USH-Enews April 12, 2007

USH-Enews For April 12, 2007
Jump to: Calendar; What's happening; A matter of opinion; External events; Further down the road; Did You Know?

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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 line, or past issues of the weekly USH-Enews click here.

Office hours: M-F 9-3 (excluding W 10 -11); Rev. Jamestone: Phone: 860 233-9897; Email: RevBJ@USHartford.com - Rev. BJ office hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday by appointment.

Worshipping Together Since 1830
Services held at 9 and 11 AM

Sunday - 15 April - Being Faithful to our Work: the story of Mary and Martha - Debbie Humphries

At 12:30 PM Debbie Humphries from the Hartford Friends Meeting will briefly present the Quaker process for making decisions on social Justice issues and then lead a discussion that will inform the efforts of the USH Task force on Public Policies to develop a recommended process for bringing important social justice issues before the congregation. The forum will take place from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Chapel. All are welcome.

Music: - “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need” in Virgil Thomson’s setting is an old American hymn expressing the comfort and security found in some early American sects.

RE - Around this Summer? Love sharing experiences with children? Consider staffing our Sunday RE Summer Program! We are seeking a responsible, enthusiastic and dedicated person to offer a fun-filled program we will develop especially for children visiting USH during the summer months. This program will run during Sunday services from June 17 through the end of August. Mature high school students, as well as enthusiastic and loving adult members are encouraged to apply. Have questions or want to learn more? Just contact Nina Binin at NBininBerg(at symbol)comcast.net or by phone 673-6180

Middle School Parents! A reminder that the youth will be going to Windsor on April 29th to visit the Islamic Center of CT. The class will be leaving the Meeting House in time to arrive for a tour of the Center starting at 12:30 PM, followed by an opportunity to participate in mid-day prayer at 1 PM. It is anticipated that the class will return to the Meeting House no later than 2 PM. Since this visit will run over lunch, the Middle School class will have a mid-day bagel brunch prior to leaving for the field trip. We are still missing several field trip permission slips. (You folks know who you are!) Copies of these permission slips will be on the side table in Servetus. Please leave completed forms in the RE Administrator mailbox in the Church Office. If you would like an e-mail copy of the permission slip, or would be interested in helping with car pooling, please contact Sheila Ward or Ed Lyman.

RE Family Registration is coming up soon! To properly plan for next year's Religious Education program, the Religious Education Sub-Council will be requesting that families with children complete and return registration sheets. Your cooperation and timely response will be greatly appreciated. THANKS!

What Else is Happening & Announcements

Clara Barton District Spring Conference April 14th 2007 More Information

Want Your Event Publicized? - Please Note Proper Use of The Meeting House Weekly

Besides this weekly USH-Enews (this publication) , another means of communication is the insert to the Sunday Order of Service. “The Meeting House Weekly” is a one page publication and its space limitations warrant occasional reminders of how we can all help optimize the usefulness of the “Weekly”.

Its purposes are:

to describe in brief and promote participation in Society events;
to orient folks to what is happening that Sunday and the following week;
to remind folks in advance of future event dates they will want to mark on their calendars;
to serve as an instrument of communication for the minister on topics of her choosing;
to give USH guests a flavor of what is going on;
to acknowledge those persons serving in Sunday roles such as ushering and greeting visitors;
to list a reference calendar of all the meetings and events scheduled in the following week.

Submissions should meet the following criteria:

Events listed are Society events, or closely related to our mission AND actively supported by many of our members.
Announcements should be brief and may be edited due to space limitations.
Copy should be submitted to the office in a timely way, by 10:00 AM on the Thursday prior to the Sunday of publication.
In general, announcements will be run at most three times: once early on at a time designated when submitted, and again on the one or two Sundays prior to the event. Exceptions might be congregation-wide occasions such as a Stewardship Party or an Installation, when more frequent reminders may be published.

Body Burden - A Modern-Day Comedy in Three Acts - Benefit for Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice Open discussion following performance Saturday April 21, 2007 at 7 PM; 6:30 Mixer - Unitarian Society of Hartford, 50 Bloomfield Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105 Tickets: $10 General Admission, $5 Students - Contact: Dawn Simonsen, 888-548-1131 toll-free: 860-548-1122; 860-548-9197 fax; dawn-simonsen(at symbol)environmental-Justice.org

Co-Sponsored by:" Information& Advocacy Sub-Council of the Unitarian Society of Hartford and Unitarian Performing Arts of the Unitarian Society of Hartford.

Presented by Jake Weinstein and the Rogersbarn Circus Breast Cancer, Environmental Health and You!

Walk Against Hunger Planned - Saturday May 6th - Check in 1 PM, Walk begins at 2 PM distance, about three miles.The walk against hunger is held on the first Sunday in May every year. This three-mile walk through Hartford's west end is conducted by Foodshare, Connecticut's regional food bank that distributes food to over 300 agencies throughout the area.

