The Oracle

Not Be Considered for Anything Else

Standing at an Ancient Altar

When new members sign our membership book, one of the things I explain to them is about congregational polity. It is not a particularly fun, nor even overtly exciting topic. Yet, it is a very important topic, and I have to say it does excite me because of its implicit message.

Current members should al-ready know what congregational polity is, or if not by name, by voting with their voices, hands and check books. Congregational polity, long established in our tradition since the 17th century, means members own and are therefore responsible for this church and its property. The organization has a set of bylaws, a budget, and staff including a minister who is called by the congregation (as opposed to being assigned by an outside authority). This means each and every member is to some degree responsible for the health and well being of this religious institution. That’s a lot of responsibility, but the burden is shared. And it offers a lot of freedom to create an institution that meets everyone needs, as much as possible.

Despite the long history of congregational polity, the responsibility and freedom are relatively recent. As Dorothy Miller shared last Sunday, one of our church members many years ago, used to pay all the bills. This was not that uncommon. From the 17th and into part of the 20th century, congregations were ruled by dominant families who gave the most money and thereby controlled the congregation. This was the days when families owned individual pews.

It is hard not to judge this sys-tem with our current values of egalitarianism and democratic rule. Without a doubt the wealthier families loved their congregations very much, and showed their commitment the only way they knew how. But, the result was the minister was not free to speak with a prophetic voice and the leaders of the congregation were subject to the dominant families’ tastes. Because of the limited freedom, ministers who participated in activist demonstrations or writings, which didn’t suit the tastes of the few powerful families, soon found themselves in search of a new church or eased off their career ladders.

Since the Unitarian Universalist Association instituted the Every Member Canvass in the 1960s and 1970s, and modified it over the de-cades, congregation members have found themselves with more choices and decision-making power. There is a growing sense of ownership and value for "their" congregation.

Your annual pledge supports our congregational polity which means the democratic process, the right of conscience and the ability to show how much you value and love this congregation.

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What is the Unitarian Universalist definition of sin? A discussion group where everyone agrees with each other!

Salon: a living room, or front parlor where guests are welcomed. A salon is also a place of welcome for discussion. Throughout the 19th century, many leading progressive writers and theologians, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller, attended salons where discussions of the critical issues of their day were held. For the past twenty years there has been a resurgence of the salon concept, as people have sought a welcoming place where ideas and opinions can be shared and heard. Discussion is facilitated by rotating leaders who are responsible for the topic and for ensuring everyone that agreement is not necessary. Indeed, diversity of creative ideas and re-flections are encouraged.

Beginning 7 p.m. Tuesday, October 26, a bimonthly salon will begin in the "Salon" of the Parish House. Alison Wohler will facilitate the first couple of evenings. The beginning topic will be about our Association’s important call for intentional study and action around the issues of anti-racism, anti-oppression and multiculturalism. More description will follow as well as advance readings that will be available in the church office closer to our starting date.

The Salon will meet to discuss a diverse range of subjects every other Tuesday at least through the fall and winter, perhaps longer. Please indicate your interest in this adult education opportunity by signing up in the church office. If you will have child care needs, we will need one week's notice to make arrangements. Questions? Call Kate Walker at the church, 724-4023.

Religious Education at Home

    "Mom!!! Help me make a train track!"

    "O.K., just a minute."

    "Mom!!! I'm hungry!"

    "Wait, almost done."

    "Mom!!! Play a game with me!"

    "I can't! I'm working!"

    My daughter stuck out her bottom lip and crossed her arms angrily. I could see her glare reflected in the computer screen. My shoulders were tense, my back hurt, and my eyes were sore. I stopped typing and rubbed my neck. My tunnel vision was returning. When-ever my life gets stressful I get tunnel vision where I can only see one thing at a time. This morning I woke up with one project in my mind. So with my pajamas still on I went directly to the computer and got to work. Now the kids were up bombarding me with questions and demands, and I still wasn't done. I turned to look at my daughter's angry face.

    Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time this week that I had put her off and reacted with irritation. I was feeling unbalanced and my creativity was low. I sighed wearily. My life needed to change.

    Later that evening I sat at the table venting out my frustrations to my husband. I spouted off a long list of my recent responsibilities with work and home and the lack of time and energy to do it all.

    "It's too much!" I finally admitted.

    "Well, change it," my husband said simply.

    Oh, sure, he made it sound so easy!

    As I laid in bed that night I ran through my schedule. O.K., maybe I could change some of my hours and move things around a bit. But some-thing was still bothering me, and then suddenly a crisp breeze blew the curtains over me. I breathed in deeply and realized my soul was starving.

