Messenger Newsletter Content October 2004

October Services

October 3, 2004 “Don’t Go Back to Bed” - Guest Speaker: Rev. Tom Schade - Our guest will be the Rev. Tom Schade, who is the Associate Minister of the First Unitarian Church of Worcester, Massachusetts. He has also served our denomination as the President of the Clara Barton District Ministers Association, and as President of the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship. He graduated from Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas in 1999, entering the ministry after a career in information technology. He is one of the most dynamic preachers in our movement, and we encourage you to welcome him to our pulpit.

October 10, 2004 “Biblical Wisdom” - Service Leader: Rev. Terasa Cooley - In preparation for our upcoming guest lecturer, Rev. Dr. John Buehrens, Terasa will speak about what wisdom the bible may still hold for us as religious liberals.

October 17, 2004 “The Enemy Within and the Enemy Without” - Service Leader: Rev. Terasa Cool - This sermon is addressing a topic raised by Mike Winterfield, the winner of the auction “sermon topic of your choice”. Terasa will reflect upon the difficulty of making judgments, both upon the sins of others and the sins of ourselves.

October 24, 2004 “Religion and Politics” - Service Leader: Rev. Terasa Cooley - In the fevered pitch of the election season, Terasa will talk about the sometimes blurry line between religion and politics in our culture. What do the elections mean to us religiously?

31 October 2004 An All Souls Service - Worship Leader … Rev. Arline Sutherland - This is a time of year when cultures around the world remember and honor their dead. Mexico’s El Dia de los Muertos is one of the best known. Join us as we Unitarian Universalists remember those who are no longer with us, those whose shoulders we stand upon.

President’s Message
USH Board of Directors Covenant

Happy fall and welcome back!! Although this summer was as busy as ever at the Meeting House, it still feels like a homecoming as we celebrate the days of autumn.

This month I would like to share with you excerpts from the covenant that the USH Board of Directors crafted and committed to with each other. We gathered together to start this process one warm July evening. It was drawing to the end of our meeting as we began working on this covenant. The flipchart quickly filled as people shared their thoughts on how we ought to commit to working together. It was an awesome experience. Each idea put forth reflected another UU principle. The full document is available on the website, but I have chosen a few particular segments to share with you.
“In our personal interactions with one another we agree to:

take time to know each other as individual people
respect one another
interject humor whenever and as often as appropriate
have fun
remember that we are a spiritual community and behave within that context

In the ways in which we interact with the congregation, we agree to:

encourage as much appropriate member participation as possible, both in terms of soliciting and hearing their ideas and in terms of delegating both responsibility and authority
see and treat all members of our congregation as being of equal worth
present a unified voice in regard to the matters of this body
remember that together we are a board
be aware that how we speak and behave always reflects on this body

We agree to value disagreement and differences in style as healthy assets to our work and will celebrate rather than hide our differences.”

These are some of our guiding principles. I am honored to be a part of such a courageous and moral group.

Know that your opinions, your involvement and most of all your presence are vital to our success over the coming months and years. Have a wonderful fall and enjoy the plethora of activities at the Meeting House. Bring a friend to a service to introduce our dynamic and wonderful community. I look forward to seeing you all.

Rebecca Judd

Pledge Drive Extended to October 31: $30,000 Needed

The Stewardship Committee is working on the member challenge put forth by the Board of Directors to raise an additional $30,000 in pledge dollars. These additional pledge dollars will be matched, dollar for dollar, from the Trust.

All members and friends will be asked to consider a minimum pledge increase of $260 (just $5 per week). Since we know this will not be possible for some, we are counting on others to do more, in order to make our goal.

Sunday October 3 is the kick-off for this challenge, which should be completed by October 31. Special forms will be put in our “Member Challenge” box. Those who have not returned their forms by October 10 will receive a phone call.

As you think about your pledge, please reflect on all that the Meeting House means to you. Let us express in our giving the depth of our love for and commitment to this special place.

