THE REPORTER Newsletter of St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church of Cincinnati, OH                               October 15, 2006

Upcoming Sunday Services Sunday services and Children’s Religious Exploration classes at St. John’s begin at 11am. Child care is available. Church Parking: The Clifton School parking lot behind St. John’s will be CLOSED for the near future because of construction on the site. We suggest you plan to come 10 minutes early to find parking on Sunday. Parking is available behind the Clifton Mosque (located across Clifton Avenue from the Clifton School lot) or in the Clifton Recreation Center lot on McAlpin Ave. The church parking lot is reserved for visitors, families with small children, our older members, and those with handicapped permits. SUNDAY OCTOBER 22  “How to Be a Good Person”  -the Rev. Dr. Frank Carpenter      We all want to be good.  How do we do that in a time of anxiety, a time of changing social and cultural norms? SUNDAY OCTOBER 29 “Reverence for Life”  -the Rev. Dr. Frank Carpenter      This Sunday the membership committee has called upon us to be very intentional about our hospitality.  They urge you to bring a friend this Sunday., yes, there will be a Halloween parade! (shh!) DON’T FORGET: October 29 is the Sunday that Daylight Savings Time ends, so be sure to set your clocks back on Saturday night or you will be really early for church!!! THE UU ROUND UUP is coming on Sunday November 5! Don’t miss the great chance to get to know other Unitarian Universalists from around Greater Cincinnati! (see the article on page 6 for all the details)

Minister   The Rev. Dr. Frank Carpenter Affiliated Minister   The Rev. Bonnie Meyer Minister Emerita   The Rev. L. Annie Foerster Minister of Music   Dr. Catherine Roma Assoc. Director of Music   Rachel Kramer Directors of Religious Exploration for Children   Mary M. Darner   Barbara Hadden Office Administrator   Mary Jo (Josie) Arens Caretaker   J. Michael Skaggs Newsletter Editor   Bruce Beisner Church Office    513-961-1938    FAX 513-961-4008 Church Office Hours    Monday thru Friday.    7:30am-2:30pm Church Website www.stjohnsuu.org Next Reporter Deadline will be Thursday Oct. 26 at 5pm. Send articles to Bruce Beisner via email.

Frankly Speaking…..

                                                                                 by the Rev. Dr. Frank Carpenter

 October 29^th is Reformation Sunday, celebrating in Protestant churches 489 years since the separation of Roman Catholics and Protestants.  Eastern Orthodox churches separated from the church in Rome in the 11th century, and so were unaffected. Both separations can be traced back to the time when the Roman Emperor moved the imperial city from Rome to Constantinople, leaving a power vacuum in Rome, which the Papacy filled. Today we talk about the separation of church and state; that struggle began long ago when the papacy assumed authority in areas beyond the spiritual.

One of the principles of the Reformation is the right of private judgment in interpreting scripture.  We as liberals in religion have taken this as our main principle.  Martin Luther stated this concept as “the priesthood of all believers.”  Here is an element of our tradition worth consideration.

The priesthood of all believers means that when we become church members, we take on privileges and responsibilities.  There are certain expectations, such as showing up, being involved, working on our spiritual journey.  It means that we are not passive subjects, consumers, but active, explorers. 

Sometimes I translate the priesthood of all believers as the leadership of all members.  In one way or another, members are leaders: our children look to us as role models, we enhance the quality of experience for one another; we chair committees. 

We can talk about the ministry of all members.  This is the shared ministry concept.  For each of us, our sense of ministry arises when we ask ourselves, what moves us, makes us feel alive.  How does your passion engage you here at St. John’s?

Joseph Campbell urges you to follow your bliss.  Your bliss has led you here.  How do you express it amongst this gathered community?

-Peace,

Frank

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Mission: St. John’s is committed to creating a safe and caring community, working  for social justice and celebrating beliefs that respect freedom of thought.

We are  pleased to be designated a “Welcoming Congregation” by the Unitarian Universalist Association,

and as such we honor and value the racial, cultural, economic, religious, physical ability, sexual orientation and

gender diversity of our members and visitors, young and old.

