Unitarian Universalist Church -- Newsletter, Current Issue

Art Sale Thanks

Our annual church art sale was held on December 1st and 2nd, and once again was a great success. With 40 artists participating, and our wonderful Trudi's Cafe, we raised over $5,000 for our church (the number is closer to $6,000. but I don't have an exact figure). Many, many people helped put the event together and I am thankful for all of you! Special thanks go to Lisa Pantea, Amy French, Trudi Wildfeuer, Bruce Craig, Sharon McKnight, Keith Brown, JoAnn Darling, Jennie Higginbottom, Kim Harden, Elizabeth Sternke, and Kaye McSpadden.

Also, it is not too early to start think ahead � we are looking for someone who would like to take charge of the art sale for next year. This is your chance to use your creativity and put your mark on an annual event that is important to both our church and the community. Please contact Jennifer

or Lisa Pantea, or a board member if you are interested in taking this on for 2007.

~Jennifer Cominetti-Craig

November 30, 2006 Meeting

Special meeting to discuss budget proposed by Finance 10 days prior to congregational vote.

Shifted funds from future space to choir director and approved proposed budget

December 10, 2006 Congregational Meeting

Congregation voted to approve revised bylaws

And approve proposed 2007 budget

Significant additional pledges have come in, giving Finance opportunity to prepare revised budget for congregational review early next year.

December 12, 2006 Meeting

Authorized treasurer to put funds into higher interest yielding accounts.

Plans to research how to handle amendments better within Sturgis parliamentary procedures.

Concurred that bulletin board policy is same as for all-church emails: must be sponsored by committee.

Voted to stay with monthly newsletter schedule until editorial resources materialize to do it bi-monthly

7th and Union Street properties have been put up for sale.

New pianist search committee established

Personnel committee making progress on hiring new administrative assistant

Following up on property use agreements on St. Andrew

Complete minutes can be found at https://uufolks.org/groups/board/minutes

Church Mouse

This month's church mouse awards go to Kirsten Reynolds and Fritz Smith. Kirsten recently ran a new UU class effectively that was very well received. Fritz contributed great to running our recent successful pledge drive, including the wonderful Up, Up and Away painting. We greatly appreciate Kirsten and Fritz.

Book Group

7pm, Monday, January 8, 2007

The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson

7pm, Monday, February 12, 2007

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

The Book Group meets on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7pm 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

Closing on Meridian Street Church

Another milestone was reached in the process of purchasing St. Andrew Methodist Church on Meridian Street.

On November 15, Nina Kirkpatrick, Keith Brown and I met downtown with members of the St. Andrew Board, and closed on the property. A number of interim steps were finished in September and October.

At the November meeting we received a stack of blueprints, surveys, leases, and other documents, and they received a check for $690,000! Everyone signed a large packet of legal documents. There was much hand-shaking!

All the initial steps in purchasing the property are now complete. The Methodists will continue to pay utilities, maintenance and upkeep while they are in possession of the building. They have added us to their insurance policy and will keep the property insured with us as the owners. We will pay the remaining part of the purchase price by September 2007, depending in part on when we sell our properties. A big step along the way!

~Barny Dunning

The Great All-Church Quilt

The blue velvet 'drop' hanging in the sanctuary will be the work station for the making of our Great All-Church Quilt. With all of your lovely quilt squares pinned in place, fiberartists and other volunteers will begin piecing each row until it becomes a quilt-top. As you watch, we hope you'll let us know if a square's placement needs to be changed. Or that a late submission needs to be added. The pieced quilt-top will come down for a period of 2 or 3 weeks while being quilted. When finished, it will be hung in the Sanctuary until Moving Day. Then it will be carried to its new home on Meridian Street. See Gale Lockwood or Patty Wood for more information.

Help Get the Union Street Property Ready for Sale!

We are in the process of getting the Union Street property ready to put on the market.

First, we have asked key people in the congregation to identify what furniture in the Union Street house we need to keep for moving into our new church home. (If you want to express your ideas about this, let us know!) We are asking this to be completed by the first week in January.

IMPORTANT: If there is something you think we should save or keep at the Union Street Property, be sure Mark or Caroline know about ASAP.

Next, we are planning a cleaning and organizing day at the Union Street property on Saturday, January 13th. We plan to have two work shifts; 9:00AM until 12:00 noon; 12-1PM lunch break, and a 1-4PM shift. Come join us for a few hours to help us prepare for the rummage sale and clean the place up.

Finally, we are planning a �spruce up the old house� day sale for Saturday, January 20th, from 8:00AM until 2:00PM. Come for an hour or two during this time period to help us spruce up the place. We will provide all materials and lunch.

At the end of this work, we shall see how things stand. Hopefully, the property will be ready to put on the market, with only minor work left to do!

If you have questions or concerns about this plan, please contact Caroline Barnhart or Mark Krivchenia

Lighted Chalice to Remain Monthly

`The Board received about 12 letters and emails regarding the publication schedule for the newsletter. Some congregants also spoke personally to Board members. The comments received were evenly split between support for the current monthly schedule and a return to bi-weekly schedule. We heard from both long-term members and people who have joined our congregation more recently.

There was no strong pattern between the two groups and support for a particular schedule of publication. Members who preferred the bi-weekly schedule cited the need for good, timely information during our year of transition. They also worried that the monthly newsletters were too big and people would not read all of them. People who supported the monthly scheduled cited the potential cost savings and the reduction in time demands on staff (who write regular columns) and volunteers involved in production, especially the editors.

Good, important reasons were given by both sides. At its December meeting, the Board decided to keep the newsletter on its current monthly schedule at least for the immediate future. Probably the most important reason in swaying Board members to this decision was the fact that monthly publication was the preference of the newsletter editors (it was in fact their idea originally).

The Board is willing to reconsider the decision if more people volunteer to help edit the newsletter so that an increase in publication could be done without increasing the workload of our volunteer editors.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their comments on this issue.

~Barny Dunning, Board Chair

January Meetings

Program Council will be meeting on Tuesday January 2, 2007 at 6:30pm. All are welcome and encouraged to come and participate in increasing our congregation�s communication. Please contact Alanna Steffen for more information.

Transition Council will have its first meeting on Tuesday January 16, 2007 at 6:30pm. The transition to our new building will involve all aspects of the congregation and we will need everyone help and cooperation to make this a successful move. We are asking that all committees/individuals start to think now about what the move will entail for there own committees and other aspects of the church. Please direct questions/comments to Alanna Steffen-Nelson

~Alanna Steffen-Nelson,

Transition Council Co-Chair

Sunday Morning Forum

December 24, 2006 "Report from Iraq" Jonathan Doi. John Wilms�s grandson is a United States Marine en route from Iraq to Okinawa. His experiences in Iraq have led to serious personal reflections. He will discuss with us, "Who am I?" "What do I do?" and "What do I think about it?"

December 31, 2006 New Year�s Eve � No Forum.

January 7, 2007 "A Look Backward and a Look Forward" Ernest McDaniel. Our traditional release of Forum�s �Year End Report� listing the 50 Forum programs of last year. We remark on our favorite programs and suggest directions for future discussions.

January 14 "Awe of Science: A Step to Where?" Marty Becker. When Marty views the stars at night he is struck with a sense of awe. In a similar way, he feels awe at the understandings science has brought. But, where is this leading? What can emerge from such feelings of awe?

January 21 "The God Delusion" John Wilms. An examination of Richard Dawkins� book reveals a biting criticism of our conceptions of God, yet underneath the comment one senses a deeply religious orientation.

January 28 "The Baker-Hamilton Report" Aaron Hoffman, Professor of Political Science. The Report on Iraq makes over 70 recommendations for changing our course in Iraq. Most Americans say they back the report, yet President Bush has given the report a cool reception. What are the major recommendations and are we headed for a new tug of war between the President and congressional leaders?

