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.
Rev. Barbara Coeyman
Humans explain their great religious questions within their own times and places. Many religious stories dominating our world today were created in very different and by now outmoded cultural contexts. We need theology relevant to the state of our world today, and Unitarian Univeralists need a common theology. The fourteen-billion-year story of the Cosmos---that is, earth, life, and humanity---can become the Sacred Story of UUs, and can link us to other faith traditions. A Theology of the Universe reminds all of us, including our national leaders, of the interconnectedness of all life. A Theology of the Universe calls all of us, including our national leaders, to be stewards of our earth, to nurture a just, sustainable world today, so that there will be a healthy planet for future generations of all species.
The service will include readings by ecologists Brian Swimme, Thomas Berry, and Joanna Macy.
On April 24 after soup lunch, Barbara Coeyman and the Worship Committee will sponsor a Worship Workshop for all CUUC members and friends interested in working on and improving CUUC worship services.
In this workshop, we will include discussion of several questions: Why do people worship? Why do we at CUUC worship, and what do we want from worship? What, in your view, makes for good worship? How does worship Define sacred space? What is the role of the arts, especially music, in worship? How can any of us become worship leaders, and what type of training is important?
We will also practice some of the skills needed for successful worship Leadership, such as doing readings out loud and leading congregational singing.
Any questions about the workshop, contact Barbara Coeyman, barbrevbarb@aol.com, Mary Grace Ketner mgteller@yahoo.com, or Margaret Batschelet typea45@swbell.net.
The Great CUUC Service Auction has at last come to an end. Auction director, Henry Halff announced that in spite of the whiners, protestors, doubters, and Federal agents, the auction made a grand total of $2,600. Bills for services have been sent out, and donors have been notified of their sales. Halff also announced that the auction organization has engaged the Knuckles McGee Collection and Enforcement Agency to periodically "remind" those who fail to deliver their donations or pay their bills promptly. No longer under indictment, Halff is available to answer any questions the participants might have. Those foolhardy enough to trust his answers can contact him at 237-0984 or henry@quiensabe.com.
The annual CUUCSA garage sale will take place on Saturday, May 7. Please bring your contributions of used but usable items (everything but clothes) to CUUCSA; you can put them in the beanbag room upstairs or (for sturdy and/or muddy contributions like lawn tools) in the green shed outside. Nancy White can let you in to leave off donations if you'll make arrangements with her (white2nancy@yahoo.com). Volunteers are needed to help set up, sell, and clean up afterward (see the next story; trust us--it's a lot more fun than it sounds!). For more information, contact Steve Boyd, msbtoys@nbtx.com.
The Women's Support Group will meet at the church at 7:00 p.m. on the following dates: April 25, May 9, May 23.
The next series selected for the Remarkable Film Group will feature works of Gena Rowlands in collaboration with her famous writer/director husband and son. The first film selected in this series will be "A Woman Under the Influence." The 1974 film, written and directed by her husband John Cassavetes, established Ms. Rowlands as an actress of major talents. The film will be shown at 6:00 PM on Sunday, May 15 at the church.
The second film in the Gena Rowlands series for the Remarkable Film Group will be "Gloria." This 1980 film was also written and directed by John Cassavetes. The film will be shown at 6:00 PM on Sunday, June 19 at the church.
The Remarkable Film Group will conclude its Gena Rowlands series with "Unhook the Stars." This 1996 film was co-written and directed by her son, Nick Cassavetes. The film will be shown at 6:00 PM on July 17, 2005 at the church.
From John Bradshaw:
We need volunteers for the following times and activities:
Please let Steve Boyd (msbtoys@nbtx.com) or John Bradshaw (JANDJBRADSHAW@webtv.net)know when you can help, day or evening. We and your church will appreciate it and we promise a generally pleasant and interesting experience.
April 24 - "The Great Story Of The Universe: A Theology We Can All Agree On," Speaker: Rev. Barbara Coeyman
May 1 - Beltane. Speaker: John Wiesen
May 15 - Speaker: Rev. Barbara Coeyman
May 22 - Coordinators: Board of Trustees
May 29 - RE Sunday
Simplicity Circle meets 2nd and 4th Sundays, 6-8 p.m. April 24, May 8 and 22, (Beware May's 5th Sunday!), June 12, and June 26.
