THE REPORTERNewsletter of St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church of Cincinnati, OH October 29, 2006
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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. “United Nations Sunday” –the Rev. Dr. Frank Carpenter We are fortunate to have Karen Dabdoub sharing the pulpit this Sunday with Rev. Carpenter. Mrs. Dabdoub is Executive Director of the Cincinnati chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations. This organization advocates for civil liberties for Muslims. Formerly she served as administrator at the mosque in West Chester, as well as the Clifton Ave. mosque. They will have a conversation on being a Muslim in America.
“Counting Our Blessings” –the Rev. Dr. Frank Carpenter If the holiday season begins with Halloween, then we are well into it by mid-November. And it is harvest time. As did our ancestors, and their progenitors before them, we’ll prepare for winter.
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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 Next Reporter Deadline will be Thursday November 9 at 5pm. Send articles to Bruce Beisner via email. |
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Frankly Speaking….. by the Rev. Dr. Frank Carpenter
A significant election, according to all accounts, is coming up. I urge you to be thoughtful in preparation for voting and then, definitely, do vote. The League of Women Voters has their election brochure in the lobby for you to pick up.
Being active in public and community affairs has always been a value of Unitarian Universalism. Read Emerson, among other UU authors. One way to understand our religious movement is that we have been a revolt against safe passivity, submissiveness in our faith. Roger Baldwin, a founder of the ACLU and member of a Unitarian church, put it this way: “They have rights who dare defend them.”
Elections always bring up for me the question of loyalties. I live in Cincinnati. I have a Ohio drivers license. I love my country. And I pay taxes to all three. When I vote, I will vote on city, state and national matters. Sometimes these conflict.
For a long time a significant tension for me is a sense of being citizen of space ship earth. I am in many ways a proud patriotic American. I also love this blue and green dot we inhabit in the universe. We’ve heard a lot about globalization and being a global village. However, if we are part of a global village, the most extensive issues we vote on are national. How to we vote on global issues? We don’t get to vote for Secretary General of the United Nations. Nor do we vote on which nations serve on the Security Council. It seems to me that there is something antiquated about living in a global village and only voting locally.
Having run for school committee some years ago in a small NH town, I did learn that all politics are local. Getting out and talking to voters is important. Yet we are also confronted with vast national and global issues. Increasing conflicts at all levels are a primary concern for me this election.
I trust you will give adequate thought to voting on the various issues on the ballot this November 7th. And then, thinking globally, vote locally.
-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 andgender diversity of our members and visitors, young and old.
PAGE 2 The Reporter October 29,, 2006
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Opportunities & Invitations
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 churchesThe 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. 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
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Saving our Children fromNature-Deficit Disorder Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv will be the focus of our Adult Religious Exploration discussion after church on Sunday Nov. 5. We'll meet in the chapel at 1 p.m. (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
Friends of Szentlaszlo LuncheonPlan now to stay after church on Sunday November 5th for a wonderful luncheon of hot homemade soups and breads. The money raised from the luncheon will go to St. John's Bread for the Elderly Program which provides one loaf of bread for each elderly Unitarian in our partner church in Nyaradszentlaszlo, Romania. This is one way to support the Bread Program and, at the same time, enjoy a wonderful lunch with friends. For those of you thinking about joining other St. John's members and friends for a visit next year to Transylvania and our partner congregation, there will be a inform-ation sharing session on Sunday December 3rd at 12:30 pm in the downstairs library. Possible dates and itineraries for the trip will be discussed. -Tom Darner, Friends of Szentlaszlo
Women’s Book Group Women's Book Group will meet on Friday, November 17 to discuss In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant . We're departing from our usual format and meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the cafe at Joseph-Beth for a light meal followed by a discussion of the book. Please call Debbie Combs by Wednesday, November 15 for a reservation. The book group will not meet in December but will meet at St. John's on Friday, January 19 at 7:30pm. -Debbie Combs
The Reporter, October 29, 2006 __ PAGE 3 |
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Among Ourselves
Outreach Offering On Sunday, November 12, 2006, we will have a split-the-plate offering to benefit the Contact Center. This is the second in a series of four outreach offerings that we will be doing for the Outreach Grants Committee for the year. The Contact Center's mission is to end poverty through empowerment of their members by working to bring about economic and social justice. They are seeking a grant of $2000 to cover the costs of mailings and eliminating childcare obstacles for their members and Over The Rhine residents. Please be generous when you give to the plate on November 12, and know that your gifts are helping others in our larger community. -Kelly McMichael
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
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Dinner with the LAFs (Lively After 50) Our November outing is Friday evening, November 10 at 6:30 PM at Lenhardt’s (151 W. McMillan Avenue.) This family-owned restaurant in Clifton specializes in German/Hungarian cuisine. All St. Johners and St. John’s friends approaching or over fifty are welcome to attend. Newcomers are especially encouraged to participate. Our mission is strictly social.Reservations are needed, so please call or e-mail Jan Hay by Thursday November 9 at 10pm. -Jan Hay
The Wheel of Life -Linda Fowler
Music Vivace by Dr. Cathy Roma, Minister of Music The St. John's Choir will have special music to accompany the very special service on Sunday November 5. Fanshon Shur and several dancers will grace our service with a moving program set to accompany the choral anthem. " Yhiyu L'Ratzon" is by Bonia Shur with Richard Goering on guitar. The following Sunday, November 12, the choir will perform two anthems. "Grateful" is a beautiful song by John Buccino, and Jennfier and Ed Jones will sing the solos. We will also sing an early Mozart piece "Jubilate Deo." The second concert in the Music series is coming up on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday November 17, 18, 19. MUSE Cincinnati's Women's Choir will do a moving, dramatic and healing work, Where I Live, a breast cancer oratorio. The work calls for women's choir, strings, piano and percusssion. Dale Hodges and Claire Slemmer add their dynamic voices as narrators. Please support this amazing work by Diane Benjamin. Josie has tickets--and if you buy the St. J’s Music Series, the MUSE concert ticket is a steal.
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St. John’s and First Church Partner To Host Homeless Families in 2007 Here’s a volunteer
opportunity that ANYONE can fit into their schedule. In 2007 2-5 people to work as a team to organize, purchase, prepare and serve Sunday supper to 12 – 16 people, usually 3-6 adults, the rest children. A basic meal such as spaghetti and salad, green vegetable, beverages. We’ll do this Sunday each of the four weeks we host. This is a PERFECT project for a chalice group! Individuals to be evening “hosts” two evenings each of the four weeks. This is ideal for a family to do together, or 1-3 adults plus optional youth. Children we host range from infants up to 15-16 yo, most children will be under 13 yo. There will be toys and games on hand, video movies to watch on TV... or bring your own fun ideas. One overnight host, one night each of the four weeks. You will partner with another overnight volunteer from First, Heritage, or Beth Adam Congregation. The two of you spend the night, arise early and make sure the families get up, eat a light breakfast, get their lunches together and are ready when the bus picks them up between 6:30 and 7 am. They go to the day center in lower Price Hill and from there the older children go to school, the adults to housing and employment search. We also need donations of: * Twin bed sheets, blankets, pillows. A neat idea: make a twin bed size quilt on the sewing machine, so we have extra layers to sleep under on cold nights. * Bath towels, hand towels, wash cloths. * Gently used VHS movies * $$ - as always, money goes a long way to help: we have 16 rollaway beds to buy and whatever basics are not donated (toys, linens, so forth). I visited Westwood Methodist Church a few Sundays ago and helped welcome new guests arriving at 5:30pm for a week’s lodging at the church. There were three families, a total of three mothers and nine children, eight under 12 years old, including two babies. I helped them get settled in
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three separate rooms/sleeping quarters and showed them the general hospitality space with play area, lounge area, eating area, the gymnasium a floor below where the children were allowed to shoot hoops, play with basketballs and just run around before and after dinner until we adjourned to go back upstairs to the sleeping quarters (after supper and after the moms made lunches for their families for the next day and put them in the refrigerator for overnight). We are welcome to visit any of the other churches during their host week to see the hospitality network in action. These include, Mt Auburn Presbyterian, Redeemer in Hyde Park . Anyone interested, please contact me – Chris Reed If you’re ready to volunteer, or just want more info please call me or e-mail at christinereed@fuse.net . Let me know if you want me to come to your chalice group for a brief Q&A session to help you decide how best to “plug in.” This doesn’t start until 2007, but we have to form our teams now so we can train in January and jump in. -Chris Reed, Social Action Coordinating Committee
Reporter Team Needs Your Help!Help is desperately needed for putting the Reporter together on Sunday(s), before the service or after the service. Emily Hodges is in much need of a few volunteers. Even if you can't do it on a regular basis please notify us that you could do it once in a while. Any help to her would be much appreciated. Please contact Josie (513-961-1938 or stjohnsuu@fuse.net) or Emily Hodges if you can help. -Josie Arens
Games Night on November 10 -Karen Miller
The Reporter, October 29, 2006 __ PAGE 5 |
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RE Joys by Barbara Hadden and Mary Darner Directors of Religious Exploration
Halloween: Thanks to all the parents and junior high youth who made our Halloween parties for children such a success on Sunday, October 29. The children truly enjoyed themselves! And thanks to RE Associates for organizing this event.
