Messenger Newsleter Content October 2005

02 October 2005 - A Celebration of Love - Worship Leader: the Rev. Arline Conan Sutherland - Civil Unions in the state of Connecticut become legal on Saturday 1 October! Join us as we celebrate this historic step towards equality for all people. We will rejoice in this acknowledgement of love, acknowledge the contributions of straight allies, and dedicate ourselves to work for marriage equality.

09 October 2005 - Brothers and Sisters, Let Us Repent Together - Worship Leader: the Rev. Arline Conan Sutherland - This Sunday finds us in the midst of the Days of Awe, the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur the traditional time of repentance and teshuvah – returning to the path of God. We also are at the beginning of Ramadan, the month long season of repentance in the Islamic faith that also calls the faithful to return to God’s ways. We will explore the resonances between the two traditions and seek the meanings for our lives.

16 October 2005 - Humanist Heritage - Worship Leader: the Rev. Arline Conan Sutherland - In these days when evolution is once again under attack as, “only a theory,” it behooves us to remember our humanist roots. It has been said that ours is a religion in which science is as foundational as theology, others submit that science is Unitarian Universalist theology. Join us as we reflect on where and how we find truth.

23 October 2005 - United Nations Sunday - We welcome Irving Stolberg, the former speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives and President of the Connecticut Division of the United Nations Association, to our pulpit.

30 October 2005 - All Soul’s Day Celebration - Worship Leader: the Rev. Arline Conan Sutherland - Many cultures around the world find these days when we are halfway between the equinox and the solstice, to be the time to honor our dead. In Mexico it is el Dia de los Muertos, in New England villages, it is the time for tidying the graveyard. Join us as we remember and give thanks for the lives of those who came before us in our own Unitarian Universalist rituals.

President’s Message: Religion and Spirituality

As Unitarian Universalists, we understand the value of community. A large part of our faith is “work in action.” We engage in social justice activities and work for systemic change in our local communities and in society at large. These things are important, but do they represent the whole spectrum of our faith? I believe that our individual spiritual search is equally important to the common work that we do and is a large part of why people are drawn to any religious institution, including our own.

A few months ago, I asked a friend what she had done that morning. “I went to church,” she replied. I remember pausing and paying more attention. “Church… why?” I asked her, “Was there a special service?” Her answer astounded me. “No, there was no service. I often go there to sit and contemplate when things get really stressful. It helps.”

Our conversation took me back about 15 years to when I had just begun a new job - running a program that worked with abused children and their parents. I was both excited and overwhelmed. Our clients’ needs were huge and the resources we had were limited. One day, I happened to go into Immaculate Conception Church in downtown Waterbury. I still vividly remember the dark and cool interior of the church, the smell of incense and the flickering candles. Although I was not Catholic, I found solace and comfort in being there. Thus began a lunchtime ritual that went on for almost five years. Each day I would walk to the church, go inside and sit. Often I prayed. Some days I even kneeled. I didn’t tell anyone about this ritual, but over the years it sustained me.

A recent poll sponsored by Newsweek and Beliefnet.com found that 79% of Americans describe themselves as "spiritual" and 64% define themselves as "religious.” Two thirds of the respondents said that they pray every day, and nearly a third meditate. Eight in ten Americans – including 68% of evangelicals – believe that more than one faith can be a path to salvation. The authors of the survey conclude that Americans define their spiritual beliefs in personal and collective terms.

What does this mean for us? How are we responding to the individual spiritual needs of those in our midst? Over the years, I have observed that this is not something that we are always very comfortable doing. We are much more comfortable focusing on the “business” of the congregation. I ask us to remember that the spiritual life of our members is the business of the congregation. How we can better address these needs is a primary focus of the Board this year. Conversations include going to two services, the role of our Senior Minister, developing greater lay involvement in worship, and offering more opportunities for discussing what worship means in our congregation. But we can’t do this alone, and we can’t do it without each and every one of you expressing your voice and sharing your spiritual journey and needs with us.

Alan Wolfe, Director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College, describes faith as “Rather than being about a god who commands you, it's about finding a religion that empowers you." May we strive to make USH just such a place and to be that for each other and for all who join us.

Rebecca Judd

Music in October –A Variety of Styles

October 2. The service focuses on Civil Unions, and the music will celebrate pure love. Hal Hopson’s “The Gift of Love” melds the old folk melody “Waly Waly” (also known as “The Water is Wide”) with a paraphrase of First Corinthians 13: “Though I may speak with the bravest fire…and have not love, my words are in vain.”

October 9. “Oseh Shalom, Creator of Peace” is a beautiful setting by Charles Heller of part of a text (Job 25:2) that is used at the conclusion of every Jewish service and grace after meals. Like many Jewish prayers, this one calls for world peace, a poignant hope at this time of turmoil. The solo, from Mendelssohn’s “Elijah,” is a reminder that the prophet Elijah is a central figure common to Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

October 16. To be announced.

October 23. For United Nations Sunday, the choir sings from the deservedly popular collection of South African Freedom Songs. The music has a compelling rhythm; the words apply to many of the world’s nations.

October 30. The “Requiem” by Gabriel Faure is probably the most loved in the genre. Our soloists and choir offer a pair of movements from this lovely French masterpiece in keeping with All Saints’ Day.

Mattie Banzhaf

82 and Counting

The USH Comfort Shawl Ministry has, since it began almost three years ago, knit and distributed 82 pleasingly purple warm fringed shawls to comfort those who, for a variety of reasons, could use some comfort. The fantastic responses from shawl recipients show the message of the shawls is working.

Members meet to knit, exchange tips and enjoy the comfort of being together at 9 am on the second Sunday of each month (October 9 this month).

Beyond the Meeting House. At last month’s meeting, Head Knitter/Shawl Ministry Founder Vicki Carey suggested the knitters expand their message of comfort by knitting blankets for the children at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Remaining yarn from shawls will be used for the blankets, and knitters will take turns working on the blankets at home

If you’d like to be part of the group but feel a complete shawl is too much, knitting a few inches on a blanket might be just right. Please join us on October 9.

And on to New Haven. Going even further away from the Meeting House, knitters are invited to an Interfaith Shawl Ministry on Saturday October 15 from 10 am to 1 pm at the Unitarian Society of New Haven (700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden, CT). Our sister church is launching a Shawl Ministry and its invitation reads, “The workshop is open to all with an interest in contemplative needlework in service to others.” For more information, please contact Allison Jacobs by email at sunrose2012 which is an aol address.

Here’s a Bright Idea

Have you ever wondered where used Meeting House fluorescent light bulbs go? Well, for three of the last four years, we’ve brought our fluorescent bulbs to Northeast Lamp & Recycling (NLR) in East Windsor. Each time, NLR has taken 35 to 45 bulbs at no charge to us.

Their business was featured in the “Money & Business” section of the June 26, 2005 Hartford Courant. Over the past nine years, NLR has done away with nearly 25 million bulbs and kept about 1700 pounds of mercury out of the environment. The mercury is then run through a retort process separating the pure mercury to be reused.

Here at the USH, we have been active recyclers for many years. We’ve recycled paper, plastics and metal and have brought rinsed, refundable cans and bottles to Liberty Christian Church for the benefit of the Horace Bushnell Food Pantry.

If you would like to learn more about NLR and the work they do, there is a packet of material at the sexton desk in the USH office or use their website,

www.NLRlamp which is a dot com address.

Peter Magistri

The Need Goes On

Now that “regular’ Sunday services are underway, it is vital that we continue to contribute weekly food items for the Horace Bushnell Children’s Food Pantry. The USH has been a major contributor of food and funds for many years. “The number of Connecticut families living in poverty swelled by 11% in the past two years,” according to a recent column in The Hartford Courant.

Please keep those cans coming!

ICEJ Events Listed

The Greater Hartford Interfaith Coalition for Equity and Justice (ICEJ) invites USH members to the following.

Sunday October 16. USH members involved with ICEJ will offer an informational presentation on the equity and justice issues the group will be advocating this year. The meeting will begin at noon, following the service.

ICEJ issues of education, taxation, health care and immigration will be discussed in depth. Attendees will have a chance to ask questions, provide feedback and learn more about the range of social justice issues ICEJ is involved in. The group represents more than 35 congregations in greater Hartford whose goal is to work for systemic change for those who have been oppressed by unfair and unjust social policies.

Thursday November 10. A forum for action, “Challenging the Structures of Racism” in public education, health care and immigration will be sponsored by ICEJ at The Learning Corridor, 359 Washington Street, Hartford.

Josh Powell, author, activist and policy analyst will be the featured speaker.

Registration starts at 6 pm followed by worship at 6:30 pm. The forum itself begins at 7 pm.

Art at the Meeting House

The art of Harriet Winograd will be shown at the Meeting House from Thursday October 13 through Tuesday November 15. Both an artist and an art therapist, Ms. Winograd’s paintings explore the psyche with wit and cogent observations.

Her “Hub Cap Series…Reinventing the Wheel” is a delightful depiction of twelve famous women in history.

Sara Sturges

All About the Faces Behind the Voices

We stare at them almost every Sunday. We listen to them with awe and wonder. We marvel at their versatility. But who are they? They are, of course, the choir of the Unitarian Society of Hartford, and they have been singing for us for 41 years!

One member of this amazing group has been singing with the choir since it began in 1964. Tom Kemble (and Betty Hackett, who continued singing until her death a few years ago) admits he is the “sole surviving active member” of the original choir. Before 1964, music was provided by groups—octets, quartets, etc.

The current choir numbers 21 singers, with a few more taking a temporary leave of absence. Other choir members with longevity include alto Louise Schmoll, 32 years; soprano-tenor pair Edith and Ed Savage, 23 years; alto Ellie Revill, just retired after 18 years; and alto Jane Willits, about 25 years, who has just returned after a brief hiatus. Jane did yeoman duty a few years ago when she catalogued the entire choral library on database. Now we can find every anthem.

More recent members are sopranos Teresa Pelham, Nancy Mandly, Chris Closier and Mary-Anne Mulholland. Carol Sexton is on leave while she helps search for a new minister (Mary-Anne is trying to do both!) Dave Klotz returned to the tenor section after a long leave; his two daughters used to sing in our youth choir.

Altos include Kim McClain, Joyce Bauer and Susan Adams, and stalwart basses are Ken Bartschi and Jim Hagen. Paul Hansen is on leave right now. Our newest members, Laurie Skelly, Barbara Hellenga and Diana Martinez are adding to the soprano and alto sections.

We are fortunate to have a full complement of soloist/section leaders.

Katie LaPorta is a soprano voice major at UConn; she’ll also direct the children’s choir. Hartt is providing a new tenor, John Jesensky, as well as our dynamic bass Tony Nasto. And we’re so happy to welcome back Patrice Fitzgerald as our newest alto section leader. There are still one or two vacancies in the men’s sections.

In addition to occasional solos, the section leaders are crucial in leading their voice parts, being reliably present (and healthy) when the volunteers can’t be there and forming the foundational sound of the choir.

If you look around the congregation on any Sunday, you will see many who have been former choir members—Bill and Louise Willett, Sid Garvais, Diane Cadrain, Julie LeGrant, Jeff Blanchette, Deb Meny, Rosie Rindfleisch, Diana Heyman, Dagmar Gunther-Stirn and others. We also have some anthem composers in our midst, including James Sellars and organist Tom Schmutlzer; that’s probably why the hymns sound so good.

