Board President Looks Ahead

This summer will be a time of transition and change for the congregation.  Sadly, we will be saying goodbye to Hilary during the month of June (though she will be available for emergencies during her July vacation), but we are also excited about the arrival of our interim minister, Marlene Walker, at the beginning of September. 

This summer, however, is only the beginning of greater transitions and growth ahead for our congregation and community. 

Over the next year or two we will be challenged and rewarded by several undertakings.  I have begun to think of our near future like a ship berthed by the dock, loaded with cargo, and preparing for the voyage ahead.  A ship is designed to be at sea. 

In fact, to be moored to a dock in port puts ships in greater danger of damage from storms, allows the growth of barnacles and parasites which slow movement through the waters, and keeps the officers and crew from the work they were trained to perform. 

Now that we have successfully “loaded our cargo” in the new church building and begun to settle the spaces, it is time to weigh anchor, cast off the mooring lines, take on a harbor pilot to guide us to the channel, and chart a course for the future of the church.

The board anticipates that the writing team identified at the Covenant of Right Relations workshop will soon have a first draft of the covenant and we can hold another church-wide discussion before adopting the covenant and asking congregants and friends to sign.  This can, and perhaps should, become the basis for growth and development. 

As we search for a settled minister we will want to be introspective – ask ourselves who and what we stand for, how we wish to be seen in the larger community, and how we wish to invite others to join us.  The covenant can become a cornerstone for membership classes and activities, a guide to building relationships within and outside the church, and a reminder that our Unitarian Universalist principles apply to our daily lives. 

As we “ready the ship for sea” the board encourages committees and committee chairs to continue reflecting on their operations, goals, budget requests and aspirations. We also invite those who may have interests and ideas to engage others in thought and discussion about the future.  And, we want to thank each and every participant in the life of this church for their hard work and understanding.  Bless all of you.

---Fritz Smith, President

            Board of Trustees

Interim Minister Appointed

The Unitarian Universalist Church of West Lafayette’s Board of Trustees and the Interim Minister Search Committee are pleased to introduce Rev. Marlene Walker as our new interim minister. She will be with us for two years beginning Sept. 1, 2008.

            “Fundamental to my understanding of ministry is that it is a shared enterprise. Ministry is not something I do to people, but rather a relationship that I enter into with people. The many dimensions of ministry: preaching, teaching, facilitating and counseling, are all based on my personal understanding of ministry as a mutual relationship with individuals, with a congregation, and with how we speak of what is holy, divine, and central in our lives.”

Rev. Walker is the parent of three grown children: Josh Walker, a management consultant for McKinsey & Co. in Palo Alto, CA; Noah Walker, an architect in Los Angeles, CA, and their half-sister, Kate Walker, the newly- called minister at the Mount Vernon UU Church in Alexandria, VA.

Rev. Walker and her spouse, Gloria Perez, are pleased to be moving to West Lafayette and delighted to be even closer to Gloria’s four adult children in the Chicago area as well as their three “soon to be four” grandchildren.

Rev. Walker was raised by a conservative Jewish family of Holocaust survivors in Boston. Her interest in other religions led her to join, at the age of 20, a traditional UU New England church, which had a Paul Revere bell and served communion once a month.

In the years following her ordination, she worked as a consulting minister, a new congregation minister, and interim minister on the East Coast, while completing a doctorate of Ministry at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, awarded in 1999.

While at EDS, Rev. Walker completed a yearlong course on Supervision for Ministry and was certified as a field education and internship supervisor through the Boston Theological Institute. She served the UU Church of Greater Lynn in Swampscott, MA as interim MRE for two years and as acting Parish Minister for one year. She ministered to a deeply divided and wounded congregation by focusing on being a pastor to all. Her ministry focused on healing and being a non-anxious presence in the midst of congregational conflict.  

In 2000, she became the Minister for Religious Education at the First Unitarian Society of Chicago, as well as the UU campus minister at the University of Chicago.

