|
May 2006 Jump Station: Services; Carolyn Soutter; President's Column; REflections; Music; Art; Auction; Coast Guard Swing; Among Us; Ministerial Musings; Current Calendar; Staff Sunday Worship Services 9 AM & 11 AM: Religious Education for Children 9 AM & Youth 10:30 AM. Beginning on May 28, there will be one service through the summer at 10 AM May 14 Honoring our Foremothers: Julia Ward Howe - Mother’s Day provides the opportunity to celebrate the lives of Unitarian and Universalist women who paved the way – our foremothers. Julia Ward Howe was an active Unitarian, peace activist, and the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. May 21 – A Celebration - Jon Luopa Visiting - We are thrilled to have Jon in our pulpit once again! Please join us to hear him speak of matters near and dear. May 28 - A Memorial Day Service –(10 AM) Fred Louis and Richard Roznoy - Join these two members of the congregation as they conduct this weekend service. Carolyn Soutter, Life - Long Unitarian There is a Latin inscription on the tomb of Sir Christopher Wren in St. Paul’s Cathedral. It says, “Reader, if you seek his memorial, look about you.” Carolyn Soutter came to the Unitarian Society of Hartford sometime in 1988. In the years since she constantly worked on various projects. She was an excellent word worker and specialized in graphic design. On April 1st we sat with Carolyn and invited her to tell us what she could of her history with USH. Though speaking was difficult under the clouds of heavy medication, she did tell us what she could. She came to USH in 1988 and like most newcomers, sat in the very back reluctant to become involved. Her life was somewhat unusual because she was that rarity, a life long UU, her parents having been members of the Universalist Church in Syracuse. We should not be surprised that Carolyn found she was quickly in great demand because she was the only graphic design person available for a number of projects. Reflecting on her first years with USH, she noted there was a need to focus on something aside from the leaking roof as a central organizational concern. The congregation needed a sense of identity, she said, of history and future promise. Two things, among others, emerged from this concern for a sense of identity. In 1991 in anticipation of USH’s 150th year in 1994 (somewhat arbitrarily set as measured from 1844), she sat down to discuss these matters with Jon Luopa and proposed constructing a USH quilt highlighting USH history. This idea culminated in bringing our long USH history to life through construction of The Unitarian Society of Hartford Quilt, a 95” by 93” construction of forty-nine blocks created separately by eighteen women. The first quilt organizational meeting occurred at Carolyn’s house in April of 1991. She chaired this project and the design was hers. You can appreciate the thought going into the selection of the individual scenes and content of the individual squares, quite aside from the technical skill needed to make the faces. The quilt was dedicated January 30, 1994 after almost three years of work. Funds for the case were raised by sale of signatures embroidered on the back of the quilt. Today you can see the quilt in the glass case constructed by Will DeGroff outside the Chapel. Of the quilt effort Carolyn said, “Something magical came out of the quilt. People were less preoccupied with the roof. We would never get to be a church if we did not get beyond the roof. We needed to learn about being more caring and knowing our place in the community.” She mentioned there was no Caring Network at the time, and that she found the development of the Network a heartening change for the better in recent years. Carolyn also made the Chalice Quilt now hanging in the Chapel. It was done for a fund-raising raffle won by the late Bessye Bennett. Her husband John returned the quilt to the Meeting House where he felt it now belongs. More or less at the same time, with leadership from Dorothy Fowler, Margaret Sax, and Freeman Meyer, the timeline project was moving along. The idea was to create the panels currently hanging on the walls of the West Entrance to the Sanctuary illustrating four major periods of our history: the Church of our Saviour 1844 - 1860, Unity Church 1880 - 1924, Pearl Street Church 1924 - 1964 and Bloomfield Avenue Church 1964 -. In a letter to Dorothy Fowler dated December 4, 1994, Carolyn discussed the materials for construction of the panels and details related to sorting out the historic facts for emphasis. The historians did the history, Dorothy did the writing and provided Carolyn with information, for which she then designed artwork creating a mock up of the panels along the way. This ultimately resulted in the finished panels on display today. Carolyn also was editor of the Meetinghouse Messenger for many years The masthead wood-cut logo that appears on this Messenger, our stationery and elsewhere is her design, and