USH-Enews November 9, 2006

USH-Enews For November 9, 2006
Jump to: Calendar; What's happening; A matter of opinion; External events; Further down the road; Our roots

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How long to arise from the sea?

The 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.

Wanted: All Would-Be Artists and Decorators. USH is looking for artistically-minded folks to come up with banners, backdrops, and props to adorn the chancel each week…and to change periodically with the season or the theme of the service. Would anyone out there like to contribute their artistic or decorating ability to take us beyond flowers into more creative forms visual expression of our spiritual themes? Think plants, balloons, swags—push the envelope. Flowers are so last week! If this sounds like a contribution you can make, please come to a meeting at Reverend BJ’s office on Wednesday, November 29th, at 6:30 PM. And thank you! Questions? Contact Diane Cadrain at diane.cadrain(at symbol) snet.net or at 233-8766.

Worshipping Together Since 1830
Services held at 9 and 11 AM

Sunday 12 November - Death Through Deep-Time Eyes - Connie Barlow - a popular science writer, and The Reverend Michael Dowd, a former UCC pastor, have been called "America’s evolutionary evangelists." More

Michael Dowd to Present Sunday Evening Workshop.

RE:

This past Sunday, Reverend BJ introduced Nina Binin-Berg to our children and the congregation as our new RE administrator.

Appointed by the Religious Education Task Force, which was formed by the Board of Directors this past September, Nina has been an active, valuable and long term member of the RE Sub-Council and this Society. She graciously offered her tremendous dedication and gifts to the RE program by serving in this position as a volunteer until the end of the church year. At the service, we voiced not only our enormous gratitude but our pledge to do our share in supporting the RE program.

Please extend your appreciation committing ourselves to her and offer your support as we share the work of this important ministry. - Nina Elgo, Chair, Council on Spiritual Life

Music: Choir member Rachel Johnson is preparing for her vocal juries at Hartt and sings two alto arias at 9:00. At 11:00 AM. The full choir sings Brahms’s glorious “Sacred Song,” an ingenious double canon with organ that expresses the soul’s deepest exaltation.

Sermons for 10-29 and 11-5-06 are now available on the web.

What Else is Happening & Announcements

Sleep Out November 11 - 12 As Fund Raiser Saturday - Sunday - Bring your donation this Sunday, if not arranged before.

UU Singles - Potluck and Discussion -
The UU Singles group will be having a Potluck Supper & Discussion This Saturday November 11th. Details

Supper & Games Night - There is all this good food, choices, choices!

Last chance, get your tickets by this Sunday for the November 17 Tex-Mex Supper & Games Night. $9 for an adult ticket, $5 for children under 12 years.

If you love food with the flavors of the cuisines of Mexico and the American Southwest, this is the Supper and Games Night for you. Our food will run the gamut from spicy to sweet, from rib sticking and tickling to light as a feather. We are not telling what we are making, only that the dishes will be delicious and will be both representative of and also a little different from the usual Tex-Mex offerings.

We welcome any cooks who love Tex-Mex food to volunteer to bring a dish for 8-10 folks to share with us. Call Esther McKone (677-6682) or Edith Savage (232-5603) to volunteer. Still more details

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

SOLUTIONS TO “AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH” - Nov. 18 People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) will host an event at the Unitarian Society of Hartford which will consist of environmental exhibits, solar energy installers, pizza, dessert & coffee, from 5pm - 7pm; The annual PACE meeting from 7pm-7:30pm; and a panel discussion with audience participation and awards starting at 7:30pm. This event is co-sponsored by Clean Water Action, Conn PIRG, Ct Coalition for Environmental Justice, Ct Fund for the Environment, USH Council on Social Justice and the Inter-religious Eco-Justice Network

St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble in Concert - Reserve the date on your calendar - Friday Dec. 1, 7:30 PM at the Meeting House when the Unitarian Performing Arts Sub-Council (UPA) presents the St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble in concert. Since its formation in 2003, the ENSEMBLE has captivated audiences in Russia and around the world with its unique sound and intriguing repertoire, singing popular Russian folk songs, secular and religious compositions, and the vocal works of the best of modern composers.

