USH-Enews for April 16 & 23, 2009 Print Only Edition

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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. And, to read the monthly Meetinghouse Messenger (newsletter) on the web or to find past issues of the weekly USH-Enews click here.

Sunday - 19 April - Connecting with the Natural World - Rev. BJ and Our Green Sanctuary Sub-Council help us celebrate Earth Day. More

Sunday 26 April - A Celebration of Commitment and Community - Membership Sunday: What is the beloved community? In addition to welcoming new members, we will recognize all members by the era in which they joined, distinguished by minister, beginning with Rev Charles Graves! - Rev BJ, and our membership Sub-Council helps us name and claim some of the joys of serving and being served in our USH community.

Music - 19 April - Earth Day Sunday is the occasion for a reprise of Rev. BJ's favorite anthem, one that the choir sang for her Installation: the beautiful "Song of the Earth Spirit" by David Brunner.

26 April - Our own multi-instrumentalist Bill Willett brings the Nutmeg Woodwind Quintet to our chancel with music from three centuries beginning with the sprightly and popular Water Music of Handel and including Mozart and Tchaikovsky. In addition, Joyfuul Noise invites the congregation to sing along with them.

Religious Education Classes for 4/19:

Spirit Play: Earth Day
Second & Third Grade: Earth Day
Fourth & Fifth Grade: We Believe: In the Web of Nature
Sixth & Seventh Grade: The Simpsons: Three Eyes on Every Fish: The Environment
Eighth Grade: Coming of Age: The Seven Principles and Six Sources
Youth Group Activities: Soup Making

Religious Education Classes for 4/26:

Spirit Play: Four Creations to Make Humans
Second & Third Grade: Japanese Children's Day
Fourth & Fifth Grade: We Believe: In Harmony
Sixth & Seventh Grade: The Simpsons: Homer vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment
Eighth Grade: Coming of Age: Personal Identity
Youth Group Activities: Discussion

More about our Earth Day Service - Taking part in the common life means dwelling in a web of relationships, the many threads tugging at you while also holding you upright."

Sunday 4/19, as we celebrate Earth Day, we would like to foster community sharing as a way to help each other during these stressful times while also helping the Earth. Meet the people in your neighborhood network(NN) by sitting with them during the service. We will let you know which network you are in and direct you to the right place. You might be surprised to see who lives near you!

After the service you might be inspired to consider carpooling with some near you. You might also want to adopt a small piece of the land around USH to take care of (weed/adopt a bay)or join a group interested in creating a vegetable garden with children at The Village for Children and Families (next door). We will showcase a new bulletin board for people to offer seldom used items to share/lend to others, helping the Earth and our individual finances.

The Green Sanctuary Sub-Council has worked very hard this year conducting an Assessment of our beloved Meeting House and environmental practices. You can view the results of their Assessment, the Surveys you all filled out and their Proposed Action Plan on the Green Sanctuary Bulletin Board downstairs in the lobby to Fellowship Hall.

At the bulletin board and on designated tables downstairs this Sunday, you also will have the opportunity to sign up for helping the children at The Village for Children and Families (next door) benefit from growing vegetables this summer and/or Adopt A Bay - sign up to take care The Village for Children and Families garden or a piece of the Meeting House grounds.

Check out the Lending Neighbors part of the bulletin board where you can offer seldom used items to loan others, or post a need for such an item.

And finally, maps of Neighborhood Networks will be available as you meet your neighbors and consider trying to carpool to Sunday services - what a great way to help save our environment while also enjoying the company of others! - Bev Prager

Unitarians can "Talk the Talk," but will they "Walk the Walk"?

On Sunday May 3rd, beginning at 1:00, Foodshare will conduct its 26th annual Walk Against Hunger in Hartford. The goal this year is to raise $475,000 to support Foodshare’s heroic efforts to help feed our hungry neighbors. PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING THIS EFFORT. To sign up go to www.foodshare.org or call (860) 286-9999." To understand why this is so important, please read on...

The dozen or so of us who attended Foodshare’s Hunger 101 Workshop sponsored by the Women’s Alliance on Sunday April 5 were confronted with the obscene reality of hunger in Hartford and Tolland counties. The charismatic young man from Foodshare spared no detail in illuminating the desperate plight of the more than 100,000 souls, 40,000 of whom are children, as they struggle daily to find something, anything, to eat.

