Worship Schedule
Sunday Service at 10:30 a.m.
Childcare Available

Sunday, July1

Speaker:  Michele Tomarelli
Topic:  Travels in Turkey

Worship Coordinator:  Martha Gipson

Pianist:  Peg Black

Sound Operator:  Michael Lewis

Sanctuary Prep:  Gale Kvam

Sunday, July 8

Speaker:  Bill Graziano
Topic:  Gifts of Greece

Worship Coordinator:  Gale Kvam

Pianist:  Kaye McSpadden

Sound Operator:  Dan Lybrook

Sanctuary Prep:  Gale Kvam 

unday, July 15

Speakers:  Beverly Seese

Topic:  GA Journey

Worship Associate:  TBA

Pianist:  JoAnn Mullen

Sound Operator:  Noemi Ybarra
Sanctuary Prep:  Gale Kvam

Sunday, July 22

Speaker:  Gale Kvam

Topic:  "Not All Who Wander Are Lost:"   Spirituality of Bumper Stickers

Worship Associate:  TBA

Pianist:  Kaye McSpadden

Sound Operator:  Sharon McKnight

Sanctuary Prep:  Gale Kvam

Sunday, July 29

Speaker:  Martha Gipson

Topic:  Insights in Guatemala

Worship Associate:  TBA

Pianist:  Peg Black

Sound Operator:  Carl Seese

Sanctuary Prep:  Gale Kvam

Next NewsletterDeadline:
Sunday, July 29 Noon
Covering Aug. 1-31, 2007

Place items in newsletter mailbox or e-mail lightedchalice@yahoo.com
Please place descriptive subject headings in your e-mails and do not leave message area blank.

This issue was prepared by Lynn Holland

Minister On Study Leave

The Reverend Hilary Krivchenia will be on study leave for the month of July. She will be available for crises and for board members, staff, and Transitions Committee.

For pastoral care crises, she can be reached through Mary Ann Foley, Cheryl Fowler, or Lynn Richardson of the Pastoral Care Committee.

All Church Retreat

Set for Aug. 10-12

The annual all-church summer retreat will be held this year Aug. 10-12 at Ross Camp, 15 minutes from West Lafayette along the Wabash River.

Registration is now underway: forms are available at the church and by email at uuc@uulafayette.org. Registration is requested by July 31.

This event has been held for 18 years, and this year features workshops, as well as plenty of other activities including fishing, sewing, sailing demonstrations, hiking, biking, golf, and worship on Sunday morning.

The retreat begins Friday night with check-in, a light meal and campfire. We have rented the “A frame” lodge, which has two large gathering areas as well as 11 rooms, each with 2 to 9 beds and a bathroom.

We do our own cooking and offer vegetarian alternatives.

The fee for staying in a room and meals for the two nights (five meals) is$35 per person (children under 3 are free). One night (four meals) is $30 per person. Day campers are $20 per person for the weekend. Camp sites are also available ($5.25/night for tents, $15.75/night for RVs).

This retreat is popular and well-attended: it is a great way to get to know your fellow UU’s and the workshops are a good blend of the spiritual, physical, and intellectual.

Attention: Writers and Editors Needed!

Two of the Lighted Chalice editors are rotating off the committee, so we need new writers and editors to join the Lighted Chalice editorial team.

    This is a creative, independent task for which you’ll need e-mail, as well as desktop publishing software such as Word, Publisher, Pagemaker, or InDesign.

   Preparation of each newsletter requires approximately one working day. We’ll explain and share the needed specifications and graphics.

    The job can also be divided up, so you can volunteer just for editing copy, or just for laying out pages.

   Please contact us at the lightedchalice@yahoo.com

Kroger Gift Cards Benefit Church

Kroger (Payless) has a fund raising program similar to Meijer. 

With Board approval, our congregation has submitted an application for this program. The program involves gift cards purchased by church members that can be reloaded like any other gift card.

The program returns $250 for every $5000 spent on the gift cards. That is five percent. This is another way to make a financial contribution to the Church without taking a hit to the pocketbook!

Kirsten Reynolds has agreed to be the church contact for this program. She has the re-loadable gift cards in $25 increments. 

