---

Sunday Services

Sunday, April 1 – Rev. Jane Page ,  “Easter is Coming!  Resurrecting the Resurrection”

As we enter what is known as "Holy Week" for Christians, Jane will explore the meaning of Easter through the ages and how a resurrection of the resurrection story can be meaningful to Unitarian Universalists. 

Sunday, April 8 - Easter Sunday – Layled Easter Service and Flower Communion 

This Easter Sunday service will be planned and layled by  the congregation.  A Flower Communion will be part of the service.  Bring a flower with you to add to our vase and take another home with you as we celebrate the beginning of spring.  Please let Dee Tait know if you would like to or can suggest someone who would like to plan and participate in this Easter service.  

 Sunday, April 15 - Dr. Michael Stoltzfus,  Capital Punishment:  Personal, Social and Religious Reflections”

The United States is one of the few industrialized nations that continue to execute human beings as a form of so-called retributive justice.  We will investigate some of the common reasons given by people who support the death penalty and ask a simple question:  Do the stated reasons justify the practice?  We will also reflect on capital punishment from the perspective of the teachings of Jesus.  I will share some of my experiences visiting with people on death row over the years and try to personalize the faces of those whom we condemn to death. 

 Sunday, April 22 - Rev. George Bennett,   “God is Glorified”

God has given us the gift of music and ability to sing and dance and play.  In music we experience ourselves as those who have been created for praise, for the glory of God.  The great Swedish movie director, Ingmar Bergman, in an interview said, "It is my opinion that art lost its basic creative drive the moment it was separated from worship.  It severed an umbilical cord and now lives its own sterile life, generating and degenerating itself.  In former days the artist remained unknown and his/her work was to the glory of God....Today the individual has become the highest form and the greatest bane of artistic creation...The individualists stare into each other's eyes and deny the existence of each other."

Sunday, April 29 - Dr. Frederick Downing, “ Faith as a Human Universal ” 

Contrary to the common idea that some are religious and some not, I would argue that all people are religious or have ways of making meaning in life.  Perhaps the old saying--no atheists in foxholes--is closer to the truth.  The human being is involved in making meaning out of life.  There are various ways to do it, but we all are involved in the process with no exceptions.
Since we are all religious, then, perhaps the only serious question is whether our faith will be healthy or unhealthy, and whether we will leave the world a better place or not.  Dr. Frederick L. Downing is Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies and Head of the Department at Valdosta State University .   Welcome him on his first visit to our congregation.

---

Religious Education for Our Children

Note Time Change!

This month the RE program for children begins meeting at 10:45 AM concurrent with the Sunday morning service.  Volunteers are needed as a helper or as a teacher to work with Mya Storey and Susan Bailey. You can volunteer for once a month, once every two months, or more often as your schedule allows.  To meet UU District guidelines we need two adults present for each session.  Contacts:  Mya Storey; Susan Bailey.  

---

. Meditation Group

The Meditation Group has been dropped from the Sunday calendar for now.  If you would like to see it return, speak with Dee Tait. 

INVITATION TO MEMBERSHIP If you are interested in becoming a member of our fellowship, we encourage you to talk with our President, Lars Leader .  We welcome your questions, and we extend an open invitation to all who want to join our liberal community of faith.

 

 

 

 

 

Social Action Activities

Break Bread Together

Our date for meal deliveries with the Break Bread Together program is the 2^nd Monday of each month.  If you can deliver meals on this day beginning about 11:00 AM, please contact Frank Asbury.

JUUST Change Grant Project

Sue Lacy , our JUUST Change Anti-Oppression Consultant, returned to Valdosta March 2-4, 2007.   Members of our Social Concerns Committee, Betty Derrick, Lars Leader , and Susan Bailey, met with her for a strategy session on Friday.  The community contacts, with whom Sue Lacy spoke during her visit in April, participated in a conversation on Saturday at the church.  She also interviewed two community leaders during her visit and attended a social function where she was able to speak with several other individuals.  Although the Valdosta Unitarian Universalist Church has acted as a catalyst for these initial meetings and was able to bring Sue Lacy as a consultant to assist in these initial steps, the UU Church's hope has been that the outcome would be a community group with a shared vision for our community.  We are encouraged that, after a fruitful discussion, the community group agreed to meet again in April to continue dialogue on social justice issues in Valdosta .  This is a small but important step in our “Accepting Difference in Valdosta , GA ” project.  Sadhvi Vrndaji has invited the group for its next discussion for Saturday, April 28 from 10:30 AM-12:00Noon followed by an Indian lunch at the ashram AVM near Pavo.  Lars Leader, Dee Tait, Susan Bailey, Betty Derrick, and Carol Stiles along with our regular speakers George Bennett and Mike Stolzfus are among the participants in these discussion.  Talk with Betty Derrick or Lars Leader if you would like more information.