We were shown an incredibly moving video about the agony, fear and shame suffered by the parents who are forced to watch as their children grow hungrier. The children are incapable of understanding why this is happening to them, especially when surrounded by others who have never thought about, much less worried about where their next meal is coming from.

After watching the video illustrating the emotional impact of hunger, we participants were assigned a mock family and a limited income level and then attempted to provide meals for a day using outside assistance from a food pantry and social service agencies. We quickly came to understand the severe limitations of those few options: the often under stocked food pantries, the woefully inadequate government assistance programs, and the inconsistent offerings from churches and other organizations.

When we completed the role play exercise, we checked our degree of success. Most of us were unable, using the resources provided, to give our family members anything resembling a satisfactory meal. The most successful person in the group was able to provide one apple, a can of beans, and a can of tuna which had to be stretched over 3 meals for herself and 2 children.

Following this moving workshop, I stopped in the supermarket on the way home to pick up some groceries. As I added a pound of butter to my cart, I realized that I had just spent almost half of the entire daily food allowance of a family of four at the poverty level, defined as an income of $21,027 or less. When I got back to my car, I picked up the magazine I had taken along to read while my partner was doing some errands. It was the latest issue of the cooking magazine, Bon Appetit. I got no further than the first recipe when I realized that buying even a few of the ingredients required would be impossibly out of reach for those in poverty. Obviously the presentation by Foodshare got my attention big time.

Foodshare is an amazing organization. Its lean staff and corps of volunteers have developed methods of recovering foodstuffs that would otherwise be trashed because of mistakes in ordering or misunderstandings. Foodshare then distributes tons of food a day to Food Pantries, Soup Kitchens, Shelters, and Residential Programs. Through the ingenious use of converted beer trucks with refrigeration, fresh vegetables and other perishable items can be distributed at mobile Foodshare sites. Lest you think that hunger is an inner city Hartford problem, one of these mobile Foodshare sites is located in Avon.

If you are as touched as I am by the reality of the suffering caused by the inability of 100,000 of our neighbors to obtain enough food on a daily basis to stave off hunger, you might want to go to. Click on: “about foodshare ”, then “FAQ’S”, then “What is foodshare”, then watch the “What is Foodshare” video produced, by the way, by one of our own Society members. You may find a way to get involved with Foodshare or a local food pantry, or soup kitchen, make a donation or bring food items to the Meeting House. You might find, as I do, that doing so will somewhat lessen the feelings of guilt the next time you enjoy a shrimp cocktail or bite into a fillet mignon.

You’ll feel even better if you sign up for and contribute to the Walk Against Hunger. All the information you need to do so is on the Foodshare website.

17 May - What Hath God Wrought? This is the first formal message sent over Morse's new telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore in 1846. How can we guide our fast growing digital environment into a future that is consistent with hour Unitarian Principles? - Ed Sax

24 May - (Redacted) who passed away on( redacted) will be remembered at short memorial service to honor his memory, which included military service, in the Chapel after our regular service.

Saturday, May 30th at 2 PM there will be a special worship service in the Chapel marking the end of the Coming of Age program for our eighth grade students. Everyone is invited to welcome these youth into the next stage of their religious education and spiritual development.

31 May - Youth Service - The youth service is always a special event in our worship year featuring the passions and talents of our high school youth. This year the theme is "Our hopes and dreams for community."

The students will be examining what community provides to each of us, what we provide or give to the community, and what we hope for in the future for both ourselves and others. Music will include both traditional and contemporary pieces. A bridging ritual will both welcome our rising ninth graders into the youth group, and launch our seniors into the world with our blessing.

June 7: “Callings” Worship Service and Workshop with author Gregg Levoy Gregg Levoy is the author of Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life. He will join BJ in the morning worship service at 10:00 AM and in the afternoon conduct a workshop open to all 12:00 to 2:30 PM. Reserve your spot in the workshop by sending your name and contact information to the office with $30 registration fee. Scholarship donations allowing others to attend also welcome! The book will be available at the Book Cart soon.

What is More? - For most of us, the things we have counted on, and the things we can count, are considerably diminished these days. And yet, turning back through our family albums we know that those immediately before us experienced rationing of necessities, like milk for their infants, and before that they experienced the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and a homelessness and hunger we’ve seen only in newspapers.

