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50 Bloomfield Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105
Tel: (860) 233-9897 / FAX 233-1333
Email: firstunitarian@ushartford.com
Reverend Barbara Jamestone, PhD
USH-Enews For July 26, 2007
Jump to: Calendar; What's happening; A matter of opinion; External events; Further down the road; Did You Know?
Photographer unknownThe 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 During the Summer at 10 AMSunday - 29 July - Songs of the Spirit - Chapel Service (10 AM Service) - Back by popular demand, a song circle. Sing songs that lift your heart, touch your spirit, and heal your soul. - Fred Louis & Maggie Greene
This will be a very different from our usual Sunday services. Led by our own Maggie Greene and Worship Associate Fred Louis, it will be an all music service with songs arising organically from the congregation.
Though our usual order of service will be followed as much as possible, even the sermon will be sung. All songs will be a-Capella and it is hoped that songs will relate to our spiritual callings and beliefs and that people choose songs that all can join. There will be periods of silence between songs to allow them to sink in so others may germinate.
Please join us in the Chapel for a service of joy and connectedness through song.About Maggie Greene - Maggie has been regularly attending Meeting House services for ten years. During those years she has participated in the Social Responsibility Committee, small group ministry, Artist’s Way classes, the Chancel Arts Committee and various other Society groups. She has also facilitated poetry events and recently joined the Caring Network.
Outside of the Meeting House, Maggie is a registered nurse currently working as an elementary school nurse in Bristol. She is also an accomplished poet, devoted mother to daughters Nora and Brigid, lover of all the arts and of nature, and, of course, an enthusiastic singer.Music - need we say more?
REflections - This Sunday, July 29th we will be exploring the Buddhist tradition of Sand Mandalas and creating sand art. The Sand Mandala is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition symbolizing the transitory nature of things. As part of Buddhist canon, all things material are seen as transitory. A sand mandala is an example of this, being that once it has been built and its accompanying ceremonies and viewing are finished, it is systematically destroyed. - Wikipedia. Next week, August 5th, we will be learning about and making Dream Catchers.
Have you ever wondered what happens downstairs after the congregation sings "Go Now in Peace"? Join us for lunch and a Curricula Showcase on Sunday, August 12th at noon. We have several new lesson plans to debut, including "Honoring Our Mother Earth", "UU Superheroes", and "In Our Hands", a social justice curriculum. Over lunch you will be able to experience a lesson plan, discuss the new school year, and offer input on the future of the RE program. All are welcome. R.S.V.P. to Gail at: dre(at symbol)ushartford.com or 860-233-9897.Last Sunday's sermon, Starry, Starry, Night has been published on the web.
What Else is Happening & AnnouncementsMore Greetings from Adult Programs - Calling all parents of any age! Are you interested in tweaking your parenting skills and having a good time at the same time? Fred and Joanna Bogin are offering an Active Parenting program this fall. To quote them, “This is a video-based parent education program that focuses on raising children to be responsible, caring individual with strong self esteem. We have taught this program on and off for 15 years." Fred and Joanna are former members of the UU Church in Milford, NH. Fred is a pediatrician at St. Francis and Director of the Clinic there (and a notorious comic). Joanna is a special education and early childhood professional and directs the, Help Me Grow, program for the state of CT. This course will run for three consecutive weeks in October (Thursdays) or November (Wednesdays) from 6-8 PM.
Let us know what you think about this offering and if you might be interested in attending at 243-0149 or at v.berrien(at symbol)comcast.net. - Ginny Berrien.
Movie ballots - are due August 1st. They were emailed/mailed some time ago. Anyone else desiring a ballot should contact bonnieandroberta(at symbol)comcast.net or call USH office
Caring Network - Instead of counting your days, make your days count. ~Author Unknown - You are the ears of the Caring Network. Diana Heymann is the Chair of the Caring Network. Please tell Diana (heydiana(at symbol)comcast.net) 860.461.0908, or call the office when you learn of any of our members enduring the stresses of life so we can reach out to those in need. - Offer your services.