Rev. Walker then served as the first settled minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Grand Valley in Grand Junction, CO from 2003-2006. In 2006 Rev. Walker again entered the Accredited Interim Ministry program of the UUA and began serving a two-year interim ministry at Peoples Church UU in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Rev. Marlene Walker sees the UU tradition as a modern synthesis of liberal Christianity, humanism and influences from world religions:

“For many people, myself included, it allows us to be in a religious community and bring all of ourselves, the parts of us Jewish or Christian, Buddhist or earth-based or other traditions all of that together and not have to leave any of it at the door. It’s not that we are not Christian: we are that, and more. You become very multi-lingual, spiritually.”

We will share news of Rev. Walker’s arrival, needs for assistance, and opportunities to get acquainted as they approach. 

Transition Budget 2nd Year Requests

It's been almost a year since we moved over to our current home, and that means that it's time to prepare the 2nd year Transitions (Capital Campaign) Budget. What does this mean for you? Well, it means that any church committee or group that is in need of capital campaign funds this upcoming year now has the opportunity to request money. If your committee/group is interested in requesting transition funds here's what the transition committee needs:

            Step 1: If your committee received capital campaign money last year please include a brief paragraph explaining how the funds were used. If you did not receive funds last year please move onto Step 2.

            Step 2: Determine your committee's current needs and wants, and write them down.

            Step 3: Briefly explain how much money you are requesting and why (i.e., how it will be used).

            Step4: Please make sure all request include the committee name, contact person and number/email of contact.

            Step 5: Finally, submit your written request to Joan Marshal (jmarshal@purdue.edu) by June 15th.

Please direct any questions to Joan Marshal (jmarshal@purdue.edu).

We look forward to receiving your budget requests.

---Capital Campaign Oversight Committee

Board Changes Meeting Time

Beginning June 24, 2008 board meetings will be held on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m in room 101/102.  Board meetings are open to members, friends and others. 
                          --Fritz Smith

Peace Table Needs Volunteers

Lafayette Area Peace Coalition, among other similar groups, is looking for volunteers to set up and staff the Peace Table each Saturday morning, 9:00-12:00, during Farmers' Market. 

Outdoor Group

The UU Outdoor Group will hike Clegg Botanical Gardens on Sunday, June 15 after church.  We'll meet in the social hall after the service and car pool from church.  Bring a picnic lunch.  All ages welcome, along with dogs on leashes. 

Clegg is just outside Lafayette along the Wildcat Creek and has a beautiful assortment of wild flowers.  Hope to see you there! 

For more information contact Steve and Alanna Nelson who will be leading this hike due to the Easlers having a baby.

End-Of-Year Review and Budget Initiatives

 ‘Tis that time of year again!

As the church year winds down, we ask all church committees and program areas that receive funds from the operating budget to consider their progress this past year, and think of what they would like to do in the upcoming year. 

If there are new activities or opportunities that will require increased funding in the 2009 budget year (Jan – Dec 2009), then you should submit a PROPOSED BUDGET INITIATIVE to the Board. 

These budget initiatives will be what we center our annual pledge drive in the fall. The success of that pledge drive will determine what we can fund and do in the upcoming year. 

Keep in mind that we are currently stretching our budget to pay for increased staff hours, payment on the bridge loan for the Meridian property, and for utilities and other costs associated with the bigger building. 

These increased expenses will keep our budget situation tight until the two properties sell (although the rent we are currently getting from the Seventh Street building certainly helps).  I am sure that the Finance Committee will be very conservative in adding new budget initiatives until the properties sell. So you might consider modest budget initiatives for the upcoming year, with the more daring ideas in reserve for when our budget situation simplifies.

If you don’t have a copy of the current budget handy, a current budget is posted on the Board of Trustees bulletin board in the hallway near the sanctuary.

Social Justice Committee

The Social Justice Committee met on Saturday, May 17, for a mini-retreat to evaluate this year’s activities and plan for the future.

We look forward to working with new members/friends on upcoming projects. The Committee will not meet in June but will resume its regularly scheduled meetings on the second Thursdays of each month in July (July 10 at 7 p.m. in Room 101/103).