~Ernest McDaniel

Jubilee Christmas Thanks

On behalf of myself, Jean Tyner, Ray Brandt, Sue Robinson, Kirk Eicher-Miller of the Lafayette Mennonite Fellowship, and Liz O'Neil of the Lafayette Friends Meeting, I would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this year's Jubilee Christmas a success.

Thanks to our minister Hilary and Marj Rush-Hovde (of the Lafayette Mennonite Fellowship) for their inspiring words on the meaning of Jubilee. Thanks to our hosts: Marty Becker, Denise Wilson, Della Willmann, Tom and Sara Hertel, Kathleen Switzer, Suzan Windnagle, and Travis Davison for helping our families choose gifts and making them feel at home.

Special thanks to our UU youth who purchased gifts with the proceeds of the sale of their handmade food items. They were willing to do anything asked of them so we put them to work doing everything from wrapping gifts to helping in the kitchen. We have a great bunch of young people in our congregation, and we appreciate their help.

Thanks to everyone who purchased gifts, donated money, contributed to caring cans, or change for change earmarked for Jubilee; all of the families were very happy and appreciative of what had been done to help them get through the holidays. This time of year is very difficult for many families in need; Jubilee is a great help to them. Thanks for your generosity!

Thanks to the many people who took time out of their busy holiday schedules to help wrap gifts, provide child-care and clean up after the Jubilee. It takes a lot of volunteers to make LUM Jubilee Christmas a success and our church really came through for our families, Thanks!

~Mary Finley, Jubilee coordinator

And More Thanks ...

A huge thank you for your many contributions in December! You were most generous donating food, paper products, toys, money, and support for the Community Responsibility Committee's many projects. Donations to the mitten tree will continue in January as well as canned or non-parishable food products for the LUM Food Pantry.

I told some of you that we would have another blanket collection in January, but due to the large supply of Patty Wood�s meth quilts and Tippen McDaniel�s lap blankets, we won't need additional blankets unless you have already purchased one. In this case, place the blanket in the Shelter or LUM collection boxes. In January and February the Homeless Shelter has needs that Mary Finley outlined in an earlier newsletter. Thanks Patty and Tippen!

~Sue Robinson,

Community Responsibility Committee, sub-committee of Social Justice.

As the holiday season rises in a crescendo -- my mind remains back in Israel/Palestine. Daily, there is such terrible news � house demolitions, killings, arrests, protests that end in attacks by police. There is the tragic news from Darfur, the ongoing tragedy that is Iraq, and on the list goes. I feel less like seeing presents piled under the tree and more like getting out and protesting � something! I read about a woman in Northern Ireland during the troubles. It had been a particularly bloody day � children had been killed. She could not sleep and she just wanted to scream � �what are we thinking? We have to put a stop to this violence!� She went outside in her nightgown shouting at the top of her lungs and went from door to door in the night � weeping. She drew up a peace petition and collected in 10,000 signatures in a week. I�m grateful every time that someone walks outside � to question the world and challenge humanity to do better.

It is challenging to forge into the holidays with this in my heart. Yet this is the human condition � the beauty and the horror. In many ways I�m grateful to enter the holiday season with these contradictions because this is real and our job is to learn to live in joy and sorrow at the same moment. Real. To see the shadow within as well as the shadows around � and therefore be able to shed more light and dispel them.

This is not a mere psychological reflection � to live with the joy and the sorrow is then to serve both � to work for justice, peace and to celebrate the beauty that emerges in spite of everything again and again � in the world and the human spirit. It is the only way to be human � fully and fully human. Often in self help books and religious packages the path is streamlined so it is simpler, easier -- but not more honest � surely not more real.