RE Notes

July 2007

Michele Tomarelli, DRE

The story of the Oak and the Reeds appears in many different cultures. The one most of us know best is that told by Aesop, and later, by La Fontaine.  In Japan the reeds are bamboo; in the Talmud the tree is a cedar. 

Sometimes the Oak is a braggart, sometimes it is humbly asking advice from the Reeds.  In every case, the story goes that the strong, rigid tree is compared to the seemingly weak plants. The mighty Oak is admired until a big storm comes and shakes them all.  La Fontaine said:

The tree holds up well; the reed bends.

The wind doubles its trying

And does so well that it uproots the one whose,

Head was neighbor to the sky,

And whose feet of touched the Empire of the Dead.

So, the tree, unable to bend, falls down, while the flexible reeds lean and stand back up when the storm has passed. 

The moral is that people, too, need to be willing to be flexible as our situations change.  With the move to Meridian Street, we are facing a great deal of uncertainty, and even the things that seem firm keep blowing about.  It can be an anxious time, but if you’re determined to keep the right frame of mind, this can also be a time of excitement and vitality.

To some degree, how we respond to the move is up to us.  We can resist the wind or we can do our best to see the beauty of the chaos.  Eventually the storm of our moving will be over and we can stand back up, replant our roots, and get back to the business of church.

What does this have to do with Religious Education?  Well, aside from the ‘for sale’ sign out front, RE is the first place we have physical evidence that the move is something besides expensive.  It’s disruptive, that’s for sure, and darned inconvenient for parents whose kids refuse to sit quietly in the service. 

Although the high school youth are coming to the services, the junior-high-students-formerly-known-as-BAMs and many of the late elementary school children are taking the summer off.  The little ones are downstairs for the entire service because we have mixed the ones that don’t come up with the ones that usually do. We bend, and trust that when we have our new building, things won’t be back to normal, they will be better than normal. 

How our children react to the disruption will depend almost entirely on how we as adults react.  We can agonize and complain, but if we do, so will our children.

If, on the other hand, we greet the changes with, “Wow!  Isn’t everything different!  Isn’t this interesting?” and we say this not only to the children, but to ourselves as well, we will find that the children enjoy the move and we won’t find it as onerous as we thought we would.

Fourth on the Wildcat

Anyone up for a morning canoe ride down the Wildcat Creek with a picnic

lunch to follow at the Wildcat Creek Park on the 4th of July?   RSVP to

Tandy Easler, to reserve your spot and life jacket! 

We'll try and accommodate as many as we can borrow canoes. If you have a canoe or life jacket to loan, please do!

We'll meet at the Wildcat Park  at 9:30 a.m. and start shuttling people upstream to Mi-So-La landing.  Come enjoy the creek or just the park! 

--Tandy Easler

Greeters Needed!

Folks who come to see who we are when we move to Meridian Street will be influenced by how they are greeted and made to feel welcome.

The Greeting and Membership committee needs your help in providing consistent and knowledgeable greeters. Please think about committing to one Sunday a month or quarter. This is a most enjoyable way to welcome visitors. 

Training is provided - it isn't hard work. 

Contact Della to volunteer:

Social Justice

Community Responsibility

Thanks to Rae Brandt and all her helpers, the Goodwill clothing collection was a success!  200 bags of clothing were collected. Vouchers will be sent soon to Cary Home, LUM, and the Women’s Shelter for use by people needing clothing.

The first Purdue Ford Dining Court work project will be held July 17-22.  The meals scheduled will be Tuesday dinner through Sunday lunch.  The work isn’t difficult and each person receives a free meal and $6.25 per hour for use by the Social Justice Committee, including Community Responsibility.

Mary Ann Foley will be signing people up for the work shifts.  Anyone from age 14 to 90 is welcome to help us!

Please call Mary Ann.  14-16 year olds need to obtain a work permit from their school and take it to Barbara Maughmer or Pat Berger at the Ford Dining Court .

Mark your calendars for the August work the weeks of August 13, 20, and 27.

The Social Justice Committee will meet on Thursday, July 12, at 7 p.m. in Room 3. Everyone is welcome to attend.

--Sue Robinson

Correction From the Minister

In my last Minister's Muse, I wrote that we had inhabited the Seventh Street building since 1979.

John Carlson reminded me of better facts! "We actually bought the building in 1976 and moved in that fall.  All of the renovations, however, were not completed until 1979, and we had a week-long dedication celebration in 1979."