PAGE 2 The Reporter  October 15,, 2006

Opportunities & Invitations Szentlaszlo Lunch on November 5 If you enjoyed the wonderful homemade soups and breads at the September 24th luncheon, you'll have another chance to experience this body warming and heart warming meal. Melanie Marsh and the Friends of Szentlaszlo will be preparing new soups and breads for the Sunday, November 5th, lunch in Krolfifer Hall. Our teens from the YRUU high school group will be doing their part by setting up the tables and chairs and helping with cleanup. Remember the money raised from this lunch will go to our partner church in Nyaradszentlaszlo, Romania to fund a program providing a free loaf of bread to each elderly Unitarian once a week. See the poster board just outside Krolfifer for more details on the program. Mark you calendars now and plan on attending.            -Tom Darner, The Friends of Szentlaszlo Women’s Book Group The Women’s Book Group will meet at the home of Sylvia Mersfelder on Friday October 20 at 7:30 pm. We’ll discuss The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe. The novel was first published in 1958 and remains true to the struggles of professional women today. In November we’ll discuss In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant. During the first hour or so we discuss the book. During the second hour we choose the next book, snack, and socialize. All women are welcome. For directions call Sylvia and for information call Debbie Combs.                                                 -Debbie Combs Entertainment Books are Here! Once again we are selling this cost-saving book to members and friends for $35.00. This little coupon book gives you opportunities to save money on so many things-travel ,dining out, dry cleaning, movies

and cultural events like the Symphony, Playhouse, the Zoo, REDS games, canoe rentals, the Aquarium, and fast food and carry-out restaurants galore. We use the $5 fee we make to support the flower fund when there are no donations or when we need to furnish flowers for a special occasion. Books will be on sale for several weeks after church. -Barbara Hadden Attention All Game Players! The Final Friday Game Group would love your attendance at our monthly gathering. As you can gather from our name, we typically meet on the final Friday of each month at church at 7 p.m. to play games and have fun. So please bring your favorite games and join us on Friday, October 27. Also, please mark your calendars now for the November and December meetings. Because of conflicts with the holidays, the dates for these two months are as follows: Friday, November 10 and Friday, December 8. Please contact Karen Miller with any questions or comments.                                                        -Karen Miller FREE Estate Planning Workshop The Fund Trustees would like to invite you to attend a FREE Estate Planning Workshop. Attorney Scott Knox, who is well known at St. John's, will cover the various methods of controlling where assets go when we die. He will include issues applicable to couples who either cannot legally marry or who choose not to marry. He will describe what "probate" means. He will also go over associated documents, such as medical powers of attorney, living wills, and general powers of attorney. All this will be spiced up with occasional horror stories describing what happens when people leave it all up to fate (or the intestacy laws of the state of Ohio). The workshop will be held at St. John's on Saturday, November 11 beginning at 10 a.m. Please RSVP to Josie by calling 513-961-1938 or emailing to stjohnuu@fuse.net .  The Reporter,   October 15, 2006 __ PAGE 3

Among Ourselves All Council Meeting The All Council Meeting will be held on Saturday October 28 from 9am to noon in Krolfifer Hall. All who are interested in learning about the 2006-2007 goals established by the Board and each Council Director are encouraged to attend. Committee Chairs and 1 or 2 people from each committee are urged to attend. The goals are based on the results of the Spring Congregational Survey. Each committee will spend time working with their Council Director to establish committee goals. If you have thought about becoming more engaged in St. John's ministry (work) this is a good time to visit vari-ous committees and learn about their ministry to the Members, Friends and Visitors of St. John's.                                              -Frances May Brooks Bring a Friend to Church Sunday Rev. Frank Carpenter and the Membership Com-mittee invite you to "Bring a Friend to Church" and enjoy the fellowship of St. John's. Two special Sundays have been set aside for you to to introduce friends to St. John's. Do your friends know UU's are committed to the practice of free religion? That we worship, sing, play, study, teach and work for social justice together as congregations....all the while remaining strong in our individual convictions. Here is your chance to share the dynamic of your spiritual home with others. The first Sunday will be October 29 and the sermon topic is "Reverence for Life." The second Sunday is December 17 and Rev. Carpenter will speak on the true meaning of the holidays. To prepare for the visit you might want to browse the membership table in the foyer. Of particular interest might be the small red folder entitled "What do Unitarian Universalists Believe?" PAGE 4 The Reporter  October 15,, 2006

It is wallet size and you can give them to your friends ahead of time. Another good brochure is "We Are the Unitarian Universalists" which gives information on looking for a religious home, what UU's believe and celebrate. A warm welcome will await those you choose to bring. -the Membership Committee Healthy Children/Healthy Planet This Adult Religious Exploration class will meet on Sunday afternoons from 2 to 4pm at First Church on Linton & Reading Rd. Text for this course is $20. Dates for class are: Oct. 29-Cultural Pressures; Nov. 12 - Family Rituals & Celebrations; Nov. 26 - Advertising; Dec. 10 - Food & Health. Remaining four sessions will be held after the holidays. Child care is provided. To register or for more information, please contact Carol Fencl                                                              -Carol Fencl Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv will be the focus of our Adult Religious Exploration discussion after church on Sunday November 5. We'll meet in the chapel at 1pm (after getting some lunch in Krolfifer) and talk about the provocative ideas in this book. Group is led by Drew Ruther and Carol Fencl. No advance registration is necessary. -Carol Fencl Reporter Team Needs You Help is desperately needed for putting The Reporter together on every other Sunday, before the service or after the service. Emily Hodges is in much need of a few volunteers. If you can help in any way please contact Emily Hodges. I would like to thank Emily for her commitment and dedication to working on The Reporter. Thanks to everyone who has taken time to drop off The Reporter to the post office, or taken some time from there Sundays to help with this. You can do it once a month, every other week, etc.. Any time commitment would be appreciated.                                                     -Josie Arens

Music Vivace by Dr. Catherine Roma  St. John’s Miister of Music    Thank you for your support of the first concert in the Music Series. Every seat was filled (approx 220) because we had to make space for 80 high school students from Clark Montessori and their steel drums, plus Billy Larkin and Eugene Goss. What a treat for all who attended. Thank you. Monies will be contributed to Inner City Outings (ICO) the choice of the students. Their portion of the funds raised will go to this program that introduces inner city kids to the beauty of our local parks and environmentally focused resources.    The next program in the Music Series is the MUSE concert with Dale Hodges and Claire Slemmer adding their great voices as narrators to Where I Live, a breast cancer oratorio written by Diane Benjamin (MN). The full program will be uplifting and healing, that is why it is called “SING, HEAL, CELEBRATE.” Where I Live is scored for women's voices, narrator, strings, percussion and piano. Join us on Friday and Saturday November 17-18 at 8pm and Sunday November 19 at 3pm.     For Sunday October 29th the choir will sing a work by Daniel Moe. The text uses sections from Chief Seattle's well-known text and fragments from David. (Though many also suspect that Chief Seattle did not pen the often-quoted piece.) The piece calls for piano (Rachel Kramer) and clarinet. We welcome a young player, Charmaine Moore, who sings second soprano with MUSE.      Hope to have some of you join the Voices of Freedom that will now begin to work on music for the Martin Luther King Day Celebration at Music Hall. Rehearsals start for that on Tuesday October 24, at 6:30pm at the Freedom Center's Harriet Tubman Theatre.

Coming Up at The Mountain:: “American Fascism + GOD” If this title intrigues you, you might want to visit The Mountain (our UU retreat center in North Carolina) where the author, Davidson Loehr, will be spending both Thanksgiving weekend (Wed.-Sun.) and also December 1-3 in residence discussing his ideas and his recent book. Davidson is a Unitarian minister in Austin Texas who calls himself an eclectic heretic. "Simplicity" will be theme of the New Year's weekend at The Mountain. Both a two night and three night packages are available for those who would like to usher in 2007 in a beautiful mountaintop setting. For more information on either of these programs, visit www.mountaincenters.org or contact Carol or Dick Fencl.                                                        -Carol Fencl “Exploring UU” Class Mark your calendar for Saturday October 21 from 9am to 1pm at St. John's for the next "Exploring UU" class. Whether you are interested in membership or just want to know more about Unitarian Universalism, or just want to meet some nice people, this is a great way to connect to this community. Rev. Carpenter, Barbara Hadden and members of the church leadership will take you on a tour of the church, discuss history and philosophy, church activities and opportunities. Lunch and child care are provided at no charge. To reserve a place, please contact Barbara Hadden to let us know your dietary and child care needs. Please reserve by Tuesday October 17. -the Membership Committee Flower Donations Sunday flower donations are being accepted through the end of 2006. Please see the sign up sheet posted on the wall outside the church office. -the Flower Friends The Reporter,   October 15, 2006 __ PAGE 5

UU Round UUp on November 5 Sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Council of Greater Cincinnati, the UU Round UUp is a time for all the UUs from the five Cincinnati area congregations to come together for fun and conversation.   The idea for the Round UUp came from inviting chairs of various committees to their bimonthly meetings. We learned so much from each other, and had such a good time that we wanted to give everyone the chance to have the same conversations. With the Round UUp you will get a chance to meet your counterparts from the other churches whether you are a board member or a new member, whether you are on buildings and grounds or you teach RE.  This would also be an excellent opportunity to invite a friend to see the fun side of our churches and congregations. The main idea is to have fun! The event will be on Sunday November 5 and will be held at The Kolping Center near Winton Woods, which is fairly central to all five congregations. They will provide lunch. We won't have to clean up or set up.  We can just have fun.   We will gather around 1:30pm with a buffet lunch served shortly after that. We will have time for conversations over lunch and then at 2:30 we will be Contra Dancing with some great musicians led by Fred and Pam Stoll.  A break from 3:30 to 4:00 for contests and more conversation, and then more dancing from 4:30 to 5:30 will round out the day.  This event will be great for everyone! Children and adults will have fun.  If you don’t dance please come anyway.  There will be some games and cards available for adults as well as kids. PAGE 6 The Reporter  October 15, 2006

