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The Candle
The Voice of Liberal Religion on the Kitsap Peninsula
THE CANDLE
July 2003
INSIDE THE CANDLE
(Click on a link below to go directly an article of interest to you)
Scintillations
Worship & Event Schedule
News from the Book Clubs
New Members
President's Corner
Treasurer's Report
2003
Semi-Annual Review of Ministry Results
KUUF & UU Announcements
Getting
Help from the KUUF Office
Ministerial
Search Committee
Kids
Are Always Asking Questions
Church of the Larger Fellowship
Letters to KUUF
Partner
Church News
Rainbow World
Religious Education
SCINTILLATIONS - A COLUMN FROM YOUR MINISTER
Well, dear KUUF members and friends, this is it.
My last newsletter column for you. By my calculations, it's the 97th Candle column I've written (not including the Rainbow World columns).
I've preached around 270 sermons, and led other services, too. I've had more than 400 pastoral appointments. And 189 people have signed the membership book with me in the past eight-and-a-half years.
More statistics? Nah. I think it's enough to say that we've done a lot together, you and I. KUUF has grown bigger, deeper, more complex, and richer. It's become a liberal voice in our community, a spiritual resource for many -- some of whom may never cross our physical threshold, and a spiritual community for all of us. I feel really glad to have been your minister, glad to have known you, worked with you and cared for you - and glad to have been cared for by you.
On July 13th during the 10 a.m. service and after, we'll say goodbye with a party and a celebration. I'll work the following week to clear out my office and get things as ready as possible for the Rev. Margaret Keip, your interim minister, who will begin here on August 15th. And then my family and I will leave town on July 19th, driving Highway 90 across Washington, Idaho, Montana, a bit of Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin! For those of you who've been wondering - I will begin serving the UU Church West in Brookfield, Wisconsin, on August 15th.
Some of you have asked whether I will stay in touch. That's a question with a complicated answer. What we ministers are required to do by our ministerial ethics is to really leave when we leave. Say goodbye, not "see you later." To make sure there is clear space for the colleague who will come and serve as your next minister.
And so, in one sense, the answer is no, I will not stay in touch with you as a congregation or with individuals. If you would like to email or write me, however, you may. The KUUF office and the Rev. Margaret Keip will have my contact information. And who knows - we may cross paths sometime at a Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly or other UU meeting or event.
When I said something about how the old minister is supposed to disappear to Jennifer Stowell, who has been generously coordinating the goodbye celebration, she said to me, "Suzelle, you may be gone, but your presence will remain forever, even for those who will never meet you." I appreciated that gentle reminder - and it's true in reverse as well. Even if we never see one another again, your presence - as individuals and congregation - will remain as a part of me for as long as I live.
Thank you for eight-and-a-half wonderful years of ministry together.
I love you,
Suzelle Lynch, Minister
SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICES AND OTHER
JULY EVENTS
Sunday, July 5, 2003 –
10 a.m. – POTLUCK BRUNCH SUNDAY, hosted by the Worship Committee.
Come join Rev. Suzelle Lynch and the Worship Committee by
bringing breakfast/brunch foods to share, and enjoy this fun and relaxing
time for the whole family. We
will light the chalice, sing a song, eat, and share Joys and Concerns.
Parents are asked to supervise their children today.
For more information about today’s brunch, contact Tom Clouthier,
Worship Committee Chair.
Sunday, July
13, 2003 – 10 a.m. – The Rev. Suzelle Lynch, “All We’ve Learned
Together.” This is
Rev. Suzelle Lynch’s last Sunday with us, and she’ll speak about
some of the learnings of her eight-plus years among us.
The KUUF Choir sings today. Farewell Celebration begins during the service, and continues afterward with a Potluck Barbeque. For more general information, contact Jennifer Stowell; for potluck information contact Lene Hajek or Vicki Flemm.
Suzelle's Farewell Bar-B-Que Put A Party On Your Head!!
There will be a potluck Bar-B-Que held on July 13th, 2003 at
KUUF as a final good-bye send off for Suzelle and family. The
festivities will begin right after the brief 10:00 A.M. worship service.
This will be a wonderful opportunity to toast and roast Suzelle in
appreciation of her eight years at our fellowship. There will be sign-up
sheets in the foyer to let us know who will be attending and what you
would like to bring to the party! You may contact Jennifer Stowell
with general questions or Lene Hajek and Vicki Flemm about the potluck.
To honor
Suzelle and her legacy of hat ministry, Please wear a hat or plan to
make your very own at the Creative Process Transformational Hat Making
Tables!
Also please
bring folding chairs and tables for the BBQ as you are able.
Sunday, July 20, 2003 – 10 a.m.