Susan Kinney
Stewardship Committee

A Testimonial

I’m Bill Bryan, and I’m a member of the Small Group Ministry steering committee. I moved to Avon from the New York metropolitan area a year ago last May to a house 20 minutes from my daughter Rebecca Judd, our president, and her family,

In New York, I was a member of a small 50-person, secular Unitarian fellowship with no paid staff. I knew everybody. When I first visited this Meeting House, I thought it was huge and, after my first coffee hour, I didn’t think I would ever get to really know anybody here. I almost left to find a smaller Unitarian group. But I stuck it out until somebody, at another coffee hour, said that the Small Group Ministry program was the core of the church for him. That got my attention, so I decided to give it a try and join the church.

Last spring I was a member of my first small group and it was even better than I had expected and hoped. Not only did I get to know people but I also found it thought-provoking, and it provided me with an opportunity to share ideas with other persons about things we were all interested in.

If you have had similar thoughts or if a Small Group Ministry sounds interesting or intriguing to you, stop by the Adult Programs table after services or register through the church office.

Bill Bryan

Walk for Wes on Oct. 9

The A.L.S. Association of Connecticut’s (Lou Gehrigs Disease) annual fund raising walk will take place on Saturday October 9 at the Farmington Avenue reservoir. The walk is three easy miles.

Heather Christensen has formed a team under the name Walking for Wes. You can contact her through the Association web site http://www.alsact.org or you may call her at 257-1316.

Jane Christensen writes, “Our family has experienced first-hand the help of the Association in providing information, special equipment, and support to caretakers. Their larger goal is to educate, create awareness and raise money for research. So take a walk with us and/or make a donation. It is all we can do for one we love so much.”

Social Justice Issues
CUREJ Co-Sponsors October 21 Racism Workshop

Lee Mun Wah, a nationally-known film-maker and lecturer, will lead a racism workshop on Thursday October 21 at the University of Hartford from 8 am to 1 pm.

This event is co-sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) and Congregations United for Racial Equality (CUREJ). CUREJ, now starting its fifth year, includes the three area UU churches (Hartford, West Hartford and Manchester) and the Bethel AME church in Bloomfield.

Lee, of Oakland, CA. has presented conferences on diversity throughout the U.S. In October 2002, he was keynote and conference presenter at the Seventh Annual Connecticut Conference on Multicultural Education in Farmington.

Registration fee for the October event is $40 ($25 for students); this includes breakfast. The workshop will be in the University’s Konover Great Room. Registration forms and flyers are available on the CUREJ bulletin board in the lower lobby of the Meeting House.

As one of its 2004-2005 social justice projects, CUREJ hopes to work with Habitat for Humanity this month. For more information, contact Carol Shoemaker (243-9504; emailcarol.shoemaker@sbcglobal.net).

Among CUREJ’s other objectives for the coming year are expanding its membership to one or more African American faith communities in Hartford.

The group is also hoping to present an educational forum in the spring open to members of CUREJ congregations

Carol Shoemaker,
CUREJ Steering Committee

ICEJ Members Share
Journeys to Justice

Some 20 people gathered at the Meeting House early one Sunday morning last month to hear up-close and personal accounts of how the lives of three of our members have been changed through their work with ICEJ (Interfaith Coalition for Equity and Justice).

Shai Cassell, Carol Shoemaker and Mike Wintefield shared their personal journeys to justice – how they became involved and what it has meant to them to work with a coalition of more than 40 area churches on issues of great importance for the community-at-large.

Shai, currently a paid ICEJ staff person, said she is “inspired” by what the coalition is doing and finds it “empowering” to interact with others. Carol said her “social justice” conscience awoke after she chaired the Search Committee which found Jon Luopa. She wanted to “live UU principles” and working on ICEJ’s education committee has been a tremendous learning experience for her.

Mike explained that ICEJ is working with parallel organizations such as United Action for, among other issues, progressive tax changes which would lead to more state funding for public schools.

The USH members of the Coalition urged attendees to work with them to get a large number of USH members (150, hopefully) to attend the ICEJ second annual meeting on September 30 at the First Cathedral in Bloomfield.

