The date has been set for the next Congregational Meeting: Sunday, Dec. 11 after the service.  Please mark your calendars now. 

 

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 Worship and Music committee is excited to announce our guest speaker for Sunday, Oct. 16.  David Parke will be here from the Boston area to visit friends and family and will be presenting several interesting topics throughout that weekend. 

 

Workshop on Saturday, Oct. 15:  The "Six Revolutions" 

Higher Criticism of the Bible, the Freudian revolution, the feminist revolution, the nationalist (post-colonial) revolution in Asia (India 1947), the Middle East (Israel 1948) and Africa (Ghana 1956), the urban revolution, and the revolution in our understanding of the child.

 

Forum on Sunday, Oct. 16:  The "Religious Liberals I Have Known"

James Luther Adams, Frederick May Eliot, Sophia Lyon Fahs, and Hayward Henry.  Adams, a UU minister and theologian, was my teacher of ethics at the University of Chicago; Eliot was president of the American Unitarian Association 1937-58; Fahs was AUA Curriculum Editor 1937-52; Henry was first chairman of the Black UU Caucus 1967-70.

Sermon on Sunday, Oct. 16:  "What is Faith?" 

    I have been working on the problem of faith in a UU context for at least 20 years.  Inasmuch as nine of ten UUs are, like yourself, born into another community of faith (or none), we as individuals and as a continental religious community are very much involved in this question.  (I, however, am a born UU, both maternal grandparents having been ordained Unitarian ministers.)

 

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Please welcome our new secretary, Karin Bergman.

 

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UUS Meets

Unitarian Universalist Symposium (UUS) meets each Wednesday at 7 PM at Puccini's (300 Brown Street, West Lafayette), except for the last Wednesday of each month when we will be hosted at the home of a congregant. Come join UUS for great food and conversation! To learn more about UUS or to find out where we will be hosted on the last Wednesday of this month, contact Charles Coley at sroleg@yahoo.com or 474-7229.

 

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Book Group

7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 10
       “Now is the Time to Open Your Heart” by Alice Walker

7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 14
       “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

The Book Group meets on the second Monday of every month at 7 p.m. at Borders Bookshop in Wabash Landing in the lounge area where it joins with Panera’s. All are welcome to join us for discussions of books selected by participants. 

For more information contact Dagmar Murray.

 

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Adult Religious Education at Our UUC

When people think of Religious Education, they tend to think of Sunday School: small children singing songs, listening to edifying stories, and doing crafts. 

Ideally, however, Religious Education should be a lifelong process, and religious educators speak of Lifespan Religious Education that runs from the Nursery Class for the babies, through Adult Religious Education (ARE or UUARE) for the adult congregants. 

We have been restructuring ARE here in Lafayette to offer study groups that meet the needs of congregants as they arise. 

An ARE Committee has been formed that will serve, not as group leaders, but as facilitators to individuals who wish to start specific study groups. The ARE Committee includes Ruth Ann Ferris, John Wilms, and Chuck Reynolds, with Joan Lohman, as an advisor to the committee. 

The group will be able to assist budding study groups by providing information about when or where groups might meet, how to advertise them to the congregation and to the general community, where good teachers for the topics might be found, and so on. 

The Committee will also examine proposed or existing groups to decide where they fall in the Program Council Organization (for example, they might ask of a group, “Is this ARE, or does it really belong in Social Action?”). 

They will encourage study groups to remember to put our UU Church’s best foot forward to the larger community by comparing the goals of the group to the Covenant and Principles. 

Programs can be a workshop, which is offered for a limited number of sessions, or a continuous program that goes on indefinitely. A number of programs already exist that are ARE or which could be said to be cross-listed with ARE. 

For example, the Sunday Morning Forum, the Meditation Group, and the Scripture Studies Workshop are all the sort of topics one would like to have in Adult Religious Education programming.

Programs that have been offered in the past may be revitalized. In 2001, for example, ARE included the following workshops: Thoreau as a Spiritual Guide, Owning Your Religious Past, The Night Sky: Wondering Natures and Natural Wonders. 

If anyone who participated in past ARE programs would like to share their favorite program with us, we can certainly see if there is enough current interest to start it up again.  If you enjoyed it, no doubt others did as well.

Future groups might include Yoga and other body works, a Spiritual Book Club, Human Sexuality (Adult OWL), Writing for Insight, A Parent Support Group, Men’s and Women’s groups, as well as study groups for the philosophical or ethical bases of UU involvement in the other non-ARE groups. 

For example, the Social Action and Social Responsibility Groups might want to have workshops on their reasons for existence, or for the closer study of specific social problems. One group that has drawn quite a lot of interest is a discussion group for the book, “The Almost Church: Redefining Unitarian Universalism for a New Era,” by Michael Durall. If you have an interest, we can help you to find out if others share it.

