InterConnections Welcomes You

If you've just joined your congregation's governing board, InterConnections may be new to you. The UUA sends it five times a year to all board members and professional staff. We write about congregations that find exemplary ways of dealing with issues all of us face, in the belief that the best way to build vital congregations is to learn from each other.

The newsletter began in 1998. Back issues are on the UUA Web site www.uua.org/interconnections. Keep each issue in your board binder and make copies of articles for appropriate committees.

InterConnections welcomes you.

The Family Matters Task Force in the UUA Department of Religious Education encourages all ministers and religious educators to return the survey (mailed last spring) about family ministry. Send responses to FMTF, UUA RE Department, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108. Questions? Pat Hoertdoerfer, Children and Family Programs director, phoertdoerfer@uua.org; (617) 948-4362.

If you've struggled with creating your own order of service covers for special occasions such as winter holidays, flower communion, etc., struggle no more. As a service to congregations, the UUA's Church of the Larger Fellowship, which provides ministry services to geographically isolated UUs, has created eight different covers that it is offering to congregations at $15 per 100.

CLF minister Rev. Jane Rzepka said CLF hired a designer, created its own covers, and can offer eight designs, including the ones mentioned above, plus two flaming chalice designs. Some have room for the name of the congregation on the cover.

See examples at www.uua.org/clf or contact CLF at clf@uua.org; (617) 948-6166 or write to CLF, 25 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108.

Discussion guides, ideal tools for adult religious education or discussion groups, are now available from the UUA's Beacon Press for the following books:

• Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment in a Complex World, by Laurent A. Parks, Cheryl H. Keen, James P. Keen and Sharon Daloz Parks. Participants explore their commitment to the common good and sustaining commitment in a changing world (three sessions).

• Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America, by Geoffrey Canada. Memoir of a young man's struggles with violence fuels discussion about issues that concern today's youth and how communities can address them (two sessions).

• The Force of Spirit, by Scott Russell Sanders. Sharing of personal stories and memories help participants appreciate life's greatest mysteries (three sessions).

• Kindred, by Octavia Butler. Novel about a modern black woman transported to the ante-bellum South draws parallels to our own search for truth about this painful history (two sessions).

• Taking Retirement: A Beginner's Diary, by Carl H. Klaus. In this journal of an unsettling transition, a retiring academic recalls his path to a whole new life (two sessions).

• Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue, by Leslie Feinberg. Through speeches and testimonies by transgender warriors, participants explore gender issues (three sessions).

• Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the Nondisabled, by Nancy Mairs. Reflection on disability brings participants to a deep encounter with the power of human compassion and relationship and the potential for human resilience (three sessions).

The guides are available at www.beacon.org. Free copies may also be ordered from the UUA Bookstore when you buy the corresponding Beacon Press books. The bookstore offers a 10% discount with orders of 5 to 9 copies of a single title, and 20% off 10 or more. (800) 215-9076 or bookstore@uua.org.

A report on the meaning of membership has been completed by the UUA's Commission on Appraisal. The nine-member commission periodically reviews a particular aspect of the UUA.

Its report, Belonging: The Meaning of Membership, is available for $12 plus $3 handling (# 7252), from the UUA Bookstore (800) 215-9076 or www.uua.org/bookstore. The report was presented at General Assembly 2001 in Cleveland in June.

Chapter headings in the report include: The Process of Commitment, Theologies of Membership, Creating Thriving Congregations, Pathways to Growth, and Investing in Youth and Young Adults.

The report states: "Membership is not just a technical or legal state or a numerical measurement. It is a process that engages human beings and takes us from a starting place to a new place. (We) hope that congregations will take seriously the possibility of making membership more meaningful by paying careful attention to the paths they provide for this journey."

First Unitarian Church, Rochester, NY, provides occasional meals to people in need through a service called Caring Cuisine. "We activate it whenever we hear of someone who needs a meal," says Debbie Gill, a group leader for the Caring Community group at the church.

"We asked for volunteers and on a couple of Sundays we easily got names of 40 people willing to prepare an occasional meal and deliver it," she says "Part of the reason people like it is because it's a one-time service opportunity."

. . . to send names and new addresses of youth who are leaving for school) to congregations in their college towns (use the UUA Directory in your church office) so they can be welcomed in their new homes.

For congregations in college towns, check the admissions records for UUs. Place an ad in the campus newspaper inviting students to your congregation.

Contact the UUA Young Adult/Campus Ministries office, www.uua.org/yam.

The pledges are based on the number of members in each congregation who are eligible to vote. Fair Share for congregations with fewer than 550 members is $44 per member. Congregations with 550 or more members may pay $44 per member or 4.2% of budget.

