Unitarian Universalist Church -- Newsletter, Current Issue

Let’s Talk about Youth Ministry

On August 13, we are going to have a Congregational Conversation On Ministry To and With Youth. This is an all-congregational meeting in the Sanctuary after church, and we would like as many people to attend as possible. The subject is Ministry and Religious Education (RE) for the individuals in our church who are 8th grade to 12th grade.

The transition from childhood to adulthood is a demanding time of life. Adults vacillate between treating you like a kid and expecting you to act like an

adult. You’re trying to make up your own mind about values and issues, and, really, you’d rather not have other people telling you what to think. You’ve reached a point in your life where it is no longer enough to be known as “the Smith’s child”; you want people to look at you and see you as an individual. School and extracurricular activities are eating up all your time, and the last thing you need is another scheduled activity… like church.

The Unitarian Universalist Church, like many other churches and organizations such as Scouts and 4-H, tends to lose kids when they go into Junior High. There are a number of reasons why. Something like RE that you’ve done your entire childhood is not what you should be doing if you want to be seen as an adult. In addition, youth like to stay up late on Saturday night, and so tend to see Sunday morning as an opportunity to catch up on sleep. Parents are less likely to insist that teens go to church, feeling that youth is the time for kids to make some religious decisions of their own. Youth Ministry and RE programming therefore have to change to meet the needs of youth, and the church has to become a place that youth are attracted to and not forced to attend. If we fail to recognize what it is that needs to be changed, we will lose the next generation of UUs.

What are the “needs of youth” and what is an attractive environment? The best way to find out is to ask the youth. We need to hear from more than just the youth, however; we need to hear from the adults as well. We were youth once, and the different experiences we had in our home churches may provide ideas for our Youth Ministry and RE Program. In addition, we need to examine the implicit expectations we have for the young people of our congregation, expectations that influence our interactions with our kids. Indeed, in a congregation of more than one person (!), it is certain that at least a few of the expectations of the adults will conflict with one another.

WUUTS and WUUT-aged Youth! Stand up and represent yourselves! One of the seven

principles is that all people have the right to think for themselves and vote on issues that concern them. If you don’t come and make your opinions known, you have no grounds to complain.

Adults, and especially parents: come and discuss what you feel is needed from

Youth Ministry and Programming in our church. Come and listen to what our young

people have to say.

~Michele Tomarelli,

RE Director

You've already marked it on your calendar. You've already decided what to donate and made plans for the evening. Now follow through! Tickets for the Service Auction on Friday, Sept. 8, 6-10 p.m. are on sale through the month of August.

Contact Amy French for tickets or buy them after church. New this year will be a basket

raffle: tickets are only $1 and the baskets will be on display in the back of the sanctuary (thanks to UUS, RE and Denominational Connections). Donation forms are available at the church as well. Donations are due by August 30th.

is a small group that gathers weekly for food and fellowship. Over the summer, UUS will meet at a different location each week. The location will be decided at the previous week’s meeting. To find out locations, call toll-free 1-877-UUC-UUS1 (1-877-882-8871). If you know of a great local restaurant, be sure to come to the next UUS meeting and let UUS know!

All are welcome to drop in at MCL Cafeteria in West Lafayette on any Thursday evening, when UUs gather for casual conversation over dinner. The group varies in size from 4 to 16, and gathers in the lobby at MCL, then starts down the "line" at approximately 5:40 PM.

June’s Church Mouse award goes to Rosemary Leary. She has volunteered to coordinate a volunteer cadre to perform office support functions and made a generous contribution toward acquiring software to support the church's administrative functions. We greatly appreciate Rosemary.

The RE Committee is excited by the prospect of working with Gary Fowler, Mark Van Meter, Mark Krivchenia and Tom Hertel, who have volunteered to form a Youth Service Group at UUC.

They have a working model of a group which will combine service to the community, service to the church and a lot of fun. Please join us in thanking them for their efforts and in building enthusiasm for this project.

If you would like to help in this project or if you have suggestions for service activities, please contact Gary Fowler at fowlers@indy.net. We sincerely hope the youth will be as excited about this as we are.

Old News, but Still Problematic! Will whomever borrowed the Spring RE Attendance Count Sheet from the bulletin board for the New Building discussions, please return it to MIchele Tomarelli's mailbox? We need the data. Thank you.

7 p.m., Monday, August 14, 2006
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

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.

Negotiations on Purchase Continue

The negotiating team for the purchase of St. Andrew Methodist Church has had several exchanges with the building’s owners. In early July, the United Methodists presented us with a counter-offer, which suggested several small changes and a few large ones. We accepted most of the small changes and sent them a new offer with a fuller explanation of some details on our original document. We expect a new counter-offer before the end of July.