 

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Film Showing: “Sacred Choices and Abortion: 10 New Things to Think About”

Sunday, Oct. 23

7 - 8:30pm in the sanctuary

Discussion, light refreshments

Sponsored by the UU Social Action Committee

This event is an opportunity to discuss the proposal by the Social Action Committee for our congregation to join the Indiana Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

This proposal is an “Action Following a Congregational Study (leading to a full congregational vote)” as defined in the congregation’s new Outreach Policy. The new Outreach Policy can be found in the congregation’s Annual Report. For a copy, see the church secretary.

For more information: Kaye McSpadden.

 

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 “Singing the Journey” Update (Any calligraphers in the congregation?)

Many thanks to everyone who has made a donation towards the new hymnal supplement, “Singing the Journey.”

We have now received donations of 53 regular volumes and one large print edition. Though still a little shy of our goal, we’re going to go ahead and place the order and build upon our collection in the future.

As we await delivery of the new books, we are looking for a calligrapher who would like to help prepare the bookplates. If you are interested, please contact Kaye McSpadden.

 

Recent Donations:

In honor of Charles W. Coley, friend and partner—Jeffrey J. Lusk

In memory of my father, Victor P. Pantea—Lisa Pantea

In honor of Tracy Knechel—Terrie Kercher

In honor of each new person who comes to this place to continue their spiritual journey—anon. (2)

In honor of Kaye McSpadden for her many gifts of music and creativity—anonymous

In memory of Travis Yancy Myers—Keith Dannenfelser & Gerald Trudel, Jr.

In memory of Jeannie C. Adams, 1974-1992, Beloved Daughter—Dorothy Hughes

In loving memory of Donald A. & Agnes G. Whitenite—Mary D. Finley

In loving memory of Bix and Spunky—John & Mary Finley

In memory of Yvonne Mendelsohn, UU Church charter member—Sue Robinson

In honor of Julia Hoover Seese—The Seese Family

In honor of Martin Hoover Seese—The Seese Family

 Thank you!

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Silent Walk Supports Healing

LOS ANGELES - As America struggles with its suffering, poverty, and racial and religious tensions, renowned peacemaker Thich Nhat Hanh will lead a mindful, silent peace walk Oct. 8th in Los Angeles to support the country's healing. (www.peaceiseverystep.net)    "You are invited to come and walk peacefully," says Thich Nhat Hanh. "We shall walk in such a way that each step we make becomes a realization of peace; each step becomes a prayer for peace and harmony. The walk will not be a petition addressed to anyone, nor will it be a demonstration against anyone.  The walk is to unite our heart, to nurture our togetherness and to dissipate fear and separation."

Locally, our minister, Hilary Krivchenia, connected with Peace is Every Step, is leading a mindful, prayerful walk from Riehle Plaza to Tapawingo Park in a demonstration of peace at 5:00 pm October 8th.  At Tapawingo Park there will be brief meditation and prayers offered by the Rev. Krivchenia and other local religious leaders.  Hilary has been a student of Thich Nhat Hanh for the last five years and has worked with him previously to promote peacemaking.  She says: “We are not visualizing peace to create peace, but cultivating peace on the local level because that is one base from which a larger peace can grow.”

Thich Nhat Hanh is revered as one of the greatest peacemakers of our times. He was nominated by Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Nobel Peace Prize and has been a Buddhist monk, peace activist and advocate of love and forgiveness since the age of 16. He has survived persecution, three wars, and 40 years of exile from his native Vietnam.  This year the Vietnamese government allowed Thich Nhat Hanh to return to Vietnam.

"If you are a Buddhist, please come", says Hanh. "If you are a Christian, please come. If you are Jewish, Muslim, or belong to or identify with any other religious creed or peace organization, please come. If you are white, brown, black, yellow, red or any other color, please come."

                             

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EARLY HEAD START MEETING SEPT.23, 2005

Lynn Richardson, Sue Robinson, Anita Fisher, Betty Rowe

 Lynn Richardson, chair of the Social Action Child Advocacy Sub Committee, and Sue Robinson, Social Responsibility Committee Chair, met with two of the Early Head Start administrators Sept. 23. 

Following is a synopsis of our discussion concerning their needs.

The parents involved must be working full time or in school. The Early Head Start program includes children 6 weeks to 3 years old and is interested in early teaching that includes the entire family.

The parents who are at poverty or below are given educational materials regularly and attend classes. Incentives are used to assure their attendance. Their goal is to have a mentor program for the mothers, but time is not available to train mentors and administer the program, as they are over-extended now.

Each initial educational kit the families are given costs $30. We could assist with this cost or donate new or slightly used children’s books appropriate for this age level. If someone in our church has experience writing grants, more applications for expansion grants might lead to additional children benefiting from this program. Early Head Start is an excellent program, but only serves approximately 57 children now with 300 on the waiting list.

