December
2006
Jump Station: Services, President's Column, St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble Festival of the Season Plans , Growth Task Force Needs You, Ember Days Planned, Holdiay Lunch Planned, Bake Sale, Volunteers Improve Fellowship Hall and More, Hill-Stead Available, Reflections from the Reverend, Music Notes, Small Group Ministry, Officers - Staff- Office Hours, Current Calendar Services at 9 & 11 AM, children’s programming and nursery 3 Dec. Already and Not Yet: Some lessons from Advent - Rev. Jamestone 10 Dec. Holy Cows and Other Signs of Hope - Rev. Jamestone 17 Dec. A Music Sunday - Rev. Jamestone will join the choir in telling the age-old Christmas Story. Schutz’s musical groupings show the Angel speaking to the holy family (“Get thee up, Joseph!”), the shepherds’ chorus, the wise men and high priests. Each is accompanied by a different instrumental sound. A small band of instruments including recorders, viola da gamba and theorbo (a large lute) adds a sense of the period to our soloists and choir. 24 Dec. (Note special Time of Services) 10 AM; 10 PM - All Day, All Night—Angels Watching Over Me - Rev. Jamestone 31 Dec. – Endings and Beginnings - Patrice Fitzgerald President’s Column - In recent years I have been struck and dismayed by the frequency with which we are told by our national leaders to be afraid and to organize our lives around a response to fear. We are told to be afraid of terrorists; to be afraid of immigrants; to be afraid of liberals; to be afraid of the devil. (Perhaps I am being a bit redundant!) I grow weary of this message, and I wonder if the results of the recent elections might be interpreted as a sign of a collective weariness of fear as the driving force of the American consciousness. Fear, like many emotions, loses its grip on the psyche if it is not reinforced by new fearsome events. We are fortunate to live in a country where events such as those that occurred on September 11, 2001 are rare. But whether we are exposed to constant remainders of our fear or not, what matters most is our response to fear. Evolutionary biology has something to teach us about the response to fear. Early single-celled organisms dealt with outside invaders by developing very thick cell walls, which kept other harmful organisms at bay. Similarly, early and medieval societies built walled fortresses for protection against their enemies. The problem with this approach is that it precluded the type of communication between cells that was necessary for cells to turn into tissues and tissues into organs, and organs into species. In early societies walled fortresses precluded the type of cooperation that was necessary for trade and the cultural exchanges necessary for the development of city-states and nations. Later, single-celled organisms developed sophisticated mechanisms to communicate with other cells without losing their individual integrity. Cell walls became porous, allowing in chemical and other messengers. At the same time cells developed the ability to distinguish between themselves and any outside harmful toxins that they had taken in and to contain and destroy harmful toxins with antibodies. In other words, celled learned to be connected meaningfully with other cells while developing the means to preserve their autonomy and integrity. The rest is evolutionary history. The evolutionary development of immune systems is, I think, an appropriate model for thinking about our response to fearsome others. We can either build up walls to keep them out or we can find ways of connecting and learning so that our integrity and that of others is preserved. By connecting emotionally with others we have the opportunity to learn and to evolve together into smarter and more resilient beings. These choices are ours to make whether we are talking about the fears we face outside of the Meeting House in the nation or the Hartford community or within the Meeting House as our congregation grows and changes. But, which choice we make will determine whether we, as individuals and as a community, evolve spiritually. – Charles Huntington St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble Sings Russian Repertoire at Unitarian Meeting House on December 1st What: Since its formation in 2003, the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble has captivated audiences in Russia and around the world with its unique sound and intriguing repertoire, singing popular Russian folk songs, secular and religious compositions, and the vocal works of the best of modern composers. Following a successful West Coast U.S. tour, the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble brings its traditional Russian sound and style to the East Coast, kicking off the Unitarian Meeting House’s 2006 - 2007 Performing Arts Series. Seasonal Russian treats will be on sale during the program’s intermission. When: Friday, December 1, 2006 at 7:30 PM. Where: Unitarian Meeting House, 50 Bloomfield Avenue, Hartford, CT (intersection of Bloomfield Ave. and Albany Ave./Rte. 44). How: Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. To order tickets, call (860) 233-9897. For more information, visit www.ushartford.com Traditional Popular Festival of the Season Plans Well in Hand - This year’s Festival of the Season on Saturday December 9th will include traditional popular activities including