Editor: Steve Botts, stbotts@texas.net
Nosotros, las congregaciones miembros de la Asociación UU, convenimos en afirmar y formentar el valor y la dignidad propria de cada persona.
President
Mary Grace Ketner
Secretary
Vicki Lee Mattern
Treasurer
Nancy White
At Large Member
Sonya Graham
At Large member
Peter Van Dusen
Operations & Maintenance Committee Coordinator
John Bradshaw, Patrick Shearer
Member Services Committee Coordinators
Clem Chow, Jeff Ketner
Program Committee Coordinators
Henry Halff, Stephanie Shearer
CUUC Website Manager
Margaret Batschelet
First, there's the column from our new minister, Phil Schulman followed by a few remarks from the newsletter editor concerning the death of CUUC member Patrick Woosley.
Also, there's the monthly column by our president, Mary Grace Ketner
Then, there are some announcements of things to come and acknowledgements for what CUUC members have done and are doing.
Following that, there's a preview of upcoming services and something about the presenters. Next, there's the monthy report by RE director Glenna Jones-Kachtik.
For those interested in checking out some of the various affinity groups within the church, there's information concerning what they're about and what they do.
And to wind things up, there's the calendar of what's happening this month and as far as we can see beyond.
On Tuesday, September 20, we found out that Patrick Woosley, devoted member of the church had passed away.
Sometimes we can see death coming from a long way off and prepare ourselves for its arrival. This was not the case with the passing of Patrick Woosley. I've read the online expressions of grief, shock, and dismay expressed by CUUC members and I share them. As appalled as we may be by his demise, what we have to face now is the fact he's gone and there is a Patrick-shaped hole in our church community. As Arthur Schopenhauer put it, "The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost."
Still, CUUC is different and better for Patrick's having been here, and something of him will remain a part of CUUC for a very long time.
The first CUUC email yesterday was a note introducing a draft of a pamphlet for the Parental Covenant Group (PCG) written by June K. It gave me the impression that a lot of great work had been done for the PCG to achieve its level of service. Similarly, the pamphlet and note expressed thoughtfulness about the group, its individuals, and also about sharing the precious resource with new people.
PCG reflects qualities that can be found throughout the activities and subgroups of the church. "Ministry to each other," "CUUC family", are phrases repeatedly used to express some key values of the congregation. I appreciate that the circle of ministry remains open. I appreciate that Community's circles of support have an obvious religious quality. For example, PCG's meetings are similar in format to our Sunday morning worship. I appreciate the communication that is CUUC's life blood.
Late yesterday, the CUUC web of support and communication began surging. There came the shocking news that Patrick Woosley, a dear man, was dead. We had lost a person whose wit, humor, and gentle spirit had touched all our hearts. Patrick always complemented our efforts, adding his supportive wisdom. We knew Patrick Woosley as the champion of Toastmasters. Few, if any of us, knew the degree of pain that Patrick had kept hidden. We called each other and began to try to make sense of something that made no sense to any of us.
What became evident immediately was the love and the pain shared by the community. We are grieving together and comforting each other. Soon, we will have gathered together for a memorial service to remember and celebrate Patrick. We will offer prayers or blessings that peace will come for all who mourn; however, it is unlikely that we will have a perfect or complete peace immediately. Suicide raises many issues. I am confident that we will have the courage to face these issues, that we will accept each other and encourage spiritual growth. We will hold a space for all our emotions, and they will likely run the full gamut. That which is sacred will make itself known as strong and vulnerable people join together for healing and to witness life eternally present. Love will have the final word at CUUC.
Phil Schulman
Years ago on vacation, our daughter Kate was looking for souvenirs in one of a jillion tourist site gift shops. She was trying to make a selection from a bin of animal fetish necklaces, biting her tongue thoughtfully and carefully weighing the options in her six-year-old mind. Suddenly she said, "I'll get this one because it has a dove, and a dove is a peace animal, and we have a peace church!"
Impeccable logic, don't you agree?
After a meeting a couple of weeks ago, I went back into the sanctuary to get my purse. I heard a dull hum and turned to see Michaela Gullick, her head just showing above the lectern and her big brown eyes peeking out between it and her long bangs. The "humming" was her soft voice, and as I listened, she continued, "ÉAnd if you are visiting us today, we ask that you fill out one of our visitor's cards found in the back of the church. We'll send you our newsletterÉ"
It reminded me again that we are all Sunday School teachers, individually and collectively. The most ordinary things we do around the church show and tell our children what our most important values are. I know Kate picked up her line of reasoning just from being there, First UU, at that time. I hope Michaela was demonstrating some values she picked up from us: that grown-ups walking in on you in our church are nothing to be scared of; that we indeed have a free pulpit; and that here, we notice and care about the visitors who step inside our doors.