    The next morning I got up an hour earlier. I took my time getting ready enjoying the warm shower and fruity shampoo. I pulled on my comfortable jeans and a soft cotton t-shirt. I snuck into my son’s room, picked out his clothes, and dressed him as he slumbered. Later, after breakfast, we walked out to the bus hand in hand. And after he left, I strolled down our driveway taking the time to feed my spirit with the fresh morning air and beautiful view. I returned to the house to fetch my daughter for preschool. I made her favorite breakfast of pan-cakes. As she ate I read an entry from my book of daily meditations. I closed my eyes, breathed in, slowed down, and took in the moment.

    On the way out to our van Analee exclaimed, "Hey, Mom, you promised to look for a caterpillar for me!" I looked at my watch and then looked at her. How could I deny her? So there we stood in the middle of our dewy meadow on a crisp September morning searching for a tiny caterpillar.

    As I dropped my daughter off at school I inspected her carefully. I wiped off some syrup from the corner of her mouth. I glanced down and noticed her new white tennis shoes plastered with wet grass and her hands sticky white from the milkweed plants. She smiled at me as she clutched her jar filled with fresh vegetation and a beautiful brown and orange caterpillar.

    I met Susan for breakfast and told her I needed to cut back my hours working with my mentally challenged companions. So we worked out a new schedule.

    "Well, change it," my husband had said. And he was right. Thanks, honey. And thanks, also, to my daughter for her very verbal and visual reminder to slow down.

    As I returned home I noticed the golden corn fields and the fallen leaves along the road. The neigh-bor’s pond reflected a cloud of mist and a large red-tailed hawk sailed high in the distance.

Ah, yes, I was finally coming out of the tunnel!

Religious Education at Church

    Religious Education classes are well underway!!! The enthusiasm and excitement of the teachers proved contagious to our students! Our first day of classes was on Sunday, September 12, were very well attended with 34 students registered in grades PreK-8.

    Just a reminder, that this year I also need information from our YOUTH GROUP members and NURSERY children. So if you haven’t registered your child please do so by picking up a registration form at the RE display during coffee hour. Thank you very much for your cooperation and continued support!

ATTENTION PARENTS OF NEW YOUTH GROUP MEMBERS

    If you are interested in meeting with our youth group advisors Laura Parker-McGlynn and Kathy Zinz for a brief parent orientation please contact them at your earliest convenience. They would be happy to give you a tour of the youth group space, share information, and answer questions.

    We have a new choir director; Jon is a student at Allegheny College. Those of us who are not in the choir or who have not otherwise met you are looking forward eagerly to September 26 (the choir will sing) and to getting to know you.

    Jon Abrams grew up in Lowell, MA, not far north of Boston. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 6 as per the orders of his mother. Jon went on to compete in state-wide competitions for the 10 years that followed and earned numerous awards and commendations. He attended Lawrence Academy, a small, private high school in Groton, MA. There, he studied music technology under the tutelage of Peter Hazzard.

    In 2001, he released his first commercial recording entitled "More to Me than Me", a compact disk of entirely original material in a Billy Joel-like genre. While at Lawrence, he was awarded the Class of 1965 prize for Music.

    He is now studying at Allegheny College as a music and theatre double major. He has directed the music for two productions at the Academy Theatre: "Pippin" and "Children of Eden". He is also a member of the college choir and the chamber choir. Jon is a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity and is grateful for the support he has been given from his brothers there.

    Jon is a student of Dr. and Mrs. Jamison at Allegheny, and wishes to thank them both for their dedication not only to Jon, but to all of their students. They tend to take on the role of parents away from home and have a special place in many hearts for their efforts. Jon is also grateful for the opportunity to work with the Choir at the Unitarian Church, and looks forward to many happy notes.

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    Following church services on September 13, 2004, Dave Anderson, president of the Board, called the Congregational Meeting to order. He announced this meeting had been convened to discuss the congregation’s wishes in regard to beginning a capital fund campaign to provide for the capital expenses involved in repairing and maintain-ing church properties. A list of needs over and above the ongoing budgetary expenditures was distributed. He reported that a count of the signatures of church members gathered as they were seated showed that a quorum was present.