We are pleased to announce that Bill Kannel has kindly volunteered to serve as the new co-chair with Jean Tyner. We thank Charles Coley for his years of dedicated and insightful leadership and wish him well as he moves to Lincoln, Nebraska. Everyone will miss you, Charles.

The Women’s Shelter is in regular need of gently used items to replenish its stocks. We have a donation box for the shelter in the Fellowship Hall (next to the Food Pantry Caring Cans box). Please drop off towels, linens, blankets, toiletries, children’s clothing and toys, and other usable items. Thank you!

The Social Justice Committee also wishes to thank the UU for contributing $805 to the Darfur Peace and Development Organization’s Schools Project.  This combined effort of the Social Justice Committees of the Unitarian Universalist Church, Temple Israel and St. Thomas Aquinas Church-Purdue raised $2,107 over several months.

The project establishes schools for children affected by the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, where hundreds of thousands have died and millions have been displaced. To date 12 schools serving 6,000 children have been opened in hard to reach regions of Darfur. 

Donations provide funding for students ($3 per month per student), teacher salaries ($110 per month), tents, supplies, blackboards and other teaching materials.

If you would still like to contribute, please send your tax-exempt check to Darfur Peace and Development Organization (put “Schools Project” on the memo line), P.O. Box 90, Washington, D.C. 20044. Thank you for bringing hope to these children and for promoting peace and reconciliation.

Minister’s Muse

Watching our youngest daughter complete her school year and prepare for high school is an education in itself. At the same time our oldest, Lea, is graduating from college. In both cases I have a sort of breathless feeling as I watch them go from a place they have known – in Chava’s case – her only school system. They are both headed for new and relatively unknown places. The oldest is going to Sri Lanka to work for an NGO – something that Janice Kritchevsky’s daughter Ellen is also doing as she graduates from MIT. These are known destinations but unknown terrains – really. They can’t know what they will encounter–how they will be changed by their experiences. That virtue of youth is in a sense of adventure and the flexibility to face it.

Eight years ago a feral cat left a litter of kittens in our backyard. This year it’s happened again. They’re resting under an overhang and a bale of straw. The mother comes and feeds them. They are little wild things now just mewing and looking all furry and new. And very vulnerable. Four little lives. Our dog, Louiza, has been terribly curious about them and has known about them, we think, longer than we have. Eight years ago the kittens reminded me of how abundant life was in the spring – how much of it was bursting into being around us.

It’s true this year, as well. Our backyard has lovely flowers set into the lush, spring green setting, the arugula is thick, the spinach and lettuce are coming up alongside the flowers Mark has planted. Between the kittens and the all that blossoming life feels very full. The time of adventure hasn’t yet begun for the kittens – they are too little to walk yet – but they are trying to stretch out and feel their way around the little space they have. We are going to create a space that is safe for them to explore for the time being and begin to handle them so that they can be adopted later.

It feels right that it should happen that new life should come to us again – for our fostering and yet not keeping.

Kittens and puppies have a way of reminding us all of the youngest part of ourselves – that we are all – at any age – beginners in life. Chava, Ellen, Lea – all of us are beginners at life – we only loose our sense of greenness, flexibility, ability to grow when we forget that – or begin to fool ourselves into thinking that we have learned it all.

It’s possible to feel new tendrils of energy every time we can think – “oh – there really is something fundamental and new to learn in this moment and on this day” or “I never thought of it that way before” or “I wonder what the future holds” and we are alright as we think those things. For all that is new in everyone of us this spring and every day – for all the graduates from junior high, high school, college, for all those who are going onto to varieties of new adventure – more school– a job – new children for all the new beginnings – I wish a happy blossoming.

In the meantime, I will have two more newsletter articles to write to you, there will be most of June to talk and visit and share and say goodbye. There will be time to tie up loose ends and to discover that some ends will never be tied or tidied. I cherish this time with you – even as I look forward to the unknown ahead. I will revel in the blossoming here.