If we pick up a history book, the list of obstacles to survival is infinite. Yet here we are, generally in good spirits, often even joyful. In preparing for Easter, I wondered what characteristics of the human race have brought us this far, not just as a species but as beings, and Fredrick, the mouse poet, came to my mind.

Children’s stories, the good ones, hold everything we need to know to live joyfully, and are much harder to write than the treatises to which we’d normally turn for such wisdom. As you heard on Easter Sunday, Fredrick’s wisdom is four fold:

So, in order to facilitate the coming of Hilaritas into our winter weary souls, we at USH share stone rolling ritual of resurrection on Easter. Just as the huge boulder had to be rolled away from the cave in the first Easter story, in order to resurrect the representative of wholeness of human life, so we have stones that block our access to the ‘more,’ which can restore, renew, raise from the dead some dream long denied or vision dried up.

So, we take a small stone home from the Meeting House. We spend some time reflecting on some arena in our lives, which is lacking in Hilaritas, which is and has been so painful, so imperfect, so disappointing that we may have given it up for dead.

Then we set an Easter intention that we are going to apply a liberal dose of trust in the coming year, such that every time it comes to our minds in the coming year we will say to ourselves “That is being made new” and then renounce further fretting for the moment.

We seal that intention by going out to a high place, turning in a circle to imagine that there are at least 364 possibilities that have not occurred to us in our habituated way of seeing that arena. Then, to show our openness to allowing a new way to emerge, we roll away the stone which blocks that emergence by tossing the stone up and away as far as we can, saying, “THAT is being made new!!”

Next Easter, I’ll remind you to check back and see what has happened, and in the mean time, the good news is that you can use ANY stone, and you can do this ritual as many times as is helpful to remind yourself and to strengthen your intention.

The “more” is necessary for Hilaritas, and arrives as we put ourselves in situations that encourage us to continue removing the stones that impede its emergence. That’s one reason we come to Sunday service through out the year. There are others. - BJ

Worship Theory and Practice: Why are we doing THAT on Sunday morning? - April is an exciting month for me because I get to invite folks to consider helping to create worship in the coming year. The opportunities to grow in spirit while sharing meaning and purpose with our membership are varied, and you can craft your own niche among us:

1 - Lay Speaker: Is there some question which you’ve carried for a long time, some curiosity about a religious or ethical concept, some passion you’ve wanted to explore and share? As a lay speaker, you’d meet with me and a worship associate to explore that ‘itch’ and determine how you might explore and share it during a Sunday service in the coming year.

2 - Worship Associate: Would you like to become more comfortable speaking in public, or to have a hand in shaping worship services, or to engage the study of worship theory as a spiritual discipline? Would you like to meet once a month for inspiring and challenging conversation about how to help folks experience the holy? Worship Associates assist in creating Sunday services; other members of the Worship Arts Sub-Council may choose from a variety of opportunities to contribute to the spiritual culture of USH in other ways.

3. Testimonials—Would you like to have the chance to review and consider what your life has been about until now? Those who give five minute testimonials visit with me for spiritual direction in shaping that reflection into language you can share with our worshipping community.

5. Musical Expression—Do you play an instrument which has been in the closet for 15 years? Would you like to join other musicians and just see what you remember? Do you enjoy singing, and do not have the time to commit to weekly practice with our chancel choir?

Contact the office to receive an application to serve on the Worship Arts Sub-Council, to let me know of your interest in music, or to be a lay speaker or give a testimonial, (which does not involve being on the Worship Arts Sub-Council) one Sunday in the coming year. Deadline to apply is May 10.

When You’re Smiling - On April 26, Joyfuul Noise completes our month of jazz by presenting “Smiling” at both worship services, followed by lunch together at Rev BJ's. It’s not too late for you to join in, as you probably know the tune! We’ll run through “Smiling” and sing some just for fun on Thursday 23rd from 7:30 to 8:30 in the sanctuary.

Music in May - 5/3 Music Sunday is titled “Choral Ecstasy” and features two ecstatically marvelous pieces of music. Francis Poulenc was both the “bad boy” of Parisian music and a deeply devout composer of Catholic music. Even his most sacred pieces, such as the “Gloria” we’ll excerpt, still occasionally reveal the flavor of the music hall while aspiring to heavenly sounds.

By contrast, Benjamin Britten, who is well known for serious pieces like the “War Requiem” and the exquisite songs he composed for his partner, tenor Peter Pears, sometimes branched into wit and whimsy. In his “Rejoice in the Lamb” Britten set a long, crazy poem by the 17th century poet Christopher Smart, who wrote it while in an insane asylum. Britten’s music brilliantly reveals the connection between Smart’s lunacy and his fervent faith, two forms of ecstasy. Note: both pieces feature our fantastic soprano soloist, Katie LaPorta, in one of her last solo appearances for us.

5/10 For Mothers’ Day/Flower Sunday, our tenor Brian Webster will reprise the flower solo from Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb,” and the choir will sing a simple song about flowers by Connecticut composer Charles Ives.

5/17 The Choir will sing a favorite anthem from the choral library to accompany Ed Sax's sermon interpreting the idea "What hath God wrought?" Ed asks, How can we guide our fast growing digital environment into a future that is consistent with our Unitarian principles? and the choir will do a musical take on that idea.

5/24 On Memorial Day Sunday, while the Chancel Choir is off, Joyfuul Noise sings another in their series of non-standard and impressive anthems.

5/31 The choir will sing an anthem compatible with Youth Sunday, on the theme of Hopes and Dreams.

About Music Sunday - Twice a year our Chancel Choir prepares special music for Music Sunday that is more sustained than the 3-4 minute anthems we prepare each week. This year the title of our May 3rd Music Sunday is “Ecstatic Choir” because the two pieces chosen represent particularly ecstatic outpourings of their composers’ souls.

Francis Poulenc was known as the “bad boy” of Paris among music aficionados, as much for his rule-breaking and incorporating dance-hall rhythms and jingles in his “serious” music as for his outré personal behavior. However, Poulenc’s deep and abiding faith became stronger later in his life, and his “Gloria” is considered the acme of ecstatic and profoundly beautiful choral writing. It is composed for soprano soloist, choir and orchestra (John will represent the orchestral instruments with the piano). The solo soprano soars to ecstatic heights of fervor throughout the piece.

Benjamin Britten discovered “Rejoice in the Lamb,” a long poem by the 18th century poet Christopher Smart, written while Smart was in an insane asylum. It’s unclear whether he was genuinely insane or merely in deep debt, but the poem is remarkable for both its deep religiosity and its bizarre imagery, linking humans and animals in holiness. As Britten set the poem to music, he selected vividly distinct passages: a lightning-quick poetic tour linking Biblical persons and animals: “Let Nimrod, the mighty hunter, bind a Leopard to the altar and consecrate his spear to the Lord”; a description of “my cat Jeoffrey…the servant of the Living God…wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness”; the Mouse, “a creature of great personal valor”; a holy comparison: “for I am under the same accusation with my Saviour”; an alphabet of faith: “For H is a spirit and therefore he is God…for L is love and therefore he is God…for M is musick and therefore he is God”; and above all the rapturous “Hallelujah” repeated twice.

Rev. Jamestone will explore the meaning and manifestations of ecstasy both within and beyond these musical selections.

Occasionally for past Music Sundays we have joined together with another choir. I am currently in negotiations with two of our sister churches, hoping that we can soon have joint Music Sundays with UCWH (Fern Street) and/or UUS:E (Manchester).

This year we’ve done all the Music Sundays on our own, but, in an unusual bit of outreach, on May 3rd we bring back a magnificent voice from our past. Chai-lun Yueh is one of the finest baritones in Connecticut, appearing in major operatic roles and soloing in church and concert performances throughout New England. USH had the great fortune to have him as our regular soloist/section-leader for many years. This year he returns, as just a section singer, to help amplify our bass section for Music Sunday. He has a glorious voice, spectacular musicianship and a warmly loving personality. Welcome back, Chai-lun! - Matti

Hilaritas: A Celebration of Easter - Wow! What a wonderful world it was, indeed, at the Meeting House on Easter Sunday! A jazzy, foot-tapping, hand-clapping happy time. Think “hilaritas”—a word suggesting “living joyfully.” Nice to see a packed Meeting House. Let’s hear it for being all together at one service (your reporter’s personal opinion…).

Musicians and many voices made the service special. There was the “Hilaritas Meeting House Jazz Combo” with Yunie Majica on alto sax, John Grieco on drums and our own multi-talented John Jesensky on jazz piano. We should have learned by now not to be surprised by Music Director Mattie Banzaf, but we were, a little, when she and Cat Lanser together used American Sign Language to interpret “What a Wonderful World,” a song made famous by Louis Armstrong. As Mattie said, “I had learned the signs when I taught elementary school. I was so grateful to Cat (for helping me out,). After teaching the signs to several generations of school children, singing and signing this song has special resonance for me.”

