USH-Enews for February 14, 2008 Print Only Edition

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Sunday 17 February - The Antithesis of Love - Rev BJ explores the question, If love is the sacred hieroglyph on the scroll, what’s the white space from which it shines so brilliantly?

Member Diana Heymann, who serves on both the Caring Network and the Lay Listeners group, will share her personal experiences in giving and receiving love. We will be celebrating our love for each other. As a way of demonstrating this love and “warmth,” it would be wonderful and spectacular if everyone who has received a Comfort Shawl would please wear it to the service of your choice. Thank you!

Music - The Choir honors African American History Month with a wonderful anthem composed by Paul Halley in honor of Coretta Scott King. “Sound Over All Waters” sets John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem, not to a standard tune as in Hymn 122, but to a slow gospel-style melody with rhythm that “rolls down like waters.” Our own Patrice Fitzgerald and Tony Nasto will sing the solos, backed up by the Choir.

REflections on Children's Programming

Press Release from Grades 4 and 5! - The fourth and fifth grade class is having a bake sale on February 24th after the 11 am service. All proceeds go to the Humane Society. Help protect the animals! More

Free NVC Training in Hartford - "Understand and Connect with your Youth" is an NVC training specifically designed for parents and other adults who mentor teens. The CT Coalition for Children, Youth and Families is offering this workshop free of charge on February 28th and 29th. Please refer to the CT Clearinghouse website for more details.

Word from Rev. BJ: - Watch out! A charrette is coming to USH on March 9, and wants YOU!

What's a charrette? A charrette is a collaborative design process that allows a group to create a vision for the future. Charrettes are used in multiple arenas – businesses, non-profit organizations, communities, and more. For example, Simsbury recently announced a community charrette where citizens will engage in a process to determine a plan for land use.

Our charrette will occur on March 9 from 12:15 - 3:00. We need your participation. Help us envision the church of our future and beyond. How can USH nourish your spirit? How can we engage with the larger community? Help us consider designs for worship, programs, and other activities of the church. What might this look like over the course of the “perfect” month?

The charrette will bring all the voices of the congregation together. Everyone is invited. Childcare for preschool and elementary aged children will be provided. Middle School and High School youth are invited to join the process. A light lunch will be served and a delightful good time is promised for all.

Come and dream! What will we be celebrating at our 200th anniversary party in the year 2030? Congregational leaders will be poised with pencil in hand to hear all the ideas and summarize them for me and our congregational planning.

I am aware that I keep asking for your help all the time, since we need a broad circle of hands in order to nurture and share our chosen faith, and I ESPECIALLY need your help on March 9. I need to hear your voice as I attempt to articulate our USH vision, and begin to point us in the direction of YOUR dreams. If I do not hear your voice, I cannot know your dreams.

Your participation will be an important part of your membership covenant to help to hold our congregation with your time, talent, money, and prayers.

All you have to do is register before March 2nd by putting the following information on a sheet of paper and dropping it in the basket in the foyer, or by using the tear off form in the Sunday weekly.

____ Yes, I want to dream and share my voice. Count me in for the Charrette on March 9th from 12:15-3:00. Please provide your name, phone number, email address and number of years at USH. If you need child care, please so indicate and give the names of the children.

March 19 A Visible and Movable Witness On the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War (from BJ) -The peaceable kingdom is a painting and it is an eschatological dream. It is our best fantasy, since we cannot keep peace within ourselves and among ourselves, much less in the whole world! What we can do however, is keep chipping away at the obstacles to the peaceable kingdom as we encounter them inside ourselves.

We can support institutions like USH which help us to grow in spirit so that we are inspired to grow in service. We can also respond to those community needs and invitations which spark the individual passion and focus in ourselves.

Several UU colleagues and I will gather in downtown Hartford during the noon hour on March 19 for a ‘movable and visible witness’—UUs will be joining an entire interfaith community for a gathering to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War. I was asked how many people from USH they could count on to join us. I replied that I would be there, that I would ask the staff to join me, and that I would let my congregation know about this event, should this be something which you feel called to.