Kayla Costenoble

Rev. Buehrens To Present Liberal BibleInterpretation at USH October 15-16

The meaning of the Bible, the best selling book of all time, is as critically important today as it ever was. Many millions of copies of the Bible continue to be sold each year. Most readers, however, cede its interpretation to others. Enter: Understanding the Bible, an Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals, a book published in 2003 by John A. Buehrens.

In a two-day event entitled “Take Back the Bible” at the Unitarian Society of Hartford on October 15 and 16, Buehrens will speak about the origins of the Bible, the complex development of its various versions, and how different interpretive approaches lead to divergent meanings. Most importantly, Buehrens will make clear the need for understanding this ancient text in contemporary times. He cites, first, political reasons: “If you can’t or won’t understand the Bible, others surely will interpret it for you." Second is the cultural argument: “Within this culture you can’t be fully literate or creative, artistically or rhetorically, without an acquaintance with the Bible.”

A more compelling reason, Buehrens writes, is to counteract the use of the Bible by some to “maintain structures of oppression…You can’t be spiritually mature or wise by simply rejecting the Bible as oppressive. The oppressive uses of the Bible are real, but unless you learn to understand that there are other readings possible, the Bible will, indeed, simply continue to be a source of oppression for you, and not a source of inspiration, liberation, creation, and even exultation as you understand it anew for yourself, at a deeper and less literal level.”

Buehrens never claims to offer the definitive interpretation, or that one even exists. Rather, he aims “to help you claim your own power to understand and to interpret the Bible, both for yourself and for the common good. And it is addressed to seekers of deeper ethical and spiritual wisdom for the everyday living we do together.” This is the approach encouraged by the Unitarian Universalist faith.

Buehrens will lecture and sign books on Friday October 15 at 7:30 pm. A three-hour workshop will follow on Saturday morning starting at 9 am. A donation of $5 and $20 is suggested for these two events respectively. His book will be available in paperback for purchase. ($14) The entire event with book is available at a suggested donation of $35.

Former President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (1993 – 2001), Buehrens is also the author, with Forrest Church, of A Chosen Faith, An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism. He is currently minister at First Parish in Needham, Massachusetts.

For more information, call (860 233-9897), fax (860 233-1333), or email (firstunitarian@ushartford.com) the office.

Musings . . .
Reverend Arline C. Sutherland

Here are some voices from our Ingathering Sunday.

What do you treasure about the Meeting House?

Feeling a sense of community and fellowship combined with music and spirituality.
Being moved by the spirit of the community.
The loving care and attention paid me during my recent illness. It helped pull me through.
The opportunity to be centered and grounded.
Teaching children who in turn taught me.
I love the wonderful music in this church!
Terasa’s and Arline’s wonderful sermons.
The smiles, hugs and laughter of all the youth. I love the old ladies who ask if they can touch a young girl’s blue Mohawk and who say, “Hey, wassup?” to greet the youth at the door. I treasure a sense of community that is so rare.
Worship services where I can appreciate the depth of spirit.
ICEJ Rally and USH’s visible energetic presence.
I found the great love of my life here!
Small Group Ministry.
Getting what I wanted at the church silent auction.
The people, always!
Learning about different people in Sunday School.

What are your hopes for this coming year?

Exciting new energy, outreach and growth.
Ever expanding - more and more uplifting spirituality.
A stronger sense of intergeneration between young, old and everyone in between. I hope for friends of all ages. I wish for love to continue to fill our Meeting House, giving us all strength to fight for what we believe in.
To achieve a deeper commitment to Unitarian Universalist issues.
This church is nice. I hope I meet nice people here.
Reconnection with those who have helped me to deepen my spiritual underpinnings and grow my connections to this “family.”
More emphasis on social justice.
Financial security to help us reach our dreams.
That the new leadership continues to work with the great spirit of its beginnings.
Fun. Inspiration. Openness. Acceptance.

As we enter this new church year together, may we remember our aspirations, our dreams, and what we cherish about our ever-growing, ever-changing community of faith and hope.

Blessings, Arline

Continued =>>>

Let us know of any comments, errors and corrections - thanks (revised 2/21/05)