Regular practice is from 7:30 to 9 pm Wednesdays, longer when preparing for Music Sundays twice a year. On Sunday mornings the choir is in place for rehearsals at 9:45 (sharp!).

Most choir rehearsing occurs on the Chancel, but it should be pointed out that the choir room, holding our entire choir library as well as posters, musical archives, costumes and a rehearsal piano, is appropriately named Bellows.

Mattie Banzhaf

WELCOME BACK MEALS

Welcome Back Meals were so successful last year in providing a comfortable atmosphere in which to socialize, have great food, conversation and fun, that we are offering them to you again this year.

Here’s how they work. Members of our community agree to host a Welcome Back Meal, an opportunity to get together after the summer hiatus, meet new people, and reconnect with old friends and acquaintances.

The dinners will be held in private homes or accessible dining venues from early October through mid-November and will be repeated again in the very early spring. Everyone who wants to will have the opportunity to attend one or more meals (mostly dinners), spending no more than they would for a meal at a restaurant and giving our community vital financial support in the meantime. This is an especially comfortable way for new-comers to get to know more Meeting House folks. It’s a WIN-WIN.

Each host/hostess (or set of co-hosts) decides their own menu, the theme for the dinner, if any (ethnic, books, travel, outdoors, movies, politics, music-making, fun and board games, sports), the date, time and place, the number of guests, and the price per person. Hosts have charged $10 for pizza and hot dogs to $35 or more for really gourmet meals with or without wine (some hosts keep costs down by extending an invitation for guests to BYOB).

Hosts and hostesses DO NOT have to recruit their own guests. There will be guest sign-up sheets in Fellowship Hall from the end of September and during October, giving dinner guests the opportunity to sign up for the meal that best suits their needs. There will also be a sign-up sheet for folks to volunteer to host. Guests will pay at the time of signing.

Meanwhile, we are asking you a few questions:

Would you be willing to HOST or CO-HOST a Welcome Back Meal? (Tackling this event with a co-host could make it easier to pull off and more fun.)

Do you know of an accessible dining venue to make one or more of these events truly inclusive? Would you be willing to make your home accessible with the addition of a portable ramp and commode? We are looking for homes or a community room or dining room at a condo association with flat or ramped entrance, flat parking and an accessible bathroom. (Seabury worked fantastically well for such an event last season and the food was fabulous.)

If you can answer “yes” to any of the above questions or have any questions about the Welcome Meals, please contact Edith Savage at 860-232-5603 (West Hartford) or esavage which is a snet.net address .

Legislature Passes Law to Help Children & Parents

Passage of Connecticut Public Act 05-258, which took effect October 1, shows some progress in changing laws and practices on children’ s issues. Changes were made based on recommendations of the Governor’s Commission on Custody, Divorce and Children,

However, the children’s issues subcommittee of the USH Council on Social Justice (COSJ) feels the part of the law that encourages conciliation of custody disputes needs to be strengthened, according to subcommittee member John Clapp, who heads a Shared Parenting group. To support passage of the new law, USH member Clapp submitted written testimony and met with several legislators.

Clapp is asking for volunteers to “move up to the next level.” He can be reached at 232-2183 or by email at jmclapp which is a comcast net address.

In the new law, the “best interests of the child” are redefined to include (but not limited to) substantial involvement by both parents. Also, the new law takes step to discourage one parent from undermining the child’s relationship with the other parent.

The new law also lists a six-point “parental responsibility plan” required for most custody cases. Some important new considerations follow.

Provisions for resolving future disputes between parents, including involving mental health professionals or other parties to help parents reach an appropriate resolution.
Provisions to deal with parents’ failures to honor their responsibilities.
Provisions to minimize a child’s exposure to harmful parental conflict.
Encouraging parents in appropriate circumstances to meet their responsibilities through agreements.

Work Party Enlists 15 to Spruce up Meeting House

It was a beautiful day on Saturday September 11, and 15 willing workers enjoyed a work party to clean up in and around the Meeting House.

