50 Bloomfield Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105 Tel: (860) 233-9897 / FAX 233-1333 Email: firstunitarian@ushartford.com Reverend Barbara Jamestone, PhD

Home Page- Link Central Questions and Comments	USH-Enews March 18, 2010 Jump to: Sunday Service; Calendar; What's Happening; Feature Articles; External Events; Further Down the Road; Social Justice Journeys; Green Topics ; A Matter of Opinion; USH Stats Text only Printer Friendly Format
	Smith College Spring Bulb Show March 2010 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 or to find past issues of the weekly USH-Enews click here. Office hours: Rev. Jamestone: Phone: 860 233-9897; Email: RevBJ@USHartford.com - Rev. BJ office hours by appointment. Another Stewardship Testimonial Eight or so years ago, when John and I got serious about having children, we talked a lot about the many things we would need to do.  There were the usual tasks - picking names, painting, shopping, hoping, worrying.  As you can imagine, there were also some non-standard things to overcoming certain biological barriers to parenthood. We considered what in our own early lives fostered the good we see in ourselves and each other.  That yielded a sort of inventory of what we would need to provide: •     Loving family network: check.   •     Shelter, food, healthcare and clothes: check. •     Love, encouragement and challenge: check.   •     Good schools, neighborhoods and neighbors: check. •     A sense of connection to our community: ........... •     An organized framework for ethics, belief and spirituality: ........... John had only been in Connecticut for a few years.  I was still bouncing weekly between here and Boston.  We had bought a great house, enjoyed our neighbors and were happy to have chosen West Hartford for our home. But at that point, John was still “from Plattsburgh, New York” and I was still “from South Portland, Maine.”  It was in those towns that we knew the short cuts, the lore, the characters, the secrets and the legends.  We each had lived only in those towns until college.  Our families had lived in those areas, if not those towns, for decades and generations. We worried that we couldn’t provide our children the same depth of connection to their community as we felt as kids. For each of us, church was an important aspect of our community. John’s family was solidly Catholic and mine was squashily Baptist.  We might not have gone to church every week, but we attended Sunday school, knew and were known by our clergy and considered many in the pews around us part of our inner circle.  We did all the expected rituals, too.  John was baptized as a baby, was confirmed on schedule and even served as lay clergy.  I was christened by the minister who had christened and married my parents, and still consider my full-body immersion baptism as one of the more bizarre, yet inexplicably formative moments of my life. We also were both highly conscious of the role belief, rituals and spirituality played in forming us. Although John and I abandoned religion long before we met, we agreed that we would not be who we are without having had religious experience. Church gave us a framework in which to learn right and wrong, to embrace or reject modes of thought, and to consider that which is beyond our easy understanding.  As with the connection to community, we questioned if we could substitute anything for church in our children’s lives to produce the same results. The short answer was No.   The solution was you. In the beginning, we primarily saw our membership in terms of practical benefit to the girls.  I calculated that investing 590 hours of my time would be a good deal for what my children would get.  (By the way, that’s 18 years x 1 hour per Sunday with a 40% attendance rate, plus 2 hours six times per year for special activities, not adjusted for any Sunday that may fall on the 29th of February.)  John’s decision, I’m certain, was more from the heart. Our experience has kindled a personal, emotional connection that neither of us expected.  It has dawned on us that we like being here.  We are getting something out of this ourselves.  We are challenged intellectually and spiritually.  We are comforted being here.  We like you. We have achieved some of the connectedness we had wanted Ellie and Maddalena to feel. I joked about my coming here being an investment of time.  There is an investment to be made, but not how I originally envisioned it.  What we all share with, give to and receive from one another is invaluable and often intangible.  We can’t be connected with each other this way, though, if we don’t pay the practical costs of this place, the diverse programs and the wonderful people who work so hard for us. John and I see our annual pledge and the contributions we make on Sundays as an investment; an investment in our children’s future, in our community and now we realize, in ourselves.  Our investment in the Unitarian Society has grown from hundreds of dollars a year to over $5,000 this year.  The return is higher and more meaningful than from any other investment we might make.  All we have to do is look around to recognize all that we get back. Thank you so much. - John Brancato & Tom Richardson
