Our mission is to offer a welcoming and safe community that reaches out to and receives spiritual seekers. We provide a voice for religious diversity and encourage personal transformation as we strive toward a better world.

    Our covenant is to be a loving, joyful community that nurtures spiritual growth and promotes compassion, social responsibility, and service in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

"The Religious Journey, Continues with Friends"

    No nation in the world incarcerates a higher percentage of its people than the United States. So common is the prison experience in America that the federal government predicts that one of every eleven men will be imprisoned in his lifetime. Are things out of hand? Has our prison system become a self-perpetuating industrial complex with little public awareness? Should we be incarcerating drug addicts? Lisbet Searle-White is the pulpit assistant.

    Another thoughtful church member, Betty Richmond, handed me a sermon to read. The sermon was written by Will Moredock and presented to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Myrtle Beach. Moredock is concerned about a fundamentalist Christian group called "Christian Exodus", and the group’s publicly stated goal of taking over the state of South Carolina and turning it into a Christian based state.

    If the citizens of South Carolina are not willing to abide with their laws then the group will simply transform the state of South Carolina into an independent Christian republic. As Moredock says, "Secession was a bad idea the first time and doesn’t sound any better today." The group’s philosophy closely resembles fascism, as they would do away with not only legal abortion, gay and lesbian rights, but public education, and virtually all levels of government regulation of business and industry, such as environmental regulations, construction codes, employee protection rights, etc.

    My reaction to the sermon was mixed. On one hand I’ve read enough history to know that groups like this come up regularly. It seems to be the nature of humanity to produce some extreme group that wants control over everyone else. It is the ultimate form of safety and protection for a group to maintain boundaries through rigid laws and guns. With this perspective, it is hard to take this group too seriously. On the other hand, Hitler was a fascist. What would have happened if more had taken him seriously sooner?

    Moredock’s suggestion to his readers/listeners, is to look for the commonality between this extreme fundamentalist group and Unitarian Universalists. He admits this may be a stretch, but he makes his case based on our common history.

    Moredock’s suggestion to focus on the commonality is really quite nice and offers a potential path toward peace and tranquility with our brethren. It is a path long tread by humanity in search of the end of aggression and conflict. It is a nice idea whose time has come many times, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And that’s the rub. How do we decide when finding the place of commonality only buys more time for the aggressor? There were thousands who struggled with this issue during W.W.II, and we know the results of their efforts.

    We have in our hearts, the same hearts that harbor aggression, a desire for peace and tranquility. Many of us resist aggression, preferring passivism. But if some group has the power and the means to take over your home, will you search for a place of commonality in an effort to achieve peace? Or will you take a preemptive defensive stand? No easy answers here folks. Just some thoughts to raise our awareness. I will add that patience is not always a virtue, sometimes impatience inspires us to right action.

    RUAUU classes with Rev. Kate Walker will be held on Sunday, March 12 and April 23 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Parish House. Please sign-up in the Parish House.

    I started attending this church 8 years ago and, to be honest with you, it wasn’t easy.

    The problem was not in the philosophies of Unitarian Universalism. I knew I wanted a church where I could ask any questions, seek my own answers, acknowledge my own experiences, and develop my own theology. I had been trying to do just that even before I found this church. However, once I began attending here, I struggled to connect with others.

    For me, one of the difficulties was that UUs do not believe in any one creed or dogma. Of course, I knew about and agreed with the UU principles, but, as you know, they are very broad and all inclusive. It was ironic that the very thing that I was seeking (a community of diversity) became an obstacle. Each Sunday, as I sat in the pew of this Unitarian Universalist church, I felt this theological distance. Who was this person sitting beside me? What did they believe? How could we connect? At times, I felt so alone, that I would occasionally go back to the Catholic church. Here I felt a connection of belief. I knew what the person sitting beside me believed even though I, myself, did not always believe in the same things. For months, these visits brought me comfort and made me feel safe. However, I began to realize that finding comfort and security wasn’t enough. The traditions and masses of the Catholic church did not feed me spiritually. I wasn’t growing, and I knew I couldn’t stay. Yet, I still could not find connections here at this church. I am not from the Meadville area so I was distant (literally) from the church. Coffee hours were awkward. I really didn’t know anyone, and there was never an opportunity to really talk. Committee meetings didn’t appeal to me. For awhile, I dropped out of the church entirely.

    And then, as we all do at some point in our lives, I experienced a personal crisis. I was lost, spiritually and emotionally, and one morning I made a phone call. I called Kate and asked for help. She invited me in, and we talked. I found out about the writer’s group, and one evening I decided to give it a try. I’ll never forget that night, and the writer’s group probably has no idea what they did for me that evening. I was still very emotional and feeling pretty low. I was literally on the verge of tears and desperate to find connection. I remember walking into the library in the Parish House and finding several church members gathered around a chalice. They all smiled and welcomed me in. Carolyn Chase read some beautiful opening words, and then we went around the circle and checked in. As each person shared their joys and concerns I began to feel an energy come around us. It’s hard to describe even now. It was almost like gentle arms encircling us, holding us together. I felt safe, secure, comforted, yet I was ready to grow, to be challenged by this group of Unitarian Universalists. During the following months I met regularly with this group. We talked about our highs and lows. We shared our writings and gave each other support. Coffee hours were not awkward anymore, and members from our group would introduce me to others in the church. I had finally found connection. I had come home.

    As Kate and I work together to begin small group ministry, I find myself reflecting more and more about my experience. I wonder about those years when I felt lost trying to find connection in my occasional visits to the Catholic church. What if we had had small group ministry at this church then? Yes, I know, it is not always a good thing to ask "what if", but I can’t help but think about other people right now who may be struggling to connect with other Unitarian Universalists. Many of us come from other churches, and we are new to theological diversity. You may be asking those questions that I had asked: Who is this person beside me? What do they believe? How can we connect? You may be experiencing pain or loss right now and searching for connection. I know firsthand the power of a small group. They took me in, lifted me up, and helped me grow. As I look at the people around me each Sunday, I no longer feel that struggle to connect. Instead, I see friends I love and care about, and I remember an evening many years ago when I walked into our library and found a small group of people gathered around a chalice.

    There will be no regular RE classes this Sunday, March 26. However, there will be a large group activity for the younger children during the entire service in the Arthur room. They will be making their passports to send to our sister church. They are encouraged to bring photographs of family members, friends, pets, etc. to include in their passports.

    The Coming of Age class will be visiting the Greek Orthodox Church in Erie this Saturday, March 25. We will meet in the Parish House at 8:30 a.m. Following the visit everyone is invited to eat at a nearby Greek restaurant. If you would like to accompany the class on this trip, and you did not sign up on the sheet in the Parish House, please contact me.

    Jon grew up in Lowell, MA (about 30 minutes north of Boston). He started taking piano lessons at age 6 and continued until he entered high school at Lawrence Academy in Groton, MA. It was at Lawrence that Jon’s musicianship began to flourish. He began listening to the music of Billy Joel and he has been singing and playing ever since. He released his first solo album in 2001 entitled More to Me than Me.

    Jon has been playing professionally in and around Boston for a few years and plans to record his follow-up album in the summer of 2006, along with maintaining his full touring schedule.

    Jon’s newest project, due to begin performing in and around Boston this summer, is a Billy Joel tribute band called "The Strangers". This is a 6-man group, featuring Jon in the role of Billy Joel. In preparation for this project, Jon will present an entire evening of Billy Joel’s music, featuring his most famous hits, along with a handful of obscure gems. Jon will play this show solo, using only a piano and his voice. Jon is known throughout New England for sounding as close to Billy Joel in person as the real thing. Check out the Strangers’ website at <www.strangerstribute.com>.

    "It's as if I traveled back in time to see Billy Joel at 22 in prime voice with the same sharp skill at the keyboard." – concert goer

    "Breathtaking. As convincing as the real thing, if not more so." – concert goer

    Doors will open at 7:00, and the show will start at 7:30 and run for about an hour. There will be a dessert reception to follow in the parish house.