I am joining this interfaith ground swell of respectful ritual, because I want to support a vision of the peaceable kingdom with a diverse group in a city I am coming to love. I will wear a clergy collar and represent you proudly downtown on March 19. When I have more specific information I will forward it to you. See also

The Point of Prayer - In her heart-felt, moving and personal sermon this past Sunday, Rev. BJ invited us to “understand and experience the mystery” of prayer. She admitted that some persons are uneasy with using language of reverence and religion. But, for her, prayer is how she moves from loneliness to solitude and from isolation to oneness with God.

Rev. BJ took us on a “tour” of the Sunday service, pointing out its multitude of prayers—including the initial musical dedication, the Great Covenant we speak (which outlines specifics), the hymns we sing and our candles of memory and hope. Rev. BJ passed on a observation from Laurie Kelliher concerning the weekly candle lighting: that we consider our circling of the Sanctuary during this process a walking prayer/meditation.

The congregation was privileged to hear Rev. BJ’s personal prayer journey. Her early prayers, she explained, were chatty inner dialogues with Jesus. She did not share this “easy intimacy” with her family but only with her beloved dog. In these exchanges, she was asking for help in figuring things out.

In college, she shifted from Jesus to the Holy Spirit, a more female part of the Trinity. This was harder, Rev. BJ said, and called for discipline and inclusivity. During this period, she went to all the churches she could within 100 miles of her home in Alabama - Jewish, Catholic, Episcopal. And she did lots of reading in the prayer books of these churches.

These experiences led her to a “more mature manifestation of love.” During a visit to the library at Emerson University’s Divinity School, Rev. BJ was overwhelmed as she wandered through their extensive collection of Bibles. She prayed to God there, she said, to “get me behind a pulpit,” feeling there was nothing she could do or say to get there.

Today, Rev. BJ explained, her main and only prayer is a simple “Hold me.” She is awed by the “outrageous abundance of grace in our lives” and invited us to “give voice to our love through some ritualistic act of prayer.” And who will ever forget her musical “Here I am, Lord, I will go, Lord, where you lead me, I will hold your people in my heart - Kayla Costenoble

COMING SOON: A Chance to Make a Difference! - On Sunday, March 16th, the Council on Social Justice and USH Greater Hartford Interfaith Coalition for Equity and Justice (GHICEJ) members will present a very exciting opportunity for our congregation that involves working with and supporting the Noah Webster Micro-Society Magnet School (NW), located in the west-end of Hartford.

Over the last six months representatives from USH and five other area congregations have been meeting and exploring the notion of forming a team to "surround" NW school with support through a variety of programs and activities. We are now at a point where we want to share that information with you.

Please come and hear about this exciting new adventure at an informational session on Sunday, March 16th, right after the 11AM service in the Chapel. Dee Cole, the Principal from Noah Webster School will attend the 11AM service, along with a few other NW professionals. They will also come to the informational session and talk about NW and share some of the exciting ways that, as a congregation, we can make a difference.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please call Bill LaPorte-Bryan , Carol Shoemaker or Shai Cassell. Thanks so much and hope to see you there. For more details, read on below - Shai Cassell

Second Grade tutoring program at Noah Webster School now accepting volunteers! - A Greater Hartford Interfaith Coalition for Equity and Justice (GHICEJ) Coordinated Program: Currently, at the Noah Webster Micro-Society Magnet School (NW) in the west-end of Hartford, first graders in need of extra reading instruction are being tutored by volunteers from many area congregations and some from USH .

The program runs five days a week from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM and each volunteer meets one-on-one for about 25 minutes with each student, so the tutor sees three children within that time period. The program has been quite successful and most students have seen solid improvement.

The program is being expanded and there is now a need for more volunteers to work with children in the second grade. The times cited above will also apply to the second grade children but you need only commit to one morning (or more, if you can) a week.

Children are chosen to be tutored by the classroom teachers. The reading materials are available, well-organized and each child has a folder so the tutor can record progress, observations, etc. For the most part, the tutor will listen to the child read, do some work on fluency and comprehension and give the child some attention. The packet of materials for each book the child reads is self-explanatory and there is a brief orientation session before tutors work with the children.

Most tutors come one morning a week, though everyone is welcome to come more often.

Since the Noah Webster Community-School project is the priority of GHICEJ, we hope that each congregation will get out the message about the tutoring program. If you or anyone in your congregation wants more information about the program, you can contact Bette Marafino, Co-Chair of the GHICEJ Education Task Force. She can be reached by email or by phone (860-233-1989).

On March 16th, after the 11 AM service there will be an informational session to present to all members and friends much more information about the Noah Webster School Project. More - Shai Cassell

Fourth and Fifth Grade Student Support Humane Society's Important Work with Bake Sale February 24th. - A Personal Testimony for the Connecticut Humane Society had never interacted with the Humane Society until two weeks ago. My partner Steve and I were looking for a dog as it had been just a year since we had to put down our fifteen year old Dachshund Toby.

Photo

We visited their location in Newington and that is where we met and fell in love with a beautiful five year old pit bull/boxer mix named India. India had been brought to the Humane Society from the New Britain Animal Control Department in September of 2007. She had been found wandering the streets. Since then, India had spent time at all three of the Connecticut Humane Society's locations (Newington, Westport & Waterford) and was just returning to Newington from Westport the day we met her.

The love for this animal by the staff in Newington was so obvious and they were heartbroken that it was taking so long for this sweet girl to find a "forever home." After going through their application and interview process and India being thoroughly cat tested while we were there (as we have an eighteen year old cat named Sam at home), it was decided India was to come home with us. Well she fits into our little family like she has been with us since she was a puppy. And when we let her out into her fenced in back yard and she runs and runs from one end to the other, we can tell she's as happy to be with us as we are to have her.

So I encourage you to stop by Fellowship Hall after the 11AM Worship Service on Sunday, February 24 and buy some of the awesome handmade goodies being offered by our fourth and fifth grade students . Proceeds will be given to the Humane Society. Your participation will encourage this introduction to social justice for our children as they work to support the ethical treatment of animals as well as support a worthwhile organization. - Brian Mullen

I joined the Meeting House in the Spring of 1990. I had been recently widowed and needed the warmth and inspiration of such a community, along with a “kick in the pants” to get going again. Over the years I served on several committees; Membership, Adult Program, Pastoral Lay Team, Caring Network and I also served on the Council and on the Nominating Committee.

The concept of the Lay Listener group sounded like a wonderful way to reach out to others and to connect with those who may want to share their “journey” with me. I have had some experience with this as a Pastoral Care Team member during Jon Luopa’s Sabbatical. Confidentiality has been a long term quality I learned in my profession and it continues to be my nature.

But my greatest inspiration to do this comes from my personal experience with one or two people who listened to me during some very troubling times and also heard me when I shared some joys. I always thought that the minister of our congregation would not be able to visit every one no matter how much he/she wanted to and I enjoy the thought of representing the minister and the Meeting House to those I know and to others I don’t know, yet.

A Matter of Opinion: (space for comment on USH issues from members and friends) - Editor retains the right to make minor changes – letters should be issue oriented

An invitation, Made with Thanksgiving - Three people of different generations and backgrounds, dining together discussing their common thread of USH. Faiths included Jewish, Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox and now UU.

UU has provided us with the ecumenical community we all have sought. The call of service and love brought us here. We have come to love USH as our community of people who acknowledge and support our need to be held as we stumble and celebrate this great mystery of life’s journey. Like those who came before us, we worship because we yearn for God’s perfect love.

We don’t need a creed to help us feel God’s love. We appreciate structure and repetition. The USH and Sunday worship provide the basics. Special seasonal services help too. But we are seeking more to help us embrace our need to develop our capacity for God’s love. For us, this happens through communal ritual in a sacred space, with sacred sounds and sacred silence. We all are one with each other and that is communion.

We shared our desire with BJ and we explored options for a communion service for those desiring this ritual. She suggested we investigate Taize. Kim was aware of the Taize service, but Ser and Paul were not. Through some research, we learned that the Taize community in France was started in the 1940’s by Brother Roger, a young man from Switzerland. He had led a hard life, having had tuberculosis. He bought a home in France and sheltered refugees from Germany during WWII, serving mankind and loving his neighbors.

After leaving Taize and later returning, he found other interested brothers and started an ecumenical community devoted to service to others because of Christ and the gospel. It is made up of brothers from different Protestant denominations from 20 different countries and includes many Catholics, as well.

The Taize vocation, or mission, is to strive for communion and community among all. It concerns all of humanity. Isn’t this what UUism believes? It makes the church a place of communion for us all. The world of community is the key to understanding the spirituality of Taize and seems to share many of the same traditions of UUism.

The ecumenical philosophy and contemplative roots of Taize make it a perfect fit with UUism. The mantra-like music and silence will inspire any tired soul that hungers for hope and healing. Communion, the sharing of bread, symbolizes the shared reality of our reliance on the earth and to one another for survival. Communion also fuels our efforts to be like Jesus, a great man, a model for living and for relating to God. After all, Jesus, teacher of love and service, was both a Unitarian and a Universalist.

BJ has agreed to lead us in an evening Taize communion service in the chapel once a month. The first service will be on Sunday, March 16 at 6 P.M. in the Chapel. We hope many at USH will open themselves to the possibilities of the Taize service, to breathe in spiritual nourishment through silence, ritual, and community in order to breathe out service and love. - Kim DeMichelle, friend of USH, Paul Quin & Seraphim Seskevich, members.

The non-partisan Project votesmart may be something you would like to review

On March 22nd Unitarian Society of Hartford Presents Artist/Activist Peterson Toscano in The Re-Education of George W. Bush: No President Left Behind - Details

A Message from the Stewardship Folks: “When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart.” ~ John Wesley

Public Radio Discussed at February 19th Men’s Luncheon Group Meeting - All men are invited to attend the USH Men’s Luncheon Group meetings. The informal group meets at Carmen Anthony’s restaurant located on Route 44 in Avon. The meetings are on the third Tuesday of the month and they begin at noon. This February 19th the meeting speaker is John Barlow. His topic is Public Radio. The talk will cover John’s experience in public radio and its development in this area. For more info please contact Chris McClurg at 860-563-9776 or wchrismc(at symbol)cox.net

Torture is a Moral Issue - The House of Representatives passed important anti-torture legislation as Section 327 of H.R. 2082, the Intelligence Authorization bill. Sec. 327 requires all parts of the intelligence community (including CIA) to abide by the restrictions in the Army Field Manual while conducting interrogations. The Army Field Manual prohibits torture and many of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" being used by the CIA. Some Senators have threatened to obstruct passage of HR 2083 if it contains Sec. 327.

Please contact Senators Dodd (258-6940) and Lieberman ( 549-8463) to keep Sec. 327. This is one of the most important actions Congress can take to stop U S sponsored torture. - Information and Advocacy Sub-Council

SOAW Program - Feeling down about the state of the world? Need a little hope? Come learn how a faith-based, grass-roots organization is making the world a better place through non-violent advocacy.

The School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) has been holding a vigil and memorial at the main gate to Fort Benning, Georgia annually since 1990. Founded and led by Fr. Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest, the SOAW's event has grown from a handful to some 20,000 participants last year.

Fred Louis and Maggie Greene have been among those participants for the last 10 years. On Sunday February 24 at 1 PM they will report on those trips and the SOAW.

