50 Bloomfield Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105 Tel: (860) 233-9897 / FAX 233-1333 Email: firstunitarian@ushartford.com Reverend Barbara Jamestone, PhD

Home Page- Link Central Questions and Comments	USH-Enews August 26, 2010 Jump to: Sunday Service; Calendar; What's Happening; Feature Articles; External Events; Further Down the Road; Social Justice Journeys; Green Topics ; A Matter of Opinion Text only Printer Friendly Format
	Seagull in Flight Cadillac Mountain Acadia National Park 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. Office hours: Rev. Jamestone: Phone: 860 233-9897; Email: RevBJ@USHartford.com - Rev. BJ office hours by appointment. USH Green Sanctuary Status Granted YEAH!!!!!! Unitarian Society of Hartford Green Sanctuary Sub-Council of the Council on Social Justice Beverly Prager, Chair 50 Bloomfield Ave Hartford, CT 06105   Congratulations!  With this letter, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, Office of Congregational Stewardship Services is honored to formally recognize the Unitarian Society of Hartford as an Accredited Green Sanctuary.   We appreciate your thorough documentation of your Green Sanctuary activities. Descriptions of each activity helped us to understand how much you have accomplished.  You have succeeded in integrating the Green Sanctuary program goals into the ongoing life of your congregation through the many projects you have carried out.  Your application offers strong evidence of the positive environmental consciousness that has developed in your congregation, resulting in new behaviors and new lifestyle choices by members individually and by the congregation as a whole.  We were especially inspired that you created a Green Covenant. Additionally, your work with The Village for Families and Children, Inc seems to have made a significant difference. You now have a great foundation for continuing action in the future. We know you are looking forward to celebrating your accomplishments with your congregation.  Your Green Sanctuary certificate is being sent under a separate cover for you to display in a prominent place.  You will be recognized as an Accredited Green Sanctuary at General Assembly 2011 in Charlotte, NC, as that time nears I will send you more information. In the meantime, you may want to begin to assemble a “scrapbook” which shares information about your Green Sanctuary movement – congregations create these in many different way; some use their applications, some include orders of service, newsletter columns, fliers about special events, and pictures, some write storybooks about the journey, and some come up with new ideas that we’ve never seen before – this will be a wonderful reminder of where your congregation has been and will be on display at the Congregational Life booth at GA for other congregations to peruse.  We encourage all congregations to continue engaging in stewardship of the Earth even after they have become an Accredited Green Sanctuary.  In four-to-five years, as you look towards re-accreditation in for years we encourage you to complete a professional energy audit to find ways in which you can retrofit your building.  Additionally, we encourage you to find another environmental justice effort that you can work on, it seems that you have already identified environmental health in Hartford as an issue and we encourage you to pursue this further. I do hope you are proud of your accomplishments. You have truly taken the goals of the Green Sanctuary Program to heart. Again, congratulations on successfully becoming an Accredited Green Sanctuary.  Your accomplishments serve as a beacon of hope, demonstrating that we can all make a difference!   To a greener faith-community and world, Robin Nelson, Program Manager, Congregational Stewardship Services “It’s not easy being Green.” – Kermit the Frog Let us pause for a moment and thank the Green Sanctuary Sub-Council. - Bev Prager, Chair; Edith Savage; Janice & David Newton; Laurie Rollins, Bill LaPorte-Bryan; Tom and Joan Kemble; Mary Sherwin, Barbara Prine, Cyprian Martin, Anne Bailey, Marye Gail Harrison, Randy Wuertzburg, Barbara Hellenga, Bill Young, Peter Magistri, Roy Cook, Stu Spence and all of those who subscribe to the greenfollowers listserv as well as all others who have participated in our comprehensive efforts to walk the environmentally sustainable walk to go with all the green talk.