---

About Our Members and Friends

v   Welcome to new member – Mary Jane Murphy  

Rev. Jane A. Page, Minister, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Statesboro, serves our congregation in Valdosta each month.  She is available for conferences and special services when she is in Valdosta .

 

 

 

---

Nominating Committee:  Jim Ingram and Betty Derrick are serving as the Nominating Committee this year.  We will elect a new slate of officers to serve on our
Board of Directors for the coming year at the Annual Meeting in May.  If they approach you for one of these positions, please consider saying yes.  This is an important function for the future of our congregation.  We are the church and are as UUs committed to democratic governance.  All of us are busy people with many commitments.  Make UU Valdosta a commitment for the next year.  

Board of Directors Meeting - March 7, 2007

Attendance: Lars Leader, Dee Tait , Sue Bailey & Rosie Asbury.  Lars opened the Board meeting with a reading from the UU World and lighting of the chalice.  Minutes of the February Board meeting were approved.  UU Florida District Executive Director  Ken Hurto’s visit  to our congregation will be re-scheduled for September, since he cannot make it in May as originally arranged. Lars will  check with him if he can come on either September 2 or September 30. Lars will also try to get his opinion regarding the district to which our  Valdosta UU congregation  should  belong.  We are still waiting for the prospective pianist that Dee contacted  months ago, until we find somebody else.  Dee received an e-mail from him stating that he had been very busy and that he would not mind if we found somebody else.  The Board set  the annual congregational meeting for May 20, 2007. The Board also approved the members of the nominating committee. This committee will present the 2007-2008 slate of officers during the annual congregational meeting in May for approval.  The annual pledge campaign will be starting soon. The members should make their pledges by July 1, 2007, which is the start of the new fiscal year.  The members of the congregation are  welcome to express their comments and suggestions about our regular speakers, for consideration during the next year’s programming.  Religious education starting in April will be from 10:45 AM to 12:00 noon, which is during the regular Sunday service. Volunteers are welcome.  Dee presented the Program report.  All services have been scheduled through April and May.  The next Board meeting will be on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at 6:00 P.M. at the RE Building.

---

Treasurer's Report

Doug Tanner

FUND BALANCES at February 28, 2007

                                        

General Fund                                            $22,059.22             

Restoration Fund                 $11,715.64             

Total (Cash Accounts)       $33,774.66              

OUTSTANDING DEBT                                                                     

Mortgage                              $17,483.35              

OPERATING RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS:                                                       

                                                    January          YTD Seven Months

Receipts:                                                                                               

 Plate                                            196.00          1,131.00

 Pledge                                       1,105.00         8,815.00

 Rent                                              240.00        1,920.00

Interest Income                                 0.00            540.00 

TOTAL RECEIPTS                $1,541.00       $12,406.00 

Disbursements:                                                               

  Minister Expense                             0.00              0.00

  Mortgage                                    500.00        4,000.00

  Speaker's Fees                            750.00        5,025.00

  Maintenance                                    0.00           417.00

  News Letter                                    0.00           228.20

  Supplies                                          0.00             75.47

  UUA dues                                       0.00        1,960.00

  UU Conference Attend.                   0.00               0.00

  Utilities                                        196.38        1,453.32

  Advertising                                      0.00           350.00

  Other                                            15.00           120.00

TOTAL DISBURSMTS.         $1,461.38    $13,628.99

NET RECEIPT (DISBURSEMENT)                  

                $79.62      ($1,222.99)

---

UUA TRUSTEE TIDBITS                    Joan Lund

Although it is only April it is time to think about attending this year’s General Assembly (GA) in Portland, Oregon, June 20^th to 24^th. This year attendance is especially important because for some time now Gini Courter, UUA Moderator, and the Board of Trustees (BOT) have been trying to determine a process for working on Ends for the Association. The chosen process has been identified as Open Space Technology (OST), a large group intervention process in which a topic focus is provided, and a facilitator encourages people to lead small group discussions that relate to the topic. Many small groups meet at the same time, come back together to hear reports from one another, and receive reports from other areas that relate to the topic. OST has been used in community and organizational settings for strategic planning purposes when input from many sources is important and initial priorities are being sought. OST provides a means of bringing multiple and disparate voices together to determine what people believe is important.

