HighLights

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis (UUCA)
333 Dubois Road, Annapolis, MD 21401; Phone: 410/266-8044; Fax: 410/266-6910
mailto:newsletter@uuca-md.org Web site: The Home Page at: http://www.uuca-md.org

Staff:
Reverend Dr. Fredric J. Muir, Parish Minister

Reverend Amber Beland, Assistant Minister
Francoise H. Ateto, Director of Religious Exploration
Betsy Jo Angebranndt, Minister of Music
Christol Medley, Church Administrator/Editor

Theresa Novak, Intern Minister

Susan Eckert, Members Services Coordinator

Lori Frederick, Office Assistant

Stephanie Meredith, Sunday Assistant/DRE Assistant

Church Office Hours: Mon. - Fri. 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Next News Deadline: midnight, 01/17/2007

Next Mailing: 01/23/2007

Volume 50, Issue 1

January 9, 2007

Katrina Relief UUCA response?

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) is sponsoring three 2007 JustWorks camps this year in response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Only one is still available.  Some information about the camp is copied below, and more is available at www.uusc.org. I would love to attend the camp and I would especially love to attend with some folks from UUCA.  Anyone interested?   Let me know at 410-266-8044 ex 103 or intern@uuca-md.org  Volunteers are expected to provide their own transportation to the camp, but meals, lodging, and local transportation are included in the camp fee of $400.  If the money is all that is keeping you from going, let’s talk anyway.  UUSC has some scholarships and we may also be able to do some fundraising locally to make this happen.

 Theresa Novak, Intern Minister

Katrina Relief, (intergenerational 16 and over), fee $400, Biloxi, Mississippi, March 10-17, 2007
Participants will work with a partner organization to repair and rebuild homes. All skill levels welcome. Skills such as plumbing, electrical, and data entry are particularly desirable.  Lodging will be in bunkhouses and you will need to bring sleeping bags.  Some of the work in Biloxi will be helping rebuild homes and some will be with a local organization concerned with wetlands protection.

 During the course of the camps, participants will meet with agencies working on many issues ranging from environmental justice and wetlands, to effective organizing strategies undertaken by community-based groups along the Gulf Coast.
All the encounters will provide opportunities to learn about the social structure of poverty, as well as the racism and politics that have severely affected entire communities. Through educational visits, group discussions, direct service, community outreach, and skills-building activities, Just Works hopes to foster long-term activism in participants. The objective is that by learning firsthand about injustice, participants will pick up skills to help change the structures that prevent communities from attaining their full human rights.

Upcoming Sermons

Jan. 14

“King’s Vision of Justice”

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a big vision, a vision that included justice and wholeness for all. For example, attributed to him is this statement: “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” This Sunday, “King Sunday,” let’s reflect on King’s vision of wholeness and justice

January 21

Wheel of Life

This annual service recognizes the life passages (birth, coming-of-age, move, marriage and union, and death) that occurred in our congregation during 2006. The UUCA Choir will add its music to this meaningful service. 

January 28

Round and Round and Round We Go

Circles and spirals have long been used as religious symbols. The idea of a path without an end and circumambulation around holy sites is found in many religions. Why do we embrace circles and spirals so much – come

Celebrating Our Beloved Community

HEALTHY MARYLAND INITIATIVE ACTION

As part of UUCA's ongoing commitment to supporting Health Care for All in our state, we will be visited on Sunday, Jan. 14 by Vinnie DeMarco, President of Maryland Health Care for All. After each service he will update us on progress toward passage of the Healthy Maryland Initiative, a $1 tobacco tax that will deter 50,000 young Marylanders from smoking while helping extend health care coverage to 50,000 uninsured citizens.

To insure passage in this legislative session, now is the time to contact those legislators who may not be firmly committed to the bill. Of special importance is Senator John C Astle of District 30 who is a member of the Senate Finance Committee. He is a key person whose support is urgently needed. Laptop computers and stationary will be available so those who wish to can send the kind of personalized emails and/or letters that are most effective.

