The Unitarian
on line
April 2008
A Publication of First Unitarian Church of South Bend, Indiana
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Minister’s Musings
Dear Friends,
What does Unitarian Universalism give to you? When you think of our church, our denomination and the people you hold dear who are Unitarian Universalist, what are your feelings? Do you smile and feel thankful? Do you look forward to the next opportunity to attend worship, a gathering of a social nature, or to talk with someone who shares your ideals and ideas? What would it mean if suddenly our church did not exist? What would the loss be to you personally?
I ask this because our congregation is at a juncture. You are ready to welcome a new future. New programs. New people. Renewed vision. Eventually a new minister. Perhaps a new building. Certainly we are in the process of welcoming 25 new people and their children. When I first arrived at the end of the summer, we were all not sure what to expect. I wanted to have the children in worship every Sunday...this was a change. I was told that attendance was down and there was a feeling of malaise in the congregation. Few committees were meeting. We have turned the church into a more vital and growing place. It feels energized on Sunday mornings. The size of the Sunday School has doubled. We have two Youth groups. YES! is inspiring us! We are working on reforming the committees so that people can have input into rebuilding our church.
In the next month we will enter into our time of Stewardship. We will have the opportunity to care for and to support our church. We will have Visiting Stewards who will ask you what you like about First Unitarian Church, what you might like to see improved, and then you will be given the opportunity to support the church with your gifts of time and talent. I ask you quite simply to consider it all and to do the very best you can. Love the church to the best of your abilities with your gifts.
Like the pop tops in the jar we are collecting, if everyone does their best we will fill the jar and more... Abundance comes from everyone doing their best and the combining of our gifts.
Our church needs you to love it deeply and to help us recreate a new future.
Blessings.
Denise
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Calendar for April 2008
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See our interactive “wall” calendar for current and future events.
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More Than a Month of Sundays
April 6: “Why I Am a Unitarian Universalist” A personal story of why and how I became a Unitarian. Denise Tracy
April 13: “The Ocean in a Bucket” Why all of us should care about attracting others to Unitarian Universalism. Denise Tracy
April 20: Jazz Service. Stephen and Mary Merriman will be our jazz musicians. Howard Dukes will read his poetry. Denise Tracy will read one or two works by Dr Suess – a Unitarian Universalist
April 27: Youth Service. The Teens Sunday School class will organize and lead the service this day.
May 4: “The Great Mother” a service on the ancient religion. We will have our coffee hour outside with a Maypole and fun activities. (If you are willing to share an activity, please talk to Denise.) (Bubbles, games, juggling etc). Denise Tracy and the members of SPIRAL
May 11: “Why Mothers have Wrinkles” A Mother’s Day Sermon. Denise Tracy
May 18: Sunday School Program
RE News
from Mary Beth Dickey
RE-duce, RE-use, RE-cycle!
You’ve been waiting for it all year... the annual R.E. Rummage Sale on Saturday, April 26! Have we got a deal for you! This year’s proceeds go to the teen service project trip to Mexico! Clean out your cupboards, closets, basement and garage! Bring us your gently used clothes, books, toys, furniture, dishes, etc. (no broken electronics please) As Henry David Thoreau said, “Simplify, simplify.” which here means “Thoreau it out!” (get it?) Donations may be dropped off at church the week of April 20-25. Please put them in the RE hallway downstairs. Here are some other ways you can help: sign up for a two or three hour shift to help with set-up on Friday April 25 or work on the day of the sale April 26. We will need some extra hands after the sale ends around one o’clock to help with cleaning up. Look for the sign-up sheets at church. Let’s help our wonderful teen group with this worthy cause. And don’t forget to come and shop at the sale. We’ll have bargains galore!
What else is happening downstairs this month?
April 13
Kids’ Connection will celebrate Earth Day with everybody’s favorite “bee man” Jim Curlee. (He’s a real “honey” to help us.) We will be learning about the importance of bees in our world and if the weather is good, we will be outside planting some native plants for them. Kids, wear your gardening clothes and plan to get dirty.
April 17
RE Committee meets at 9:30 a.m. Come join us! We welcome new ideas and energy. We are already beginning to plan next year’s RE program.
April 18
Middle schoolers movie madness night 6:30 p.m. at the church.
April 25 (Friday)
Set-up for Rummage Sale 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (or later if necessary)
April 26 (Saturday)
Rummage Sale 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Rummage Sale clean-up 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
A Big RE Thank You to:
- Our teen “YES” group for the fabulous job they did with the church spaghetti supper, the RE Teacher Appreciation Dinner, and helping the Easter Bunny. You guys rock!