Thanks, y'all, for being good Sunday School teachers.-Mary Grace
White smoke went up our chimney after the congregational meeting after services on 9/18. We have a pastor! Rev Phil Schulman will be serving this congregation as our quarter-time minister. Phil will also be occupying the former caretaker's appartment and will be holdng office hours for pastoral counseling. More on that later.
A mumber of people made homeless by hurricane Katrina have been housed at Kelly Field. CUUC has agreed to "adopt" a displaced family by providing assistance in helping them meet their basic needs. We also have a number of people who have volunteered to help in various ways. John and Sally Wiesen have been especially helpful by acting as liaison people and maintaining contact with relief agencies and keeping members aware of current needs of hurricane victims at Kelly as well as accepting and transporting donations for their use.
Also, Henry Halff has helped to get Roddy Stinson to apologize in his column for saying that churches had been remiss in helping victims of Katrina. The column mentions CUUC as being one of the churches that have taken an active role in helping hurricane victims.
You can look up the column on my sa.com. It's in the 9/11 issue.
September 25th will be the first Soup Lunch of the season. The Board of Trustees will provide the soup, salads and goodies to intiate the season. Please plan to stay after service and partake of the food and company. Soup lunches will be on the fourth Sunday of each month. Other groups within the church will be needed to host future soup lunches.
One of the many tasks of the Pastoral Care Committee is cards and flowers for members and friends who, at times, may appreciate having their spirits lifted. The contact person for cards and flowers is Joan Bradshaw.
Have you ever wondered what holds Unitarian Universalists together? I mean, here we are with vastly different ideas about God, the universe, and everything, so what is it that allows us to come together and be a church together? If you've wondered that, so has the UUA, and they assigned the task of finding out to--Surprise!--a committee. The report of the UUA's "Commission on Appraisal" came out this summer. Man! Wouldn't you like to find out more about that!
You can. On the 4th Sunday of each month after Soup Lunch from 1:00-2:30, we will hold a discussion on one of the chapters of the Commission on Appraisal's report: topics such as History, Culture, Values, Theology, Worship, Justice-Making, and Community. The report, a 180-page book called Engaging our Theological Diversity, is highly readable with lots of information from UUs just like you (well, not just like you! That's the whole point!), and your purchase of the book for $16, is your Discussion Group registration.Mary Grace Ketner will facilitate the first class, then we'll rotate the leadership among volunteers.
Mary Grace Ketner
The new website should be up and running by the time this newsletter goes out. Visit http://www.uuworld.org for timely UU news and fresh weekly stories, online classified ads, articles from the printed UU World, and features from previous issues. You can also sign up on the new site to receive a weekly e-mail newsletter with UU news and articles.
An original interpretation of the Taoist concepts applied to the emotional realm of healing from loss and trauma. (The sequel "Yang of Emotion" will be given at another time)
About Phil Schulman
Phil Schulman serves CUUC part-time as Minister. He graduated from Thomas Starr King School for the Ministry in 89, and pursued a community ministry for 12 years developing Peer Support Communities. He served previously as Minister of St John UU Fellowship in the Virgin Islands, and has extensive experience as a counselor, advocate, peace and human rights activist.
Bring your furry, finny, feathered, or scaly friends. This is their day to be introduced to our community, to be honored for the role they play in our lives and to be blessed by St. Francis.
We'll do out best to keep things under control, but if you fear that your pet may be too shy to participate or lacking in the necesary social skills, bring a picture or something that symbolizes your pet - maybe a chew toy or a catnip ball, and your pet will be blessed in absentia.
About the coordinators:
Steven Botts is a teacher, a sometime poet, and occasional writer of stories who has done a number of services at CUUC, mostly on religion and religious history. He is a longtime member of the worship committee and is also the newsletter editor for CUUC.
Peter Van Dusen is a philosophy instructor at St Mary's University as well as a longtime member and former chair of the CUUC worship committee. Peter has interests in ethics and economics, as well as classical music. He has led services here on a variety of topics.
Patty Gullick is a former teacher who is now the busy mother of young children.
Unitarian Jihad" Perhaps someone has already sent you an email forward of Jon Carroll's column in the San Francisco Examiner on this topic. If not, you can read it at http://tinyurl.com/6valr. Then join us at CUUC on October 9 when we'll create our own Jihad names, sing along with Michael Burns' new Unitarian Jihad anthem, and learn about some real UU Jihad-ists whose bold work has made our world a better place to live
About Mary Grace Ketner:
Mary Grace Ketner is the congregational president of CUUC this year. She is also a storyteller and an educational specialist at the Institute of Texan Cultures.
Why do most movies focus on the elite of our society? Does worshiping a superhuman savior discourage human responsibility? Can leadership promote cooperation and citizenship or must does it require dominance and obedience?