If you prefer to act from home, please contact Senator Astle at: John.Astle@senate.state.md.us, or by mail at James Senate Office Building, Room 123, 110 College Ave, Annapolis, MD 21401-1991or by phone at (410) 841-3578. If you live in another district, it is not too soon to contact your Senator also. You can find out who they are and get their addresses at www.mlis.state.md.us

Further background on this issue can be obtained at: http://healthcareforall.com

Please plan to dedicate part of your Sunday coffee hour to becoming better informed and helping us take effective action!

To join the work of the UUCA Legislative Action Team, contact Jan Bird at Docjlbird@yahoo.com To assist with the UUCA actions on the Healthy Maryland Initiative, contact Barbara Murry at bmurry21@comcast.net.

Keeping the Faith

From time to time, some of you ask me what I’ve been reading; some have even asked that I share a list of books that have shaped my thinking. I’m usually hesitant to do this for a combination of reasons: First, I read quite a bit of non-fiction (usually religion, theology, spirituality, poetry) which often gets pretty abstract and mundane. I may think it’s great, but I know it’s not for everybody. But that’s combined with two other reasons: It’s rare that I’ll finish a work of non-fiction thinking that the whole book was outstanding and why recommend something that isn’t outstanding. And finally, I’m reluctant to give book reports.

Having said that, during my holiday travels I took along a novel (I try to read at least a couple novels a year) that I urge you to consider reading. Orhan Pamuk’s Snow is set in the 1990s near Turkey's eastern border. The protagonist, a poet who has been living in exile in Frankfurt, travels to Kars to discover himself and his country. Pamuk, who is Turkish, won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. Pamuk does a brilliant job of describing the political, social, artistic, religious, and spiritual struggles and challenges in a modern Muslim nation in the grip of an identity collapse and rebuilding. Snow is the kind of book that has something for everyone, especially those who continue making an effort to understand Islam in all its diversity of expressions. Pamuk’s characters will frustrate and anger you, they will make you cry and ache; you will shake your head in disbelief and laugh. All in all, they are very human.

As we begin a new year, another year in which our nation struggles to understand all the manifestations of Islam as well as the whole spectrum of international religious fundamentalism, Snow takes us into a passionate, intriguing, duplicitous, and loving way of life that feels obscure and distant, but might as well be headline news in the Washington Post or on NPR. From my reading list to yours: Happy New Year.

Keep the faith,

Fred

Great Decisions 2007

The Foreign Policy Association of the US is again offering its popular video/discussion program, Great Decisions. Beginning the fourth Sunday in February and continuing each fourth Sunday until September, the Great Decisions course will cover the following subjects: MIDDLE EAST; CLIMATE CHANGE; MEXICO; WAR CRIMES; MIGRATION; CENTRAL ASIA; SOUTH AFRICA; and CHILDREN. The group meets in the Emerson Room at the Fahs House at 12:30 p,m. for lunch and conversation; then a video on the topic is shown, after which discussion follows concerning the topics on the video. The session ends at 2 p.m. This course is sponsored by the UUCA United Nations Global Justice Committee. Booklets at $15 that accompany this course may be purchased through calling Virginia Frederick at 410-573-0451. All are welcome

Legislators Deliver Blow to Equal Marriage in Massachusetts

(Boston, January 2, 2007)

The right of same-sex couples to marry, an important issue to many Unitarian Universalists, suffered a setback on January 2 as a joint session of the Massachusetts State Legislature took the first step toward placing the issue on the 2008 ballot.

The issue is far from settled and requires a similar vote by the joint Legislature (known as a Constitutional Convention) sometime later this year in order for the question to appear in 2008. But the petition's passage marked the first significant setback for same-sex marriage rights in the Bay State since the state's Supreme Judicial Court ruled the marriages had to be recognized nearly four years ago.  