A wide range of community services are available to help you. Call InfoLine at 211.
Thursday, July 26
7:00 pm Small Group Ministry, David
Saturday, July 28
10:30 am Rental, Chapel
Sunday, July 29
9:00 am Music Rehearsal, Chapel
10:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, CHAPEL
11:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel
Monday, July 30
6:30 pm Survivors of Incest Anonymous, Murray
Tuesday, July 31
8:00 pm AA, Fellowship Hall
Thursday, August 2
7:00 pm Small Group Ministry, David
Sunday, August 5
9:00 am Music Rehearsal, Chapel
10:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE, SANCTUARY
11:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
3:00 pm Rental, Chapel
Italicized entries are non-USH events.
Please notify Brian Mullen (233.9897) of all additions or changes to the calendar. More general calendar information covering several months may be found here.Further Down The Road (About 30 Days Max)
Note revised date for Special Congregational Conversation (Talkback) - This summer on August 19, the Worship Arts Sub-Council invites the congregation to a conversation to share our experiences with holding two services on Sundays. This talkback will take place immediately after the single service at 10:00 AM on August 19 (Note date has changed since it was announced in the Messenger) in the Chapel.
Rev. BJ will be our summer guest minister that day and she will facilitate the conversation.
- How do you think the two services functioned?
- Is it different than you thought it would be?
- What changes are you looking for in worship?
Worship Arts invites you to come and share your thoughts about the worship services. If you will be away on August 19, please email Rev. BJ (RevBJ@USHartford.com) or Amy Hines (amyhines92(at symbol)msn.com or 860-693-3663) with your thoughts and they will be read at the meeting.
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From the Editor:
This Week’s Feature Articles
Getting to Know You
Nina Elgo, Board SecretaryUnitarians are a remarkable group with individuals adding remarkable diversity to our shared religious tradition. This is true of all of us to a degree, and certainly to our officers, and for certain to Nina Elgo, newly elected Board Secretary.
Nina received a BA from Connecticut College in 1984 and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center. In recent years she was selected to become a Superior Court Judge. About this occupation she says, “I am passionate about my work as a judge, and feel it is an extraordinary privilege to serve the public in this way.” Her active participation in organizations extends beyond USH and the Superior Court.
Asked about her interests, she says, “I am on the Board of Directors of the CT Asian Pacific American Bar Association and am very active there. I love the ongoing challenge, demands and aesthetics of gardening. I loved singing on the choir when I had the time to devote to it. I have recently become a huge fan of Vienna Teng, an extraordinarily talented singer, songwriter and musician. I’m currently re-reading, No Ordinary Time, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, after a wonderful weekend visiting Hyde Park, NY and the Roosevelt homes. My husband and daughter keep me humble, make me laugh and all my friends and family are precious to me.
Chris, her husband, is an attorney and enjoys rowing, photography, reading, particularly on Buddhism, and has been active on the Board of Mowglis School for Boys summer camp in New Hampshire. Caroline, her nine-year-old daughter, is an avid reader, with some of her favorites being Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events, and she also loves singing, theater and writing.
Looking to the future of USH, Nina notes, “Now that we are looking forward to a period of stability with regard to staffing, organizational structure, etc., I am hoping that we can look at growth in the context of accurately gauging the collective needs and desires of our community as well as that of the larger community. We are at an exciting time in our history. I think we are poised to thrive as a religious community that can meet the diverse needs of all those who share a desire for community, justice, and deeper meaning in their lives.Asked about the value of our religious community, Nina said, “I am committed to this religious community because I strongly believe that community is essential to my identity and life as a UU. To call ourselves UU means we have already inherited an identity and a community, which those before us have worked to “evolve” and create. That work is an inherently ongoing, dynamic process. We are not the same church we were 15 years ago, 50 years ago, a hundred years ago – and that is ultimately a good thing. I think that is why most of us have chosen UU-ism, because it is a faith that is intentional about changing. We embrace the fact that what we think we know to be true must stand the test of time, and that we have an obligation to grow our understanding of these larger truths.
"To be true to UU-ism means we must engage in the process of continuing to evolve and grow in what it means to be a religious community that is relevant not only to ourselves and each other, but to the larger community.” - DCN
Getting to Know You: Past profiles:
Bill Young - President
Heather Ferguson-Hull - President ElectPicnic a Success - Men's Luncheon Group Picnic held at USH on July 17 included thirty-four people. It was a very special day.
The weather was perfect and a sense of community prevailed. All attending contributed in many ways to the event. The result was good food and a fun time.
In recognition of his many years of service Chris Smith the founder of Men's
Luncheon Group was presented a Certificate of Appreciation signed by The Reverend Jamestone. Additionally. Chris received a gift certificate to a local restaurant.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)
Subject: RE: What It Takes to Make Congregational Change Stick
RE: What it Takes to Make Congregational Change Stick
The reference above is to an article recently sent along to the leadership for thought and consideration. The link will be good for a limited time, probably, so you might read it and then move on to the remarks from Bill LaPorte- Bryan below. - dcn
Thanks for giving me an opportunity to think about the changes that I’ve observed over the last several years in our church BJ, and share those thoughts with our other leaders.
I came to USH in April 2003 and, from the very beginning, I felt that my new church was changing. Bart was our President, Teresa was our minister, Cheryl was our DRE and the way we governed ourselves was changing. But that’s all changed. In fact, from my perspective, we’ve been in continuous change mode all the time I’ve been around and there’s no end in sight. That’s all good and I’ve liked the changes because -I’m more comfortable now as a member of USH as a result of them. I’m not only personally more comfortable but I also believe that our church has, in general, become more supportive for many, but not for all, of our current members and friends and potentially more supportive for many of the people who’ve decided to visit us and try us out.
I suspect that, had many of those visitors come before 2003, they would have tried us and left us. But, as is always the case with change, the changes haven’t come easily.
The changes I’m referring to have occurred on many levels; physical, organizational, social, spiritual, and, most importantly, cultural.
By their very nature, cultural changes occur gradually and slowly but they are fundamental in that they are the basis of and the cause of the other kinds of changes that are more obvious. The tangible and noticeable effect of these cultural changes in USH is that our church has gradually become friendlier, more welcoming and more accessible to everybody regardless of their spiritual and religious beliefs … a positive change indeed, in my opinion.
So we’re on the right track and, as BJ suggests, our challenge right now is to sustain that gradual improvement. While we lack the religious creedal basis of cultural change that almost all other churches have, we are indeed fortunate to have our seven principles, which take the place of common religious beliefs in our cultural transformation. We need to capitalize on those principles as they and our diversity form the bedrock of what our church is all about and the support we offer and give to our members, friends and visitors. I think we need to do a far better job of incorporating those principles into everything we do; our services, our sermons (why don’t we have continuing series of rotating occasional sermons on each of the principles), our RE program, our AP programs, and, yes, our social justice programs - and on and on it goes since nothing that we do should be immune from the importance of being based on our principles. After they become imbedded in everything we do in our church, it will be natural for the principles to become equally imbedded in all of our lives; in everything we do. We will become comfortable with them as part of us.
Then and only then we can be really proud of what the Unitarian Society of Hartford and those of us in it have accomplished. I’m looking forward to that day. - Bill LaPorte-Bryan
External Events and Educational NotesStarr Island is back in business. This link will work for a short time.
Wes Christensen Memorial Golf Classic (more information)
Escape to Vermont -(more information)Did You Know? - Nina Elgo told us a great deal about herself and her origins in a wonderful sermon posted here on the web.
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 HartfordLet us know of any comments, errors and corrections - thanks (revised 07/26/07 07:31 AM)
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