USH-Enews for March 13, 2008 Print Only Edition

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The USH-Enews is a weekly email newsletter produced for members and friends of the Unitarian Society of Hartford. The USH web address is: http://www.ushartford.com/ Check at the end of this USH-Enews for information on submissions, subscriptions and escape from the mailing list. And, to read the monthly Meetinghouse Messenger (newsletter) on the web or to find past issues of the weekly USH-Enews click here.

Sunday 16 March - Our Faith in Outreach: A Chance to Make a Difference - Once we are rooted in spirit and nurtured by religious community, we are empowered to reach out in religious witness in service to the larger world. With a proud tradition of learned clergy and of intellectually questing congregants, it seems a natural fit that USH should choose service programs related to learning. - Rev. Jamestone - The lay testimonial voice is Social Justice Council Chair Bill Laporte-Bryan. School principal Dee Cole will join us immediately after the service in the Chapel to explore USH service opportunities at Noah Webster School.

Music - The Celebration Choir, as well as some of our young teenagers, reach out musically to our young friends at Noah Webster School in Hartford.

REflections on Children's Programming
Fourth & Fifth Grade Field Trip - The Fourth and Fifth grade class will be traveling to the Humane Society to deliver our donation of more than $100 raised at the bake sale! Permission slips were distributed in class on 3/9.

Chalice Choir - Dear Parents,
I am looking for kids to sing with me in the Chalice choir on Easter Sunday. The rehearsals are at 12:15 on 3/2 and 3/23 at 10:30 in the chapel. It would be really great if I could get a large group of kids to participate. I can be contacted at: aubrien(at symbol)comcast.net or 860-675-4727. - Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you there! - Sincerely, - Aubrie Nelson

Youth Spirituality & Ski Retreat - The Annual youth group ski trip is an adventure in both mind and body. We start by convoying up to a little dojo in the mountains of Massachusetts, where we get settled and get ready for a big day of skiing. The Otis Ridge ski slope is a small intimate slope, with only a few trails, but it is perfect for the youth group. It helps to keep us all together.

The idea of having a ski trip may be something that is considered a waste of money, or time, but the bond that is formed between the members in the youth group on this trip is one with no dollar value. We help each other learn to ski, we feed each other, and we ride with each other on the ski lift, we bond. Skiing is almost like an action that helps to emulate the securities and love within a family, and every year we experience this.

After a long day of skiing we all go back to the dojo and hang out. We find small forms of entertainment that are both engaging and fun. This year we sat in the lounge area and played guitar and made music. We also made a puzzle, cooked food and talked about topics not normally discussed by people our age. We then normally have a small worship service designed by members of the youth group, and this year it was quite the service indeed. By the end of it most of us were in tears and the others were on the verge. This service brought us closer together, as a youth group, and as a family.

We all accept one another no matter their past life, and everyone is free to talk about it.

These services are meant to create a sense that everyone is free to discuss anything about ourselves and through this we learn about each other even further.

The annual youth group ski trip can be summed up with one word, bonding. The trip is simply a tool that we use every year as a way to learn more about each other, and ourselves. It is an escape from the real world to where there is only us, our skis, and the love we have for one another. - Aaron Greenbaum

What attracts me to nonviolent communication, NVC, is that it gives me a way to connect with people at a heart level with integrity. I had thought that to connect with someone meant that I'd probably have to give in and to agree when I really didn't.

Through my own healing journey and in practicing NVC I have learned that I can stay connected to my feelings and needs and still connect to people even if I don't agree with their political, religious or social views.

NVC helps me to focus on the underlying needs the person is trying to get met by their political, social or religious views. I can connect to their needs and fully hear what is going on for them but I don't have to agree with their strategies to meet their needs.

Speaking NVC is challenging and invites me to be fully human with all my feelings and needs and to be open in expressing these and making positive doable requests. I don't always succeed in using NVC, but when I do and take the risk it has been very transformative. I have used it in all areas of my life, even at work and the results have been very positive.

It has helped me strengthen close relationships and build bridges where I had a difficult relationship. - Chris Mulcahy

To Will One Thing - Rev. BJ used a quotation from Danish philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard--“Purity of heart is to will one thing”--as a basis for her sermon last Sunday. We are besieged by constant and relentless change, disintegration and loss. Kierkegaard, plus Eastern religions, understood this.

In an attempt to find this “one thing,” we go through stages. There is the aesthetic stage, where we are passionate about beauty. This is followed by the ethical stage, where we make a commitment to some system of order for the common good. But we wake up one morning, Rev. BJ suggested, asking ourselves, “Is this all there is?”

The one thing that is at the core of all is religion. Religion frees us from barriers to our best selves. Even though bombarded by consumerism and technological advances, “somewhere over the rainbow” we believe there is something worthy of our ultimate concern, Rev. BJ maintained.

