HEED
May 2008
Newsletter of the Durham Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 30 Madbury Road Durham, NH 03824 Website: www.duuf.net
The purpose of life is a life of purpose. — Robert Byrne
Upcoming Services
May 4
May 11 May 18 May 25 Reverand Susan Criscoine Dottie Oliver Reverand Ben Tousley The Fellowship and Friends Body Decisions UU Peacemaking We Are All Ministers Memorial Day Picnic 11 a.m.
Inside this issue:
Treasurer‛s Report
2
Annual Business Meeting House Report
2
3
On the Calendar
May 17 6:30 p.m. Annual Business Meeting
Religious Exploration 07-08 Why Darwin Matters
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5
Continued articles Continued articles
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Treasurer's Report for 07-08 It has been an interesting year to be treasurer. (Isn't there an old curse about living in interesting times?) We have seen new doors for the Upstairs Fellowship, the removal of one tree, and the planting of another. We have paid our contribution to the NH-VT District (is it now the Northern New England District?), and, by the end of the Fellowship year on June 30, we will have paid our suggested dues of $2640 to the UUA Annual Program Fund. This view of the Fellowship year could go on much longer. With the Milne Legacy, the Fellowship could hardly be more flush. But as you well know, there are plans afoot to make good use of those funds. The Operating Budget is another matter. An over abundance of white this winter and rising oil prices coupled, with lagging contributions, lead me to a current guesstimate of a deficit on the order of $1200. Let's hope you prove me wrong in my estimate of contributions by the end of year. In the Proposed Budget for next year are a couple of guesses that could turn out to be way off. Snow removal was put in at $4000, which is 33% above last years budgeted amount but $788 below this year's actual expenditure. Does anyone have a better estimate of what snow removal will cost next year? The other big question mark is oil. The price per gallon on Wednesday (4/23) was $3.99 which is 60% higher than the price at the time last year's budget was made out, and that is what the budgeted amount is based on. Any guesses as to how that will relate to the actual prices? We will keep our fingers crossed, or perhaps we should pray. Eric Nordgren
May 17, Saturday, 6:30 the Annual Business Meeting will be held at Fellowship. The agenda includes: Election of new officers, establishing the budget for next year, approval of last year's minutes and any other business. This is sure to be an exciting and crowd pleasing meeting! If you need childcare for young children, please let Rachel Legard know in advance. The snacks and desserts are potluck, but don't worry as there will be plenty if you are too busy to bring something.
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Another Great Year! The 2007-2008 year for Fellowship has been a rewarding one to serve as your president. It has been exciting to work with the challenges and decisions that are involved with the Milne bequest. The direction we have begun to take reflects our seven principals. Any new building will be done with the interconnected web of life in mind. It certainly has been planned in a democratic fashion. The inherent value of all members and space for potential new members is a priority. The office of president is an interesting one. I found that I learned a great deal about how our fellowship runs this past year. If you have considered serving in this capacity, I encourage you to try it. Our fellowship truly functions as a group- from the clean up of chairs after the service, to the clean up outside. Those who can pitch in, do and through working together towards common goals we make relationships and connections. The ideas we share and the respect we share them with all contribute to the success of each year here. It has been an honor to represent this group of hard working individuals, during this exciting time as we enter into our 50th anniversary. I am confidant that Carmen will enjoy her presidency as much as I have! ~Rachel Legard 07-08 House Report The year started with the hope of doing two big jobs, one in the house and the other outside of the house. The RE committee requested windowed doors for the rooms upstairs. Fortunately we were able to do this while maintaining the original doors since they are wood paneled with vintage brass hardware. (Olde Colony Woodworking is due credit for this.) We had the large Norway Maple tree removed from the front yard, as it was an invasive species and causing problems. Thanks to Dave Funk for our attractive new Yellow Wood tree. Our tenants had a goal to have us paint some of their offices and thanks to Mike Anderson for coordinating this job with all-volunteer help. Hopefully, you have driven by the Fellowship recently ‘at night‛ and noticed our new illuminated sign facing Madbury road. Edna O‛Sullivan continues to deftly handle all rentals, including the tenants. This is an important step in defraying DUUF expenses and in a year with hefty plow bills, this certainly makes a huge difference! Continued on page 5
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Religious Exploration, 2007-08 This has been a good year for our program. This was my first year back as the RE Director and although we still have some areas that need additional support and development we have a strong basis on which to build. This year we developed our RE Committee chaired by Sara Funk. Other members included Kate Clark, Shirley Zembruski, and me. We plan to continue with these same people for the coming year; Kate will assume the role of RE Chair. With only two regularly attending members we were not able to sustain a senior high group this year. We envision a larger group next year, as some of our current middle school group move up. We are exploring several possibilities for reactivating the senior high group. Stay tuned! At the District level there are about six youth cons (conferences) each year. Youth from throughout the district (which as of July will include Maine) gather for a weekend of programming, socializing, and fun. At the continental level a multi-year Consultation on Ministry to and with Youth is nearing completion and a working group of staff, RE folks, and youth will be making recommendations to the UUA Administration and the UUA Board of Trustees regarding the future of the continental youth program. The middle school group under the virtually solo direction of Sara Funk has been very active. The curriculum we selected for this group, Compass Points, was developed by two credentialed UU religious educators and is designed for youth to explore themselves, their beliefs, their UU faith, and their relationships with others and the world. Building on the social justice concept in this curriculum as well as in these young people, the group volunteered at the UNH campus ministry center, Waysmeet, and presented an interactive program for the congregation based on the video, “The