We will have a great celebration when we move in to Meridian Street as well.

--Hilary

Book Group

7 p.m., Monday, July 9, 2007
        “The Glass Castl” by Jeanette Walls
7 p.m., Monday, Aug. 13, 2007
        “The Color of Wate” by James McBride

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.

July and August Change for Change

Your change for July and August will be collected for the local ARC program.

The Indiana chapter of ARC was established in 1956 by parents of children with developmental disabilities.  The primary focus was to provide a resource for families to come together and help advocate for a better life for their children. Also to be committed to progressive legislation to protect rights and improve services for people with developmental disabilities.

The local ARC program, located at Wabash Center, has several programs and services for the developmentally disabled and their families, including adult recreational programs, summer camps and outreach programs and advocates for quality life choices for individuals with developmental needs.

They also strive to educate the community about the inherent values, abilities and accomplishments of people with disabilities. They ensure that resources are available for teachers, direct support staff and caseworkers, healthcare professionals, finance and legal professionals and others - to support individuals with disabilities and their families.

--Lynn Richardson - Social Justice Committee member.

Sunday Morning Forum

July 1 

“Poetry--Why People Don’t Like It” 

Bill Keirce

             “Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak”.  This forthcoming book from the University of Iowa suggests that even under the harshest conditions the urge to express one’s deepest feelings in poetry remains alive.  Yet, Bill Keirce, retired professor of English at Purdue, claims that when it comes to poetry, people don’t read it.           

July  8 

“Correlation is Not Causation” 

Bill Asher

             “Moonbeams Cause Thieves to go Off Their Rockers” These headlines in a Louisville newspaper lead to a story about how city crimes increased on nights with a full moon. Bill Asher, retired professor of Educational Psychology and Research, spent a career trying to convince graduate students that correlation does not mean causation. He has his own interesting examples

July 15 

“The Tie that Binds” 

Eric Thiel

When the Thiels left Lafayette for the West Coast, we lamented the loss of an original and independent thinker in Eric and the large contributions to the church from Janice.  Now the Thiels are back, and Eric has been reflecting on the nature of Unitarians. He believes he has arrived at some insights regarding the question: What is the irreducible common bond that unites Unitarians wherever they may be?

July 22

“What I Read and Why” 

Roberta Deagan, Tippen McDaniel and John Wilms

            Some readers can’t resist particular genres and topics.  Others may be attracted

 by a coruscating style.  The only truism is that readers are motivated by highly individualistic tendencies.  Three of our own will share some of their favorite titles and reveal why they are drawn to these particular authors or books.

July 29 

“Recent Supreme Court Decisions: Implications for the Rest of Us” 

William McLauchlan.

           The Supreme Court recently decided against Lilly Ledbetter’s claim that she was discriminated against in salary and promotions by her male supervisors.  The Court did not dispute that she had been wronged.  Judge Alito cast the deciding vote because Ledbetter, now retired, was “untimely” in bringing her complaint.  Court watchers fear that such decisions may be harbingers of a conservative stance against hard-won liberal causes.  Professor McLauchlan, Department of Political Science, Purdue, will talk about what the present Supreme Court.

Ernest McDaniel

Program Council Considers Move, Activities

The July Program Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the church.  All committee representatives (and anyone else who wishes to attend) are welcome to join us. 

Agenda items include the upcoming move to Meridian Street, setting Program Council's activities for the upcoming year, and any items, concerns, or issues that the various committees in the church wish to bring to the Council.

--Joan Marshall, on behalf of Program Council

Peacemaking Video Series Continues

Time for the next video in this summer's series sponsored by the Peacemaking
Subcommittee of the UUC Social Justice Committee. 

We had a great turn out for our June video, "Iron Wall" and the July offering is an excellent follow up.

On Sunday, July 15 at 7 p.m. we will see "Q and A with Ishmael Beah,"  a
C-SPAN interview with author Beah about his memoir. "A Long Way Gone:
Memoirs of a Boy Soldier."  

Born in Sierre Leone in 1980, Beah was forced into service as a child soldier at the age of 13, following the deaths of his parents and two brothers. He served for three years before being rescued by a coalition of UNICEF and other NGO's.  (By the way, UNICEF is an organization our church supports through the Guest at Your Table collection
each fall). 

