USH-Enews for May 24, 2007 Print Only Edition

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This is the print only edition of the USH-Enews. Photos and other graphical elements have been removed. Print is mostly black on white.

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.

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Worshipping Together Since 1830
Services held at 9 and 11 AM

Sunday - 27 May - Memorial Day and the Memory of Four Chaplains - Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer and makes occasion for barbeque, ice cream, and parades. Anything else? The story of four heroic chaplains who died together aboard ship during WW II help us to recall that Memorial Day is a day of national awareness and reverence, honoring those Americans who died while defending our Nation and its values.

Music: Music for Memorial Day Sunday includes a stirring arrangement of the classic "Danny Boy" for the congregation. As a moment of reflection, the tune, "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground", a Civil War song, will be heard as well. This traditional song sings both of the longing to be home from war, as well as the hope to experience peace.

In addition, our own Wil Huntington will play a bassoon sonata movement for the service. Wil is going into overtime offering his musical gifts to us before he heads off to college this fall.

RE - Memorial Day Weekend
There will be no regular RE classes on Sunday, May 27, 2007. Nursery care will be provided. Classes will resume on June 3rd for the last class of the school year. The Flower Communion service on June 10th will be intergenerational, and the summer program will begin on June 17th.

Giving a Thanks Offering for Unsung Heroes June 10 Service - Drop BJ a note - more

This Week’s Feature Articles

Word from Rev. BJ - Friends, at our installation and covenanting ceremony, you gave over $2,700 to the Fund for the Living Tradition, our UUA program of financial assistance to ministers. I can hear my colleagues thanking you for supporting our professional ministry in such a tangible way—from help with college loans to retirement needs to surviving partners and/or children needs.

I can also hear our USH ancestors who funded our endowment clapping their hands at your gift of $10,000 to Ebony Horsewomen in honor of my installation as your minister.

Continuing my gratitude list, my family and I

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were moved by your thoughtful expressions of kindness and regard on the occasion of the installation. The installation team spearheaded a fabulous meal for my ‘crew’ from below the Mason-Dixon line on Saturday evening, hosted by the Stowes, and the reception on Sunday afternoon surpassed all the debutante (coming out!) cotillions of my youth! A team of folk orchestrated a worship experience, which expressed the depth of my own call to ministry and of our shared commitment to "life together" in a powerfully lovely manner—the musicians, the speakers, the children’s art and prayer flags; and banner and order of service; pots filled with flowers on my study “patio”, and the “tent revival preacher” print tacked on the wall outside my study door got framed! I cannot imagine an installation event being more reflective of who you and I are and intend to become, together.

On a personal note, all the people I most treasure were in your midst this weekend, and your hospitality and sensitivity to our domestic needs was appreciated by each of us.

And now the work of building our shared life and work and spiritual home begins in earnest. Godspeed as we dare to risk delight and diligence on the mirthful dancing ground, which is our Meeting House—green and growing in spirit and in service.

Life Together: Lovely Indeed - It was a banner day at the Unitarian Society of Hartford last Sunday afternoon as members and guests filled the sanctuary to take part in the Service of Installation for the Reverend Barbara Jamestone, Ph.D., known to her flock as Rev. BJ. (If you were absent or did not get a program you may download the pdf)

The lovely sunny day was filled with rituals. We sang “Wake Now My Senses” while BJ led a procession onto the chancel, and we sang “For All That is Our Life” for the recessional hymn. Our day

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was filled with wonderful choir music, a solo (with choir) by tenor John Jesensky, “Here I am, Lord,” and Anne Stowe’s violin offering from Mendelssohn’s violin concerto. It marked the first appearance of a large new banner (top left column) of some 40 squares of vivid flowers--including the state flowers of Alabama, Rev. BJ’s first home, and Connecticut, her current home. Inscribed on the banner was the “theme” for the installation: Life Together: Lovely Indeed. Conceived by USH members Diane Cadrain and Rosie Rindfleisch, each floral square was made by a member of the congregation.

The walls of the Ambulatory and Fellowship Hall were covered with art prepared for the occasion.

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(Part of the art contributed by the RE children)

Mike Roy, Chair of the Search Committee that found Rev. BJ, emceed the service, introducing the participants. Rev. BJ’s son James VanderMeer lit the chalice “to honor my mother.” As in the “usual” Sunday services, the younger children were invited to join Rev. BJ on the chancel steps, but instead of listening to her tell a story, the children gave her a rainbow bead necklace representing seven promises based on the seven UU principles. Rev. BJ wore it throughout the service.