Story of Stuff.” We had no intermediate group this year (grades 2-4), due to the low number of young people in this age group. We will be working to re-establish this group in the coming year. Our primary group (K-grade 1) began the year with Dr. Seuss and Unitarian Universalists, a program that ties stories by this well-known author with UU principles. We completed the fall session with SuperHeroes—Bible People, a program that looks at key figures in both the Old and New Testaments. In January we began field-testing a new curriculum from the UUA‛s Lifespan Faith Development group, called Creating Home. This has been a popular program for both the children and the teachers. Jen Pavlik served as teacher and group coordinator. Other teachers in this group were Emilie Laston, Heather Anderson, and Shirley Zembruski. This is Emilie‛s third and final year with us. She has been accepted into veterinary school in Prince Edward Island. We are grateful for her contributions to our religious exploration program and wish her much success in this next step in her professional development. Continued on page 6
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Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design by Michael Shermer. Owl Book/Henry Holt, 2006. 199 pp., $13.00 Extracted from a book review by Edd Doerr in Voice of Reason, No.4, 2007 Michael Shermer, founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and a columnist for Scientific American, has produced an important book that both wipes out the arguments for “intelligent design” creationism and does a fine job of explaining evolution. In discussing the court challenges to attempts to intrude creationism into public school biology classes, Shermer writes: “The 1987 Louisiana case amplified the description even more because this case was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, thereby fulfilling the ACLU‛s original intent for the 1925 Scopes Tennessee trial…. The brief is one of the most important documents in the history of the evolution-creation debate and presents the best short statement on the central tenets of science endorsed by the world‛s leading scientists and science organizations.” 07-08 House Report continued from page 3 In March, we contracted with Kramer Electric to replace all of the out-dated electrical switches and outlets. They are also replacing a number of old light fixtures with models featuring ‘Green‛ fluorescent-only bulbs. In addition to these larger jobs, we dealt with gutter cleaning, weekly trash detail, shoveling snow away from fire exit doors and all of the many other small repairs around the house that make this such an exciting position.
Sarge Legard – House Chair
Fortunately, many people would prefer to live a simple life in a good society than a life of riches and power in a horrible society. — Randy Schutt, Inciting Democracy
Give the gift that keeps on giving: a good society. Your grandchildren will be glad you did. — Randy Schutt, Inciting Democracy
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Continued from page 4 We have been very fortunate to have our own Hannah Legard as our childcare provider for toddlers. Hannah is so great with these youngsters and they in turn really enjoy their time with her. On those rare Sundays when she is unable to be at the Fellowship she makes arrangements to have her sister Ellyn provide coverage. This year we did not have a formal adult RE program. There are lots of curricula available as well as resources that can be used to develop an adult-based program. Please let me know if you are interested in facilitating such a group. In returning to the RE Director role, I reconnected with the Southern NH cluster of religious educators. Although I was not able to attend each of the monthly meetings, whenever I could I left with good ideas and good friendship. We are very fortunate to have this resource in our District. Benette Sherman, the Program Consultant for our district (and the Northeast District) is also a valuable source of support. At the continental level I will be completing my final year as a member of the Nominating Committee for the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA). I have not been able to attend the local chapter meetings this year due to work conflicts, but I did attend the continental meeting, which last year was held in San Antonio, TX. The theme of the conference was “Weaving the Fabric of our Faith,” and theme sessions provided an in-depth presentation and discussion on the Tapestry of Faith initiative that will be bringing a comprehensive set of programs for our children, youth, and adults to us as freely available, Web-based curricula. This is a multi-year effort that, when completed, will include a set of lifespan programs that have been extensively examined, tested, and reviewed. I also attended last year‛s General Assembly, held in Portland, OR, as the outgoing NH/VT District President. I also served as a delegate for our Fellowship. In addition to attending the business sessions and voting on items in these meetings, I attended several LREDA programs, workshops for small congregations, and sang in the GA Choir. As some of you know, I completed the process for becoming a Credentialed Religious Educator in March 2005. To date just over 40 individuals throughout the country are recognized as such. Apart from a former Baptist minister who changed his focus (and denomination!), I am still the only male to have successfully completed the credentialing process, although a number of men are participating in the program. I completed the mentor training for this program as well and currently mentor two religious educators who are seeking to become credentialed. I am also a recognized leader in the UUA‛s Renaissance Program, although I have not led a module this past year. I remain excited about my role as a religious educator, both in our Fellowship and in the broader community. I look forward to the opportunities we will have in the coming year of developing and strengthening our program here in Durham. In faith, Thomas Pistole Director of Religious Exploration
Durham Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Mission Statement The real test of our religion is the way we live our lives. The Durham Unitarian Universalist Fellowship affirms the seven principles of Unitarian Universalism. We seek to be a place in which each person‛s unique worth and beliefs are acknowledged and respected and where each person‛s voice may be heard – a place in which each may freely explore his or her own spiritual path. We join with others in reaching out to make the world more just, and commit ourselves to caring for the earth and all that makes up the web of life. We strive to be a source of inspiration, a forum for intellectual exchange, a wellspring of comfort to those in need, and a nurturing, supportive community for each other and our children.
Newsletter of the Durham Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 30 Madbury Road Durham, NH 03824 Website: www.duuf.net