March
2007
Jump Station: Services; President's Column; Reflections from the Reverend; Music Notes; Passover Seder; Pledge Party; R&R Luncheon Planned; War Protest Planned; Families Forum; Family Cruise Night; Value of SMG; Clara Barton Spring Conference; Goal: Comprehensive Communications; Officers - Staff- Office Hours; Current Calendar; Attachments Services at 9 & 11 AM, children’s programming and nursery 4 March - Hunger - We will kick off our participation in the Center City Churches program on “Hunger in Hartford” with theological reflection on hungering for righteousness, on scarcity and abundance, and on appropriate responses to our neighbors who may be literally hungry. 11 March - Voices of Stewardship - Rev Jamestone and several members will share their understanding of stewardship as a spiritual discipline based in gratitude, and how they intend to practice it at USH and beyond. 18 March - Covenant and Celebration - Can you recall the great covenant we recite each Sunday morning? Join a congregational reflection on what it promises and what it requires from us. 25 March – The Darfur Experience - Chris Allen-Doucette of the Catholic Worker House on Clark Street in Hartford will be our guest speaker. He and his son spent several weeks in Darfur last year helping aid groups distribute food and other supplies. I have long harbored a viscerally negative attitude toward the display of commercial labels and logos, and I will go to extremes to avoid doing so. For example, before wearing a new pair of jeans, I will take a surgical scalpel and carefully excise those little tags with the brand name, and I will remove those dealership license plate frames that come with a new car just as soon as I get the car out of the lot. After all, if I am going to be someone else’s billboard, then they need to pay me for the service! So, it came as a big surprise to me when a couple of months ago I found myself feeling compelled to find a UU chalice lapel pin to wear on my suit jacket. There I was in the middle of the workday, wasting my employer’s good money by surfing through UU paraphernalia sites checking out all of the different styles! After diligently searching everything Google had to offer and after much thoughtful consideration, I settled on a simple but elegant design that when worn is both discrete and plainly visible. Despite the fact that it is totally out of character, I have steadfastly worn that lapel pin on every occasion that I wear a suit jacket or sport coat, which is basically every workday. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else. So,
what’s up with this complete about
face? I have been wondering about that
myself. The answer has become clear only
recently. Like many of you, I have long
been troubled by the notion of living a compartmentalized
life. At work I had one way of being,
one way of conducting myself, one image, if
you will. At home I had another way being
and quite a different image. On vacation,
I adopted yet another persona entirely, usually
one involving a stead flow of Guinness. In
each setting I might have conducted myself
with a modicum of integrity, but each was entirely
distinct from the others. I have looked for unifying themes in many places, but it was not until we started coming to the Meeting House nearly ten years ago that answers began to emerge. This awareness grew very slowly, but within the body of our Unitarian-Universalist beliefs I have finally found a set of life organizing principles that I can keep with me wherever I go, be it to the office, to the gym, to the living room, or my beloved Vermont mountains. The search for spiritual meaning, respecting every person, shepherding our natural resources, and embracing life as a process and not an end; these are principles no less applicable on Monday than on Sunday, no less applicable in a business meeting than in the Sanctuary. With the growing awareness of a consistent set of life principles, the fragments of my life have begun to merge into a more meaningful whole. Without clearly understanding why, I felt the need for some outward symbol of this new inward sense of constancy. The chalice lapel pin is that symbol, and it is a faithful reminder of things that most give meaning to everything that I do. Perhaps Unitarian-Universalism only helped me see something that was there all along, but that is a lot. My lapel pin is also a reminder to nurture and support the source of the thread that ties together this disparate life. My wish for my children is that they never know a sense of fragmentation or compartmentalization in their lives, that they grow up being able to take for granted a sense of over-riding principles guiding and bringing meaning to every aspect of their lives. Being raised in a thriving Meeting House congregation is probably the best assurance of that happening. – Charles HuntingtonYou’re Invited To Party and Pledge! Everybody
starts looking for the green around the
middle of March. This year, we’ll
all find it