The United Methodists have now begun construction of their new church. Planning that project occupied their Building Committee’s attention most of this summer. Now that dirt is moving on their construction, we hope to receive their response soon.

~ Barny Dunning

While the negotiating team is currently in negotiations with the United Methodists, the New Building Committee is working out details to get the Union Street property ready for sale. The New Building Committee will not meet in August.

In September our primary focus of the meeting will be the preparation of Union Street. Meeting date and time will be announced later.

It's time to put together the 2007 budget. In order to do this we need all committees and groups to fill out the 2007 Projection Worksheet. The worksheet has been modified from years past to be more user friendly. If you need a copy of the worksheet you can get it by e-mailing Kathy, our administrative assistant, at uuc@uulafayette.org.

Please take the time to fill out the worksheet to the best of your ability. This information will be utilized by Finance Committee, the Board of Trustees, and Long Range Planning, to name a few. Please address questions to Robin Poindexter

This document needs to be completed and turned into Robin Poindexter by August 7, 2006. If you can not meet this deadline, please contact him. Thanks.

Program Council’s goal is to facilitate and encourage communication among committees, interest groups, and the entire body of the congregation.

Our meetings are open to all and are held on the third Tuesday of the month. The next meeting will be August 15, 2006 at 6:30 pm at the church. Please direct questions to Alanna Steffen:

When you are in need of special medical equipment, remember that the church has a supply! Included in our collection for adults are two wheel chairs, a bath grab bar, a raised toilet seat, two commodes, several types of walkers, crutches, canes, a waterproof sheet, and surgical socks. They are currently stored at the home of Mary Ann Foley

Sue Robinson has stored in her home the following items: bath seat with back, a three-pronged cane, two regular canes, a sock pull, a reacher, a portable toilet, and a toilet riser.

Lynn Richardson has in her home the following pieces of medical equipment for children: a wheelchair (up to 100 lbs.), a walker (can be adjusted to various heights), crutches (up to 5’), a bedside commode, bathtub equipment, bedside rails, handicap feeding utensils, and some other items.

Homeless Shelter: Current needs are coffee and sugar. The shelter has two openings for weekend overnight coordinators. Contact Joyce Boehm at 423-2691.

Kids Camp: Eight overnight volunteers are still needed for LUM Kids Camp from August 8th to August 11th. Contact Joe Micon at 423-2691.

Afterschool Program: LUM has two part-time staff position openings for an Afterschool Program Director and an Afterschool Program Aide. Information will be posted on the bulletin board in the back of the sanctuary.

Hunger Hike: This year's Hunger Hike is September 17th. A flyer with more information is posted on the bulletin board at the back of the sanctuary, or go to www.hungerhike.org.

Thank you to the following UU members who worked in the Ford Dining Court in July! You made $422 for our Social Responsibility support projects. The money will be used to support Lafayette Urban Ministry’s (LUM) programs including the Food Pantry and Homeless Shelter, Cary Home, and the Women's Shelter.

Bill Asher, Rae Brandt, Caroline Barnhart, Marty Becker, Robert Carlisle, Keith Dannenfelser, Cheryl Fowler, Mary Ann Foley, Mark Krivchenia, Ed Layer, Joan Marshall, Ernie and Tippen McDaniel, Kristen Reynolds, Jane Schmitt, Dave Shelton, Frederick Smith, Edie Thomas, Gerald Trudel, and Jean Tyner all helped clean tables, stock silverware and other miscellaneous projects during the conference.

If you weren't able to help in July, you can still sign up for a meal period the weeks of August 14th and August 21st. Each participant earns $6.00 per hour for

our projects and receives a free meal. You may sign up for the breakfast shift which runs from 6:30 or 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 or 9:30 a.m., lunch 10:30-1:30 or 2:00

Additional information will be given to you after you sign up. For questions, call Sue Robinson .

We will also have additional LUM Jubilee expenses this year since we won't be working with Blessed Sacrement Church. The arrangements for our new Jubilee assignment are still being coordinated.

The Social Responsibility Committee raised roughly $4500. last year through our budgeted amount, Clothing Drive, food donations, Jubilee contributions and toys, blankets and stuffed animals for children, and Purdue Dining Hall work projects. Your participation in all of these collections and projects has made our work most successful. We were even

The Women’s Shelter is preparing for the possibility of a flu outbreak by stocking needed items in advance. Much appreciated are the following:

The UU donation box is in the hallway near the church kitchen. Thank you for your ongoing

Part Two: Music and Worship Committee Volunteer Work—What’s It All About?