- Lynn McDonald. Anne Mannix, Maureen Wijnen, Gail DeSomer, and Ted Beatty for helping the teens organize the dinner for our RE teachers. It was a great evening.
- Heather and Bryan Eschbach, Stacey Nugent and Robert Old for teaching our preschool class.
- Julia Douthwaite for hosting last month’s movie night.
- Duncan Krostue for teaching the 4th-6th grade class two weeks in a row.
- Bob Asplund and John Bentley for the wonderful children’s story with bird calls!
RE-minders:
- We hope to have a middle school overnight event sometime in May or June. See Denise Tracy or Lynn McDonald if you would like to help.
- I will be away from April 4-12 traveling with my family.
I heard the Sandhill Cranes fly over the other day and the birds are really starting to sing in the morning. April includes International Earth Day, the birthdays of John Muir and John James Audubon, and Teej, a Hindu holiday celebrating the arrival of the annual monsoon rains. Enjoy this wet and wonderful month!
YES!
Youth Education Service
Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
This July, eight teenagers and three chaperones will add to our church’s history by going on our first ever service project. Through the help of The Global Citizens Network, we will be working alongside the indigenous people of Chicueyaco, Mexico to finish building a health clinic. The goal of The Global Citizens Network is to create a network of people who are committed to the shared values of peace, justice, tolerance, cross-cultural understanding, and global cooperation to the preservation of indigenous cultures. Each person going on the trip has committed to fund raising one-third of the fee ($700 per person) individually. We will raise an additional third of the cost through group projects. The final third will be paid by our parents. As a group, the teens will hold a few fundraisers throughout the year.
- Fair trade Chocolate/Coffee Sale: On sale after Sunday services in the foyer.
- Personal Services: We can do your yard work, babysit your kids, do your spring cleaning, or make baked goods. Just contact a YES team member, and we’ll be there!
- Rummage Sale: The teens will receive two thirds of the rummage sale profits.
- Car Wash: A spring car wash is in the works, more details to be announced in the future.
- Dance Party: more details to be announced.
- Baked Goods: $20 for teen baked goods.
The teens have already parked cars at Notre Dame Football Games, donated items to the Service Auction, and sold drinks at Latin Dance Class, raising more than $2,000. We are hoping to raise $14,000 as a congregation to lessen the burden of the families of our congregation. Your donation will help to pay for their housing, food, plane ticket, as well as donating money to Global Citizens Network to finish building the health clinic.
Contact Maureen or Marijke Wijnen for more information: email maureenwijnen@hotmail.com or rijkew@gmail.com
Give us a chance to better understand our world and how our Unitarian Universalist Faith is connected to it. Stay true to the covenant of this church which states “love is the spirit of this church and service is its law”.
Search Committee Report
It looks like our committee will be engaged in a second year of ministerial search. Although it’s possible that the process will still yield some viable candidates, our pre-candidate opted for a church in Ft. Myers, Florida. Her post-weekend feedback identified both personal and professional reasons in making the decision, and included positive reflections about our church, its rich history and the many opportunities in our community. She also shared her thoughts on the possibility of attracting more future candidates with an improved financial package, more congregational self-reflection during the interim period, and clearer steps toward addressing the issues related to our building.
Going forward, the Search Committee will be seeking input from a variety of sources and providing feedback to the UUA on the online component of its search process. We will need a couple of additional committee members to continue our work. Always challenging, this involvement also yields a wealth of information on our congregation and the chance to impact it very significantly. If you’re interested, please contact Bob Asplund or Kay Azar.
Barb Carmichael
Chair, Search Committee
Sunday Forum
April 13
Home Environmentalism
Facilitator: Zae Munn
We are the masters of our own living spaces. What actions can we as individuals take to make sure that our own homes reflect our environmental values? Which of these efforts could be applied to our own church? Zae Munn will lead a discussion about very specific steps we can take to lessen our negative environmental impact. A home environmentalism checklist will be available in early April at church and as a downloadable PDF from the church website at http://firstunitarian.us/forum.pdf.
April 27
“Just War” and Peace: Toward a UU Principle
Facilitator: Don Marti
The current issue of UU World carries an article by Paul Rasor (one of UU’s best writers and scholars) entitled “Prophetic Nonviolence: Toward a UU theology of war and peace.” The article aims to advance discussion of a question that the General Assembly asked in 2006: “Should the UU Association reject the use of any and all kinds of violence and war to resolve disputes between peoples and nations and adopt a principle of seeking just peace through nonviolent means?” To put the question in different words, do we reject ideas of “just war”, which Rasor tells us that UUs have “historically followed”, and embrace pacifism? Can we, as Rasor hopes, find a “position that integrates the two traditions”?
Committee for Peace and Justice
“Gun Violence in America” will be the topic for our next program. It will be held on Thursday, April 17, at 7:00 pm at the church. Please come for a discussion of the causes and possible solutions for this serious problem in our country. (This is the postponed program from last month).
Care Notes
We extend sincere condolences to the family of Agneta Heldt who passed away March 9. Agneta was a staunch Unitarian Universalist and always enjoyed discussing aspects of the church and faith with fellow UUs.
We wish a speedy recovery to Fern and Angharad Hamlin who are both recovering from fractures as well as Peggy Stevens who is recovering from knee surgery.
There are many members of our congregation who are committed to the words in our covenant “to help one another.” The care committee is especially appreciative of these caring people: Jim Curlee, a devoted friend to Agneta until the end; Glen Saha, a mentor and chauffeur to Bill Stradley; and Diana Mendelsohn, cat-sitter, and “adopted-daughter” to Marj Stradley.
Thank you also to Mary Hagen, Mary Alice Hardy, Ellen Triebold, Cindy Benedict and Mary Beth Dickey who have delivered home-cooked meals to convalescing members this past month.
You too can be part of this exclusive group of generous people. Contact a member of the care committee: Alice Bentley, Mary Hagen or Kathy Curtis.
A Note from Marj
Dear Church family and friends,
I wish to sincerely thank everyone who has been so helpful in my long recovery. Especially Kathy Curtis, Diana Mendelsohn, Elly Wynia, and my drumming group.
Thanks for the food, cards, and visits. It made this long period of time so much easier. I will miss you all greatly, but will be back to visit.
Love and affection,
Marj, First Crone
Parents’ Morning Out
Parents – bring the kids to the church April 2, 16 and 30 between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Parents will chat while the children play.
Wednesday Night Feasters
The Feasters will gather on April 30 at Mandarin House, South Bend. For more information or reservations, call Cathy Duncan.
Future Feasts:
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May
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28
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Steak & Ale, South Bend
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June
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25
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Wood Fire Italian Trattoria, Dowagiac
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July
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30
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Hana Yori of Japan, Mishawaka
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August
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27
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Tosi’s, Stevensville
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September
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24
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Reggio’s, Mishawaka
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October
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29
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Mazatlan, Mishawaka
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Tuesdays:
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November
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25
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Francesco’s, Mishawaka
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December
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30
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Carmela’s, South Bend
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Round Robin
The next Round Robin dinners will be April 12. If you like to eat and enjoy pleasant conversation in relaxing surroundings, Round Robin is for you. Open to all, it’s a great way for new people to get to know members and friends of our church. The second Saturday of each month groups of 6-12 meet in different homes. Everyone brings a dish to share. You need not host, but that can be lots of fun even if your place is small – just sit on the floor, have a pot of soup and break bread together! Call Kathy Platt if you plan to attend.
Intergenerational Round Robin & Game Night
Saturday, April 26, 2008
If you like to hang out with UUs of all ages, eat good food and try your hand at some games and activities, Intergenerational Round Robin is just the ticket. There’s no need for a babysitter – bring the kids along! On the fourth Saturday of each month, groups gather in different homes. Everyone brings a dish to share and perhaps a game to play, and the fun begins. If you’d like to host, you do the set-up and clean-up and everyone else brings the food. Call Lynn McDonald by April 20 at 255-5814 or send her an e-mail at lynn@birthrootmidwifery.com if you’d like to attend.
Local Food and Martin’s
First Unitarian Committee Discusses Local Food Issues with Director of Produce for Martin’s Super Markets.
A January Sunday Forum discussion about local foods led to a March 7 meeting with Ed Osowski, Director of Produce at Martin’s. Martin’s was chosen because it is a locally owned business patronized by many of our church members. Zae Munn, Bette Asplund and Kathy Curtis were pleased to find that Mr. Osowski is way ahead of the curve on local food issues – the environmental and cost impact of long-distance freighting of food, taste and nutrition, and support of local farmers. He has a large and growing web of local providers, some of whom have been tapped more recently by Whole Foods. We encouraged him to be even clearer in labeling the origin of produce after learning that he himself differentiates between “local,” “regional,” and “family farm.” He was receptive to our suggestions, but also sensitive to the wishes of providers and their privacy issues, in particular the Amish farmers.
Already in the works is a plan to highlight local foods at two yet-to-be-chosen Martin’s stores. Mr. Osowski was very clear that individual Martin’s stores strive to be responsive to the food interests of their own individual shopping communities. It is likely that a personal request from you to the produce manager or store manager of your favorite Martin’s would meet with a positive response. Mr. Osowski said he would keep us posted about which Martin’s will be spearheading the local foods initiative and other related issues. Please talk to Zae, Bette or Kathy if you have questions.
Spring Work Days
Mark your calendars now – Spring Work Days have been scheduled for May 3 and 24 (both are on Saturday). Glen and the crew have a list of items that need attention, including:
- Plant a garden east of the garage (between the garage and the sidewalk
- Move the big display case from the garage
- Rake leaves and branches, enhance plantings
- Sand, caulk and stain the ramp
- Trim bushes
- Please come and do your part to keep our grounds looking great – an asset to the whole neighborhood.
Community Service Policy
The Board of Trustees has been thinking about how to encourage participation by our members in community events and causes. The following is a policy adopted at the March meeting.
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“...and service is our law.”
Members of our congregation are encouraged, individually and corporately, to become involved in community issues and activities and to make others aware of the active participation of members of the First Unitarian Church of South Bend. It is important, however, to clearly delineate between acting as an individual member and acting as a representative of our congregation. In the former case, there are no restrictions other than using good judgment. In the second case, however, individuals must have prior approval form the Board of Trustees.
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Women’s Spirituality Group
The Women’s Spirituality group will meet Thursday, April 10. We will explore Tai Chi as a moving meditation that integrates body and mind. Come and learn what makes movement Tai Chi.
Social time at 6:30, ritual to begin promptly at 7:00. Wear comfortable clothing in layers as we will be upstairs.
If you would like to host a Women’s Ritual or get announcements about the Women’s Spirituality Group, please contact Heather Eschbach 271-8260 or heschbach@sbcglobal.net
Women’s Drumming Circle
Information on Women’s drumming meeting place was not available at press time. Drumming normally begins at 7:00 on the first Tuesday and third Thursday of each month.
The Transcendentalists
Richard Lumma recently donated to the church a set of audio tapes from “The Great Courses” Literature and English Language Series. Professor Ashton Nichols of Dickinson Colleges lectures on “Emerson, Thoreau, and the Transcendentalist Movement”. The course, which was published last year, includes 24 lectures and two course booklets containing lecture notes, reading lists, and other information. The course can be checked out of the church library.
Our thanks to Mr. Lumma for this gift!
A Tickle the Ivories Thanks to...
Rob Easley for donating funds to cover the cost of refurbishing and tuning our piano, and to
Stephen Merriman who did the work (those of you who saw it in progress know it was a formidable task). The piano (Knabe, 1927) looks and sounds beautiful!
Outside Our Doors
Don Wheeler and One America for St. Joseph County are assembling an elite crew (elite meaning eager and willing) to help a disadvantaged South Bend homeowner with needed repairs. As part of the Rebuilding Together Program (formerly known as Christmas in April), the group will spend a day repairing, painting, etc. the home of someone in need. The work day is Saturday April 12. Lunch and tools are provided. It is a lot of fun and highly rewarding. To reserve a spot call Don at 231-1315 or e-mail DonVila@aol.com.
Tribute to Women. The YWCA’s 29th annual Tribute to Women will be Wednesday, April 30 at 11:30 at the new Hilton Garden Inn. This year’s timely theme is “88 Years of Suffrage: Celebrating the Voice of Women in American Politics”. To sit at the church’s table at this important fund-raiser that helps women and children who are victims of abuse, please contact Kathy Platt, 234-1352.
UU News
To keep abreast of the many workshops, conferences, and other gatherings nationally and in our district, check the UU board next to the kitchen and the literature rack across from the kitchen. Here are a few highlights:
- District Assembly, St. Louis, April 25-27
- General Assembly, For Lauderdale, June 25-29
- AMUUSE camps for single adults June, July, August
- Summer WomanSpirit at Ronora August 1-3
You can also find information on events in the CAUUC newsletter posted on the board. And check out these websites:
We’re an Amazon.com Associate
The church is an
Amazon.com associate. That means you can click on the Amazon logo on our home page or anywhere you see an
Amazon.com link on our site, do your shopping and benefit the church at the same time.
You can shop Amazon.com for books, videos, CDs, housewares, and much more plus shop online stores such as Target and Marshall Field, and we still receive a percentage of the sale price. [You must click through from an Amazon.com link on our web site each time you shop in order for the church to get credit.] Most books listed on our site have a direct link to Amazon.com.