The Oracle

October 18, 2004

Reinventing God

The word is out that there is a new God being developed by God and Company Inc. Their marketing campaign is currently being tested in Europe to wide spread audiences in all denominations. Thus far the reaction in Europe has been favorable by lay-members, however church leaders are resisting the newer version of God. God and Company Inc. may next be targeting North America, depending how things go in Europe.

The Choir will be singing.

² ² ²

Being Scared

Happy Halloween! Come in costume for this family service of music and stories. We’ll be asking ourselves "Why do we sometimes like to be scared?"

    With every political pundit on television and in newspapers saying the country is politically polarized, we might as well be. Oh sure, there are a few hold outs who claim that America isn’t really as divided as the media is portraying it to be. But the perception is there whether it’s accurate or not.

    I’ve asked a couple of our senior members, who have seen a few elections, what they think. They’re all in agreement that the country is not only polarized, but emotions are running quite high as well.

    The issues dividing us seem to be based upon values. It appears America is having a loud argument about what is most important and worth while in our lives: jobs, war/peace, health insurance, privacy, and that obscure term: terrorism. Each of these speaks to me about safety. America isn’t feeling safe right now.

    This is a deeply personal feeling addressed in a wide variety of ways, but certainly the government is one of the key ingredients to feeling safe. So why not gather as a country and say "We’re not feeling safe, and this is what you (the government) should do about it"?

    The problem then becomes we don’t agree on how to create safety. War, no war; raise taxes, don’t raise taxes; national health care, privatized health care; privacy and civil rights, Patriot Act. And on we go in a great national debate.

    From my perspective, and this really gets me excited, is to see how many people are taking such a great interest in politics! It seems apathy is not our key problem these days, and that’s one thing we can agree upon.

    Since the new privacy laws were put into place a couple years ago, the hospital can no longer tell me who is a patient. I can't call and ask about Unitarian Universalists who are currently hospitalized, nor can I ask specifically if so and so is a patient.

    The only way I find out is if the patient or a family member personally calls me, OR when the patient is admitted to the hospital, the patient specifically grants permission to the hospital to call me. During admission, staff should be asking if the patient wants their minister called ... then and only then can the hospital call me to notify me of an admission. However, please be aware, that while the hospital has called me, sometimes it is after the patient has already been discharged. This would happen if the patient is admitted on a Friday or weekend, because the hospital doesn't call clergy until Monday.

    So, please call me directly as soon as possible if you're admitted to the hospital if you would like me to visit, or just want me to know, because I definitely want to know!

    Our new evening adult discussion format, called SALON after similar meetings of the Transcendentalists of the 19th century, will begin at 7 PM on Tuesday, October 26th. Topics and leadership for SALON will vary throughout the fall and winter, as interest dictates. The first two evenings (Oct. 26 and Nov. 9), facilitated by Alison Wohler, will be devoted to readings, discussions and activities around the area of diversity. Within the safe, caring, and respectful environment of our religious community we will examine and challenge some of our "isms" – ableism, racism, ageism, and classism to name a few. As our Association suggests, "To attract, affirm, and serve a diverse membership requires that we as individuals, as congregations, and as the Unitarian Universalist Association become fiercely intentional in our efforts to become truly diverse."

    Copies of advance reading material are available in the church office along with a sign up sheet. If you will have child care needs we will need one week's notice to make arrangements. For questions call Kate Walker at 724-4023.

Religious Education at Home

    Preparing the Soil. With each push of the shovel I felt as if I was putting the earth to sleep. The sweat gathered around my arm pits and trickled down my back. Again, I plunged my shovel into the garden, pulled up the weeds, tossed them in the bucket, and turned the large chunk of clean soil upside down. The rhythm of my work lulled me. I harbored no thoughts, just my senses remained alive. I felt the light breeze turning around and around me. I heard the flutter and rustle of the trees and the occasional distant knock of a woodpecker. My peripheral vision was filled with the golden yellows and the rusty oranges of the season. I breathed deeply and smelled the moist fresh dirt below me. At that moment my body became one with the earth. I was no longer a separate entity but a continuation of the nature around me. This moment of oneness was brief but the memory remains with me.

    Gardening and life hold such a connection for me. As Clarissa Pinkola Estes in her book Women Who Run With the Wolves writes, "The garden is a concrete connection to life and death. You could even say there is a religion of garden, for it teaches profound psycho-logical and spiritual lessons. Whatever can happen to a garden can happen to a soul and psyche – too much water, too little water, bugs, heat, storm, flood, invasion, miracles, dying back, coming back, boon, healing." Every time I work in the soil I feel this connection. Gardening is my prayer.

    Last week I was pulling weeds from another flower bed. Each time I pulled up a plant I began to ex-amine the intricacy of the root fibers. No wonder weeds return again and again. Their root systems amazed me! I began forming comparisons between these root systems and my own life. I felt my own need to form an intricate foundation similar to the roots. This foundation would help me to grow up and away from the earth. I was still contemplating this idea when I picked up Henry David Thoreau's Walden several days later. I began reading the following passage, "The soil, it appears, is suited to the seed, for it has sent its radical downward, and it may now send it shooting upward also with confidence. Why has man rooted himself thus firmly in the earth, but that he may rise in the same proportion in to the heaven's above?" So my thoughts had been in alignment with the thoughts of Henry David Thoreau so many years ago! Again, the feeling of oneness consumed me.

    As I loosen and turn the soil to sleep for the winter I continue to think about gardening and life. Now begins the season to develop our roots. For me this means to cuddle up inside with family. I want to touch their faces, lie in their arms, and breathe in their scent. I want to immerse myself into books and build my knowledge. I want to stay up late by the fire and write and write and write. And when spring arrives may I be ready to shoot into the heavens!

Religious Education at Church

    There have been a lot of new families with young children visiting our church lately. Some-times leaving a very young child for even an hour can be somewhat worrisome especially in a new environment. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our nursery staff and review our nursery procedures to help make this transition easier.

Donnelle Jageman

Safety is our number one priority in the nursery. In order to keep everyone safe and happy please review the following guidelines:

    Dave Anderson, President, called the meeting to order at 7:05. Present were Dave Anderson, Emmy Boughton, Ginny Crowe, Wynette Kommer, Mike McGrath, Lisbet Searle-White, Jim Snyder, Margaret Stewart, Mike Thomson, and Kate Walker. Absent were Carolyn Chase, Jean Jones, and Lenny Nichols. After check-in, Dave read a selection by Albert Schweitzer, and lit the chalice. The minutes of 9-13-04 were approved.

Minister’s Report.

    Kate led three services; met with Beth Etters and choir director Jon Abrams regarding Christmas Eve program and placement of choir. Held 21 pastoral visits/conversations; hosted a Chinese Tea party (auction item); led a pastoral lay group. Met with Worship Committee Sept. 14 and Oct. 5; cleared Arthur room of final debris; met with Jim Snyder, Dave Anderson, and Mike McGrath. Planning a salon-style adult education discussion group starting Oct. 26 with Alison Wohler; new member introduction class starting October 31 for three weeks. Continuing tasks of Meadville Ministerium, Women’s Services Board, and Drug and Alcohol Commission. Attended ministers’ chapter retreat of Ohio-Meadville District. Attended a daylong workshop on grief in Erie; attending a UU ministers’ study group Oct. 18-21 in Dayton. Officiated at a wedding, another is scheduled, and a child dedication during worship. Will attend a friend’s wedding in Boulder, CO, Oct. 14-17.

    In addition, Kate told us that her husband will be the new Executive Director of the French Creek Project, Nov. 15. Under their health plan, Mark is covered, but family coverage costs extra, probably around $4000, (Mark doesn't have the final cost yet). Under Kate's Letter of Agreement, the church is obligated to pay for her and her family's health coverage. We will need to consider adjustments in Kate's compensation. Dave asked how our new janitor, Sharon Hollabaugh, is doing. Answer: Well. This led to a general conversation about compensation issues. Kate would like to see a process for evaluating the minister in connection to goals for the church. UUA guidelines are available for compensation for church staff. Mike had asked Kate for a job description and Kate distributed a draft that Amelia Carr had helped her with. She also distributed the Ministerial Agreement drawn up when she was called to the church in September 1998.

    Kate would like to have a discussion regarding her time at Forked Lake some time soon. Since her sabbatical, she feels our church is in a transitional stage, and this is a good time to get evaluations in place.

    In the Agenda for this meeting, Dave had listed the newly appointed members of the Ministerial Evaluation Committee: John Brautigam, Mark Cosdon, Ginny Crowe, David Gallogly, Rebecca Hecking, Cindy Snyder, and Margaret Stewart. This committee will be concerned with these issues.

Treasurer’s Report.

    Mike Thomson distributed the September income statement and budget report. We are on target for income and outgo. We are still re-ceiving very low water bills, perhaps due to successful plumbing. Lisbet said a meeting about utility expenses of churches will be held Oct. 31. Dave is going; Mike T. may also.

New Business.

    Emmy Boughton reported that Amy Miller, Vera Lee Luvaas’ daughter, requested a plaque in remembrance of her mother’s devotion to this church. The Board approved affixing a plaque at the end of the pew she used.

    Wynette said some church members would greatly appreciate handicap parking spots close to the church. Dave will ask Venessa to call the city Parking Authority and see whether this is possible. Dave will also check with Kate to see whether the bank will permit parking in its slots adjoining our back lot on Sun-day mornings.

    Following Brad Wilson’s resignation as Chair of the Finance Committee, Jerry Almes volunteered to step in. Jerry is to be nominated for the Finance Committee Chair at the Annual Meeting.

    The Nominating Committee is working on the slate to be presented at the Annual Meeting.

    For the Pledge Drive, 65 cards have been returned, for a total of $71,529. Fifteen cards are still awaited, and time is growing short. Every effort is needed to complete the Pledge Drive in the next couple of weeks.

    Jim Snyder is pleased with the Capital Campaign. Although it doesn’t begin officially until January, $77,000 has been received with only 17 pledging units.

    Mike Thomson sent off the final grant report regarding rehabilitation of our building. Now we will be able to collect the last grant money and return it to the Endowment Fund.

    Dave announced that the New Board/Old Board will meet December 10 at the Anderson home at 7:00 pm. The Annual Meeting is December 5.

Worship Committee.

    We have begun in-depth discussions of what the congregation values in our worship services. Recognizing that this discussion ought to be held on a church-wide basis, we discussed with Kate the possibility of creating a service that would allow the congregation to voice what we want to experience in a worship service – what fills us. Margaret wondered whether members leaving the Board would like to share in a service about what their membership on the Board meant to them.

Membership Committee.

    Greeting duty is not working out. A Greeter guide sheet for the volunteers is needed. "Welcome Visitor" cards are being used. Having the name tags at the vestibule of the church seems to be working. The first of seven UU ads was in the Religious box of the Tribune. The remaining six ads dealing with our principles will go in every other week, alternating with an RE ad about our church. Bruce Thaeler will take pictures of new members; Jill Hyatt volunteered to do bios on them.

    Margaret Stewart, Worship chair, asked that the names of deceased members whose remains are interred in our Memorial Garden be recorded in our church Membership Book. Peg Anderhalt will do. We need more people power on our committee. Non-members who wish to receive the Oracle will be asked for a $20 donation.

    Mike McGrath, Chair, Dave, Jim, and Kate met to air issues. Kate also attended a Congregational Committee meeting a week ago. It was decided that members would talk to people with concerns be-cause concerns matter. Mike wishes people would be more forthcoming. For instance, one cannot fault Kate for not visiting a hospitalized church member if she was never notified that the member was in the hospital. Perhaps a notice in the Oracle or the Parish House Times is needed that hospitals do not automatically notify ministers when their parishioners are hospitalized; the patient or a friend or family member must do so.

Budget.

    Mike distributed Budget Planning Worksheets and walked us through the various items making up the 2005 budget. The proposed spending adds up to about $3,000 more than the projected income. When the pledge drive is over, we will have a better estimate of income. We reviewed the fiscal aspects of Kate’s Ministerial Agreement so that we have a better idea of her benefits. At our next meeting in November, we will fine-tune the figures and make cuts, if necessary. The Board will then approve the budget to be submitted to the congregation at the Annual Meeting in December.

Meeting adjourned.

    On September 25 I met with the Ministerial Fellowship Committee of the UUA in Boston and received unconditional approval to move into the search process as a minister in preliminary fellowship with our Association. I couldn’t be happier! Now I am writing essays about my philosophy of ministry and preparing a packet of information about myself to send out to congregations around the country that are looking for a minister. It is an exciting process that will take the better part of the next year, culminating, hopefully, in a call to a church next spring.

