What’s going on...April 2005  

Sunday Services

Michael Stoltzfus, faculty member at Valdosta State University who teaches Philosophy and Religion,  will  present a two-week series on Buddhism in early April.

Sunday, April 3 "The Eightfold Path of Buddhism"

The Buddha's fourth Noble Truth has eight aspects: (1) right understanding; (2) right intention; (3) right speech; (4) right action; (5) right livelihood; (6) right effort; (7) right mindfulness; and (8) right concentration.  Together, these eight aspects form the core of a genuine spiritual path.  In the first of this two-part presentation, Dr. Stoltzfus will discuss the wisdom elements of the path.  

Sunday, April 10 "The Eightfold Path:  Cultivating Compassion"

The practice of Buddhism is the embodiment of compassion.  How can we be more compassionate in our speech, action, and work?  How can we live disciplined and intentional lives in mind and body?  In the second of this two-part presentation, Dr. Stoltzfus will discuss the path in terms of moral application and mindful concentration.

Rev. Child’s April Visit

 Our minister, Rev. Barbara Child, will be in Valdosta for two services in April.

Sunday, April 17 – “ Safe Harbor or Challenging Cliff:  What’s a Congregation For?”

You have heard it said that what a congregation is for is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”  Today I want to explore what that means in real life.  You might get ready by reflecting on what you think this congregation is for – not just what people give lip service to but what people act like it’s for.  Is there something here to ignite passionate commitment from you?  Is there something here that you care enough about that you would take a risk for it? Or is this a refuge where you come for risk-free safe haven?

April 24 – “A Unitarian Universalist Family Seder”

Today is Passover, the holiday that is traditionally celebrated with a Seder, a ritual meal commemorating the liberation of the Hebrew people from slavery under the Egyptians.  Over the years the Hebrews’ bold act has become symbolic of the need of all peoples to move toward freedom.  These times call us to revisit the Seder messages for what new understandings they might bring us of the enslavements we have endured in our own lives and how we have been liberated from them.  I will invite some members of the congregation to join me in bringing the messages today.

---

Don’t forget to sign up in 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. With a congregation as small as ours, we need everyone to volunteer for about one to two jobs per month if at all possible!  

CREATING A BELOVED COMMUNITY RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW April 20 – UU 104 potluck supper at 5:30 followed by reflection, personal sharing, and discussion Getting Out the Door, or “Ain’t We Got Good News?” How do Unitarian Universalists go about being in a world full of people who are not UU – or not UU yet?  What about the ones who are UU without knowing it?  What’s the difference between articulating and living our faith and proselytizing?

Discussion on Sunday mornings after the sermon?  We are still experimenting with the best way to deal with discussion after some of our Sunday services.   On Sundays when a discussion is planned, the service’s lay leader will announce the location and coordinate the discussion.   If you are a lover of discussion, greet our visitors, grab a cup of coffee, and join the discussion, which will last no more than 10 min for those who are interested.  Everyone else should carry on with the Meet and Greet activities.  We’ll see how it works as we try to best meet the needs of our diverse membership.

---

 

President’s Portion

Dee Tait

I’ve been thinking about how volunteering has picked up around here recently and what a good thing that is.  The advantages of doing things voluntarily are spelled out in some of the descriptions of the actual word voluntary. 

- Arising from one’s own free will.

- Acting on one’s own initiative. 

- Acting or serving in a specified capacity willingly and without constraint or guarantee of reward

- Normally controlled by or subject to individual volition. 

- Spontaneous. 

- Without external persuasion or compulsion.

- Without legal obligation or payment.

- Not accidental; intentional.

- What is done by choice

- Without reluctance or even eagerly. 

- A natural response and a true reflection of one’s feelings. 

The word has a good ring to it.  And the action is getting good results.  Let’s thank each other for volunteering. 

CHILD’S  PLAY

Rev. Barbara Child

                When I first read this newsletter last spring, I was delighted to see that Tai Chi classes are given here.  On the evenings when I leave my study in the RE Building while a Tai Chi class is in session, it is a pleasure to look in and see the group moving gracefully across the sanctuary floor.  In fact, one of the downsides of my part-time presence in Valdosta is that I haven’t been here consistently enough to join the Tai Chi class. 

            My delight in Tai Chi goes back to my seminary years in Berkeley when I loved to see groups of people doing Tai Chi in the park when I went for my early morning walks.  Somehow I never managed to take a Tai Chi class myself though until the year I was living in New Hampshire .  A flyer appeared in my mail, just at a time when I was ready for something new.  I had no idea whether I would really like it.  Maybe I would feel silly.  Maybe I would be a total klutz.  Oh well, I would see.

            I’ve thought myself pretty much a Taoist ever since I first encountered the Tao te Ching, but somehow I had never “got it” that Tai Chi had anything to do with Taoism.  I’m sometimes a very slow learner, it seems.  But even so, and even though I did lose my balance regularly and probably did look quite silly, I’m here to say I loved Tai Chi class!

            And I especially loved it that Dave, one of the teachers, constantly brought Tai Chi and Taoism together.  One of his lessons that made a special impression on me was that Tai Chi is easy to learn and hard to correct.  He told of a master who was teaching a class with somebody in it who was already experienced.  The master corrected him and corrected him, but the student, who was already pretty good, kept on moving in the old way.  As good as he was, he couldn’t learn to get any better because he was stuck in his pretty good habit.

            The good Tai Chi practitioner had lost his “beginner’s mind” and so could not learn any more.  (Dave mentioned as an aside that the Maryknoll nuns, whose discipline is learning, live statistically longer than most of us.)

            It takes a beginner’s mind to relax into the discomfort of not knowing – not to learn how to get comfortable but to relax in the very midst of discomfort, stress, even perhaps danger. (Can you imagine why I believe this Taoist approach to life has much to recommend it to Unitarian Universalists?)  It’s clenching that causes us to wobble and lose our balance.  Relaxed, we develop not rigid strength but flexible staying power.  It works in Tai Chi class.  It works outside of class too – at church, for instance.

I think of it every time the temptation comes to focus only on what is going well, not to point out what could be going better.   That’s when I remember the good Tai Chi practitioner who couldn’t get the benefit of doing it better because he had gotten stuck in a pretty good habit.  Beginner’s mind, anyone?

---

Newsletter Staff

Editor:  Betty Derrick  

Website:  Carol Stiles

April 19: deadline for the May newsletter

 

 

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 Virginia Branan  

Social Action Committee

Watch for information about activities announced via e-mail or Sunday bulletins.  

Special Contribution for the Westside UU Church in fort Worth :  We now have the opportunity to show as much generosity to another congregation in its time of  need as was shown to us after we experienced the vandalism of our church in May 2003.  As we read about  the loss of  one of our fellow UU churches, we remember how devastating loss can be, whether by vandalism or  fire, nonetheless hurtful .  At the special congregational meeting on March 20, the congregation voted to take a special collection  at services on March 27 and April 3 for the Westside UU Church in Fort Worth .  Member contributions will be matched from the Restoration Fund. The Fort Worth , TX Westside UU Church's members were saddened by their losses in a strip-mall fire that broke out in a unit adjacent to their rented space early on March 7, 2005.  

---

News from the Board: The Board meeting in February was too late in the month for news to make the March newsletter. Information from the February 17 meeting follows. Information from the March meeting will follow in the May newsletter.  Randy reported on our current budget and the pledges received thus far for next year.  Members of the board will follow up with those people who were not at the February potluck.  Childcare options were discussed.  Three potential volunteers were named, but it was decided that since two people must be present at all times to provide childcare, we need more volunteers before we can provide childcare consistently and reliably every Sunday morning.  It was decided to postpone childcare for the time being, and welcome families to bring their children into our Sunday morning services.  Carol Stiles has paid for advertising our church in the Spectator. Other advertising options were discussed and judged to be too expensive at this time.  Anna will be consolidating the email lists in the next few weeks so that there will be one central database of all members and friends at the UUValdosta Yahoo Group.  She will be sending out emails and providing training on how to use this resource.  The Board decided to rejoin the UU Musicians Network for another year.  Dee reported that due to another incident of missing mail, our church has purchased a PO Box and Dee, Barbara, and Randy have keys.  Anna will get the email weekly and take it to the church.  There were two requests for use of the building.  Laurel Hahlen requested to use the building March 6 for an immigrant registration program by the Mexican consulate.  However, due to the anticipated size of the group attending and lack of sufficient information on the event, the request was denied.    Anna mentioned that the South Georgia Sierra Club Meetup Group had requested to use the building for meetings when they had speakers.  The board agreed to waive any fees as this furthers our congregations concern for the environment and Anna will let Leigh Touchton, the Meetup host, know the available days and how to reserve the building.  The sign up sheets were modified to better reflect our needs for volunteers and will remain at the back of the sanctuary.  The board agreed to do emails and phone calls to personally invite people to the March potluck. 

---

About Our Members

v     Anne Zipperer is a grandmother!  Extend best wishes to her.

v       Keep in your thoughts those who are experiencing illness or difficult times….

---

Nominating Committee: Virginia Branan, Chair, Betty Derrick, and John Tait.  Consider saying yes if they ask you to serve on the Board next year.  In out small congregation we need everyone’s help and we also need to give our hardest workers a chance to rest occasionally. 

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

 

 

 

Treasurer's Report

Randy Thompson

FUND BALANCES at February 28, 2005

General Fund (See Note)		$24,889.84
Restoration Fund		18,015.64
Total (Cash in Bank Accounts)		$42,905.48
OUTSTANDING DEBT
Mortgage		$26,219.33
			YTD
OPERATING RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS:		February	Eight Months
Receipts:
Plate		124.00	809.20
Pledge		2,265.00	11,380.00
Rent		240.00	1,970.00
Interest Income		0.00	524.01
TOTAL RECEIPTS		2,629.00	14,683.21
Disbursements:
Minister Expense		2,222.22	13,332.78
Mortgage		500.00	4,000.00
Speaker's Fees & Expenses		324.68	873.68
Repairs and Maintenance		103.00	586.01
Child care expense		0.00	510.00
Ministerial Music		0.00	50.00
Postage		191.80	352.72
Supplies		30.75	678.62
RE Programming		0.00	480.00
Membership Programming		0.00	108.00
UUA dues		0.00	2,208.00
Utilities		153.04	1,393.50
Advertising		282.50	282.50
Other		68.90	334.90
TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS		3,876.89	25,190.71
NET RECEIPT (DISBURSEMENT)		($1,247.89)	($10,507.50)

*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.

At the Church-in-the-Woods

Tai Chi – Monday and Thursday Evenings  The Beginner’s Class meets 5:45-6:45 PM; the Continuing Class, 6:45-8:15 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

 Further information is posted on the bulletin board in the R.E. wing at the church.

April 8-9 – District Annual Assembly with Bill Sinkford, at The Retreat Center at Oviedo , just northeast of Orlando.  This is your opportunity to meet and talk with UUA President Rev. Bill Sinkford.  His keynote presentation will be about public witness in our religious world and his observations about where we need to go.  Discussion and workshops that follow will include skills and lessons we need in our local communities to be effective in getting our message into the larger culture.

April 15-17 – Healthy Relationship Retreat, The Mountain, Highlands , NC

April 16 – Deep Caring and Risk Management sponsored by the Northeast Cluster at UU Fellowship of Gainesville, led by Rev. Mary Higgins

April 22-24, 2005 - FL Women & Religion Retreat "At the Root of Longing"  - UU in the Pines, Brooksville , FL

www.floridawomenandreligion.org

May 11-13 and May 13-15 – UU Womenspirit: “Sacred Balance, Healing Peace”, at The Mountain, Highlands , NC

www.UUWomenspirit.org 

May 27-29 – Florida UU Fest “Roots Hold Us Close”

---

REV. WILLIAM G. SINKFORD NAMED AS ONE OF THE NATION'S MOST INFLUENTIAL BLACK SPIRITUAL LEADERS  Beliefnet, a multi-faith electronic community designed to "help people meet their own religious, spiritual and moral needs by providing information, inspiration, and community," has named UUA President William G. Sinkford to its list of the nation's most prominent and powerful African-American religious leadership .The author of the piece, Halimah Abdullah, writes: "Whether inspiring their congregations to stand up against social injustice or urging a focus on God-centered family values, African-American religious leaders are an influential component of a rich and diverse spiritual landscape." The listing for Sinkford notes, "The Rev. William G. Sinkford is the first African American to head the Unitarian Universalist Association, a largely white, liberal denomination. This Boston-based minister has been a particularly vocal proponent of legalizing gay marriage, a position that is in keeping with his organization's historical support of same-sex couples and their families."

---

March 20th- - April 4th:  2nd Year of War in Iraq:  UUA Joins Interfaith Activities President Sinkford joins Interfaith Leaders at Riverside Church in NYC for Culminating Events on April 4th - Anniversary of Martin Luther King's Speech Calling for an End to the Vietnam War.

---

wUUrld’s 2005 WhaleCoast Alaska   Five Alaska UU fellowships invite other UUs from “outside” for our UU eco-spiritual/intercultural programs in July 2005.  See the REAL Alaska !  Stay in homes in Anchorage , Seward, Fairbanks , Juneau , and Sitka and enjoy discussions and dinners with Alaska UUs.  See whales, sea otters, sea lions, seals, bears, moose, caribou, wolves, Dall sheep, puffins, eagles, and other birds in the wild from the Artic Ocean to the Inside Passage in the south.  Visit Denali ’s Mt McKinley and Kenai’s fjords and glaciers.  www.wuurld.org, e-mail dick@wuurld.org or phone 1-888-998-8753 for a brochure.  Reservations by April 1.

---

UUA TRUSTEE TIDBITS

Joan Lund

April can be the month sometimes associated with spring cleaning, sprucing up the building and grounds, and perhaps re-visiting church policies/procedures. Although it is important for all churches to have safety policies and procedures in place, societal trends have prompted many questions and concerns about procedures especially to protect children and youth in our congregations. Prevention is the major goal in children/ youth protection. At my home church (UU Church of Tampa) I serve on the Religious Education Committee and we are in the process of reviewing, updating, and developing additional safety policies related to our young UUs.

There are many components to comprehensive children/youth protection policies. Time and space limit what I am able to relate in the column but much assistance is available on the UUA website. Comprehensive policies will not only help protect our children/youth, but also the staff and volunteers from the possibility of unfounded accusations. The policies should contain many divisions including: how the RE program will be administered, staff and volunteer recruitment/training, safety and health protection, and travel safety protection. Also, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse protection must be an important area covered in your children/youth policies. Protection for children/youth from high risk individuals must be spelled out in detail; and how any type of incident involving children/youth will be handled by the church.

Volunteers working with children/youth must be screened and many congregations do background checks on these volunteers. Probably it is not wise to recruit RE volunteers who are new to the congregation; probably allowing a prospective volunteer at least six months of functioning appropriately in congregation life before asking her/him. Folks who come directly from years of service to other UU congregations may be checked by contacting the former congregation minister and/or RE director for references and recommendations. It is prudent to have all church staff and volunteers working with children/youth sign an established church code of ethics on a yearly basis; copies kept on file.

As adults we must use good judgment and mature wisdom when working with children/youth. Because young UUs are in a vulnerable position with adults they are sometimes reluctant to report inappropriate adult behavior towards them. Children/youth must be taught, and develop the skills to know when an adult is acting both appropriately and inappropriately in their presence. It is up to us to be ever vigilant concerning all aspects of child/youth safety and protection.

Thank you to my UU friends who have called or written with words of appreciation and/or to ask me to help them in some way. I am not always successful in my responses but I will give you my best. I look forward to hearing from you with your ideas, questions, and concerns; jlund@uua.org.  

---

At the Church-in-the-Woods  

Tai Chi – Monday and Thursday Evenings  A new Beginner’s Class will begin January 10, 5:45-6:45 PM.   The Continuing Class will meet 6:45-8:15 PM.  Contact Dennis Bogyo.   

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