PROGRAM COUNCIL  

Please join the Program Council at ther next regularly scheduled meeting, Tuesday June 3 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 106. 

All committee chairpersons are expected to attend and all members and friends are welcome. For further information, please contact Joan Marshall

CLOTHING DRIVE

Sat June 7, 9am-2pm

Fellowship Hall

Time to clean out your closets and support the annual UU Clothing Drive. All clothes must be in either a Goodwill bag (in the fellowship hall) or use your own plastic garbage bag. No shoes or belts please. Receipts available.

Can't make it on June 7? Early donations accepted during regular church hours -- please take them to the upper storage room next to the fellowship hall.

For every bag of clothing we collect, we will receive a voucher which low-income people can use to buy clothes at Goodwill. Vouchers will be distributed by Lafayette Urban Ministry, YWCA Women's Shelter, and Carey Home.

Volunteers needed to help on Collection Day!

The annual UU Clothing Drive is sponsored by the Social Justice Committee.

Thanks to Religious Education Helpers

The Religious Education Committee would like to thank all those who helped in any way with R.E. this past year, as well as all who will be involved in the programming for the summer. 

The responsibility and privilege of providing a welcoming place and a stimulating educational environment for our children and youth requires a lot of time, energy and dedication, and we are grateful to all of you who so willingly offered your help. 

Many of you were teachers, guest speakers, “rovers” (checking on attendance, being available as the “go to” person as needed on a Sunday morning), “shadows” (assisting with our special-needs children in the classroom), nursery helpers, coordinating and helping with special events such as the walk from our former building to our new building, the Christmas play, the pancake breakfast, the potting of flowers for Mother’s Day, the summer mUUsic program, etc. 

To all of you who have been a part of our children’s religious education, we thank you.

Summer sessions for youth

Junior and senior high youth are invited to participate in discussions and other fun and engaging activities during the regular R.E. hour on Sunday mornings this summer.  For more info contact Greg Reynolds at uugamemaster@yahoo.com.

CHANGE FOR CHANGE

Change for Change, which is focusing on environmental groups this year, has selected the Tippecanoe County Soil and Water Conservation District as our May/June recipient.  The end of April through beginning of May marks Soil and Water Stewardship week.

The TCSWCD is committed to providing quality technical, educational, and informational resources for the community through leadership, service, and citizen involvement to foster natural resource conservation and environmental stewardship.

Identifying local resource concerns and addressing the needs of the community are priorities for Tippecanoe County SWCD.

This is accomplished by conducting community meetings with the residents who best know the natural resource problems (i.e. reducing soil erosion, conserving and protecting water quality). After priorities are established, the district looks for ways to address the problems by coordinating technical assistance uniquely suited to the resource concerns. This may involve developing educational programs or applying for funding to implement conservation practices on private lands.

Additionally, the District provides information and education outreach to youth and adults, encouraging good stewardship of our natural resources.

For more information about TCSWCD call Chris Remley, the District Administrator (474-9992, ext 101) or visit www.tippecanoeswcd.org

If you have questions regarding the Change for Change program please contact Social Justice Committee member, Bill Kannel,

Farewell Reception

There will be a farewell reception to honor Hilary on Sunday, June 1 in the Fellowship Hall, after morning service from noon until 1:30 p.m. The reception will include special presentations and refreshments. Please plan to be there! (Note: although Hilary will still officially be with us for several more weeks, June 1 will be her last day in the pulpit.)

UU ALL CHURCH RETREAT 

The Annual UU All Church retreat date has been set! 

Please mark your calendars for October 3-5. The "A" frame at Ross Camp is not available in August, so we will have a fall retreat this year.

The annual retreat is a wonderful time to leave your homes, get outside and enjoy being with UU's.         Ross Camp is located in West Lafayette on the Wabash River and provides plenty of space for outdoor activities, exploring nature and communing with fellow UU's. 

More details will follow as we get closer to the date - hope to see you all there! 

