Sunday Services

June 5 – Sheila Harty, who has visited our congregation before, will lead our service.  Her topic will be “An Assessment of the Pontificate of John Paul II.”  The first non-Italian Pope in almost half a millennium with one of the longest pontificates over the Roman Catholic Church deserves assessment.  Theologian, Sheila T. Harty , was born and raised Catholic.  She says that she has long since disavowed the doctrine of that faith, but she understands its machinations.  She finds that the biography of this pope explains his authoritarian doctrinal conservatism.  Welcome Sheila Harty back to Valdosta and our pulpit.

June 12 – “Living Under Dictatorship: A Citizen’s Story,” Joan Cline    Joan Cline, a long-time member of our congregation, will bring us her perspective of Germany during the Nazi regime.  Joan experienced Hitler’s dictatorship first-hand as a child in her home country.

June 19 - “Fathers of All Sorts: Honoring Father’s Day”  To celebrate Father’s Day, we will remember fathers of many kinds – those that fathered our families, fathered our achievements, and fathered our dreams.  We will have a table ready for you to display a picture or memento of your father this morning.

June 26 -

Don’t forget to sign up in the Sunday Service Strategy Group’s notebook on the counter in the vestibule. Please take time each week to check the sign up sheets and volunteer to help make our services meaningful for all.    

Call for stories for the July 3 Service - Stories of Individual Search -
"Declarations of Inner Independence"

At one time or another, most of us have gyrated to the convolutions of superstition or accepted group beliefs that led to irresponsible servitude to bad masters. Or we may have been tempted to think of God as a magical machine with buttons for bounty, guidance, or forgiveness that we push by praying. As told in our own national legend, our forefathers had to struggle against ingrained habits of thought to reject the "divine right" to rule of King George III, to propose the separation of church and state, and to set up a system of checks and balances on their own power.  Please share your stories of a time when you had to declare independence from ways of thinking that acted as inner tyrants over your freewill. Or please share a "continuing story" of a mindset you are trying to become independent of but have not quite succeeded in overcoming.  Have your declarations of inner independence made things better?  Upside?  Downside?  How does it relate to "group" independence?  How have those around you or your group been affected?  Both funny and serious stories are encouraged. Please send your accounts to Helen Gerhardt. 

Musicians and Musical Volunteers Needed

The Sunday Services Strategy Committee is looking for a few good people with a love of music to volunteer their time and talents to help make our Sunday services meaningful. Currently, Anna Mitchell Hall and Betsy Thompson are taking turns providing recorded music for services. However, Anna will be moving to the Atlanta area soon, and Betsy would like to increase the number of people who contribute to the music of our services.

If you have a love of music, or play an instrument, or like to sing, or can work a simple CD player, and would like to be involved in creating meaningful Sunday services please give Betsy a call or email her.  There is already a growing library of recorded music available to play during the services, and live music would be a most welcome addition. A brief orientation to the music goals of the Sunday Services Strategy Committee is all that is required for anyone who would be interested in this opportunity.

Wednesday Potluck and Discussion

6:30 PM Potluck - 7:30 PM Discussion

Joan Cline, our incoming R. E. Director, has suggested that we continue the “Beloved Community” potlucks and discussion, which Barbara Child conducted in the last several months.  They will continue on the second Wednesday of each month.  Plan to bring a dish to share and join in a strategy discussion about Adult R.E. on June 8 at the church.  Joan doesn’t want us to lose the momentum of recent discussions by even waiting one month.  Come support the enthusiasm of our new R.E. Director and add your voice to the discussion.  

Annual Congregational Meeting

The annual meeting of the congregation was held on May 22, 2005 immediately following the Sunday Service.  16 members of the congregation were present for the voting.  The congregation voted unanimously to approve the following:

·        The 2005-2006 budget as presented by Randy Thompson and recommended by the Board.

·        To spend $675 to defray the cost of the 2005-2006 President attending General Assembly in June 2005.

·        To accept the Bylaws changes presented by Lars Leader that were created by the Bylaws Committee and recommended by the Board with a few minor wording changes suggested by the congregation for added clarity.