One of the major recipients is our own Center City Churches, of which we are member. CCC operates a number of programs including a soup kitchen, meals for shut-ins, and a food pantry. One of the benefits of being part of this program is the tremendous food purchasing power created by Foodshare's participation. All of the food is actually donated consisting of food that would have otherwise been discarded because it is surplus to the needs of the stores and warehouses that would have originally sold it.

Instead of going into a landfill, it is distributed to the programs already mentioned - at a price of only 1/10 of its actual value. This is because food itself is free; Center City Churches only pays for the cost of transporting it. In other words, every $100 raised provides $1,000 worth of food for its recipients.

Over 100,000 people in the Greater Hartford area now rely on food assistance each year, and more than 40,000 of these people are children. In addition, nearly 10 percent of our senior citizens also require some kind of food aid.

Center City Churches is a major component of the region's food support programs. last year, it delivered over 20,000 meals to the homebound, as well as two separate senior centers in Hartford. Nearly 24,000 meals were served to approximately 1,500 low income and homeless adults at its soup kitchen on Church Street. 76,000 pounds of groceries were delivered to over 500 families through the food pantry on Buckingham Street. These figures have increased markedly over the last year by as much as 23 percent at one of our locations. Center City churches also delivered 1,265 holiday meals on seven major holidays throughout the year. - John Stowe

Do You Know a Need? - If you know of anyone who might be helped with a meal or two from the Caring Network freezer, please contact Nancy Reed, Kathy Herzog or Janice Newton.

Help Us Make a Banner for BJ! - Come lend your contribution to a participatory, congregation-wide art project honoring our own Reverend Barbara Jamestone! Reverend BJ will be formally installed as our minister at an installation service and celebration on Sunday May 20 at 4 PM In honor of that occasion, we’re planning a new chancel banner—and we’d like everyone who is willing to contribute a square. No sewing involved! Fabrics, patterns, and final assembly will be provided, but you need to bring a pair of sharp scissors. If you can handle those scissors, and an iron, you can do this! We are especially encouraging the participation of persons of the male persuasion. Diane Cadrain and Rosie Rindfleisch, the coordinators of this project, are going to make themselves, and all necessary materials, available on two separate occasions, and we’d like as many of you as possible to show up and put together a square. Those dates are:

Sunday April 15th at 12:15 PM (after the 11 am service) in the Spirit Play room
Monday, April 16th at 7:00 PM in Servetus.

C’mon Down! And bring scissors that are sharp enough to cut cloth. Once everyone completes their squares, the squares will be assembled into a banner and hung in the chancel on May 20th for Rev. BJ’s installation. For more information, contact Diane Cadrain (diane.cadrain(at symbol)snet.net, 860 233-8766) or Rosie Rindfleisch (rosierindfleisch(at symbol)ushartford.com, 860 674-8277).

Photo Opportunity - Check your name on the photo sheet posted in Fellowship Hall (or just check now) and if you are listed, see Anne Bailey or David Newton during coffee hour for a quick photo. It's a snap! What is this all about?

W A Education Grant Applications Available in April - The Women’s Alliance Educational Grant applications are available now through the end of April and are due by Sunday, April 29. More

Don't miss the last Supper & Game Night of the season on April 20, 6 to 8:30 PM. Please note: since there are members and friends of USH who have food allergies or food intolerances, and in order to make their participation a safe experience, please include with your food contribution a card listing all ingredients. Thanks! More

Don't Forget the "Musical Review" on April 22, 12:15 in The Chapel - More

Caring Network: What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~Albert Pike
- You are the ears of the Caring Network. Tell Janice Newton 677-1121 when you learn 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.

ON THE CALENDAR:

Thursday, April 12
7:00 pm An Amazing Journey, Library
7:30 pm Rental, Chapel

Friday, April 13
5:30 pm Dinner and Movie, Akeela and the Bee, Fellowship Hall
6:30 – 7:30 pm Rental, Sanctuary

Saturday, April 14
8:00 am – 4:00 pm Clara Barton UU District Spring Conference, Dudley, Mass.
9:00 – 10:30 am Rental, Chapel
4:00 – 6:00 pm Rental, Sanctuary

Sunday, April 15
8:00 am Music Rehearsal, Chapel
9:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, CHAPEL
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am Children’s Choir, Chapel
10:00 am Comfort Shawl, Lower Lobby
10:00 am Disabilities, Library
10:00 am B&G, Murray
10:00 am Welcoming Congregation, Ballou
10:15 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
10:30 am Chalice Choir, Emerson
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:00 noon Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
12:15 pm Installation Banner, Classroom D
12:30 pm Task Force on Public Policies Info Session, Chapel