See the 9/25 service, above, for notes on Phil Schulman.
What's happening in Religious Education?
Well, summer finally came to a close for our children and youth. Most of the last part of the summer term was spent in discussion of the Knowledge -vs- Truth and Good -vs- Evil using the Harry Potter series, The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, assorted Fairy Tales and HellBoy as touchstones. We made and took home our own magic mirrors.
We came back together on Sept. 24th to start a study of World Religions by beginning a study of Islam. We talked about Muhammad and his call by Allah through the angel Gabriel and how similar Islam is to Christianity. We also learned that Islam believes that no statues or paintings be made of Allah; so their GOD IMAGES are written only, and we studied some wonderful examples of Islamic Calligraphy. We made our own attempts at calligraphy.
The students also participated in the Water Ceremony - Ingathering. Opening words, Water! Earth! Air! Fire! (Peter Raible) was given by Heather Radcliffe. The chalice lighting, This Earthen Chalice (Edwin A. Lane) was presented by Michael Gullick. Elvira & Crystal Mattern read the story for all ages, Turtle Island (Sacred Myths) after I gave an Introspection On Water. Finally, Micaela Gullick did the closing words with Maggie Gullick and mom, Patty - To Water In Excelsis (Richard M Fawkes). All the readings except the story, Turtle Island and my Introspection On Water were found in the UUMA Worship Materials Collection.
The rest of this month will be spent on Islam. At present, we plan to have someone from the Islamic Center come and talk to the children and we will fill the rest of the time with stories from Sacred Myths and discussion of the stories. We will be listening to Middle Eastern Music and eating Middle Eastern snacks.
Looking ahead to October, the children will be taking part in the October 2nd service which is a Pet Blessing Service. I will not be there that Sunday because I will be at a workshop in Shreveport LA on UU History. Then we will begin a study of Hinduism.
I am enjoying so much teaching your children and involving them in the life of this Church! I am learning so much that I did not know! Your children are a window into the universe and they provide a touchstone by which I am excited about the world they will inherit and populate.!
Blessed Be -- Shalom
Glenna Jones-Kachtik, RE Director
All parents and those with an interest in children are welcome to join the PCG. The group meets for one hour after church on the third Sunday of each month for the purpose of getting to know each other better. By creating an open, supportive, nurturing environment, we promote and facilitate spiritual growth and mutual, interactive care for one another. We follow the typical covenant group rituals - opening words, a question everyone answers briefly for the purpose of transitioning to the group experience, discussion of a topic, and a closing question and words to send us on our way. Discussion topics vary from month to month. This summer we also went swimming on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville and explored Natural Bridge Caverns. In addition to regular meetings and family activities, as a covenant group we committed to providing a service to the church and to the community. PCG prepared and led the worship service of 8/28/05 and hosted a group of young people away from their families at one of our church picnics.
Facilitator, June Kachtik
The Women's Support Group is open to women and friends of the church. We meet every 2 weeks, on a Monday night at the church, starting at 7 p.m. and usually finishing before 9 p.m. Each woman usually talks for about 10 minutes about anything she wishes. However, you don't have to talk if you would rather not. What is divulged is kept confidential unless otherwise stated. It is a great way to get to know the women in the church on a more personal level in a safe environment. We invite you to come and join us and let us get to know you.
We will meeting on the following dates:
September 19th October 3rd October 17th
Jean Halff
The Cuuc men's group meets every other Sunday from 6:30 - 8:30 P.M. The current schedule is 9/25,10/9,10/23. All CUUC men or visitors are welcome to join us.
Group leadership rotates from meeting to meeting. The leader for each meeting is also the host, and he is responsible for furnishing snacks and drinks.
We usually start off meetings with a clearing, in which each member is allowed to talk about recent events in his life, if he wishes to, for as long as he sees fit. Next, the facilitator introduces the topic for the evening. This may involve a short reading - a poem, an article or other text. The subject could be just about anything that the facilitator would like the group to address: What's going on at CUUC, religion, economics science, health, family, friendship, etc.
Around 8:30, we wind things up by deciding who is going to facilitate the next meeting, declare this one finished, clean up, and leave.
Steven Botts
The Remarkable Film Group consists of members and friends of CUUC who gather each month to view one feature film and discuss it afterward. Everyone is welcome to attend. The films are usually shown at church at 6 PM on the third Sunday of each month. Films are shown in a series. The attendees select the theme and content of each series normally compose of four films of a common theme, directed by the same person or featuring a specific actor or actress. Past film series have carried such themes as Women Messiahs or include films directed by John Sayles or those featuring Peter Sellers. Current leaders of the group are Clem and Joyce Chow. Any questions about this group may be directed to Clem or Joyce.
Clem Chow
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