Forum Newsletter for June Programs

June  1     Howard Weiss  “Satisfaction in the Work Place”

When Kathy Black spoke to us about “Happiness” she started a cascade of Forum programs.  Howard Weiss, Chair, Department of Psychology at Purdue, takes a related and perhaps more measurable aspect of happiness. He has studied worker satisfaction for most of his professional career and will share some of his findings. 

 

June  8     Robin Poindexter  “Categories, Pigeonholes and Pits: Choosing the Right Person for the Job”

Major Robin Poindexter is deeply involved in the selection and recruitment of individuals who will make good members of the Indiana Excise Police. It is important to get the right person for the job, but what selection procedures enhance the chances of getting a good fit?

June 15    Zohreh Amoozgar     “Iran: Past and Present”

This presentation might be sub-titled: "Legacy of Cyrus the Great up to the Time of Khomeini.”  Iran’s past, indeed, reaches from the ancient Persian culture to one of the most prominent states in the geopolitics of the Middle East. Zohreh Amoozgar, an Iranian graduate student in nanotechnology, will discuss the evolution of modern Iran.

June 22  Edwin Layer  “Experiencing the Indiana Fiddlers Gathering”

Edwin is our fiddler in residence.  He and his friends, Kurt Brenneman, Meg Howlett, Michael Lewis and Denise Wilson will bring their instruments and share their experiences at the Battle Ground festival. An advance word: playing in the festival is a far different experience than attending it.

June 29   Opportunities for Children in Music

                Betty Mowery  “The Children’s Music Foundation”

                Jinty McTavish “The Wabash Valley Youth Symphony

Betty Mowery was elementary music supervisor for the Lafayette School system for many years and founded the Children’s Music Foundation.

Jinty McTavish soloed on her violin in the fourth grade with the "Symphony on the Go" program and soloed this year as a Keller winner with the LSO.  We will hear about the opportunities for

Program Council Meeting

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, June 3 at 6:30 p.m., Room 106, for the June Program Council meeting. 

We are continuing our leadership series begun at the May meeting with Barny Dunning's informative description of the UUC church organization.

Robin Poindexter will join us in June to share with us his secrets for leading successful meetings.  This is a skill that contributes to being an effective leader not only at church but in our work and volunteer lives as well. 

Program Council meetings are open to all. Committee chairs are expected to attend, but we welcome all UUC members and friends.

--Joan Marshall, Program Council Coordinator

Why do we have a Gay Pride Sunday in June?

            Over ten years ago, our congregation committed to being identified as a “Welcoming Congregation”.  On April 29, 1997, our congregation made this public declaration:  “We, the Unitarian Universalist Church, Lafayette, Indiana declare ourselves to be a Welcoming Congregation.  A Welcoming Congregation is a religious community that welcomes and accepts people who are gay, lesbian, transgendered or bisexual; that strives to be a safe and affirming environment for those among us who are gay, lesbian, transgendered or bisexual; that ensures all areas of congregational life are open and inclusive; and, that commits itself to work for the rights and dignity of gay, lesbian, trandsgendered or bisexual people in the larger community.”

            Each year, as a part of our worship calendar, we include a Sunday in June that is set aside for Gay Pride Sunday.  You might ask, “Why June?  What’s the significance of June for Gay Pride?”  Well, the history of Gay Pride Celebrations began in 1969 in Greenwich Village, New York City at the Stonewall Inn. In 1969 bars were about the only public places gays and lesbians could safely gather together. However, it was common throughout the United States for police to raid these gay and lesbian bars. While they were purportedly looking for liquor law or other violations, patrons were usually arrested and dragged off to jail with no legitimate charges. The names of those arrested were often published in newspapers, and as a result, many were fired from their jobs, shunned by the community, and abandoned by their families and friends.  Therefore, when the police would arrive to raid a bar, the gay and lesbian clientele would try to slip out the back or cower in the corners. 

But on the night of June 28, 1969 something different happened.  Some say that Judy Garland's funeral, held June 27 in Manhattan, “fanned the flames of gay rage”.  For whatever reason, when police raided the Stonewall Inn that night, the clientele fought back. The bar patrons threw bottles and rocks at the police. They chanted, “Gay Power!” On that night, and for several nights after, the crowd gathering outside the Stonewall Inn grew in numbers and in the intensity of emotion. 