The political landscape has changed since 2003, and most legislators currently support same-sex marriage rights. However, Massachusetts state law allows a binding referendum question—even one to amend the state's constitution—to be placed on a statewide ballot if petitioners can meet certain thresholds. Those include gathering signatures from registered voters, and winning just twenty-five percent of the Constitutional Convention's votes in two successive years.

MORE>>

UUCA’s Pastoral Care Team presents:

Listening Workshop & Sunday Supper

Sunday, January 14, 2007, 5:30 p.m. — 9:00 p.m.

A riddle:  What happens somewhere between 25% and 93% of the time?  Not listening to each other.  Now, here's an irony: with that broad a range of opinion, it's just possible that the folks who brought us those percentages weren't listening to what they were doing! 

Listening/Communication is something we assume people do all the time, except when a spouse asks us a question in the middle of our multi-tasking, ego building, goal obsessed focus.

And yet, we know that when people listen to each other, the results are amazing, some might even say "miraculous," if one were of such a bent.  And yet, listening is not high tech, and is not about technique.  What is it about?  I'm not telling!  Not yet, anyway.  If you want to find out, come to the church for an evening of practice and fun. You'll come away with practical and simple suggestions for listening to others -- those with whom you have affinity, and those with whom you have dissension, -- your significant other, and the Other.

Our presenter is Dr. Vittorio (Vic) Santoro.  Vic is a psychotherapist at Millersville Psychological Services. He's been in practice for 34 years.  He is also a human resources consultant, and has taught communications skills to Federal, State, and local government employees. 

Pre-registration and a registration fee of $10 per person are required to attend.

Register on Sunday after services; by calling the church office or Online: http://www.uuca-md.org/home.htm (click on “Events Calendar”; “Calendar”; “Event List”; “Open Registrations”)

Questions? Contact Susan Eckert (410) 266-8044, X-110; membership@uuca-md.org

A dinner suited to every appetite will be served.

Thank You

Approximately a year ago, the Prescott-Emery household placed a notice of our need for help in the church newsletter. Little did we know then how great the need would become or how wonderfully the people of our church would help to meet that need.

As many of you know, Judy Emery died on December 13, 2006 after a six year battle with one of the Parkinson’s like syndromes. Her desire was to remain at home and we, her family, were able to honor her wishes in large part due to the support we received from the Pastoral Care Team and the church members who graciously gave of their time and talents to supply comfort, prayer, food, companionship and respite.

Thank you all. I also want to thank Marge Matthews who assisted with coordinating Care Providers and the following people who were willing to become involved in implementing the “share the care” concept for Judy. Unfortunately, she did not live long enough for the concept to be fully developed but I hope that interest in the idea will live on and benefit others in need.

Provided Meals: Candy Clark, Susan Eckert, Lisa Fleeharty, Becky Morris, Patti Patterson, Jacque Pulsifer, Charlotte Wallace, Martha Wilder

Grocery Trips: Marge Matthews, Don Patterson

Respite Care: Candy Clark

Child Care: Susan Bupp

Massage Therapy: Paul Schatzberg

And the many others who called to offer their assistance

Finally, I want to thank Jerri Kohler, who responded to the original request for help. Over the past year and continuing in the present, Jerri became a member of our family, first helping Judy and now helping me to do whatever needed doing. Jerri’s support and devotion has been immeasurable.

Partner Church News

During our recent trip to Romania to visit our Partner Church, our group met with village leaders, the Minister, and local doctors to determine the best way to support health care in Rava.

The local clinic is 6 km away from the village and is quite antiquated. Villagers must walk or take a horse cart on the 12 km round trip. Although the government has claimed and cleaned up a small building in Rava in response to PCC and village requests, it is unlikely that a clinic will be established there within the next 2 years because of bureaucratic red-tape and cultural challenges.

Most of the Unitarians in the village are in their 60’s-90's and suffer from a variety of chronic conditions like arthritis, allergies, or dermatitis as well as daily mishaps like cuts, sprains, and muscle injuries. The doctors and Rev. Barabas agreed that donations of common over-the-counter medications and first aid supplies would provide an immediate benefit to the village and relieve needless suffering. Rev. Barabas will store the medical supplies and distribute them to any villager (Hungarian & Roma) who needs them.

