What’s going on.... October 1999

A Busy October! Check the calendar above, and the announcements/details of various events inside this newsletter. Many events are happening! Our visiting minister this month will be the Rev. Don Donohue, from Dowling Park, FL, who will speak on Oct. 24.

The Program committee will be holding a series of services this year which will address the UU Principles and the development of a personal theology; Betty Derrick kicked off this program at the Sep. 12 service. Some guidelines for the first step in "Building a Personal Theology" are given in an article in this issue.

Games Night!

Sat., Oct 2, 7:00 p.m. Call René or Julie for more information.

Religious Education News

Youth R.E. - During September and October, elementary R.E. pupils will finish up their study of Travel in Time, a history of Unitarian Universalism. The Elementary R.E. is being led by Virginia Branan. The Teenage R.E. group has chosen to learn about world religions through the curriculum, Neighboring Faiths, this group is being led by Janet Andersen.

The R.E. groups are planning an outing to Tallahassee to the Science Odyssey Center on Sunday Oct. 17, leaving from the church at noon. Any questions, call Janet Andersen.

Adult R.E. is focusing on Love is Letting Go of Fear, by Gerald Jampolsky, MD, led by Robert Dixon and Charles Judah.

If you would like to volunteer to help with or lead any of these groups, please contact Janet Andersen.

Forum/Discussion Group

If you are interested in participating in discussions of current issues, please contact Carol (e-mail: cranfun@peachnet.campuscwix.net). This group would meet informally, once or twice a month, in the sanctuary (near the coffee!) Sunday mornings during the R.E. time (9:30 a.m.). One proposed idea would be to continue the discussion of Sep. 5, about teaching evolution in schools and the proposed Biblically-based history course now being considered by the Georgia Board of Education. Other suggested topics (and volunteer discussion leaders!) are welcomed!

The Program Committee will meet at Betty Derrick’s sometime during the potluck on Sunday, Oct. 31, to plan for Spring, 2000. Give suggestions for speakers to Virginia, Betty, Theresa or Tom.

Women’s Group

Join us for good food and great company, the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Some are considering attending the Florida District Women and Religion Retreat at UU in the Pines, Oct. 15 -17. Participants will create "A Village of Women and Children," based on "pre-historic matriarchal design." Registration for this retreat is due Oct. 9!! Contact Julie Halter.

YouthCon for junior high and high school students will be held in Orlando, Oct. 9 and 10. Contact Janet Andersen or René Kerr for more information, if you are interested in attending.

R.E. field trip:

The R.E. students and leaders are planning a field trip to Tallahassee Science Odyssey Center after the service on Sunday, Oct. 17 - plan to leave at noon. Mark your calendar now! Call Virginia Branan for more information.

Social Action Activities

Break Bread Together

Our date for meal deliveries with the Break Bread Together program has changed to the 2^nd Monday of each month. If you can deliver meals on this day beginning about 11:00 a.m., please contact Virginia Branan.

Adopt-a-Stream

An adventurous crew of trash-thrashing warriors met September 11 for a trip to a section of the Withlacoochee River. The areas we investigated definitely need our help. While the lure of being in the great outdoors and keeping the streams clean and beautiful is appealing enough, an intriguing twist to our river-side clean-up might include bagging trash by horseback or canoe (and/or with large equipment). Please contact Tom Hallock for more information on this project.

--Submitted by Laurel Hahlen

LAMP

Several bags of groceries and supplies were collected at the Social Action Sunday service, Sep. 19, and were delivered to LAMP (thanks, Janet!). Lowndes Associated Ministries to the People (LAMP) is an interfaith organization (of about 70 churches) which provides services and emergency assistance to people in need in Lowndes County. April is our month to focus on collections for LAMP; however, donations are always needed.

Social Action opportunities

(Ed. note: The following information is provided by Laurel Hahlen; Laurel has information on these and many more social action issues; please contact her for more information by e-mail: chalen@surfsouth.com.

Fast to stop the debt crisis

As announced in last month’s Flaming Chalice, our congregation is invited to participate in a 24-hour juice-only fast on October 4. The event is part of a 'rolling fast' where groups across the country will participate in a full fast for the last 100 days of the year to urge cancellation of the crushing debt burden of the world's most impoverished countries

For those who would like to fast for the entire 100-day event, the Religious Working Group encourages a beans & rice "simple diet" fast.

For more information or background on the debt crisis, please check out: http://www.religiouswg.org/

Stop the Clock Campaign

Please save any unwanted clocks or watches (working or broken) you may have for an upcoming poverty/welfare event that is being sponsored by the South Central Georgia Task Force for the Homeless and the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness. More information will be provided shortly.

Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is holding its National Weekend of Faith in Action on the Death Penalty on October 9 & 10, with events in Atlanta throughout the month. The group along with Amnesty International has put together a packet documenting the racial, social and economic inequity in the use of death sentencing as well as numerous cases where innocent people have been executed. The packet also includes a moving sermon given by a Unitarian minister.

School of the Americas Protest/

Witness for Peace Delegation

I am planning to participate in a delegation to Chiapas, Mexico that seeks to change US foreign policies and corporate practices that contribute to poverty and oppression. We will meet with massacre survivors and discuss solutions to problems that result from US action/intervention. Since much of the violence in that area has been attributed to graduates of the School of the Americas, I then plan to be at Ft. Benning, GA on November 21 for the annual SOA protest and have committed to being a peacekeeper and non-violence trainer for the event. If you would like to help with funding for the delegation, you may make a tax-deductible donation on my behalf to Witness for Peace, 1229 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005, to the attention of Elizabeth Miller. From my experience last year, it is an incredibly moving event attended by people from around the US and South America. Last year, over 2,000 people risked arrest by crossing the line. Please contact me for more information.

Thanks, Laurel Hahlen

Concerns of the Congregation

Our thoughts and prayers are with our members and friends who have recently lost family members or are experiencing difficulties in their lives.  

Social Events:

Party in Lake Park!

Please be the first guests at the rustic lake home of Diane Holliman, Sunday, Oct. 3,

2 p.m. Bring your swim suit, rafts, lawn chairs, and canoes. Diane will attempt to clean up and even cook, but you may want to bring a dish or snack just to be on the safe side. Soft drinks will be supplied, otherwise, BYOB.

Call Diane for directions.

Thompson Halloween Party, Saturday night, October 30th at 8pm. Costumes preferred. Dancing shoes a good idea. BYOB. Potluck (munchies only). Theresa and Steve’s address: 

U Picnic/Potluck at Betty Derrick’s house

After the service on Oct. 31, please gather at the home of Betty Derrick for a fall picnic/potluck lunch.

Community News and Announcements

Upcoming in November: Wednesday evening, November 3, representatives of the Georgia Equality Project (GEP) will present a workshop on lesbian/gay issues at the Unitarian Universalist Church. For more information on the workshop, contact Carol at e-mail cranfun@peachnet.campuscwix.net. More details will be announced at the UU and MCC churches, and in this newsletter next month. Vern Lewis, Education Director, GEP, and others, will be in town Nov. 1 - 3 also to speak in classes on the VSU campus, and may be available for other meetings or presentations.

Building Your Own Theology

On September 12 Betty Derrick introduced the first of several programs which the Program Committee will be bringing this year on Building Your Own Theology and the UUA Principles. In the introduction to the UUA's "Building Your Own Theology," Vol 1, workshop materials, Richard Gilbert, states, "I continue to maintain that theology comes out of the tough and tender experiences of life: first comes the experience(religion) and then the reflection on the experience(theology)." Elizabeth Anatos says in the same materials, "Finding religious meanings to life is a continuous process throughout the lifespan."

The BYOT workshop materials offers the following guidelines for developing your story, writing your own spiritual autobiography, as a first step in developing your own theology:

• Draw a time line: Place a dot at one end to designate your birth; make a reasonable estimate of your death date and place a second dot; place a third dot on the time line for the current date. Consider how you feel about this time line.
• Consider life functions in space: What are the places in which significant things have happened to you?
• All life is meeting others: Who are the three or four people who have had the greatest impact on your life? Why?
• Experiences shape our religious faith: What are the two or three formative experiences of your life and why are they important to you?
• We live in communities: Which communities, religious or not, have had lasting influence on your development?
• We are choosing creatures: Think of the important decisions in your life and discuss what they meant to you, how they were made and the results.
• Some of our experiences we choose to call religious: Think of two or three such experiences that were turning points for you.
• Life is made of joy and sorrow: List a few of the happiest and saddest experiences of your life.
• Can you reflect upon your odyssey and discern any theological values that have informed you?

Membership?

Curious about membership in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Valdosta? Contact Charles Judah or Tom Hallock of the Membership Committee.

At the Church-in-the-Woods....

Cardio Karate - Now meeting at the UU Church on Tuesdays and Fridays, 7:00 - 8:15 pm. Call Albert and Delane Slone for more information.

Tai Chi The Tai Chi group meets Monday and Thursday evenings. Contact Dennis Bogyo or Luana Goodwin.

A Course In Miracles group meets in the R.E. building on Wednesday evenings. Call Robert Dixon for details.

Church Bulletin Bloopers (see what wonderful things we get via e-mail? Ed.)

• Ushers will eat latecomers.
• The third verse of Blessed Assurance will be sung without musical accomplishment.
• The choir will meet at the Larsen house for fun and sinning.
• Miss Charlene Mason sang, "I Will Not Pass This Way Again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
• "Wise Up, O Men of God"
• The agenda was adopted...the minutes were approved...the financial secretary gave a grief report.
• The peace-making meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
• Next Thursday, there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
• Announcement in a church bulletin for a National Prayer & Fasting Conference: "The cost for attending the Fasting & Prayer conference includes meals

S.W.I.M. into the New Millennium… (sorry, I had to get that word in here once. Ed.)

The Last S.W.I.M. of the Century will be held Dec. 26, 1999 - Jan. 1, 2000. S.W.I.M., of course, means Southeast Winter Institute in Miami - great workshops, field trips, programs for all ages, dancing, music, nature, and more at affordable and scenic Camp Owaissa Bauer, near Homestead, FL. One of the many workshops includes A Renaissance Module on developing worship services: "Worship for All Ages in a Time of Multicultural Celebration: Whose Worship is it? Mine, Yours, Ours, or Theirs?" Flyers at the church or ask Carol. You can ask Charles what is meant by "affordable and scenic."

UU Activities and Announcements

• Check the bulletin boards in the church and R.E. building for information on the following events:
• Oct 15-17, Women and Religion Retreat at UU in the Pines, "A Village of Women & Children"
• Oct 22, Florida Liberal Religious Educators Association, new chapter organization meeting, 11 am - 3 pm, First Unitarian Church of Orlando
• Oct 22-23, Fall Leadership Conference, "A Home for Every Unitarian Universalist," Rev. Clark Olsen, presenter, Orlando
• Nov 6, Southwest Cluster Fall Workshop, UU Church of Ft. Meyers
• Nov 7-13, Florida Leadership School, Oviedo, "The View That Refreshes."

UU in The Pines

....a year round, rustic Conference Center in West Central Florida's rolling hills, 40 miles north of

Tampa. Thirteen acres with towering oaks and pines houses sleeping, dining and workshop

facilities. Home cooked meals, outdoor adventures, and quiet, rural atmosphere renew body, mind

and spirit. Groups and individuals welcome.

Contact: 7029 Cedar Lane Brooksville FL 34601

uupines@pro-scat.cts.com

‘In Germany first they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out -
because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Jew

Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out -
because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Catholics
and I did not speak out
because I was a Protestant

Then they came for me -
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.’

- Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892 - 1984)

The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center is an independent affiliate of the Unitarian Universalist Association, near Highlands, NC, (about two hours from Atlanta).

Website: http://themountain.uua.org/mountain

e-mail: mountain@dnet.net

Phone: 828-526-5838

• Oct 17-20, Paddling in the Fall Colors, canoeing and rafting on the Mountain lake and in nearby rivers of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
• Oct 29-31, Mountain Fall Fest, Halloween merriment and activities
• Dec 23-26, Christmas (Last of the 20^th Century), an intergenerational program
• Nov 5-7, Junior High YouthCon
• Dec 3-5, Senior High YouthCon

Editor’s Note:

Deadline for articles for The Flaming Chalice is the 15^th of each month.

Contact Carol Stiles

cranfun@peachnet.campuscwix.net

UU Church of Valdosta - Financial Report For The Month Of July:

UU Church of Valdosta - Financial Report For The Month Of August: