Sunday Services

Sunday, July 1 – Doug Tanner "Freedom to be Independent"

Doug Tanner, our new Vice President, will share some thoughts on independence on this Sunday before the July 4 Holiday .

Sunday, July 8 – Rev. Jane Page , "In Democracy We Trust" 

 In this sermon, Jane explores the joys and challenges of democracy, both in political entities and in our own denomination.

Sunday, July 15 – Dr. J. Patrick Biddix, “Protest Reconsidered: Civic Engagement Through Internet Activism”

This presentation examines the historically negative definition of activism and highlights how college students' use of technology may be changing this perception.  Dr. Biddix is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Leadership, & Technology at VSU.

Sunday, July 22 – Erin Salmon, “The Baha’i Faith”

Erin Salmon is a sign language interpreter working full time for VSU.  Her parents, who will be visiting and plan to attend the service may assist in the presentation about the Baha’i  faith.  The service will be interpreted for the benefit of any who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Sunday, July 29 – Dean Poling, "Stories, Insights and Tales"

Dean Poling, Features Editor for the Valdosta Daily Times,  will share some of  his newspaper columns with us.  

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 .

 

 

Religious Education for Children

The RE program for children meets at 10:45 AM concurrent with the Sunday morning service.  Contacts:  Mya Storey Susan Bailey .

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:  Please volunteer to assist with the RE program occasionally so that Susan or Mya can attend adult services on some Sundays.  You can do this on a regular basis or occasionally, but your help is needed.  Thank you.

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Social Activities

July 4 Cookout:  6:00 PM Betty Derrick’s home.  Bring something to put on the grill and a side dish.  Tea and lemonade provided.  Feel free to bring other drinks.   

 

 

Governor’s Honors Program Students: This summer, for the first time in several years, high school students from the Governor's Honors Program have been attending our Sunday services. Governor's Honors is a six-week session held every summer at Valdosta State University , designed to "provide intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year."  The Governor's Honors Program students who've visited us are nearly all from the Atlanta area. Most attend UU churches at home.  Some are coming to our services to find out what Unitarian-Universalism is all about.  They all seem interested to include Sundays with us as part of their experiences while in Valdosta .   If you see them at a service on a Sunday this summer, say hello. No doubt they'll draw you into an interesting conversation.  Lars Leader is coordinating this effort.  Let him know if you can help providing transportation for our Sunday services over the next several weeks.

 

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.

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UU Church of Valdosta Board of Directors Meeting: June 13, 2007.  Attendance:  Lars Leader, Dee Tait, Doug Tanner, Sue Bailey, Mya Storey, Chuck Giese, and Rosie Asbury The Board approved the minutes of the April Board meeting. Doug presented the monthly financial report, which is still below the budget. He also reported on the current status of the pledge campaign for the next fiscal year.  There was a discussion about the Restoration Fund. Lars will check with Betty about the details of the restoration fund.  Dee said the Sunday program for June is set; however, we need three speakers to fill in three Sundays in July. If anyone has a suggestion, please contact her or Lars.    The Board discussed that the church sign is still not visible enough to newcomers. One way to improve the visibility would be to cut the wild vines growing behind and around the sign.  The next Board meeting will be on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at the church in the RE building.  

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Love Will Guide Us!     With sincere joy and a desire to give our love its fullest expression, we will be joined in marriage on AUGUST 18, 2007 at 3:30 P.M. Jane Altman Page & Gregory John Brock

Treasurer's Report

Doug Tanner/Rosie Asbury

FUND BALANCES at May 31, 2007                

General Fund                          $21,360.30             

Restoration Fund                     $11,715.64             

Total (Cash in Accts.)             $33,075.94                             

OUTSTANDING DEBT                                     

Mortgage                                $15,905.72             

OPERATING RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS:                                                       

                                                    May                        YTD/11 Mo

Receipts:                                                                                    

  Plate                                        123.00                            1,460.00

  Pledge                                     590.00                          12,177.00

  Rent                                         240.00                           2,640.00

  Interest Income                         0.00                                  790.00

TOTAL RECEIPTS                 953.00                            17,067.00               

Disbursements:                   

  Mortgage                                500.00                              5,500.00

  Speakers                                 750.00                             7,275.00

  Repairs&Maintenance                 0.00                                 417.00

  Newsletter                                  0.00                                 490.18

  Insurance                                    0.00                               1,098.00

  Supplies                                      0.00                                   75.47

  UUA dues                                  0.00                               1,960.00

  UU Conf. Attendance                 0.00                                     0.00

  Utilities                                   240.34                               2,130.38

  Advertising                                 0.00                                  350.00

  Other                                        15.00                                  165.00               

TOTAL DISBRMNTS         1,505.34                                 19,461.03 

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NOTICE OF FLORIDA DISTRICT DUES INCREASE Dear Florida District UU Congregation Leaders: Please note that the delegates from Florida UU congregations voted at the Annual Assembly on April 28, 2007, to increase the per member contribution to Florida District UUA from $19 to $21 per year. District dues had not been increased for a period of three years. At the annual business meeting the District Board of Directors proposed that dues be increased by $1.50 per member, but delegates amended the motion and approved a $2 increase instead.

This new rate of $21 per member will be effective when the District’s fiscal year begins on July 1, 2007. The determination of your congregation’s contribution is based on the number of members that were certified to the UUA in January of this year. We sincerely hope that this increase will not seriously upset your budgets that are already approved and in effect.

Thank you for all your support of Florida District programs and services. We hope that your congregation is benefiting from what we offer.   Yours in the faith,  Bill Bode, Treasurer

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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: Summer Practice Session: 6:00-7:30 PM; A beginners class will start in August.  Contact Dennis Bogyo or Luana Goodwin if you are interested.

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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. 
July 15-21  SUUSI, Blacksburg , VA

July 20-28  The Mountain School for Congregational Leadership, Highlands , NC

July 28  Florida District Social Justice Strategy and Planning Session, TBA

July 31-Aug. 5 UU Musicians Network Conference, Clearwater , FL

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UUA TRUSTEE TIDBITS                    Joan Lund

Good July news! About 300 folks who are members of the Unitarian Universalist Musicians Network (UUMN) are coming to Clearwater for their annual meeting, July 31^st to August 5^th. UUMN began in 1982 with a few dedicated UU musicians who had the desire to establish an organization whose primary purpose was to further the importance of music in UU congregations. UUMN is a professional organization of our Unitarian Universalist Association. The mission of UUMN is to advocate for music ministry in Unitarian Universalist communities and support those who provide it. 

UUMN is dedicated to fostering the spirituality of music and provides mutual support, education, informational resources, and opportunities for the professional growth of UU musicians everywhere. There are almost 700 members, including but not limited to music directors, pianists, organists, ministers, choir members, and music committee chairs. As a network UUMN welcomes all musicians, including ministers, and religious educators, who support music ministry in UU congregations. Membership also includes congregations who support the UUMN’s work.

Each summer the annual conference is held in a different geographical location usually in early August. The Conference features five days of sharing, learning from master clinicians, and networking with other UU musicians to enhance musical skills and share resources.

In 2002, in order to focus on strengthening the organization’s status as a professional organization the UUMN formed a Professional Leadership Development Group to develop a credentialing program and continuing education opportunities for their membership. In 2000 and 2003 the UUMN sponsored a UU Children's Choir in conjunction with the UUA General Assembly. In 2005, with the debut of “Singing the Journey”, there was a dramatically enhanced UUMN presence at General Assembly. Music was integrated into presentations, programs, and worship services in new and different ways. The UUMN offers a Mentor Program to support new UU music directors and small UU churches and fellowships in developing or improving their individual music programs, a "Good Offices" program which provides counsel and assistance to UU music staff members regarding work related church, staff or congregational issues, and a Professional Leadership Development program with a fledgling certification process for UU music directors.

If you wish to find out more about UUMN and perhaps take part in the Conference information can be found at www.uua.org/uumn/ . I look forward to welcoming UUMN Conference Attendees on July 31^st. As always you can reach me at jlund@uua.org  

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The Smart Church #9 :Connie Goodbread

How does your congregation deal with fears when they arise?

How often do we admit we are afraid? How often do we react out of fear? How often does someone else’s fear make us so uncomfortable that we rush in and try to make people feel better, quick? How often do we repeat patterns around our fears?

Every generation is raised by the joys and fears of the previous generation. To be self-aware enough to offer our wisdom, without also handing others the claim check to our emotional baggage, is an art. For those of us who were not fortunate enough to be born Unitarian Universalist we must be very careful that we don’t roadblock the spiritual development of others with our fears. “Why are we teaching the Bible?” “I don’t want my child indoctrinated the way I was.” “I am offended by the word God, holy, prayer, heaven, sin, salvation, etc.” Have you heard any of these?

Why would Unitarian Universalists need to be teachers of the Bible? Why would we need to understand and be able to talk intelligently about it? What other faith tradition will teach the Bible from a Unitarian Universalist point of view if we don’t? Is it important to pass on our values? Is it important that we education ourselves with a deep understanding of all words?

How often are our budgets born out of our fears about money, rather than out of our shear joy for the great adventure and the grand vision? Fears around money are different in every individual. Most of what we think and feel about money comes from our experiences with it and/or the lack of it. We can be fearful around the topic of money and we can be foolish.

Fears are part of the emotional field we bring into all of our relationships and also into our roles as leaders. What would happen if we could admit our fears? They are real for us. They make sense to us. What would happen if we spoke them out loud? Could we learn from them? How do they drive our behavior? Are there more important things to take into consideration? Do they keep us from what is more important?  Is the topic we are discussing a moral topic? Is it a justice issue? Are our fears keeping us from the great adventure?

A ship is safe in the harbor but that is not what ships are built for. - Unknown

To the extent that we know, face and understand our fears will be the extent that we can make sure that they do not always rule our lives. What would our congregations look like if we built upon a foundation of shared values, a sense of

adventure and covenant.

The only thing to fear is fear itself. President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Newsletter

Editor:  Betty Derrick

Website:  Carol Stiles

July 15: Deadline for the August newsletter. 

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The Reverend Kenneth Gordon Hurto, District Executive       

Dear Companions in Faith, June 2007

As with many others, I am a convert to Unitarian Universalism. I recall with joy that day 46 years ago, May 1961, as I read in Look magazine an article describing the merger of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America . “Maybe there is a church for me,” I thought.

My journey into our faith was theological: I could not subscribe to the Trinitarian concept of the divine the Lutheran church had given me. As a young man, ignorant of religious history, little did I realize I was not the first to think God was, well, simply God. That word, “Unitarian,” brought me into our faith.

It was “Universalism” that kept me. The old quarrel with Calvinist’s elitist salvation determinism is obsolete, but the moral question of whether we can all live together in a world of love and justice is as urgent as ever. Whatever else “salvation” may be, love for all, in this life, remains our core teaching. It is ever more relevant.

This month Unitarian Universalists celebrate our 46th anniversary. At the Portland GA , delegates will ask, “What is our purpose today?” It is crucial we get clear about this. What does our core teaching require? As I go around our District, I am struck by our lack of definition and clarity about our ministry. We’re wonderful people. We do good  programs. We celebrate and worship. We care for one another. Yet, many, if not most, cannot put together a simple paragraph that says what we are trying to be and do. As with the UUA, all our groups can and must do a better job of answering why we are here in the first place. What is it we’re trying to do and be?

Immediately, I think we need to lift up the ways we are a religious alternative. The orthodoxies of reactionary, fearbased religion, the unchallenged greed of power politics, war-mongering, and environmental indifference combine to diminish the dignity of countless individuals, belie our shared commonweal, and perpetuate an unjust order partly prosperous and mostly miserable - and most definitely unloving. We Unitarian Universalists have a saving message. Our teaching tells us that we are to create love and justice in our world. That simple. That difficult.

We have much to offer those yearning for a true religious alternative to orthodoxy, secular exploitation, and the

culture of distraction. However, there are at least two things we must do better: First, truly to offer hospitality and companionship to today’s seekers. Many of our groups little notice the mighty gap between their professed words of welcome and their ability to get beyond the surface. Few have any intentional structure or process to help new comers find their way into a congregation beyond greeting them with a smile the first time they come. After that, they’re on their own.

The second thing we need to face is our numbers and the lack of membership growth. Florida is now the 4th largest    U.S. state, with over 16 million people, growing at 1,000/day. Meanwhile, Florida Unitarian Universalists have been on a plateau of 44 congregations with roughly 5,000 members for over 7 years. It is a sign that we’re missing something important. While growth may be complex, were we to get our message clear and actively reach out to all who simply don’t know we exist, the numbers will change. But to do so, you need a plan.

My job is to help our congregation’s leaders think about that. So, call me and I’ll be glad to give you some cost-free, practical ideas. Meanwhile, keep the faith alive. Have a blessed summer. 

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 Reminder – District Email Address is changing: The District office email address is now FloridaDistrictUUA@cfl.rr.com 

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Florida District Social Justice --- the Work Continues Location TBA, July 28, 2007; 10am --- 2pm. Following up on our exciting conversation regarding how we might share the social justice commitment throughout the Florida District, all interested persons are invited to come to Orlando for a strategy and planning session. The questions to be addressed:

• How best to configure the District's Social Justice Council.

• Identifying delivery vehicles for services and programs.

• How to use the area Clusters effectively.

• Identifying priority themes; review of 2007 spring social justice survey.

• Linking congregational efforts with the UUA's Annual Assembly resolutions.

If you'd like to attend, please contact Steve Jens-Rochow or Lea Hall  for further details.  

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2008 IN FORT LAUDERDALE

GA 2007 is just now winding up way over on the west coast in Portland , OR but GA 2008 is only 13 months away and will be just down the road from us!   Between now and September David Fisher, District GA Coordinator, will be interviewing candidates for coordinating each of a variety of task areas, such as Information Services, Volunteers, and Transportation. After September he’ll be contacting Florida leaders in Florida District UUA congregations to talk up volunteering for and attending GA 2008.   Why not mark your calendar now to attend.  It’s a great experience.  You won’t believe so many UUs in one place!

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The Mountain School for Congregational Leadership provides opportunities to explore your own leadership style, gain interpersonal and organizational skills, deepen your spiritual life, and network with people from small, mid-size and large UU congregations. Areas of focus will include: Small group dynamics .. Temperaments and styles .. Organizational development for UU congregations .. Systems thinking .. Size dynamics .. Working with staff .. Conflict management .. UU heritage and values .. Interreligious Relationships .. Worship MSCL is especially helpful for: Leaders in UU congregations and districts (officers, board members, committee chairs) and others with a commitment to leadership and Unitarian Universalism. Send two leaders from your congregation for maximum effect. MSCL is an intensive learning experience demanding your full attention for the week. It offers twenty-four years of excellence in preparing laity for leadership roles in UU congregations; qualified, dedicated faculty; development of support networks to access resources and share ideas; and, of course, The Mountain’s spiritual and nature-centered setting  See The Mountain’s website at www.mountaincenters.org/leadership.html .