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May 2003

A welcoming congregation that seeks to be a spiritual home to people of free faith regardless of race, sexual orientation, class, or any of the other differences that might separate us

"I'm just not a joiner", a parish- ioner in Maine once told me. "Don't get me wrong; I feel more at home here than in any religious group, but there are some things about the church that bother me", he continued. He looked away, and when his eyes came back to mine he said, "I apprec- iate the invitation. And you can count on me to help on a committee and to make a pledge - I'll even lead a service or two this year - but I'm just not a joiner."

Fair enough. There are many things about Unitarian Universalism that bother me, too. In the midst of a good lover's quarrel with our way of religion, I can, borrowing from Paul Simon, think of at least 50 ways to leave UUism. Classism? We're rife with it. Democratic process? Most of us like power. A lot. Social justice? Our words and deeds often stand miles apart. Inclusivity? Consult our UU Republicans or UU Christians.Yes, there are things about us that bother me, too.

If you've been around a UU congrega- tion for any length of time, you probably have your own list. (It may well include the rantings of a certain minister!)

Truth be told, we're a highly imperfect religious community, especially when judged by our own high standards. So why join a UU congregation?

Harkening back to my conversation with the fellow in Maine, he indicated that he felt as at home with us, even though the feeling was not complete. I joined the ACLU many years ago, but I'm not completely at home with some of the organization's decisions. I joined Amnesty International recently, although its policies sometimes confuse and rile me. I voted with the Greens last election, despite the fact that Ralph Nader has roughly the same appeal to me as liver and onions: not much.

My point is that "church" is for comfort, but also for challenge. It's a highly imperfect gathering of the highly imperfect, who, convinced of the power of liberal religious com- munity, stand ready to be haunted by their own vision of being better today than they were yesterday. Speaking for myself, some of the things that bother me most about our tradition are the very things that bother me most about myself, thus our way of religion is at once public yet personal. (Here's a potential ad cam- paign for the UUA: "Need Stretched? We Can Do That!") Tacky, but not untrue.

Bottom line? Membership in our congregation is not a wholesale endorsement of all that we are or do or even hope to become; it's a deepening commitment to being part of an experiment that is at once old and new, the experiment of holding fast to one's beliefs while yet affirming another's right to do likewise. No perfec- tion, no delusions thereof. If you've been thinking about joining us, talk with me. Perhaps it's time to join the lover's quarrel that is part and parcel of Unitarian Universalism. We'd be honored to welcome you to membership yet this glorious spring!

Connie Regli, a longtime Kendal resi- dent and faithful attendee at our monthly Kendal services, died early Monday morning, April 28th. Due to the family's flight schedules, the service was held the next morning.

You may know that Unitarianism has roots in Transylvania, but do you know that there are still some Unitarian congregations there today?

Each year, the Partner Church Council invites donations in support of our churches in that part of Romania.

This year's funds are designated for repairs to a building used to house high school and seminary students. Donations may be written to PCC and sent to: UUPCC, P.O. Box 88, Bedford, MA 01730-0088.

SSSH! IT'S A SILENT AUCTION!

Everyone is cordially invited to the OUUF SILENT AUCTION AND MIDDLE EAST FEAST on Friday, May 17, 2003, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at the First United Methodist Church of Oberlin, 45 South Professor Street. Free Admission, Live guitar music by OUUF Music Director Andy Frantz, the Rev. Don Rollins of OUUF and the Rev. French Ball of First United Methodist. Some items auctioned starting at 7PM by a live auctioneer.

Come on in and have a fun time. Bid on all the great Goods and Services donated OUUFers.

If you have a "taste" for adventure, add some spice to your life: Try food from North Africa, the southern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, and Persia, while your kids eat familiar, child-approved fare. Dine while you bid on the auction. Y $8 per adult; $4 per child up to 12 years old.

To make sure you have a seat at the table, order your Advance Tickets from our chef Cal Frye, 367 North Prospect Street, 775-7006. Tickets also available at the door on a limited basis.

OUUF ANNUAL MEETING

The Annual Meeting of the Oberlin Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will be held at 9:30 am on June 1, 2003, at the Oberlin Early Childhood Center, 317 East College Street, Oberlin, Ohio. Besides the usual important business of electing officers, approving a budget and receiving reports, we will be consid- ering Mission/Covenant statements and Bylaw amendments establishing a Com- mittee on Ministry and defining the charge of the OUUF Social Justice Team. Bylaw amendment texts are found elsewhere in this newsletter. Attendance is important; some of these changes will be laying out the course of the Fellowship for some time to come.

=>PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY BYLAW<=
COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY

The purpose of the Committee on Ministry is the fulfillment of the Fellowship's Mission Covenant. The charge of this committee shall be to use the Fellowship's Mission Covenant as a standard by which to gauge the effectiveness of its ministry and to make recommendations to enhance the quality of the Fellowship's ministry. This committee also serves as a means for managing and/or resolving con- flict within the Fellowship, whether between congregants, professional staff, or congregants and profes- sional staff.

The Committee on Ministry shall be a standing committee of three members of the Fellowship serving overlapping three-year terms. No member may serve more than one term consecutively. The committee shall select its chairperson from its members annually after the elec- tion of a new member. Committee vacancies will be filled until the next Annual Meeting through appointment by the OUUF Board of Trustees.

Regular meetings of the Committee on Ministry shall be held no less than once per month. Special meetings may be called by either the chairperson or the minister.