Following a successful West Coast U.S. tour, the ST. PETERSBURG MEN’S ENSEMBLE brings its traditional Russian sound and style to the East Coast, kicking off the Unitarian Meeting House’s 2006-2007 Performing Arts Series. Seasonal Russian treats will be available at intermission at the concession table.

Tickets are $15 in advance /$20 at the door. to be available for purchase Sunday. To order tickets, call (860) 233-9897 More information pdf flier. And, if you have a bit of time and a good connection, here is a brief music selection. It will take a bit of time to download. If you like it, here is one more, and another selection.

We are seeking housing for these four talented and engaging Russian men who are coming all the way from St. Petersburg and are including USH on their East Coast tour. If you’d be able to house one or more members of the ensemble (one night only, breakfast included), please contact Mattie Banzhaf: 651-8303, banz(at symbol)hartford.edu

Come to the concert, hear their fabulous deep voices, and lead them to your home for a cross-cultural encounter.

Festival of the Season to Again Delight USHers and Friends - Circle Saturday, December 9th in red and green on your calendar. That’s the date of this year’s annual Festival of the Season, which will start at 3:00 PM in the Meeting House. For those of you who remember this event for the entire family from last year, the program will be the same again this year with activities for all ages. In connection with the event, we are thrilled to tell you Sid Garvais will return again on the piano! Once again, we're planning on including wreath decorating as one of our crafts! We welcome any donation of new or used ribbons, ornaments, or and other materials we can use for this popular project. Donations can be dropped of in a large marked box in the lobby. Many of our members are hard at work getting everything ready under the leadership of:

Bill LaPorte-Bryan - Festival Coordinator
Ann LaPorte-Bryan- Crafts
Mattie Banzhaf - Music
Patrice Fitzgerald - Worship Service
Janice Newton - Potluck Dinner
John Stowe - “Twelve Days of Christmas”

From Adult Programs - When you stop by the Registration Table during coffee hour (10 am & 12 noon) this Sunday, be sure to check out the offerings in the Book Cart. Do you or someone you know have an idea for a program that you would like to present during the winter/spring term? Proposal forms will be available at the registration table.

We will be taking registrations for the following programs in December:

Friday Dinner and Movie, December 8, featuring North by Northwest. An Alfred Hitchcock (1959) classic, suspenseful comic thriller - one of the most entertaining movies ever made and one of his most famous." Tim Dirks’ The Greatest Films.

Emberdays: Practicing the Establishment of Peace on Earth - During Winter Ember days at USH, we will reflect on the practice of peace, as it is experienced in lectio divina, the prayful reading of texts. Using the words of Thich Nhat Hahn and Jesus, men known for bringing peace to the hearts of many, we will practice establishing peace of mind, heart, and body during the busy holiday season. There is no cost for these sessions, but please do contact the office to register. Bring your journal, and a blanket or cushion if you like as we will be ‘sitting.’ In the Chapel. December 13 Noon to 2 PM December 15 and 16 - 6 to 8 PM

Your Signature Wanted - Continuing through the end of December, members of GHICEJ and the Council of Social Justice will have a table in Fellowship Hall, during coffee hour, where they will be collecting signatures to deliver to the State Capitol in support of State Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for the working poor. Please consider signing this now. More information

Caring Network: Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. ~ William James - 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.

ON THE CALENDAR:

Thursday, November 9
9:00 am Women's Alliance, Kitchen, Fellowship Hall
11:45 am Rehearsal (Rental), Sanctuary
7:00 pm Rental (CDL), Chapel

Friday, November 10
5:30 pm Dinner & Movie, "Black Narcissus", Fellowship Hall
7:00 pm Rental (CDL), Chapel

Saturday, November 11
9:30 am - 2:00 pm Rental, Chapel
5:00 pm Recital (Rental), Sanctuary
7:00 pm Youth gather for sleeping outside in boxes
Sunday, November 12
8:00 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
9:00 am Worship Service I, Sanctuary
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am B&G, Murray
10:00 am Children's Choir, Chapel
10:00 am Comfort Shawl Knitters, Sitting area (under the stairs)
10:15 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
10:30 am Young Children's Choir, Emerson
11:00 am Worship Service II, Sanctuary
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
12:15 pm Newcomers' Coffee, Carrots, and Conversation w/Minister, Minister's Study
12:34 pm SGM Facilitator Training, Library

Monday, November 13
6:30 pm SIA, Emerson
7:00 pm Artist's Way, Servetus
7:00 pm SGM, David
7:00 pm Worship Sub-Council, Murray

Tuesday, November 14
6:00 pm Caring Network, Servetus
7:00 pm Board of Directors, Library
8:00 pm AA, Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, November 15
10:00 am Staff Meeting, Minister's Study (Office Closed)
5:15 pm Feldenkrais, Fellowship Hall
6:30 pm Tai Chi, Fellowship Hall
7:00 pm Pathways SGM, David
7:30 pm Choir, Sanctuary

Thursday, November 16
9:30 am International Women's Circle, Kitchen & Fellowship Hall
2:00 pm Meeting, Library

Friday, November 17
6:00 pm Supper & Games Night, Fellowship Hall
7:00 pm Rental (CDL), Chapel

Saturday, November 18
9:00 am - 3:00 pm Excellence in Religious Education Conference, Northborough, Mass.
4:00 - 10:00 pm People's Action for Clean Energy, Fellowship Hall

Sunday, November 19
8:00 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
9:00 am Worship Service I, Sanctuary
10:00 am Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
10:00 am Children's Choir, Chapel
10:00 am Disabilities, Library
10:15 am Music Rehearsal, Sanctuary
10:30 am Young Children's Choir, Emerson
11:00 am Worship Service II, Sanctuary
12:00 pm Coffee Hour, Fellowship Hall
12:15 pm Newcomers' Coffee, Carrots, and Conversation w/Minister, Minister's Study

To get on the calendar, call 233.9897

Further Down The Road (About 30 Days Max)

Reporters needed: further information

Note for Your Busy December Calendars - Dec 17, the standard 2 services at 9 and 11AM --Many thanks to you the choir and Mattie for doing the huge labor of love in providing us with our holiday music program TWICE.

Dec 24, one morning service 10 AM, plus the late evening service at 10 PM

Dec 31, one service 10 am--thanks Patrice Fitzgerald

From the Editor: It is a pleasure this week to welcome a new reporter, Gail Bogossian, to our pages. See below.

***

This Week’s Feature Articles

More About Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd - Maybe you saw Ed Richardson’s “Letter to the Editor” last week. He said he was “enthralled” by Rev. Michael Dowd’s recent sermon at the Manchester UU church, and expected that the other half of his partnership (Connie Barlow) will be “just as inspiring.” The writer in the Spring issue of UU World described Michael’s “zealous preaching style” as reminiscent of a TV evangelist!

Indeed, “American’s Evolutionary Evangelists,” as the husband and wife team is known, are going to be our guests this Sunday, November 12, 2006. Connie, a popular author of science books, will be our pulpit guest – her sermon is entitled “Death Through Deep Time Eyes” – and Michael will conduct a workshop in the evening, called “Thank God for Evolution.”

Connie’s sermon is one of her favorites. In it she will explore how understandings drawn from a range of sciences (astrophysics, evolutionary biology, embryology, cell biology, ecology, and geology) can transform our view of death. Recognizing that coming to terms with death, of our loved ones and eventually of ourselves, has long been regarded as a core impetus for seeking religion, she strives to offer a “celebration of the material fact of death” that everyone can share.

She will encourage us to embrace our differences in beliefs about what happens to the spirit or soul after death, and at the same time be able to view death as natural, generative, something to be trusted and celebrated, and to see how so much of what we cherish in life is possible only because death has prepared the way for it.

This service is a natural progression from BJ’s service on All Soul’s Day a couple of weeks ago. It will be an opportunity to hear about a new way to look at and think about death.

Like Connie’s sermon, Michael’s workshop at USH Sunday evening Nov 12, 2006 at 7 PM, the subtitle of which is, “How Science and Religion are Spurring Each Other to Greatness,” also deals with science in a religious context. He quotes a Harvard biologist who calls evolution the “best myth we will ever have,” and promises evolutionary epiphanies and religious awakenings as he helps his audience really get the science-based epic of evolution as a meaningful sacred story.

The workshop is designed to shine an exciting new light on the age-old questions about human nature and human destiny, creating an understanding of evolutionary brain science and psychology that will assist us in living happier, healthier, and more “on-purpose” lives. Michael feels we need a new story, based on scientific discovery, but also reverent of the awesomeness of the universe. Often people turn to religion to imbue the universe with meaning. The “Great Story” finds meaning in the universe by making science the basis of its religious world view.