For admission, just bring a green gift for charity, such as folding money or green canned goods. This will become a donation for Catherine’s Place, a women’s shelter in Hartford. In exchange, you’ll receive your ticket for the door prizes, individual pledge card, and a chance to make your pledge for the coming fiscal year. * Free childcare provided by reservation RSVP to the USH office at 233-9897 or firstunitarian@ushartford.com by March 11. 4 March - Our choir, soloists and organist turn to France for musical explorations of hunger. Erik Satie was a French composer at the turn of the 20th century, best known for his quirky, humorous, even oddball musical nuggets and his connection with surrealism, cubism and dada. But an interest in the Rosicrucians and medieval music like plainchant, combined with awareness of social inequalities, led to the composition of the "Mass for the Poor." Earlier in the 19th century another Parisian, Cesar Franck, wrote one of the best-known melodies about feeding the spirit: "Panis Angelicus" ("heavenly bread"). 11 March - Joan Szymko is a composer, who also directs choirs in the Pacific Northwest. About her anthem, she says, "In adapting the West African saying, "It takes a village to raise a child," I've sought to embody the cultural concept behind this proverb -- that it is truly ALL the individual parts linked and working together that create and support the whole." How appropriate for International Women's Day, and for Stewardship Sunday. There's even a special percussion part for the entire congregation.18 March - Some very special musical offerings: our own symphony violinist Anhared Stowe will play for the services. The choir's 11:00 AM anthem is the spiritual "Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit." 25 March - The Choir is off; stay tuned for musical plans that day. 1 April - Another special musical Sunday: Bill Willett's woodwind quintet will play. Save the Date For This Year’s Unitarian Passover Seder! This year's Unitarian Passover Seder is scheduled for Saturday, March 31 at 5:30 PM in Fellowship Hall. All are welcome. A sign up sheet will be posted shortly on the board in the lobby of Fellowship Hall. If you’ve never attended a Seder before, it’s a celebration of the freedom from enslavement mixed in with the joy of the coming spring. Come see what it’s all about! The cost is $4.00 per adult (over 18), $2.00 for children (to cover the expense of paper goods, juice, etc.) and a food contribution. Feel free to bring your own wine. Please contact Ira Greenbaum with questions. (860) 870-4409. igreenbaum@sbcglobal.net On Wednesday, March 7, the Alliance will hold an R&R supper in the Library. Wine/juice/snacks will be served about 5:30 PM, with supper at 6. No reservations are necessary, just come and enjoy the sisterhood and sustenance. For Alliance Cabinet members, although our meetings are usually on Thursday, please note the cabinet will meet that Wednesday at 3:30 PM.
From the Information and Advocacy Sub-Council (IASC) - CT Opposes the War, and West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice are organizing a massive rally in downtown Hartford, on Saturday, March 17. COW is a statewide coalition of labor, religious, peace and community organizations. Look for more details in our USH-Enews. The Parents Circle - Families Forum - Monday, March 19th -Two venues: University of Hartford - afternoon: 1 to 3 PM W. Hartford Town Hall evening: 7 to 9 PM - This is an organization of bereaved Palestinians and Israelis who have all lost immediate family members as a result of the conflict in the region. Since its inception in 1995, the Forum has sought a reconciliation process between Israelis and Palestinians. We
will hear from an Israeli woman who lost
her son and a Palestinian man who lost his
brother in the conflict. A panel of local
educators and community leaders will offer
additional comments. Margaret Steineger-Keyser
will be at U. of Hartford; Susan Campbell
will be in W. Hartford. An
intergenerational event Saturday, March 24,
2007 5:30 to 9:00 PM Many touching family scenes and interviews are woven into this warm and moving presentation. Everyone, including families with children and teens are encouraged to attend. Discussion will follow the film, facilitated by Peg Otto. A sign up sheet for potluck offerings is available at the Adult Program table in Fellowship Hall or by calling the office (no later than March 22). Cost: $2.00 per person, $8.00 maximum for families. Come and Enjoy the Caribbean and the opportunity for glimpses into warm and wonderful family experiences. The Value of Small Group Ministry We take so much for granted in our lives. This is no less true for our church. As we enter into pledge season, it is worthwhile to lean back and appreciate what we get from our pledge dollar. High on the list would be Small Group Ministry. Small Group Ministry, now in its sixth year, has woven itself into the fabric of our Society. It has encouraged us to dig deep within our selves and reach out to other selves. In the process SGM has brought us closer together, it has touched our lives. Even if you have not participated in one of our groups, you need to appreciate what SGM has done to make us a tighter, more caring, more understanding community. And, if you have, you know what we mean. So when you think about pledging this month, think about all you get from your pledge dollars and remember Small Group Ministry. Consider all the spiritual enrichment, all the new friends made, all the stories shared—and ask yourself, “What would I pay to receive all these benefits?” For, as the credit card commercial concludes, the true value of Small Group Ministry: “Priceless.” - Kent Jamison and Mike Roy