The soup lunch on April 24 will be sponsored by the Worship Committee. However, since the members of the committee will be involved in the Worship Workshop after lunch, they're asking for volunteers to look after cleaning up!
In undertaking our annual pledging process this year, the board and coordinators have adopted a holistic approach. Yes, your financial pledge is part of what is needed to know what programs can be provided for next year, but even more importantly, we want to know how the church can be helpful in meeting your needs and what you can promise to this church to bring about a community that meets everyone's needs. Be prepared to discuss this with one of the board members or coordinators. (They will contact you.) They will give you lots of helpful information. Please give it your considered thought and submit a response by Sunday, May 8, 2005. The board and coordinators will then prepare the 2005/2006 budget at its meeting on May 10, 2005.
The children seemed to really enjoy being included in the Annual Fellowship Dinner. Thanks to Micaela Gullick and her cousin Meagan for providing a show and tell ferret and the reading of Micaela's poem about her Dad leaving. Thanks also to Richard Wiesen for his entertaining morphing faces. Thanks to Meagan for showing Michael Gullick's Lego structure. We were sorry that camp and sickness prevented the other children from attending; however, next year promises to be even bigger and better! The children also appreciated a chance to participate in the service auction and thank those parents and friends who purchased their handmade cards. Anyone wanting reprints, see me. I will be providing a 'catalog' of sorts to Henry Halff soon and any cards that were computer generated may be ordered. The hand embellished cards will not be able to be reproduced.
In RE, we have been studying Mythology and we plan on spending the rest of April on this topic. I am planning on having a practicing Pagan come and talk to the class before the end of this session. So far, we have studied a new telling of the Demeter/Persephone Myth, Gaia (Mother Earth) and Mella and the Python Healer (from Africa). Next month, we will study Native American traditions and one of our visitors, an Apache Indian Princess has kindly agreed to come one Sunday and talk to the children about customs and traditions as well as teach them the Snake Dance. The final Sunday, May 29th will be a Children's Service and an Open House.
Next year, we will begin to study Islam, Buddhism and other world religions and to spend about 4 Sundays on each religion (including having persons who practice that religion visit the class). We will also be doing some lessons on tolerance,
Thanks for letting me experience your children. I am enjoying learning from them too!
Glenna Jones-Kachtik
RE Director.
Every so often, it behooves a congregation like ours to ask itself what membership in the church really means and whether or not the church's policies and practices reflect the real meaning of membership. So it has been at CUUC. In adult RE classes, at the annual retreat, and at monthly board meetings we have asked ourselves why we belong to CUUC, what the church should be doing to satisfy our needs, and what we members need to do so that the church can fulfill its mission. As the result, the board seeks to put before the membership a cluster of recommendations to make membership in this church more meaningful and aligned with the members expectations.
We have, in the past thought about membership as a state. One can be a member or not a member. (Actually, our bylaws also allow for voting members and nonvoting members.) Becoming a member is easy these days. Filling out the membership form is all that is officially required. We are coming to recognize that this membership-as-state conception does not reflect the real meaning of membership. Rather, as the UUA's Commission on Appraisal proposes,
. . .membership is a journey, both for the individual and the congregation. It is not just a technical or legal state, nor only a numerical measurement. It is a process that engages human beings and takes us from a starting place to a new place. By paying careful attention to the paths that provide for this journey, we urge congregations to take into account individual needs for deepening and affirmation. Membership issues do not end when you get a name in "the book"; in fact, this may be when they truly begin.
We each come to CUUC for a number of reasons, but, if the annual retreat is any indication, we have much in common. Most all of us are committed to these values.
It is easy to see how the church does or might support each of these common values, through programs for children and adults, through pastoral care, through social action, through social activities, through lay-led worship, through stewardship, and through covenant, affinity, and support groups.
All of these various activities happen because we, the members of CUUC, support them pretty much all on our own. Unlike many churches, the efforts of each one of us counts. The more each of us puts in, the more all of us gets out. If too few of us put in, the church will cease to exist. Many of our contributions are in the form of effort: coordinating services, cleaning the pool, hosting a picnic, coordinating a party for The Bridge (a temporary residence facility for children in the San Antonio area). In addition, we each need to support the church with financial contributions, to pay the rent, to compensate our minister and RE teacher, to pay guest speakers, to buy supplies.
The board, sees several ways in which the church needs to change to support the conception of membership as a journey.
