CUUCSA On-Line Newsletter/ VOL. 12, NO. 9/September 2000
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.
Director of Religious Education
Anita Ferguson-Hinebaugh, a San Antonio native, is our new, part-time Director of Religious Education. She is married to Dave Hinebaugh and has two children Davey and Maya. She has shown that she shares our beliefs in a liberal religious tradition and has found her home in Unitarian-Universalism.
Her post high school education includes courses at UTSA, SAC, and Palo Alto College taking courses in English, child development, drama and psychology. And, holds CPR certification for infants, children and adults. She is a founding member of a PAC group called WOW (Wise Ol' Women) whose focus is on child care and education.
Already, she has exhibited a sincere dedication to our children and has many goals for our program that include: an understanding of our UU principles, involvement in social activism, exploration of spirituality, encouragement of respect and tolerance for different beliefs and life styles, increased, focused, involvement with the adult community and to have fun in the process. She is a great match for our existing program.
Anita is energetic, enthusiastic and easy to work with. So, when she calls on you to facilitate your involvement with our children just say, "Yes" and help to guide the blossoming lives of our wonderful children. Joan Bradshaw, Chair RE Committee.
Affinity Groups, Connections Groups, Covenant Groups (or whatever we decide to call them)
A number of different groups of the above types are forming. This is an experiment for CUUCSA but it has worked to increase membership and activity at many other churches. If you want to get in on this new, simple, and rewarding movement, sign-up (at the church) for the group you would like to belong to or contact growth task force members Sandi Boyd or Robert McKee for more information. Each group will be led by a facilitator or if you have a group idea you would like to start, get some other people to join you and start a group for your interest.
These are the suggested guidelines for operation of these groups as provided by the Southwest District. If you have questions or comments please contact the growth task force.
Upcoming Activities
Big Bend Outing: Friday, Oct. 6 returning Mon. Oct. 9th; Spaces left...call Lisa Kuntz for info! (Chisos Lodge or camp nearby)
Volksmarch in Govt Canyon: Sat. Oct. 21st, 10K (6.2mi) in a wonderful State Natural Area open to the public only on special occasions. Call Lisa. Kuntz, 493-8092, or e-mail at lisaannk@micworld.com.
Remarkable Films
JThe next film, "Henry Fool" will be shown Sunday, Oct. 1 at 7:00 P.M. Steve Botts will facilitate.
Religious Education
The RE department is starting its new term September 10. Our theme this term will be World Religions. Parents who have not registered their children may pick up a registration form in the foyer. We still have plenty of openings for volunteer teachers. If you're interested please contact Anita at 520-1531 0r 859-1170. We are looking forward to a new and exciting year with an exciting and valuable curriculum
Our Preschool class will be studying the WE BELIEVE curriculum. Thank you Joan Bradshaw, Sandi Boyd and Catherine Mckee for all their help and encouragement and for getting this new year off to a great start!!!
Affinity Group Forming
Following the talk of Wayne Thompson on September 17, Steve Botts and Joan Bradshaw will be organizing a "Simplicity Circle" similar to one at First UU Church with whom we will be affiliated. The participants will select the direction of the group or course. If you are interested, please sign up in the Foyer and speak to Steve or Joan about a meeting time.
Men's Group
The first meeting if the CUUC men's group will be held at 7:30 PM on September 20. All men are invited. We will try, at this meeting, to figure out what we are doing, how we might do it, and whether enough there are enough of us to get it done.
"Loaner" Computers
The board has expressed an interest in moving the church deeper into the digital age through use of electronic mailing lists and the like. They do not feel it right to proceed, however, unless every member who wants to participate has access to the technology. One way of including those who don't happen to have a computer available is to provide loaners for use on the internet via free access services. If you don't have a computer and would be interested in borrowing one from the church, contact Henry Halff (210-493-7501) so that we can get an idea of how many machines might be needed. Henry would also like to know if you have an unused internet-ready computer that you would be willing to donate to the church.
Upcoming Services
September 10: "Christianism, Nationalism, Economism, Earthism, ?ism" Speaker: Bob Ireland
September 17: "What Is Enough?" Wayne Stevenson Thomas. This service is based on the concept of voluntary simplicity. We plan to follow up the service with a series of classes designed to develop and use the ideas set forth in the book "Your Money or your Life."
September 24: "Born Neurotic?--Nature vs Nurture in Neuropsychiatry." Speaker: Bob Ireland
October 1: "How Stories Give us Hope," Mary Locke Crofts
"Lease-Lending" Library
In order to facilitate the original intent of the library in the foyer, THAT OF SHARING THE BOOKS THAT WE LOVE WITH EACH OTHER, we will use a new approach, that of Lease-Lending in order to achieve more circulation and to have additional funds with which to purchase books requested by members. Whew!!