a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, craft activities, coffeehouse in the Chapel, worship service, a pot luck dinner featuring Sid Garvais on the piano, and the ever popular Twelve Days of Christmas. FOS is an intergenerational event. All members and friends of USH are encouraged to attend. Success of this event is directly related to the USH members and friends habit of pitching in to help out in various areas. As Rev. BJ noted recently, helping out each other is just what we do at USH. Please contact those who are coordinating the activities close to your heart: crafts, Ann LaPorte-Bryan; Coffeehouse, Mattie Banzhaf & Patrice Fitzgerald; Worship Service, Patrice Fitzgerald; Pot Luck Dinner, Janice Newton. If you suspect you lack expertise, no problem. There is considerable setup and cleanup and those who can direct your activities. If you have been involved in the past, and know full well there are items not yet listed above requiring arranging and preparation, you know what to do! Just communicate and do it! Parents, we have been assured Santa will be available for photos with children during the crafts time. Remember to bring your cameras. This year, our Spirit Play classes have teamed up with the Festival of the Season to reinforce the intergenerational and social action component of this terrific event! On December 3, the Sunday before FOS, each child in our Spirit Play classes will create a mitten shaped invitation asking for the donation of warm purchased mittens, gloves and hats to hang on our tree. During coffee hour, each child will hand their invitation to someone in the congregation, other than their parents. SO keep your eyes out for friendly face! Donations will continue past FOS, and mittens, etc., will be distributed the week before Christmas. This year no tickets will be required and there will be on costs assessed through ticket sales. There will be a free will donation to defray some expenses associated with craft activities and the potluck. It will be important to sign up for the potluck after Sunday services indicating what you plan to bring to the potluck and the number of people in your party. Knowing the total number attending will be essential for adequate planning. Dec. 3 – Following the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble’s thrilling concert Friday night (Dec. 1st at 7:30 PM – a not-to-be-missed amazing quartet of singers), the choir sings Rachmaninoff’s beloved Ave Maria from the All-Night Vigil – in Russian! Dec. 10 – A little preview
of Music Sunday: a chorus from The Christmas
Story by Heinrich Schutz ushers in the Advent
season. Schutz lived exactly one century
before Bach and pioneered effects like a rocking
cradle with music. Dec. 31 – Patrice Fitzgerald is crafting a service of spoken and sung words to mark the transition from the old year to the new. Growth & Renewal Taskforce Needs your Help - With our new minister and our thought-provoking Sunday services, this fall is an exciting time here at the Meeting House. In days laced with fear and anxiety, we have so much to offer to people who seek the kind of comfort and inspiration we have in our liberal spiritual congregation. But how do visitors and new members find their way to us? Your personal invitation to accompany you to a Sunday service is by far the most effective way. You may even have someone in mind that you could invite to join you on Sunday morning or at some other activity. While many of you want to share your enthusiasm with others, you may also want some help getting started. To make the invitation easier, the Growth and Renewal Task Force is mailing USH "calling cards" to all Meeting House members and friends. Designed by Carolyn Soutter, these cards give basic information about our services and fit easily in your wallet. To help with getting started, several members have created a short list of “Reach Out” ideas to help us share our good news. The next Pathways to Membership class -- a wonderful way for anyone interested in joining USH to learn more about us and the UU faith -- starts in January. If you’ve been thinking about asking someone to join you at a service, the next few weeks will be an ideal time. If your friend is interested in USH, he or she then has a natural and welcoming next step in Pathways. The Task Force hopes you will find these cards and suggestions helpful when you wish to share the news about USH and our religion of reason and affirmation of the human spirit. - Sarah H. Gilligan - Growth and Renewal Taskforce EMBER DAYS TESTIMONIAL - When Rev. Jamestone offered Ember Days for the first time this fall, I was curious and attended Wednesday afternoon and Saturday evening. I was deeply touched by the easy, gentle tone of the gatherings. Unlike most UU worship I have ever attended, there was little talk, yet I felt connected to the other participants. We were mostly just there together, sinking more deeply into the present moment. It was restful and renewing. I will be sure to come back for the December Ember Days, 12/13, 12-2 PM; 12/15 and 16, 6-8 PM. In the bustle of the holiday season, which sometimes overwhelms me, I know I will find contemplative companionship and leave more composed. - Marye Gail Harrison Holiday Luncheon, Thursday, December 14 All women are invited to attend this potluck lunch hosted by the Women’s Alliance. Sign up on the Alliance Board in