As our committee seeks to add more members, we would like to reach out to everyone with more information about what's involved with participating. Our goal is to deliver a healing, uplifting Sunday morning worship experience, and there are several different ways committee members can contribute to that success.

In the July newsletter, I mentioned the worship coordinator, who is the main arranger for the service, and the pulpit prep person, who is responsible for details on Sunday morning that enhance the physical aesthetics of the service.

Additionally, we have the worship associate, who greets the congregation with "welcome and announcements" and conducts the beginning part of the service. The worship associate also may do readings during the service. This helper makes sure the volunteers for lighting the chalice and collecting the offering are in place. The worship associate also communicates with the sound volunteer on plans for microphone or sound system use during the service.

We also need volunteer readers interested in delivering readings during the worship service. They are contacted by the worship coordinator periodically with the request that they reading a given quote a particular upcoming service.

Hopefully, you now have a fuller picture of the different roles available on this committee.Please contact Elizabeth Sternke or Martha Gipson if you are interested in volunteering with us, or if you have questions about the opportunity.

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 6:30 p.m. at the church will be the next meeting of the Worship & Music Committee. Room to be announced. All monthly planning meetings are open to the congregation. Members and friends are welcome to attend.

To nourish communication about sermons and meaningful issues in a more intimate setting, the Worship and Music Committee sometime ago established "Food for Thought" at which the congregation gathers for soup, bread, and conversation after the worship service on the first Sunday of each month.

While this program has become very successful, the committee would like at this time to find another coordinator for this monthly event. Our committee humbly recognizes this responsibility is one that we are asking other individuals or another committee to assume. We’d be very grateful to hear from you!

This year’s fall congregational meeting has been scheduled for Sunday September 24, immediately following the service. Included on the agenda will be a vote on the revisions to the by-laws.

To provide an opportunity for the congregation to learn about and to discuss the suggested revisions, a special congregational meeting has been scheduled for Sunday September 10, immediately following the service.

Copies of the by-laws, including the suggested revisions are available at the back of the sanctuary, or you may contact Robin Poindexter to request a copy.

I’m looking down from the scrubby peak of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in Maine. I’m here with a large assortment of Krivchenias – a hardy handful of adults and a wildly varied bunch of kids. We’re camped not too far from here and have come up to have minds blown by this view – the ocean, inlets, and the islands set amidst miles of trees. I’m alone for a short time. The menagerie is hiking down from the mountaintop but I acted as the shuttle pilot for the cars and hikers – so I could sit here for a while and read – and write this.

The wind is very strong up here. It is a gentle but constant thundering in my ears. In a while I will have to get back in the car and drive down to the nature center to meet the hikers but for now I want to feel the buffeting wind. It is pushing my thoughts around. Mostly, it has the feel of adventure, noisy and rough.

The wind pushes and asks, “Are you certain enough of your footing that I can push against you? Are you grounded? Are you centered?” The purpose of being centered is not to stay put but to be able to move with balance - equanimity as the Buddhists say. With less anxiety and fear. A sure center is not hard-headedness; it allows you to keep moving in response to changing conditions – but not to become lost.

I saw a picture recently by the artist Brian Andreas that said “I had been looking for my center but then I discovered that it was, in fact, on wheels, and moved in the slightest breeze.” Too often, I think, we stay put, thinking that will bring us peace – but the real peace comes in the midst of movement – because we are on wheels!

A few years ago, at a retreat with Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and his nuns and monks, I became very excited by the idea of writing a collective letter of protest before the start of the Iraq war – while 800 of us were gathered with this revered, peace activist. I went to the nuns for advice. And I got two completely different suggestions. One was to go ahead and follow my heart, act now, and write Thich Nhat Hanh a note about the idea. The other was to wait – go home after the retreat, meditate, become even more centered and let these large matters be decided by larger people.

Finally, I realized that both suggestions were good. I did go ahead and send him my note and we did write a collective letter for peace which we then organized and distributed and more than 10,000 people signed it in a few weeks, after which it was delivered to the Hill. But I also turned inward and cultivated more balance. Of course, the war happened. Life in general remains tumultuous like the winds at the top of the mountain. We are always buffeted by changes and challenges. But over time, I am more flexible, more open, stronger for having ventured forth. But I am also more balanced and grounded. I was able to at least declare peace in myself.

Up here I feel that peace within me – it is mingled with the wind and my awareness of life’s challenges – but that peace remains … firm, quiet, strong, gentle and flexible.

Just as I finished writing this, my cell phone rang and Barny Dunning shared with me that Anna Dufair had died. So this will be a time when that wind is blowing and we will need our center – as individuals and a congregation – to keep our balance, console one another, and support Anna’s family as they traverse the long journey of grief.

Many thanks to the congregation for your generous support of Community and Family Resource Center during our Sunday services. We collected $310.04 for May and June when folks put their extra change in the collection plate.. To date, Change for Change has yielded over $1300 in a

Change for Change continues to focus on agencies that advocate for children and families in our community. For July and August, we are spotlighting Hanna Community Center, which has been serving the Hanna neighborhood since 1940 (25 years at its current location on N. 18^th Street). Initially, Hanna’s mission was to preserve the heritage of Lafayette’s black community and to provide social services that improved the quality of life for the neighborhood. Today it ensures that health, social, recreational, and community services are provided for a multicultural population.

A variety of programs for youth and seniors are available at Hanna, and this year’s annual Hanna Fest will be August 12.

There will be a Committee Fair after church on Sept. 17th. Each committee chair is asked to have materials and information for display after the service. We hope to get information to interested prospective volunteers. Chairpersons should let Charles Coley or Caroline Barnhart know if you are interested in participating

The All Church retreat at Ross Camp is coming up fast, August 18-20. Please get your registration forms in, so we can plan accordingly.

Registration forms and information are available in the back of the sanctuary. This is a great intergenerational and doggy-friendly event that is the best way to get to know other UU's — lots of free time, workshops, fellowship during meals and just plain old fun!

Registrants will receive a letter in the mail approx. one week prior to the event with instructions to the site, what to bring, what to expect, etc.

Camp Cleanup

Please note that the UU Outdoor Group will be doing some trail maintenance at Ross Hills on Saturday, August 12th at 10 am in preparation for the retreat the following weekend. Maintenance will mostly include cutting trees and shrubs back off the trails and

possibly moving logs fallen over trails.

Please come to help out with tools if you have any. Any time and effort will be greatly appreciated by everyone at the retreat! See Tandy Easler for details

Sewing lessons for anyone ages 4-94 will be offered continuously during the church retreat.

Sewing will be limited to making 4-patches for ‘meth baby’ flannel throws. Because of health concerns, the clothing of children removed by Child Protective Services from ‘meth lab’ environments is discarded. An infant or toddler wearing as little as a diaper may be exposed to chemicals by breathing, touching and hand-to-mouth activity. In addition, their clothing can accumulate vapors that are dispersed through the air during the cooking process. Until the children receive new clothing, they are covered with flannel throws.

Sue Robinson’s committee would like the UU blanket basket filled for these ‘meth babies’ by January 2007. Let’s fill Sue’s basket to the top!

Also, a FREE LESSON on ‘paper piecing’ method of quilting is offered by Patty Wood’s QEX group on Monday, August 21, to anyone who registers in advance. It will be held from 10am-2pm at Miss Mary’s [next door to Quilters Harvest on Rte 25 in Shadeland]. Supplies are provided and homemade ice cream will be served.

The history of freethinkers is marked by conflict with family, church and society. The English novelist, George Eliot (the pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans), precipitated a sharp break with her father when she announced that she would no longer be attending church with him as usual. Joseph Priestly was burned out of his English home for preaching Unitarianism. Reason and Religion are still in a bit of a tug of war. This week the New York Times (July 25, D1) lists the titles of six new books examining the apparent clash of religion and science.

In this period of continuing discussion, UU services across the nation appear to be moving toward more worshipful church services and a growing search for spirituality. Some Unitarians say they are without a "language of reverence" to express their worshipful feelings. More secularly oriented Unitarians, however,

may agree with Susan Jacoby, author of a 2004 book, Freethinkers: "The language and gestures of emotion do not lend themselves to the communication of

rationalist values". She urges those with humanist leanings to "reclaim the language of passion and emotion from the religiously correct" and to "find a way to convey the passions of humanism…"

You will recognize in the titles of our programs for August a continuing conversation on these issues.

August 6 "George Eliot: An Atheist and Virtue." Margaret Rowe. Professor Rowe has served as Head of the Department of English and Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs at Purdue.

August 13 "One Scientist’s Perspective on Religious Beliefs." Ron Hullinger. Professor Hullinger teaches Pathology at Purdue’s School of Veterinary Science.

August 27 "The UU Trend Toward Spirituality." Charles Coley and Ernest McDaniel.

Atheist Discussion Group To Begin

The Atheist Discussion Group will begin meeting in August. We are currently set to meet twice a month on Tuesday evenings to discuss social and philosophical issues from an atheistic perspective.

For more information, please contact J.C. Romero

For the month of June, we had 82 children and 32 adults. In July, we have had 63 children and 30 adults.

We are still very short of teachers for Summer RE. The teacher schedule for August is as follows: