October 2014 Green Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Fellowship President’s Message by Jane Jordan I had the privilege of hearing keynote speaker Diana Nyad at an event. She is the woman who swam the 100 miles from Cuba to Key West Florida Labor Day 2013. She was inspiring. Ms. Nyad shared when she was 5 years old her father brought her to the great book which was always open in his office. The great book was the dictionary. He was now going to show her the meaning of her name. One of the definitions for nyad was champion swimmer. Diana shared she was very glad she had the arms and body to prove it to be true. At the age of 16 when she did not qualify for the Olympics she realized she was not a pool swimmer. She was an endurance swimmer. That is when the idea of Cuba came up. She attempted her dream at 29 and failed. From there she went on to live her life. At 60 after her mother died she Diana took stock of her life. She was searching for something. Cuba came up loud and strong. At first she dismissed the idea, after all she was 60 years old. The burning passion in her deepest pit would not go away, shared Ms. Nyad. She made the decision to go for it. She put together a team of 35 people. People who ranged from helping design a special suit against jelly fish attacks to a nutritionist to support people in boats. By the fifth time even her team questioned her decision. The odds were against her and yet there was one factor that can overcome the odds said Diana. That is the human spirit. What is your spirit telling you? Nyad shared three messages. “One is we should never, ever give up. Two is you never are too old to chase your dreams. Three is it looks like a solitary sport, but it’s a team.” What is the dream you would like to chase? My dream for GBAUUF….to be the vibrant exciting Fellowship vision when it was started. It took Diana Nyad 35 years to fulfill her dream with a team of 35. GBAUUF has many more team members. Plus we are well on our way of reaching this goal. Thank you for your help in moving us forward. Just one stroke at a time and we’ll be there. Green Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Contact Information 1641 Commanche Ave Suite G Green Bay, WI 54313 Jane Phone: (920) 499-2344 Website: www.greenbayuu.org 2 Board Notes Excitement was shared concerning the number of people who expressed interest in becoming members at the Mingling of Water Sunday service. This was in addition to the nine new members who have joined. Discussion was help on the topic of reaching out to all members and friends. It was decided that each Board member would take a page from the directory and make a phone call. People will be invited to the Sept 21 Service. That is the day new members will be recognized and soup Sunday. It was decided to as ice cream and topping to make it even more fun and festive to renew, revitalize and reconnect. Progress is being made in reconvening the Safety Task Force for the purpose of looking at the recommendations from Laura Smythe. Religious Education (RE) work is in process to begin RE. Goal is the first Sunday in October. Facility: Working with the landlord concerning the leak in the roof over the 2nd bathroom in the library. FUUsion Group is actively working. This is the group who is looking at all the steps needed for us to become a multi-sited congregation with Appleton, Fond du Lac, Oshkosh and us. Steering committee representatives: Alf Langan & Steve Krings Representatives on subcommittees Programming & Staffing: Janice Galt Communications: Dan Lorenz Governance: Kari Beth Krieger Finance: open All groups meet at a time and place which is convenient to the members. There are representatives from all fellowships within each group. Other members from our Fellowship are welcome to become involved in a sub-committee. Contact Jane Jordan if interested. [email protected] or 920-313-9445 Talked about our involvement as one of the sponsors for the Move to Amend event in October. We will staff a table to answer questions and share information about the Fellowship. Move to Amend “It’s Not Partisan, It’s Politics…Why You Need to Know the Differences” is the topic for Judy Goldsmith a past president of NOW presentation. Plan on attending Wednesday, October 8 at 5:30 at the Downtown Central Library. Our Fellowship is one of the sponsors for this event. Come learn and support this social action piece. Move to Amend is a group who is working to get a referendum on the November ballot in Green Bay to amend the constitution so that corporations aren’t individuals and money doesn’t equal free speech. This is a cause supported by our UUA. Our Mission The growing Green Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is a welcoming and caring spiritual community of all ages that supports one another in seeking and understanding truth and beauty. We unite in freedom and acceptance for worship, religious education, social justice and spiritual growth. 3 ONE WORLD-Global Social Justice Issues Sermon Series Our 6th principal is: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. Rev. Sean Parker Dennison, of the Tree of Life Congregation in McHenry, IL states: “The sixth Principle seems extravagant in its hopefulness and improbable in its prospects. Can we continue to say we want ‘world community’? ‘Peace, liberty, and justice for all’? The world is full of genocide, abuse, terror, and war. What have we gotten ourselves into? “As naïve or impossible as the sixth Principle may seem, I’m not willing to give up on it. In the face of our culture’s apathy and fear, I want to imagine and help create a powerful vision of peace by peaceful means, liberty by liberatory means, justice by just means. I want us to believe—and to live as if we believe—that a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all is possible. There is no guarantee that we will succeed, but I can assure you that we will improve ourselves and improve the world by trying.” Source: uua.org The Sunday Service Committee is pleased to announce a new monthly sermon series based on global social justice issues. We’ve scheduled a variety of clergy and lay persons to speak on topical events and the extraordinary work being imagined and realized all over the world. More details about each upcoming topic will be shared in future newsletters. October 5: South America (Peru) by Teri Nehring November 16: Africa (Gambia) by Egide Nimbubona We are looking to book additional speakers in spring. If you know of anyone, or if you are yourself are involved with a global social justice organization, please email the office or contact a member of the Sunday Service Committee with any leads. Projection Screen Needed Back by popular demand! Father Jim Neilson visited us in February with a highly-visual presentation on Art and Faith. His topic was well received and we’ve asked Fr. Jim to come back and deliver part 2 of his topic. He will join us for the October 12th service. If anyone has a projection screen (or a way to get their hands on one) for this service, it would be much appreciated. Please contact Claudia Moder [email protected] if you are able to provide a screen. Gifts for Golden House Thanks for helping fill our Gifts to Golden House for this month. Janice Galt will be delivering them after service this Sunday, Oct. 5th. Any non-perishable food items, cleaning and paper supplies, baby and toddler diapers are needed. Checks are also welcome. 4 Facilities Coordinator (FC) The Facilities Coordinator oversees the general health of the facility. If a problem is identified by a member or the Coordinator, the FC will try and find the resource to fix it within our members, or if it involves an expense in excess or the budget, they will bring it to the Board. They will also schedule members and friends to help keep the grounds and facilities clean and in good repair (e.g. mowing, shoveling, etc). Chico Bags Wondering how to put 10 pounds of stuff into a 5 pound bag? It will all fit in one of the UU Chico bags. Plus the nylon type bags fold up into themselves which makes them very convenient to use. The bags can be found on the table in the back of the Fellowship. Price has been reduced from $7.50 to $5.00. Great way to advertise the Fellowship and support the environment. Host or Hostess The membership committee is looking for people to help with being a Host or Hostess before and directly after the service to welcome visitors and returning new comers. It is an important part of our mission and vision to reach out and be welcoming! This is on a rotational basis of about 6 times a year. Please contact a membership member to get added to the list and review the procedure (15 minutes of your time). Membership team is: Chair - Jim Cairns, Mary Wallschlaeger, Doug Gjerde and Vicki Fresen. Got email? Get connected with the fellowship electronically. Join the news list, receive your newsletter by email and read UU Weekly Connect in your email Inbox. Please send an email requesting any or all of these communications to [email protected]. 2014 Governing Board of Trustees Committee/group Contacts •President: Jane Jordan 313-9445 •Vice President: Paul Baumgart •Corresponding Secretary: Jan Millermaier •Treasurer: Sam Vainisi •Member at Large: Annette Drier •Membership Committee: Chair Jim Cairns 639-5462 •Committee on Ministry: co-chair Amy Gialdini 606-8522 & Geeta Bhojwani 609-1361 •Program: Chair Jean Wentz 499-8517 •Stewardship: coordinator Sam Vainisi •SCRIP: Don/Laurie Falk 499-1252 5 Service Topic Preview October 5: Social Justice Sunday:“Hurry Up and Wait” by Teri Nehring We live in a fast paced world filled with multi -tasking, burnout, and people who are so worried about all the stuff they have to do next week, the next month, the next year. We are losing how to be present and how to live in the moment. It becomes more about doing than being. During her nine extended travels to Peru in the past five years, Teri has witnessed the injustice of pay raises, learning to live with little, the poverty, the water problems, and how women are trying to make their way in a male dominated culture. Come and be present as you learn about the gifts given to a woman who dared to “Hurry Up and Wait,” a principle she learned while living in South America. October 12th: Art and Faith Fr. James Neilson, O. Praem., a Norbertine priest of St. Norbert Abbey and a professor of Art at St. Norbert College, visited us in February and spoke on the topic of Art and Faith. We invited him back to continue the exploration through images and ideas, in the context of radical hospitality and beauty. This highly-visual presentation is not to be missed! October 19: “Rethinking Prayer” by Rev. Karon Sandberg As Unitarian Universalists we often have a conflicting relationship about the idea or use of prayer. Mostly we wonder where is it going and who is it for? I will explore rethinking prayer through the lens of Anne Lamont and Thich Nhat Hanh and uncover how we might change how we define prayer in our lives. October 26: Rev. Lori Hlaban: “Finding Hope” Is hope “the thing with feathers” Emily Dickinson wrote of; or is it as Friedrich Nietzsche said, “the worst of all evils?” Where do we find hope, in this confusing and often scary world? What keeps us going, when we seem to lose hope? Hopefully, we’ll find some answers together – though more questions are likely as well. November 2: “Celebrating Our Ancestors” by Rev. Linda Hansen For our Latin neighbors, the Day of the Dead is an important and joyful time to honor family members who have died, and makes death a normal part of the life-cycle, rather than something to be hidden and feared. We’ll explore these traditions and what we have to learn from them. November 9: “Voices of Hope: Life Stories of Fox Valley Latinos” by the Reader’s Theatre of ESTHER (JOSHUA’s sister organization from Appleton, WI) This unique service substitutes a forty-five minute presentation in lieu of our usual service format. Ten members of ESTHER will present stories of local immigrants, primarily Hispanic that focusing on their struggles and hopes with living in the USA. Voices of Hope explores a sampling of the stories and the reasons behind the often traumatic journeys that have brought people here. November newsletter deadline: The November deadline will be The Principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: Monday, October 20 Please email all submissions to: •The inherent worth and dignity of every person; [email protected] •Justice, equity and compassion in human relations; •Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations; •A free and responsible search for truth and meaning; Save paper and save money. Sign up to receive the newsletter electronically. Email: [email protected] •The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large; •The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all; •Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. First Class Mail-Please forward or return to sender Address Service Requested Green Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 1641 Commanche Ave Suite G Green Bay, WI 54313