Fellowship Hall and come to the Library at noon on the 14th. Lunch will be followed by the traditional holiday reading of A Visit From St. Nicholas To a Liberated Household and the exchange of “Recycled” gifts. Search your house for a never or seldom used small gift and wrap it up. See if you can bring the “funniest”, the “most practical gift”, etc. Also, to aid the less fortunate, bring an item for children at Interval House, Hartford’s program for battered women and their families. Books, crayons, coloring books, small stuffed animals, cars and dolls or diapers of all sizes are especially welcome. Sign up by Dec. 10 so we can set a place for you. You may also bring your spouse, partner or guest. $1 per person will be collected to cover our costs, or $6 per person if you do not bring a dish to share. – Louise Schmoll Bake Sale, Sunday, December 17 - The Women’s Alliance is sponsoring a bake sale after both services on Dec. 17th. Pumpkin bread, Cranberry bread, Christmas biscotti and Chocolate biscotti will be offered along with a variety of donated items. Bakers please bring your items to Fellowship Hall before the service you attend. Second service people may want to come early to check out the array of goodies available. VOLUNTEERS RESPONSIBLE FOR IMPROVING MH LOOKS Twelve new handicapped parking spaces and 480 new nametags (enhanced by the logo created by the late Carolyn Soutter) are the two most recent additions greeting us as we arrive at the Meeting House. The parking sites are thanks to the persuasive powers of Carolyn (Disability Committee Chair) Cartland’s cogent arguments before Hartford’s Zoning Board and Roy Cook’s meticulous architectural drawings. And it was made possible by a generous donation from Ann and Bill LaPorte-Bryan. The nametags are thanks to Anne Bailey’s creative computer and her many countless attempts to find the perfect cardholder. But they are only two of the many improvements made in the past few years. There are lots of us old enough to remember what the inside, outside, upstairs and downstairs of the Meeting House USED to look like. And we oldsters are overwhelmed by the vast improvements a dedicated team of volunteers has made. So what has this talented, hard-working group added, changed, cleaned and improved? They created new bulletin boards; sanded, primed and painted walls of Fellowship Hall (FH); installed the Memorial Garden sculpture; cleaned plexiglass around FH walls; built a pet memorial garden; designed wood valances and added internal shop lights in FH; repaired and replaced the drainage system; created the downstairs “living room;” brought back and refurbished David’s Den; straightened out electrical circuits and switches; bought new white tables and black chairs; cleaned and painted kitchen cabinets; and, most recently, installed sound panels around walls of FH. Whew! And who has done all this? Anne Bailey, Roy Cook, Janet Hill, Peter Magistri, Janice and David Newton, Betty Palmer, Nancy and Tom Reed, Ed Sax, Hugh Schweitzer, Louise Schmoll, Carol and Ron Sexton, Stuart Spence and Louise and Bill Willett. Whew! According to past Council on Administration Chair, David Newton, “The Fellowship Hall upgrade was on the capital plan scheduled for $19,000 in 2008. It will have been done now for a small fraction of the cost.” This is thanks to the hours of volunteer labor and in-house expertise of USH members. Dim lighting and high noise levels in FH have been an on-going concern for years. The sound-absorbing, light-reflecting acoustic panels installed last month are the result of planning Roy Cook initiated nearly a decade ago. Plans for the future include adding one low-level LED light per panel that will stay on all the time and will allow enough visibility through FH without turning on any other light. Years ago, there really was no comfortable place to sit/meet at the Meeting House. Now, thanks to Anne Bailey (mentioned over and over as a prime, enthusiastic motivator by her fellow workers) and her crew, there are two. One is the cozy new “living room” under the stairs. The other is the resurrected David’s Den, next to the library. Created as a parlor by the Women’s Alliance more than 20 years ago, it had undergone many changes, including use as a place for the USH archives. With the financial aid of the Women’s Alliance and Anne Bailey’s daughter, high quality furniture was bought at reduced rates. And to think that it all began, innocently enough, with the Display Task Force’s adding benches and plants to the lobby and removing the standing bulletin board that greeted you as you entered the building. Ed Sax, writing about “the changes that you can’t see,” remembers that work on the building’s drainage system started in the ‘80’s “when we would find considerable amounts of water on the electrical room floor after a heavy rain.” Since then, the Buildings and Grounds Committee has replaced tile pipe joints with plastic drainage pipes, dug trenches, upgraded gravel to crushed stone, installed a border of pressure-treated lumber to keep stones and water from the grass, and installed drain pipes in places where they should have been—but weren’t. A donation from USH member Helen Skinner led to the new pet memorial garden on the side of the Meeting House. The parking area contractor did the sidewalk and gravel base when the new parking was added. Janice and David Newton did the