Two prominent Hartford residents, Eddie A. Perez, Mayor of the City of Hartford, and Ted Carroll, Director of Leadership Greater Hartford, spoke about Rev. BJ. Mr. Carroll reminded the congregation that just about the first thing Rev. BJ did when she came to Hartford last fall was to participate in his five-week leadership program. He said the unusually enthusiastic group was soon afflicted with “BJitis” (that’s eye-tis) as she “began occupying a place in all of our hearts” from her first day there.

Mayor Perez, in welcoming Rev. BJ to the community, said she has “already proven to be a bridge builder” and a person of compassion. The mayor urged the USH to join with other “people of faith” to make Hartford a place where children can feel safe and can have hope and opportunity.

Hartford’s children need more positive choices, more resources, more people to volunteer, more facilities. The mayor proposed that “with BJ, let’s make magic in Hartford.”

Charles Huntington, President of the USH Board of Directors, told members and guests that the Board is honoring Rev. BJ’s request to redirect the bulk of the money earmarked for her installation as a gift to the Ebony Horsewomen, a group which gives inner city kids a chance to get outdoors (on horses) and change their environment and their lives. A check for $10,000 will be sent to the group. Founder and CEO Patricia Lawson-Kelly, who gave a testimonial during USH services on April 22, was unable to attend Sunday’s installation.

Then came the charge to Rev. BK to take on the obligations of serving the congregation and the response by the congregation, led by President-Elect Bill Young. Rev. BJ was charged to “show us the paths of justice and mercy and to help us find that which we hold most high by challenging us to deepen our spiritual lives.” The congregation pledged to “be fair, to serve, and to practice gratitude for the blessings of Reverend Jamestone’s presence among us.”

Mark A. Hicks, Rev. BJ’s friend and a lay leader at All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, D.C., began his Charge to the Minister by singing “Wade in the Water”

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(Visiting clergy)
and soon had the congregation singing with him. Calling Rev. BJ his “sister in faith and love,” Prof. Hicks reminded her that she will experience both joy and times when “God troubles the water.” He told her to help build bridges of trust, integrity and hope and to work at changing the hearts of those who have lost hope. And then we sang it again.

In his Charge to the Congregation, Josh Pawelek, minister of the UU Society East in Manchester, told members of the USH to “love this very human minister you have called” and value, sustain and honor this free pulpit.

Rev. Pawelek gave a humorous description of the multitude of contradictions found in surveys of what people say they want in a minister and suggested, “The minister we say we want doesn’t exist.” He hoped we would be inspired to walk, talk, dance, pray and laugh with Rev. BJ and would “change this world with her.”

Thomas H. Mareci, an active member of the Gainesville, Florida UU Fellowship asked, “Why are we here?” and “Why do we come together today?” and suggested events such as Thanksgiving, weddings, funerals and today’s installation ceremony are gatherings at a “sacred time” and are places where we learn what is of value and where we fit in a family. Life has no meaning without community, he suggested.

Past president of the Clara Barton District UU Ministers’ Association Rev. Tom Rosiello continued a very old tradition by offering “the right hand of fellowship” (and a big hug) to Rev. BJ to show her the support of her professional colleagues.

Photo(BJ, Bill Young (L) and Charles Huntington (R)

A dressed-up Fellowship Hall (all posts throughout the hall festooned with clouds of sheer material surrounding fresh flowers)

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was the site for a sumptuous reception following the installation ceremony.

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It truly was a banner day. - Kayla Costenoble

What Else is Happening & Announcements
Ember Days, Wednesday, May 30, 12 - 2:00 pm, Friday and Saturday June 1 and 2, 6 - 8:00 PM. Rev. Jamestone will lead us in this fourth seasonal observance of nature. It is a time set apart for silence, simplicity, solitude, and abstinence from the ordinary. Bring your journal and consider abstaining from food, the newspaper, speaking, and email as preparation for the sessions. Come to any or all of the sessions. There is no fee but please register on Sunday or by calling the office at 233-9897.

Luncheon At Rockledge - June 7 Join Alliance friends for lunch at the Rockledge Restaurant, 289 South Main Street, West Hartford, on Thursday June 7. We will carpool from the Meeting House about 12:40 or you can meet us at Rockledge for lunch at 1:00. Reservations required, so sign up on the Alliance bulletin board or contact Louise Schmoll, 242-2953, no later than Monday, June 4.

GHICEJ LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES: for June More

The Annual Meeting is Sunday, June 3rd following the 11 service.

CHILDREN’S ART DISPLAY. Our current art exhibit is contributed by artists in our Religious Education program. Artists and/or parents may pick up the work following the 11:00 AM service on Sunday, June 10, when the show will come down.

Adult Programs: "Sign Up for Summer Small Group Ministry -- Only 2 Spaces Left in July. We are registering for Small Group Ministry in the summer, with one group in July (only 2 openings) and one in August (6 openings). Groups meet one evening a week for four consecutive weeks. Heather Ferguson-Hull will facilitate in July, starting on Monday, July 9. Margaret Leicach will facilitate in August, starting on Thursday, August 2. Both groups will convene at the Meeting House in air conditioned space. You may sign up by contacting the church office."

Dinner Movie Series Continues with Prairie Home Companion June 8 - "An unabashed love letter to the way things used to be." Metromix.com

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“A Prairie Home Companion” on Friday, June 8, will be the final feature in this year’s Dinner and a Movie series. The movie “combines Altman's cinematic style and intelligence and love of improvisation and Keillor's songs and storytelling. . . . The film uses the musicians and crew and stage setting of the actual radio show, heard on public radio stations coast to coast for the past quarter-century (and which, in real life, continues to broadcast).” With a star-studded cast starring Garrison Keillor, the final film directed by Robert Altman captured the hearts of many critics and viewers.

"A Prairie Home Companion is as heartwarming as a plate of Powdermilk Biscuits, as unexpected as a slice of rhubarb pie and as wistful as a chorus of Red River Valley." Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Reservations may be made at the coffee hour registration table or by calling the USH office at 233-9897 by Monday, June 4. Please indicate if you prefer a vegetarian menu when reserving. Movie fans will gather at 5:30 PM for popcorn and drinks; dinner (mid-Western menu), the movie, and optional discussion will follow. As always, those with some extra time to help set up (before 5:30) are cheerfully welcomed.

Calling All Movie Fans! Nominations for 2007-8 Dinner and Movie Series - Why don’t they ever show any movies I like at the Dinner and Movie Series? Nominations for films for the 2007- 8 series may be sent to pickmovies(at symbol)ushartford.com or put in the Adult Programs mailbox in the USH office. Voting will take place in the summer.

Caring Network - Find a need and fill it.~Ruth Stafford Peale - 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:

Saturday, May 26
10:30 am – 12:30 pm Rental, Chapel

Sunday, May 27
8:00 am Music Rehearsal, Chapel
9:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, CHAPEL
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am Coming of Age, Fuller
10:00 am Children’s Choir, Chapel
10:15 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:00 noon Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
12:15 pm “C Cubed”, Minister’s Study
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel

Monday, May 28, Memorial Day
OFFICE CLOSED

Tuesday, May 29
7:00 pm Lay Speaker Training, Ballou
8:00 pm AA, Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, May 30
10:00 – 11:00 am Staff Meeting, Minister’s Study (OFFICE CLOSED)
12:00 noon Ember Days, Emerson
6:00 pm Dharma Gathering, Emerson
6:00 pm ICEJ, Library
6:30 pm Tai Chi, Fellowship Hall
7:30 pm Choir, Sanctuary

Friday, June 1
6:00 – 8:00 pm Ember Days, Emerson
7:00 pm Rental, Chapel

Saturday, June 2
6:00 – 8:00 pm Ember Days, Emerson

Sunday, June 3
8:00 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
9:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, CHAPEL
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am Youth Group Soup Making, Kitchen
10:00 am Children’s Choir, Chapel
10:00 am Disabilities, Library
10:00 am Welcoming Congregation, Murray
10:00 am Coming of Age, Fuller
10:15 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
10:30 am Chalice Choir, Chapel
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
12:00 noon Annual Meeting, Sanctuary
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
3:00 pm Rental, 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 More general calendar information covering several months may be found here.

Further Down The Road (About 30 Days Max)

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

Large-Screen TV Needed - I am writing to you as the Acting President of Soromundi Commons Resident Council, the tenant association. Our building is a “supportive housing” apartment building. Most of our residents are low-income, disabled, or elderly. One floor is a shelter for homeless women.

Once a week, we have movie night, but our large-screen TV is broken, and we need to replace it. Does one of our church members have a used (but still working) large screen TV that they would like to donate to us? - Aloha pumehana (warm aloha), Alani

The Humanist Association of Connecticut - Social dinner at Lemon Grass Restaurant, So. Main St, West Hartford May 31 ( Thursday) at 7 PM.

Where: Lemongrass, 7 South Main Street, West Hartford CT 06107 860-233-4405

Event Description: Enjoy the discussion over dinner with other humanists!

This month our Hartford-area dinner will be at Lemongrass, a Thai restaurant in West Hartford. There's ample free parking near the restaurant, as well as an inexpensive lot behind it. We've moved the event to Thursday as organizer Carol has several other events the preceding evening that she wants to attend. So join us and find out what she actually decided to do: knitting or comedy! - Ed Savage

Did You Know? - Excerpts from, The Solution is You, by Laurie David - more next week.

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