=>PROPOSED ADDITION TO ARTICLE V<=

To the list of positions for which the Nominating Committee is to nom- inate candidates annually, additional language is proposed: "...and a new member and replacement for any vacan- cy for the Committee on Ministry."

=>PROPOSED SOCIAL JUSTICE TEAM BYLAW<=
SOCIAL JUSTICE TEAM

The Social Justice Team shall consist of any number of members and friends for the purpose of:
1. regularly informing the Fellowship regarding events and opportunities related to social justice concerns;
2. facilitating, on an annual basis, the Fellowship's process for identifying a local and a national or international focus issue/topic in the area of social justice;
3. serving as the primary contact for social justice efforts between the Fellowship and other agencies or groups.

=>PROPOSED NAME CHANGE<=

A Bylaw Amendment will be proposed at the OUUF Annual Meeting to change the name of the Newsletter Committee to the Communication Committee, reflect- ing the increased used of electronic communications by the Fellowship.

Don reports that the coffeehouse may not survive past this fellowship year. The small remnant is thinning out, and OUUF has been by far the most populous of the congregations.

Don also reported he attended the OCAM's "Day After" service which was well attended and truly comforting.

The program committee is planning their annual survey.

Cal Frye has agreed to be the point person for annoucements for the Sunday Order of Service.

The nominating committee (that nominates board members and committee chairs) has been formed and is comprised of Ketih Koenning, Barbara Fuchsman, and Jo Huber.

Barbara Fuchsman and Kim Peters were selected to be OUUF's delegates to the OMD annual meeting.

The next board meeting will be May 18 7:00 at Tom Phinney's house. Visitors are always welcome at Board meetings; the input of OUUF members is both welcome and guaranteed under our Bylaws.

The next Conference on the Free Church gathers May 22-24 at the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

The theme is "Personal Faith/Public Voice." Our discussion centers around these questions: "How should the Free Church approach social witness as a pluralistic organization with a foun- dational principle of personal reli- gious freedom? What should be the relationship between public theology and congregational pluralism?"

Our presenters are: the Rev. Alice Blair Wesley (keynote), the Rev. Thomas Schade, the Rev.'s Gary Blaine, Burton Carley and Nicole Kirk (panel discussion), and Ms. Diane Olson (UUA Moderator). Our chaplain is the Rev. Brent Smith.

Registration: the Rev. Daniel Budd, First Unitarian Church of Cleveland, 21600 Shaker Boulevard, Shaker Heights OH 44122; 216-751-2320 .

We'll observe the Flower Communion, the ritual that comes to us from the Rev Capek and the Czechoslovakian Unitarians under Nazi occupation. The service will be intergenerational. PLEASE BRING A FLOWER OR TWO TO SHARE.

Mothers' Day originated as a result of the Civil War, started by Julia Ward Howe. The Mother's Day Proclam- ation declares, among other things, that "our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience." And: "From the bosom of the devastated Earth, a voice goes up with our own. It says, 'Disarm, disarm!'"

This forum will explore both global and local water issues, with emphasis on human rights implications, ecolog- ical issues and strategies for local empowerment regarding water conserva- tion.

Are ethics just rules, standards and codes of good behavior? Are they merely pie-in-the-sky ideals that yield to the demands of practical real life? What are the actual mental processes we experience when trying to make difficult decisions or resolve ethical dilmmas? And how can we make ethics a useful, coherent basis for deciding how we want to live our lives?

The free and responsible search for truth and meaning is not pursued through words along. Art is another channel for putting the truth within us into the public conversation.

Rebecca is preparing quilts for an exhibition. We will get a close look at the substance of forms she will discuss in the service.

Come one, come all to the greatest town/gown event: The Big Parade, Sat. May 3rd. Fellowship UUs and LUUV students will meet at 10:30 AM at Eastwood School. Parade starts at 11:00 AM. Wear funny, bright cloth- ing. For details call Kim Peters.

Wow! With the warm weather comes the wrapping up of the school year and our RE classes. The remainder of the RE schedule looks like this:

May 4th: 9:30 No RE. Flower Communion crafts, youth/child flower making
11:00 Flower Communion, Don Rollins

May 11th 9:30 Regular RE classes

May 18th 9:30 Regular RE classes

May 25th 9:30 Regular RE classes

June 1st 9:30 OUUF Annual Meeting
No RE, childcare provided

June 8th 9:30 Presentation practice
11:00 Service: RE class presentations

June 15, 22, 29 9:30-12:00:

Contact Kim to volunteer for childcare supervision and any special programming ideas. We need your help!

You've been thinking about going. Yes, you really intended to check it out. Now it's May and we're down to the last coffeehouse of the season. Come read or sing or dance or tell a story. Join us at First United Methodist Church on Friday, May 16 at 8:00 P.M. A $1 donation and canned food item are requested, and as always, the coffeehouse is a chemical-free environment.

Our minister, Don Rollins, is available for emergencies at any time. Monday is his day off, and Friday is usually reserved for writing sermons. Feel free to contact him by phone (366-1027) or e-mail at your convenience.

Think "Tacky, Cheesy Prom"! OUUF members and friends are cordially invited to join the Olmsted UU Congregation for their prom fundraiser on May 24, from 7:30 - ? at the church. Hors d'oeuvres and punch will be provided, and corsages ($10.00) and boutonnieres ($5.00) can be ordered in advance. Adults $7.50, youth $4.00 and children free with an adult ticket purchase.

Tickets can be purchased from Don Rollins at the May 4 Flower Service, or contact Jim Carney for tickets and corsages/boutonnieres at 440-365-5054 or . All pro- ceeds will be used to purchase new office equipment.