Editor: Margaret Batschelet, typea45@swbell.net
Nosotros, las congregaciones miembros de la Asociación UU, convenimos en afirmar y formentar el valor y la dignidad propria de cada persona.
There will be a Valentine's Day potluck dinner at Janet (Oglethorpe) Trent's house, 3415 Hunters Run on Friday, February 14th, at 6:30. This will be the sixth annual gathering, and we'll be serving the traditional love punch and chocolate truffles.
Blue Moon Circle will be meeting on Thurs 2/20 and on 3/6. On 2/20 we will be doing the Chocolate Ritual. Everyone is invited to come join us. Share your favorite chocolate treat and get silly! 7:30 pm. For more info ask Estella Boyes.
The soup lunch for March is scheduled for March 2 immediately after the service. The March soup lunch will be hosted by the Women's Group.
February 16 - Speaker: Peter Van Dusen
February 23 - Speaker: Bob Ireland
March 2 - Speaker: Mary Grace Ketner
March 9 - Speaker: Barbara Cooeyman
Marach 16 - Speaker: Loretta Von Copenolle
March 23 - RE Sunday; Coordinator: Joan Bradshaw
April 6 - Speaker: Barbara Cooeyman
April 13 - YRUU Service
The Woman's Support Group will meet on February 10th and February 24th at 7:00 pm at the church.
The Remarkable Film selected for February is "A Shot in the Dark", the second and considered by many to the the best of the Pink Panther series. It will be shown at 6 PM on Sunday, February 16 at the church.
Hungry for a gourmet dinner? Longing for a Celtic music serenade? Help is on the way! The service auction is going strong with over 30 donations and another 8 requests. You can view the current donations and requests at http://www.cuucsa.org/auction.html Bids will be accepted beginning Sunday, February 9. Then we'll conclude the auction with a party on Saturday, March 1. Bid sheets will be posted in the church and will be available until the end of auction. You can record your bids on the sheets, then after the auction, the auctioneers will notify the winners and donors of the results and collect the money.
It's time to start thinking about what wisdom or value YOU would like to pass on to the next generation! A spontaneously formed Curriculum Action Theme Committee also known as the CAT in a BAG for a DAY organizers met Sunday, February 2, to decide on critical issues that will make this project a reality. What I know is that we have an abundance of knowledge and experience in our church and in the Youth at First UU Church and we would like to capture this in a curriculum. We do not expect to burden any one individual with this task but plan to share the responsibility throughout the community. How do we plan to do this? First to establish a date when a curriculum workshop can be held and to give as much support to all participating as is needed. This means preparing a standardized form, providing research and supplies and organizing them into a meaningful, one-year, action filled, all-age UU curriculum whereby each lesson can stand on it's own, even if it is a part of a series of lessons.
Possible topics, some already claimed are: Social Action, Death and Dying (which includes a trip to a cemetery to make rubbings), Evolution, City Planning (for which we would like everyone to start saving packing forms and materials to build such a city, Gardening, Nature Walks, Quilt block Making, Acting, Music, Art Projects, Masks, Worship Activities, tried and true traditional lessons, and anything relating to the UU Principles or Sources. Please note the emphasis on Action.
We think this project, first suggested by Sandi Boyd, has great potential and possibility. We will let you know of the time and place for the Workshop following the Program Committee Meeting next week. Dianna Ross and Joan Bradshaw, Co Coordinators
The Program Committee will meet after church on Sunday, February 9. Among the topics we'll discuss is establishing an arrangement to have Barbara Cooeyman present services for us on a monthly basis. All those interested in CUUCSA programming are invited to attend.
"Homecomings" is a Bed and Breakfast travel network for UU's and other religious liberals. You can travel and meet new friends, stay in the homes of fellow UU's, or (optionally) have them stay with you. Most stays cost less than a hotel or motel. Hosts are available throughout the US and internationally. Our network has fostered camaraderie and made possible a rewarding exchange of ideas among widely scattered UU's. The 23rd edition of the Homecomings Bed and Breakfast Travel Directory is now available through Homecomings International, Inc., Box 885, Venice, FL 34284. More information is available at http://www.uuhomecomings.com/
The Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) offers Classic Chalice Jewelry at reasonable prices for UU's everywhere. From simple pewter chalice pendants to lovely gold chalices with crystals, CLF has a variety of unique chalice jewelry for sale. Earrings, pendants, pins, and even ornaments are available. Give a gift to someone you love or to yourself that speaks of your commitment to liberal religion. Shop online at
This year's SWUUC Spring Conference will be held from April 25-27 in Tulsa, with the theme "Deepening Your Faith, Growing Your Soul." Workshops will take place at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, with accommodations at the Doubletree Hotel Warren Place. Brochures will be available in mid-January and can be accessed on the Web.
This is the second of five newsletter columns that I promised myself that I would write. Those who know me will be shocked, and perhaps dismayed, that I was able to sustain my momentum for two months. But, one of the nice things about columns is that you don't have to read them. This feature may seem especially relevant this month because my column is about money.
Before you decide to exercise your right to skip over, let me try to convince you that there might be good reasons to read on. But if you must cheat, at least skip down to the bit below that's labeled "Money talk ends here," and start reading again there.
Back to reasons for not cheating, you may be among the many who like to gripe about the way that money is handled, and since one of my few duties as president is to field complaints, you may find yourself complaining to me. How will you feel if I respond to your concerns with something like, "You dweeb, I covered that very issue at length in my February column. Don't you read your newsletter?"