Questions about Fair Share and congregational giving in general may be addressed to Amy Axe, APF assistant (aaxe@uua.org), (714) 948-6512 or APF director Mary Miles (mmiles@uua.org).

Trying to save fuel costs? A ceiling fan costs $1.50 a month (12 hours daily), compared to $25 for an air conditioner, says John C. Ryan of the Northwest Environment Watch in his book Seven Wonders: Everyday Things for a Healthier Planet, (1999, Sierra Books). A fan's cooling breezes permit you to set your AC thermostat 9 degrees warmer. Each degree saves 3 to 5 percent in AC costs. (Information courtesy of the Environmental Task Force of UUs for Social Justice.)

Neil Chethik, a co-founder of the UU Men's Network, author of the new book FatherLoss, and contributor to UU World magazine, is offering an on-site weekend program for UU congregations. The program includes a Sunday sermon entitled "FatherLoss: How Men Grieve, How Others Help," in which Chethik shares his original research on male grief, including how others can help men dealing with significant losses. The program also includes a Saturday evening presentation called "What Sons Need From Their Dads."

For more information, visit www.FatherLoss.com, or contact Chethik directly at nchet@aol.com or (859) 278-5459.

Helen Kennedy, administrator at Shoreline UU Society, Madison, CT (118 members), sends a special newsletter at least monthly to all of Shoreline's away-at-college students, keeping them informed about Sunday service topics, church events, what's going on in the various groups, etc.

"This is one of the times we lose touch with students," says Kennedy. "The newsletter is to remind them they're UUs and that people at home care about them. Maybe they'll also seek out a UU congregation where they are."

Information to help small and midsize congregations hire a campus ministry coordinator has been developed by the UUA Young Adult/Campus Ministry office.

The information, available at www.uua.org/yacm, lists job criteria of the coordinator and responsibilities of a campus ministry committee.

For 17 years the UU Congregation of Princeton, NJ has held monthly dinner forums called "Food for Thought." Speakers from area universities and the 443-member congregation speak on "topics that have matured to the point that fundamental wisdom has emerged," says organizer Enoch Durbin.

Tuesday night forum topics have included "Thomas Jefferson's Search for the Historic Jesus," "The Essence of Hinduism," " The Rise of Democracy in Ancient Greece," "Henry David Thoreau," and "Zen Buddhism." Many of the presentations are available as audio on a Web site at http://members.home.net/oliva/fft.

Durbin encourages other congregations to begin similar forum programs or to use these audio presentations for gatherings by hooking up a computer to a public address system. Such programs could attract and keep members, he believes. "I believe our programs can lead to profound discussions in other congregations, as they do in ours," Durbin says.

An average of 75 people attend the sessions at Princeton. Church volunteers prepare a $6 meal with a menu that never varies: wine, cheese, salad bar, London broil, baked potato, fresh fruit, and cookies.

People who attend often invite non-UU friends, says Durbin, noting that many people found the church through the forums.. He says speakers are drawn by the opportunity to be "vigorously probed by an alert, intelligent audience."

Contact Durbin at enoch246@juno.com or through the Princeton congregation, 50 Cherry Hill Rd., Princeton, NJ 08540-7626.

Four new pamphlets are available from the UUA Bookstore. Most pamphlets are now available in packs of 25 for the dramatically reduced price of $5. Contact the bookstore at (800) 215-9076 or www.uua.org/bookstore. The new pamphlets are:

• UU Views of Prayer, Rev. Catherine Bowers. Eight UUs respond to "How do you pray?" "Why do you pray?" "What role does prayer play in your life?" #3035

• The Faith of a Humanist, Rev. Sarah Oelberg. "My humanist beliefs," writes Oelberg, "help me see that to be spiritual is to be honest with myself, to face life openly, to be loyal to high ideals." A personal statement about humanism, its place in our history, and in our faith today. #3013

• The Faith of a UU Buddhist, Rev. James Ishmael Ford, a UU minister who is a Zen Buddhist. A Buddhist for 30-plus years and a UU for 15, Ford describes his commitment to the "middle way" of Buddhism through meditation, morality, and wisdom. #3019

• Along the Greener Path, Rev. Carol Hepokoski. Explores environmentalism and ecology as part of UU values. #3095

Administrators of congregations in the Massachusetts Bay District have formed the first district chapter of the Association of UU Administrators.

The group meets monthly to exchange and develop ideas about more effective church office management and to offer support for group members who need advice and training.

Goals of the organization include creating staff development opportunities locally, establishing a mentoring program, and becoming a resource for personnel committees who are recruiting and hiring administrative staff for their respective congregations.

For more information contact Roger Peltier, district administrator, Mass Bay District, mbd@world.std.com; (617) 542-3231.