USH’s children’s voices batted out a slightly modified version of the African-American spiritual “Walk Together Children” with its “UU children in Hartford town.” Another African-American spiritual “Plenty Good Room” (in the kingdom of heaven for you and me) had it all: choirs, jazz combo, audience participation and hearty hand-clapping. And who knew? Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday” is our hymn 202. And what could be more appropriate than “Pennies from Heaven” during the offering?

“We need a celebration,” Reverend BJ proclaimed. We certainly had one as we joined in Thomas Benjamin’s “Jazz Alleluia” at least three times during the service—during the Musical Call to Worship, towards the end of the service and in an unplanned, impromptu moment right before Reverend BJ’s Homily.

Somewhat ironically, just as I was thinking about all the work and planning that goes on each week to produce a seamless, appropriate service with only an occasional glitch, we had one—a glitch, that is. Reverend BJ discovered that few of us had been given a special insert to the Order of Service, so we did a few more rounds of the “Jazz Alleluia” while Religious Education Director Gail went to find and distribute some.

In her Homily, Reverend BJ retold a story well-know to the USH kids. It concerned Frederick the mouse who spent all his time gathering words while the rest of the mice gathered food for the winter ahead. Later, when the food ran out and the mice were close to starvation, Frederick regaled them with his wonderful stories and they were able to forget their “asset depreciation.” “Assets are necessary, but not sufficient,” Reverend BJ suggested. For the “eternally true message of Easter…we find that we need a more. We are not the more; we are fingers pointing to the more. We remember that there is more than we thought, although it won’t reveal itself to us in a way that we can see.”

The missing insert to the Order of Service mentioned earlier in this report was a description of UU member/artist Seraphim Seskevich’s Viva Affirmativa. This art installation in the Payson Miller Chapel was dedicated immediately after the service. According to Ser’s notes, the Via Affirmativa is a “manifestation of the transcending mystery and wonder of the Spirit of Life, aesthetically available to the sense through color, sound, smell, texture, imagery, language.”

During the service, Reverend BJ said that about two years ago, Ser, a former Franciscan monk, came to her wondering whether we (the USH) could accept him. When he discovered that we certainly could, he asked her how he could contribute and show his love. The answer: the incredible hangings all around the Chapel, showing the world’s religions in striking, elaborate icons. They celebrate the world’s religions; Unitarian Universalism, Buddhism,, Liturgical Christianity, Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Humanism, Earth-Centered Native Spiritualities, All Souls.

Ser was not alone in this transformation of the Chapel. During the service, he thanked the many who worked with him: Diane Cadrain and the Chancel Artists, the Aesthetics Committee, Building and Grounds Sub-council and artists Carol Davidson, Ira Greenbaum and Paul Quin. Reverend BJ was thanked for her support. Peter Magistri and Paul Quin were honored as the “builders” of the installation. - Kayla Costenoble

Do you Worship Vertically or Horizontally? - Or both? One common teaching construct for the experience that worship services are designed to facilitate is a “t” or cross. It is used to articulate the ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ components of worship, words often used to denote two approaches to the worship experience. The first is generally focused on a higher power above one or a mother earth below, or a state of still inwardness such as meditation or appreciation of music may create.
The ‘horizontal’ on the other hand, is focused on whatever is around you, such as other worshippers, the larger community, the natural world, and tends to be more outwardly focused in fellowship and community building.

This is of course a limited construct, and one may be both horizontal and vertical in the same service. It does allow us to consider the varieties of religious experience, and the elements of a service which may appeal more to one dimension or the other.

For example, minutes of silence or instrumentation appeal to the vertical dimension, and the community greeting ritual or communal singing appeal more to the horizontal. Rituals like our candles of memory and hope might appeal to both, as you may close your eyes and turn inward (except for being bumped when someone passes you in the pew!) to the vertical dimension, or you may watch others participate, move your body around the Sanctuary as you participate, and sing our prayer as a horizontal encounter with the holy.