    It’s time to order flowering plants for the Easter service. Plants will be $15 each and may be designated in honor or in memory of special people or ideas in your life. After the service on Easter, you are asked to bring the plants home. Please sign up in the Parish House by April 9, indicating the kind of plant you want and who it is honoring or memorializing. Money may be given to Venessa or Mary Larson. Thank you.

{See Donor Form enclosed in this week’s Oracle.}

    April 29 will be a night full of fun, fellowship, and fundraising. There will be both a silent auction and a live auction of fabulous goods and services donated by members and friends. We need you to help make our Auction 2006 a success. Our Spring Auction alternates with the All Church Bazaar as the major fundraiser for our church operating budget. Not only is it fun to sell your goods or services, but you can enjoy your purchases over the next year, whether it be entertainment, a pot of soup, or a trip to the theatre.

    The Silent Auction will begin at 5:30 p.m. You may register upon arrival and receive your bid number. Admission is $5 per person. Couples who choose to have only one bid number are still asked to contribute $5 each. This is an adult evening and no child care is offered. After registering, enjoy the hor d’oeuvres and beverages while bidding on silent auction offerings. Arrive early to have time to stake out your claims. The Silent Auction will close promptly at 7:00 p.m. before the Live Auction begins.

    Our auctioneer is Dave Nicolls. We will allow proxy bidding. A form will accompany the auction catalogue in the April 17th Oracle. You will receive an extra catalogue to give away to a friend and more catalogues will be available at the church. Questions??? Call Cynthia Burton.

    What do you have, or what service can you provide, that you would like to donate for the goods and services auction? We need a nice mix of items that will sell from $5 to whatever. Quality items under $20 are always in high demand for the silent auction.

                    - Fine furniture, art and high quality craft items are popular.

    Please fill out the enclosed form, or email you donation to:<cburton@allegheny.edu> or visit the church’s website <www.uumeadville.org/> and fill out the online donor form.

    Make haste! All entries received by Monday April 10 will be in the catalogue. We will, of course, accept donations after that date. They will be published in a supplement available the night of the Auction.

    During the March meeting of the Church Board, Kate told the Board about a program called "Giving the Plate Away" that is being practiced at a variety of Unitarian Universalist Churches around the country. It involves the Church donating that portion of the weekly collection that does not consist of pledge payments to a local charity. Based on the examples given, this program has been extremely successful in raising significant sums for worthwhile causes.

    Because the Board is very interested in being good neighbors and extending our outreach into the community, we discussed this program at length during the meeting. While the Board was very excited about the possibilities that this program raised for doing good in our community, there were some serious fiscal concerns raised as well. Because our non-pledge donations are counted on for providing about 5% of our overall budget, there was worry that this would cause a budgetary shortfall. This concern was alleviated somewhat by the fact that the churches that have done this have found that their non-pledge donations have gone up significantly because of the congregation’s support of this worthwhile charitable outreach.

    Taking our fiscal concerns and our charitable desires into account, the Board has proposed that we experiment with this program in the following way. We would like to begin by donating one half of our non-pledge donations each month to a local charity. A different charity would be identified and announced to the congregation at the beginning of each month. If the experience of other congregations is followed then we expect that our non-pledge donations will increase, and we will be able to maintain fiscal responsibility while helping our community.

    The Board members would greatly appreciate your comments about this plan as well as suggestions for worthwhile charities. We are especially interested in local charities that are less visible than the usual suspects but which badly need our support.

Worship Committee: Monday, April 3, 7 p.m.

Fellowship Committee: Tuesday, April 4, 6 p.m.

Board Meeting: Monday, April 10, 6:30 p.m.

Membership Committee: Tuesday, April 11, 7 p.m.

Social Action Committee: Wednesday, April 12, 8 a.m.

Meetings will take place in the parish house. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend any or all meetings.

    The Membership Committee is seeking volunteers to be Sunday Greeters. This involves one half-hour during a month of Sundays. We like greeters to commit to a month because it gives some continuity, especially if there are returning visitors. It is important that we all are welcomed, and in the doing, you will become acquainted with newcomers, and shake the hands of friends! If you sign on, you will get a volunteer description so that you know what is expected of you.

    There is a sign-up sheet on the Parish House desk, or you can call Carolyn Chase.

    Attention Attention!! The case of the missing hymnals is baffling the worship committee. So many of our pews are sadly short of hymnals! Have they grown legs and walked away on their own??? Were they kidnapped in the wee hours by little UU gremlins?? We’ve not yet seen a ransom note. Perhaps borrowed by a choir of church mice?? Perhaps they are secretly in use by a fundamentalist congregation who "borrowed" them? Perhaps they have appeared in a parallel universe due to quantum tunneling?? The mind simply boggles!!!

    If you have any clue as to the whereabouts of any of our missing hymnals, please come forward!! Simply return them to their places in the sanctuary, or give them to a worship committee member, no questions asked. Seriously folks, hymnals are not cheap, and if you have any, please return them ASAP. Thanks so much.

    As many of you know, the worship committee has been tackling the problem of the sound quality and volume of Sunday services. A few weeks ago, we experimented with a new microphone. We got some feedback (no pun intended), and the verdict was that although the sound quality improved, the volume did not. We decided not to purchase it since it was quite expensive and did not address the volume issue as well. At the moment, we are looking into a system of small (again, I repeat, SMALL) speakers to be placed throughout the sanctuary. We are balancing three issues in our quest: 1) improving the sound/volume for the hard of hearing so that everyone can hear regardless of where they sit, 2) doing this at a reasonable cost (we are well aware that whatever funds we have ultimately come from all of you, and we wish to be wise stewards), and 3) maintaining the beauty of our worship space. We appreciate your patience as we try to find the best solution, and we welcome your thoughts and feedback.

7 UUs got together on March 10 for Soup Kitchen. 59 people were served hot dogs and baked beans with fruit and dessert. Our helpers were:

• Cheryl Burkey (accompanied by Elaine)
• Dorothy Gross
• Mary Spicer
• Margaret Stewart
• Ray Stewart
• Bob Templeton
• Carolyn Chase

Next date to serve will be May 12 (No Soup Kitchen on Good Friday in April). Stone UM Church at 10 a.m. is where it happens. Volunteers are always appreciated and welcomed.

    The poets all extol the beauties of April – "Oh, to be in England now that April’s here", "April with its soft showers", etc. March, unlike April comes in like a lion, and often goes out like one, too, having dropped a few warm days into the mid-month scenery, just to keep us off guard.

    In fact, March is a lot like life. In the midst of the down times, will come a time of pure delight, and delight is often tempered by a spiritual winter. Just as the first daffodils are ready to bloom, they are covered by a fresh snowfall and our spirits plunge again. "Next week," we say, or "spring is only a few days away." And yet we know it’s not over yet. One day will be sunny and 60, the next 20 and bitter.

    I remember slushing down the streets of Boston on an early March day and encountering a blaze of color at the next corner – the return of the Copley Square flower vendor. I would always buy a bunch of the brightest to grace my apartment window with the hope that they would block out the sight of the snow piled on the sill. In the courtyards on Beacon Hill, pigeons huddled together in corners against the wind, but forgot the cold when a pocketful of peanuts walked by. They knew that handouts were always available, and a spot of sunlight out of the wind would provide a temporary spring.

    Always, when it’s coldest and darkest, there are pleasanter days to hope for, but as we look forward, we have also learned not to be fooled by March tricks. I remember when Val was ill and could no longer work, and money was scarce, I won $10,000 on a scratch off lottery ticket, and my aunt’s estate left me enough to pay cash for my current house. Now we no longer had to pay rent or a mortgage, and we were able to upgrade Val’s computer so she could continue to design websites at home. One day we were wondering about our next meal, the next we were living in unexpected comfort. Like March, an unexpected spring gave relief from our winter. The last time I went to Syracuse, my car broke down just south of Rochester, and I rode back to Meadville with the car on the back of a series of tow trucks. Surprisingly, it was an enjoyable trip. Drivers shared donuts and conversation that made me almost sad to say goodbye when the trip was over.

    As you read this, April is less than two weeks away, the flowers are beginning to bloom and the temperatures will mostly be above the 40 mark. March tricks will soon be over, snow will be replaced by warmer rain, and the world will turn green and gold. As much as I would like March to go away, sometimes there’s a bit of humor involved in the process of looking out the window at dawn to see that Lady March has up her sleeve today.

If i Meditate more deeply, will i earn in this lifetime Liberation, Freedom from Reincarnation, ‘Salvation’?

Theme: Come and Find the Quiet Center

Location: Stone UMC

Time: 12 - 1 p.m. each Wednesday in Lent

• March 15: Gretchen Kerr – A Quiet Noise

• March 22: Chris Kosin, OSB – A Quiet Action

• March 29: Karen and Travis Weber – A Quiet Voice

• April 5: Mind-Body Wellness Center – A Quiet Body

    GLENDA Northwest is a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Allies organization that has recently formed in Oil City. A number of church members are involved in it. This organization is affiliated with Pittsburgh GLENDA, and its mission is to promote acceptance and understanding of gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the larger community. Members accomplish this by doing volunteer work in the community as a visible member of a gay, lesbian and bisexual organization. Local nonprofit groups are invited to contact GLENDA whenever they are in need of volunteers. To date, members of GLENDA Northwest have participated in a community wash day, purchased holiday gifts for local children in need, and have agreed to do work for the Venango County Humane Society.

    Our first fundraiser will be an April Fool’s Day dance (on Saturday, April 1) at the Venango County Coon and Fox Club, which is off of Two Mile Run road in Franklin. Admission is $6.00 at the door, BYOB with non-alcoholic beverages and snacks provided. The dance will go from 8 p.m until 1 a.m.

    Phoenix Phyre 2006 is scheduled for April 5 - 9, 2006. For more information and registration see the The Phoenix newsletter in the Parish House or log on to <phoenixfestivals.com>.

    Clarence Darrow, in the person of Gary L. Anderson, is coming to Erie for one day only, on Sunday, April 9. See him at 2 p.m. at the UU Church of Erie, or 7 p.m. at the Roadhouse Theater, 145 W. 11^th St. Gary Anderson is America’s renowned Darrow portrayer. (A more extensive review was in the February 20 Oracle, or see it on our website if you don’t have that issue.) Donation is $20 at the door; or in advance, $15 ($10 for students and seniors). Mail your check, payable to NW PA Chap. AU, to P.O. Box 6579, Erie, Pa. 16512. For more information, call 814-455-9730.

    Darrow was a hero for his time, for our time...for all time. If you want to reacquaint yourself with his immense history and the timeliness of his greatest trials, don’t miss this event in Erie on April 9.

    UU Rowe Camp & Conference Center in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts has released their spring and summer schedule for 2006; copies are available from the church office. Since 1924 Rowe Camp has offered Unitarian and later Universalist youth a chance to experience UU values and get to know other UU young people from all over the Northeast. Since 1974, Rowe Conference Center has provided a place for adults and families to come for relaxation, education, community, and spiritual nurturance.

    Sugar Valley Lodge (a United Way Agency Personal Care Home in Sugarcreek) invites you to take part in setting a Guinness World Record for the most people to do the Bunny Hop. It will take place at Franklin Fountain Park immediately following the 11 a.m. Easter Egg Hunt. Franklin Fountain Park is located in downtown Franklin. No charge to hop; punch and cookies will be served after the event.

    Unity in Edinboro is hosting NW Pa.’s special "sneak preview" showing of the feature film The Celestine Prophecy on March 31 and April 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling Joanne at 814-450-6090. Unity in Edinboro is located at 130 Meadville St., Edinboro.

    Next deadline for submitting items for the newsletter is Friday, March 31, 2006, at 4:30 p.m. Thank you.