The hard working participants were Shai Cassell, Roy Cook, Harriet, Max and Mirissa Elish, Ron Friedman, Lisa Gabrielle, Eboni Gaddy, Sue Kinney, Peter Magistri, Deborah Nardi, David Newton, Hugh Schweitzer, Carol Sexton and Stu Spence.

Major work involved cleaning up and trimming around the church. All bushes on the front walk from Bloomfield Avenue were trimmed back. Bushes around the building were trimmed and all growth near the concrete buttress for the Meeting House was trimmed in preparation for an upcoming concrete filling and sealing planned for this fall. Entry-way windows were cleaned. Brush from two dead trees which had been taken down was cleaned up.

Work parties are scheduled for both spring and fall to clean and trim the grounds. Special work parties are held for specific tasks, such as those which have been held to paint Fellowship Hall, to redo the downstairs bathrooms and for roof repairs. Additional volunteers are always sought and are welcome.

Stu Spence

Small Group Ministry:A Good Way to Connect

As I write this, space is still available in our small groups for fall. I am hoping that, as you read, you are thinking about joining us for the special opportunity Small Group Ministry offers you to become a connected member of our Meeting House community. The structure is provided for eight to ten people to gather together to be fully present for each other, to listen with the intention of listening and not advising, to grow from acquaintances into friends or from casual friends into caring friends.

Kent Jamison and I will be meeting to fine-tune the questions accompanying each topic, questions already approved by Reverend Arline Sutherland, questions which the facilitators can use to prompt discussion as needed. Rosie Rindfleisch will soon be duplicating the passages to which we will be responding, passages intended to prod us into thinking about subjects which need thinking about. About humility, perhaps, or about home or homesickness or about friendship or grief or pleasure. Passages to which we can connect with “I statements” based on our own experiences.

The Small Group Ministry Steering Committee (Lisa Gabrielle, Bill Shoemaker, Bruce Robbins, Kent, Arline and I) will soon be meeting to think “big picture,” to evaluate, to plan, to move SGM forward. Are changes needed? You, our readers, are encouraged to contact any one of us with your feedback and suggestions for improvement.

As fall turns into winter, we will be needing additional hosts and facilitators for spring. Each cycle of SGM we are blessed with experienced people offering again to fill those roles, but, as SGM volunteers turn to other Meeting House responsibilities, new hosts and facilitators are needed. Would you bewilling to host a group this spring? All that is required is space enough in your home for a small group to gather, adequate parking in the driveway or street, willingness to keep track of who is coming and who is not, and refreshments for the first meeting.

Would you be willing to facilitate? We provide one-on-one training, large group training (once or twice a year), a mentor for support, and SGM for facilitators (meeting once a month with the opportunity to witness the facilitation styles of others). If you would like to serve our UU society in this way, please contact Kent or me.

As I write this, I am hoping all our groups will fill and that, through the entire fall and the beginning of winter, we will be gathering in homes and at the Meeting House to feel the warmth of human companionship and caring.

Beverly Spence

Here’s Your Chance To

see your name in print in the USH monthly Meetinghouse Messenger. If you like to write, or do research; if you’re working on a group or committee at the Meeting House that you feel more people should know about; if there’s an event you feel deserves more attention, here’s your opportunity.

Contact Messenger editor Kayla Costenoble at 243-2425 or email her at messengernews at the address ushartford.com

As all of our regular contributors are aware, the 15th of each month is the deadline for the following month, so the mailing crew can do their thing and members and friends of the Society can receive their monthly copy, hopefully, before the first Sunday of each month.

Eat and Travel with the Women’s Alliance: Visit Machu Picchu and the Galapagos

The Women’s Alliance of the USH invites all members and friends to a re-scheduled showing of travel videos of Machu Picchu and the Galapagos at noon on Sunday October 30 in Fellowship Hall.