If you feel less at home in our current worship culture than you did five years ago, it may be because the balance of vertical and horizontal has shifted somewhat. Although things vary from service to service, there is more opportunity for horizontal and less opportunity for vertical (necessarily due to the nature of time) than was true before my tenure. If you are one of the 52 of 60 folks who have joined our congregation since my arrival and are still here, you likely feel quite comfortable with this proportion of each.

In the coming year we will continue to fine tune that balancing act, seeking to make available that sweet spot of just enough of both, as often as possible, for as many folks as possible. We will be working with shifting resources which are as yet unknown to us. We do not know what configuration (number of services, times of services) our Sunday services will take. We do not know what gifts our new music staff person will bring us. We do not know what impact the economic crisis will have on USH programs, including Sunday worship. We do know that whatever our resources, we will never be able to be all things to all people all the time.

Two people have chosen to leave our community, after much careful thought and conversation, because they were uncomfortable with our evolving worship practices. If you are feeling grief about this, or concern about our evolving worship practices, and have not felt comfortable talking about this at our congregational conversations of the past three years, I would be honored to hear from you. In like fashion, I’d enjoy hearing from those of you who are pleased with the additional horizontal components of recent years.

I have no particular commitment to or investment in a particular ‘way’ to worship at USH. My job is to understand as clearly as I can the broad range of preferences among you, the vision of who you are and want to be as a people of faith, and to use every resource at my disposal to create services which are varied and balanced such that, as Gail Syring says, “Every Sunday is somebody’s birthday party, and though it’s not always mine, I enjoy watching them enjoy their gifts!”

I will be available for earnest and candid dialogue with you on the following dates in Servetus classroom, and hope you’ll come and bring your friends if there are things you’d like for me to hear (or hear again), or if you’d like to know what other folks are thinking:

This could be a perfect chance for you to learn more about worship as an art and craft, if you’ve wanted to explore the possibility of participating in the Worship Arts arena of service at USH. - Rev BJ

What Craft is Calling You?- Long time USH member John Stowe gave a memorable lay sermon on crucibles and craftsmanship last Fall. “Craft” is a powerful concept, for it speaks of proficiency plus pleasure.

What is your craft? That thing which brings you joy in the doing such that you often become good at it? Craft speaks of something which is not so difficult, expensive, or complicated as to be out of our reach.

How do we find a craft, this thing which brings pleasure and proficiency at an affordable price? I believe that these wonderful time sanctifying occupations call to us, and that it’s a matter of making ourselves available to hear. I hope you’ll join me on June 7 for the workshop on “Callings” which will address the issue of listening for our craft I yearn for the time you spend in volunteer service at USH to allow you to be a craftsperson of some art or skill, such that your service is joyful and enriching to you as well as to our beloved community, and believe that this event can help to make that happen. - Rev BJ

Education on Dementia: Alzheimer’s Disease - Please join us Sunday, April 19 at an educational session on Alzheimer’s Disease at 1PM in Fellowship Hall sponsored by the Equual Access Sub-Council, the Caring Network, and our Alliance Ministry to Women. We will view a 25 minute video on Alzheimer’s Disease produced as part of the award winning California television series “Mental Health Matters,” developed by Rev. Barbara Meyers, a UU minister who focuses on mental health issues. Our own Sue Smolski, an advanced practice nurse who specializes in geriatric psychiatric nursing, will facilitate the discussion following the video.

Please bring your sandwich or buy soup from our youth and come to this informative and important event. With the gracious support from the Caring Network and the Alliance Ministry to Women, beverages and dessert will also be available. This event is open to everyone so please bring your family, friends, and anyone who you know who might benefit from learning more about these serious conditions.

Please contact Carolyn Cartland (243-8052 or crcartland1 at Comcast.net) if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you there.

It's not too late for you to start transforming all your relationships! - Paul Quin, assisted by BJ and NVC steering group will introduce YOU and key church leaders to "non violent communication"- a simple form of compassionate communication we have committed ourselves to practice at USH, where we share precious relationships. 4/26 1-5 PM. Contact the office to register for this free introduction.

Art News - Attention all you poster collectors! Our next exhibit will be "in house." If you have a framed poster you want to share with you fellow U. U.s, call Sara Sturges and leave a message. One framed poster per contributor but unframed posters may be accepted for display in Fellowship Hall .