At GA delegates and attendees (you don’t have to be a delegate) will have the opportunity to begin the work of creating a mission and outcomes for the future direction of our UUA. Open ended questions will be used as the basic focus. GA attendees will have the opportunity to participate in several OST workshops and on Sunday delegates will vote on prioritized statements from these workshops during the last plenary session. The BOT will consider these statements in the development of a mission and ends statements, and will report on their progress in January and April, 2008 in preparation for GA 2008. The next steps at the 2008 GA might include a vote on a mission and global ends, or further OST workshops to refine the work done at this year’s GA.

Because the BOT is exploring policy governance and working on ends statements regarding the three questions policy governance boards address, we feel it is important to understand and address whom we serve, at what cost, and for what reason, or toward what end. I would like to hear from GA delegates and attendees about what they think the mission of the Association should be. OST will offer GA delegates, as charged by the congregations they represent, to help define the direction of the Association and offer guidance about its mission to the BOT.

Of course because of limited space I am not going to write specifically what happens in an OST session. Be assured there will be trained facilitators and I am asking that all participants to “trust the process”. And no one will be required to attend OST workshops; as always there will be many interesting, wonderful, and challenging workshops at GA. If you are wishing more information you may want to visit www.openspaceworld.org.

I hope to talk with those of you who plan to attend GA during our District Annual Meeting at the end of this month. Of course you may contact me at jlund@uua.org. I receive many UU-related emails and calls each month and am appreciative of the active and interested UUs in our District. Be well and enjoy our beautiful spring weather.

---

The Reverend Kenneth Gordon Hurto

Florida District Executive

Dear Companions in Faith, March 2007: Salem , Massachusetts , is home to great history ─ especially the First Church , Unitarian. “Gathered,” as they say in New England, in 1629, it is one of the oldest congregations in America . It is also the first to be governed by “congregational polity,” precursor to the democracy in the United States and still a core component of Unitarian Universalist congregations today.  Far too often, many among us understand congregational polity to be the equivalent of “every tub on its own bottom.” Yes, our congregations are self-governing and autonomous. This does not mean that they are on their own, however. We are also inter-dependent and connected. We need one another to be effective and well.  We have a similar confusion with regard to the phrase “non-creedal.” Freedom of thought is essential to our way of discerning spiritual truth. Yet, this not to be equated with license or the non-sensical “you can believe anything you want as a Unitarian Universalist.” You are not free to believe what is false! Likewise, congregational polity does not mean each congregation gets to do whatever it pleases. Our congregations are accountable to each other.  To earn and retain the right to be called Unitarian Universalist, a congregation needs to honor our heritage and ideals ─ respect for the dignity of all persons, and an abiding commitment to freedom and justice among them. A congregation that excludes people for character traits (skin color, age, etc.) would be just as anathema to the definition of a Unitarian Universalist congregation as one that preached hatred or accepted only those who subscribed to some ancient creed.  Similarly, to be a Unitarian Universalist congregation, you need to stay in touch with and be accountable to the larger association of free congregations. It is a challenge to do so across time and miles. In addition to the services of your District Office and those of the Unitarian Universalist Association, one of the ways our Florida congregations stay in touch is by participating in area clusters twice yearly (Southwest, West Central, North East, & Southeast) and annually at our District Assembly. [See the enclosed flyer about this year’s Assembly in Clearwater , April 27-29.]  A dream I have for our District congregations is to add something to this mix. Soon, I will invite congregational leaders to consider creating intentional linkages to congregations of roughly comparable size in terms of staffing, budgets, worship attendance, membership and religious education enrollments. The reason is that size determines much of how congregational polity actually works. As their issues are often quite the same ─ especially around governance and programming ─ similarly sized groups can learn a great deal from one another. So, congregational leader, think with me how we might create such linkages.  Meanwhile, I am delighted by all the good things happening in the Florida District. There is much health and aspiration for a larger witness among us, among you. We will make a difference in the lives of our members and in the larger society!  Staying with the theme of connection, I close with the Covenant recited yet today in the First Church , Salem .  After 378 years, it reminds us of why we join together as a Free People. You may have to do a bit of theological translation, but this is what we Unitarian Universalists are all about.

We covenant with the Lord and one with another, and do bind ourselves in the presence of god, to walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us in his blessed word of truth.