·        The slate of officers presented by the Nominating Committee to serve in 2005-2006:

Lars Leader, President

Helen Gerhardt, Vice President

Doug Tanner, Treasurer

Rosie Asbury, Secretary

Jim Ingram, Director of Building and Grounds

Joan Cline, Director of Religious Education

Laurel Hahlen, Director of Membership

President’s Column

Dee Tait

This has been a church year worth remembering and it's a great place to move from into the next.  I am so glad I have this chance to express my humble and deep appreciation to the Congregation, the Committees and to each Member of the Congregation for all that you have done this year.  It's been no small task for all of us to do the work and to examine ways of getting better and better at it. 

            We have been blessed with nine months of insight, leadership and consultation with Rev. Barbara Child.   What we do with all of that now is up to us. 

            The Nominating Committee did their work well, and so did we as a Congregation, in choosing next year's Board to direct us. Members of the new Board, who will assume their jobs July 1, are attending the last two meetings of the church year.  We will transition the new Board by one-on-one meetings with our counterparts.   I am so excited about them every time I interact with them.  We are in good hands.  

"Our whole lives have been a preparation for putting our gifts to work.  Let's give thanks for our opportunity to put our gifts to work, singularly, and as a congregation, and honor our own willingness to do so."  - a comment adapted by Reverend Child, (and now, again by me),  from "A Call to Leadership" by Bill and Barbara Hamilton-Holway.  Each of us is a leader in some way by our very presence.   

As we set about doing the work of the church, let's remember to encourage each other to believe we can do what we may think we can't, so that we enable each other to help shape a world of justice and worth.   We will be better for having tried!

About Our Members and Friends

v     Rev. Barbara Child  - CHILD’S  PLAY a familiar column in this year’s newsletters is missing this month.  We wish Barbara well as she moves to Ann Arbor , MI to serve a UU church there.

v     Congratulations to Jason for a number of accomplishments.  He placed in a number of events in the Georgia Technology Student Association competition and will be competing with the Lowndes High School team in the national competition this month in Chicago .  Also Jason was  awarded a University of Georgia Certificate of Merit Scholarship and was recognized as a Wofford Scholar at the Lowndes High School Honors Program this year.

v Please keep in your hearts our members and friends experiencing health concerns or other difficult issues....

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 Dee Tait.

Newsletter Staff

Editor:  Betty Derrick 

Website:  Carol Stiles

June 15: deadline for the July newsletter.  Please note that your editor, because of her personal schedule, will have to complete the July newsletter within a day of this deadline.  She will appreciate your strict adherence.  Thanks.

Sunday Services Strategy Group Plans

The Sunday Services Strategy Group under Helen Gerhardt’s leadership has accepted a proposed regular cycle of services to try on an experimental basis for the next church year. We will almost certainly vary the pattern somewhat as speakers become available or as events invite special attention. 

1. The first week of each month will begin with "Stories of Individual Search." Members of our congregation will share accounts of their personal experiences in response to questions raised by our heritage of worldwide myths, national legends, and religious stories. The call for written entries will be published in the newsletter the month before each service will be performed. The Sunday Services Group will provide editorial assistance and encourage participants to attend a workshop/rehearsal of the readings before the service at which they tell their stories. Discussions may follow these services, depending on the length of the services and the wishes of the storytellers.

2. "UU Roots and Branches" services on the second week of each month would show how our congregation is embedded in our particular faith. Each month we will look at an event/period/person from Unitarian Universalist history, then at the current legacy in terms of UU action in the world today, and finally at how our own church is currently strengthened and challenged by these larger movements. We will invite UU ministers and laypeople from other congregations/organizations to speak, as well as ask our members to further research and speak on areas of their own enthusiasm. Discussions will follow these services, after Meet and Greet.  

3. On the third Sunday of each month, "Constellations of Faith" services will investigate other religions of the world Michael Stoltzfus will be giving regular presentations in the fall, but we will also invite speakers and ministers from other faiths to speak and will invite our own members to research areas of their own special philosophical/religious enthusiasm, perhaps with an occasional call for entries in the newsletter. We will also experiment with playful and/or dramatic forms, such as unrehearsed congregational plays in which members are encouraged to read different parts. Discussions will follow these services, after Meet and Greet.

4. "Natural Cycles as Frames for Search"   On the fourth week of each month, we would focus on explorations of the wider human and natural cycles of infancy to old age and and of spring to winter, celebrating seasons, holidays, commemorative events, and stages of growth. The congregation will consider two or three questions given by the service-leader, write individual semi-spontaneous one-sentence answers, and share them with the rest of the church if they wish to. Interspersed with these will be some of the more commonly used UU services such as the Water Ceremony, Day of the Dead, the Flower Ceremony, etc. with a slightly looser participatory structure like that of Joys and Concerns. 

5. "Faith and Other Forms of Search" There are four months between July 2005 and June 2006 that have a fifth Sunday. On these days we will invite writers, scientists, philosophers, historians, and speakers from other disciplines who can share insights on different ways to investigate, celebrate, and shape larger meanings for our lives.  A discussion will follow each of these services, after Meet and Greet.

Of course all these service will be embedded in the structure organized by the Sunday Services Strategy Group as outlined in the Lay Leader's Resource Book. Thanks so much to them for all the hard work and experimentation that has provided such a solid foundation from which to launch this new year of programming.

Governor’s Honors Program: The Georgia Governor’s Honors Program will once again be at Valdosta State University this summer, June 12-July 23.  Our congregation has enjoyed having some of these young people attend our services while they are in Valdosta .  We have provided them transportation.  At the writing of the newsletter for June no details are yet available.  Virginia and John Branan coordinated this effort in the last several years.  Let Dee Tait know if you would be willing to help this year.  It will most likely be the third service in June before we would have any visitors.  Often the first to come are students from the Atlanta area who belong to one of the UU churches there.  Later these students are likely to bring new friends along who are newcomers to Unitarian Universalism.  

Lost and Found:  If you are missing something you might want to check the Lost and Found Box the Board has decided to place under the shelves to the right of the sanctuary door as you enter the building

At the Church-in-the-Woods

Tai Chi – Monday and Thursday Evenings: Continuing Class 6:00-7:30 PM; a new Beginner’s Class will begin August 15 meeting 5:30-6:30 PM.   Contact Dennis Bogyo.  

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

 UU Activities and Announcements

Your editor does not have any recent information for the newsletter.  Check the bulletin board in the R.E. wing at the church or ask one of the officers about UUA or Florida District activities in June.  There are always interesting summer activities at The Mountain.  General Assembly is coming soon.  Summer Institute is an interesting way to spend a week later in the summer.  

Treasurer's Report

Randy Thompson

*It is anticipated the church will incur deficits each month during the remainder of the minister’s term, but this expense has been pre-funded and the funds are in the General Fund.

UUA TRUSTEE TIDBITS

Joan Lund

The warm weather has arrived and soon it will be time to journey to Ft. Worth for the 2005 General Assembly where I hope to see and talk with many Florida UUs. It is not too late to register and become part of this exciting, learning-filled, and fun event. I especially encourage the presidents of our Florida congregations to be in attendance. Your registration will be paid for, and there will be many leadership workshops and a special time scheduled with the Moderator, President, and Trustees.

This month I want to talk briefly about the UU Partner Church Council (PCC) and why our international engagement and partnership is so important. At the UUA Trustees October, 2004 meeting the Board declared: “The work of the UUA is to serve member congregations and support UU institutions bearing witness to our liberal religious faith and bringing our principles to life. Mindful of both the brokenness and the potential for reconciliation in the world, the Board of the UUA commits to strengthen and energize UUA member congregations by facilitating their connection to the transforming power of international engagement and partnership.”        

The UU PCC was founded in 1993 to focus/coordinate grassroots energy of many UU churches which had formed partnerships with Unitarian churches in Europe following the collapse of Communism in December, 1989. Today the PCC supports the partnerships of almost 200 North American UU churches partnered with Unitarian and Universalists in many parts of the world. The PCC is an affiliate organization of the UUA, which can be reached at www.uupcc.org.  

The PCC has stated the international commitment of North American UUs has often been weak and lacked staying power. Sometimes resources have been lacking to see global commitments through or our self-interest/centeredness has caused UUs to shrink from global calling. The need for international understanding and encouragement of global citizenship has never been more important. We are in an era of instantaneous communication, with increasing awareness of the interdependency of people and their struggles for social justice. The PCC and the PC movement intend to establish global citizenship as a common commitment of liberal religion and integral to the core identity of all UUs and every UU congregation. A number of steps will be taken to accomplish these goals.

Two interesting programs will be offered at GA by the PCC: (1) Strengthening Congregations through International Partnership, and (2) Goal: World Community---A Broader Vision of Partnership. Hopefully they will be well attended. Contact me at jlund@uua.org for further information, concerns, and questions.