    David called on Jim Snyder to present the need, plans for, and explanation of the Capital Cam-paign. After his introductory re-marks, Jim invited Dorothy Miller to the podium to address the congregation. Her remarks follow:

    When I first came to this church – over 60 years ago – we had Mrs. Kidder, who was a Huidekoper – the name of our founders. She was a loyal member of the church, and whenever we needed anything – a new roof, carpet, a kitchen make over, she took care of all the bills. It was really not good for the congregation, as we didn’t feel responsible for taking care of our beautiful buildings.

    That is not the case today. We all must share in being responsible for our needs. At the present time some of these are: As mandated by the Fire Department, we must have an additional exit (the place for this probably would be behind the three side-facing pews), and also they say the main entrance doors and the vestibule doors must be changed to swing out, for safety reasons. The sanctuary needs to be painted and pew cushions need to be re-covered. In the parish house, we need a new roof, a new heating system, and some exterior painting. There is more, and it will all cost a great deal.

    I have a few quotations from people when they are asked, ‘Why do you come to this church?’ ‘I come because the UU Church, wherever I am, always has been a home and a haven. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.’ ‘Spiritual leadership and guidance. A tolerant congregation. Community. Belonging with people like me. Wanting to bring up our children in a church that allows them education about different religions and personal choice. The honor of doing service.’ ‘It provides a time and space in my week to reflect, be quiet, and ponder my relationship to God and creation. Fellowship. To provide my kids a structure or a belief system.’ ‘I’m here to be free to think and love, to be energized by the love of the whole congregation, and to use that love as a foundation upon which to act in the world.’

    If you can relate to any of these, please help with the capital fund about to be launched.

    Jim then distributed a diagram of how it will be possible to reach the goal of $175,000, which his committee computed on the basis of projected costs and discussion with Lenny Nichols, Properties chair. If there are 100 pledging units, the grand total of $175,000 could be reached by six $250 gifts; thirty-two $500 gifts; thirty-five $l, 000 gifts; ten $2,500 gifts; five $3,000 gifts; eight $5,000 gifts, one $7,500 gift; two $10,000 gifts; and one $15,000 gift. Joyce Milberg is willing to handle the bookkeeping involved in this campaign.

    Stephanie Gallogly then moved that we proceed with a capital campaign to raise the $175,000 over five years. Several seconds were heard. Dave called for discussion. It was requested that people joining the church from now on be apprised of the ongoing capital campaign in addition to the annual pledging. It was suggested we start immediately spending some of the money for emergency or serious situations. The campaign is not to start until the end of the pledge season, pro-bably in January 2005. Dave then put the motion to a vote and it passed unanimously.

    Dave thanked Jim Snyder, who will be campaign coordinator; Dorothy Miller, who will be Honorary Chair; and the members of the Finance Committee: Jerry Almes, Peggy Bell, Mary Larson, Joyce Milberg, Gus Rylander, Mike Thomson, Mark and Debbie Salerno, Jim Snyder, and Brad Wilson, Chair.

    Meeting was adjourned.

    "A congregation either grows or dies .... Unless it renews itself by welcoming members of the next generation before the current members become too old to make that happen, the congregation will grow older and become weaker and less able to maintain itself .... If Unitarian Universalism is important enough to believe in, it is important enough to pass on to others .... Many more ... than those who identify with us today would benefit from our faith’s perspective ... if they knew it existed." *

    Pretty heady stuff? What is your part in promoting congregational growth?

    See next Oracle for more.

* "Programming for Congregational Growth", Congregational Handbook, Lawrence X. Peers.

    A team of seven people cooked, served and cleaned up after lunch on September 10 at Stone UM Church. Seventy-two guests were served with 30 requests for "seconds". The menu consisted of tuna noodle casserole, bread and butter, and a choice of desserts. Since the college youth and high school people were not in attendance we had to do the entire clean-up, which includes wiping off all surfaces, running the sweeper in the dining room (Gus tackled that!) And broom-sweeping the rest of the floors. We all worked hard and, I know, felt tired after our efforts – but all in a good cause.

    Next date is October 8 – if you feel you could spare the time and are available please call Stewarts at 425-3397.

    Volunteers were: David DeGrange, Gus Rylander, Bob Templeton and his friend, Emmy Boughton, and Ray and Margaret Stewart.

    Bumper stickers are now available in the church office pro-claiming 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". These are available for $1.00 each – see Venessa in the parish house office.

SAVE THE DATE!

    This year’s Make A Difference Day will take place on October 16. Please mark your calendars now and plan to participate in whatever way you can. Social Concerns plans to sponsor several projects again this year – a trail clean-up with the French Creek Conservancy, a construction or other project for Women’s Services, and at least one more. Details will follow.

