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September 29, 2002
a welcoming congregation that seeks to be a spiritual home to people of
free faith regardless of race, color, sexual orientation, or any of the
other differences that might separate us.
SUNDAY MORNING PROGRAM SCHEDULE -- ALL ARE WELCOME
Sunday School: 9:30 - 10:30 AM OUUF Forum: 9:30 - 10:30 AM
Worship Service: 11:00 AM Child care: 10:45 - Noon
Care for the very youngest children available during services and forums
Sunday, September 29, 2002
FREETHINKING IN A REACTIONARY AGE
morning service 11:00 am
Barbara Fuchsman, Service Leader
This service, developed by Barbara
and Bill Fuchsman, Virginia Erdy, and
Ed Vermue, will explore freethinking
beliefs, showing that far from saying
"anything goes," these beliefs lead
to a strong moral imperative. It is
no accident that many freethinkers
are working to protect our civil
liberties. All are welcome.
CIVIL LIBERTIES IN TIMES OF CRISIS
fellowship forum 9:30 am
Christine Link, Forum Leader
Since October 2001 the government has
sweeping new powers to arrest and de-
tain without hearings or legal repre-
sentation, pry into business and per-
sonal records, conduct searches and
monitor electronic communications.
Will these new powers make us safe?
If so, are they worth the sacrifice
of privacy and due process? Christine
Link is Executive Director of the
ACLU of Ohio. All are welcome.
Sunday, October 6, 2002
EMBRACING THE MYSTERY: Practical Mysticism for UUs
morning service 11:00 am
Carol Wilde, Service Leader
Is mysticism relevant now? How can we
even talk about it? All are welcome.
BOOKS OF HOURS: Words, Images and Lay Piety in the Late Middle Ages.
fellowship forum 9:30 AM
Erik Inglis, Guest Speaker
Books of Hours were commissioned works of personal
piety popular in the late middle ages. They are
the product of secular scribes, not monks. People
read them, rather than write in them (although
some people added family histories to the back, as
people still do with Bibles). Many of them are
very lavishly illustrated. Oberlin College Library
is about to open a major exhibit of medieval manu-
scripts so the topic is very appropriate at this
time. Prof Inglis teaches Art History at Oberlin
College with a specialty in Medieval and Renais-
sance Art. All are welcome.
CALLING ALL CREATIVE-TYPE YOUTHS!
Calling all creative-type youths! Kim
needs your hands-on input in creating
our RE info board. Come spend part of
a weekend afternoon with me at my
house. Yummy food and snacks provided!
Please let me know if you are inter-
ested. Kim Peters 776-0132.
HOW TO FIND THE OBERLIN U.U. FELLOWSHIP
OUUF meets in the Oberlin Early Childhood Center at 317 East College
Street, marked by a large abstract statue of a parent and child. Service
and Forum space is barrier-free. Parking in the front and to the east.
OUUF BOARD MEETINGS 7pm on the fourth Sunday of the month. Sept meeting
9/28 at Kim Peter's and Ed Vermue's, 117 Spring St. Visitors are always
welcome, and the input of OUUF members is both welcome and guaranteed under
our Bylaws.
OUUF WEBSITE: .
Sunday, October 13, 2002
UU EVANGELISM
morning service 11:00 am
Rev. Don Rollins
Congregational experts tell us that
growth is preceded by "clarity of
mission and recognition of target
customers". (Corporate Speak for
knowing what you have to offer and
who needs you.) So, how do we know
who might be a UU? As we continue to
facilitate growth, let's talk about
who we are and who needs us.
All are welcome.
JESUS
fellowship forum 9:30 am
Rev. Don Rollins
One need not be a Christian to forge
a view of the historical Jesus. There
exists quite a range of ideas about
him in UUism, so let's explore some
of them. (PLEASE SEE ED VERMUE TO GET
A COPY OF THE PAMPHLET TO GUIDE OUR
DISCUSSION.) All are welcome.
COFFEEHOUSE: Even while we explore
options for a coffeehouse in Oberlin,
the Olmsted UU Congregation will
begin its monthly coffeehouse on
October 11. Area poets, (acoustic)
musicians, storytellers, etc. will
perform in an "open mike" format,
hosted by Don Rollins. We'll begin at
8:00 P.M., and ask for a $1 donation
and canned food item for an area food
pantry. C'mon over!
FROM THE MINISTER...
I've been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year,
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear.
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you've seen it before,
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war.
-Jackson Browne
Hello new friends. What a privilege
it is to be part of the ongoing story
of liberal religion in Oberlin, and
to work with such a vibrant congre-
gation. From your leaders to the
Kendal crowd to LUUV (the UU college
students' group), I'm impressed and
glad to be your minister.