	Worshipping Together Since 1830 One Service 10:30 AM Sunday - Aug. 29, 2010 Songs of the Spirit. - Not our typical Sunday service, this will be a sacred song circle. It is an opportunity to share inspirational and empowering songs from all spiritual backgrounds. One song typically follows another organically, with limited facilitation and no introductions or spoken words between songs. It is a time for sharing music that lifts our spirits, touches our hearts, heals our souls, feels our "oneness." Don't worry about your voice! You will not be judged. The service will be convened downstairs in Fellowship Hall (a cooler space) rather than in the Sanctuary. This is an Inter-generational service and we guarantee you'll leave smiling. The service will be facilitated by Maggie Greene with help from Fred Louis. Maggie has been regularly attending the Meeting House for 13 years. She has participated in the Social Responsibility Committee, small group ministry, the Artist's Way classes, the Chancel Arts, the Caring Network and has facilitated poetry events. Maggie is a registered nurse working at a Bristol elementary school. She is also an accomplished poet, devoted mother to daughters Nora and Brigid, loving wife of Fred Louis, lover of all the arts and nature, and, of course, an enthusiastic singer. REflections on Children's Programming Multigenerational Worship Service This Sunday, August 29nd, children of all ages are encouraged to attend our Songs of the Spirit worship service in Fellowship Hall.   Nursery Care is available downstairs as well. Gail M. Syring, DRE What Else is Happening Building and Grounds Schedules Workday - Mark you calendars for Saturday, September 4th ( if serious rain, reschedule date 9/11) Small Dinner Parties - Fall dates: Oct. 16, Nov. 13, and Dec. 11.   The purpose of these Dinner Parties is social camaraderie among new and old members of USH. Six to ten adults are randomly assigned in different groupings for each dinner.  The host furnishes the entrée, beverage and bread.  Guests are assigned to bring appetizers, salad, side dish or dessert. With advance notice, a substitute can be found if the registrant must miss a date.  Also, we will try to accommodate anyone who is handicapped. Not everyone can host, but we do need hosts, so participants whose homes can seat six may be asked to host one dinner. Registrations will be taken in Fellowship Hall during Coffee Hour on September 12th , 19th , and 26th . Dates: Oct.16th, Nov. 13th, and Dec. 11th Fee: $2.00 per household for paper/mailing expenses. Registration Deadline: September 26! Adult Programs - Fall is fast approaching! There is still time to submit your program proposal to be included in the 2010 Fall Programs for Adults and Families Notebooks. The notebooks are beginning to be assembled and we'd like to include your program. Small Group Ministry: Coming Attractions - More Caring Network - If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be, now put the foundations under them. - Thoreau. - 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. Social Justice Journeys (From the UUA) And from USH Green Topics - Did You Know? - Green Sanctuary Status Granted! Further Down The Road (About 30 Days) Women's Alliance Fall Retreat October 22- 24 Reading one Book Together - The Unitarian Alliance Ministry to Women is happy to announce its R & R weekend on October 22 - 24, returning to the Victorian retreat house called Senexet in northeastern CT. More	From the Editor: Suggestions for Contributors. This Week’s Feature Articles Cool Music on Summer Night Sunday USH Accredited as Green Sanctuary Nardi - Smith Wedding Cool Music on a Summer Night Presents Eclectic Evening of Entertainment 8/29 - 7:30 PM Cool Music Flyer  USH loves John and Katie!  They were valued and beloved music-makers at our Sunday worship services for four years. Now they are married, living in New York City, pursuing their dreams of creating music, and… They’re coming back! – at least for one evening, to share their incredible talents with us in a benefit for the USH music program.   Sunday, August 29th is the date;  7:30 PM is the time;  our Meeting House is the place.  Tickets $20,  $15 for USH members, seniors and students . Please come, bring your friends, support John and Katie, benefit our worship program, and have a glorious cool evening of music and fun together with our USH community.   Program details – Master vocalist and keyboard artist John Jesensky (formerly appearing in the guise of our mild-mannered Music Associate) will bring his sizzling song stylings to the music of Billy Joel, Elton John, Ben Folds and The Beatles! Hear him tear down the place with classic covers of hot tunes, and soothe the crowd with ballads that pluck the heart strings.  John, formerly appearing in the guise of our mild-mannered Music Associate, was our brilliant pianist, organist, Associate Music Director and erstwhile tenor for four years.  He’s now an active composer of film scores! Virtuoso Katie LaPorta Jesensky will sing some of the most spectacular gems of the soprano repertoire.  She’ll also sing duets with her twin sister Megan, and you won’t believe the magic created by these two identical voices!  Katie was our beautiful soprano, leading our choir and favoring us with her beautiful, pure solo voice.  Little did we know she also has an impish side, nailing such jazzy favorites as “Glitter and Be Gay” by Leonard Bernstein. All Cool Music singers are donating their time and talent for this event, which is a major fundraiser for the Unitarian Society of Hartford music program. Tickets $20,  $15 for USH members, seniors and students Email ticket requests to music@ushartford.com or call (860) 233-9897 x107. Please come hear them, bring your friends and fill the place while supporting the music of our worship services. - Mattie Banzhaf August 18, 2010 photo by Anne Bailey Deborah Nardi & Julie Smith Wedding On Saturday, August 14, 2010. The sun shown brightly on a beautiful Saturday afternoon blessing the marriage of Deb and Julie. What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen each other in all labor, to minister to each other in all sorrow, to share with each other in all gladness, to be one with each other in the silent unspoken memories? - George Eliot 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 External Events and Educational Notes My new music group the SOROMUNDI TRIO will have our debut public performance on Sunday, AUG 29, 10.30am as we provide the special music for a summer service at the First Presbyterian Church, 136 Capitol Avenue, Hartford. We are: Susan Lowenkron, keyboard & ensemble coach; Maxine Spitzler, recorders; and Alani Willett, recorders. :-) Aloha pumehana, Alani Willett USH Chanteuse Mary Ellen Lonergan has gig at New Britain Museum of American Art, in their famous First Friday program! Friday, Sept. 3; 5:30-8 p.m.;Mary Ellen Lonergan Quartet; $5 Members; $10 non-members The Mary Ellen Lonergan Quartet will be playing Jazz Standards and selections from the Great American Songbook. Joining Mary Ellen on piano is Kent Hewitt, well known for his swinging style. Mary Ellen will also be joined by the accomplished bass player Lou Bocciarelli, and drummer Ben Bilello, who is known for his cool style. Mary Ellen brings a fresh interpretation to the Standards, and conveys a story to the listener. ALS Walk Saturday 25th September More
	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
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