USH-Enews for March 27, 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.

Contributors please take note. Next week's USH-Enews will be a double issue posted April 3rd and covering the 10th as well.

Sunday - 30 March - Let Spirit Lead: Inspired Action in Interesting Times - How does Spirit use the unique vessels that each of us brings - young and old, white and black, male and female, broken and whole - to creative inspired leadership and action in our challenging moment in history? - Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener - She is the spiritual leader of Congregation Pnai Or of Central Connecticut and the Director of Inter-religious Eco - Justice Network.

Music - See special article featuring music offerings for the next few days and beyond. More

Fourth & Fifth Grade Field Trip -
The Fourth and Fifth grade class will be traveling to the Humane Society this Sunday, March 30th to deliver our donation of more than $100 raised at the bake sale. The car pool will leave at 10:30 AM and return at 12:15 PM. Permission slips can be obtained from Gail by emailing dre@ushartford.com.

RE Sub-Council Meeting -
Parents, teachers and other interested individuals are invited to the RE Sub-Council meeting on April 1, 2008 at 7 PM. We will be meeting with Reverend BJ to discuss our vision of the Religious Education program in the coming year. Those who cannot attend can feel free to email Gail with their wishes and dreams for the program.

From the Editor: Contributors please take note. Next week's USH-Enews will be a double issue posted April 3rd and covering the 10th as well.

Pledges are still coming in, and the pattern of substantial increases is holding steady, but we need everyone who hasn't pledged yet to do it now! That's the only way we'll meet our goal. If we don't have your pledge by Monday, March 31, we'll have no choice but to -- BRACE YOURSELF!! -- CALL YOU AND REMIND YOU!

Save us both the time and trouble by getting your pledge in the mail today ...or call Brian at 233-9897 to record your pledge.

New research confirms that giving money away makes you much happier than spending it on yourself anyway. So pledge today and be happy!

Bid Light Return - As a Worship Associate, one of my joyful responsibilities is to assist with our weekly ritual candle lighting. I am deeply moved by the convergent presence of Spirit that occurs as we come together as a community to acknowledge our deepest sorrows and most profound joys, and never more than this past weekend. What could be a more poignant symbol of the light and life of our congregation than the 93 people who lit candles of memory and hope on Easter Sunday?

As each person lit their candle and began the meditative walk around our precious Sanctuary, we were with them in the prayers of our hearts and minds. Likewise, as we cast away our stones with the pronouncement that we make all things new, we were connected once more. Together we celebrated the return of the light and welcome the spring, so it is only fitting that we did so uplifted by glorious music and spirited dance.

I am grateful to each person who attended services this Sunday, as each of you contributed to the wholeness that remains with me today. In Peace, - Gail M. Syring

Why are All the Famous Composers Men? Aren’t there any women composers? Societal reasons have hidden or suppressed women’s talents over the centuries, but the 8th Annual Women Composers Festival has been revealing dramatically talented composers in a series of concerts, workshops and readings of new music. Some of these events are taking place at the Unitarian Meeting House this week. Please check them out –

Friday, March 28 at 7:00 PM. – Hartford Sound Alliance, a Connecticut-based new music collective of composers and performers, performs cutting-edge music by Jessica Rudman and other women that is truly “out there.” This group is dedicated to building a bridge between contemporary music and the community, and will also be in residency at the Hartford Art School from March 29th to April 4th, presenting several pieces, including a new multimedia work with video artist Liz Stephens. Mixed-media and electronic works will be featured in their concert, which offers free admission.

Saturday, March 29, 12:30 – 1:30 PM Composers’ Workshop, in Fellowship Hall.

A networking powerhouse for composers and musicians featuring six guest speakers. Come meet fellow composers and supportive musicians for an exchange of ideas and contact information. Bring your scores, business cards, and recordings- ready to share. Guest speakers, including international guest composers from Argentina, Brazil and Italy, will share their journeys with you; learn from these women about what it takes to emerge as a successful women composer today.

Activities include group composition pieces
and visiting information tables with great resources for composers and musicians. All composers, musicians and music lovers are welcome and encouraged to attend! - Students $2.50 Non-Students $5

Saturday, March 29, 2:00-4:30 – Local Composers Concert – a diverse array of choral and chamber works, which have been created by a dozen local composition students, amateurs, and professionals.

Their music is presented side by side, in order to validate and encourage the artistry of both emerging and established composers, and to celebrate the diversity of their voices. This concert is a wonderful opportunity to hear, support, and meet your local artists. Support and witness several premiers! Admission by donation.

Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 PM - Concert Pro Femina – an evening of beautifully performed music by women composers ranging from Isabella Leonarda’s Renaissance violin sonata with harpsichord through Sebastiana Lerna’s stunningly virtuosic piano piece, hot off the Italian music press. There’s a piece for prepared piano, an ensemble with the South American quena, and some topnotch choral singing both serious and jazzy. Admission by donation.