    If you have an idea for a project, or if you or someone you know has a need for some help that day, call the Make A Difference Day office at: 724-5948. Make sure to mention that you’re part of the UU church group.

Green Roofs: Hot New Design Feature

    In Europe, and increasingly in North America, the latest rage in building design is green roofing: roofs covered in growing media and plants that can provide habitat for inserts, lizards, and birds. The trend first took off as part of a British government effort to protect the black redstart, a black-and-orange songbird that nests in urban areas and has come to be something of an icon for Brit urban enviros. In some parts of the U.K., local governments are starting to require that some buildings feature rooftop gardens. The roofs – first developed in Switzerland – help prevent flash floods by absorbing rainfall, help insulate and cool buildings, and attract small critters. And they last up to four times longer than traditional roofs.

    A recent study of eight green roofs by entomologist Richard Jones found that 136 invertebrates, including several rare beetles and spiders, had found their way there. The concept has gained such cachet that green building principles are expected to spread from roofs to total site design, including lawns and even parking garages. They are even starting to spread across the Atlantic Ocean. So when you are considering a new roof on your house, garage, gazebo, church or business, check out the environ-mental, aesthetic and economic benefits of a green roof!

Slave labor used to clear Brazilian rainforest

    The Amazon rainforest is disappearing at a extremely rapid pace, and as is too often the case, this environmental catastrophe is connected to equally dire human-rights abuses. Thousands of poor, illiterate Brazilian peasants work every year chopping down the forest in conditions Brazil’s Labor Ministry delicately refers to as "analogous to slavery." Promised $3 to $4 a day, peasants are lured to southeastern Brazil to clear forests with machetes, tractors, and chain saws. There, they find themselves working from sunup to sundown in the tropical heat, seven days a week, only to find themselves in debt to their employers, who keep them working with threats of non-payment and even death.

    The Brazilian government acknowledges that there are at least 25,000 such slave laborers. Other estimates range up to 50,000. There are also hundreds of thousands more doing what Brazil calls "de-grading" labor, working in slave conditions though not held against their will. The resultant products – timber, soybeans, processed meats, and pig iron – often end up in U.S. markets. Something to keep in mind next time we’re eyeing that Brazilian cherry for our kitchen cabinets or fast food burger.

Quotes to ponder from your S.C. Committee:

"We need the divine feminine to counteract the warrior male god who is killing us." – Terry Ruttger

"A catastrophic success." – President George W. Bush describing the war in Iraq in the September 6 issue of Time magazine.

    Erie will be having a Pride March/Rally on Sunday, October 3, 2004. The event will begin with a meeting on the steps of the Erie County Courthouse, 140 W. 6th Street at 12:30 p.m. sharp and then continue with the March at 1 p.m. up State Street.

    The Rally will be held at the Village Supper Club at 2 p.m. where there will be speakers, performers, vendors and tables with info from area groups and political organizations. This year the focus will be getting folks to register to vote.

    If you would like to be involved with planning, contact Michael Mahler at (814) 456-9833 or <info@eriegaynews.com>.

    Once a year, on October 1, we get to celebrate something truly life-changing, something that shows our joy and support for the significant advantages a meatless lifestyle offers each of us, as well as our planet and all of its inhabitants. Benefits of vegetarianism include:

    Non-vegetarians can also join the celebration! Eat meatfree for the day or month. Learn how a vegetarian diet can benefit you personally. Try the meatless options available at local restaurants and eateries. Host a meatless meal or potluck for your friends. Eat meatless meals on a regular basis. And the list goes on ....

    Unitarian Universalist ministry via Harvard Square Library now provides new offerings being seen by viewers in 65 nations on six continents via

<www.harvardsquarelibrary.org>

    Franklin's Applefest is here again. Last year 4 or 5 of us enjoyed an Apple Pancake lunch (served till noon), shopping the numerous craft and food booths, and buying apples. Also available are a Giant Book Fair at Venango County Historical Society; an Applefest Porch Sale at Franklin Elks Lodge; and a play in the evening, "Titanic – The Musical", if anyone has the endurance to stay so long. Interested in going Friday, Oct. l? Call Wynette Kommer at 336-5014 or Pat McDaniel, 425- 7613 about meeting at the church or at Pat’s home and carpooling to Franklin.

Individual Mentoring Program and Consumer Transition is a non-profit program which matches community volunteers in supportive friendship relationships with adults receiving mental health treatment. A caring friend can help to restore some joy and hope to a life that is often empty of both. The requirements for this program are one hour per week and four hours per month. If anyone feels as though they have some extra time to make impact on someone’s life ... be a mentor.