Another good reason to read on is that we're handling the money thing differently this year. In the past, the finance guy (Bob McKee) has passed out last year's budget to everyone and asked them to read carefully and give generously. Then, at the May board meeting, the board dons their green eyeshades, takes a look at how generous the congregation has actually been, and throws together a budget for the next year. It takes them about 10 minutes to do this. The congregation gets to approve the budget at the congregational meeting, but they don't really have much of a choice, do they?
This year, things are different. Last month, the board asked the three committee facilitators to come up with expense estimates for next year. After some timely badgering on my part, all three facilitators responded. One had a long committee meeting, deliberated further by email, and sent in a detailed budget. Another handed me an index card that said "$500." He explained that the committee expected $500 more in expenses next year. The third was somewhere in between. The board at this month's meeting massaged these numbers and came up with a budget proposal for next year. And that budget proposal is published in this very newsletter, a full 3-1/2 months before the new year starts.
So here's the plan. (Warning: boring paragraph ahead!) You have until the end of March to complain about the budget proposal. The board will listen to complaints and suggestions and has even arranged for some of them to be discussed at our third annual retreat, tentatively planned for Mar 29. Then, at the Board's April meeting, we'll take another shot at the budget with a view to making it a pledge goal for the canvass, which will run through April. We'll adopt an official budget at the May board meeting, when we've gotten feedback on the canvass, and that's the one that you'll get to vote on at the congregational meeting on May 18.
This change is a big deal, because, for the first time (in my memory) you'll have a say in how the church plans on spending your money before you make your pledge.
Here's another reason to read this column, even if you don't normally care about money. The proposed budget this year is much more ambitious than in past years. It calls for a 20% increase in spending and a 25% increase in pledge income. You'll need to know why when you figure out what you're going to pledge. This column may be the only explanation that you'll ever get.
Some of the new items in the budget are small but worth noting. For example, we've heard complaints (from our own mouths, no less) about being nickeled and dimed to death throughout the year. In hopes of getting away from bake-sale financing, we've moved the Pastoral Care Emergency Fund into the main budget and we've increased the funds anticipated for building maintenance. There are other changes such as a fairly generous increase for Religious Education (the subject of next month's column).
Money Talk Ends Here.
But you'll notice that the big-ticket items in this year's budget are for speaker fees and for development consulting. Both of these items, as you probably know, have to do with one Barbara Coeyman. Barbara is a remarkably talented minister who recently completed an internship in Oregon and has returned to God's country (if there is a God and if God does have a country). Barbara now lives in Austin, which is well within striking distance of San Antonio. We're working on a plan to get her into our pulpit about once a month during the main part of the year and to have her cast a professional eye on some of the challenges and opportunities before the church.
So, one more reason to keep reading this column is that all this talk about money is not so much about money as about where we want the church to go. We have before us next year an opportunity to make ourselves into different kind of church. Bringing Barbara into our midst, gives us a chance to create a new model for lay-professional cooperation, one that may help us to better deal with challenges such as growth, diversity, social responsibility, and denominational affairs. I, for one, hope that we do embark on this experiment. Why? Because I see, at our enduring core (a lovely turn of phrase, for which I thank Susan Smith) a church that is nimble and audacious enough to reinvent itself whenever the need and opportunity exists. I also see a church that is resilient and forgiving enough to recover when its experiments don't work out.
The direction that we do take is up to us. You might, therefore, want to go back to the boring paragraph above (or, more likely, go there for the very first time). That paragraph is really about how we decide what direction to take. Barbara will again be in our pulpit on Mar 9, April 6, and May 11. So we'll have a good chance to get to know each other. More importantly, she and long-term planning committee (June Kachtik) to help us decide what we want to do and what it will take for us to do it. As at previous retreats, attendance is not optional.
The budget, by the way, for those who attended Barbara's service this morning, is part of the limiting framework within which we craft the future of this church. The numbers in the proposal are nothing more than the program committee's first guess. It's up to us to put them within sight of our dreams and reach of our pocketbooks.
My very last reason for reading this column is that, well, you've already done it. Now, look over the new budget. Chat with Barbara next time she's in town, and send me a complaint or two.
February 9 - "Finding Freedom in Liberal Religion," Speaker: Barbara Cooeyman
February 10 - Women's Support Group, 7:00 p.m.
February 14 - Valentine's Day Potluck, 6:30 p.m., Janet Trent's house
February 16 - Speaker: Peter Van Dusen
February 16 - Remarkable Films Series, "A Shot in the Dark," 6 p.m.
February 20 - Blue Moon Circle, Chocolate ritual, 7:30
February 23 - Speaker: Bob Ireland
February 21-23 - Leadership Conference, Waco UU Fellowship
February 24 - Women's Support Group, 7:00 p.m.
March 1 - Service Auction Potluck and Blowout, 6:30 p.m.
March 2 - Speaker: Mary Grace Ketner
March 2 - Soup Lunch after service hosted by Women's Group
March 6 - Board Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
March 9 - Speaker: Barbara Cooeyman
March 22 - All-Church Retreat, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
March 23 - RE Sunday; Coordinator: Joan Bradshaw
April 3 - Board Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
April 5 - Fellowship Dinner
April 6 - Speaker: Barbara Cooeyman
April 13 - YRUU Sunday
April 25-27 - SWUUC Spring Conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma
May 1 - Board Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
May 3 - Garage Sale
May 18 - Annual Congregational Meeting
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