many articles appearing in our publications over the years have been her work. As it happened, we were having a meeting at the Meeting House of what came to be called the Communications Committee on 9/11, a day not soon forgotten. Carolyn worked closely with Kayla Costenoble during her years as editor of the Meetinghouse Messenger and continued through illness as long as she could contribute. It was Carolyn who designed the “package” for our current Search Committee. She designed many brochures including those you have received from the Stewardship Committee in past years. As a new member of the Membership Committee, Anne Bailey remembers being recruited to help Carolyn cover the bulletin boards now hanging in the lower lobby. Carolyn had picked the fabric and also bought the four-framed posters that hung (three still do) there behind the sofa in the sitting area under the stairs. As Chair of the Communications Committee, she was the impetus to getting the bench and plants that grace the upstairs lobby and from the roots of the bulletin board project in Communications sprung the efforts to improve the aesthetics of Fellowship Hall through painting, lighting and other pleasing changes now surrounding you during coffee hour. The upgrading of the furnishings in the lower lobby sitting area and David’s Den also originated from the upgrade effort. Carolyn was first diagnosed with breast cancer two days before Christmas in 1993, and struggled with the disease even as she produced one design contribution after another during the ensuing years. As Carolyn herself and her family said, Carolyn put a lot into the Church and its activities and received a lot from the Church and its members. She was energized by the close friendships she developed with the USH community. She died Sunday April 9, 2006. Now, look about your Meeting House, we have indeed lost a friend, tireless worker at USH and great example of a Unitarian. - DCN From: Mary Oliver, What Do We Know: Poems and Prose Poems “imagine! imagine!the long and wondrous journeysstill to be ours. “Time, like matching socks, is one of those funny things that shape shifts. When a deadline is due, an hour can seem quicker than a minute. When we’re weeding a garden on a hot summer day, an hour can feel like eternity. Or visa versa. “Many days blur into one another and create for us a collage of our lives. Nothing is perfectly remembered and yet each experience is essential in the fabric of our souls. Other times, sometimes only moments, are etched into hearts and memories indelibly. Every word, every detail, every expression will never be forgotten, no matter how much time goes by. “There are those times we choose to forget and many that we need to heal. There are times we long to hold on to and those we have to learn to release. Times we look forward to and those we never want to end. “ Here at USH, our time right now is filled with many mixed experiences. We are saying goodbye to some people for whom we care deeply and we are saying “welcome” to many new faces. We have old friends visiting and new friends coming to check us out. Staff and members are preparing their summer plans, while simultaneously looking ahead to a new year in our church life. May your time be filled with unexpected joys. May you choose to experience it with an open heart and an open mind. May you appreciate those socks that match, and be compassionate with yourself for those that don’t. Rebecca Judd, President We have been working these past two months on our new schedule in Religious Education. The Spirit Play classes are running fairly smoothly, as are the youth worship and the middle and high school youth groups/classes. We are aware that not everyone has been happy about the changes, or parts of the changes. The Religious Education sub-council and I are looking at what we are currently doing and what to change for next year. We also appreciate feedback, both positive and negative from everyone. This includes the children and youth. We have heard from some of you, and we are looking at different issues for next fall. Some of these issues include the middle and high school meeting times and their worship, the older elementary school aged children in Spirit Play and how we can be more age appropriate for those children. We also want to give our changes a fair chance. This means letting the changes occur and giving them enough time to actually see how they are working. We are asking for patience as we all are working out what the two services system means, how it affects us, and how we can be as good as we can. Þ Please feel free to contact me, leave a message or e-mail. Encourage your children to do so as well. Ken Silberman-Bunn, DRE 5/7 UU composer Ann MacDonald Diers has written a wonderful anthem called "Dance of Life." The piece fairly dances off the page, and it will complement the day's reflections on the dance-like partnership of a congregation moving through its life.