Please come hear what the issues are, the progress that's been made and how you can make a difference. Come enjoy nutritious snacks and stimulating conversation. What could be better? This program is free, open to all, without advance reservations.
It is sponsored by the Adult Programs Committee.

From the Adult Programs Sub-Council: Coming in March are two not to be missed programs presented by our own USH members. The Secular Mind facilitated by Ed Savage begins

Sunday, March 2 and Scientific Basis of Human Moral Behavior presented by Bill Shoemaker on Thursday, March 13. We'll be happy to answer any questions, so plan to stop by the Registration Table in Fellowship Hall on Sunday after the services. The Winter/Spring Programs Catalog is available at the Registration Table and also on the web.

Ember Days will be continue to be celebrated this Friday and Saturday, February 15, 26, 6:00 - 8:00 PM. Led by Rev. Jamestone, this third of four seasonal observances will include spiritual exercises and time for personal introspection in silence. Come to any or all of the sessions. No registration needed.

Eat by Choice, Not by Habit, beginning February 17, 1:30-2:30 PM. Explore the underlying needs behind your eating habits with a like-minded informal group. Optional book available, Eat by Choice, Not by Habit by Sylvia Haskvitz.

Watercolors for Beginners, Saturday, February 23, 1-4 PM. An introductory class in water color painting with Lauren Azrambo from the West Hartford Art League. Teens welcome!

"School of the Americas" Watch, Sunday, February 24, 1-2:00 PM. USH members Maggie Greene and Fred Louis, ardent participants in this annual November demonstration at Fort Benning, Georgia, will give personal accounts of their participation. No registration or fee.

Pastels for Beginners, Saturday, March 1, 1-4 PM. Claudia Triggs from the West Hartford Art League will offer an introductory class in pastels. Teens welcome!

The Secular Mind, 4 Sundays, March 2, 9, 16, 30, 1-3 PM. Facilitated by Ed Savage, explore the various ways in which religious, humanistic, and scientific thinkers respond to and act upon the problems contemporary society presents. More

Scientific Basis of Human Moral Behavior, Thursday, March 13, 7-9 PM. Bill Shoemaker, Psychiatry faculty member at the University of CT Health Ctr, teaches residents and, medical students in the Neuroscience Graduate Program. You're in for a treat if you have not heard Bill explain a complex subject in a way that you can understand. He will begin the session with an introduction to brain structure and function in order to provide a common background for discussion. Findings from recent recordings of special neurons in the cerebral cortex , functional imaging studies, and clinical evidence indicate that a remarkably consistent network of brain regions is involved in empathy and moral cognition. These findings (neural basis of empathy and human moral behavior) require new approaches to enable us to understand the complex links between individuals and society.

Spring Small Group Ministry Is Filling Up - The spring Small Group Ministry sessions are almost filled up, so we encourage you to sign up now if you’re interested. Three groups are filled, and we have only five openings in the following two groups: Thursday evenings in Hartford facilitated by Carol Davidson and hosted by Bruce Robbins (four openings); and Wednesday evenings in West Hartford facilitated by Bill Shoemaker and hosted by Ruth Holland (only one opening; group starts February 20).

You may consult the Adult Programs Catalogue for more information. Interested persons can identify accessibility concerns (including assisted listening devices or allergies) with Mike Roy (561-4061) so we can address them to the best of our ability. Please sign up by contacting the church office. - Mike Roy

Caring Network - "You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, philosopher and poet (1803-1882)" - You are the ears of the Caring Network. Diana Heymann is the Chair of the Caring Network. Please tell Diana (heydiana(at symbol)comcast.net) 860.461.0908, or call the office when you learn of any of our members enduring the stresses of life so we can reach out to those in need. - Offer your services. A wide range of community services are available to help you. Call InfoLine at 211.

