Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Madison County

September 2010

debbie — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:50:08 +0000

Sunday, September 5:

9:00 AM: Board meeting

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education

10:45 AM: “Our UU Saints” (Ron Taylor)

Sunday, September 12:

9:00 AM: Adult Religious Education/ We will begin discussing A Chosen Faith. Come ready to share which of the seven UU principles you like best. We will do this in small group. There are copies of the book to borrow or purchase at the fellowship.

10:45 AM: Children’s religious Education

10:45 AM: “The Elixir of Hate” (Bob Miller) EKU professor

12:15 PM: Open Forum to discuss Esther Hurlburt’s request for ordination following the service.

Sunday, September 19:

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education

10:45 AM: “The Cost of Loneliness” (Esther Hurlburt): Esther will discuss the phenomenon of loneliness and its affect on individuals as well as the community. Her discussion will include how church community can minimize the effects of loneliness.

Sunday September 26:

9:00 AM: Adult Religious Education (Book discussion of “Chosen Faith)

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education

10:45 AM: “Mindfullness” (Joe Rembold, LCSW) Joe has spent twenty years as a licensed clinical social worker at a forensic mental health hospital, where he used mindfulness therapeutically with criminally committed psychiatric patients. He will talk about his experiences with these patients and lead us in a mindfulness experience.

Capital campaign Party

UU members and friends are invited to celebrate the final stage of fund raising for our new addition at a Capital Party on Saturday, October 2, 7:00 – 9:00, at Barbara Prairie’s house in Berea. Note it on your calendar and look for details in the mail.

UU Choir

The UU choir will recommence Wed., Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m. after the Boewe’s return from their Germany trip. New members are encouraged to join their voices in our anthems and hymns. Director Joan Boewe will also incorporate good breathing exercises and other information concerning effective singing. We’re not professionals, so don’t be shy! We have enough stoles for a BIG group of music lovers.

August

debbie — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:57:21 +0000

August 1 Laura Manges leads a session on You Can Heal Your Life
  Does faulty thinking contribute to our diseases? Are we powerless over what occurs in our life?    Does quantum physics supports the bold assertion that You Can Heal Your Life?  We’ll view a film with interesting, articulate individuals who tested these exciting concepts, and discovered them to be true and sound.  Then all who are interested can test the principles yourselves for a week, noting any shifts in feeling/thinking/experiences, to share with one another the following Sunday.

August 8 Laura Manges will lead follow up discussions to the lecture and film
You Can Heal Your Life.

August 15- Zen Gardens Joseph Rembold, LCSW, MSW- Exploring Zen Gardens
Joe will explain mindfulness and guide us through an exercise in Mindfulness followed by the making of our own Zen Gardens. Please  bring a shoebox or shoebox lid that you no longer need. Bring rocks , shells or other desired items for your garden.   Decorating supplies, sand and combs will be provided.

Aug 22 This is our annual water ceremony. You are invited to bring a small container of water from your travels or favorite event this summer. We will exchange stories and combine our water into a huge bowl. We then water the plants outside with this water. We also welcome members who have been thinking of joining our group with an official “signing of the book”. (Please contact Ann Stebbins for further details if you would like to be included in the signing event.

Sunday, August 29:

10:45 AM: Children’s Summer program (K-6) This is the beginning of the regular children’s session!

10:45 AM: “Shaped by Water”-Pat Banks. Pat is the designated Riverkeeper, and her organization works for the preservation of Kentucky rivers. She will speak about the “Shaped By Water” art project which has traveled to three venues in Central Kentucky and will be on display at Madison County UU until the end of Sept.

July !!

debbie — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:08:22 +0000

We continue with our summer circles in the month of July. We will be circling over to the Hanley’s in Mt. Sterling. We will be sharing in circles about our personal UU reflections, enjoying dance, and humor. All services at the fellowship beging at 10:45 am. Adult RE will continue to be on the second and fourth Sundays.

July 4- No service at the Fellowship. However, there will be a gathering at the home of Jon and Carol Hanley in Mt. Sterling, Ky. Please use your fellowship directory, or contact our president, Dave Oldham, for directions.

July 11 – UU Uniqueness (Dave Porter)

All religions are unique but UUism may be the most unique of all. Our focus on orthopraxy rather than orthodoxy means that each member of our fellowship is likely to have followed a different path to a chosen set of values and beliefs. This service will be dedicated to celebrating the uniqueness of each of our journeys. To prepare for the service, please think of a value or belief that you feel characterizes your own Unitarian Universalism. Now think of an anecdote or artifact that relates to this belief. We’ll share these stories and things with one another and then save a little time at the end for reactions and reflections about what we’ve learned.

July 18 – The Joy of Folk Dance!(Marianne Mcadam)

Come participate in dances from around the world! Katrina and Marianne will teach simple dances that have been enjoyed by common people for centuries. Share in the connection that comes from dancing together!

July 25 – Ten things they don’t Teach You in Medical School (Stu Tobin)

Come and enjoy the humor.

June schedule

debbie — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:39:29 +0000

Summer is here! Our schedule will be a bit more relaxed again this summer. Our theme is Summer Circles.

You’ll find our chairs in a circle. We will also be circling in various directions in thought and actions. We will continue to have adult Religious Education on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at 9 am. Concerning the children’s program, please note that if your child is 5 and under they will need to be with you. If your child is 6 or older, they can be led in games ( not youth R E classes).These will be conducted by Brandon Shale and occassionally also by Casey Rembold.

Saturday June 5-A gathering at the home of Marion Ferguson.

June 6- 10:45 am Elders as mentors – Esther Hulburt

June 13- 9 am. Adult R E class- 10:45 am Fooling With Words – Linda Frost will take us in circles with poetry–literally, we will look for the poetry around us, do some poetry in the round, and run around in poetic circles. Come ready to write, read, and listen!

June 20- 10:45am Creek Clean Up -Ellen Thompson We will begin at the Fellowship where we will get directions and trash bags and water for drinking. Then we will proceed quickly to the job at hand.

June 27 9am Adult Religious Education led by Cyndi Hall 10:45 am Our two sided Brain- Dave Porter “The mind is what the brain does!… and because our brain has two separate halves, our mind itself is often divided. Recent neuro-scientific evidence suggests that this division supports distinctly different alternative modes of processing information. Come join the conversation on the socio-spiritual implications of this neurological curiosity.”

July 4 will bring a gathering at the home of Carol and John Hanley in Mt Sterling. Check your UU directory or contact Ann Stebbins or Dave Oldham for the street address.

May schedule

debbie — Sat, 01 May 2010 22:18:44 +0000

Sunday Services begin at 10:45 AM

Sunday, May 2:

9:00 AM: Board meeting

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education (RE)

10:45 AM: Animal Blessing: Marianne McAdam: Bring your pet to Fellowship Sunday, May 2^nd and share something special about your relationship. Make sure that all pets are either on leashes or in crates so we don’t have any problems. The children will stay with us throughout the service.

Sunday, May 9:

9:00 AM: Adult Religious Education

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education

10:45 AM: “Freaks r Us”: Linda Frost: Linda discusses a book on conjoined twins.

12:00 PM: Potluck after the service. Bring a dish and join the fun.

Wednesday, May 12:

7:30 PM: Meditation Group

Sunday, May 16:

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education

10:45 AM: Dr. Thomas W. Miller Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus & Senior Research Scientist Department of Psychiatry University of Kentucky and is the author of Handbook of Stressful Transitions Across the Lifespan. Dr. Miller will discuss Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) within the framework of the problems that veterans face when they return from war. His presentation will help us understand how we can best develop a humanitarian response to the needs of these veterans and their families.

Sunday May 23:

9:00 AM: Adult Religious Education

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education

10:45 AM: “Praying with Dirty Hands” Esther Hurlburt: Esther will discuss what she considers to be the “mission” of the church in the life of the community at large.

Sunday May 30:

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education then on to the picnic outside.

10:45 AM: This will be the final act of our “regular” season. Part one will be the annual meeting and part two will be an old fashioned “church picnic” with three legged races among other games, pot luck, and grilling on the barbie. We have a grill for the hamburgers and hotdogs that we provide. We will also be playing games like water balloon toss and egg spoon relay. Kids and kids at heart are encouraged to join in. Please note this will be the LAST day of our spring auction. So, all in all, it looks like a lot of fun. Please join us!
The exciting summer sessions begin June 6th.

Project Linus News

The quarterly newsletter (Jan., Feb., March 2010) which Joan Boewe prepares and sends to National showed our Madison Co./Richmond, Ky chapter to have taken in 192 blankets and delivered 151 to the 21 agencies we serve. The total number of blankets donated to date is 6,353. Becky Elam is now helping coordinate our chapter.

Interested in Becoming a member?

If you would like to explore the possibility of joining the UU Fellowship of Madison County, please get in touch with Ann Stebbins, Membership Chair, at 623-4614 or annstebbins@att.net.

April schedule of events

debbie — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:44:48 +0000

Sunday, April 4:

9:00 AM: Board meeting

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education (RE)

10:45 AM: We invite all children in our congregation to our first CHILD DEDICATION CEREMONY. All children are welcome. It makes no difference if the child has previously been baptized or has been dedicated by another congregation. This is our opportunity as a Fellowship to be in the privileged role not only of supporting the parents in the sacred task of nurturing,life but also of weaving the threads of our Unitarian Universalist culture—9history, values, arts, wisdom, visions—into a fabric that can enfold the family as a Fellowship. We will combine this ceremony with our usual Flower Communion/ Spring Equinox celebration so be sure to bring colored eggs and a flower to share. Esther will be doing the Child Dedication part of the ceremony. If you want your child included in this event e-mail echurlburt@gmail.com so that we know how many children to plan for.

Sunday, April 11:

9:00 AM: Adult Religious Education (See below)

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education (RE)

10:45 AM: “How to be a Revolutionary Without Sharing Much Blood”: Dr. Bob Miller

12:00 PM: Potluck after the service. Bring a dish and join the fun.

Wednesday, April 14:

7:30 PM: Meditation Group

Sunday, April 18:

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education (RE)

10:45 AM: “Life Care Planning: Surviving Ageing and Disability”: Esther Hurlburt

Sunday April 25:

9:00 AM: Adult Religious Education (See below)

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education (RE)

10:45 AM: David Porter will head a panel on “Mind Bending Books”. Panel books: Neal D Walsh’s :Conversations with God -Valerie Frost , Carl Sagan’s Cosmos- Doug MacLauren, Ian Rowland’s Full Facts of Cold Reading-Debbie Tussey

Adult Religious Education

The adult discussion group will be meeting at 9 AM on Sunday 4/4 and 4/18 this month. We have had about 8-12 participants each time we’ve met. The homework, if there is any, is available by contacting Dandelion at femdyk@yahoo.com. We have been discussing personal beliefs, how our beliefs color our perception of the outer world, and how the language we use both puts up barriers between us and also facilitates connection. We have had treats at every meeting so far. If you would like to bring something, please feel free!

Interested in Becoming a member?

If you would like to explore the possibility of joining the UU Fellowship of Madison County, please get in touch with Ann Stebbins, Membership Chair, at 623-4614 or annstebbins@att.net.

March Schedule

debbie — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:10:02 +0000

Sunday, March 7:

9:00 AM: Board meeting

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education (RE) available

10:45 AM: “Spirituality” a panel discussion about spirituality will be given by members of our own group.

Wednesday, March 10:

7:30 PM: Meditation Group

Sunday, March 14:

9:00 AM: Adult Religious Education (See below)

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education (RE) available

10:45 AM: “Those Preaching Women” Esther Hurlburt: March is Women’s History Month. Esther will discuss the history of the “Prophetic Sisterhood” the women who shaped Unitarian Universalism.

12:00 PM: Potluck after the service. Bring a dish and join in.

Sunday, March 21:

9 am - the first in a series of 3 open forums about a proposal that Esther Hulbert wants the fellowship to consider doing for her.

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education available

10:45 AM: “What is a Good Life?” Kosen: All religions concern themselves, at least in part, with the question of “what is a good life?”. In Buddhism, the core ethical teaching is summed up in the “Three Pure Precepts”:Cease all evil deeds. Cultivate goodness. Act for the benefit of others. And yet in Zen Buddhism, the teachings emphasize seeing through all dualities of good and evil, right and wrong: How then does one act? Kosen will examine with us these questions from the unique perspective of the Zen tradition.– “How does one act?” “What is a good life?” “What is ethical behavior?” Kosen is a Buddhist teacher at Furnace Mountain Zen Retreat Center in Powell County http://www.furnacemountain.org/furn.html. Please join us in listening and discussing these questions from the Buddhist perspective.

Sunday March 28:

9:00 AM: Adult Religious Education (See below)

10:45 AM: Children’s Religious Education (RE)

10:45 AM: “Diversity” Marta Miranda , EKU women’s studies

Adult Religious Education

The adult religious education discussion group will be meeting at the Fellowship Hall at 9:00 AM every second and fourth Sunday. Ongoing topics, guided by Weaving the Fabric of Diversity (UUA), include diversity, personal beliefs, prejudice and acceptance of others. Everyone is welcome! For more information contact Dandelion at femdyk@yahoo.com,

Religious Education Children’s Video Now Up

chris — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:17:39 +0000

Many thanks to Jack and all who participated for an excellent job!

February 2010

debbie — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:39:46 +0000

Sunday, February 7:

9:00 AM: Board meeting

10:45 AM: The Role of Southern churhes in the civil rights movement/ Dr. Carlyn DuPont of the EKU history department will examine this issue with us.

Wednesday: Feb 10- @ 7:30 Meditation meets.

Sunday, February 14:

10:45 AM: “The Color Within“: Esther Hurlburt talks about the issue of race in the Unitarian Universalist denomonation

12:00 PM: Potluck after the service. Bring a dish and join the fun!

Sunday, February 21:

10:45 AM: Reflection on art. We will step back and review the exhibit of art from Madison County UU’s own collections.

Sunday February 28

9:00 am Adult RE We are discussing prejudice and intolerance. The homework is to make a list of stereotypical words that describe you. This is not how others would describe you, this is about how you see yourself,,for example: female, mother, doctor, dancer etc. There will be a prize for the person who can describe himself/ herself with the word that shocks the most people in the group. (This writer will probably not win the prize). Led by Dandelion

10:45 AM: ” African American Communities in Madison County“. Jackie Burnside, speaker Using vintage black and white photographs that appear in her book, Berea and Madison County, Kentucky, will describe several post Civil War communities. She will discuss some religious, educational, political and economic factors that helped African Americans be successful during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

January

debbie — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:01:45 +0000

Jan 3- Justice and Drug War –Mark Konty presenter Scholars and practitioners are moving steadily toward viewing the “drug problem” as a medical issue rather than a law enforcement issue. This movement comes from two forces: the injustices, criminal and social, associated with the “war on drugs” and the pragmatic realization that law enforcement curbs neither the demand nor the supply of illicit drugs.

Jan 10- Issues of our nation (and our world) concerning our wasteful habits. What are the long term effects? This should be a lively conversation for our group! Bob Stebbins- presenter Potluck following service today. Bring a dish and join in the fun.

Wednesday Jan 13 Meditation group meets at 7:30

Jan 17 “What Kind of minister are you?” Esther Hulbert will discuss how her ministry was shaped by her predecessors. She will review the history of community based on the book Sacred Service in Civic Space, 300 years of community ministry in Unitarian Universalism.

Jan 24 Join us in a journey as the Sun travels through the 12 major Zodiac signs. Biblical figures, centurians, and many other favorites will be met. Doug McLaren presenter (Please note that our Adult religious education/discussion classes begin on this Sunday at 9 am. Join us for exploration of exciting UU topics. Dandelion moderates this first session. )

Jan 31 THIS SUNDAY IS CANCELED DUE TO BAD WEATHER> Is God necessary for the good life? The answer to this question depends on how we define the “good life” , whether or not god actually exists.. and other controversial issues. This is the much awaited program that we had to reschudule. We look forward to this interesting topic. Mike Austin, EKU philosophy professor, presenter.