5/21Tentatively, the Choirwill be singing a favorite anthem at 11:00. Ann Stowe has agreedto play at both services. 5/28 Watch the USH-Enews. We are experiencing shifting schedules. _________________________________ For spring we are sharing the stunning eclectic work of collage artist Joy Floyd. The Meeting House is fortunate to have her art following a handsome exhibition with artist Jean Roberts at Trinity. The auction previously scheduled for this spring has been postponed to next fall because of scheduling difficulties and because volunteer efforts are currently committed to various other projects. The U.S. COAST GUARD Every day the members of the U.S. Coast Guard engage in acts of heroism. The Coast Guard is an organization in which we can justly take pride. Here’s an opportunity for us to learn about and appreciate an additional and marvelous offering from the Coast Guard, while supporting the Meeting House’s New Performing Arts Series, and to have a great time in the process. The Performing Arts Sub-council of the Unitarian Society of Hartford is thrilled to announce that the “Coast Guard Masters of Swing Band”, seven vastly talented instrumentalists and one jivin’, cute-as-a-button, thrush-throated vocalist, will be performing here on Saturday, June 24, at 7 P.M. for our listening pleasure and for that of the Greater Hartford Community. The “Masters of Swing” will play and sing many of the great classics of the Swing Era. We are counting on having some of you jitterbuggers and swing dancers on your feet and dancing in the aisles. The band does not charge for their performance and we are not allowedto sell tickets for it. The TICKETS WILL BE FREE to all who request them. However, we do have expenses, not minor ones, of transporting the band members and their instruments and sound systems in air-conditioned vehicles from New London to Hartford and back, advertising the concert and printing the programs. The band, which has played to rave reviews all over the country, would love to have an audience filling the Meeting House to overflowing and we are trying to honor that request. HELP US MAKE THIS HAPPEN FOR YOU - We are asking you to be supportive of the Performing Arts Sub-council’s general production efforts by:
If you wish to volunteer a van and driver or to help feed the band, call or email Edith Savage, esavage at snet.net, 232-5603 in West Hartford. Please be as generous as you can with the folks selling program ads and supporter listings in Fellowship Hall each Sunday. And let’s make sure that some of our older friends, who were young adults during the Swing Era, have transportation to and from this show, which they will love. We thank you in advance for your support. Our deep sympathies are extended to the family of Carolyn Soutter who died on Sunday, April 9th at home with her loved ones with her. The Service Celebrating and Giving Thanks for the life of Carolyn Soutter will be held on Saturday 20 May at 2 PM. The Caring Network is organizing the reception that will follow the service. Please contact Janice Newton at 677-1121 if you can help by donating finger foods. The Rev. Jon Luopa will officiate. Condolences can be sent to: Bob Soutter, 18 Rexinger Lane, Avon, CT 06001-2340 Our condolences also go out to the family of Elizabeth Spencer who died on Wednesday April 12th. Sympathies can be sent to: Lisa Spencer, 59 Hilton Avenue, East Haven, CT 06512. The Service in Celebration and Thanksgiving for the life of Elizabeth Spencer will be held on Sunday 7 May at 2 in the afternoon. Elizabeth and her husband Gordon were among the leaders of the congregation who oversaw the move from the Pearl Street Church to the Meeting House on Bloomfield Avenue. The Caring Network is organizing the reception that will follow the service. Please contact Janice Newton at 677-1121 if you can help by donating finger foods. The Rev. Arline Conan Sutherland will officiate. Ministerial Musings …Reverend Arline C. Sutherland Many of you have been asking, “Arline, what will you be doing next year?” The short answer is that it’s too soon to tell yet. First, I’m going home. Doesn’t that sound great? I have loved being here with you these past two years and will miss you very much. And, it will be nice not to drive so much and not to maintain two households. Going back and forth can generate among other things, “the mayonnaise problem”. It works like this: realizing that I’m out of mayonnaise in Hartford and have been for two weeks, it’s on my mind when I go to the grocery store as I head into Boston. Of course there are now three jars in Boston, which is what I remember when I go to the supermarket on my return to Hartford, where once again, I refrain from buying mayo. And so it goes. Second, I’m applying for another interim ministry. Interim positions are just now being posted as ministers leave congregations for one reason or another. We shall see. Interim ministers, who don’t have a position in any given year, refer to it as being on sabbatical. That sounds really good to me too! Upcoming projects include:
While you and I are planning our futures, we still have many weeks together. My last Sunday will be the 18th of June. Let’s enjoy these coming weeks! Blessings, Arline Our Constitution and Bylaws, Strategic Plan, and much, much more may be found on our website at www.ushartford.com Let our office know if you would like to receive the weekly USH-Enews online. David Newton edited this issue. STAFF: Rev. Arline Sutherland, Acting Senior Minister; Ken Silberman-Bunn, Director of Religious Education; Denise Ackeifi, Youth Advisor; Brian Mullen, Business Manager; Rosie Rindfleisch, Administrative Asst; Mattie Banzhaf, Music Director; Peter Magistri, Sexton; Maks Klmas, Security |
Let us know of any comments, errors
and corrections - thanks
(revised 4/20/06) |