Another great need the Early Head Start people see in our community is for the medical community to get involved in the child abuse issue. No medical representation was present at the community meetings on child abuse. 

We can help by asking the medical staff we come in contact with to get involved to assist with this urgent community problem.

Our county has the highest percentage of child abuse and neglect in the state of Indiana.

The medical community needs to recognize individuals with medical and mental issues and refer them for services. The Department of Health, when a parent brings a child for immunization, needs to educate parents on the importance of well-child care and report any child who has not been seen by a doctor. Policies need to be in place at our hospitals at the time of delivery and postpartum,  to be alert for signs of at-risk parenting and report to Hospital Social Services who can make referrals or call CPS.  

These issues are huge and will take the energy of each one of us to make this community safe for our children.

 

LUM REPORT

Many thanks to Mary Finley, who will be the new representative from UU on the LUM board beginning in October.   

Summer Camp fundraising gleaned $48,751, a new record, enabling 101 children to attend. The 2006 summer camp will also be held at Hanging Rock Camp from August 7 - 11.  

The Hunger Hike provided more than $50,000 to LUM. 

In new business, the Red Cross has designated LUM as clearinghouse for churches wishing to aid hurricane victims. Sue Robinson will coordinate this effort for UU. 

LUM calendar is:

November 24:   

Community Thanksgiving Meal       

Coordinator needed:  See Mary Finley

December 10:   

Jubilee Christmas

Coordinator:  Rae Brandt; Coordinators' meeting 10/11/05, 7 p.m. at LUM

December 17

Bach Chorale presents Messiah 1 with Hallelujah Chorus! 

Each ticket purchased through LUM (Mary Finley) gives one half the price to LUM

LUM Executive Director Mary Anderson is calling for donations to the Centralized Emergency Fund, all of which goes directly to clients in need. The Shelter remains very active, averaging 42 persons per night. More night volunteers are needed as winter approaches, and general needs are coffee, baby powder, socks, book bags, gloves, mittens, and combs.

Patti O'Callaghan, Public Policy Director, reminds us that if the repeal of the Estate Tax is successful, $30 billion in revenue from the richest citizens would be lost, drastically affecting the services provided to the poor. 

Talk with your Representatives and Senators. Also, a statewide Conference of the Coalition to Keep Indiana Warm will be held October 11.  Speak with Patti at LUM for more information.

Phyllis Day 

 

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Religious Education Happenings

 

RE Co- Directors Sarah Boulac and Michele Tomarelli

RE NEWS

Lord of the Rings Field Trip

Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005

Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis

 

The Religious Education fifth grade through high school classes are planning a field trip to the LOTR Exhibition.  We plan to leave on Sunday, Oct. 30th at 10:45 a.m., right after the young adults are dismissed from the church service. The Exhibition closes at 5 p.m., so we should be back by 6:30 p.m.

The cost of the trip is:

General admission Adults $14, Seniors $13.50, Children $9, museum members $4

Donations for gas expense will be helpful.

We also need drivers. Anyone interested in helping us get the kids to and from the exhibition, or anyone who may have a van we could borrow, please contact Gale Lockwood.

Permission slips will be coming home from the religious education classes. These need to be signed and returned ASAP.

For more information about the exhibit, go to the website listed below:

http://www.in.gov/ism/MuseumExhibits/lotr.asp

 

RE Attendance:

 

9-25:  22 children & youth/11 adults

10-2:  31 children & youth/12 adults

 

Teacher Schedule

                                          Oct. 9                                      Oct. 16 

Preschool Teacher              C. Frye                               C. Frye                                           

Preschool Helper                TBD                                    M. Foley                                   

Kind. – 1st Grade               G. Mueller                            B. Misner                                  

2nd – 4th Grade                 C. Fowler                             J. Dufair                                    

                                                                 

 

Upcoming Events/Announcements

 

CORRECTION - RE in the Park – On Sunday, Oct. 16 RE (with the exception of the nursery) will be held at Happy Hollow Park. Children will meet at the church, but will not be a part of the service upstairs. Registered families will be receiving a letter of information along with a permission slip which is required in order for kids to participate.

UPDATE - Day of the Dead – This celebration of life, honoring those who have died will be a special evening service on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. Families are invited to come with pictures of loved ones who have died. We will begin and end as an intergenerational group, with the children and youth having a special activity during the middle of the service. 

Thanksgiving Music Service – On Nov. 20, we will come together and give thanks through music! We are looking for children and youth who would like to share their music with us on this day. Please contact Sarah Boulac or Michele Tomarelli if you are interested.

Thanks! Thanks to Mark French for sharing your interest in building musical instruments with our 2nd – 4th grade class! What a treat!