Jackson Browne's song Lives in the
Balance is the background for what is
shaping up to be a rather somber
first column in THE CHALICE. Perhaps
this is because the prospect of a US-
led invasion of Iraq is, in many
ways, the background of our lives
right now.
The above verse was written in the
mid-1980s, as our government was
becoming increasingly involved in
both El Salvador and Nicaragua. I was
serving as Minister of Religious Edu-
cation at First UU Church, in Colum-
bus, where many of us were struggling
with both the political and socioeco-
nomic questions of U.S. policy in
Central America. But many of us were
also wrestling with the religious
questions raised by our government's
overt and covert military presence
there - questions about evil and war
and justice.
As we begin our walk together as a
religious community, we do so against
the backdrop of Lives in the Balance;
war clouds are indeed on the horizon.
Again.
I've been around our Association
just long enough to know that there
is no unified set of political re-
sponses among us on any topic, much
less one as complex as a possible war
against Saddam. (Frankly, I don't
want to be part of a religious body
that posits only one political point
of view; despite my own politics, I
sometimes grow tired of the notion
that UUism is the divine right of the
Left. Do we really want an unofficial
political litmus test for being a
UU?) But what about the religious
questions? What about evil and war
and justice?
No matter our politics, a rigorous
liberal religion will not afford us a
hiding place in times like these. For
example, theists must account for a
deity who at best is a bystander, and
at worst, a participant as human be-
ings make war on each other. Human-
ists must explain how rational, in-
telligent people choose to torture,
maim and murder -- all in the belief
that one side (their own) is justi-
fied in doing so. Likewise, UUs whose
spiritual roots are in paganism,
Eastern religions or none-of-the-
above must struggle with the reli-
gious, not just the political aspects
of these times; it's the nature of
our tradition not to avoid tough
questions or times.
No "Up With People", this first
column. But I have great trust in our
ability and willingness to seek reli-
gious truth in even such times as
these. And I'm grateful to have a
religious community such as ours to
both comfort and confront me in that
search.
Blessings,
Don
HAUNTING CHURCH/NEW UU
Don will facilitate a combination of
the UU curricula The Haunting Church
and The New UU beginning October 22.
The course will provide some simple
tools for use in re-examining one's
religious past, as well as some basic
background about UUism. Sessions will
involve people from the Fellowship
and from Olmsted UU Congregation,
thus we'll take turns meeting in each
town. Dates are October 22 and 29,
November 5 and 12. The first session
will be held in North Olmsted (con-
tact Don for directions) at 7PM. Each
session will last about 2 hours.
Participants will need a notebook and
pen/pencil. CONTACT DON TO REGISTER.
OUUF SUNDAY SCHOOL
Kim Peters is RE Director for 2002-3.
PRESCHOOL/KINDERGARTEN Kerry
Langan, Rebecca Cross. Parent helper:
Mary McKee. "Celebrating me and my
world" An exploration of a child's
world through literature, (Aesop's
Fables), poetry, music, movement,
arts & crafts.
GRADES 1-3 Barbara Fuchsman, Kim
Peters. "Stories About God" An ex-
ploration of God: in image, in world
religions, by emotions, values and
the children's personal experiences.
GRADES 4-5 Peg Tucker and Phyllis
Smith."Holidays and Holy Days" We will
be learning about and celebrating
holidays which honor a universal
human response to life and highlight
the values we, as UUs affirm. The
holy days give us an opportunity to
examine the religious beliefs of
others, and in the process, our own.
GRADES 6-7 Katie Styer, Ed Miller.
"Neighboring Faiths" We will learn
about the great religions of the
world and visit their places of
worship. Before the outings, parti-
cipants will need to sign a waiver
(provided at the first class).
GRADE 8-9 Keith Koenning. Thinking
the Web: "Moral Issues and Systematic
Thinking" The class will be discussing
current medical, societal and global
issues. Participants will learn how
to be aware of their thinking pro-
cess, develop discussion skills and
gain understanding of consequences of
decisions made.
Published by
Oberlin Unitarian Universalist Fellowship:
member, Unitarian Universalist Association
and the Ohio-Meadville District thereof;
and Oberlin Area Co-operating Ministries (OACM).
Mail: MPO Box 0354, Oberlin OH 44074-0354.
Phone: 774-5591.
Email:
Website:
Clergy: Rev. Don Rollins.
R.E. Director: Kim Peters.
Chair: Tom Phinney.
Vice Chair: Barbara Fuchsman.
Treasurer: Ed Miller.
Secretary: Katie Styer.
Editor: Dave Burwasser.
Webmaster: Cal Frye.
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