Special Issue: Fox Valley Fellowship
  Fox Valley UU Fellowship in Appleton, Wisconsin, is one of the ten fastest-growing UU congregations in the country. This issue of InterConnections will look at some of the factors contributing to its vitality and how the fellowship is sustaining it.

Washington Office Has Issue Action Packets
  The UUA Washington Office for Advocacy has action packets available for congregations to learn more about the following issues: civil liberties, global AIDS, and reproductive health. Find them online at www.uua.org/uuawo/new or phone (202) 296-4672.

Change in Schedule
  Due to an unforeseen delay in the mailing of the Spring 2004 InterConnections, we will be publishing only four issues of the newsletter this year, instead of the usual five. Please note, too, that we have assigned new names to each issue: August, October, January, March, and June. The next and last issue for 2004 will be October. Our apologies for any confusion this has created.

Membership Practices Create Warm Welcome For Fox Valley Visitors
  Fox Valley UU Fellowship has 409 members compared to 265 five years ago and 100 fourteen years ago. Much of that increase is due to a welcoming attitude. First-time visitors are greeted and asked to fill out a card with name, contact information, and how they heard about the fellowship. Visitors get blue-bordered clear plastic pin-type name tags then “graduate” to regular white tags in three months.

  After each service visitor tags are collected in a box, permitting the office administrator to determine which visitors have returned.
There are 15-minute visitor orientations the second Sunday of each month. Three times a year a three-night Introduction to Unitarian Universalism is held with the Rev. Bertschau-sen and other leaders. It includes an opportunity for participants to do a timeline of their spiritual lives.

  Visitors are encouraged to sign up for adult education courses as a way of becoming connected with other congregants. Frequent visitors are also asked to fill out a volunteerism survey indicating how they would like to serve. The congregation hopes to hire a volunteer coordinator, but for now it has a volunteer in that position. Says Board President Jeanine Knapp, “We believe people come with a need to share themselves. We try to make sure they have an opportunity to do that, especially in areas where they have passion.”

  To be a member one must sign the membership book and make a financial contribution of record.

  “We hear from people that they do feel welcome,” said membership chair Pete McLaughlin. “Why are we welcoming? I think it may be because each of us feels like we found something special when we first came here, and we want to make it available to all who are still out there seeking.”

New Curriculum Takes Congregations Deeper In Exploring Oppression
  Congregations that have completed the Welcoming Congregation program and would like to continue on the path of reducing oppression toward bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people, are invited to use the new curriculum, Living the Welcoming Congrega-
tion (LWC).

  The curriculum is designed to help congregations go into greater depth in reducing oppression toward BGLT people. Congregations will assess their own needs and decide which path is best suited for them:

  The personal path goes into more depth, analysis, and exploration of biphobia, homophobia, transphobia, genderism, and heterosexism.

  The congregational path offers resources for communities, religious educators, and church leadership.

  The community path offers congregations ways to make a difference where they live.

  If you are a recognized Welcoming Congregation and are interested in Living the Welcoming Congregation, please contact the UUA’s Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Concerns at 25 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108 (or e-mail obgltc@uua.org).

  The curriculum is available on the UUA Web site at www.uua.org/obgltc. A password, available from OBGLTC, will be necessary to access the curriculum.

Church Mutual Offers Help Crime-Proofing
  A brochure to help congregations develop ways to “Crime-Proof Your Worship Center” is available from Church Mutual, the leading insurer of places of worship, including a high percentage of UU congregations.

  For this and other brochures on safety, child sexual abuse, and severe weather protection, contact Church Mutual at (800) 554-2642, or visit the company’s Web site at www.churchmutual.com.

Fair Share Amount Set
  The Fair Share amount that congregations are being asked to pay to support the UUA is $50 per member for fiscal year 2004-05, beginning July 1, 2004.

New Titles Available From UUA Bookstore
  Growing a Beloved Community: Twelve Hallmarks of a Healthy Congregation, by Tom Owen-Towle. Identifies 12 distinct attributes that are vital to all successful UU congregations. $14.00, # 7026.

  The Addiction Ministry Handbook: A Guide for Faith Communities, by Denis G. Meacham, leader of an addictions ministry at First Parish, Brewster, Mass. Provides fundamental knowledge for launching and sustaining an addictions ministry. $18.00, # 7192.

  Offerings: Remarks on Passing the Plate, by Robert A. Thayer. “Thayer’s stories inspire generous, joyful, guilt-free giving and empower an attitude of abundance,” writes Sarah York, interim minister, UU Church of Arlington, Va. Thayer is a retired minister and former member of the Annual Program Fund Committee. $8.00, # 7193.

  Guía Unitaria Universalista de Bolsillo, traducido por Valentina I. Páez. The Spanish-language version of the newest edition of The UU Pocket Guide. Invaluable resource for Unitarian Universalist congregations in Latino/a communities. $7.00, # 6397.

  The Bridging Program, Workshops and Guidelines, by Colin Bossen and Dawn Star Borchelt. A guide to creating bridging programs and ceremonies to help UU youth make the transition to young adults. Bossen is a student at Meadville Lombard Theological School. Borchelt is director of religious education at Davies Memorial UU Church, Camp Springs, Md. $15, # 2020.

  Contact the bookstore at www.uua.org/bookstore or call (800) 215-9076.

New Web Site Useful For Church Leaders
  A new four-part Web site is available at www.uua.org/programs/layleader, to help congregational leaders find information they need. The InterConnections Resources Web site includes:
• Leadership Quickstart –– a place to find information quickly.
• Events for Leadership –– a list of upcoming leadership conferences and other events.
• Lay Leadership FAQ –– more than 100 questions and answers about leadership issues.
• InterConnections –– back issues of InterConnections newsletter.

Forum:
Michigan Fellowship’s Thriving Youth Group
  The Fall 2003 InterConnections featured articles about how to start church youth groups. We thought you might like to hear about one group’s experience.

  The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Southwest Michigan in Portage (77 members), has had a flourishing youth group for several years. This year we used the curriculum Neighboring Faiths, in addition to having other, noncurricular, activities.

  The youth, ages 12 to 18, participated in three events related to other religions, including services at African-American Baptist and Presbyterian churches and a Hindu-Buddhist dance performance. The visits culminated in a service presented by the youth for the whole congregation featuring stories, songs, and rituals from all the faiths. The congregation had very favorable comments about the service.

  Two of the members wrote a UU version of the Lord’s Prayer that was very moving. They discovered during their planning that the different faiths have much in common. The adults who work with the youth really like this curriculum because it’s flexible and because everyone gets so much from the experiences. If you’re looking for a youth curriculum, we’d recommend this one highly.

  —Linsey Furry, Youth Team adult member, UUCC

RE Settlement System In Operation On-line
  An online settlement system for directors of religious education has now been made available to congregations through the UUA Web site. The system, which operates in a similar manner to the UUA ministerial settlement system, is available to UUA-credentialed religious educators at all levels and to congregations that are seeking lay (non-ordained) religious education professionals.

  The system may be accessed at www.uua.org/programs/ministry/reco/settlement. If you have any questions, contact Emily Farbman, RE Credentialing Assistant, who can be reached at dresettlement@uua.org, or by calling (617) 948-6418.