“That is why we are here in this house of spirit,” she suggested. “In this place, we do create and enjoy diversity of dreams all going on at once. All passions and commitments are here. Our job is to will that one thing. The spiritual must remain the center.” Rev. BJ concluded with words from a Jewish prayer expressing the wish, “that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” BJ asked, “What would that look like, for us?”

During her testimonial Sunday, Amy Hines, Chair of the Worship Arts Sub-Council and active member of the Stewardship Committee, announced that about $175,000 (half of the 2008 goal of $350,000) had been pledged during the festive second annual “Bringing in the Green” event at the Meeting House on Saturday night. She, and the congregation, gave a tribute to the work and generosity of Joe Rubin, who has chaired the Stewardship Committee for several years and who “reminds us to open our wallets as well as our hearts” in support of the USH. - Kayla Costenoble

Launching of The USH and Noah Webster Partnership - 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. Not only is this a chance to make a difference in the lives of young children but it is also a chance to deeply enrich yourself.

This partnership will also offer an opportunity to meet members from five other area congregations that have also committed to a partnership. They are:

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. At that meeting, we will have sign-up sheets for anyone who wishes to be contacted to learn more about and be a part of this exciting new partnership!

If you will be unable to attend, please see information at the end of this article.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please call Shai Cassell at 930-4278 or Bill LaPorte Bryan at 953-0192.

A special offering will be taken at the worship services on March 16th to support all of the work of GHICEJ.

Further information - 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.

Here’s an example of just one of the ways you can help. Some first graders at Noah Webster who are in need of extra reading instruction are being tutored by volunteers from many area congregations; 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 the students have seen solid improvement.

Now the program is being expanded and there is 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 personal one-on-one 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. If you have any questions before Sunday, please call Bill LaPorte-Bryan, Carol Shoemaker or Shai Cassell.

If you can’t attend the informational session, please provide the information below to the office:

I am unable to attend the informational session about the USH-Noah Webster Partnership on March 16th after the service but I would like to learn more about volunteer opportunities**.

**Some of the volunteer opportunities that are available, currently, are: Morning tutoring at Noah Webster School, an after school tutoring program at First Church of the Living God (right across the street from the school), mentoring and sharing your career skills by visiting a classroom and talking with the students about your work. - Bill LaPorte-Bryan

Easter Plants - Various cheerful Spring plants will be purchased for display in our chancel on Easter Sunday,

March 23. They will then be distributed to friends who are part of our community but unable to attend services. If you would like to help purchase these plants, you may write a check to “USH”, marked “Easter plants”, and drop it in the offering basket or get it to the office by Thursday, March 20. Thank you for your participation.

Human Memory Discussed at March 18th 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 March 18th the meeting speaker is Ed Stubbs. His topic is Human Memory. The talk will deal with memory loss as we age and what we can do about it. For more info please contact Chris McClurg at 860-563-9776

- Recently food donations have been skimpy: hunger is not a seasonal condition. Try to bring one food item each Sunday for each person who comes to USH.

Those who bring children might make it a task for them each week so they could learn of the need and of the sharing from those of us who are blessed with plenty.

For the 12th straight year, the Alan Feinstein Foundation will divide $1million among hunger-fighting agencies nation-wide. The greater the donations given the HB Food Pantry, the more Feinstein money will be added. Financial contributions allow the Food Pantry to buy items at wholesale and discount prices. During March the office will collect checks made to USH, with HB Food Pantry as a notation.

From the Adult Programs Sub-Council: Stop by the Programs Table in Fellowship Hall on Sunday during the Coffee Hours to register for the following programs. Please note, coming in April, the return of recent pulpit guest, Ellison Findly. You may also want to take a look at the selections in the Book Cart - some of which are about Unitarian Universalism.

Fabric Collage, This Saturday, March 15, 10-2 PM. USH member Diane Cadrain will teach participants to put fabrics together into their own original creations without a sewing machine, using fusible web-a heat activated product-applied with an iron. Creations can become part of a pillow, wall hanging, or small art quilt. Teens welcome! To register please call the office at 860 233-9897.

Tai Chi, Two eight week sessions starting Wednesday, March 19, 5:15-6:15 PM (for those of you who have requested an earlier time) and 6:30 - 7:30 PM. This gentle martial art improves your flexibility, balance, endurance, concentration, and inner peace. Instructor Monika Forstner has taught various forms of Tai Chi for may years and is a nationally licensed AMTA member. If you have any questions, you may call Ginny Hedrick at 677-9272.

Friday Dinner and Movie, April 11. The featured movie will be "Avenue Montaigne".