The presentation will follow a cold pot luck luncheon. A sign-up sheet for those planning to attend the luncheon is on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall; October 25 is the deadline. Attendees are asked to bring a cold dish to serve eight or $7 if not bringing food.

The nearly professional-quality videos were made by master-class travelers, video creators and USH members Louise and Ralph Schmoll during their trip to these exotic places. Louise will offer some side notes and will answer questions.

The management promises working technology for this event. This is to assure those of you who were present during a promised showing last spring but had to go home without seeing the videos because the equipment was missing a crucial connection.

Looking for a Chance To Become Involved?

Center City Churches needs volunteers for their tutoring and meal programs. If you are interested in helping, please call Paul Hansen at 523-0183.

Sunday Used Book Sales continue at the Meeting House after services. This is a chance to be around good books on a regular basis and help raise money for the Society. It involves a once-a-month commitment. Please call Carol Davidson (233-8012) to find out more.

Changes at the Top

Nina Elgo was appointed Chair of the Council on Spiritual Life during last month’s Board of Directors meeting. She replaces Andrew Millard, who resigned as Chair. Both have worked long and hard for the Society. Thank you, Andrew; welcome, Nina.

I first met Nina many, many years ago when she was wonderfully vocal during Great Decision sessions. She and Chris were active participants during book discussion retreats at Senexet. Nina has served on the USH Council (renamed the Board of Directors), was on the Search Committee that called Terasa to the USH, has been a teacher and a member of the Religious
Education committee, ran the Festival of Seasons, and was a member of the Social Justice Task Force. In her spare time, she serves as a Connecticut Superior Court Judge.

Andrew can be found in many places, in and out of the Meeting House. He chaired the Adult Program and Social Responsibility Committees—at the same time. He has been active in the Small Group Ministry program (I attended two SGMs which he facilitated; during a summer one, we waited for him to arrive on his bicycle). He works with the USH High School Youth group, sells Fair Trade coffee, has been a participant in General Assemblies and, this past summer, was responsible for workshops during a week-long Star Island conference.

Kayla Costenoble

Arline’s Sermons on Religion and Values as Seen on TV

A lot of familiar shows made Reverend Arline Sutherland’s (good and bad) list during her August three-sermon series on “Religion and Values as Seen on TV.”

TV and Morality. TV helps us feel as if we belong and “our morals are deeply informed by what we see.” This includes ideas on class, gender, sexual orientation, race and religion. The older generation of UUs grew up with family values as seen on Leave it to Beaver and The Brady Bunch. Shows such as the Matrix Series, Lord of the Rings, The Simpsons, and Harry Potter raise “spiritual, ethical and intellectual issues that many younger adults find worthy of deep discussion…intergenerational dialogue could bind us together in new and creative ways.”

Some shows (such as Extreme Makeover) should force us to ask deeper questions. Families chosen for makeovers really need it (poor, sick, etc.) but, Arline suggested, these shows should be forcing us to ask: Why do we need this? Why aren’t there other ways of helping? Should we have to rely on TV to make these changes?

TV and Religious Values. In her second sermon, Arline noted, “Talk shows are one of the prime venues in which average Americans confess their sins.” Confessions are made to priests, analysts, therapists and talk show hosts. Dr. Phil, Jerry Springer, Dr. Laura et al are past masters of the art. Celebrities confess to Barbara Walters, Jane Pauley, Diane Sawyer or Katie Couric.

In this summer’s popular The Closer, the heroine appears in advertisements saying, “Confession is good for the soul.”

In Law and Order, there is a kind of moral reasoning that evokes a religious analysis of ethical issues, according to Arline. In the interrogation room (the confessional) comes the moment for communion between the police and the suspect in which the truth can be revealed and absolution given and received.

A Good Person is Hard to Find. Some TV shows trying to show a religious person, such as Highway to Heaven and Touched by an Angel are “silly and sentimental” and not instructive. Arline used two shows—Joan of Arcadia and The West Wing as examples of persons living a kind of religious life. In Joan (now cancelled), the main issue was free will. Joan begins to speak to, hear from and follow the advice of God, who is always an ordinary human. Arline said she has tried to pretend everyone she meets is God, but has never been able to keep it up for more than an hour.

