B. Anthony who persuaded her to work for women s suffrage. She later served the Universalist Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and, though she had been endorsed by a majority of the church, there remained those who continued to oppose her saying what you need here is a good man which resulted in her resignation in 1874. Olympia Brown next served as minister of the church in Racine, Wisconsin from 1878 to 1887. She said Hearing that the church of Racine, Wisconsin, was without a pastor, I resolved to go there if my services would be acceptable. [Their] reply was discouraging, or would have been so to a minister who expected only prosperous conditions and an easy pastoral routine. Racine was a parish in a rundown and unfortunate condition, adrift, in debt, and hopeless I replied that I was sent to just such places and I asked to hear what the Spirit says to the churches Those who may read this will think it strange that I could only find a field in rundown or comatose churches, but they must remember that the pulpits of all the prosperous churches were already occupied by men, and were looked forward to as the goal of all the young men coming into the ministry. All I could do was to take some place that had been abandoned by others, make something of it, and this I was only too glad to do. What did Olympia Brown do to rejuvenate the church? She established it as a center of learning and culture, and a forum for discussion of the social issues of the time, including women s suffrage. She invited Julia Ward Howe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony to speak from the pulpit. After nine years the congregation was described as thriving and Brown resigned as minister to begin working full-time on getting women the vote. Olympia Brown was one of the few early advocates still alive to cast her vote when the 19 th Amendment passed. The church in Racine, Wisconsin is now named Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church, a congregation of 285 members. Their minister, Tony Larsen, will be retiring this year after 42 years. Reading #569 in our hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition, are Olympia Brown s words: Stand by this faith. Work for it and sacrifice for it. There is nothing in all the world so important as to be loyal to this faith which has placed before us the loftiest ideas, which has comforted us in sorrow, strengthened us for noble duty and made the world beautiful. Do not demand immediate results but rejoice that we are worthy to be entrusted with the great message, that you are strong enough to work for a great true principle without counting the cost. Go on finding ever new applications of these truths and new enjoyments in their contemplation, always trusting in the one God which ever lives and loves.
Sources: Olympia Brown: pioneering minister, women s suffragist www.uuworld.org/articles/brown-pioneering-minister-suffragist Olympia Brown www.uua.org/re/tapestry/adults/ethics/workshop6/191917.shtml Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church www.obuuc.org - Susan Busker Save these dates! November 8 Meditation, Mindfulness and Mirth 10:30-11:30 am Loving Kindness Meditation November 12 10:30-11:30 am Worship Service on Covenant with Rev. Marlene Walker 11:30-12:30 A substantial snack will be provided 12:30-3:30 pm Workshop on Covenant led by Rev. Marlene Walker The well-being of our congregation depends on how we choose to be in relationship with one another. Writing this covenant together will strengthen relationships in our congregation and provide the foundation for positive growth as a Beloved Community. November 19 3:00 pm Beloit Together Solidarity Gathering: This year we are calling for our city and county to join us in a call for equality and justice. As an organization, we believe that these two issues are above partisan politics. Poverty is a prevalent problem in our communities. We also regularly see racism directed primarily toward our African American and Latino populations. Furthermore, people who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community face discrimination. We invite you to attend to participate in a short introduction with music followed by speakers and an Expo of the existing community organizations and institutions that currently deal with issues of equality and justice. Location: Gather first at Horace White Park in Beloit. November Watch for information on a fair trade fundraiser we are beginning! We will be distributing catalogs from Equal Exchange, a company that sells organic, fairly traded and small farmer grown products including: coffee, tea, and chocolate. The church will receive 40% of the profits from this sale which means if you buy a bag of coffee for $12, it is the same as getting the coffee for $7.20 and making a $4.80 donation to the church. There are some nice gift boxes that would make great holiday gifts! You can ask your friends to order as well. Items need to be paid for in advance; please make checks payable to UUCRV. December 2 Rockton Christmas Walk More information will be coming regarding contributions members can make in donated items and baked goods along with volunteering to set up, handle sales and clean up. This is a great opportunity to be part of a community event, educate others about Fair Trade, and raise funds for our church. December 3 12:30-2:30 pm Workshop on Right Relations led by Rev. Marlene Walker This is a critical follow-up to writing the Covenant. We are human, and, therefore, will at times break our Covenant. How do we hold each other accountable and restore right relationship? We will learn how we want to respond within our congregation in order to sustain our Beloved Community.
Welcome to Our Garden of Peace and Love! Progress has been made on our goal to Enhance the aesthetics of our building and grounds! Some of the sights around our grounds! Thanks to Pete Busker for helping to assemble and install the benches by our Peace Pole! Thanks to Erin Scott for helping to plant over 100 bulbs can t wait to see them in the spring!
Thanks to Paulette Lucas and Susan Erbe for welcoming fall at the entrance to our building! Congratulations, Welcoming Congregation Task Force, on an amazing photo exhibit! And for the special evening shared with the photographers and some of the people featured in the photos. We were pleased to welcome congregation members, community members and the GSA group from the high school. It was a moving and enlightening experience. 2017-18 Officers President Susan Busker 815-624-2833 Vice-President Wendy Edgington 815-865-5364 Secretary Denny Broderick 608-751-0630 Treasurer Nina Herzer 815-624-2283 Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rock Valley 329 School Street Rockton, IL 61072 815-624-4094 uucrockvalley@gmail.com www.uucrv.org