rest—removed excess gravel, added a sand bed, obtained and placed the pavers and benches, erected the fence and prepared the area and put in plantings. Members of various committees—Building and Grounds, Display, Effectuation—mention the half-dozen sessions spent sanding, priming and painting the walls of Fellowship Hall as one of the things they’re most proud of. As Nancy Reed summed it up, “We all enjoyed seeing the improvements that could be made by working together. It has made Fellowship Hall a much more appealing and warm place to be.” - Kayla Costenoble Hill-Stead Open House Reminder -Society members, who attended the recent program about Theodate Pope Riddle, learned that the first Sunday of every month is Open House at the Hill-Stead. Instead of the formal tour, guests are allowed to wander through the house on their own and stay in each room as long as they like. If you go on December 3, you can enjoy the house decorated for the holidays. Small Group Ministry: Deep Sharing - I am facilitating a Small Group Ministry (SGM) this fall. (In SGM groups of 8-10 people share their experiences in response to a reading and questions in a non-judgmental atmosphere.) My hopes are high. As an “intuitive searcher” (my personality type under Meyers-Briggs), I love the probing group reflection on profound questions. As a member of the SGM Steering Committee, I had helped to choose the topics and frame the questions that the groups would tackle this term. I looked forward to seeing these topics in action. At our first meeting the topic was “Delightful Places.” It turned out to be a fruitful subject to muse upon as we spoke of our end of summer and its share of delightful places. But it was the coming together of new people, and not the topic, that dominated the evening. We needed to be dragged away from our mid-session break, as we caught up or met new people. There were a couple folks I had seen around the Meeting House but never met, and a couple with whom I had only brief conversations in the past. As happens in all my SGM experiences, I felt truly blessed to get to know these new people. In our second session we reflected on “The Present Moment.” The question asked, “Have you experienced a time of crisis or great need when focusing on the present moment helped?” I did not foresee what the question would produce: an outpouring of deep sharing. Every member weighed in with touching experiences on the topic. I received permission from several members to report their comments below. One member related his story of being an 18-year-old soldier in World War II on an ambulance detail to a newly liberated concentration camp. He spoke of the horror and pain he felt as he walked into the barracks filled with men three to a bunk, some dead, some barely alive, all emaciated. On that occasion each “present moment” was magnified. Indeed, that event was like nothing he had experienced in his life and would never leave him. Another member told of appreciating every present moment after he contracted cancer several years ago and learned to live with the cancer and its drug regimen, cherishing life and loved ones even more than he had before. Yet another in the group spoke of her sadness and grief in caring for her dying mother. She made the point that in times of grief you are constantly living in the “present moment,” and it does help to savor those moments. Later on we talked about how it is the human connection that helps most in times of need. The depth and meaningfulness of the sharing that evening had a palpable impact on us all. At evening’s end one member said: “It feels like we are holding hands now.” In a way, we were. - Mike Roy Officers: Charles Huntington, President; Bill Young, President Elect; Margaret Leicach, Treasurer; Sue Kinney, Secretary; Nancy Mandly, At-Large Community Within; Marye Gail Harrison, At-Large, Spiritual Life; Peg Otto, At-Large Social Justice. Council Chairs: Hugh Schweitzer, Administration; Carol Sexton, Community Within; Fred Louis, Social Justice; Nina Elgo, Spiritual Life STAFF: Rev. Barbara Jamestone, Minister; Nina Binin RE Administrator; Denise Ackeifi, Youth Advisor; Brian Mullen, Business Manager; Rosie Rindfleisch, Administrative Asst; Mattie Banzhaf, Music Director; Vaughn Mauren, Organist: Peter Magistri, Sexton; Robert Gavin, Custodian; Maks Klmas, Security Office hours: M-F 9-3 (excluding W 10 -11);Rev. Jamestone: Phone: 860 233-9897; Email: RevBJ@USHartford.com Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday - Available at the noon hour and at other times by appointment. Articles for the Meetinghouse Messenger should be directed to messengernews@ushartford.com by the 15th of the prior month. This issue was edited by D & J Newton, Brian Mullen Monthly Blog: View From the Balcony: Report From the Leadership Planning Retreat - By Rev. BJ Hi everybody - I wanted to write a sweet holiday memoir for your reading pleasure, but decided that a timely report from planning meetings of late is more important for this venue. Come to church during the holidays to hear the memoir! What do church leaders do? Leaders spend time championing and cheerleading the ministry of others—whether it be in task teams, individual acts of service, or personal spiritual practice toward maturation. Leaders sometimes do this from the playing field, where they participate in particular acts of ministry being done in their areas of responsibility. Leaders sometime do this from the dug out, matching dreams to resources, strategizing and prioritizing. Your congregational leaders and I spent some time in the dugout during our recent ‘start up retreat.’ With the help of our UU District Executive, Lynn Thomas, we named components of the entire ministry of the whole congregation, and teased out the parts of that shared ministry belonging uniquely to me, your minister. Taking into consideration our congregational culture, identity, resource base and current events, and my own gifts and skills, we prioritized my work among you for the next year. You will find below nine ‘ministry areas’ or pieces of the pie that create my job description at USH, listed in the order that we believe most critically need my attention for the next year to support USH in being a robust community of faith living out her mission successfully. Each area is important, and each of them is work/ministry shared with members of the congregation. The minister alone could do none of them. The ranking is for my time and attention and is not a ranking of how important each area is to the congregation as a whole, or to individual groups or members; rather it is a ranking acknowledging our current issues and our congregation’s core purpose. It might be fun for you to rank this list according to how YOU think I should spend my time, and from that ranking you would probably identify areas of ministry holding the most passion and interest for you, the areas in which you likely have skill or competence, and the areas where YOU may be being called to contribute to the shared ministry of our beloved community. Thank you each for the devotion you feel for YOUR favored ministry area, and for your generosity of spirit in permitting me to share my time and other society resources with other areas equally vital to the wellbeing of our society.
The Minister’s Pie for 2007: 1. Worship Leadership: plans and conducts worship services, studies and creates sermons, coordinates with others who participate in creating Sunday service. 2. Spiritual Leadership: sets a tone for all aspects of church life conducive to personal and spiritual growth, keeps church focused on religious development in mission, planning, and program. 3. Religious Education Leadership: supports children’s RE leadership in developing and maintaining an attractive and vital RE program, models and raises awareness that children must be an integral and welcomed part of our entire life at USH. 4. Membership Leadership: gives personal attention to prospective members, organizes laity in attracting and integrating new members, helps create high profile in community for USH. (The Committee on Ministry members, who were also on the search committee, pointed out to the rest of us at the retreat that these first four priorities we had identified were also the key priorities, which the congregational surveys had identified during the search process.) 5 Pastoral Leadership: devotes energy to people in need—visits with the elderly, ill, and grieving, provides personal counseling and spiritual direction. 6. Relationship Leadership—maintains interpersonal relationships with members by home visits, phone, email & office hours. 7. Prophetic Leadership: engaged in and supports members in social justice activism in public/civic issues, involves church members in social action and volunteerism in larger community. 8. Denominational Ecumenical Leadership works with UU and interfaith organizations, enlists UUA resources for USH use, encourages connections with larger religious community. 9. Administrative Leadership strong involvement in fiscal health of church, in efficient organization, in coordinating the work of the staff, board, and committees After completing this ranking, we reviewed our USH history and detected a few patterns, which a shared ministry between laity and clergy obviates: We have had a hard time looking at bad news, and like to cocoon either in distraction or in narrow focus or in innocence. This is true regarding financial issues, staff and member accountability issues, the blessing and curse of our beloved building and location, growth issues, honest communication issues, roles of lay leaders and of particular members in carrying out ministry. We noted the great truth that “Growth brings change brings conflict.” In each area that we treasure and want to see supported and growing, we must expect conflict, and try to remember our covenant of care and our shared goal of expanding our tent. Traditionally our need to maintain a composed, calm, and well ordered congregational demeanor may have created the unintended results of over functioning roles for minister, DRE, and president and of under functioning of individual members in our ministry. You have addressed several of these ‘traditions’ and we are excited at our phenomenal potential to shape a vibrant, robust, thriving UU congregation in Hartford. Toward that end we identified one final role for me: “Leader Among Leaders—the first among equals who promotes understanding of SHARED ministry, fosters a climate of individual and team responsibility, works to spread power among the laity. It is a privilege for me to carry that position among you as we move into 2007 together. |
|||||
Let
us know of any comments, errors
and corrections - thanks
(revised 11/16/06) |