West Wing is a mix of religion and politics. The president has to wrestle hard with what is the right thing to do. Arline characterized him as a complex man who makes mistakes, admits it and comes to term with it. The president talks to God about all the bad stuff he has done

Both of these shows show grownup characters dealing with grownup problems. A religion for grownups, Arline suggested, highlights the relationship among all living things and accepts the responsibility of working together to address the world’s needs. “To be a grown up and be religious takes courage,” Arline concluded.

Kayla Costenoble

Minister Search Committee Progress Report

We’ve begun collecting your thoughts via individual and focus group interviews and the minister search survey. Now we want to cross-pollinate your ideas at Living Room Meetings to share your insights and broaden our perspectives. Please sign up and attend one of these lively discussions. There will be sign-up sheets available on Sundays, or you may call Dick Edwards (568-4084) or Mike Roy (243-0149) to sign up.

Once we compile, analyze and summarize what each and every one of you has told us, a picture will emerge of who we are as a congregation and what you think are the most important qualities in a new minister. We will use this information to complete the UUA forms that describe our congregation and profile our ideal ministerial candidate.

Your information will also be used in greater detail in the Congregational Packets which will be exchanged with applicants over the holidays. We’re looking for photos of the Meeting House building, activities and people to add to the packets. If you’d like to donate any for consideration, please leave them in the search mail slot in the USH office or email them to ghberg@comcast.net.

In other search efforts, the Negotiating Team will be drafting the proposed ministry agreement for board approval, and we will begin scheduling “neutral pulpits” for the Search Committee to meet with pre-candidates and hear them preach. There is much to do. We commit to doing our best for you.

Carol Sexton

Congregation Proves It Can Give ‘Til It Helps

Members of the Unitarian Society of Hartford have responded generously to recent requests for Sunday contributions for causes above and beyond the Meeting House. Examples follow.

The August 14 collection to assist retiring Sunday sexton Gordon Rizza begin life in New York (hopefully, in theater work) netted $664.50

On August 27, an appeal from the pulpit for contributions to aid Unitarian flood victims in Transylvania resulted in $469.26.

September 11 was many things. It was Ingathering Sunday. It was for remembering September 11, 2001. It was also a time to collect money to aid Katrina and Transylvania flood victims.

A total of $4,738.75 was received. Of this, two-thirds will go to Katrina relief (half to the UUA Service Committee and half to the Red Cross) and the remaining one third will be sent to Transylvania.

And on the Lighter Side…

Don’t worry about avoiding temptation…as you grow older it will avoid you.

Winston Churchill

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.

Mark Twain

Katrina and the USH: A Congregation That Cares

I was the (lucky) recipient of a call from Karen Sullivan, University of Hartford Student Affairs, on September 8. Could the USH find housing for Kyle Dudley, a sparkling 20 year-old pre-med student from Loyola University in New Orleans, who had just enrolled at UH?

Kyle’s family (and their underpinnings) was blown apart over the course of the preceding month. Kyle’s mom died after a long illness right before Katrina struck. In the subsequent days, Kyle’s dad (a Delta employee) and his 15-year-old brother were redeployed to Little Rock. Kyle and his girl friend Erica drove to Hartford, where Erica had some extended family connections.

As Karen spoke, I intuitively responded, “We can help this one.” During the preceding week, many of us had pondered over the best way to help Katrina survivors. Certainly, we would give money, but so much more was needed. Arline had already planted the idea of adopting a family.

As many of you know, everything happened very quickly after that call. Within 90 minutes, our web-master David Newton sent out a special Enews request for housing, transportation and part-time job assistance.