There will be UU Round UUp Contests for:  Best Western Dress: (categories:  Male, Female, Child, Family Group Bake Off: (categories, Cake. Pie, Other Desert) UU Auction Contest:  Auction off or “sell” why you are a UU or your favorite UU congregation. UU Joke Contest:  Stand up Comedians bring your best four-five UU jokes, (your own or old saws). The Kolping Center is located at 10235 Mill Road in Cincinnati. Admission will be $10 for adults and $5 for children.               -MJ Pierson, Greater Cincinnati UU Council RE Joys by Barbara Hadden and Mary Darner  Directors of Religious Exploration At the end of October our children dress-up in costume and participate in the Sunday October 29 children's Halloween parade through the sanctuary. This is followed by a party during church. So be sure to mark your calendars and remember to dress-up that day! Children will line up in the Fellowship Hall at 11am to get ready for the parade. The three year olds through kindergarteners will party in the Wells Room in the second floor. The first through sixth graders will party in Rosa Parks downstairs. The party is organized by the RE Associates. Parents are welcome and may contact us if you would like to contribute to the party in some way. Members of the junior high class have volunteered their help with games. Thank you, junior highers! Be sure to come to church on October 29 so you get in on the fun! Remember that Daylight Savings Time ends on that Sunday so keep the time change in mind. You will have an extra hour to sleep. There are two volunteer positions in the RE Program that we would like to fill. The first is the publicity position for the RE Associates. The second is serving as liaison to the third and fourth grades class. For more information, contact Barbara Hadden.

St. John’s  Church Calendar Monday October 16   7pm- Adult RE: Our UU Story   7pm- Our Whole Lives Parents Orientation Tuesday October 17   10am- Meditation   10am- Yoga   6:30pm- Adult RE: Understanding Male Behavior   7pm- Adult RE: World Religious Traditions   7:15pm- Choir Rehearsal Wednesday October 18   6pm- Board of Trustees Meeting   6:30pm- Adult RE: Understanding Male Behavior Saturday October 21   9:30m- Dream Group   9:30am- Exploring UU Class   11am- Chalice Group (Nunn) Sunday October 22   9am- Chalice Group   11am Sunday Worship Service   12:15pm- Voices of Variety Rehearsal   12:30pm- Social Action Coordinating Committee   1pm- Interweave Picnic   7pm- A Course in Miracles Monday October 23   7pm- Adult RE: Our UU Story Tuesday October 24   9am- Staff Meeting   10am- Meditation   10am- Yoga   6:30pm- Adult RE: Understanding  Male Behavior   7pm- Adult RE: World Religious Traditions Wednesday October 25   6:30pm- Tech Support Committee   6:30pm- Adult RE: Understanding Male Behavior Thursday October 26   5pm- Deadline for The Reporter   7:15pm- Choir Rehearsal Friday October 27     7pm- Final Friday Games Night Saturday October 28      9am- All Council Breakfast/Meeting Sunday October 29 (daylight savings time ends!)      11am- Sunday Worship Service      12:15pm- Voices of Variety Rehearsal      7pm- A Course in Miracles

Monday October 30   7pm- Adult RE: Our UU Story Tuesday October 31    10am- Meditation    10am- Yoga    7pm- Adult RE: World Religious Traditions Upcoming Reporter Deadlines Because of the upcoming holiday season, here are the next few newsletter deadline dates: Thursday October 26 at 5pm Thursday November 9 at 5pm Thursday November 30 at 5pm Thursday December 14 at 5pm Thursday January 4 at 5pm Please note we will be skipping issues on the weeks of November 23 (Thanksgiving) and December 28 (Christmas/New Year’s). After January 4 we will be back on the every other week schedule. -Bruce Beisner From the Office by Josie Arens St. John’s Office Administrator Chalice Groups! - If you are the leader of a chalice group, please call me at the office 513-961-1938 and let me know when, where and what time your group meets so I can record it on the calendar. Just a reminder that if you schedule a space for event and then you decide not to meet please remember to notify me so I can remove it from the calendar and free up the space for someone else. With the holidays approaching quickly I am looking for some office coverage. I will be taking some vacation days around Christmas. If you could do any office coverage (retrieve phone messages and answer phone from 9am-noon) for me on any of these days please contact me. The days would be Wed Nov. 22, Friday Dec. 22, Wed, Thurs and Fri Dec 27, 28, 29. Thank you to Carolyn Banfield who covered the office for me on Friday Oct. 13th. The Reporter,   October 15, 2006 __ PAGE 7

Thought of the Week…

“My basic sense of it has always been

to get people to understand that in the long run

they themselves are the only protection they have

against violence or injustice...

People have to be made to understand that

they cannot look for salvation

anywhere but to themselves.”

--Ella Baker, Labor & Civil Rights Activist