LAMENTATION and PROTEST - Remember the Dead - Count the Cost - End the War

Wednesday, March 19 at Noon HARTFORD Interfaith Prayer Service - Center Church - Corner of Gold Street and Main Street - (diagonally across from the Wadsworth Atheneum)

followed by a silent procession, ending with a Public Witness to the Destruction of War Federal Building 450 Main Street - Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice, a statewide interfaith network of religious leaders and people of faith, will mark this 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by bearing witness to the horrifying costs of war (human, economic, and moral) and to the complicity of silence (by individuals, institutions and corporations).

A brief interfaith prayer service on the steps of Center Church will be followed by a procession to the Federal Building, stopping in front of United Technologies headquarters along the way.

Trans Plantations at the Hartford Stage - March 19th Buy Your Tickets NOW! - More

Humanist Seminar – March Adult Education program - Meeting dates: March 2, 9, 16, 30 at 1:00 PM at the Meetinghouse, room TBA. The 3/30 session of the Humanist Seminar will feature a talk by David Schafer, president of the HUUmanists and a molecular physiologist, on Brain
and Spirit: a Humanist Perspective. We would like to invite any member of
the congregation to attend this session. It starts at 1:00 PM.

Dr. Schafer is professor-emeritus at SCSU and a member of the Unitarian-Universalist Society of New Haven. It would be delightful to have a crowded room to welcome him to our Meetinghouse! More

The Greater Hartford Interfaith Coalition For Equity and Justice - Announces COVENANTING SERVICE March 6, 2008 More

On the Calendar

Thursday, February 14
6:00 pm Bringing in the Green Rehearsal, Library
Friday, February 15
6:00 pm Ember Days, Chapel

Saturday, February 16
1:00 pm Drawing for Beginners, Servetus
6:00 pm Ember Days, Chapel
6:00 pm An Evening of Heart and Soul, Fellowship Hall

Sunday, February 17
8:00 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
9:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, CHAPEL
9:30 am Great Decisions, Library
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am Coming of Age, Fuller
10:00 am Children’s Choir, Chapel
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
1:30 pm Eat by Choice, Not by Habit, Servetus
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel

Monday, February 18
PRESIDENT’S DAY, OFFICE CLOSED
6:00 PM Worship Arts Sub-council, Ballou
6:30 pm Survivors of Incest Anonymous, Fuller

Tuesday, February 19
12:00 pm ICEJ Clergy, Library
6:30 pm Stewardship Sub-council, Library
8:00 pm AA, Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, February 20
2:45 pm Rental, Library
6:00 pm Dharma Gathering, Emerson
6:30 pm Tai Chi, Fellowship Hall
7:30 pm Choir rehearsal, Sanctuary
7:30 pm NVC practice group, Emerson

Thursday, February 21
9:30 am International Women’s Circle, Fellowship Hall
5:30 pm Council on Spiritual Life, Servetus

Friday, February 22
1:00 pm Transitional Group, Library

Saturday, February 23
10:30 am Rental, Chapel
12:00 pm RE Bake Sale Prep, Kitchen
1:00 pm Water Colors for Beginners Workshop, Servetus

Sunday, February 24
8:00 am Music Rehearsal, Chapel
9:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, CHAPEL
9:30 am Great Decisions, Library
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am Coming of Age, Fuller
10:00 am Council on Social Justice, Library
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
12:00 pm RE Bake Sale, Fellowship Hall
1:00 pm School of the Americas Watch, Chapel
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel, then Fellowship Hall

Italicized entries are non-USH events.
Please notify Brian Mullen of all additions or changes to the calendar. Follow this Link to all our scheduled events!

Did You Know? -Taking a bath, half full of water, uses around 20 gallons of water. However, an average length shower only uses about 13 gallons.

Nuts and Bolts: The member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association covenant to affirm and promote: the inherent worth and dignity of every person; justice, equity, and compassion in human relations; acceptance of one another and encouragement of spiritual growth in our congregations; a free and responsible search for truth and meaning; the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process, within our congregations and in society at large; the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; respect for the interdependent web of all existence, of which we are a part.

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