Exact dates, and details of drop off place, to follow.. approximately early May to the last Sunday service in June, when posters can be reclaimed. Sara Sturges 658-0577 Email or snail mail ASAP - Sara Sturges

Attention ALL USH women: take a day for yourself and come to a day-long retreat in the country! The Alliance Ministry to Women is sponsoring a day of rest and relaxation on Saturday, April 25 from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the home of Anne Bailey and Betty Palmer in beautiful, rural New Hartford. More

Educational Grant for Women - The USH Alliance Ministry to Women is proud to announce that applications will be available on Sunday, April 19 for their Women’s Alliance Educational Grants.

Applicants should be pursuing study at a post high school level, with priority given to those with minimal scholarship aid or loan sources. Grants are small (generally under $500), but may be used for expenses such as tuition, books, child care, & transportation. Affiliation with UHS is not required, but will be considered.

Look for the Educational Grant poster on the Alliance bulletin board in Fellowship Hall. Applications are due Sunday, May 24. Questions? Call 860-693-4269 and leave a message.

A gentle reminder to all you USH members who have joined in the past five years as well as recent visitors. Hopefully you have received an invitation by mail or email to the Potluck dinner being held on Friday evening, April 24 at the Meeting House.

If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to RSVP to the invitation by contacting Anne Bailey at annebailey713@yahoo.com or 860-379-7740. We hope we will see you there!

Photo opportunity: Is your photo missing from the USH Photo Directory? More

Adult Programs - Plan to stop by the Programs Registration Table this Sunday during coffee time in Fellowship Hall. You can sign up for the following programs and while there you may want to take a look at the offerings in the Book Cart . You can also register by calling the office (860 233-9897). You can read more about these programs and others in the Winter/Spring Programs Catalog available at the Meeting House or go to the USH website home page and click on Programs and Activities - Adult Programs.

Photo Alteration, Saturday, April 25, 10 AM - 1 PM. Lori Barker, a regionally well known studio artist, will introduce students to altering photos through experimentation. Techniques using common household products, crayons, inks, and tools will be explored. Stamping, rubbing, and coloring will be used to alter the photo images and to bring them to life in new imaginative ways.

Mini Retreat, Saturday, April 25, 11 AM - 5 PM. A day retreat in beautiful rural New Hartford. Enjoy walks in the country, a salad potluck luncheon, and discussions on various topics of feminine interest. Directions are available at the Registration Table.

Water Color Painting, 3 Saturdays, May 9, 16, 23, 2 PM - 5 PM. Have you always wanted to try water color painting? USH member Roy Cook will teach the basic techniques of painting in the open air at lovely Elizabeth Park, weather permitting.

Friday Dinner/Movie Michael Clayton" - May 8 -The pieces come together into a stirring portrait of a man reclaiming his soul from a scrap heap of discarded principles. " Wall Street Journal more

"...a top-notch film that entertains, thrills, and - if you'll let it - makes you think." Worcester Telegram & Gazette

On May 8, the USH Dinner and Movie will present "Michael Clayton", the 2007 legal-thriller hit starring George Clooney. Reservations may be made at the programs table during coffee hours or by calling the office at 233-9897 with credit card. Please make reservations by Monday, May 3. If you desire a vegetarian meal, please indicate this when reserving.

Socializing begins at 5:30 with libations and popcorn; dinner at 6, movie at 7, followed by optional discussion.

We're also looking ahead for nominations for next year's series; titles may be sent by email or delivered in person. Please limit nominations to your top five favorites. Voting will be during the summer.

Caring Network - Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours. Swedish Proverb

- 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. 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.

Thursday, April 16
9:30 am International Women’s Circle, Fellowship Hall
5:30 pm NVC Gathering, Minister’s Study

Saturday, April 18
10:00 am Painting on Fabric, Servetus
10:30 am Willett Woodwind Rehearsal, Chapel
12:00 pm Rental, Fellowship Hall
6:00 pm Schaeffler Piano Recital, Sanctuary
Circle Dinners, various homes

Sunday, April 19
8:45 am Building & Grounds, Murray
8:45 am Comfort Shawl Knitters, Lower Lobby
9:00 am Music rehearsal, Sanctuary
9:45 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
9:45 am Coming of Age, Fuller
10:45 am Coffee, Fellowship Hall
10:45 am Music rehearsal, Chapel
11:15 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:15 pm Coffee, Fellowship Hall
1:00 pm Educational Luncheon on Alzheimer’s & Other Dementia, Fellowship Hall
1:00 pm BTWWDA, Emerson
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel

Monday, April 20
7:00 pm Rental, Ballou

Tuesday, April 21
3:00 pm Watkinson parking lot usage
4:30 pm Sustainable Living, Servetus
6:00 pm Worship Associates, Ballou
8:00 pm AA, Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, April 22
5:45 pm Meditation and Dharma Gathering, Emerson
6:30 pm Tai Chi, Fellowship Hall
7:00 pm Pathways, Servetus
7:15 pm NVC Practice Group, Emerson
7:30 pm Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary

Thursday, April 23
7:30 pm Joyfuul Noise, Sanctuary

Friday, April 24
5:30 pm Family Friendly SGM, Fellowship Hall
6:00 pm New Member Potluck, Fellowship Hall

Saturday, April 25
10:00 am Photo Alteration, Servetus
10:30 am Rental, Chapel
11:00 am Women’s Retreat, Bailey/Palmer Home, New Hartford
1:00 pm USH NVC Workshop, Fellowship Hall

Sunday, April 26, Welcome New Members!
9:00 am Music rehearsal,
9:20 am Joyfuul Noise, Sanctuary
9:45 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
9:45 am Coming of Age, Fuller
10:45 am Coffee, Fellowship Hall
11:15 am WORSHIP, SANCTUARY
12:15 pm Coffee, Fellowship Hall
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel

Tutors Needed! - The Truancy Court Prevention Project (TCPP) was launched in September 2004 with the purpose of reducing Hartford's high dropout rate. The program currently provides case management services for 7th and 8th grade students at Quirk Middle School and kindergarten, 7th and 8th grade students at Burr School. They are trying to expand their services to include some tutoring / personal mentoring.

Tutors would meet the students after school at either Burr or Quirk. More Information CONTACT Monique Black at CREC for more information or to sign up. mblack@crec.org - Ed Savage

Youth Group Humanitarian Efforts - For the past two years the Youth Group has been slowly saving money from our soup making, sleep in boxes and other events to raise money to build a toilet for the elementary school in Denkyira, Ghana. With the money we have raised so far and a small grant for the USH Petty fund we are close to having then money needed to accomplish our goal.

The children of Denkyira desperately need a toilet for their school. A serious problem exists in the rural villages of Ghana of children dying from common illness and infections that are attributable to poor sanitary conditions. By providing this community with a sustainable pit toilet the Youth group and the Denkyira council elders hope to encourage community cooperation, hygienic environmental protection, and greater educational opportunity for their young children. At the present time children in grades K-8 who need to use the bathroom during the school day must either walk home or across town to the public rest rooms. Many simply go into the wooded areas surrounding the school, so as to not loose too much class time but thereby creating pubic health problem.

We are hoping to build a 6 stall sustainable, eco-friendly pit toilet that will process crop-safe fertilizer. In addition several of our Youth Group members along with Denise Ackeifi our Youth Advisor plan to spend two weeks in Denkyira working along side the Denkyira youth to build the toilet. At this time the toilet fund is short about $1200.00; the cost per person is also significant, over $2800 each. Therefore we will be increasing our efforts to raise the needed funds. You will be seeing additional fund raising efforts in the next few months and we hope that you will be eager to support the efforts of our Youth. - Denise Ackeifi

Speakin' Out on the Death Penalty with Sister Helen Prejean sponsored by the CT Network to Abolish the Death Penalty will be Saturday, April 18, 9 am-2pm at the Carol Autorino Center, St Joseph College. Free lunch & admission.
RSVP at 860 231-1489 or at ben.jones@cnadp.org Visit cnadp.org for more info. Faith communities have played a vital role in abolition victories in NY, NJ and NM recently. This event will show us how we can help to achieve it in CT. - Joan Kemble for IASC

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Did You Know? - Green Sanctuary Sub-Council - New Display, April 26 Organic Land Care.

Old phone books can be recycled by disposing them in one of five special containers in W. Hartford available until May 6.

The bins are at Eisenhower Park, Fernridge Park, Beachland Park, the EnviroCycle Recycling Center on Brixton Road and at the SBC parking lot off South Main Street.

Further Down The Road (About 30 Days)

SAVE THE DATE!

The Board of Directors is sponsoring Congregational Conversation as part of the assessment of the Sunday service configuration. It will be at 12:30 on May 17th, facilitated by Clara Barton District Executive Lynn Thomas. We hope to see you there!

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