Books can be checked out, not purchased, and a fee of $1.00 will be assessed. The success of this program will depend upon 1.your donating the book that you love and are willing to share and 2. the return of borrowed books. This should be up and running by Sept.10th. All comments and offers of support should be directed to Joan Bradshaw.
Web Page Update
The CUUCSA Web page has now been updated; if you have topics you'd like added or pages you'd like expanded, please notify the Webmaster, Margaret Batschelet at typea45@swbell.net.
New E-Mail Address
I'm moving all my e-mail over to SWBell so that I can use my DSL line a little more efficiently. From now on, to send me news for the newsletter or the Web page, you can contact me at typea45@swbell.net
Thanks,
Margaret Batschelet.
Catechism with an Open Mind: Adult Religious Education
What does it mean to be human? That question is the focus of the next meeting of Catechism With an Open Mind on Sunday October 1 at 12:00 P.M. in the Fireplace Room at church. This is the fifth meeting in a series, but participation does not require prior attendance. All are welcome. The series is based on a curriculum authored by U.U. minister George Kimmich Beach. What follows are some quotations and questions for reflection for the next session:
What is the meaning of human life?
"Nobody ever finds life worth living. One always has to make it worth living. All the people to whom life has been abundantly worth living have made it so by an interior, creative, spiritual contribution of their own. Is life worth living? Most people seem to think that is a question about the cosmos. No, my friends, that is a question about the inside attitude of you and me." Harry Emerson Fosdick
Is religious feeling, questioning, and reflection most often produced by negative experiences or by positive experiences?
"Self-knowledge is the subtlest art of all. This is forced upon us sooner or later, and the more we evade the issue the more layers we will have to penetrate before we reach the core." Malvina Hofman
Are people basically good or evil?
"If someone says, "I can do no wrong! I'm perfectly good," would you trust that person? Does this suggest that human goodness depends on our willingness to admit that we can, and probably have done, wrong? What best shows the human capacity to do good? What best illustrates our capacity to do evil? It has been said that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. Do you agree? Do you think we have an innate sense of right and wrong - often called conscience? Or must conscience be "educated?" George Kimmich Beach
Which of the following quotes appeals to you and why?
"I wish to begin this summer well; to do something in it worthy of it and of
me; to transcend my daily routine; to have my immortality now, in the quality
of my daily life. May I dare as I have never done. May I attain to a youth
never attained. I am eager to report the glory of the universe; may I be
worthy of it, for it is reasonable that we should be something worthier at
the end of the year than we were at the beginning." Henry David Thoreau
"We needed [in the concentration camp] to stop asking about the meaning of
life, and instead think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by
life -- daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and
meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means
taking responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill
the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Victor Frankl
"Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace. Where hate rules, let me bring
love; where malice, forgiveness; where disputes, reconciliation; where error,
truth; where doubt, faith; where despair, hope; where darkness, light; where
sorrow, joy!" St. Francis of Assisi
"The purpose of life is to spend it for something that outlives you."
William James
Feel free to bring a lunch to eat during the session or consider joining with others for lunch at a local restaurant afterwards. Catherine McKee and Lisa Kuntz are coordinating the series.
What Brings Us to CUUC?
At the January 9 service, each member of the congregation wrote on a card what, of a spiritual nature, brought them to church. Because the answers to this question tell us a good deal about ourselves, we publish one of them in each newsletter. We welcome any additional contributions from those not in attendance at the January 9 service, or those who were.
Here is September's selection.
What brings me here is the opportunity to explore and discuss things that
matter to me. I appreciate the openness to different points of view that I
find here and the willingness of people to examine beliefs other than their
own. I also appreciate the fact that members of this church are participants
rather than an audience.
Dates to Mark
September 10: "Christianism, Nationalism, Economism, Earthism, ?ism" Speaker: Bob Ireland
September 10: New RE term starts
September 10: Worship Committee Meeting, 12:00 p.m.
September 13: Women's Group, 7:30 p.m.
September 17: "What Is Enough?" Speaker: Wayne Stevenson Thomas.
September 20: Men's Group, 7:30 p.m. CUUCSA
September 24: "Born Neurotic?--Nature vs Nurture in Neuropsychiatry." Speaker: Bob Ireland
September 27: Women's Group, 7:30 p.m.
October 1: "How Stories Give us Hope." Speaker: Mary Locke Crofts
October 1: Catechism With an Open Mind, 12 p.m.
October 1: Remarkable Film Series, "Henry Fool," 7 p.m.
October 8: "Blessing/Dedication of the Pets," Coordinator: Henry Halff
October 6-9: Big Bend Outing
October 11: Women's Group, 7:30 p.m.
October 21: Volksmarch in Government Canyon
October 22: United Nations Intergenerational Service, Coordinator: Margaret Batschelet
To Subscribe
If you'd like to receive the e-mail version of this newsletter every month, send a message to Margaret Batschelet, the newsletter editor.
Back to Newsletters page