By the end of the day, there were seven housing offers. Diane Cadrain and Joe Rubin have graciously welcomed Kyle into their home. I was pleased to make my 1995 back-up “clunker” available. John Clapp, Al Herzog, Charles Huntington and Bill Shoemaker are exploring suitable part-time job opportunities.

Michael Winterfield Chair, Council on Social Justice

Our Condolences Go To

Barbara Thornburg on the death of her husband John Levinson. Reverend Arline Sutherland conducted his Memorial Service on Friday September 9. John and Barbara were married at the Meeting House in 1981 by Reverend Nat Lauriat.

We also extend our sympathies to the family of Richard Bell. Reverend Sutherland conducted his Memorial Service on Saturday September 17.

Ingathering Crowd A Large One on Sept. 11

It seemed like old home week on Sunday September 11 as a large number of members and friends celebrated “Ingathering Sunday” by greeting one another, singing together, mingling water (real, or as Arline permitted, “virtual”) from travels or other significant events and enjoying a picnic lunch on the grounds following the service.

We learned a lot of things. Such as that the opening hymn, “Rank by Rank Again We Stand,” is one of Arline’s favorites. Such as Arline’s explanation, as she poured water from last year’s water ceremony into the lovely blue container to begin this year’s mingling, that, when the ceremony is over, she thoroughly boils all the water and saves it to use for such occasions as child naming.

The choir, back with us after a summer vacation, sang backup on “Sound Over All Waters.” Tom Schmutzler’s blues piano accompanied guest singer Catherine Sullivan.

The offering on Ingathering Sunday was to be used to benefit hurricane and flood relief funds.
K. C.

Musings . . . Reverend Arline C. Sutherland

Our theme this year is Welcoming as a Spiritual Discipline. Each word of the phrase and the phrase as a whole contain depths worthy of exploration. There will be sermons, conversations and Adult Ed programs on multiple aspects of what it means to be welcoming, what it means to be spiritual, and oh, by the way, what is this discipline aspect?

On a hot, humid and hazy Sunday morning this August, more than 40 people gathered in the library to talk about what we mean when we speak of the spirit or spirituality. On a hopefully more comfortable evening in September, we will continue the conversation. What does it say that so many of us care so deeply about the life of the spirit that we suffer great discomfort to talk about it? Not, by the way, that we all agree about what it means. But then that’s the point isn’t it? Or at least one of them. That we feel able to talk about what is most important to us without fear. It is a rare and wondrous thing to speak out of our depths trusting that we will be heard, received, welcomed.

I am calling one of the programs I am leading this fall Welcoming As A SpiritualDiscipline. The sessions are a series of conversations and exercises designed to improve our abilities to be present to others, to discover and expand our own authentic selves, to be inclusive by listening to a conflicting point of view, and to take responsibility to live out the meaning and purpose of our lives.

As the year continues, we will celebrate the joy of living in a state where civil unions of same sex couples are legal at the same time that we dedicate ourselves to continuing the struggle till marriage is available to all committed couples. We will be thinking and talking together about what kind of a spiritual leader we seek for this community of memory and hope. We will work to establish a covenant among us about how we relate to those who have disabilities. We will decide when we will shift to having two services so that we can include more and more people at our services.

One pragmatic step of welcoming could be implemented this Sunday morning. As you all know, we have limited parking spaces. Our standard parking practice is that the first ones here take the closest most convenient spots. People who arrive later often don’t realize that there are still parking spots available in the lower lot. What if those of us who are able started filling the lot from the bottom of the lot near the community gardens? That’s where I’ll be parking on Sundays. And think of the health benefits from the longer walk.

Francis Moore Lappe writes, “Each of us carries within us a worldview, a set of assumptions about how the world works – what some call a paradigm – that forms the very questions we allow ourselves to ask and determines our view of future possibilities.” My hope for this coming year is that we will find new ways to shift our assumptions, grow our souls and open our hearts.

Blessings, Arline

Current Calendar of Events =>>

Let us know of any comments, errors and corrections - thanks (revised 9/24/05)