Word quickly spread around the country about these gay people who had fought back against the police, and the event became known as the Stonewall Rebellion or Stonewall Riots. Although there was a small gay rights movement around the country prior to Stonewall, after 1969 the movement was energized.  And ever since, gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people all over the world, in June, acknowledge Gay Pride, using the occasion to call for basic civil rights, with parades, marches, and celebrations.  

LUM Report

Homeless Shelter:

The Homeless Shelter is in need of coffee, sugar, and disposable razors.

Office Needs:

Used inkjet cartridges. Any brand except Epson. 

Afterschool Program:

The Afterschool Program is in need of snacks and drinks. Also needed are new or gently used games such as Junior Monopoly, Break the Ice, Hungry Hippos and Trouble, to replace old and worn out games.

Food Pantry:

The Food Pantry is in need of canned fruit, (especially low glycemic canned fruit for diabetes

management) soups, cereals and canned tomato products.

The Food Pantry distributes over 2,000 pounds of food per week and the client list continues to grow.

Tax Program:

Volunteers at LUM have filed 1,260 tax returns for low income taxpayers for $1.5 million in federal tax refunds, and $738,000 of total Earned Income Tax Credit. LUM saved taxpayers $250,000 in tax preparation fees and opened 95 savings accounts for people that did not have savings accounts.

--Mary Finley, LUM representative

Covenant of Right Relations

A third of the congregation participated in the May 3 Covenant of Right Relations workshop, led by trained lay consultant, Cheri Cody.  Multiple discussion groups yielded 30 statements about conflict resolution which are being crystallized into a draft covenant document by a small team (Martha Gipson, Chap Flack, Noemi Ybarra and Kim Harden).  We intend to have it completed by the second week of June. 

Although the Right Relations process had been considered for some time, it was formally begun after the Board recognized that conflicts which were thought to have been resolved had persisted to the point of hindering the work of the congregation. 

We are pleased that our Interim Minister, Marlene Walker, has solid experience with the congregational covenanting process, and will be able to guide us in implementing our covenant. 

--Kim Harden, Trustee

ATHEISM DISCUSSION GROUP meets the second and fourth Thursday of the month, in Room 106, 6:30-8:00 p.m.  Contact Todd Barton

BOARD meetings are the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.

CHARITY QUILTING  Old Tippecanoe Quilt Guild meets every third Wednesday of the month in the Fellowship Hall from 9:30-11:00 a.m.

CONNECTIONS COMMITTEE generally meets the second Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. In Room 106.  Contact Denise Wilson .

EXTERIORS COMMITTEE  meets the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in Room 106.  Contact Michael Lewis.

FIBERARTS meets the last Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m., in the Fellowship Hall. Contact Kirsten Reynolds

GREETING & MEMBERSHIP meets the second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. in Room 106.  Contact Della Willmann.

LITTLE ONES PLAY GROUP  meets in the church nursery on the first and third Thursday of every month from 10 a.m. until noon.  Please enter the church through the door near the Office and join the fun!  All ages welcome--we have new and exciting play furniture to be tried out!  Contact Tandy or Malcolm Easler

PUBLICITY COMMITTEE   meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 in Room 106. 

SOCIAL JUSTICE meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in rooms 101/103.  Contact Jean Tyne.

UU COFFEE FELLOWSHIP   meets each Sunday immediately following service for an informal gathering in the Fellowship Hall where coffee and tea are served, often supplemented by light snacks.  This is the perfect time to meet others in the congregation.  

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SYMPOSIUM (UUS) meets each Friday at 7 p.m. in a different location for food, fellowship and fun.  All ages are welcome, as are suggestions for next month’s meeting places.

WORSHIP AND MUSIC meets the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. in Room 106.  Contact Gale Kvam.

WRITERS GROUP  meets the first and third Monday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in Room 106.  Contact Caroline Barnhart