We have not given up on a longer term solution to help bring better health care to Rava, but these supplies meet an important need as we contemplate our next steps. We plan to send supplies at least twice a year. Look for information in the newsletter on our next shipment. If you would like to help our friends in Rava or join the PCC group, contact Heather Millar at heathermillar@gmail.com.

Save the dates: Partner Church Weekend is March 3 & 4, 2007. We’ll have music, dancing, and you’ll get a chance to hear the personal stories of some of our friends in Rava. Watch the newsletter for details.

Web of Life

I just finished reading a wonderful book which I highly recommend entitled 1491, New Revelations About the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann. In it, he discusses the new findings in archaeology and anthropology regarding dating of artifacts and buildings, written records, population estimates and genetic research about the Americas before Columbus landed. This book is an amazing reexamination of the world that we live in and our assumptions and beliefs about what this land and the people on it were like. For me it was a reminder that the things that we think we know as fact can change and evolve as new information is uncovered and brought to light. As we enter the New Year 2007, I wonder what it is that I hold deepest in myself that will need to evolve and alter as new information and experience comes my way. This year instead of making a resolution, I think I will take some time to make my boundaries and mindset a bit more flexible. Like the things I thought I knew about this land before Columbus there are many things that I hold to be truths that need a little tweaking and a bit of challenge. Life is often about change and movement, circling back around to those things we thought we knew. In all life’s moments may we find ways to be open, able to receive and interact with the world around us. May we find the courage to question and be brave enough to hear an answer even if it is not the one we expected.

May your new year be exciting and may it bring unexpected blessings,

Amber

UUCA Outdoor Club

January 27,2007 Savage Park and Mill Hike 9:00am-3:00pm Meet in church parking lot at 9:00am. Moderate hike. Lunch at Savage Mill. Dress for the weather. Cancel if driving conditions are poor.

February 24, 2007 Patapsco Valley State Park Hike March 24, 2007 Gwynns Falls Hike

UUCA Book Club

Meets the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the church library. Our selection for January 16 is Bird and Sherwin’s American Prometheus. Our book for February 20 is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. All are welcome to join the discussion. Direct any questions to Jackie Rocca at 410-349-8351.

Brian & Dylan Ganz on Maryland Public Television

If you missed it in December, MPT Artworks is airing a rebroadcast of this show which includes a performance by Brian and Dylan.  Tune in to MPT’s Channel 22 on Wednesday, January 17 at 7: 30 p.m. to watch.

Welcoming, Caring & Connecting

PASTORAL CARE TEAM NEWS

UUCA PASTORAL CARE TEAM IS HERE FOR YOU!

During the month of December Team Care Providers:

Picked up groceries, provided respite care, child care and 10 meals for a church family caring for a seriously ill member

Provided transportation on 4 occasions

Provided massage therapy to a seriously ill member

Coordinated the reception following a memorial service

Checked on a member in the hospital following surgery

Helped a member recovering from an auto accident pack

for a home move

Made numerous phone calls to follow up on various individual care needs

Mailed two cards from the Care Corner

Are you in need of a caring friend who will listen, empathize, encourage and provide confidential care and patiently support you as you work through a crisis or difficult time? Do you know a church member who could benefit from this type of care? Then contact one of our Coordinators. They can tell you more about our Pastoral Care Ministry and how you can be matched with a Care Minister.

