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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 October 19, 2006
Jump to: Calendar; What's happening; A matter of opinion; External events; Further down the road; Our rootsThe USH-Enews is a weekly email newsletter sent to 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 USH-Enews click here.
Office hours: M-F 9-3 (excluding W 10 -11); Rev. Jamestone: Phone: 860 233-9897; Email: RevBJ@USHartford.com - Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday - Available at the noon hour and at other times by appointment.
Photo above, Pathways to Membership Group including new folks and supporting cast of UU helpers meeting Wednesday night 10-18. They were learning about many things UU. This particular session included presentations about the Councils on Administration and Within. Hugh Schweitzer, COA Chair, explained the working of the Council on Administration, your editor spoke about communications and Bill LaPorte-Bryan spoke about the other Sub-Councils of the Community Within. This photo is illustrative of our best in planet UU Communications efforts, what with the photo appearing on this web page within 12 hours of the meeting. New folks contributed valued feedback on the Pathways meetings and discussed ways to participate in making USH even better. They now even know the secret of why there is "Meeting House" and "Meetinghouse" in various written documents.
Worshipping Together Since 1830
Services held at 9 and 11 AMSunday 19 October - Global Reconciliation and the UN Millennium Development Goals - Guest Joyce Millikin, Founder and Coordinator of Round World Leadership
Music: The choral styles of South Africa are captured in a set of Freedom Songs, which the choir sings in connection with all people of the world for United Nations Sunday.
What is this UN Business? - Read on - Mission/Vision of Unitarian Universalist United Nations Organization
UUs who comprise one of the smallest American Protestant groups, nonetheless maintain at the UN a formal, constantly operating office representative of their denomination.
For UUs, strengthening and advancing the UN is a first priority. Our sixth principle, “To affirm and promote the goal of a world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.” is reinforced by other principles which call for democracy at all levels of politics and governance, for respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and for reverenced and protection for the interconnected web of life of which human beings are a part.
The office representing the UUs at the UN (UU-UNO) stands for their conviction that the UN is an essential institution of humankind testifying to its resilience and reactivity, expressing its most profound and elemental values, reactivity, presenting its most poignant aspirations, and responding by thought and action to its most urgent political, social and economic realities.
It is supported by the dues of individual members and by grants and donations. - Joan Kemble
What Else is Happening & Announcements
Board Meeting Minutes for October are posted on the web
Bring a Food Item Every Sunday - 189 and 26. What is the significance of these numbers? First, the number of people attending worship services; second, the number of items in the Horace Bushnell Food Pantry box at the end of the day.
What does this say? People at USH may not recognize the seriousness of hunger in our city? They are too busy to think about it or to do something about it weekly?
I have been asked to suggest helpful strategies; here are two. (1) after grocery shopping, leave items in the car, so they will be with you at church on Sunday. (2) If you bring children, assign them the task, explaining about hunger and poverty right around the corner from our church; see that they are the food deliverers for your family: one item per person per week. No glass containers, please. Thank you - Joan KembleBabies, Babies, Babies - The Nursery needs volunteers to be with the youngest members of our congregation during the 11AM service. Each Sunday two people, one of whom can be a teen, will help the program. Parents, have you been looking for a special time with your teenage son or daughter? How about an hour where your energies are focused on a young child? It could be the beginning of a whole new relationship. Sign up sheets are posted outside of the nursery.
Installing a New....Minister!! - If you have ideas, opinions, or energy for the installation service celebrating our new relationship with Rev. BJ, please come to an organizational brainstorming session on Sunday afternoon October 29 at 4:30, in her study, OR send your ideas to Carol Sexton carollee51(at symbol)yahoo.com or Mary-Anne Mulholland skeeterreeder(at symbol)aol.com
UU Singles - Potluck and Discussion
The UU Singles group will be having a Potluck Supper & Discussion, at UUSE in Manchester. Saturday, November 11, at 5:30 PM. We will be having a discussion on singleness lead by Rev. Barbara “BJ” Jamestone, PhD. BJ is the new minister of the Hartford Church. Let’s all give her a warm welcome to the area. Bring a dish to share, and your events for the calendar. RSVP to Larry Lunden, 232-2416 or bigcheese636 (at) yahoo(dot) com.Directions: Unitarian Universalist Society: East, 153 West Vernon St, Manchester. From I-84 east take exit 63 to route 83. Turn left onto route 83 east. At the second light turn right onto Taylor St. At the second stop sign turn right onto West Vernon St. The church is 250 yards ahead on the left.
The UU Singles group is a program of social activities sponsored by the three area UU churches. All singles are welcome to join and participate in our activities. There is no charge. To get on the mailing list contact Larry.
From Adult Programs - Planning for the winter/spring session is now underway. Do you have an idea for a program that you would like to present during the winter/spring term? If you do, proposal forms are available in the office or at the registration table in Fellowship Hall on Sundays.
You might want to check out the Book Cart (located near the registration table) during coffee hour following both the 9:00 and 11:00 AM services. The registration table is open 10-10:30 AM and 12-12:30 PM. Some of the books available for purchase are:
The Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide, edited by John Buehrens. It contains essays on our faith, heritage, ministry, worship, and has important historical dates. It has been called a "classic resource for visitors and new members."
Old School by Tobias Wolff. From one reviewer: "If you're a lover of literature and dedicated to the principal of 'know thyself,' you cannot help but be changed by this book."
A Chosen Faith by John Buehrens and Forrest Church - an introduction to Unitarian Universalism. A review called it "a thought-provoking, readable source-book for searchers, newcomers, and lifelong learners."Supper & Games Night - Please be reminded tickets are required for the October 20 Supper and Games Night and because of necessary planning tickets must have been purchased in advance.
Get your tickets now for the November 17 Tex-Mex Supper & Games Night.
Clara Barton Fall Rally Saturday October 28th (Download Your Brochure) - Further details
Caring Network: "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." Sir James Barrie - 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.
Thursday, October 19
9:30 am Intrn'l Women's Group, Fellowship Hall
3:30 - 6:30 pm UHa parking lot usage
Friday, October 20
6:00 pm Supper and Games night, Fellowship Hall
7:00 pm CDL rental, Chapel
Saturday, October 21
9:30 am - 3:30 pm Rental, Chapel
10:30am - Care Givers' Support, David
6:00 pm Youth Group Social, Fellowship Hall
Sunday, October 22
8:00 am Music rehearsal, Sanctuary
9:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE I, Sanctuary
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am Disabilities, Library
10:00 Children's Choir, Chapel
10:15 am Music rehearsal, Sanctuary
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE II, Sanctuary
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
12:00 pm Women's Alliance, David
Monday, October 23
1:00 pm Rental, Library
6:30 pm SIA, Murray
7:00 pm Artist's Way, Servetus
7:00 pm Small Group Ministry, David
Tuesday, October 24
2:00 pm Knitting with Purpose, Servetus
7:00 pm Spiritual Transformations, Library
8:00 pm AA, Fellowship Hall
Wednesday, October 25
10:00 am Staff Meeting, Minister's Study (Office closed)
7:00 pm Pathways to Membership, Library
7:30 pm Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary
Thursday, October 26
6:00 pm Rental, Fellowship Hall
Friday, October 27
10:30 am Disabilities, Library
6:00 pm Butkovich Exhibit Reception, Fellowship Hall
Sunday, October 29
8:00 am Music rehearsal, Sanctuary
9:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE I, Sanctuary
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am Council on Social Justice, Murray
10:00 am RE Talk Back, Library
10:00 am Children's Choir, Chapel
10:15 am Music rehearsal, Sanctuary
11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE II, Sanctuary
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
12:15 pm RE Talk Back, Library
3:00 - 7:00 pm Rental (CDL), Fellowship Hall
To get on the calendar, call 233.9897Further Down The Road (About 30 Days Max)
Religious Education Talkback Scheduled - October 29, 2006 following each service
Location: 9AM TBA, 11AM chapel
Join Reverend Jamestone and the RE sub-council for a talkback on the state of RE. Share hopes, dreams, concerns and ideas.
Sleep Out As Fund Raiser Approaching - Sponsor a cold kid sleeping in a box learning about homelessness and generating money for a good cause.
Open your wallet now!
Excellence in RE Conference Planned - Plans are in progress for workshops and related activities to be offered at the Excellence in RE Conference on Saturday, November 18th , 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. More information
CIRCLE DINNERS - This has been a very popular program among Unitarians elsewhere. It's a way to get to know each other in a setting more intimate than a sanctuary or committee meeting room !! More information.Reporters needed: further information
From the Editor: This Sunday you can go to services, take a crop walk at 1:30PM and still attend the spectacular Emerson Brass Concert at 4PM! What more could a good UU ask for one day's social justice activity!
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This Week’s Feature Articles
Word with Rev BJ: True Confessions - I confess—I do NOT believe in GOD, Goddess on Demand, Grouchy ole’ Daddy, Grand only Deity, etc….I DO however believe in, and stake my life’s purpose on ‘god’—good orderly direction, grandness of design, getting over disaster, grooving on dialogue, and getting on down…”getting on down” to the “glory of doing” what can be done to stake up and expand this big tent of ours at USH. This season I invite YOU to join me in the ‘gift of doing’ something for our future.
On October 28 I am going to our District Rally and attending the RE training segment. On November 18 I am going to spend six hours at the “Excellence in Religious Education Conference” where there will be at least eight workshops offered—how to talk with children about faith, about tragedy, about crisis; developmental stages for faith awareness, how to organize a great RE curriculum, or RE committee, or teacher training. I cannot stretch to cover ALL of these events. Who will go with me? Might Oct. 28 or Nov. 18 be your ‘gift of doing’ for the future this Fall?
LOOKING AHEAD TO SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12
On Sunday morning, November 12, our pulpit guest will be Connie Barlow, author of popular science books bridging evolution and meaning. Her book, "The Ghosts of Evolution" (Basic Books), was Amazon.com's #1 recommended science book for several months in 2001. Her previous book, "Green Space, Green Time: The Way of Science" (Copernicus Books), was excerpted as the cover story in the Nov/Dec 1998 issue of "UU World", and also appeared in "The Humanist" and "Wild Earth" magazines. Connie's great joy is sharing ways in which an understanding of the evolutionary and ecological sciences can enhance our communion with the natural world and with one another.On Sunday evening at the Meeting House, November 12, Michael Dowd, a gifted teacher, preacher, and cosmic storyteller, who has been called "North America's evolutionary evangelist", will present a science and religion workshop entitled "Thank God for Evolution! How Science and Religion Are Spurring Each Other to Greatness" at 7:00 PM. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Michael's message is the way that it has been embraced and even celebrated by those across the theological and philosophical spectrum: from atheists, humanists, and freethinkers, to evangelicals, to moderate and liberal Catholic and Protestant Christians, to Buddhists, Quakers and others. His great joy is telling the 14 billion year history of everyone and everything in ways that evoke awe, gratitude, and trust, inspire faith and openheartedness, and empower people to follow the path where their own great joy and the world's great needs intersect!
Michael and Connie, husband and wife, live permanently on the road, teaching and preaching across North America "the marriage of science and religion for personal and planetary well being." Check their website: http://www.TheGreatStory.org - one of the best educational tools in the sustainability / conscious evolution / green spirituality movements.
Stay tuned for more information! Please call the office if you would like to attend the evening workshop so that we may better plan for the event.A Short Feature on Dinner and a Movie Series - After gathering over wine, soda, and popcorn, twenty-six folks happily feasted and socialized at our famous catered dinner on Friday, October 13, for the opening of the 2006-7 Dinner and a Movie series. Carnivores heaped their plates with barbequed pork, corn bread, and cole slaw,
vegetarians enjoyed pasta primavera, and almost all headed to the dessert table for fruit bowl, chocolate cake, tea, and coffee.
Then the group watched "Brokeback Mountain" on our large screen TV. The discussion afterwards, a special feature of our film series, involved almost every viewer, with comments about the influences upon the two main characters and also on the depth of their relationship.
The October to June series titles were voted upon last summer by previous attendees; the full list is available with dates on the USH websiteThe November 10 feature is “Black Narcissus” from 1947 starring Deborah Kerr: “Exquisite Yearning! . . . Exotic Living! High in a hidden mountain village of a strange land and extravagant dreams and desires become exciting realities!” It’s centered around a small group of nuns teaching in a Himalayan outpost school, faced with challenges from severe weather, loneliness, to “impure thoughts and sexual temptations”.
If you are interested in attending, call the Office or Nita (693-4269). Please make reservations before the Monday preceding the movie, by reserving at the registration table during coffee hours or by calling the USH office. Credit cards can now be used for payment. Kane’s Market of Simsbury is the caterer, garnering consistently enthusiastic reviews. And remember, you can invite a friend or co-worker, too.
Committee on Ministry Reports - Up and functioning, the COM has issued is first report and has explained what it does.
A Matter of Opinion: (space for comment on USH issues) - Editor retains the right to make minor changes – letters should be issue oriented)
External Events and Educational Notes
Emerson Brass to Play - Music of Main Street, USA - Emerson Brass will be joined by organist Donald Funk on this Sunday, October 22 at 4 PM in a concert titled Music of Main Street, USA, at Immanuel Congregational Church, 10 Woodland Street, Hartford (near the Mark Twain House). The concert is a benefit for Love Makes a Family.
A free will offering will be received. Music of Bernstein, Campra, Copland, Stephen Foster, Gershwin, W.C. Handy, Mancini, a Sousa march, spirituals, New Orleans jazz and Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings transcribed for organ will be performed.
Love Makes a Family may be reached at 860-525-7777 or www.lmfct.org . Download brochure
2006 CROP WALK - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2006 1:30 PM at St. Peter Claver Church. See USH-Enews for 8/31/06 for details.
A Few Words About Our Roots From The Book, Hartford Unitarianism 1844 -1994 by Freeman Meyer:
The Rev. John Sullivan Dwight, an early Unitarian minister, wrote his Harvard Divinity School dissertation on "The Proper Character of Poetry and Music on Public Worship." He later established the weekly Dwight's Journal of Music, which was published in Boston for nearly 30 years. According to denominational historian George Willis Cooke, Dwight "translated music into literary form, showed the public what to find in it, and how to discover its profound spiritual charm and beauty." Dwight's influence on Unitarian music " and on the Hartford Unitarian Society for the past 150 years is self-evident, "says Willett. "Music was and continues to be one of the central foci of the church service."
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. Only announcements for very large events will be issued as single item email distributions. 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 10/19/06)