Sunday, March 30 – our own Choir sings music by women composers as the final work in this Festival: Psalm 46 by Ellen Gilson Voth, and two songs by Rabbi Shefa Gold. Bring your own voice as we co-create heartfelt music by one of the many talented women composers represented in the Festival.

Cleaning up the Meeting House & Grounds - Work Party Crew; Ann Bailey, Bill Barnett, Roy Cook, David Cooper, Peter Magistri, David Newton, Betty Palmer, Ed Sax, Carol Sexton, Stu Spence, & Jim Venneman.

Starting out in the low thirties, this was a bright sunny morning for our pre-Easter clean-up. The Memorial Garden vicinity was particularly active with Anne, Betty, David & David trimmed pruned and weeded while Stu hauled loads of pruned or plucked materials over to the woods behind the Chapel. At the Memorial Garden threshold of the arch to the Chapel passage, Carol masked and spray painted a warning strip along an edge exposed by subsidence of the entry slab around the adjacent catch basin. Roy cleared the drainage outlet areas in the woods. Stu, David and David made sure that the roof-top caldera drains were free of any debris that winds of winter left trapped on the roof.

Inside Anne and Betty cleaned up the entry glass, particularly where tape had been left. In the Kitchen, Peter and Bill raised the level of the sink spray nozzle and prepared an adjacent cabinet for installation of a hand washing sink as required by recent code changes. Jim cleaned up the refrigerator and found the bottom of the door seal torn (perhaps due to adhesion to tacky spills of the past). (This commercial refrigerator was purchased in 1993 and should be inspected for cooling coil blockage that would lower its efficiency.)

Along the entry drive Ed Sax cleared the walk and edges. Stu hauled away the resulting debris. Carol raked up around the front handicap parking area and where winter plowing had left lumps of dirt.

Each work party reveals things needing to be done by the next. In this case it was the gravel catch basins at each entry, where the gravel has subsided and needs to be raised. To prevent heavy downpours from washing out the underlying soil, they need the gravel removed, soil added and liners (like plastic shower mudpans in the case of the side entries) put in so that all the water gets into the drain pipe at the center. At the parking lot entry Stu pointed out how water from recent rains has washed a channel from under the slab around the catch basin and along the adjacent wall to end up as a pile of mud by the lower entry door below.

Other projects awaiting the next work party include resurrection of the tool shed whose parts now lie on opposite side of Chapel, asphalt fill-in of 1" wide by 4' long crack in walk from Memorial Garden to H/C Parking, a better way to get roof water to fall in entry catch basins rather than onto pavement, and the painting of the insulating slabs between radiators and lower glazing to match the exterior framing. - Ed Sax

Easter - Introducing Easter Sunday at the USH, Rev. BJ promised her large congregation “our service will be characterized by sudden reversals.” And it was. The service included old and new traditions, a wide range of music, lots of lovely ladies wearing straw bonnets and a closing romp around the Sanctuary.

The children continued a long-time tradition by bringing colorful banners into the Sanctuary and hanging them on the chancel rail. These lovely banners “advertised” life, joy, hope and spring.

Rev. BJ continued her second annual “Rolling Away the Stone” ritual. It began with the responsive reading (628) of the same name, which advised us to seek balance for ourselves by rolling away barriers. Then each attendee chose a tiny stone from an Easter basket and was instructed by Rev. BJ to throw it into the air from a high place and think about the area in your life “where you feel stuck.”

In an aside, Rev. BJ reported on a call she received last year, following her first rolling away a stone; she assured the caller that throwing the stone from a second floor apartment did, indeed, count as a “high place.”

There were no religious classes on Easter; all children were present for the entire service (crayons were readily available). And many participated in the musical presentations. The children’s choir offered the Musical Call to Worship with, “How Can I Keep From Singing?” And who could resist four-year-old munchkin Julian Spector in the front row with his button-down shirt and yellow tie covered with blue fish? And he knew all the words!

Then there was the incredible anthem, “Day by Day” from “Godspell,” which was an amazing combination of the USH choir, the older children’s choir AND our own Walter Gwardyak, jazz piano, and Robert Haray, drums. Walter, Dean of Music at the Hartford Conservatory, teaches jazz piano, harmony and jazz ensemble.

Finally, musically speaking, there was the infectious postlude with Tony Nasto, whom we all know as the choir’s bass section leader, joining the piano and drums with his trombone (who knew?) belting out “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In,” inspiring an impromptu chorus line around the Sanctuary.

As is her wont, Rev. BJ asked questions at various times during the service. During her talk to the many children clustered around her on the chancel floor, she asked, “What is the extraordinary thing in the story of Jesus?” The answer she was looking for was Jesus’ teaching people how to love one another every single day of his life and to demonstrate passion when we feel strongly about something.

In her homily to the adults, Rev. BJ asked what she called the question upon which all religions are ultimately founded: “Was Mr. Rogers real?” (Children in the audience shouted, “Yes!”) This was, of course, television’s Mr. Rogers of “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood” fame. In the 19th century, Rev. BJ explained, theological claims were taken as real. In the 20th century, we became disenchanted with religion, and sermons with titles such as “Upsy Daisy and Other Religious Truths” were not uncommon.

Today, Rev. BJ feels, we are re-enchanted with the world. We are shifting from theism and realism to being able to ask “What does it (Easter, for example) mean?“ without the fear of being “tangled in reason-based superiority.” Easter, Rev. BJ feels, celebrates death, life, love, sadness and happiness. It captures the meaning of our cycling lives. Season follows season in our lives, and “there is more than we thought.” - Kayla Costenoble

A Matter of Principles – April is the month for showers. What do you shower with? “Water,” you say. How about imaging a church in which we all were showered with truth, our UU principle for April. How clean do you think we’d be then?

Let’s take a look at what the UUA website says truth means, in words that adults and children can understand.

What does that mean to you? You might want to think about a time or an event in your life when you discovered a truth on your own or maybe someone else helped you to understand something that you realized was true or perhaps a truthful conversation made a difference in your life.

Why is discovering a truth important to you? Do you think it’s always right to be completely truthful with yourself and with others or are there exceptions? What is truth, after all? Do you remember what BJ said about truth in her sermon last Sunday?

By the way, do you remember our first five principles? Here they are again with a sentence after each one that expresses a related belief that was part of the precept which guided my life and my behavior even before I became a Unitarian. Frankly, I was amazed when I first came to our Meetinghouse and discovered that our seven principles and my beliefs were essentially the same. I had found my spiritual home!

In May and June I’ll share our last two principles and my beliefs related to them with you, so stay tuned.

It seems to me that the more we think about and practice our principles, the more meaningful they become. They become real. They become part of us. So, join me. This month, let’s practice discovering a truth or being truthful together. - Bill LaPorte-Bryan - Social Justice Chair

Our USH Photo Directory – Is your photo missing from the Directory? April will be photo-taking month.

Have you wondered how our latest USH Directory, with its accompanying thumbnail photos, came into being? As many of you know, in years past we had Olin Mills come for formal portrait sittings, which they then used in printing a Directory for us in color. While it was very nice, the downside was that it quickly became out-of-date. Several years passed between issues.

Last spring several of us met with BJ and a visiting friend graphic designer friend. We discussed various options for producing a photo-directory, using our own resources, and decided that the most doable was one similar to the one produced at her church in Florida. The software needed was already in use our church computers - we would just insert our own photos, and by using black and white we could also print a directory ourselves at a reasonable cost.

Thus it was that last April, David Newton and I undertook the job of grabbing photos and recruiting folks to “pose.” All the photos then came to my computer where I cropped them and converted them to black and white, with ‘tweaking’ as needed. We ended up with more than 300 usable photos. These were then given to Brian, who took the project from there, producing the directory.

The big plus: the Directory can be updated every time it is reprinted. SOOOO – if there are any of you still missing, or you would like to have a ‘retake’ of the photo that is currently in the Directory, you will have your chance. In April, David or I will again be available in Fellowship Hall during Coffee hours, for photo ops April 6,13 and 27. Just look for us - one of us will try to stay near the doorway as you come in. (New members – we already have your photos, thanks to the bulletin board, and these will be added to the next Directory). If finding us with camera does not work out, just leave a message in the office or send one of us an email and we will set up a meeting.

We also welcome any photos of your own – either by email or in an envelope with my name on it placed in the Membership mail slot in the office. Almost any photo will work, as I can crop a head shot out of a larger photo or group shot.

Let’s fill in those blanks! - Anne Bailey Communications Sub-Council

Katrina Progress? On Friday March 28 a FEMA trailer from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee will be at the Presbyterian Church (one of our ICEJ allies) to dramatize the glacial pace of federal aid to Katrina victims. It is at the corner of Trinity St. and Capitol Ave. right across the street from the Bushnell. A group of us will gather there at 1 PM and march to Senator Dodd's office at 30 Lewis Street just a few blocks away.

The senator is chair of a Katrina relief subcommittee and we will protest the government's slow pace of relief. We urge all UUs who can make it to show up at the Presbyterian church to join us in the protest. The FEMA trailer is on a nationwide tour to publicize the government's inadequate response to Katrina. Be there Friday at 1 PM. - Joan & Tom Kemble

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

What Would Universal Health Care Look Like? - On March 29, 9 AM to 3:30 PM, join CT clergy, political and medical leadership at the Unitarian Society of New Haven in Hamden for a day of education and action. Our system is broken and CT is ready for a change. We have collective power to fix it. What could Universal Health Care look like and how can we get there?

Keynote address by Juan Figueroa, head of the Universal Healthcare Foundation. (He and his family came to USH prior to his moving away.) Registration forms on display boards in Fellowship Hall, or at the coffee table. Join us for carpools. More Joan Kemble

Cookie Bakers Needed: Can you bake cookies for a reception Saturday evening, March 29? The 8th annual women composers concert will be held at the Meeting House at 7:30 and we are providing refreshment after the concert. Drop your cookies off in the kitchen before you attend the performance or anytime on Saturday afternoon. Louise Schmoll is coordinating this event so call you if you have any questions. - Louise Schmoll

Sisterhood at its Best - – sponsored by the Unitarian Alliance Ministry for Women Sunday, April 6 at 1:00 PM More

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

Ellison Findly to Return - Recent pulpit guest, Ellison Findly, will return to facilitate a three session course Tuesday evenings starting April 15 on The Ethical Traditions of Gandhi and the Dalai Lama in the Modern World. She 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. You may register for this program on Sundays during the coffee hours or by calling the office at 233-9897.

From the Adult Programs Sub-Council: Stop by the Programs Table in Fellowship Hall on Sunday during the Coffee Hours to register and to offer any suggestions you may have for the Fall Semester. You may also want to take a look at the selections in the Book Cart - some of which are about Unitarian Universalism.

Sunday After-Service Program, April 6, 1-3 PM. Unitarian Alliance of Ministry to Women (UAMW) invites all women in the USH community to a showing of "Strangers in Good Company". There is no fee nor is reservation necessary.
More

Friday Dinner and Movie, April 11. Join others for a friendly movie night including a catered candlelight dinner, dessert, and coffee. The featured movie will be "Avenue Montaigne". Registration required.

Working with Nonviolence: The Ethical Traditions of Gandhi and the Dalai Lama in the Modern World, Three Tuesdays, April 15, 22, 29, 7-9 PM. Registration required. Ellison Findly, a professor at Trinity College, teaches religions of Asia, Hinduism, Buddhism, and traditions of non-violence. She was a pulpit guest last June when she spoke to us about "The Practice of Compassion". more

Caring Network - The height of your accomplishments will equal the depth of your convictions. - William F. Scolavino

- 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.

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

On the Calendar

Thursday, March 27
11:00 am Lofvall rehearsal, Sanctuary
3:30 pm Fitzgerald rehearsal, Sanctuary
7:00 pm BTWWDA, Fellowship Hall

Friday, March 28
7:00 pm Hartford Sound Alliance, Sanctuary

Saturday, March 29
9:00 am UU Conference on Universal Health Care in CT, Unitarian Society of New Haven, Hamden
12:00 pm Composers Workshop, Sanctuary
2:00 pm Local Composers Concert, Sanctuary
7:30 pm Concert Pro Femina - 8th Annual Women Composers’ Concert, Sanctuary

Sunday, March 30
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 Council on Social Justice, Murray
10:00 am Youth Choir, Chapel
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
1:00 pm The Secular Mind, Library
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel, then Fellowship Hall

Monday, March 31
7:00 pm NVC 4, Emerson

Tuesday, April 1
11:00 am ICEJ, Library
6:00 pm Information and Advocacy, Library
6:30 pm Stewardship, Ballou
7:00 pm Festival of the Season, Murray
7:00 Religious Education , Servetus
8:00 pm AA, Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, April 2
2:45 pm Rental, Library
5:15 pm Tai Chi for Health, Fellowship Hall
6:00 pm Dharma Gathering, Emerson
6:00 pm Performing Arts, Library
6:30 pm Tai Chi, Fellowship Hall
7:30 pm Choir rehearsal, Sanctuary
7:30 pm NVC practice group, Emerson

Thursday, April 3
9:30 am International Women’s Circle, Fellowship Hall
3:30 pm Fitzgerald rehearsal, Sanctuary

Friday, April 4
1:00 pm Transitional Group, Library
5:30 pm Family Friendly SGM, Fellowship Hall

Saturday, April 5
1:00 pm Pastels for Beginners, Servetus
Evening Circle Dinners, various homes

Sunday, April 6
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 Youth Group Soup Making, Kitchen
10:15 am South Indian Carnatic Music, Chapel
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
1:00 pm Film showing, The Company of Strangers, Fellowship Hall
1:30 pm Eat by Choice, Nor by Habit, Servetus
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel, then Fellowship Hall

Did You Know? - By April 1st, we will have gained 17 minutes of additional daylight since the equinox.

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