– Come join us today for a worship service of great interest and
value. Topic TBD. For
more information about today’s brunch, contact Tom Clouthier, Worship
Committee Chair.
Sunday, July
27, 2003 – 10 a.m. - Steve Old Coyote, “Anti-racism” Sound intriguing? Join us and find out.
NEWS FROM THE BOOK CLUBS
Men's Book Club
Men's Book Club will meet at 7PM on 16 July at Craig Campell's home to
discuss the book Blinded by the Right. You need not have read the
book to attend! However, a good sense of humor and the love of the brew
helps. Information and
directions can be obtained from Craig or Jim Chapin.
Spiritual Book Discussion Groups
Group 1, which has been meeting on Sunday
mornings in the Elmore room will discontinue meeting until September.
Contact Sunday Farr.
Group 2 will discuss Power vs Force by David Hawkins. We
will meet at 1:30 pm, Wed., July 16 at the home of Lois McAllister. New
members are welcome. Contact Bob Trainer.
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MEMBERS
Jennifer Martin became a member
of KUUF on May 22. She is a
Court Services Officer for the Kitsap County Juvenile Department, working
with the Guardian Ad Litem program and advocating for children in cases of
abuse and neglect. Jennifer
and her partner Sara live in Port Orchard.
She began coming to KUUF about two years ago and likes the freedom
she finds here both spiritually and in other ways.
She hopes to become more involved here, and looks forward to
connecting with her Neighborhood Group. Jennifer
enjoys camping and kayaking, activities with her extended family members
who live in the area, and she also does watercolor painting.
Welcome Jennifer!
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
Yes, we are a strong Fellowship!! At
the Special Congregational Meeting held on June 1, the members
overwhelmingly passed a balanced budget and a slate of seven Search
Committee members (Leif Bentsen, Marlene DiMauro, Linda Gabriel, Dick
Norton, Dianne Boatwright-Frost, Beth Wilson and Ginger Younie) to
represent the Fellowship in searching for a Settled Minister.
That Committee will be meeting with our District Ministerial
Settlement Representative, Milly Mularky on Saturday June 21 to get
pointers on how the art and science of searching is done best.
We thank them for their upcoming efforts and look forward to the
opportunities they will give to us to make our wishes known in the months
ahead.
Our Personnel Committee
(Margo Rinehart, Frank Seehale and I) met on June 10 with our Interim
Minister, Margaret Keip, to finalize details of an estimated 11- month
interim appointment beginning August 15, 2003.
We were all impressed with our good fortune in getting Rev.
Margaret to minister to our needs in these intervening months. Just remember, we can’t keep her!
Rev. Margaret has spent
the years since 1996 working in UU Interim Ministry and is recognized as
a “professional” in that regard.
She has specialized training for dealing with congregations in
interim circumstances. She
entered into interim ministry voluntarily after “retiring” from 20
years at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Monterey
Peninsula. Her husband (and
former co-minister), Fred retired from ministry a few years ago.
We will be planning a welcoming celebration where you can meet
her yourself. Details to
follow.
Do set aside the day of
July 13 to attend service at 10am and the Celebration Gathering
following the service, marking Suzelle’s departure and honoring the
accomplishments of her eight-year ministry to all of KUUF and many in
the Kitsap community. It
will be a time of feasting, tears and joy as we wish Suzelle and Young
and Grace well in their future endeavors.
See you there!!
In Fellowship,
Paul
TREASURER’S
REPORT
Our income from pledge
donations and offerings for the period May 1 thru June 13, 2003 is
$25,835. The budgeted amount for these two categories for the same
period is $25,638. This
means that we are ahead by almost $200.
Thank you all for paying your pledges.
We are off to good start.
Lene Hajek,
Treasurer
Committee
on Ministry
2003 Semi-Annual Review of Ministry
- Greeters
on Sunday mornings could be more engaging to newcomers, possibly
providing a welcoming packet.
Certain
individuals, such as those with minority political views, or quieter
personalities, may not feel as welcomed as others.
Question
#2: “Our congregation
has an atmosphere of openness and acceptance of persons regardless of
personal background or political affiliation.”
43%
of respondents “strongly agree” with this statement, and 40%
“agree” with it. 66%
rated this statement as “very important,” and 32% said it was
“important.” Though
only 7% said that they “disagree” with the statement, the fact
that 13% of respondents felt it was important enough to add specific
written negative comments is noteworthy.
Seven written
comments indicated we are doing “pretty good” or better in this
area, and there were two positive comments regarding acceptance of
GLBT persons. In terms of
negative comments, eight comments indicated we are not very accepting
of conservatives and/or Republicans; two comments indicated we are
less than welcoming of Christians; one comment indicated we are less
than welcoming of those with no college degree; one comment indicated
we are less than welcoming of those with different socio-economic
backgrounds, and there was one comment about being treated
“horribly” for a sincere observation when asked for an opinion.
In view of these
comments, the Committee on Ministry suggests that the Fellowship might
consider undertaking additional discernment and education to
understand “conservative” positions.
Not just what the typical conservative position is on an issue,
but why this position is taken, and how it supports a larger
worldview.
Some
suggestions:
·
Sermon or
lay-led panel service or Rainbow World column from those with more
conservative views; from a UU Christian perspective; by or from those
who do not have college degrees.
·
Sermon or
lay-led panel service or Rainbow World column on respecting persons
even when we disagree with their views/ how to respectfully challenge
others.
Question
#3: “Our congregation
provides adequate opportunities for spiritual growth for adults,
including religious education offerings.”
In the 2001 Review of Ministry, this area was one that was targeted
for improvement. In the
2003 survey, it is gratifying that 24% of respondents strongly agree
with the statement, and 46% agree with it.
22% are neutral, however, and 8% disagree.
The written comments help clarify these results.
On the positive side, we have made a good start by providing
such group activities as Evensong and Spiritual Book Discussions and
several members expressed gratitude for the spiritual nature of our
services. The majority of
comments, however, indicate that we fall short in providing
opportunities for rigorous examination and discussion of religious and
spiritual questions and practice. Some respondents indicated that they
would like to see more devotional practice and attention to the
mystical aspect of major religions in our worship services.
The COM suggests that the newly-formed Adult Religious Exploration
Committee take these results and comments to heart as they work to
plan future groups and religious education offerings for adults.
Question
#4: “A religious
education program that provides enriching and relevant experience for
children and youth.”
55%
of respondents strongly agreed with this statement, 31% agreed, and
13% were neutral. 2%
disagreed or strongly disagreed.
Many comments indicated an unfamiliarity with the RE program,
thus these respondents did not feel they could make a judgment.
A few comments described the RE program as “strong vibrant,
vital”. Comments also
referred to the substantial impact that the OWL program had for its
participants, and the strength of the jr. high/high school youth
program. Several comments
noted improvements in the RE program since Melinda Hughes became DRE.
It is important to note that 69% of respondents rated the RE
program as very important in the life of the Fellowship.
The Committee on Ministry recommends that the DRE and RE
committee conduct a survey with parents in the near future, to look at
specific aspects of the religious education program and gain a more
in-depth picture of its strengths and areas of future growth.
Question #5:
“KUUF has a variety of social events to encourage fellowship
and personal interaction.”
The need for social events and fellowship overall was
rated as the LEAST important issue to the responders. However, 28% agreed strongly with the statement, and 50%
agreed with it (18% were neutral).
Reviewing the responses, however, showed a wide range of
opinion, from: “This is, quite frankly, one of the biggest reasons
we have continued our involvement” to “We all experience a
shortage of time,” and “Again, too many events seem to have
politics as their basis.” There
was also some disappointment expressed that there aren’t more/better
opportunities available. Overall,
those who felt this was an important issue generally gave high scores
for satisfaction and vice versa.
It would appear that those who value fellowship are getting
ample opportunities to satisfy their need.
The Committee on Ministry believes that the answers to
this question indicate that our Fellowship’s culture regarding
social/fellowship events is changing.
Some of us are too busy, some of us do not feel comfortable
attending fundraising events, many of us are new enough that the
“usual” all-Fellowship parties (Holiday Decorating in December and
KUUF Birthday Party in January) will not find space on our calendars
unless they are publicized earlier and more completely.
The COM suggests that the Fun and Frolic Committee evaluate
these “usual events” and revise them to better fit the needs of
the Fellowship.
It may also be that the Fellowship needs to re-evaluate the
“committee description” for the Fun and Frolic Committee or create
another committee to organize social events other than occasional
“all-Fellowship” parties.
Question
#6: “Support, caring
and encouragement to individuals in time of crisis or celebration.”
89%
of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this statement.
Similarly, 97% rated this characteristic as important or very
important. The
accompanying comments were almost all favorable, noting the great work
of the caring committee, the support provided by the neighborhood
groups, and the benefits of the “Joys and Concerns” portion of our
worship services. Two
comments noted the general sense of caring and concern within our
fellowship community as well. A
few comments indicated that the respondents felt we are falling short
in this area, suggesting that despite a strong caring committee, some
individuals have not felt adequately supported.
Clearly, this will be an area where we will continue to put our
attention and efforts.
Question
#7: “Adequate
opportunities for socially responsible activities on the local,
national and international level.”
