This is our annual ‘query the minister’ Sunday when we ask theological and spiritual questions for her. Come prepared to write one down for Kate to ponder. Pulpit Assistant will be Kathy McQuiston.

What does the symbol of the Divine Feminine mean to women and men today? Can it offer balance to the traditional masculine image of Deity? Can it offer a positive religious vision for the future? This service will explore these questions and more.

    I’ve returned from vacation and am still thinking about General Assembly back in June. There is no doubt in my mind that this year’s 44th annual General Assembly in Fort Worth was the best one I’ve ever attended. Thursday night’s opening ceremony which high-lighted Pete Seeger was reason enough to declare the Fort Worth GA my favorite. After all, how cool is singing with Pete Seeger?! Pete (now, I feel we’re on first name basis), bounded onto the stage with more energy than I have on any given day and his stage presence was unbounded. I remember my parents taking me to see him when I was a child, so it was particularly wonderful to see and hear that the years have not daunted this incredible man, who incidentally is a Unitarian Universalist.

    The rest of the musicians that night were also stupendous as well as through the whole weekend. From the concert with Pete and friends on Friday morning to the Service of the Living Tradition on Friday night, which honors professional UU ministers, to the Sunday morning worship service, the music was what carried the whole General Assembly and made our annual gathering truly transforming for me. We also had the chance to sing some of the beautiful hymns from the new hymnal supplement which has 75 hymns based upon the sources of Unitarian Universalism. Our local choir will be singing some of these this year. Many of these hymns are contemporary and written by UUs.

    In addition to lots and lots of singing and music, there was the usual well organized debates on social justice issues. The new Study/Action issue is Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society (our local Social Action committee will be telling you more about this). The Statement of Conscience, dealing with Criminal Justice and Prison Reform, was adopted as it finished its three-year study process. (Look for a sermon on this issue in the next year, as prison reform is my minister’s study group topic this year).

    Each GA also recognizes the city which is hosting our gathering by fund raising for a local social justice organization. This year’s funds, $42,000, went to three relief agencies from the 3,671 people in attendance. Most of the money raised comes from the Sunday morning worship, which is open to the public. People came by the bus load, some driving over four hours, totaling almost 2,800 attendees.

    Even the business meetings and workshops had a feeling of spiritual depth and intentional presence to details, providing me with a deepened connection to UUism. I left Forth Worth feeling optimistic and enthusiastic for Unitarian Universalism as a national religious movement due to the level of spiritual and emotional maturity, and marked by our welcome of nine new UU churches.

    To what can I attribute this? To a healthy balance between spirit and reason, emotion and intellect, and fantastic energy and the quiet presence of the holy.

    Certainly my experience was shaped by the terrific and joyful company of Lee Ann Wester and Josh Searle-White. We not only attended many events together, we celebrated in the streets of Forth Worth with good food, conversation, and a whole lot of laughter!

    If you would like to see some of the sermons, singing, photos, video coverage and social action statements, go to <uua.org/ga/ga05>.

    I would love to see YOU at next year’s General Assembly in St. Louis, MO, June 21-25, 2006!

Cheers, Kate Walker

    I need help from long time members!

    We have a collection of photographs that need organizing and more importantly, identifying! Please join me for an hour or so of reminiscing on Saturday, October 1 at 10 a.m. in the Parish House. I’ll supply the tea and cookies!

Please welcome back Nathan Temple as our custodian. Nathan agreed to return after Sharon Hollabaugh decided to not return from medical leave (foot surgery).

    Do you have family members or friends who just don’t "get" your religion? Have you ever tried to explain your faith to a stranger? Are you ready to see this congregation grow in spiritual depth and in membership?

    Well, in addition to our Small Group Ministry program kicking off later this fall, I’m also offering a five week course exploring how to articulate our Unitarian Universalist faith. Even if you’ve been a UU for decades, this course would be helpful. The focus of this curriculum is on articulation – practicing how and what to say in various settings in which you might be called upon to declare yourself religiously. Or per-haps you can illuminate some angle on this liberal religious movement that has touched and changed so many lives for the better.

    Such moments are precious opportunities to deepen your own path and perhaps grow a happy awareness in someone else about this rich "living tradition." Yet many of us struggle to describe our religion adequately to others. This course provides hopeful inspiration and resources, plus the opportunity for meaningful connection to fellow UUs.

    Wednesdays, September 21, 28, October 5, 12 and 26 (note: skip October 19), in the Parish House, 7 p.m. Child care available with one week’s notice. Please sign up with Venessa or call the church, 724-4023.

    The school year looms ahead! Can you believe it? And our religious education rooms are getting ready to go! In preparation for the new year, I will be highlighting curriculum for the 2005-2006 year in the next few upcoming Oracles.

    In the fall the pathfinders will be using the curriculum Stories About God. The goals of this curriculum are as follows:

• to offer the children a variety of experiences with that which people call God; that is, the ultimate reality, values, and mystery which underlie all the physical, mental and spiritual dimensions of life
• to help the children develop a language with which they can speak of God
• to expose the children with a wide variety of stories about God based on insights: from all of the world religions; from feminist experience; from science; and from the ordinary and extraordinary experiences of life
• to foster the understanding that God can take many forms and is called by many names
• to give the children the opportunity to express their own thoughts and feelings concerning God

    In the spring the pathfinders group will begin a peace and social justice program entitled In Our Hands. The children will explore their own knowledge and feelings about the issues of peace and justice. They will learn about their own feelings and understanding about conflict and unfairness. They will also explore ways of resolving conflict and promo-ting peace and fairness with each other. The year will end with a peace and social action project.

August 28, Sunday: There will be a very important RE COMMITTEE MEETING which will be focusing on preparation for the new year.

September 4, Sunday: This Sunday will be RE REGISTRATION DAY. Registration forms (for students from grades PreK-youth group) will be available at the front desk and at the RE display during coffee hour.

September 10, Saturday: There will be TEACHER TRAINING for all RE teachers from 9:00-2:00 in the Parish House.

September 11, Sunday: This is the FIRST DAY OF RE CLASSES. There will be registration forms still available (for students from grades PreK-youth group) at the front desk and at the RE display during coffee hour.

    Donations collected during the World Breastfeeding Week panel presentation on August 7 totaled $30. The Social Action Committee has contributed an additional $20 from their budget and will send the total, $50, to La Leche League of Venango County, a group recently formed by Susan Carlson in Oil City. This money will enable her to purchase breastfeeding pamphlets and brochures to provide to new mothers, expand the group’s lending library, and cover costs of copying meeting notices.

    La Leche League is a nonprofit, nonsectarian volunteer organization that provides information and encouragement to all mothers who want to breastfeed their babies.

    President Bush has nominated Judge John Roberts to the Supreme Court. The UUA joins other religious and civil rights groups in expressing strong concern over Roberts’ record on women’s issues, separation of religion and state, civil rights and the right to privacy. Senate hearings on his nomination are expected September 6, 2005. Join us in our work to ensure a fair and independent judiciary for generations to come!

    Tell Your Senators that you are concerned over the record of John Roberts and want a thorough investigation and hearing of the nominee.

    Unitarian Universalists are encouraged to call your senators in their state offices over the August congressional recess and let them know that you are very concerned over the record of John Roberts and want them to ensure a complete and thorough investigation and hearing next month.

• There is no one religious view on the future of the court.

• We stand for civil rights and justice for all people.

• We want our questions answered by Judge Roberts and the Bush administration.

• We want respectful discourse and no misuse of religion in this debate.

• We want fair judges and an independent court.

    Visit <www.senate.gov> to look up your Senators’ home office numbers or to contact their Washington office, simply call the Capitol Switch-board at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senators by name. You can also write to your Senators quickly and easily using our "postcards for politicians" in the church library. Even if you think that your Senator is decided on the issue, THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU! Word here is that constituent visits, calls, emails, faxes and letters are making all the difference.

Visit <AskJudgeRoberts.com> to submit your own question of the nominee. All questions will be sent to Judiciary Committee staff. This site offers a great chance for you to directly engage in the nominations process.

Make a sign, take a picture, and then post it at <noextremesupremes.org> . This site allows individuals or congregations to post their own visual message to the Senate, to the Court, to Roberts, to the Nation!

    The Membership Committee is in need of Greeters for the months of September, October, November and December. If you haven’t been a Greeter this year and can help out, please see Carolyn Chase.

    The Membership Committee is seeking new members. If you would like to join us, we can use your assistance. Please see Carolyn Chase.

    Ed Nelson has been sporting a magnetic nametag. If you are bothered by the holes made by the pin nametags, or by the fact that your clip-on appears sideways, check his out. They can be ordered at Staples – various styles and colors. The person I talked to says they cost from $8-$12, depending on your choice. Membership will continue to order the traditional tags at $5, but if you are interested in a magnet one, go to Staples and order one there.

    It takes more than the Membership Committee to welcome new-comers and visitors. When was the last time you made a special effort to speak to a visitor? Please don’t depend on the membership committee to do it all. Sometimes most of our committee isn’t even at coffee hour. Or, perhaps, we are visiting with a friend that we haven’t seen for a week, or talking to someone about church business. Making visitors and newcomers feel welcome is a congregational responsibility. Please ... do your part. Don’t be afraid to say:

1. 1. Have we met before?

2. 2. What are your interests?

3. 3. What brought you here today?

    Let’s make our visitors feel welcome.

    I can remember when cars went 35 miles an hour, soap operas lasted 15 minutes and with ten cents, you could buy a big bag of assorted penny candies from the curved glass-fronted counter in the general store. The closest thing to a fast food restaurant was the Waldort Cafeteria chain, where, for 50 cents, you could get a vegetable plate and sit next to the window to watch the people come and go. You could stay for hours and no one would glare at you, or ask you to leave because they needed the tables. Ice cream came in vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and, if you lived in New England, coffee. Baby dolls said "Mama" and wet their diapers, but they didn’t come with elaborate props or wardrobes. Stuffed animals didn’t dance, sing carols or teach arithmetic – they were just soft and huggable.

    Bathing suits covered neck to mid-thigh, and women wore hats and gloves whenever they appeared in public. Everyone wore their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes to church. Freshly washed clothes snapped in the wind on the clothes line. Children’s underwear consisted of baggy bloomers to just above the knee, t-shirt type under vests, and garter belts to hold up the long cotton stockings.

    My father took me to Jordan Marsh one day to see a new invention. If you walked by a camera, you could see yourself on what looked like a large radio with a glass screen. It was several years before I saw an actual TV program (Margaret O’Brien in The Little Ballerina).

    When the war came, I stood in line with my mother to get cigarettes and sugar, and saved cooking grease in coffee cans to turn in for the war effort. I was allowed to keep the four cents we got paid for a pound of grease. We pealed the tinfoil off the waxed paper that surrounded the sticks of gum and rolled it into balls, the bigger the better. The large balls were added to the flattened tin cans that would be turned into military supplies. After the war, my best friend had a 1935 Model A Ford with a rumble seat, and for 25 cents, she would fill the tank and head off to a drive-in movie – two features, a newsreel and selected short subjects.

    I’m sure when people look back on these years from a distance of fifty years, there will be memories of this kind too – amazing new inventions, strange clothes, one hour soap operas, low prices, toys that do everything but drive real cars – and will treasure them as much as I treasure my memories of the ‘30s and ‘40s.

Bumper stickers are now avail-able 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.

    Next deadline for submitting items for the newsletter is Friday, September 4, 2005, at 4:30 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. It would be helpful, when you email material, to write "oracle" in the subject line (helps distinguish from spam and non-Oracle items). Thank you.