The Clara Barton District of UU Congregations Spring Conference - Will be held Saturday, April 14, 2007. The Keynote Speaker is Kathleen (Kay) Montogomery, Executive Vice President of the Unitarian Universalist Association and the topic is, The Future of Unitarian Universalism: Five Paths to Growth. The Conference will be held a Nichols College – David Hall, familiar to those of you who attended the Conference last fall. Further details are available from the Clara Barton Website, linked from our home page. For those who do not have computer resources, call the office and we will arrange for you to receive a brochure about the Conference. Goal: Comprehensive Communications USH members and friends are sprinkled all over central Connecticut. The task: how do we communicate effectively with our far-flung congregation? How do we punch through the clutter of modern communications to reach our audience in ways attractive enough to cause them to read or hear what we say? How do we manufacture the “glue” to make our USH community a warm and caring place where somebody knows our name, and cares when we go missing? Part of this task falls on the Communications Sub-Council, a division of the Community Within Council. The guiding philosophy of the Communications Sub-Council is to discover the means of communicating with you, and to deliver a message to you using the communication channel you prefer, from paper to voice to pixels on your computer screen. If you can use multiple channels, we prefer to communicate using the least expensive method. Vehicles of communication developed to reach you include the Meeting House Weekly, the brief news-sheet handed to you on Sunday in the Order of Service. This vehicle must be brief so that attention is focused on the service in progress. As we all know, some of us cannot be present every Sunday because of other pressing events or conditions requiring that we remain at home. So how do we reach this substantial audience? Enter the world of paper and electronic communications. As an ever-growing number of our members have computers and as the speed with which these machines can receive and send information increases, we rely increasingly on these communications. They include the comprehensive website providing general information, timely information conveyed by calendar pages, and the weekly USH-Enews. E-News subscribers are alerted each week to the presence of new web pages through a short email communication designed to avoid spam traps carrying a link to the web page. In the electronic medium, we can use color pictures and audio files of services, while avoiding the prohibitive costs of producing and mailing the result to you by snail mail. Because email use is such an attractive method of low cost communication, we have asked those who can to read the electronic version of the monthly Meetinghouse Messenger. Reading this version reduces the number of Messengers that have to be mailed and helps our budget bottom line. For those with no computer resources, we continue to send the paper version of the Meetinghouse Messenger 10 months a year. In the paper and postage department, we also distribute a number of first class letters for various important issues. Another electronic communication method receiving extensive USH usage employs a listserv. A listserv is a group of email addresses with an appropriate title maintained on a server with our web service provider. If, for example, you are a member of the Worship Sub-Council, a single email sent to the email address, worship@ushartford.com is immediately resent to all the members of the Sub-Council. Listserv use improves group communication and avoids individuals keeping outdated lists on individual computers. USH has approximately 45 listservs devoted to various sub-groups. Members of the Communications Sub-Council and some of their projects-duties are: Tom Reed (Posts weekly service notices in the Hartford Courant; participates in creating the Reference Directory of Mug Shots (RDMS) and writes articles appearing in USH-Enews and Messenger). Anne Bailey (Intrepid photographer and guru of bulletin board display and maintenance and writer of articles. Heavily involved along with David Newton and Brian Mullen in adding small black and white headshots and relevant information in the next edition of the Directory.) - Kayla Costenoble (Former Messenger Editor, 2002-2006 now frequent writer of articles appearing in both the Messenger and USH-Enews.) - Sarah Gilligan (Freelance writer and graphic designer recently working on external communications with the Growth and Renewal Task Force.) - Gail Syring (Heading up a USH calendar project working closely with Brian Mullen improving methods of scheduling events and disseminating calendar-related information.) - Gail Bogossian (Writer of articles for Messenger, USH-Enews and Web.) Rosie Rindfleisch (Editor of the Sunday Meeting House Weekly and, as office staff, part of all manner of communications, including, answering the phone - an oldie but goodie..) - Brian Mullen (Production manager for printing and distribution of the Meetinghouse Messenger, printer of tickets, helper in publicity of all sorts, maintainer of event schedules along with regular business functions associated with accounting and maintenance of business records and much, much, more.) - David Newton (Webmaster, editor of USH-Enews and Messenger and chair of the Sub-Council.) - Janice Newton (Special outreach responsibilities through reduction of the USH-Enews to a decent looking paper document and its limited first class distribution to those without computer resources.) It would not be complete to stop here. We note the efforts of the Disabilities Sub-Council working diligently on methods of communication for those with special needs. Special note must be taken of the advertising acumen of the Unitarian Performing Arts (UPA) group, and the regular written materials submitted by President Huntington, Treasurer Leicach, Secretary Kinney, Rev. Jamestone and others such as Nancy Reed, Nita Hansen, Edith Savage and Marion Kelliher. Their faithful notices and articles are the basic fodder for our publications, and are appreciated by those they represent and those of us who read their articles and notices. And
there are many others… 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. 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 by appointment. Articles for the Meetinghouse Messenger should be directed to messengernews@ushartford.com by the 15th of the month prior to publication. This issue was edited by D & J Newton, Brian Mullen and Rosie Rindfleisch.Word from Rev BJ - The art of Thomas Hart Benton is featured at the New Britain museum, with heroic sized mural displays from his ‘regionalism’ period. The American South mural includes preachers, gamblers, cotton pickers, and whiskey drinkers. The caption says something like: “The South—home of drinking, dancing, cussing, shooting craps, and getting religion.” I can hardly wait to tell you some of my ‘mostly true’ tales from a Southern childhood rooted in the heart of the Delta blues—Little Bit, the frozen cat and Jimmy Durante, the rooster; funerals as entertainment; the railroad trestle trust walk. And that will be only a small part of the fun on the evening of March 17, when USH “brings in the greens” at our stewardship party and pledge drive kick-off. Please remember to bring something green, which you can place on our altar, before digging into the chocolate desserts! Among my Southern hero pantheon was my grandfather “Tuck” who lived with us until his death. He taught me to squeeeeeeze the trigger while shooting his snuff cans off the garden gate; how to milk a cow, and how to wring a chicken’s neck. About each of those things he’d say, “You have to know when to go slow…..and when to just jerk it,”—which advice calls to my mind our pledge cards that we will receive on the night of the 17th, or in the mail the following week! Dear ones, I’m told that it sometimes takes six weeks and a good deal of volunteer time in phone calls and reminders before all pledges are officially recorded, and before leadership can proceed in finalizing plans for the coming year, which are dependent on our pledges. What conditions would need to be present for you, as soon as you finish this sentence, to recall your pledge last year, to take the plunge along with me and determine to increase that amount by 15%? What conditions would need to be present for the 100 of you who either do not pledge at all (or who pledge below the minimum of $21 per month per member in order to be recognized as a member) to determine right now that you will join the other 245 members who do pledge not less than $21 per month, or that you will call Rosie and make an appointment to see me so that we can establish a minister’s financial exemption so that you can be counted as a member of the congregation and get your blessing for doing service in some other way? I do not think that those conditions would include guilt or shame or hope of heaven! For me, what it takes is remembering who I am when I am my best self, and how I feel when with gratitude I practice stewardship regarding the resources with which I am blessed. It takes being reminded of something that has proven to be true in my life dozens and dozens of times—that as I open my hand and give stuff away, my hands and heart are very soon filled with even better stuff. For me, it takes imagining the profound grace, the awesome honor that is mine because I belong to you, with you. And those conditions are present. I have this moment decided to raise my pledge (and actually pay it!) from $4,000 to $4,600, a 15 % increase over the 5% of my gross income for the coming year….unless y’all decide to give the staff a raise, in which case I’ll raise the pledge!! Tuck would say, “No need to keep that chicken in suspense….just jerk that neck.” Let’s do the slow heart searching before March 17, and on that night you can write that pledge on your card and turn it right back in. Or the very day you find it in the mailbox, you can fill it the amount and put it right back in the box. Because it’s just beneath us as UUs to keep a chicken in suspense for six weeks! Best, Rev. BJ Attachments: Flyer |
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Let
us know of any comments, errors
and corrections - thanks
(revised 02/22/07) |
together
at, “Bringing
In the Green”, a fun-filled
celebration of renewal, and revenue on St.
Patrick’s Day, Saturday, March 17th. Bringing
in the Green is the new and improved
replacement for Pledge Sunday, and will
feature decadent chocolate desserts, spirited
liquid refreshment, and lots of delightful
entertainment, including: