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Circle of Fellowship The First Universalist Church of Central Square A Unitarian Universalist Congregation www.geocities.com/centralsquareuu/ Rev. Margaret Hart, Minister 625-4485 Rev. Libbie Stoddard, Assoc. Minister 343-4352 Tim Hart, President 625-4485 Ronna Schindler, Religious Education Coordinator 623-7685 Rita Thornton, Organist & Choir Director 669-6961 Our Church Building Is Handicapped Accessible P. O. Box 429 Routes 49 West & 11 Central Square, NY 13036 (315) 668-6821 September 2006 The mission of the First Universalist Church of Central
Square is to be a welcoming, diverse congregation, which values spiritual
growth and service to the local and world communities. MINISTERIAL MUSINGS Dear friends, As I write this, the
summer is winding down and September is fast-approaching. There is a flurry
of activity as the RE rooms are being prepared for the return of the
children. We will soon be holding our Water Ceremony as part of our
Ingathering Sunday on September 10. Each of us will have the opportunity to
pour a small sample of water from our summers into a common vessel, along
with sharing a few words regarding the water's significance. It will be good
to be together again. Listening to the rain
falling in the middle of the night, I felt grateful that we have sufficient
clean water which falls in our area, replenishing the lakes, streams, and the
earth. I was also grateful It strikes me that we
have much for which to be grateful as we start this new church year. We have
an opportunity to share this sense of gratitude and our time, treasure, and
talent. Let us find new and creative ways to contribute to our church
community, and to our world. Let us begin by taking a moment to invite
someone to come with us to church on September 10. The Membership Committee
has designated that as "Invite a Friend to Church" Sunday.
Unitarian See you in church.
Margaret Hart CHOIR TO
PRACTICE Our choir
rehearses Sunday mornings starting at 9:30a.m. On September 9 we will have
our usual second Saturday of every month extended choir rehearsal from 10
a.m. to 12 noon. Anyone interested in singing is welcome to join us.
Rita Thornton
Choir Director
MARKET PLACE CRAFT SHOW
Sheila Emborski
669-6419 ADULT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION What can you expect at
the Saturday, September 30 Adult RE workshop? You will be challenged to be
thoughtful, imaginative and questioning. We promise you this will not be a
lecture on ethics, biodiversity or recycling. The workshop will include poems
and essays by Hermann Hesse, David Bumbaugh, Nikki Giovanni and others. We
will start at 11 a.m. and run until 1:30 p.m. with a break for lunch. Please
bring your lunch and favorite writing instrument. Coffee and tea will be
provided. There is a sign-up sheet for the workshop in the East Room. TREASURER’S NOTES
Judy Linder
Treasurer
Kurt Schindler BOARD PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE Lots of good
things are happening at our church. Our Centennial celebration has brought
some interesting speakers to our pulpit over the summer, Jane and Hartley
Martin in July and Karen Dau in August. We're looking forward to hearing from
Chet and Mary Perkins in September and Rev. Laine Hauxhurst in October. Laine
led the service for our 75th anniversary celebration, and will
reflect back on that time. We'll be coming together on September 10 for our
first service of the fall. Please remember that this is the Water Ceremony
and Bring a Friend to Church Sunday. I have invited Central Square's new
superintendent of schools, and she is fairly certain that she will attend. In early October
(6-7), the New York State Convention of Universalists will be holding their
annual meeting and conference in Albany. There will be a legislative advocacy
day. On Friday evening a readers' theatre presentation will focus on the
lives of early Universlists John Murray and his wife Judith Sargeant Murray.
On Saturday, there will be a follow-up workshop on famous Unitarian
Universalists depicted in readers' theatre presentations as well as many
other workshops such as: archiving, quilting, hand-bell-ringing, religion and
politics do mix, creating a culture of connection and community. Another high
point of the conference will be the keynote speaker, Michael Schuler, the
minister of the UU church in Madison, Wisconsin, which has grown from 600 to
1400 members. He will be speaking about the connection between excellence and
growth. We are allowed several delegates from our church (free registration,
paid mileage, and $30 toward your room if you are staying Friday night). See
me if you are interested in attending this conference. Later in October
(the 21st) we will be hosting the Village Marketplace (a craft show). We have
preliminary commitments from the following: Roy Reehil whose publishing
company Forager Press features books about nature and Adirondack Mountain
history; our antique appraiser from last year; and canoe-maker Bob Green from
Fulton (Roy and Bob were featured in the August 10 Neighbors section
of the Post-Standard- see bulletin board). The UU ministers
and board presidents from this region have been meeting about monthly at the
church in Central Square. Minutes from our last meeting are posted on the
bulletin board. You may also want to access the St. Lawrence District web
site for up-coming workshops and events. Worship &
Music: Andrea Abbott 635-7122 ahook@twcny.rr.com Many thanks to
all of you who serve as committee chairs and to all of you who serve in a
variety of different ways. If you would be willing to serve on any of
these committees please contact the chairperson. We are in GREAT NEED
of a UU Circle president. If you have any inclination to serve in this
capacity, I would be more than happy to assist you in all aspects of the
job. We are also looking for volunteers to help out in the nursery one
Sunday per month. See Winfield REV. LAINE HAUXHURST TO SPEAK On October 1, 2006 The
Rev. Laine Hauxhurst, minister of our church 1978 - 1985 will be in the
pulpit for Centennial Sunday. The title of her sermon is
"Re-membering" The theme is "Let us join together what time
has put asunder." Please plan on attending as we continue to celebrate
our first 100 years! VIDEO DISCUSSION GROUP The Video Discussion
Group will meet again at the church at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 8. Those
attending will view and discuss the third episode in the PBS series
"Bill Moyers on Faith and Reason." During the series, Moyers
explores the ideas of leading thinkers as to whether religion and reason can
peacefully co-exist. Each program features a conversation with one or two of
the writers who attended the PEN World Voices Festival in New York last
April. In this episode, Moyers interviews British novelist Jeanette Winterson
and Will Power. Born
in Manchester, England, in 1959, Jeanette Winterson was adopted as an infant
by working-class Pentecostal parents and raised in the small English mill
town of Accrington. By the age of 12, she was reciting the Bible by heart and
preaching sermons on street corners. By 16, she was an outcast from the
church, having fallen in love with another teenage girl and left home. Much
of the turmoil of Winterson's early life was recounted in her acclaimed first
novel, ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT, which made her a sensation in the
British literary world and earned her the 1985 Whitbred Prize for best first
novel. Since then, she has written nearly a dozen more novels. All are welcome to
attend.
Bob Haskell CNY CUUPS RETREAT The CNY Chapter
of CUUPS will be hosting a Pagan Retreat Weekend at Camp Unirondack the
weekend of September 22-24. More Information will be posted on the
Unirondack website www.unirondack.org
as it becomes available or you can call Jody Brown (476-0447) for a brochure. CENTRAL SQUARE UU MEN’S GROUP The first weekly
meeting of our Men's Group will be held on September 13 at 6:47 PM at the
church. We will be sharing a number of varied activities through the year.
Most important is the sharing and supporting of our members life experiences.
We will have a few road trips to places like Rudy's in Oswego, miniature
golf, par 3 golf, "guy flicks", New Zealand, and Mt. Everest with a
side trip to Aruba. Yes we will have some self improvement programs and the
ever popular Joke of the Week. The group is meant to support and elevate our
selves physically, emotionally, and spiritually. If you have any questions,
call me at 623-7685 or 247-0432. See you there and then.
Kurt Schindler WEDDING BELLS On August 11 at
Camp Hollis in Oswego Heidi Susan Conland and John David Sheffield were
married . Rev. Libbie Stoddard performed the ceremony. Congratulations and
best wishes to Susan and David. LETTER TO PARENTS FROM RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CHAIR Hello. I am writing
to welcome you, your family and especially your children back to the
Religious Education Program at First Universalist for the coming year. willing to
volunteer for this service to the church, no single adult will need to miss
all services in the sanctuary on Sundays when there are small children in
attendance. By getting congregation members to volunteer we can keep our
church costs down. Our second option would be to hire someone to come in
every Sunday to run the nursery. This would mean monies being paid out
whether or not the nursery is utilized.
Hi everyone. As I
check my mail, I find that a letter I sent to Harriet Dahl was returned to
me. She's one of my vendors for the Marketplace. Anyone know how I can get in
touch with her? Thanks.
Sheila Emborski
668-6419
Thank you to everyone
who sent me articles for this newsletter. All were to me by the early
deadline and it made putting this together much easier. The deadline
for the October newsletter is Saturday, September 30 at noon. As always, any
articles that you can send to me early at dartfrog@usadatanet.net
would be a big help.
Ellen LaPine
Newsletter Editor JOIN THE WALK MILLIONS WILL NEVER FORGET Join your neighbors in
the fight against Alzheimer’s disease at the annual Alzheimer’s
Associations’s Memory Walk. The event raises public awareness, and funds for
local services for people with the disease, their families, and care givers.
The Alzheimer’s Association’s Memory Walk is the largest national fundraising
event for support programs for Alzheimer’s disease. Memory Walk 2006 will
take place on September 16 at Syracuse’s Inner Harbor. Learn more by visiting
www.alzcny.org or calling
800-272-3900 ELECTION RULE: PROMOTE ISSUES, NOT CANDIDATES TO RETAIN
TAX-FREE STATUS In this election year
many congregations are getting involved in the political process. Here are
the political activities that are permitted without risking loss of tax-free
status: Generally speaking
congregations can support issues, but not candidates or political parties.
It’s generally OK to work publicly on moral and political issues such as
poverty, abortion or death penalty, and to educate and register voters in a
nonpartisan manner. Rules about what congregations can and cannot do
concerning lobbying, elections, and supporting candidates and issues are on
the website of the UUA’s Washington Office at www.uua.org/uuawo.
Click on Advocacy Resources and look for The Real Rules: Congregations and
IRS Guidelines on Advocacy, Lobbying, and Elections. CALENDAR Tuesdays: *6:45 p.m.
Chanting & Meditation Sept 8: *7:00 p.m.
Video Discussion Group Sept 9: * 9:30 a.m.
Extended Choir Rehearsal Sept 10: *Invite a
Friend to Church Sunday, *9:00 a.m. Board Meeting. *9:30 a.m. Choir Practice.
*10:30 a.m. Worship service Rev. Margaret Hart, Water Communion, 11:00
Religious Education. Sept 13: *6:47 p.m.
First Weekly Men’s Group Meeting Sept 17: * 9:30 a.m.
Choir Practice. *9:30 a.m. RE committee meeting. *10:30 a.m. Worship service,
Centennial Committee, lead by Chet and Mary Perkins. *11:00 Religious
Education. *Annual Church Picnic at Meldrim’s Farm immediately following the
service Sept 20: * 9:15 a.m.
Coffee and Chat Sept 24: * 9:30 a.m.
Choir Practice. *9:30 a.m. Membership Committee Meeting. *10:30 a.m. Worship
service, Rev. Margaret Hart. *11:00 Religious Education Sept 27: *8:30 a.m. UU
Minister’s and Board President’s Meeting Sept 30: *11:00 a.m.
Adult RE. *Noon Newsletter Deadline October 1: *9:00 a.m.
Board Meeting. * 9:30
a.m. Choir Practice. *10:30 a.m. Worship service, Centennial Committee, lead
by Rev. Laine Hauxhurst. *11:00 Religious Education October 6 & 7: *
NYS Convention of Universalists Convention October 8: *9:30 a.m.
Choir Practice. *10:30 a.m. Worship Service Rev. Libbie Stoddard. *11:00
Religious Education. October 21:
*Marketplace Craft Fair
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