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!

Connie and Michael live permanently on the road (living in a white van named “Angel”), sharing their insights with audiences throughout North America. Michael was a former conservative Christian pastor who previously proclaimed evolution “of the devil” and the root of most social problems. More information is available from their website.
- Gail Bogossian

Shout Out - I like to begin meetings with a “Shout Out!” moment when we share praiseworthy deeds of others. An example--after my invitation that you contact me to explore religious education volunteering, an RE committee member VOLUNTEERED to serve as the interim administrator of our RE program for the remainder of the YEAR! I was so pleased, but not surprised.

Earlier I invited you to contact me if you could cook a hospitable meal for the clergy who were traveling to my house for a meeting on Halloween. Two couples brought wonderfully green and orange foods, along with angel food and devil’s food deserts! I was pleased but not surprised.

My fellow clergy WERE surprised when they heard about (and tasted!) the generosity of spirit and neighborly helpfulness of these two examples of shared ministry, were surprised that a church member had VOLUNTEERED to administer the RE program, and to cooking for the minister.’ They could not believe that I had dared to ASK for help with these two needs, and wondered if it was a “Southern” thing. I said, “No, it’s a Unitarian Society of Hartford thing. We help each other at my church. We see asking for help, not as offensive or indelicate, but as offering somebody the opportunity to be blessed by helping. It is called shared ministry.”

Thank you dear ones for yoking together with me for the work of the ministry of our fine spiritual home. Now….There’s a “print” tacked to the wall outside my study which holds a vision for life under our big tent at USH, and it sure does need to be framed, when one of you wants to have a blessed day! - Rev. BJ

You Too can Dance on One Leg - During a Leadership Retreat last weekend, Reverend BJ and USH lay leaders created a covenant for “achieving the goals you and I have set,” Rev. BJ told attendees at the Sunday, November 5 service.

Rev. BJ shared both the Retreat and the Sunday pulpit with Lynn Thomas, a long-time personal friend and an executive of the Clara Barton District. During the Sunday service, Ms. Thomas offered some observations on the Retreat in which she participated. She felt that our Society has an “authentic, deeply committed, knowledgeable team.” Among the issues discussed during the Retreat were worship, religious education, membership, and honoring the elderly. Ms. Thomas said Rev. BJ and USH leaders, in the covenant they formed, promised to continue the conversations started and to stay in it even in hard times.

Rev. BJ began her part of the sermon with the question, “So what if you had an unhappy childhood? You can still dance on one leg.” (If you missed this service, be sure to read about her childhood prank of dancing one-legged with a one-legged friend on a roof around a chimney…) When we have ideas, she suggested, we should try them out together, recognize our fears and just go ahead anyway. Rev. BJ’s response to the question of how do you explain Unitarianism during a short elevator ride? She would answer, “There’s more… Just keep on acting like we can dance on one leg.”
- Kayla Costenoble

Further Report of Committee on Ministry - The Committee on Ministry held its second meeting on October 29. We invited all Council Chairs and Board Members to this meeting to discuss their respective roles and responsibilities as “ministers” in our new governance structure. Present were Nina Elgo and Marye Gail Harrison (Spiritual Life), Nancy Mandly and Carol Sexton (Community Within), Peg Otto and Fred Louis (Social Justice), and Hugh Schweitzer (Administration).

Reverend Barbara Jamestone deftly facilitated a discussion that centered around three questions: (1) What were we thinking when we accepted this leadership role? What are the history and hopes for the positions of Council Chair, Board member, and Committee on Ministry (COM) member? (2) How are we doing? What are some of our best practices, and where are we on thin ice? (3) What are our next action steps? The format prescribed that one group (Council Chairs and associated Board members) discusses the questions while the other group (COM) listens and observes, with the groups switching such roles later in the meeting.

Here are our key observations:

1. There is uncertainty regarding the role and responsibilities of Council Chair and associate Board member, and of the COM. We need to develop some job descriptions with details.

2. We have experienced much attrition already in the key roles of Council Chair and Board Liaison. Why is that? Part may be due to lack of clarity in the length of term for a Council Chair.