Please call Jennifer Rodgers at her tool-free number 1-866-559-8200. This program is based out of the YWCA of Titusville but serves al of Crawford County

    Hospice of Crawford County is offering its annual fall grief education/support program entitled "Living Through Loss". The six-week program will be held Tuesday evenings from 6 to 7:30 p.m., September 28 through November 2 at the Hospice office at 448 Pine Street, Meadville. Each session will explore a different aspect of the grief process.

    This program is offered free of charge to anyone who has lost a loved one in the past year. For further information and to pre-register, please call the Hospice office at 333-5403.

    The Fall 2004 Performance Series, The Beauty of the Great Americana Songbook Continues, is once again coming to us on October 8-9-10. The series is presented by the Allegheny Jazz Society at the Gardner Theater (second floor), Meadville Council on the Arts, Market House Square, in Meadville. Featured are Wesla Whitfield, vocals; Mike Greensill, piano; and David Morgan, bass.

    Friday’s performance, 8-10:30 p.m., will be The Glory of Love. Saturday, also 8-10:30, is Songs of Vip Harburg. Sunday will be 1-3 p.m. and is Something to Remember You By. A reception will follow the Friday and Saturday performances.

    Tickets are $25 per person per day, and are available from Joe Boughton, President, 814-724-2163. Seating is limited to 50 persons, so don’t wait to order!

    You may know someone who would enjoy the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), a congregation that provides a ministry to isolated religious liberals around the world. CLF, the congregation by mail and cyberspace, offers a spiritual home within the UU movement for all kinds of people.

    Members receive mailings of Quest, a monthly publication of sermons and uu&me!, our child-ren’s magazine that is an insert in the UUWorld magazine. CLF also offers religious education materials and consultation, a loan library of books, audio and videotapes, as well as email lists and a cyber community.

    The Pen Pal program connects UUs in the "free world" with incarcerated men and women who have joined CLF, and is a powerful way for UU congregations to learn more about the prison system by connecting with fellow UUs. The CLF also supports many small congregations with worship and programming resources through the Church-on-Loan program.

    Nearly half of CLF’s members are active contributing members of local congregations who appreciate the connection to the wider UU world.

    For more information, contact CLF at 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108, phone 617-948-6166, email <cif@cifuu.org>, or visit their homepage <www.cifuu.org>.

    The Unitarian Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard Massachusetts is pleased to announce its 4th annual Birding B and B Columbus Day weekend. Friday October 8 to Sunday October 10. An all inclusive week-end is planned. We will be kicking off the weekend with dinner and discussion by a noted island naturalist and a geologist. Saturday follows with a full day of activities from early morning observation of the fall migration of birds from the Aquinnah cliffs to lunch at The Native Earth Teaching Farm. Later you will be entertained by a world renown Jazz pianist John Eaton.

    Our Sunday program is equally exciting. Sunday service will be the singing of African American Spirituals and their hidden meaning by Jim Thomas. Many other activities too numerous to list here as well.

    The fee for this vacation weekend is $250 per person. Come see the Vineyard at this most beautiful time of year. For more information and a reservation see our church website <www.uusmv.info/>.

    We have held the peculiar notion that a person or society that is a little different from us, whoever we are, is somehow strange or bizarre, to be distrusted or loathed. Think of the negative connotations of words like alien or outlandish. And yet the monuments and cultures of each of our civilizations merely represent different ways of being human. An extraterrestrial visitor, looking at the differences among human beings and their societies, would find those differences trivial compared to the similarities. The Cosmos may be densely populated with intelligent beings. But the Darwinian lesson is clear: There will be no humans elsewhere. Only here. Only on this small planet. We are a rare as well as an endangered species. Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.

"Who Speaks for Earth?", Cosmos, by Carl Sagan, p. 339.

    Next deadline for submitting items for the newsletter is Friday, October 1, 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!

    The folks who attended "Theocracy Watch" after church on Sunday had a real treat – it was an excellent presentation by the executive director of Theocracy Watch, Joan Bokaer, about the rise of religious extremism in our government. Many thanks to our Social Concerns committee for bringing us this very informative program.

    For those of you who weren’t there, many of us purchased a variety of CDs or DVDs and will be happy to share them with you. Also, Mary-Lib has purchased the CD of this program for our church library. And be sure to access their website at: <www.theocracywatch.org>. It contains a wealth of information.

    I  hope we can have other after-church sessions as fine as this one was. Thanks again!