Mr. Beah found his way to the U.S. in 1998, where he completed high school and college; and he published his best selling memoir in 2007.

Please join us for what I am sure will be a thought provoking discussion of
his amazing journey from brutal boy soldier to social activist.

Bring your popcorn and we will supply soft drinks and water and lively conversation.

--Joan Marshall, Member of the Social Justice Committee

 

P.S. Just a reminder--on Sunday, Aug. 5, our last video of the summer will be "Why We Fight." This time the focus is on the U.S. and our involvement in military operations since President Eisenhower's warning about the power of the military/industrial complex in the U.S.  More about that in the next newsletter.

Atheism Discussion Group

The Atheism Discussion Group will meet from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the second (12th) and fourth (26th) Thursday of July in Room 3. Please

 contact  JCRomero with any questions.

LUM Report

Homeless Shelter:

The Homeless Shelter is getting very low on coffee, sugar and disposable razors.

Office Needs:

Used inkjet cartridges of any brand would be greatly appreciated. LUM receives money for them.

LUM Camp:

Its time once again for LUM Camp. This year's camping trip will be from Aug. 6- 8. Camp counselors are still needed. If you are 18 or over and would like to volunteer, you can contact Joe Micon at the Lafayette Urban Ministry, phone 423-2691.

I am told that LUM Camp is as much fun for the counselors as it is for the campers!

Hunger Hike:

Mark your calendars! This year's Hunger Hike will take place Sunday, Sept. 16. Organizers hope to raise $70,000. Go to www.hungerhike.org for more information.

Golf Outing:

St. Thomas Aquinas Church is sponsoring the LUM Cup Golf Tournament to benefit the Lafayette Urban Ministry. The tournament will take place at the Elks Club on Friday, Aug. 3. Tee off begins at noon. Foursomes may contact Joe Micon at LUM for details.

                                    -Mary Finley, LUM representative.

Article from the moving committee (co-chairs Christine Schertz and Alanna Steffen)

 Moving On

Help Needed to Move Furniture, Pack

We have acquired even more furniture! We have more folding tables and chairs and various other items. They are now being stored at the Red Cross building, and we need to them (and into Patty's barn) before the end of the month.

If you have a truck or are strong enough to help move chairs, let's meet at the Red Cross building next door on Saturday, June 30h at 8 a.m.

If you can make it, please email the moving co-chair Christine Schertz so we know how many people will be there to help, and how many trucks we have to haul furniture. Also, if for some reason we need to change the day or time to move, we know who to contact. We hope to see you there!

We will be moving soon, but packing will start even sooner. Keep an eye out emails for scheduled  "Packing Parties" this summer . If you can donate your time, energy, boxes, and/or food we need you!  

Ministers Muse

Portland, Oregon is bustling with Unitarian Universalists -- said to be the second highest attendance of any GA – the highest being Boston (the cradle, as it were, of the movement) a few years ago. 

I’ve never been to Portland before – it’s a cool city. One thing that makes the city cool is the transit system – MAX – the light rail.  I can hop on the rail and travel across town without paying a fare – ride the bus in the city without paying a fare.

The decision to provide this free transit – rather than costing the city a fortune – saves the city from being swallowed up by parking garages, choked with traffic, or filthy with smog.  It also pushes the people into contact with one another – people make room for bikes, strollers, computer cases, skateboards, and one another as they ride through the city together – it creates a more civil society.  People are friendly. A decision with foresight – a civic act of generosity that yields a better city.  It reminds me that it is not sheer will that enables people to be better people – it’s also providing conditions that enable people to be better.  A church or a city need decisions with heart and foresight that make it possible – even easier -- for churches and people in churches to do and be better.

As we look forward to the move – which will happen in the next two months – I think of all the decisions that we’ve made and need to make – decisions to make our new church home work well.  After spending few days in this city I feel confirmed in the suspicion that acts of kindness, of generosity, of trust – acts of radical hospitality breed thriving, kind, generous, and connected cities.  I know I’m only seeing Portland from a visitor’s eye view – I am sure that it has the tensions – fiscal and tribal – that other cities have – it’s just chosen to confront those issues differently.  I see a truly welcoming city – and I keep seeing ahead of us at Meridian Street the possibility of a truly welcoming congregation – beginning with accessibility and an inviting foyer all the way to the care with which we treat one another and every person who comes through our doors. Perhaps the trick is simply to ask – what will make this easier for the next person, for the future?  What can I do to create a legacy of warmth?  What will make this or the next meeting – more fun? 