The church needs to make it clear, through its bylaws, that membership binds the church to provide the benefits of belonging and that it binds the member to commit his or her fair share of both effort and financial support to the church.
Each of us needs to make a covenant with the church. This covenant should specify what the member expects of the church and the member's commitments to stewardship of the church, in the way of both way of both effort and money.
Prospective members need to discuss membership with leaders prior to joining so that they can better understand how the church can serve them and how they can serve the church. Put differently, they need to prepare to make a covenant to the church.
Existing members need to renew their relationship with the church annually or as needed. To this end, the annual canvass should be converted from a period of drumming up money to one in which each member reflects on all aspects of his or her relationship to the church and revises his or her covenant in the light of those reflections.
The church leadership needs to do a better job of coordinating church activities. It needs to better assess what members want from the church, and what they can give to the church. More importantly, it needs to better communicate what the church needs to thrive and how each of its members can meet those needs.
If you have read this far, you may be asking, "OK, so what does this have to do with me?" The answer to this question lies in the specific, concrete actions that the board has undertaken in pursuit of this new vision of membership.
1. The board will present a proposed change in its bylaws for approval by the membership at the Annual Meeting on May xx. They propose that the membership paragraph that currently reads
ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP
Section 1 - Eligibility:
Membership in this church is based upon the voluntary desire of people of good will to live together in a religious fellowship. Any person of at least fourteen (14) years of age who signs a membership form shall be registered as a member of this Church.
Section 2 - Voting Members:
Voting members are persons fourteen years of age and older who have signed a membership form and have pledged and paid an amount equal to the per member UUA Honor Society and Southwest District dues and the newsletter expense.
Be replaced with the following.
ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP
Membership in this church is open to any person of at least fourteen (14) years of age who (a) looks to the Church for assistance in spiritual and religious needs, and who (b) commits his or her fair share of effort and financial support to sustaining the Church. [might want to ask a lawyer about this]
The church and the new member shall sign a covenant describing their commitments to each other. This covenant shall be renewed annually or sooner as needed. The covenant shall be a commitment of the heart. As such, its terms shall have no legal standing.
2. The church has three new brochures.
One of these brochures describes the church's programs and the benefits of belonging to the church. This brochure will be distributed to newcomers (and anyone else who wants one).
A second brochure (forthcoming) describes the shape of stewardship in the church. This brochure, to be distributed at new and prospective member orientations, describes the church's organization and the main opportunities for working to support the church's activities.
A third brochure explains the pledging process and the importance of each member's contributing his or her fair share.
3. The current canvass will be broadened as a tryout of the procedures needed to support the new vision of membership. In addition to promulgating the proposed budget as part of the pledge packet, the church leadership will, through postings, publication, and other mechanisms, give the membership a sense of the church's current needs for stewardship. Thus, members should be well prepared to decide how they can support the church during the coming year.
As was the case last year, the church leaders will try to contact each member to ensure that we all understand the importance of our commitments to stewardship and to answer any questions we might have. Unlike last year, we will not ask for a pledge on the spot. Rather, each of us will be given a covenant form. We will be asked to reflect upon their relationship with the church and to return the form by the end of the canvass. The form has a place for the member to specify what he or she wants from the church and places to specify his or her commitment of time and of money.
4. New and Prospective Member Orientations will be converted from sessions dominated by discussions of Unitarian Universalism to sessions dominated by conversations between church leaders and prospective or new members. These conversations will inform the leadership of these new people's expectations and help them find the kind of participation in the church that fulfills their expectations. (Discussion of the denomination will be included to the extent needed to satisfy the main goal of the session.)
The new vision of membership as a journey and the changes that it entails constitute a major step for this church, one that deserves serious reflection on all of our parts. The changes call for deepening the meaning of membership and, at the same time, they will probably narrow its scope. Some members, uncomfortable with the fair-share provision and/or a covenant may resign their membership, and this possibility may seem antithetical to our commitment to growth. On the other hand, we need to recognize that growth in numbers will only come with growth in programs, and that growth in programs can only come with the commitment of the existing membership to such growth.
So far the CUUC Speech Club (aka Toastmasters) has made an awesome beginning. There is a wealth of hidden, latent and otherwise 'bubbling-under" talent undeniably itching to be discovered, released and just generally whipped out for all to see, well. . .* hear * in our club.
Please feel free to spread the word and bring as many friends, associates and tongue-tied financial consultants as you are able or willing. "The more the ... something or other", as Shakespeare said.