	Worshipping Together Since 1830 One Service 10:30 AM  Sunday 21 March -The Joy of Participation: Pocket Gardens for Perennial WITS - Religious community nurtures WITS, whether WITS is the "Wise Inner Teacher" of children, the “Workable Internal Training Story” of adults, or some other acronym pointing toward an inner foundation of guiding principles guiding our words and deeds. The March worship theme is our human need for participation -- as an essential nutrient for the spiritual formation of our maturing WITS. Join our third week of exploration of "The Joy of Pocket Gardens" for the care and nurture of our perennial WITS. Music -– Cantor Melissa Paul leads the singing for this service, starting before the service with “Morning Songs.”   Drawing from both of our hymnals, songs of the spirit will pull everyone together in a musical communion. Do you know where these items are? - a few items have disappeared lately.  They're very important, even though they don't cost much.   * the ORGANIST'S copy of the gray hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition.  This lies flat so it won't fall off the organ console during the hymns!  It also contains the only record of all hymns sung every Sunday since 1993 when these hymnals were purchased.  This is a critical record for us, and this copy of the hymnal needs to be used every Sunday.  The word "ORGANIST" appears in bold black letters on the top edge of the pages. * the TUNING HAMMER for the harpsichord in the chapel.  This hammer was purchased in the 1950s specifically for use with this harpsichord when it was built.  It has a yellowish wooden handle.  Without the tuning hammer we can't tune the harpsichord! * a JIM SCOTT SONGBOOK containing many songs by this talented UU songwriter.  This book is an important resource. If you see any of these items, please please please bring them to the Office.  We need them!  Thank you. Ahem, and we have gained --- A pair of eye glasses were left in BJ’s office recently. They are now in the basket outside her door for pick up! REflections on Children's Programming Religious Education Classes Spirit Play: Indigo Promise: Follow the Drinking Gourd Second & Third Grade: UU Super heroes: Clara Barton Fourth & Fifth Grade: Spirit of Adventure: Fannie Farmer Sixth & Seventh Grade: Hinduism Eighth Grade: Coming of Age Youth Group Activities: Soup    Easter "Egg" Hunt Contributions Needed On Easter Sunday, the Religious Education program will sponsor a unique Easter hunt.  Rather than searching for eggs, our kids will search for canned goods.  The cans will then be exchanged for Easter treats, and the cans will be donated to the Horace Bushnell Food Pantry.  We are in need of contributions and volunteers.  Please contact Gail at: dre@ushartford.com if you can offer to: Donate canned goods, both standard size and small  single servings; Prepare the Easter treats; Hide the canned goods before the  service; Collect the canned goods after the  hunt. Gail M. Syring, DRE Pledge at the Party on Saturday What Else is Happening Newly Posted - Three written sermons and the Minutes from the last Board meeting. Take Time to Check it Out - Would you like to have the latest information on what’s going on? Be sure and stop and look through the postings on the bulletin board in the upstairs lobby. It is updated weekly and replaces the former “Weekly” insert in the Order of Service. A quick glance will keep you up on things. Many thanks to Nancy Reed for maintaining it! - Anne Bailey Save the Date for the Annual Stewardship Community Event March 20th 7-10 PM  Fellowship Hall More Family Potluck Supper and Games Night Come along and enjoy a meal and a game with us. It’s March 26, 2010 in our Fellowship Hall.  Arrive 5:30-ish.  Dinner 6:00-7:00 Games to begin around 7:00 after clean-up. Bring a dish to share, a beverage, and your favorite game.   All this for $5 for families and $2 for an individual. You can sign up and pay at the Programs Table during Coffee Hour; or call Janice Newton 860-677-1121  or email at dcnewton(at symbol)snet.net That will help us with set-up.  Or just come with potluck… we’ll make room at the table for you. Date:   Friday, March 26, 2010 Time:   6:00 PM Fee:    $2.00 individual/ $5.00 family B&G Workday Planned for March 27th - Come to the work day from 9AM to Noon on Saturday the 27th and participate in spring cleaning for the grounds including picking up debris, preparing the Memorial Gardens for the growing season, and doing maintenance on the building including cleaning of the kitchen ceiling tiles. It will help in the planning if you let Ed Sax know of your participation, call 860.286.9688 and let Ed know you are coming. Peter Magistri will be heading up the Kitchen Project, a Geen Sanctuary initiative, so Green Sanctuary folks will please let Peter know you plan to attend. pvwindsor(at symbol)sbcglobal.net Kingian Non-Violence Training at USH - To be held Saturdays April 17 and 24 at USH. More Collage with Paper and Found Objects. Saturdays, April 10 and 17. Time: 10 AM - 2 PM. Fee: $30.00 per class or $55.00 for the two classes. More Adult Programs Stop by the Programs table this Sunday to register for the fun filled Family Potluck and Games Night, Friday, March 26. A two class Collage course with instructor Hannah Libman will be offered Saturday, April 10 and 17. If you've wanted to learn how to paint using watercolors, Painting In The Park With Watercolors is scheduled for May. For additional information, you may refer to the complete description of classes, programs, and events on the web. . Coming Events: Our Chosen Faith, Wednesday, March 24, 7 PM. Join Rev. Jamestone for a discussion of Chapters 5 and 6 of Our Chosen Faith. If you have the book, please try to read the chapters before the class. This provocative handbook is a dialogue between two great Unitarian Universalist ministers based on the six sources of our living UU tradition.  