To be Unitarian Universalist is to choose to be real � to choose to live in the fullness of what it is to be human � to promise always to ask the difficult and honest questions, to live with the contradictions, to face the world and not flee it in comforting myths. To be Unitarian Universalist is to take on the human challenge and to honor that challenge � enough to go to church and celebrate it.

On Sunday, Dec. 17, we enjoyed our Christmas Pageant � The Quiltmaker�s Gift � from the children�s storybook by Jeff Brumbeau. The play was adapted by another UU congregation. Aside from the fact that the direction was brilliantly handled by Gale Lockwood and ably assisted by many others � and aside from the fact that our young people did an outstanding job of acting � and aside from the fact that the congregation did a swell job of participating � it was a good play for us. It embodied the Christmas message well: the message that humanity has to work to be better and to be happy for the right reasons.

For those of you who missed it: it tells the story of a King who has everything but feels poor until he gives it all away and feels rich and of an ancient quiltmaker who brings beauty into the world with every stitch. Whatever challenges her she continues to create and give. At heart, it is a story about the human capacity to grow and become finer persons � that is what the king does. It is a wonderful holiday tale � to remind us that just as the world holds these terrible contradictions � of love/hate, beauty/horror� so in our hearts we hold these contradictions. And we have the freedom and power to choose. Whenever we choose the love and the beauty the world is changed � sometimes radically � and that is the greatest thing to celebrate in the holiday season.

So I wish you all the depth that winter has to offer. And I hope that you reach out for and are met with joy, warmth, companionship, healing, and peace in this holiday season. Happy Turning of the Seasons! Hanukkah, Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year � and every holy day throughout the year.

~Hilary

Adult RE Report and Schedule

So, we have just completed the Fall 2006-07 series of Adult Religious Education programs and events.

Rev. Hilary's Scriptural Reading/Talking Scripture meetings were well attended, and we all walked, talked and argued with Paul as he composed his letters to the Romans and others.

The Timely UU Topics group discussed legal perils for liberal churches with the IRS filing charges against a church in California for Electioneering from the Pulpit. Other meetings dealt with Just War, Social Contract as well as what we as UUers might call Right Actions. We all enjoyed Lively discussions and Hilary joined in on a regular basis.

Anthropologist J.C. Romero inaugurated a very popular Atheism Discussion Group that examined ideas such as �How Do Atheists Conceive of 'The Good'?� This was followed by many discussions of Aesthetics as a Moral Compass. The series ended with a discussion about what non-believers might do to get OUR voices heard in the public forum.

The Winter/Spring schedule for Hilary's Talking Scripture will return to the Second and Fourth Wednesday of each month. Hilary will be considering documents in addition to the New Testament as we explore the formative period of Christian Religion. First meeting will be at 6 P.M., room 4, January 24, 2007.

The Winter/Spring schedule for Timely Topics will be the first and third Wednesday of each month. The first meeting will be at 6 P.M., room 4, January 18, 2007. We will be continuing a discussion on Bill Schultz's article in UU World, �What Torture Has Taught Me,� which raises questions about what we really believe.

J.C. will continue the Atheism Discussion Group in January, meeting 6 to 7 p.m. on the second (Jan. 11) and the fourth (Jan. 25) Thursday. Please contact him for more information.

~Chuck Reynolds

MHA to Benefit from Change for Change

A new year means new agencies to support through our weekly Sunday service collection of loose change. For 2007, we will expand our reach and encompass programs that serve a broader range of people in the community. Wherever we look, there is need.

January�s agency is the Mental Health Association, which serves mentally ill adults through a variety of programs. The largest program is the Day Shelter, which is open 13 � hours per day, 365 days per year. An average of 78 people per day come through the shelter, all of them homeless. They receive hot meals, have a place to shower, get basic hygiene products, are able to see a nurse, and receive case management as they try to find work and permanent housing. Volunteers are needed in the Day Shelter, especially with food preparation.

Another important MHA activity is the Compeer Program, through which people with mental health issues are matched with a companion for friendship and support. Volunteers receive training before they are intentionally matched with clients so that interests and experiences are complimentary. A commitment of one hour per week is asked, and times can vary depending on the schedules of the volunteer and the adult in need. MHA sponsors educational programs, has a library with hundreds of publications on mental illness aimed at the lay reader (volunteers to man the library are needed), and a self-esteem program (�I�m Thumbody Special!�) that is presented in the elementary schools. MHA staff guide individuals, who have been diagnosed with mental illness, and their families as they face uncertain futures, and they give referrals to existing services in the community. They also have a Holiday Gift Lift program and provide housing for mentally ill homeless adults in their Seeds of Hope home. Our collection for MHA will be well used, so please give generously when the collection plates are passed. Many thanks.

~Jean Tyner,

Social Justice Committee

Religious Education

Director of Religious Education Michele Tomarelli

The Anna Dufair Nursery

Religious Education wants to thank Jason Dufair, who recently made a very generous donation in memory of Anna Dufair, his wife and our friend.

The donation is to help with the transition and refurbishment of the Nursery in the new church on Meridian Street. Anna Dufair was Director of the Nursery for some time, and after she stepped down, she continued as an RE teacher in several classes. She was smart, humorous and patient, and we miss her very much. It is a pleasure to think that we will be carrying Anna�s influence with us as we move to our new home

Thank you, Jason.

Nursery Director Wanted

You may know that Angie Shamo, now working full time, has stepped down as Director of the Nursery in order to spend her Sunday mornings with her family.

Tandy Easler has stepped in as interim Nursery Director. We are thus advertising for a new Nursery Director. Because this position is only three hours a week, the job may be filled by a member of the congregation. Among other skills, the Nursery Supervisor must be able to manage children who are not yet potty trained (i.e., change diapers), maintain a clean and safe nursery, supervise nursery aides, soothe howlers, and entertain small children of a variety of ages. Infant First Aid and CPR certification is a plus. If you are interested, contact Michele Tomarelli

Needed: Classroom Aides

If you do not feel up to handling an entire class by yourself, but enjoy children and teens, please consider volunteering as a classroom aide. You can choose your age group, and the choice of dates is somewhat flexible. Have the fun without the awesome responsibility! To volunteer, contact Michele Tomarelli at, or Amy French

Short-Time Teachers

Do you have wisdom to impart to our children or youth? Consider teaching a one-day class for RE. In the past we have had once-only classes for the kids in various Body Works and Martial Arts, Physics, Needlework, Woodwork, Fine Arts, Cooking, Pottery, and other topics. (You fine teachers know who you are! RE thanks you!) This year our focus is on Judaism and Christianity, so people with knowledge or interest in these topics, are especially welcome. Never taught before? Have no fear, we can help. If you would like to discuss it, please contact Michele Tomarelli or Amy French

OWL 2007 Spring Schedule

Time: 3:00 � 6:30 pm; Location: Red Cross Building

January 7 March 4

January 21 April 8

February 18 April 29

February 25

May 20 � OWL graduates presentation during the service on RE Sunday!

Please call if not attending! Kris Taylor and Volker Thomas

"Sounds Divine!"

A concert by the Indianapolis Women's Chorus

Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007, 3:30pm

St. John's Episcopal Church

A 2007 Religious Arts Festival Event

Sponsored by Indiana Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Pride Lafayette, Lafayette Area Multifaith Advocates, and the UU Church

Admission: $10 ($5/children) in advance; $15 ($10/children) at the door

Tickets available online at www.soundsdivine.eventbrite.com, at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation, by mail (IRCRC, PO Box 723, Lafayette 47902), or see Kaye McSpadden.

The Indianapolis Women's Chorus is a member of the national Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses. This will be the first time the group has performed a full concert in the Lafayette area.

Is anyone else interested in what services might be provided by members of the church? Should we publish such a directory so we can tap resources within our own organization? Example: We have a CPA in the congregation. Does anyone want her to prepare their income tax return?