3. Things work better when the “dyads” of Council Chair and associated Board member develop a trusting, close working relationship that features open communication. While we have spent much time recently in protecting against storms (for example, going to two services, dealing with staff turnover in RE), we have also started to form solid working relationships across a wider swath of members.

4. We should continue to spread leadership roles, and encourage members to be assertive in seeking leadership roles and owning the responsibilities of such roles. We need to reverse the trend of reluctance in seeking or accepting leadership, together with passivity in shaping and owning the responsibilities attendant to such leadership.

5. The Committee on Ministry can play an important role in observing, assessing, and evaluating the roles of minister and lay leaders in our new governance structure and our ministries. The COM can also support and help integrate the new minister into USH culture. However, it is not clear if our role should rise to the level of tracking the progress of USH in achieving its stated mission and vision. It is also unclear if the COM should play a role in conflict resolution.

The next action steps suggested are as follows:

1. Ask your sub-councils, “What can we do to help USH achieve its mission and vision? What resources do we need to accomplish that?”

2. Review and renew the “yoked” relationship between Council Chair and associated Board member, and review the roles and job description of each. The COM should also continue to review its role and job description.

3. Review your sub-councils for propriety: does each sub-council still fit within my council area?

4. Hold regular “council meetings” with your sub-councils, perhaps once a quarter, and report the results to the associated Board member and the Board.

Carol Sexton distributed copies of a proposed form of “leadership resource guide” that contains much information useful especially to newer leaders. We also discussed the benefit of making available the surveys, summaries, and congregational profiles compiled by the recent Search Committee (There are two blue binders containing this material in the library.) The COM will invite representatives from the Women’s Alliance to its next meeting on Tuesday, November 21, at 7:00 pm.

The COM welcomes input from everyone in the congregation. We are Reverend Barbara Jamestone, Heather Ferguson-Hull, Ginny Berrien, Greg Berg, Al Herzog, Nancy Mandly, and Mike Roy. If you would like to read more about the concept of Committee on Ministry, we refer you to an informative article. - Mike Roy

A Matter of Opinion: (space for comment on USH issues) - Editor retains the right to make minor changes – letters should be issue oriented)

Dear USH members:

Thank you for your support when I was in the hospital last week. One day the hospital delivered five emails to me! They were all from USH members, and were sent to me through the Hartford Hospital website.

Rev. BJ visited and gave me a COMFORT SHAWL!

The issue is DVT (deep vein thrombosis)--a blood clot in my left leg, causing painful swelling in my calf & thigh. The treatment is a blood thinner (Lovinox). A visiting nurse comes to my apartment every day to give me a subcutaneous injection (like insulin injections that diabetics get).

Aloha pumehana (warm aloha), Alani (Willett)

External Events and Educational Notes

Maggie Greene and Fred Louis will be participating in the annual demonstration calling for the closing of the School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation or WHINSEC in 2001) located at Ft. Benning, GA.

The SOA was established in 1946 and since that year has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper tactics, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation methods. These graduates have consistently used their new skills to wage war against their own people.

This year the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) events will be on the weekend of Nov. 17th-19th. It is always the closest weekend to November 16th when, in 1989, Salvadoran soldiers slaughtered six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter in El Salvador. Sixteen of the nineteen accused of those murders are SOA graduates.

The SOAW is a wonderful grass-roots organization dedicated to closing WHINSEC, "speaking truth to power and giving voice to the voiceless". A record 20,000 good souls are expected at this years vigil.

If you want more information or to support this work, please go to this web site.

Do Hungry People Have a Prayer? - Hartford Prayer breakfast scheduled for November 15th. More information. Marye Gail reports it is a great event.

A Few Words About Our Roots From The Book, Hartford Unitarianism 1844 -1994 by Freeman Meyer - Over the years the musical focus on the Society has been on biannual presentations of major choral works, ranging from German Baroque masters like Heinrich Schutz to contemporary American jazz composers like Dave Buebeck. These works typically employ the choir, vocal soloists, and both professional and amateur orchestral players. During the past fifty years (1944-94), we have been ably served by a distinguished line of music directors: Genevieve Ford Brooks, Florence Hyde, Mary Klaus, Geraldine Douglas, Bill Willett, Lois Jungas, David Katz, Paul Fright and Martha Banzhaf.

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 11/09/06)