USH-Enews April 14, 2011

Jump to: Sunday Service; Calendar; What's Happening; Feature Articles; External Events; Further Down the Road; Social Justice Journeys; Community of Caring; Green Topics ; A Matter of Opinion

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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.

Rev. Jamestone: Phone: 860 233-9897; Email: RevBJ@USHartford.com - Rev. BJ office hours by appointment.

Stuffed Animals

Toys for Haiti! During our UU Service Committee celebration a few Sundays ago, we learned about the special needs of children who were dispossessed by the tragedy in Haiti last year. Reverend BJ told the children that they could be a part of our USH aid to those children by bringing stuffed animals to church which could be flown to Haiti in time for Easter. Altogether our children (and grandparents) donated 169 stuffed animals who you see in this photo enjoying Sunday worship from the steps of the Chancel. - BJ

Worshipping Together Since 1830
Service 10:30 AM

Sunday -17 April -- Earth Day - Rev BJ and the Green Sanctuary Sub-Council are joined by Mr. John Seager, President of Population Connection, a national grassroots organization that educates young people and advocates progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth's resources

Here is the place to find your neighborhood network- Look for your number Sunday

Post service Alliance Program Offered

Green Topics - Did you Know? This Sunday, in honor of Earth Day, consider making a Meatless Monday pledge.

If every American skipped one meal of meat per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.

See how easy it is to make an impact? A United Nations report concluded that the meat industry causes almost 40% more greenhouse gas emissions than all the world's transportation systems -- that's all the cars, trucks, SUVs, planes and ships in the world combined. The report also concluded that factory farming is one of the biggest contributors to the most serious environmental problems at every level -- local and global. It's time to do something about that and improve our health at the same time. What a great program!

Sign up to take the pledge after the service in Fellowship Hall on Sunday.

Sundays: 9:00 AM. Choir Practice - All who love to sing are welcome to come join us. We especially need more men and sopranos. For more information contact Carolyn Halsted at 860-343-0677 or chalsted(at symbol)wesleyan.edu.

REflections on Children's Programming

Religious Education Classes

All children and youth are welcome to attend classes after the Time for All Ages. If your child is not yet registered, please email Gail at: dre@ushartford.com

Sunday, April 17th

Ages Birth-Three: Nursery Care
Pre-K-First Grade: Spirit Play-Earth Day
Second & Third Grade: Faithful Journeys-Seek Truth

Fourth & Fifth Grade: Bibleodeon-Moses in the Bulrushes

Sixth-Eighth Grade: Popcorn Theology/Coming of Age

High School Youth Group: Soup Making

Sheila Ward (in Gail’s absence)

What Else is Happening

Building and Grounds Work Day This Saturday, 16 April 9 - noon. Join us for the outdoor cleanup of the grounds.

Women's Alliance Program: Sacred Places in Asian Religions, 4-17 noon Rev. BJ - China is is home to many religions. Follow Rev. BJ through one long day in Beijing when she visited a Taoist temple, a Confucian shrine, a Muslim mosque, a Catholic Church, a Buddhist temple, then had dinner at a Hard Rock Cafe with stained glass depictions of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash! Finally, puddle jump to Japan for Shinto shrines and the annual festival at Isi, home of the Emperor's Goddess Amaterasu.

March Financials Available now on the web.

Easter “Egg” Hunt – All children are invited to participate in a Social Action Easter “ Egg” Hunt at noon on Easter (April 24th ). The children will search for canned goods which will be hidden on the church grounds, then turn them in for prizes, candy, and cookies.

All treats will be peanut and tree nut free. The canned goods will then be donated to the Horace Bushnell Food Pantry. In case of inclement weather, the hunt will take place indoors. If you have any questions about this activity, please contact Sheila Ward at wardsheila(at symbol)comcast.net

GD morphs to Great Discussions - The Great Decisions adult ed program was so well received this year that we want to continue the discussions. The group is meeting in the USH Library from 9:15 to 10:15 weekly through May 22, and all are invited to attend. How it works: We have a “round-the-table” brief on the news of the week, each person talking about some issue of particular interest. Then we are generating some short readings, 1-2 pages, from current publications to pick up on any themes in policy, humanism, or social change that are offered by a participant. We ask for small donations to cover administrative overhead and copying. For more information, please contact Ed Savage (edsavage(atsign)ushartford.com) or just come on Sunday! Great Discussions await you! - Ed Savage

Japan Fund Raiser Results via the Red Cross - Wow! What great news from our fundraising event!! The fundraiser last Saturday evening was a rousing success. The Sanctuary was filled with supporters and after a suburb music program most enjoyed refreshments and conversation in Fellowship Hall. The Results - $8,000.92 raised.