Working with Nonviolence: The Ethical Traditions of Gandhi and the Dalai Lama in the Modern World, April 15, 22, 29, 7-9 PM. Ellison Findly will discuss traditional systems of non-violence in Asian cultures as well as their influences from sources in the West, such as the Bible and the writings of Tolstoy and Thoreau. Discussions will follow on how these systems of non-violence apply to the contemporary world.

Taize Service March 16th 6 PM - Taize (pronounced Ty-zay') evening prayers originated in eastern France in 1940, and were created to allow communal prayer among people of different cultures, faiths and languages, using scripture, silence, singing, and holy communion. More

March 19th, LAMENTATION and PROTEST - Remember the Dead - Count the Cost - End the War More

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

Caring Network - I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, after all, to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all. - Leo C. Rosten (1908-1977) American Writer

- 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.

The Re-Education of George W. Bush : No President Left Behind. March 22nd More - Background discussion

Hold the date: Saturday, March 29 for a conference examining "What Could Universal Healthcare in CT look like and How can we get there?" More

Attention All You Closet Artists - A group show will be on display in Fellowship Hall from April 6 to 27. Up to two original framed, two-dimensional works by any member, 18 or older, may be dropped off in the church office between 9:30 AM and 3:00 PM on March 29 and 31, or following the service on Sunday, March 30. More

"Picking up the Pieces" is the title of the UU-UNO spring conference April 3-5 in NYC. More

Is anyone interested in having a lot of fun on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 15? Yes, of course you are!

The UU’s are organizing games for children at a picnic in Elizabeth Park. Most of the kids are from Keon Berry’s Church (One of the Hartford Church’s) and Father to Father, which is Keon’s DSS program for father’s struggling with issues around parenting. Last year roughly 150 people attended including an enthusiastic bunch of kids (40-50).

The UU’s ran the games (Frisbee golf, rocket balloons, basketball) and face painting. Your reward is the gratitude in the eyes of the kids, the laughs and shouts of joy. Please let me know if you want to participate. - John Clap

On the Calendar

Thursday, March 13
5:30 pm Lay Listeners, Emerson
7:00 pm Human Moral Behavior, Library

Friday, March 14
5:30 pm Dinner and Movie, “Letters from Iwo Jima”, Fellowship Hall

Saturday, March 15
10:00 am Fabric Collage, Servetus
11:00 am John Bennett Memorial, Sanctuary; Reception, Fellowship Hall

Sunday, March 16
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 Buildings and Grounds Sub-council, Murray
10:00 am Disabilities Sub-council, Servetus
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:00 pm Noah Webster School Support Kick Off, Sanctuary
12:30 pm BTWWDA, Library
12:30 pm The Secular Mind, Library
1:30 pm Eat by Choice, Not by Habit, Servetus
3:00 pm Lay Listeners/Caring Network Potluck
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel
6:00 pm Taize Service, Chapel

Monday, March 17
7:00 pm NVC 4, Emerson

Tuesday, March 18
12:00 pm ICEJ Clergy, Library
6:00 pm Worship Arts Sub-council, Ballou
6:30 pm Stewardship Sub-council, Library
8:00 pm AA, Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, March 19
12:00 pm Lamentation & Protest March, Hartford
2:45 pm Rental, Library
5:15 pm Tai Chi for Health, Fellowship Hall
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, March 20
9:30 am International Women’s Circle, Fellowship Hall

Friday, March 21
1:00 pm Transitional Group, Library
Saturday, March 22
9:00 am Work Day, Building and Grounds
10:30 am Rental, Chapel
7:30 pm “The Re-Education of George W. Bush”, UPA Presentation, Sanctuary

Sunday, March 23, EASTER SUNDAY
8:00 am Music Rehearsal, Chapel
9:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, CHAPEL
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am Coming of Age, Fuller
10:00 am Children’s & Youth Choirs, Chapel
10:00 am Chancel Arts Sub-council, Library
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
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!

External Events and Educational Notes

Getting to Know the Lay Listeners
Photo

Betty Palmer - I was born Nov.6,1938, raised in North Carolina and went to school there, graduating from the Un. of N.C. with a major in English literature and a minor in World War 1 British poets. What a practical lot of good that was!

Most of my working career was spent in the Insurance Industry (Life) in areas of Administration. Early retirement in 1993 released me to have more time to pursue my real love - outdoor related travel.

As a bonus of those travels, I met my partner, Anne Bailey, and moved to CT to join her. As a bonus of meeting Anne, I was introduced to the Meeting House and have been appreciative of both for the past almost ten years.

I jumped at the chance to join the Lay Listener's training group offered by BJ because I felt it would give me the opportunity to help build relationships in
our church community that has been so meaningful to me.

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

Did You Know? - Here is a colorful, fun and idea filled website for kids, grades K-12, about energy efficiency and renewable energy

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.