44% of respondents agreed,
and 47% strongly agreed with this statement.
Similarly, 43% felt it was important, and 44% felt it was very
important. Many comments
suggested that we could do more in this area, but that time
limitations are a barrier for many people.
There were several favorable comments about the HOST project.
Overall, people seem to feel that we have grown in this area,
but more opportunities and more involvement from the congregation is
desired. It is important
to note that this statement addresses an area identified as needing
much improvement in the 2001 survey.
Over the last two years, we have been successful at expanding
our involvement in social concerns activities.
Question
8: Our facilities are
adequate for our staff, our congregation, and its needs.
This statement had the
highest variability in responses compared to the other seven
statements. 29% of
respondents were neutral to this statement.
46% agreed or strongly agreed that our facilities are adequate,
but 25% disagreed or strongly disagreed.
It is significant, however, that the great majority of
respondents (89%) felt this was not very important or unimportant to
them. No one rated this
statement as important! It
seems that many of us feel that our facilities at KUUF need enlarging
or improving, but it is not as important to us as other issues.
Responses to this statement noted the following specific areas
that people see needing improvement:
- Larger
sanctuary
- Dedicated
space for choir
- Larger
or more meeting space
- Larger
foyer or new social area
- Increased
parking
- Increased
storage in Learning Tree for religious education materials
Don’t
Forget Your Water
for Homecoming Sunday Sept. 7th!
Last
year we re-started the tradition of “Gathering the Waters” for
Homecoming Sunday, our first two-service Sunday in September.
So please tuck a tiny bottle in your bag or backpack when you
wander out into the world these summer months and bring home a bit of
water for our Homecoming service on Sunday,
September 7.
KUUF & UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST
ANNOUNCEMENTS
A
FEW HELPING HANDS NEEDED IN THE KUUF OFFICE
Can you help prepare our newsletter, The
Kitsap Candle, for mailing? If
you have an hour or two once a month this summer to help with folding,
taping, and labeling, e-mail Alex: ALEX@KUUF.ORG
or call the office: 377-4724.
"Candle Helpers" work on Thursday after the 4th
Sunday in the Admin Meeting Room at 10am.
We also need volunteers to fold the Sunday Order of Service and
Announcements. This task
needs to be done on Fridays, any time during the day, and takes only
about an hour. Please
call Alex and tell her you'll come!
Illahee
Preserve Public
Meeting
July
9, Kitsap Regional Library at 7:00 pm
The Stewardship Committee and Kitsap County
Park staff has been working on the stewardship master plan for Illahee
Preserve, the 360 acres of land adjacent to the Fellowship and the
acreage we own on the north side. This land contains a salmon stream and
is heavily forested. A major feature is a stand of 34.4 acres of old growth fir
trees. They have been here since 1732. These trees were 157 years old
when Washington became a state. The plan is now ready for public review
and the draft will be available at the meeting that is scheduled for
July 9.
This is a very exciting project and is a
testimony of what citizens groups can do to help preserve our public
lands. It took some enlighten government officials and diligent citizens
working together to carry out the master plan.
Illahee is a Native American word for "a
place to rest" and generations of youth, adults and seniors will
enjoy this beautiful place. For
information contact Anne Lovell.
LOOKING
FOR A FEW GOOD TECHNOPHILES
The Technology Committee
is looking to recruit willing technophiles (aka computer geeks) of all
ages. We're especially looking for people with network and/or Linux
experience but anyone interested in getting the fellowship's IT in shape
is welcome. It's not necessary to be available for day-to-day
maintenance - we're looking for people in advisory capacities as well.
Interested? Please contact Liz Clouthier.
 GETTING
HELP FROM THE KUUF OFFICE WHO YOU GONNA CALL?!
360-377-4724
Sherry:
admin@kuuf.org
Alex: alex@kuuf.org
Call
Sherry Attaway on Wednesdays
& Fridays with questions or concerns regarding:
Pledges
Check Requests Reimbursement
Entry Keys Payroll Banking Board or Council Affairs
Vendor & Service Relations
and
any mailing or other miscellaneous tasks you’re wondering if the
office can do for your group or committee.
Call
Alex Miller on Tuesdays &
Thursdays
with questions or concerns regarding:
Room Scheduling
Announcements Name Badges Ordering Supplies
Directory
Updates New Member Information
Sunday Order of Service
For concerns about newsletter content,
style or suggestions for future articles contact Rev. Suzelle Lynch,
360.377.4724, minister@kuuf.org.
If you didn't receive your newsletter, need to change your address or
would like to be on our mailing list contact the Fellowship office
staff, contact admin@kuuf.org,
360.377.4724.
Volunteers
Needed for Kitsap County Aids Foundation
Natalie Bryson, Chair of the
Board of the Kitsap County Aids Foundation needs help in two areas of
the Foundation.
1.The Board has several vacancies and would
like to fill them with compassionate people who can give of their time
and energy to build the Foundation. The work the Foundation has done in
Kitsap County is legendary. They provide transportation, food, support
and referrals to many clients in the county as well as families of
clients.
2. The Board also needs volunteer drivers for
Kitsap Transit Vans to take clients to medical and other appointments.
Kitsap Transit will certify drivers.
If
you can give time to either of these needs, please call Natalie Bryson,
692-2020.
KUUF
Ministerial Search Committee
The
Search Committee held our first meeting on Saturday, June 21st.
Milly Mularky, the UUA Ministerial Settlement Representative, met
with us to further explain the search process and to be sure we got off
on the right step. At the
meeting we established a regular meeting schedule (every Thursday
evening), chose Co-Chairs for the Search Committee (Ginger Younie and
Beth Wilson) and discussed the next steps we will be planning.
Those
steps include: holding a
Search Committee Retreat, scheduling a “Beyond Categorical Thinking”
workshop for the entire congregation (more about that in our next report
in August), and developing a work plan and timeline for conducting the
search process.
Prior
to that meeting, we all reviewed the UUA Settlement Handbook for
Ministers and Congregations. We
invite KUUF members and friends to also review the Handbook to learn
more about the process. You
can download it from the UUA website at: www.uua.org/programs/ministry/settlement/handbook.html
It
is our hope to conduct a ministerial search process that is open,
transparent and accessible. To
that end, we invite your questions and comments at any time.
We will provide an update monthly in the Candle and occasionally
in the Sunday Order of Service (when we need to get information out
quickly).
We
are grateful for your confidence in the work we will be doing for KUUF
to identify and settle our new minister.
We will count on your participation all along the way.
These are exciting times of change and growth for KUUF.
Thank you for being part of our search process and our growth in
depth and understanding of our ministry.
Your
Search Committee: Leif
Bentsen, Diane Boatwright-Frost, Marlene DiMauro, Linda Gabriel, Dick
Norton, Beth Wilson and Ginger Younie
Jazz
Event Benefits Community
Celebrate the
summer sizzle at Peninsula Community Health Services' (PCHS) Second
Annual "Care To Jazz" benefit gala, Friday, July 11, 6-10 p.m.
at the Red Lion Silverdale Hotel. If you love jazz and want to make a
difference in our community, then this is the place to be. Hear live
jazz performances by Puget Sound vocalist Greta Matassa and KUUF's own
Michael Stowell and The Jazz Guys while enjoying a buffet dinner and a
silent auction of several great gift baskets and items.
Tickets are $50 each, and are available by
calling PCHS' administrative office at 360.478.2366. VISA and MasterCard
accepted.
Semi-formal/business attire suggested. Proceeds
benefit PCHS' Patient Care Fund which provides prescription medication,
x-rays, lab services and other ancillary medical services for
low-income, uninsured and underserved residents in Kitsap County. PCHS,
a nonprofit organization founded in 1989, provided primary medical care,
dental services and WIC nutrition support for 20,208 children and adults
last year.
Kids
Are Always Asking Questions
Our UU children don’t wait until Sunday when they’re in their RE
classes to wonder about their world!
All week long, they are questioning and pondering their
ever-expanding universe—sometimes it’s hard to keep up, or be able
to direct their curiosity in constructive ways.
Now you have an online resource to draw upon from The Church of
the Larger Fellowship called "Between Sundays: Answering Kids’
Questions” http://www.clfuu.org/betweensundays/
This easy-to-use website has lots of fun activities for
kids ages 4-13 which will help them discover the answer to such
questions as, “Can you believe anything you want to as a UU?” or
“Why do we light a chalice?” This
online resource will help you extend your kids’ knowledge of UUism,
building upon what they are learning in church on Sundays.
Check out the site “Between Sundays” with your family!
Link
to the Church of the Larger Fellowship
If you can’t attend fellowship because of
disability or distance you can still stay connected to the UU movement
through email, web site and post. You
can access religious education resources suitable for family use.
www.clfuu.org
CLF provides a ministry and lifespan religious education to
isolated religious liberals. Many
UUs active in local congregations enjoy connecting with the larger UU
Movement nationally and internationally as a member of CLF.
HELP
NEEDED
Marlene DiMauro recently
had knee surgery and part of her physical therapy is to ride a
stationary bicycle. If you have a stationary bicycle you could loan or
give her, please contact her or Vicki Flemm (Caring Committee) and let
us know.
LETTERS to KUUF
Letter
to the KUUF
Candle
I’ve
been writing this thank you in my head for months since lighting candles
of thank you did not seem adequate.
Our family has been in trauma for months now and it is the help and
support of friends like you all that is helping us get through.
Some people have worried that bringing us dinner would prevent us
from moving on and believe me it is the opposite.
Knowing we have friends who remember that we are still healing and
who care, helps more than you know. I
want to thank you for so many things you have done; the many dinners,
food, recipes, organizing the food, delivering the food, cleaning police
print dust, washing walls, sending stuffed animals, organizing work
parties, organizing food for work parties, hauling things to the dump,
ripping out the rug, mowing lawns, trimming bushes, packing up books and
assorted junk, moving furniture, painting, washing dishes, wiping shelves,
disconnecting and reconnecting the computer, taking wheel barrows of yard
waste away, helping Meghan pick paint colors for her room, driving lessons
for Meghan, massages, saving newspaper articles, storing stuff too full of
memories, loaning us extra mattresses, putting on door locks, ripping out
the banister, bringing us books to help us heal and managing the fund.
And we have loved all the beautiful and wonderful cards with so many
heartfelt worlds of caring and love.
We have saved them all.
The children are doing awesome work at facing the pain and trauma and
hiding from it. We still have
a ways to go but we have come a long way already and it helps immensely to
know that your love is with us.
With gratitude for this amazing community,
Suzanne
Rowley & Sam Stephens
UU Service Committee Letter to KUUF
May 29th 2003
Please thank
the members of your congregation for supporting the work of the Unitarian
Universalist Service Committee with the collection gift of $178, which we
received on May 7, 2003.
UUSC works to advance justice by combining human rights education and advocacy
in the United States with direct support for grassroots initiatives.
Your generosity helps underwrite the effort of our courageous partners
in Central Africa who are working for peace and equality…our Burmese
partners who struggle for democracy and human rights… our partners in
Central America, India and the US who fight for the rights of women, children
and indigenous people. In fact,
without donors like you, UUSC simply could not carry out its mission of world
service.
Your support helps the Service Committee fulfill its role as a powerful voice
for human rights and the values that we share.
On behalf of UUSC’s Board Of Trustees, staff, volunteers, and project
partners, thank you for the generous gift.
Duncan
C. Tanner, Jr.
Senior Director, Institutional Advancement
Partner
Church News
Background:
As many of you know, we have had a
partnership with a Unitarian church in Recsenyéd,
Transylvania, for many years.
Our partnership is intended to help our two congregations learn about
each other, as well as for the Bremerton congregation to assist the
Transylvanians materially. The members of the Recsenyéd
Unitarian Church are all very poor. Their
average annual income per household is less than $500 in US dollars.
This is supplemented with farming, except for those who are too old or
frail for farm work.
We
have sent visitors to Recsenyéd twice - Barb Mades in 1995 and Linda
Gabriel and Barb Mades in 2000.
Many
of you signed Holiday cards to send to Recsenyéd last December, and Linda Gabriel wrote to the President of
the Recsenyéd congregation and his wife some months ago. We also communicated through the Partner Church Networker
program. At the time that we
wrote to Istvan and Anna Marton, we believed that five of us from KUUF
were going to travel to Transylvania this year to visit them again. As it turns out, it is likely that none of us will be going
there this year.
Current
Items:
In
early May, we received a letter from Reverend Akos Kiss, the minister of
the Recsenyéd congregation. Then,
in early June, we received a letter signed by four of the people from
Recsenyéd, Anna and Istvan Marton and Maria and Gyula Lakotos.
They have had no news from us since we told them that we would be
sending visitors this year.
Our
Partners have found someone to translate letters, so that we do not have
to pay a translator. This is
something that they agreed to do during Barb and Linda's visit in 2000.
Here are the letters from them, as they were received:
"Dear Barbara, Linda and the community in
Bremerton,
We have
received the letter you have sent us. I have read it in Church, and sent the postcards to people.
The people were glad to heart about Bremerton.
It was a
very hard Winter here in Transylvania, but Spring it's close, people hope
in warm and rich Spring, Summer and new year.
Last period we finished a lot of things in our Church.
The Church building, the vicarage and other church
buildings were rebuilt. The
organ is working, it was
repaired last Summer. We
are working to repair the cow-shed.
In Winter period we had lot of meetings: agape's, we had sermons with
other church ministers before Christmas.
The Women Association made a visit is Lokod Alltheim (there are 24
old people) and gave them biscuits and food.
The David Ferenc Organization in Recsenyéd had a show, they show us a
drama. We are going to
prepare for Easter.
Please write us when people from Bremerton'll visit us in Autumn.
Thank you.
We are waiting to meet you.
God bless you, and all good wishes.
Akos P. Kiss, Unitarian minister"
Recsenyéd, 2003.Ajpril 15
and
"Dear Barbara, Linda and the whole
congregation,
We would like to let you know that we did receive your letter and
colorful, beautiful Christmas greating cards, and we were so glad for
them.
We are
hopting, that you've received the Rev. Kiss's letter by now.
We, and
the whole congregation are well.
We had a
very long Winter, our Spring came very slowly and mostly cool.
Then in May we had excptionally hot weather with not a drop of
rain. We are still waiting
for the rain to come.
Our
congregation here in Recsenyéd is busy with the farming - work, we all
not in the fields and working very hard with.
As we
understand from your letter, you are planning to visit us this year.
We are very happy for the news and please know that you are all
very welcome, all of you and as many of you, that wishing to come.
Our love is ready to receive you.
Please let us know, when and how many of you are coming, and we
will be ready for you.
In the
hope of seeing you soon again, our love and kisses,
Maria, Gyula,
Anna
IstvanRecsenyéd, 2003 May
18"
It
will be difficult to write the letter to Recsenyéd, letting them know
that none of us will be visiting this year.
Any volunteers?
Rainbow
World
A Column on the issues of Racism, Diversity and Multiculturalism
Provided by the KUUF Anti-Racism Committee and the Rev. Suzelle Lynch
Body
and Soul—Finding A Fit: Part I
by Alex Miller, MA, CMHC
Alex Miller, KUUF member and staff member, is a psychotherapist
in private practice. One of her specialties is gender identity
issues.
Achieving integrity of the Self is understood by many to be the prime
objective of life. Many, if
not most of us cherish the notion that healthy, happy people have all
their “parts” connected and are themselves well-connected to the
whole. This sense of the integrated
“I” is so pervasive that it has found its way into our colloquialisms,
those ways of speaking that express metaphorically what everyone knows so
deeply that they don’t even have to think about it. “He’s just ‘falling to pieces.’ ” “She needs to get herself together.” “People see me as a really ‘together’ person.”
If you asked someone to define in concrete terms precisely what he
means by that, he’d probably fall to stuttering!
Our
sense of vital wholeness extends to and envelopes the body.
Our understanding of “I” embraces the body-mind continuum.
One of our earliest developmental achievements is a sense of
identity with our bodies, and then the ability to perceive that identity
objectively. “Who’s that
in the mirror?” we say to a little child.
“That’s me!” she crows happily. Normally one
feels the Self as co-extensive with the body. If we have a stuffy
nose--runny eyes--sneezing-so-you-can’t-sleep virus, we don’t say,
“My head has a cold.” We say, “I have a cold.”
When it happens that people have a sense of discontinuity
with their bodies, it’s considered a sign of mental illness.
Psychology calls them “dissociated.”
But even in mental illness dissociation is usually an episodic
phenomenon.
But imagine this: you
are a very young child and almost as soon as you are aware of your body as
yourself, you are simultaneously aware that somehow it doesn’t fit; you
know the person in the mirror there is indeed you, but. . .it’s not
really the Self that you know you are—or the self that you so deeply yearn
to be. Long before you
understand the meaning of the word integrity, you know undeniably
that you aren’t “put together right”— whether it’s not the way
you ought to be, or not the way your deepest instincts want you to be. When this perception and conviction is related to one’s
biological sex (male/female) and to gender (boy/girl), psychologists call
it GID, or “Gender Identity Dysphoria”
[dysphoria means roughly, unhappy discomfort]. Now imagine that your awareness of this “disjunction” is
with you more or less continuously for the rest of your life. “Unhappy discomfort” is a mild expression for the chronic
pain experienced by persons with GID.
The high suicide rate among these sufferers is witness to that.
Historically, psychiatric treatment of GID has failed miserably.
Self-perceived gender is apparently not something one can “change
one’s mind” about. Eventually the medical establishment itself came to
the conclusion that the preferred treatment is to change a person’s body
to match his or her “soul”
or inner Self—or in some cases, to rebuild the body to match a
persistent and inconquerable desire to have a body like the
other gender. Dr. Anne
Lawrence, an internationally prominent researcher and gender physician,
refers to this latter condition as “A man trapped in a man’s
body.” This is a reference, of course, to the much-used phrase, “a
woman trapped in a man’s body.” In
either case, the trap is just as real and just as excruciating.
But is the treatment complete? Is all well once a transgendered
person is able to live as another gender? What becomes of the social
reality of the transsexual person, a person who has changed her
physiological sex? How does life unfold after transition for a
transgendered person, one who has changed the way he expresses gender and
presents to the world? A
highly regarded school of psychology proposes that personal identity
arises, and continues to develop, through ones experience of relationship
to others. Lives of people who are minorities of one kind or another bear
this out. Transgendered
minority persons must live and find peace, not only in their own skins,
but also in a social context that has profound effect on their
self-acceptance and life-fulfillment. This is the entry point for issues
of discrimination on one hand, or affirmation and welcome on the
other.
In next month’s column
we will look more closely at the kind of experiences that may enrich a
transsexual’s life among us—and at attitudes of acceptance by which we
may enrich our own lives.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION for CHILDREN & YOUTH
 Summer
Schedule
July
6-Potluck Sunday: no
class today
July 13-Gertrude
McFuzz: pin the tail on Gertrude and make Gertrudes
(Today is also Rev. Suzelle’s last day in
the pulpit.)
July 20-Yertle
the Turtle: make turtles
July 27-The
Butter Battle Book: make butter (peanut butter?) and play a game
August 3-King
Louie Katz: Act out the story and play a game
August 10-The
Lorax: Make the interdependent web and pick up around the Fellowship
August 17-Oh
the Places You’ll Go: Make a me map
August
24-Dr. Seuss Party: More info to come
August
31-Potluck
Sunday: no class today
Youth
The
youth group will be meeting sporadically throughout the summer. The
Youth/Adult Council will send out more information. One of the things they
are planning on doing is scheduling regular produce sales throughout the
summer as a fundraiser for their program.
How
Can You Get Involved?
There
is a place for everyone in the Fellowships Religious Education
Program.
One of the ways you
can get involved is to teach. The Religious Education Committee and the
Director of Religious Education are currently recruiting teachers for next
year. Teachers are asked to make at least a 6-week commitment. During these 6 weeks 3 are spent as the lead teacher
and 3 as the assistant. In order for the program to run smoothly, with
each teacher making a 6 week commitment, 48 teachers are needed.
Teaching is a
wonderful experience. An orientation will be provided at the end of August
for those teaching September through January and in the beginning of
January for those teaching January through May. At these orientations
teachers schedule which 6 weeks they would like to teach/assist, look
through the curriculum and pick up the lessons they will be
teaching.
If you have any
questions please contact a member of the Religious Education Committee,
their names are listed on the Religious Education bulletin board, or
Melinda L. Hughes, Director of Religious Education, at 360-377-4724 or by
email at dre@kuuf.org.
Fun
with Dr. Seuss
Children will learn more about our
Unitarian Universalist principles this summer in a program called Fun with
Dr. Seuss. Each Sunday this summer (potluck Sundays excluded) children
will listen to a Dr. Seuss story, do an activity, and discuss our
principles.
WANTED: A few good Unitarians to work with young adults (ages 14-18) as Youth Coordinators. QUALIFICATIONS: Over age 25 but under 125; good humor and patience; tolerant yet not childish; willing to teach as well as learn; flexible schedule (Sunday mornings, sleepovers, regional conferences). Highly rewarding work requiring a serious com-mitment to escorting our youth to adulthood. For further information contact Melinda Hughes, Director of Religious Education, Jim Chapin, youth advisor or Mariam Akgar, Youth/Adult Committee Chair.
ConCentric
August 1st through 4th
Unicamp—A UU Camp
outside Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ConCentric creates and disseminates tools and
tactics for young leadership to create and energize religious communities
with radical spiritual values.
Concentric is the
annual business meeting of the Continental UU Young Adult Network or C*UUYAN
which brings together a wide representation of UU young adults age 18-35
and allies. The purpose of
ConCentric is to create and disseminate tools and Tactics for young adult
leadership to energize religious communities with radical spiritual
values.
While ConCentric is
focused on the issues of campus and young adult ministry and the people
who make them happen, everyone is welcome at concentric, including children.
By participating in ConCentric you will strengthen the value of our
young adult communities by setting the goals and agenda of the C*UUYAN for
the upcoming year networking with others pursuing similar goals across the
continent building leadership skills, organizing, examining barriers to
inclusiveness through identity based caucusing, planning social justice
projects, participating in inspirational worships.
Questions? Contact
the ConCentric Co-Chairs! Natalie Nguyen revolution@yahoo.com
(773) 507-4776 or Ella Hereth eela@uchicago.edu
(773) 752-6518.
Scholarships
for Opus/ConCentric are available online.
For more information or to register online go to: www.uuyan.org
The Kitsap Unitarian Universalist Fellowship affirms and promotes the inherent worth and dignity of all persons, without regard to faith, creed, race, color, ethnic or national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, economic status, or political affiliation.
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 4418 Perry Ave NE
PO Box 2015
Bremerton, Washington
98310
360.377.4724
admin@kuuf.org
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