For more information about the program, go to the listing on the web . Copies of A Chosen Faith, by John A Buehrens and Forrest Church ($16) will be available at the Programs Table on Sundays. Family Potluck Supper and Games Night, Friday, March 26. (More) Friday Dinner and Movie, April 9. The featured movie will be The Reader. Collage with Paper and Found Objects, Saturdays, April 10 and 17, 10 AM - 2 PM. (More) Please, if at all possible, register for programs in person during coffee hours on Sundays. If you cannot register in person, please email Janice Newton dcnewton(at symbol)snet.net and note registration in the subject line, or call 860.677.1121 and leave a message (if we are not home) rather than calling the office. This procedure will be followed for all programs including Small Group Ministry. Your cooperation is deeply appreciated. Our USH Community Numbers  * Sustaining:  Members (229)    Friends (9)   ** Supporting:  Members   (58) Friends (11)   *** Ministerial Exemptions:         0 Sub -Total: Members (287)    Friends (20) ****Total USH Community   307   *Sustaining members donate more than $250 per year per person, and are reported to UUA. **Supporting members donate from zero to $249 per year per person. ***Exemptions: those who consult with minister and make a service pledge in lieu of financial donation.   **** The total USH community--those who consider USH to be their religious community when they have need of a religious community or minister.   Attendance for Sunday, March 14, 2010 Worship = 119 Average Attendance for February = 142 Religious Education Attendance = 41 Average RE Attendance for February = 31 Visitor forms completed 3/7 = 2 Visitor forms completed February = 9 Offering for 3/7 = $2,933 Members Joining January: 3	From the Editor: Suggestions for Contributors. This Week’s Feature Articles A New Stewardship Testimonial Stewardship Party Saturday The Things our USH Garden Grows Additional Knitters Needed Participation and our Inner Voice B and G Workday Planned Antique Fair Fund Raiser Idea Approved Soliciting Gardeners Stewardship Party to be held this Saturday, March 20th at 7 PM - It’s not too late to attend the Stewardship party this Saturday – just call the office and let us know you’re coming.  There will be plenty to eat and drink and a special skit awaits.  This is the time we have to come together to celebrate all that is meaningful for us at the Meeting House and in our community. I have been so moved by the messages hanging on the tree in the lobby – it’s a reminder to me of all that this place provides and how the support that each of us gives becomes multiplied so that all of us benefit. Here are just a few of the writings on the tree in response to the question: What comes alive for you when you come here?” “New possibilities” “BJ’s way to make a connection to me” “I come for the smiles, songs, and stories and soothing moments for my soul” “Connection to myself and to others and to all that is larger than I am” “The love that I feel at church each Sunday sustains me throughout the week – it lights my way through whatever troubles I have” “May we grow as people to more of our potential for good in the world” And, so, as I think about my own support to this church, I am reminded of all that I receive by coming here and all that is given to others through our shared commitment.   Hope to see you on Saturday, - Sue Kinney The Things Our Garden Grows at USH - Congregants are filling the gratitude tree in our lobby with paper leaves on which are written the answer to such questions as: What comes alive in me at USH? What nutrients are here for my growing spirit?     Here are some of the answers:   “The deep caring shown by members who oppose my political stance.”   “Hope for the future - that our efforts will contribute to the development of a more compassionate world.”    “The Meeting House and its members and activities weave so many colorful threads into the tapestry of my life. I am blessed.”   “The deepest place in me is awakened and moved here. For that I am thankful.”   “Belief in the possibility of God, and the possibility of unconditional love. Thank you, USH.”   “Listening to very different ideas that are given space to grow, be considered, and heard with attention and respect.”   “My soul feels nourished and my heart softens…I feel alive!”   “To feel and be invigorated deeply in my mind, body, heart, and soul.”   My “Maldeau-ian” whispers, streams, torrents and ongoing flowings if inner, outer and activated life.”    “I bubble over with emotion and creativity sometimes during the service. Don’t know what makes it happen.”   “Spending time in this beautiful sanctuary with all our friends, enjoying all the things that go on here.”   “My shadow pops up here… and it’s a good place to deal with it.” Additional Knitters Needed We would love you to join the comfort shawl knitters. We will next meet on April 11th at 9 AM under the stairs in the lower lobby of Fellowship Hall. As you can see, even inexperienced knitters can learn with careful study. If you are interested or would like to be on the knitters listserv, contact Janice Newton at dcnewton(at symbol)snet.net or call 860.677.1121 Hope you will join us in this special ministry. - Janice Newton Participation And Our Inner Voice - “Beneath our rituals, music, metaphors and spring’s arrival, we listen to the voice that whispers all we need to hear,” Reverend BJ said during the second in a three-part series on the theme for March — participation.   This voice reminds us of our need to participate and connect.  It tells us that three things--“please, thank you, and a smile will take us far.” This internal voce is one you trust.  It gets you over the hump and enables you to keep on.  Reverend BJ defined “participation” as sharing with others, purposeful, involving some voluntary association, some choice and some commitment regarding the outcome.  A need to participate equals a need to take risks and to give up a share of ourselves to earn the gratification that comes from choosing to participate.    We come here, she said, to hear the metaphors and stories that touch our souls.  Lighting the chalice, “reminds us of our need for participation and connection …Every one of us has a story that we live by day to day.”  These stories are about eternal verities.  They can be wonderful, powerful, meaningful and “they rarely make sense.”   Our minister showed her trust in us by explaining why she was momentarily sad and weepy up there in the pulpit.  She woke up Sunday morning remembering that it was the birthday of a stepson she dearly loved but, for family reasons, she hasn’t seen in many years.  But the connection remains.  “This is the stuff we talk about here,” she said.   During her first year here, Reverend BJ said, she received a “kind letter of welcome” from John Brancato and Tom Richardson, the two who gave last Sunday’s stewardship testimonial. We learned that John’s background was “solidly Catholic” while Tom was “squishily Baptist.”   For both of them, church had been a framework for learning right from wrong.  Now, they said, they feel a personal and emotional connection to us, and their pledge is an investment in their children, their community and themselves. Relatively new to the USH, their initial pledge was $500; this year they are pledging more than $5,000.   At one point during the service, Reverend BJ said, “Here at the USH, our souls take root, grow and come alive.” That sounds like a good ending note.  - Kayla Costenoble Meeting House Antique Fair - It is exciting to report that the Board has approved our (hopefully) First Annual Meeting House Antique Fair for September 25 and 26 on the Church grounds. Given the Church's unique site and the nearly 20,000 cars that pass by each day, we hope for a good number of dealers and attendees!! Time will tell. In addition to the Fair serving as a fundraiser, it will be a great opportunity to showcase the Church (including tours) to attendees and to provide an opportunity for a large number of members to work together on a fun project; work is underway on creating a website, logo, advertising, food sales, layout for vendors, tours, etc., etc etc. Advertising for dealers in antiques magazines and contacting them personally are in planning. Please keep tuned for new developments. Your ideas and help are welcomed. Please contact Jean Groothuis with comments or questions at 860-678-1030, and if you know any dealers of quality antiques who you think would be interested in participating, please let her know. - Jean Groothuis Caring Network - Nobody, as long as he moves about among the chaotic currents of life, is without trouble. Carl Jung If you know of any member experiencing some difficulty, please contact Diana Heymann, Chair of the Caring Network heydiana(at symbol) comcast.net 860.461.0908 or call the office so we can provide some assistance.- before 10:30 on Sunday. A wide range of community services is also available to those in need by calling InfoLine at 211. Please contact Diana if you are able to volunteer your services. Social Justice Journeys (From the UUA) And from USH Further Down The Road (About 30 Days) Green Topics - Did You Know? you can bring in your #5 plastic containers (yogurt, cottage cheese etc) to whole foods who will recycle them. Yea! Turn out. Take Action. - Earth Hour. March 27, 8:30-9:30 PM., local time.   Village Garden Project - Last year a few of us grew a garden with children at The Village for Children and Families (next door to USH) on their grounds. It was a wonderful experience for us all and we'd like to expand it. It involves a couple of hours twice a month to meet with a small group of children and their staff and grow veggies, herbs and flowers. The excitement and comfort of creating life and learning where food comes from is invaluable for these kids who are going through very difficult times (foster care). The volunteer application takes about a month to be approved once it's submitted so we're asking people who are interested to fill them in now. They can be found on the Green Sanctuary Bulletin Board on the way into Fellowship Hall or can be downloaded from www.villageforchildren.org. If you have any questions please email bev_prager(at symbol)hotmail.com On the Calendar - Please notify Brian Mullen of all additions or changes to the calendar. Follow this link to all our scheduled events A Matter of Opinion External Events and Educational Notes
	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. Generally, USH-Enews will be posted on Thursday.  Send email related to the USH-Enews to dcnewton at ushartford.com  If you have announcements or articles you wish to be published, send them along  with the subject line USH-Enews by 4:30 PM Wednesday evening. Comments are always welcome. If you wish to have your name removed from the distribution list or have learned of the electronic publication and wish to have your email address added, just ask. © Unitarian Society of Hartford
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