Monday, April 16
6:30 pm Survivors of Incest Anonymous, Murray
7:00 pm Pathways to Membership, Library
7:00 pm Pathways childcare, Nursery
7:00 pm Artist’s Way/Installation Banner workshop, Sevetus
7:00 pm Endowment, Murray

Tuesday, April 17
12:00 noon Men’s Luncheon Group, Avon
12:00 noon ICEJ Clergy, Library
7:00 pm Worship Associates, Ballou
8:00 pm AA, Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, April 18
10:00 – 11:00 am Staff Meeting, Minister’s Study (OFFICE CLOSED)
6:00 pm Buddhism, Emerson
6:30 pm Tai Chi, Fellowship Hall
7:30 pm Choir, Sanctuary

Thursday, April 19
10:00 am International Women’s Circle, Fellowship Hall
7:00 pm An Amazing Journey, Library

Friday, April 20
6:00 pm Supper and Games Night, Fellowship Hall

Saturday, April 21
11:00 am – 5:00 pm Rental – Fellowship Hall
7:00 pm Body Burden health event, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am – 2:00 pm Worship Associates Training, Ballou

Sunday, April 22
8:00 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
9:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, CHAPEL
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am Children’s Choir, Chapel
10:15 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
10:30 am Chalice Choir, Emerson
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
12:00 am Women’s Alliance Annual Meeting, Library
12:15 pm Musical Review, Chapel

Italicized entries are non-USH events.

Please notify the office of all additions or changes to the calendar.To get on the calendar, call 233.9897

Further Down The Road (About 30 Days Max)

From the Editor: Do you use the listservs? If so, please address email to not more than three at a time and include only a few other individual email addresses. When you send a reply think before you hit the reply all key. These actions will prevent identification of your submission as spam and the generation of email that does not contribute meaningful information to the subject under discussion. - The bounce fielder

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This Week’s Feature Articles

Clara Barton District to Train Mystery Worshippers – This program of the District Growth Team sends a mystery worshipper into various District congregations to test their welcoming procedures. Subsequently, a report is prepared and sent to the visited congregation thus helping them evaluate their own welcoming procedures.

This program has many benefits not only for the congregations that receive the evaluations but for the congregations that provide mystery worshipers. USH would benefit by learning about effective greeting, welcoming and follow-up as well as gaining the opportunity to visit other UU congregations in the District.

Participants in the program will spend about two hours in training and be expected to visit about three congregations.

The District is seeking some reliable, experienced members of our congregations to serve as mystery worshipers. If you would like to participate in the training scheduled for the evening of April 18 in Lancaster, MA and on April 25 in Manchester (CT), please see BJ.

B&G Work Day Makes Progress on Task List - Saturday April 7th members of the B&G Sub-Council and other volunteers gathered at the Meeting House from 9 AM -12 noon to clean up accumulated winter debris and tidy up parts of Ye Olde Meeting House.

Had you been there you would have found Ron Friedman and Betty Palmer sweeping up sand and gathering twigs, branches and dead vegetation from the parking lot and grounds in front of the Meeting House assisted by Ed Sax, grand organizer of the occasion. In the back you would have seen Janice Williams cleaning up debris on the North Side of the Building. On the roof you would have found Stu Spence and David Newton inspecting and cleaning the roof drains and later digging about where the drainpipes are presumed to drain water away from the Chapel roof drip line.

In the building Anne Bailey was busily cleaning the glass at the front entrance while Carol Sexton could be found preparing the walls of the handicapped accessible bathroom off Fellowship Hall for a new paint job.

Meanwhile Jim Venneman was cleaning the Plexiglas on the Ambulatory side of the Library. Others signed up at work included Ron Sexton, Roy Cook, Peter Magistri and BJ. It looks like we had twelve workers, and just before Easter Sunday at that!

In terms we have grown to understand in recent months, thanks everyone for your contribution to this important ministry.

And, the task list is not finished. Do you have some time? See Ed Sax and volunteer to do some remaining tasks. Perhaps we could term them a micro ministry! - DCN

Reflections on Hunger Awareness Month - Hartford Food-stamp Project - March, 2007 - Note: The begging bowl is filled to the brim with all the food that I have left over.

My cup (or should I say bowl) runnith over.

This bowl and these receipts represent everything I have bought in the last month.

I thought I knew, or could imagine, what I was getting in for. I expected to gain a greater understanding of what it was like to treat food deliberately and go without. I expected to learn a little about myself and a little about others. I didn't expect to truly feel the emotions. I didn't expect to find this experience one of the more meaningful things I have ever done.

From the beginning, I knew that I was doing the whole month, so I didn't think of it as $4/day, or $28/week, but as $112 for four weeks. My very first shopping trip was almost 50 dollars! I had bought chicken, eggs, brown rice and beans, so I figured my dinners were covered. I also had bought the oil, vinegar, and herbs for the dressing to put on my daily salad. But still I lived the month in uncertainty and didn't know until last week how I was doing.