GA often yields inspiration. For example, sitting with colleagues over dinner, I shared our good news about the new building and mentioned that a local church had asked to have the cross from the steeple.  Suddenly we were envisioning an exciting scene – the three congregations – the Boards, the ministers -- whomever else – gathering to bless the cross together and then to pass it on in love – not as the rejection of a symbol – but as an affirmation of the joy it will bring a truly, fully Christian Congregation.  We began to imagine the local religion page covering it. It was shortly after that conversation that Michele and I discovered a metal worker who can make weather vanes and chalices and we began to envision a chalice at the peak of the steeple surrounded by a cross, a start of David, the star and crescent of Islam, the Om, the Wheel of life… The price for such a creation looked to be about $1200 – something we’ll be able to afford down the line – part of a new public ritual with local news present.

From details to the big picture GA yields value.  I’ve made connections to serve us during the transition, help us celebrate the move (we might take lots of pictures to send to the UU World magazine!), did valuable consultation, met with my advisee, led a workshop on the Reverend Jenkin Lloyd Jones, offered pictures from my trip to the Middle East at another workshop, learned about bringing an important film to our church (Encounter Point), and gathered information for congregational well-being. 

Still – a high point of my GA experience is the time that the ministers spend together.  Each year the Berry Street Lecture is given by a minister to the ministers.  This year the lecture asked the question – do you know who you are?  In some ways each year the lectures – while being wildly different from one another ask that question – do you know who you are – do you remember your calling and your work?  Each year we recite our covenant as colleagues to be in right relation with our congregations and with one another.  And each year – somehow – in a completely fresh voice and new way – the speaker manages to remind me heart and mind – of my love for this work and for this congregation – my hope for this congregational community and my faith the people.  Each year I feel inspired and actually uplifted – an experience not so easy to come by – and I feel as though I have a trove of treasures to bring home – to turn over in my study time in the summer and deepen my understanding of and then to share. 

So – while I can’t bring back the organic vegan grocery, the transit system, or five thousand Unitarian Universalists – I have more than  I can fit in a suitcase – treasures to share for the thriving in the present and in the future of this congregation.

Evaluation of the Minister

In the late spring and summer of 2006, the Committee on Ministry (COM) conducted an evaluation of the minister, Hilary Krivchenia.  The purpose of the evaluation was to provide feedback to the minister for her professional growth and development and to determine whether the minister is performing to the satisfaction of the congregation in the conduct of her ministry.

We began the process by defining the various areas of Rev. Krivchenia's ministry.  Our discussion (which included the minister, who is a member of COM) led to identifying the following as major areas of responsibility for the minister:

• Lifelong Religious Education

• Pastoral Care

• Administration

• Leadership Support

• Outreach and Social Justice

• Sunday Services

  We then decided that each of the five members of the committee would select one of the components of ministry, prepare questions evaluating the minister's performance in that area, and then conduct interviews with those members or friends of the congregation who

have significant involvement in that specific area.   For the sixth area, Sunday services, we prepared a brief questionnaire about the quality of the Sunday services and distributed it at a Sunday service and at the all-church retreat.

As we prepared our interview questions, we shared them with one another and received feedback and assistance in refining our ideas.  We also discussed who in the church would be appropriate individuals to interview about each of the areas of ministry.

The results of the evaluation were generally favorable, with a couple of areas for professional growth articulated.  The COM has discussed the evaluation with Rev. Krivchenia and also her self-assessment of her ministry, which she prepared as part of the process. A copy of the evaluation is available in the church office.

The COM and the minister will continue to discuss the overall ministry of the church and the minister’s professional development as part of the committee’s regular agenda

--2005-2006 Committee on Ministry

Ruth Ann Ferris, Gary Fowler, Herschel Lewis, Joan Marshall, Beverly Seese

 Meeting Notes

Meditation/Mindfulness Group cancelled until further notice.

UU Symposium TBA: phone 877-882-8871 or 877-UUC-UUS1 for more information.