You may not think that we did much, but we made sure that everyone had a place to park, we greeted our guests, we smiled, directed people to the facilities and the elevator, set up the microphone, added chairs, made a sign, started the concert, set up the tables for the reception, found cups, made coffee, cleaned up, located paper towels, guarded instruments, guarded the pink box, directed people to the pink box, pressed the hapel into service as the “green room” for the musicians, found music stands, saw a need for the kids to have something to do and opened a class room and the nursery, found the TV and set it up for the kids, made sure that parents felt comfortable leaving their kids to enjoy the service, found paper towels and washed a table cloth that was used.....and that is only what I can think of – I am sure there is more.

Thank you Hannah and Ben for being so easily pressed into child care services. I know that you came to park a couple of cars and hear a concert and ended up watching The Little Mermaid for the 10,000th time and getting covered in glitter. That was an unanticipated need that we stepped in to fill, because we knew what to do. I never imagined that a concert like this would draw so many children!

Thank you all for being there for this important event. Although I had only spoken to two of you before I agreed to be the point person, I knew that our community would come forward with helping hands and loving hearts and we would shine.

Hugs to you all!! - Liz Garmise

Did you miss Last Sunday's Service? - Not to worry, you can hear it now

USH Dance Reprised! - Over the last month we have all heard wonderful reports of the amazing time that was had by all at the Gala hosted by Julie Smith and Deb Nardi. As a way to thank you all for participating, our illustrious DJ David Leak will be returning to light up our dance floor on Saturday, April 16th from 6-10.

Admission is free, and members, friends and friends of members and friends of all ages are welcome to join the party! Feel free to bring finger-food desserts to share with everyone. BYOB if you're over 21.

Donations of canned goods for the Horace Bushnell Food Pantry are desired and encouraged. Put on your boogie shoes and join us! Even if you prefer not to dance, come anyway and enjoy pleasant conversation and snacks amid the celebration. - BJ

Prozac for the Planet - Ed Richardson is will be the speaker for the Men's Luncheon Group meeting on Tuesday, April 19. Ed's topic is Prozac for the Planet, a reading with commentary on climate control. All men and women of the Society are invited to attend. The luncheon is at noon at Carmon Anthony's Restaurant on Rte 44 in Avon, with the talk and discussion afterwards.

Adult Programs - Attention all Movie Fans! The next Friday $10 Pizza and Movie night has been rescheduled to Saturday, May 28 (from Friday, May 13). Be sure to mark your calendars so you won’t miss “The Last Station”. Stop by the Programs Table this Sunday during coffee hour. We can help you with any questions you may have about the different Adult Programs offered.

If you’re looking for a book about Unitarian Universalism, the Book Cart located next to the Programs Table, might just have the book you’re looking for. You can refer to the complete listing of classes and programs on the web.

Our Chosen Faith, Wednesday, April 27, 7 PM. A Chosen Faith books may be purchased at the Programs Table on Sunday for $16..
USH Book Club, Thursday, May 19, 7 PM, to discuss Damage by John Lescroart. For address, directions, and questions, please call Jean or Richard at 860-678-1030.

projector Next $10 Pizza and Movie Night
Date Changed to Saturday, May 28 - The highly acclaimed historical drama, "The Last Station" will be the May feature in the Dinner and Movie Series.
Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer received accolades for their roles in this R-rated 2009 movie. The date has been changed to Saturday, May 28, beginning of the long weekend. The cost will be $10 for pizza (your choice of meat or vegetable) with beer and soft drinks available. Further details will be available in the next issues of the ENews or you may call 860-693-4269.

External Events and Educational Notes

Local Event to Support Housing Rehabilitation Project on Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota - Featured Joseph FireCrow, Grammy, Nammy and Indian Summer Music Award Winner Live in a Benefit Concert May 14, 2011, Glastonbury High School Details

The Caring Corner - Old friends are like Gold! New friends are Diamonds! If you get a Diamond, don't forget the Gold! Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a base of Gold!

Caring Network - 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.