Try to arrive 10 - 15 minutes early. This way everyone can be in place and ready to start on the dot. That's kinda something that Toastmasters suggests is sort of pretty much quite important, generally.
The theme for the meeting will be "Don't-dos & Do-dos". The Toastmaster will use this theme for filler material that will segue from one portion of the meeting to the next, and will generally be on the subject of public speaking. The Topics Master (Mary Grace) may choose to use the theme for anything that might possibly be included under this heading as it may pertain to the rest of the Universe. Or, of course, may choose to do something completely off the wall. We shall be like the cat that ate the cheese, i.e. wait for the mouse with baited breath.
Meeting 7.00 PM Monday May 2, 2005 @ CUUCSA, 4818 Beverly Mae E, San Antonio, TX
Toastmaster Patrick Woosley
Speech # 1 Henry Halff
Speech # 2 Clem Chow
Table Topics: Mary Grace Ketner
General Evaluator: Sonya Graham
Evaluator # 1 Terrellita Maverick
Evaluator # 2 Bill Higgins
Team Roles:
Ah Counter: Sonya Graham
Word of the Day: Marilyn De King
Grammarian: Stephanie Shearer
Timer: Patrick Shearer
Howson Hall, First UU Church of Austin. Registration Requested
In the second meeting of the Central Texas UU Network, the Leadership group decided to sponsor a one-day workshop for area churches on "The Art of Leadership."
Lansing Bicknell, an international consultant who has specialized in leadership and organizational development for over 20 years, will facilitate the workshop, pulling from several tested models and disciplines to help each of us discover what it takes to create great and sustainable results in our church communities. He promises a lively day, fun and challenging for everyone who participates fully.
In order to focus your attention on what leadership beliefs you have, he asks that you consider these questions
All present and future board members, council members, covenant group facilitators, and people who are thinking about being church leaders are encouraged to attend.
Linda Taylor and Lansing will be interviewing as many of the participants as possible before the workshop. We will eat lunch together as part of the workshop, so please plan on attending with your full attention from 10 am-3 pm.
To register, or for more info, contact Linda Taylor, 291-5407 or taylorlinda@mac.com
One of the things that struck me this last year, especially after Barbara's introducing us to Alice Blair Wesley's book "Our Covenant" is that there are hundreds of UU churches in the same situation that we are in - small, with good ideas and wonderful people, and not aware of the resources in the larger community. We have the opportunity of meeting with the folks in our region who want to break out of the isolation of being a single congregation to share our common thoughts, concerns and aspirations. Surely we will benefit from that. Is there someone, or better yet, two or three, who can attend the next meeting of the Central Texas UU Network? There will be some from First UU Church in San Antonio who are going, and we could arrange a car pool if you would like. The details are:
Saturday, April 30, 2005
10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Howson Hall, First UU Church in Austin
Art of Leadership Workshop
April 24 - "The Great Story of the Universe: A Theology We Can All Agree On," Speaker: Rev. Barbara Coeyman
April 24 - Soup Lunch
April 24 - Worship Workshop after Soup Lunch
April 24 - Simplicity Circle, 6-8 p.m.
April 24 - Membership Committee meeting, after services
April 25 - Women's Group, 7:00 p.m.
April 30 - Art of Leadership Workshop, 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. First UU of Austin
May 1 - "Beltane", Speaker: John Wiesen
May 2 - Toastmasters, 7:00 p.m.
May 7 - CUUCSA Garage Sale
May 8 - Simplicity Circle, 6-8 p.m.
May 9 - Women's Group, 7:00 p.m.
May 15 - Speaker: Rev. Barbara Coeyman
May 15 - Remarkable Film Group, "A Woman Under the Influence," 6:00 p.m.
May 22 - Coordinators: Board of Trustees
May 22 - Annual Congregational Meeting
May 22 - Simplicity Circle, 6-8 p.m.
May 23 - Women's Group, 7:00 p.m.
May 29 - RE Sunday
June 12 - Simplicity Circle, 6-8 p.m.
June 19 - Remarkable Film Group, "Gloria," 6:00 p.m.
June 26 - Simplicity Circle, 6-8 p.m.
July 17 - Remarkable Film Group, "Unhook the Stars," 6:00 p.m.
If you'd like to receive the e-mail version of this newsletter every month, send a message to Margaret Batschelet, the newsletter editor.