    In the meantime I will continue to participate in the life and worship of this, my sponsoring, congregation. I will forever be indebted to you all for your sustaining support throughout the years I have been studying and in training for our ministry. It was the fall of 1999 when I first left for the Boston located Andover Newton Theological School from which I received my Master of Divinity degree this past May.

    I hope you will look forward, with me, to my Ordination ceremony which will be HERE, in our sanctuary, and is being planned for sometime in the spring. I'll let you know more about the details, and the celebration that will follow, soon.

    You are all great! I love you dearly,

    Bumper stickers are now available in the church office proclaiming our liberal UU faith! These attractive blue bumper stickers have the UUA’s website and our chalice symbol, along with snappy statements about our faith:

• "The Uncommon Denomination"

• "Different People. Different Beliefs. One Faith"

• "Searching for a Liberal Religious Home?"

• "A Different Trinity: Respect. Freedom. Justice"

• "Room for Different Beliefs. Yours".

    Available for $1. See Venessa in the office.

    Patrons at the Soup Kitchen were served tuna noodle casserole, fresh fruit salad, milk and lemonade, bread and butter and a wide variety of desserts on Friday October 8. Eighty some people were served – with plenty of seconds. Our loyal UUs helped with serving and clean up and managed to have some laughs as we did! We had the help of some of the Allegheny College youth which made our job easier.

    Next date will be Nov. 12th at 10 a.m. at Stone UM Church. Call Stewarts at 425-3397 for info – Volunteers needed and welcome!

A note from a newbie:

    This was my first time at the soup kitchen, something I’ve wanted to do but always had to work. That day I was on vacation, so had my chance. It really was a lot of fun; Margaret isn’t kidding when she says so! And, it’s easy work – and the time goes faster than you would think. Beverly Nutter has things so well organized that it goes off without a hitch (or did that day!). I will definitely be there when work permits, and I encourage everyone who can to do the same. Also, hats off to Bev, who runs this enterprise every work day – not just the one day a month that our church contributes.

    UUSC is accepting donations to aid hurricane victims in Haiti.

    Floods and winds from the latest hurricane, Jeanne, have so far taken the lives of more than 1,000 people in Haiti. Another 1,000 are missing and are presumed dead. The flooding has wreaked havoc, leaving more than 250,000 people homeless. The island of Hispaniola, consisting of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, has already suffered devastation from floods in May of this year that killed 2,000 people and displaced several thousand.

    We are deeply distressed at the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Jeanne. Although UUSC is not currently working in Haiti, we are accepting donations to be used for humanitarian aid.

    If you wish to contribute to the relief effort in Haiti, please make your check payable to the Haiti Relief Fund and mail to: Haiti Relief Fund, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, P.O. Box 845259, Boston, MA 02284-5259, Or to donate online, visit uusc.org/programs/support_Haiti.

    UUSC will channel donations through the Lambi Fund of Haiti, an organization already operating in Haiti on programs of social and economic empowerment. In response to the hurricane damage, the organization is working with grassroots communities directly in the affected area around the city of Gonaives for emergency relief. This choice reflects UUSC’s confidence that donations will benefit hard-to-reach communities and be administered by those who have demonstrated a commitment to and are working with the country's poorest. The choice also reflects UUSC’s past programs of working with the poor in Haiti.

    The Lambi Fund is actively involved in providing for immediate needs such as medicine, food, potable water, tents and blankets, and for building materials to help families start the rebuilding process for the thousands of homes that have been destroyed or damaged by the hurricane. They are also equally committed to supporting the democratic movement in Haiti.

    I have a Smith Corona Word Processor in excellent condition to give away. It makes a good electric typewriter, with lots of extra tricks. A comprehensive user’s manual is included. Will deliver. Call Wynette Kommer at 336-5014.

    Do you live in Crawford County in a house built before 1978? Do you have a child or children under the age of 5 living at home? Would you like to have a free home test for lead? If interested, contact Suzanne Young or Katie Klingensmith at 814-332-2715. (Conducted by Department of Environmental Science at Allegheny College)

    Next deadline for submitting items for the newsletter is Friday, October 29, 2004, at 3:30 p.m. You may email your articles to: <mthaeler@zoominternet.net>; or leave items in the folder on Venessa’s desk in the parish house.

Thank you!