Community of Caring - If you have a need, please call the Meetinghouse, ext.102 or email bmullen(at sign)ushartford.com
A COC person be in touch with you asap.
If you need food immediately, please take a meal/s from the top two shelves of the freezer in the kitchen. - Love, Service, & Helping One Another

Caregivers Support Group The Caregiver’s Support Group has changed the time of its meeting, now meeting the first Thursday of every month from 11 AM to 12:30 PM in David’s Den. If you have any questions about the group, please don’t hesitate to contact Diana Heyman at heydiana at Comcast.net or Carolyn Cartland at crcartland1 at Comcast.net. - Carolyn Cartland

From the Editor: Suggestions for Contributors.

This Week’s Feature Articles

Toys for Haiti
Spring Hilaritas: Kids and Grownups Sing a Song
Update - Nominating Committee
USH Dance Reprised
Sunday Sit With Your Neighborhood Network
Multi-Generational Movie Event
Can You Keep a Secret?

Spring Hilaritas: Kids and Grownups Sing a Song! - This Easter Sunday we will celebrate Spring and Rebirth with a variety of musical offerings, some of which include congregational participation. In addition to traditional Easter hymns, you can join a multigenerational expression of the joy we can feel when we "Sing a Song" together.

Click here to see how Maya Angelou, Katie Couric, Nathan Lane, Miss Piggy, Conan O'Brien and a host of other celebs "Sing a Song".

Then click here to hear how USH kids and adults will "Sing a Song." Then click here to see the lyrics, and here to see the chords, in case you want to pull out your musical instrument and join the orchestra!

Kids have received a CD at Sunday School that can be played at home or in the car that includes both "Sing a Song" and a second song (The angel rolled the stone away) which kids will be practicing after church on the 17th. For your own CD see Sheila Ward! - BJ

Sunday Sit With Your Neighborhood - Network This Sunday we will be celebrating Earth Day by sitting in our Neighborhood Networks during the service. We do this so you will be reminded of the people at the meeting house who live close by to you so maybe, someday, you might ask to carpool together.

Cars release CO2 and other toxic gases and are a primary contributor to global warming as well as unhealthy air. They are also the single largest users of petroleum, consuming about 16% of the total energy used in the U.S. Plus, the runoff of oil, brake dust, road particles and improperly disposed waste fluids results in water pollution. Did you know that one quart of motor oil can contaminate thousands of gallons of fresh water?

Don't know which Network you're in? No worry, our trusty ushers will help you. but if you really want to know (and who wouldn't) you can look it up in the directory or see below.

Here's a listing of the Neighborhood Networks(NN):

NN 1: Bloomfield and Windsor
NN 2: Hartford only
NN 3: North - East Granby, Enfield, Granby, and North Granby, Simsbury, Suffield, Tariffville, Weatogue, West SImsbury, and West Suffield
NN 4: All towns East of the River.... Coventry, East Hampton, East Hartford, Glastonbury, Manchester, Marlborough, Northford, Oakdale, Salemn, South Glastonbury, South Windsor and Tolland
NN 5: The Northwest... Canton, Collinsville, New Hartford, and Torrington
NN 6: The South... Berlin, Cromwell, East Berlin, Higganum, New Britain, New Haven, Newington, Rocky Hill, Stratford and Wethersfield.
NN 7: The West... Avon, Burlington, Farmington, Plainville and Unionville
NN 8: West Hartford, 06105 and 06107, 06110
NN 9: West Hartford, 06117 and 06119

Can You Keep a Secret? - Unitarians “have a penchant for being the best kept secret in town,” guest speaker Reverend Aaron R. Payson told the USH congregation during his sermon on Sunday April 10.

A fourth generation UU and a second generation UU minister, Reverend Payson is in his 12th year as minister in Worcester, MA. His informative talk combined a discussion of his own life experiences with quotations from A Faith for the Few, Reverend Mark Harris’ lengthy article in the spring 2011 “UU World.”

Before the sermon. Religious Education Director Gail Syring used her weekly A Time for All Ages (for the children but also for us) as a farewell until this summer. Gail will receive a new kidney on April 27. Starting with a small circle, which was her own family, she drew more and more circles on a large sheet of paper, eventually filling the paper with larger and larger circles until she included all living things. “Being part of the web of life has a lot of ups and downs,” she said.

As he began his sermon, Reverend Payson called Gail over to explain that for him, her paper full of circles looked like a target. Seems as if the many things he’s involved in include being a member of the Worcester Clergy Police Community Partnership, and he does ride-a-longs with the police department every few weeks.

Reverend Payson drew our attention to the two circles pictured on the front of the Order of Service. A chalice was in the center circle. He suggested the circles could represent the overlapping of Unitarians and Universaists, or the overlapping of individuals and the congregation. He wondered how you minister to the parts of each other that do not overlap.

As a new minister, Reverend Payson explained, he was an optimist who felt he had all the answers even if he hadn’t figured out all he questions. It didn’t take him long to find out that building community and changing the world was like being the Greek king Sisyphus, whose punishment was to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and on and on and on.

As a child, he was told he had the power to change the world. What he was not told, he said, was that being a white, upperclass, heterosexual male meant that half the battle was already won for him. He realized back then that if you were female or gay, you could not be a minister. He was startled when he saw that “the only skin tone bandages available were the color of my flesh.”

Using words from A Faith for the Few, Reverend Payson reminded us that Unitarians are torn between pride in our elite history and aspirations to be a religion for all. It’s a tension with deep roots. Harris writes, “We say we aspire to be democratic and inclusive, but we are comforted by our litany of influential and prestigious forebears. Many Unitarian Universalists are torn between who is actually sitting in our pews and who we wish was sitting there.”

The A Faith for a Few article concludes: “Our theology says this vision to ‘begin the world anew’ must be with all kinds of people, not just with the social circle we create with like-minded liberals. It must be practiced in an ever-intentional manner in ever-widening circles if our faith is going to be truly transformational. Perhaps this is how Unitarian Universalism can fulfill its democratic vision and become more than a faith for a few.”

“To live is to wrestle with despair, but never allow despair to have the last word,” Reverend Payson said. Questions we ask ourselves that challenge us at our very core and often lead to an uncomfortable silence include: Why don’t we have more young families? How come we’re not more racially diverse?

Reverend Payson suggested that the ultimate questions for us are “What has worship for you? What language would you choose to express it?” He said, “to live is to wrestle with despair,” but we should never allow despair to have the last word. Hope must be our core principle. - Kayla Costenoble

Update from the Nominating Committee - Your Nominating Committee has been working to complete the process to fill open positions on the Board of Directors. All applications for the open positions are being reviewed. Cedric Woods, in-coming president of the Board, will be speaking with all applicants this week to explore their qualifications and skills and share expectations of the roles and responsibilities.

The Nominating Committee will meet on Sunday, April 17 and expect to complete the slate of candidates then. The slate will be published shortly after the meeting and will be included in the announcement of the annual meeting. We will hold a “meet the candidates” forum in May so that members of the Society will have an opportunity to get to know those who have volunteered and have been nominated to lead this Society over the next several years. We continue to be inspired by the commitment and love that so many of us have for our Society.

The Nominating Committee; Carolyn Cartland, chair; Tina Davies; Greg Nickett; Bruce Robbins; Cedric Wood

Free: Multigenerational Friday Night Pizza, Movie and Music - Friday night, April 22, at 6:30 marks the debut of the all new kid friendly Friday night at the Meeting House! Enjoy pizza , popcorn, and soft drinks with your family and your Meeting House family of all ages. Kick back for a bit of family friendly singing (bring your favorite tune and see if the pianist knows it!) and end the evening with a viewing of The Chronicles of Narnia. And it's all free! Bring yourselves and anything else you'd like to eat or drink. Please register at Programs Table during coffee hour or call Janice 860.677.1121 or email at dcnewton(at symbol)snet.net Register on or before Thursday 21 April, noon.

Social Justice Journeys (From the UUA) And from USH

icej
Please join us - at our Multicultural Dinner! Save the Date Greater Hartford Interfaith Coalition for Equity and Justice for A Multicultural Dinner And Covenant Ceremony Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 6:30 PM. At the Unitarian Society of Hartford, 50 Bloomfield Ave, Hartford, CT 06105 Please RSVP to Margaret at (860) 548-1744(o) or margysk@aol.com Visit us at www.hartfordinterfaith.org - Shai Cassell

On May 1st, the USH folks involved in the Greater Hartford Interfaith Coalition for Equity & Justice (GHICEJ) of which our congregation is a member will plan the service, providing readings and a sermon of their own "unique making." The collection that day will be taken up to pay USH's membership dues to GHICEJ. More

See the Movie Everyone has Been Talking About: Waiting for Superman - On May 5th at 7PM at the Unitarian Society of Hartford 50 Bloomfield Ave Hartford More

Further Down The Road (About 30 Days)

GHICEJ – Showing of “Waiting for Superman” Date May 5th

GHICEJ Tutoring Fundraiser, Pond House Cafe – April 28

Rawson School Education Forum – May 19

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

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 04/15/11 4:42 AM)