Care Minister Coordinators:

Susan Eckert (410) 266-8044 (weekdays)

Carol Friend (evenings, weekends)

Kathy Hughes (evenings, weekends)

Care Ministers:

Pat Fleeharty Jerri Kohler

Kathy Higdon Marge Matthews

Bill Hope

♥ Please be sure to register as a Unitarian Universalist if you are admitted to Anne Arundel Medical Center. Due to regulations, it may be the only way our Care Ministers will know to check on you and offer support.♥

The New UU Class

The “New UU” class is designed for newcomers and new members.    The next class will be offered on Saturday, January 13, 8:45 a.m. – 12 Noon in the Sanctuary, covering UU theology, UU history and the UU Church of Annapolis.    It’s a wonderful way to learn more about Unitarian Universalism.    Anyone thinking of becoming a member of the congregation is strongly encouraged to attend.    Please call Susan Eckert at 410-266-8044, Ext. 110 to request childcare.

Resource Stewardship

2006 Tax Contribution statements will be mailed to members on January 22, 2007. If you have questions about your contributions during 2006 please contact Bob Matthews or Christol Medley at the church office.

During 2007 Contributions statements will be mailed monthly, if you do not receive a monthly statement please contact the office immediately.

Thank you for your generosity and support.

Faith Development

Sinkford Participates in Interfaith Service Welcoming Deval Patrick as Massachusetts Governor

(Boston, January 4, 2007)

In Boston's historic Old South Meeting House, the first African American president of the Unitarian Universalist Association joined spiritual leaders from across Massachusetts in prayerfully welcoming the state's first African American Governor. An interfaith worship service, held on the morning of the inauguration of Deval L. Patrick as the seventy-first governor of the Commonwealth, brought together leaders from more than thirty faith traditions for worship and song. A stirring homily was delivered by the Rev. J. Peter Gomes, Senior Minister of Harvard University Memorial Church in Cambridge.  MORE>>

Religious exploration News

Worship for All Ages at 10:30 AM and F.L.A.M.E., the Religious Education program at 11 AM,

will resume on January 14.

Children in Worship: parents and other adults can encourage children to participate more fully in the worship experience while they are in the sanctuary each week. A card with suggestions has been inserted in the cover of each hymnal. Please take a look while you wait for the service to begin.

Think Summer: believe it or not, it’s already time to start making plans for the summer! Parents may want to look into JustWorks camps sponsored by the UU Service Committee, particularly:

Freedom Summer: A Civil Rights Journey in July for 14-year-olds and up (intergenerational);

D.C. Teen Leadership Camp in August. Complete listing and registration information can be found at http://www.uusc.org/programs/workcamps/wcsched2007.html

Christmas Tree Ornaments: some of the ornaments made during Stone Soup will be available the next couple of Sundays in a large basket in the Info Alcove. If you’d like to take one home as a souvenir, just help yourself!

Stone Soup this year again gathered more than 120 adults and children of all ages! A BIG thank you to all who helped make Stone Soup 2006 such a success:

the YRUU youth and advisors John Balano and John Gregory who purchased, transported and set up the beautiful tree;

our great craft leaders – Diane Bedlin, Lisa Combs, Bobi Mattia-Uribe, Katie Michaelson, Kathryn Wilber and family, and YRUU who planned and led the crafts;

Madeleine Mankowski who told the story;

Fred Ateto who collected money at the door;

Al and Ginger Adams who played the piano for the carol singing;

The Brummit/Reeder, Dennis, Mattia-Uribe, Parafina/Ozuna, Price, and Schindler families who set up the dinner tables;

the countless people who came forward spontaneously to lend a hand as needed (including, but not limited to: Vicki Barstow and Siobhan Percey and family);and last, but most important, our chefs extraordinaires Jane Burns and Stan Robbins, and sous-chefs Bev MacWilliams, Gail Stauffer and Wendi Winters, who prepared no less than five different kinds of soups to please every taste! Great team, great fun!

New Pathwork Winter Course Offering

Articulating Your UU Faith

Tuesdays starting January 16 from 7 – 8:30 pm

Articulating Your UU Faith is designed to help UU’s speak more effectively about our liberal religion and their particular perspectives on it. This course incorporates active participation and role-playing. Over five weeks the participants will have an opportunity to write a personal belief statement and practice sharing it with others. We will also learn about Unitarian Universalist history and explore different ways of explai