---

UU Activities and Announcements

Further information is posted on the bulletin board in the R.E. wing at the church.  Also check your Sunday Order of Service for announcements.   

April 27-29 District Annual Assembly, Clearwater , FL

The District Assembly is the major time for us to engage the missing element of congregational polity: congregation-to-congregation connections. This year’s theme — Cornerstones & Cupolas — focuses on doing the basics extremely well so that we may rise to new heights of service to one another.

The Cupolas of our ministries:

·         What aspirations toward excellence inspire us to grow, to stretch, to reach for loftier heights so that our faith communities transform not only ourselves but the world we inhabit?

The Cornerstones of our ministries:

·         What must we do exceptionally well to be effective in fulfilling our promise as a covenanted people?

·         Do we properly understand and live our Unitarian Universalist Mission or purpose?

Our workshops are organized into five sessions around these idea:

·         The Worshiping Congregation [Worship]

·         The Witnessing Congregation [Social Justice]

·         The Caring Congregation [Care]

·         The Teaching Congregation [Religious Ed.]

·         The Leading of Congregations [Leadership]

June 20-24  General Assembly, Portland , OR

July 15-21  SUUSI, Blacksburg , VA

July 20-28  The Mountain School for Congregational Leadership, The Mountain Retreat&Learning Center , Highlands , NC

FLORIDA DISTRICT UUA EMAIL ADDRESSES CHANGING EFFECTIVE APRIL 1, 2007

For Emails directed to: District Executive, Rev. Kenneth G. Hurto the correct email address is khurto@uua.org

Office Administrator, Jessica Curren the new email address is FloridaDistrictUUA@cfl.rr.com

(We will phase out and eventually discontinue use of the following email addresses: uuafldist@aol.com AND uuafldistoffice@aol.com)

---

April 14th is National Day of Climate Change   StepItUp2007.org is asking for people to help organize a nationwide day of hundreds and hundreds of rallies on April 14. They hope to have gatherings in every state, pushing for Congress to enact immediate cuts in carbon emissions, and pledge an 80% reduction by 2050. The individual rallies will be linked together electronically via their website to create the largest demonstration on global climate change that the country has seen. As UUs, we just passed a Statement of Conscience about the urgent need to address the issue of global warming/climate change. So please, check out their website (www.stepitup2007.org), think of ways that you and your congregation can participate. (From the UUA Office of Congregational Advocacy and Witness.)

---

An open letter to Members of the United States Congress, from the Reverend William G. Sinkford, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association                 

March 9, 2007

To Members of the United States Congress:

The United States has spent at least $400 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan . The astronomical cost of these operations is exceeded only by the staggering human toll, and both counts are far beyond what any of us could have imagined when we invaded Iraq in the spring of 2003. Now, four years later, the administration is asking you to approve $100 billion to prolong this disastrous conflict and to return exhausted soldiers to a dangerous and embittered land.

While this money would allow our nation to send more brave citizens into harm's way, it would do little to guarantee that they will be fully trained and equipped, or that our wounded veterans will receive adequate medical treatment once they return home. And the increased funding does nothing to ensure a speedy end to the carnage in Iraq . We have already failed our troops in so many tragic ways. The best way to support them now is to bring them home and to ensure that they and their families are given all of the respect, compensation, and care they deserve.

Rather than a surge of troops, we American taxpayers deserve a surge of truth.

Because citizens of all faiths and political persuasions are being asked to pay to prolong the violence, it is our moral obligation to reckon the true cost of the war before we agree to continue it. To give a true reckoning, we must honestly confront what we have done in Iraq , and we also must acknowledge the many vital needs we have left unfunded because we chose to put our money toward war.

Until we can adequately prepare and protect our troops, until we can provide them with premium medical services when they return home, and until we can guarantee a speedy and just end to the Iraq conflict, I urge you not to spend another American dollar on this war. I hope you will take a moment to review the enclosed balance sheet. These concerns are neither Republican nor Democratic. They transcend partisan differences. They are moral concerns that affect all of us.

Sincerely,   Rev. William G. Sinkford

---

At the Church-in-the-Woods

New Hope Christian Fellowship - Sunday evenings: Choir practice at 5:00 PM. Service at 6:00 PM.

 Taoist Tai Chi – Monday and Thursday: Beginners Class: 5:30-6:30 PM;  Continuing Class: 6:30-8:00 PM.  (Instructors: Dennis Bogyo and Luana Goodwin )

Newsletter

Editor:  Betty Derrick

Website:  Carol Stiles

April 15: Deadline for the May newsletter.