Cincinnati Area UU “Our Whole Lives”Sexuality Education Offering: Parents of 7-9th graders will have one more opportunity to attend a parent orientation for the junior high Our Whole Lives program that begins in December and ends in March. The orientation will be held at St. John's on Saturday, November 4 at 9:30 am - noon, although we may be able to finish earlier if there is a small group. Parent orientations are mandatory as we must have a parent's informed consent for youth to attend the program. Please RSVP to Mary Darner by November 1 if you plan to attend. OWL PARENT SESSION: For those parents who have already had an OWL parent orientation and would like time to have some further discussions about involving their youth in the OWL program or about teen sexuality issues, Rev. Kat Hawbaker and Rev. Annie Foerster have set aside time to meet with parents at First Unitarian Church on Saturday morning November 4th, 9-1am. I am sure they would appreciate hearing from you if you plan to attend:
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Coming of Age: We are currently in the process of recruiting mentors for our 8th grade youth participating in the Coming of Age program. The program starts in November this year with a workshop on the afternoon of Sunday, November 5 for youth and mentors. Rick Prairie is working with Mary Darner this year to coordinate the program. Youth will meet with mentors through April and develop their credo statements for presentation to one another and their mentors on April 28. We will celebrate their work with the larger congregation on Sunday, April 29.
Voices of Variety: Rehearsals for the December 3 Children's Holiday Program continue after church at 12:15-12:45 pm in the Rosa Parks Room. It doesn't take long to learn these songs so join in the fun. You will walk out of rehearsal with a smile on your face! --------------------------------------------------------------
New Spot for UUs in South Florida !Due to major renovations, the Southeast UU Winter Institute in Miami (SWIM) will actually be held in the historic West Palm Beach area. SWIM's annual intergenerational retreat for UUs and like-minded people of all ages happens every year from December 26th through January 1st. SWIM offers South Florida sunshine, outdoor adventures (including tours, hikes, paddling), workshops (including spirituality and personal growth), programs for families, singles, youth, teens, and young adults, fantastic food, and a new community of friends from across the continent. Play, laugh, sing, and celebrate New Year's Eve at SWIM! Join UUs from all over North America for a week of fun in the sun! It's a beautiful time of year to be in South Florida. This year's theme: Sacred Space. See more online at http://www.swimuu.org SWIM is a member in good standing of CU2C2, the Council of Unitarian Universalist Camps & Conferences, an Independent Affiliate of the Unitarian Universalist Association. -Pepe Acebo, SWIM Board Chair
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St. John’sChurch Calendar
Monday October 30 7pm- Adult RE Class: Our UU Story Tuesday October 31 10am- Meditation 10am- Yoga 6pm- Adult RE Class: World Religious Traditions Wednesday November 1 7pm- Friends of the Collaborative 7pm- Membership Committee 7:15pm- Choir Rehearsal Saturday November 4 Men’s Group Retreat at St. Ann’s Sunday November 5 11am- Sunday Worship Service 12:15pm- Voices of Variety Rehearsal 12:15pm- Friends of Szentlaszlo Luncheon 12:30pm- “Last Child in the Woods” Discussion 12:45pm- Coming of Age Workshop 1:30pm- UU Round UUp at Kopling Center 6pm- Men’s Group 7pm- A Course in Miracles 7pm- EarthSpirit Full Moon Gathering Monday November 6 Church Office Closed (Josie on Vacation) 7pm- Adult RE Class: Our UU Story 7pm- RE Advisory Committee Tuesday November 7= Election Day9am- Staff Meeting 10am- Meditation 10am- Yoga 8pm- Adult RE: World Religious Traditions Wednesday November 8 5:30pm- Executive Board Meeting Thursday November 95pm- Deadline for The Reporter 7:15pm- Choir Rehearsal Friday November 106:30pm- LAFS Dinner at Lenhardt’s 7pm- Games Night Saturday November 11= Veterans Day10am- Estate Planning Workshop 11am- Chalice Group (Nunn)
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Sunday November 12 9:30am- Coming Of Age 11am- Sunday Worship Service 12:15pm- Voices of Variety Rehearsal 12:30pm- RE Associates Committee 12:30pm- Interweave Luncheon 4pm- Breaking Free 7pm- A Course in Miracles 7pm- Board/Staff Dinner Monday November 13 7pm- Adult RE Class: Our UU Story 7pm- RE Advisory Committee Tuesday November 1410am- Meditation 10am- Yoga 8pm- Adult RE: World Religious Traditions
Contact Center Awards at St. John’s The Contact Center, an advocacy group in Over the Rhine, which speaks for the poor in Cincinnati as well as Ohio, will hold it's volunteer awards dinner and fund raiser on Thursday, November 9th, in Krohlfifer Hall at St. John’s. Come and hear our victories, and enjoy great food, entertainment, and a silent auction. The dinner takes place at 6:00PM and costs $15.00 per person, or $150.00 for a table of 10. Please come out and support this very worthy cause. Call Cassandra Wooden or Judy Cirillo for reservations. -Judy Cirillo
Upcoming Reporter Deadlines Because of the upcoming holiday season, here are the next few newsletter deadline dates: Thursday November 9 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
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We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote… The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. VOTE ON NOVEMBER 7!
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For non-partisan information on the candidates and issues on the ballot, pick up a copy of the League of Women Voters’ “The Who and What of the Election” in the church lobby or visit www.lwvcincinnati.org
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