I was surprised how my experience changed over the course of the month. At the beginning, it was a challenge. I was determined to continue eating a healthy diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, and grains. That first shopping trip I bought two chickens on sale, and from those chickens, I made 20 meals. But you know what? I have an advantage, I know how to cook and could take the bones from those chickens and the tough stems from the collard greens, and make a soup. Someone who didn't know how would have tossed those four meals into the garbage.

On my 4th shopping trip, I came out of the store having spent $13.92—more than three days worth of food stamps—and felt I had nothing to show for it. I had bought some cottage cheese, crackers, herbal tea, and some frozen vegetables (on sale). My overall total was now $69; I was into my 3rd week financially and it was only March 6! I panicked. I wasn't going to be able to make it to the end of the month. I decided to cut my coffee drinking in half and cut out cottage cheese, which I put in my lunch most days. I discovered that I dearly love cottage cheese.

The last 10 days have been really tough. I began to feel a desperate need for community. I needed to feel connected, not just to ANY community, but to THAT community, THAT community that understood, that shared my experiences, and possibly could share my food. Last weekend I felt resentment when I smelled one of my neighbors grilling steak and I was eating rice and beans for dinner. (This has potential ramification for discussion of mixed-income neighborhoods.) BJ had offered me the bowl for the final week and I casually accepted. But quickly that bowl came to signify connection and community. I came to the Meeting House last week to pick it up. I didn't see it, and I felt myself getting frantic. I NEEDED that bowl. When Liz arrived with it, I practically snatched it out of her hands. I have eaten my dinners in that bowl for the past week.

I was able to eat a healthy diet: I bought fruit and vegetables off the rotten rack--$1.10 for a head of lettuce and 6 small bananas! But I had to buy small quantities every two or three days so they wouldn't spoil. But you know what? I have an advantage. I have a car and could go to the store that often. If I had to ride the bus, would I do it? I took the time to compare prices in the store, going back and forth between aisles to get the best deal, weighing the heads of lettuce to get the biggest one (75 cents a piece). But you know what? I have an advantage. I didn't have hungry kids tugging at my sleeve.

Let me read to you from my food diary…

you get the picture—boring. Last week I went to tasting Tuesday at Whole Foods market. I waltzed in with my net shopping bag and a grocery basket on my arm. It was all for show, I wasn't going to buy anything. I felt thrilled to be infiltrating this food emporium, and I felt ashamed.

The food I bought this month satisfied my physical need for sustenance. It satisfied by ascetic need to live simply. It satisfied my social need to understand how others think and feel. It satisfied my creative need to solve problems. But it didn't satisfy my emotional need, the part of me that sees food as pleasure, that sees food as comfort. It was satisfying but not gratifying. I was compelled to get gratification elsewhere, in ways that might have other consequences. I found myself taking longer showers. I found it harder to get out of bed in the morning, and therefore I was getting to work later and because I was thinking about food all the time, I had difficulty concentrating at work. I found myself drinking more. All to get the emotional gratification I was not getting from food.

I've considered doing this for another month. Why? because I'd be better at it. I've learned that popcorn is a cheap snack. I've learned that you can freeze milk, so I could have bought the gallon: SAVINGS 1.57. I should have bought the large coffee and the large peanuts: SAVINGS 86 cents. And I have this bowl full of food. This is the down payment on my next month. Maybe I'm enough ahead to buy cottage cheese again, to buy that special treat. So when you stand behind me in the check out line and see I have a red pepper, or a mango, or that extravagant container of rocky road ice cream, don't roll your eyes and scoff at my expensive or unhealthy choices, but know that I am feeding a hunger that is much, much deeper. - Virginia deLima

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)

External Events and Educational Notes

Rally on Global Warming : The Connecticut Climate Coalition Step It Up rally at Bushnell Park on Saturday, April 14, 12- 4PM will call upon state and federal officials to “step up” efforts to cut global warming pollution 80% by 2050. This is part of a national day of action with formal remarks by dignitaries from 2- 3:30. For more information contact cbennett@cleanwater.org. - Skip Berrien

NEWS FLASH FROM DOWN UNDER! Hi, Everyone! Great news! Granddaughter Leila Vaziri now holds the new world record in the 50 Meter Backstroke and is in proud possession of a gold medal and a silver earned in the 4X100 Meter Relay. Great trip! Love, Edith & Ed (Savage)

Did You Know? - Excerpts from, The Solution is You, by Laurie David -

Pass your magazines on to a friend, nursing home or library. Make your office recycle and buy paper products that are made from post consumer waste. The paper industry is the third-largest contributor to global warming pollution.

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

Let us know of any comments, errors and corrections - thanks (revised 04/12/07 7:56 AM Edition)