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Metro NY
Minute -- November 2007 |
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| News
from the UU District of Metro NY |
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In response to the disastrous fires that swept across southern California, the Pacific Southwest District (PSWD) of the UUA created the PSWD Fire Relief Fund. A PSWD committee will disburse all funds collected to UU congregations, UUs in need, community groups in relationship with UU congregations, and other groups supporting those most in need.
Donations to the Fund are being accepted online. To contribute by mail, send funds to Pacific Southwest District, Fire Relief Fund, 2052 Norma St, Oxnard CA 93036.
Beth Dana joins the District as Youth Ministry Consultant. Beth will provide resources and services to congregational youth programs and serve as liaison to the District’s Youth Adult Committee and the Task Force for Youth Advisors.
Read more
 from Beth.
The November 5
issue of Time magazine (on newsstands now) carries a
UUA ad on page 71 with the headline
"Find Us and Ye Shall Seek" and an innovative "advertorial" on page 72
with the headline "Seek and You Shall Find."
Click here
to
view a sample. The advertorial directs readers to
Time.com/ReligionPages, a special online collection of
Time magazine articles on religion and society sponsored by the UUA.
The Rev. Bill Sinkford, UUA President, delivered 13,006 UU signatures to Congress on October 10, telling Congress to end the war in Iraq. Joining the Rev. Sinkford was the Rev. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. The combined petitions totaled 75,000 signatures. Read Rev. Sinkford's letter to UU signers.
Save the date for UU University 2008: June 24-25, 2008, just prior to General Assembly 2008. UU University is a gathering of congregational leaders of all kinds who want to increase their knowledge and ability to serve their congregations. Nick Carter, President of Andover Newton Theological School, will be the keynote speaker on "leading theologically diverse congregations, and how our congregations can interact with and have a positive impact on a theologically diverse world."
The District's
Young Adult Steering Committee (YASC), co-chaired by Daniel Gregoire and Samantha Garland, held a one-day Vision Con on October 13 to develop a vision and mission statement for the next two years. Assisted by Claire Sexton, District Young Adult and Campus Ministry Consultant, the 12 attendees drafted a statement to be finalized and published in December. The YASC is also making plans for the annual
Winter Retreat, February 15-18, 2008.
Read more . |
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Worth Repeating
Are you interested in presenting a workshop at the 2008 District Annual Meeting? The Annual Meeting planners would like to hear from you. The 2008 District Annual Meeting will be held May 2-3, 2008, at the Marriott Hotel in Stamford CT. Workshops should fit the theme of "empowerment," one of the systems in Larry Peer's analysis of congregations. To quote Larry: "The empowering system finds ways to help each person discover his or her spiritual gifts and passions; it supports people in using them for the benefit of the entire congregation." In this way, our vision of "shared ministry" becomes real, with ordained and lay persons working together to build and sustain our communities.
Click here to enter your workshop proposal.
Presentation of the
2008 District Awards and
2008 District Scholarships will be a highlight of the 2008 District Annual Meeting. You are invited to submit a nomination for one or more of four awards, and to encourage youth to apply for a scholarship. The nomination and application deadline is March 1, 2008.
Showcase your congregation at
General Assembly 2008 in Fort Lauderdale June 25-29, 2008! The District can sponsor up to two Congregation Showcase events and is now soliciting proposals. The deadline is November 15. Click here to submit a proposal.
More Good Stuff to Check Out!
Worship Service Providers available to
District congregations
RE-Sources
for religious education leaders
Job
opportunities around the District
SmallTalk
for
small congregations
InterConnections for lay leaders
Action Alerts from the UUA Washington Office for
Advocacy
UUA Monthly Mailing to all congregations
UUWorld.org, UUA's online magazine |
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The UUA Commission on Appraisal, charged with reviewing UU Principles and Purposes, has extended the deadline for congregational comments.
The new deadline is January 15, 2008  . Congregations were mailed in January 2007 a packet of materials titled "Having Another Look at the UU Principles and Purposes" that included a form for congregational comments. The packet is also available at
www25.uua.org/coa. Individuals can also make comments by emailing
coa@uua.org.
The Rev. Dr. William F. Schulz, UUA President from 1985-1993, has written an appreciation of former UUA Moderator Natalie Webber Gulbrandsen, who died on October 17. Schulz writes, "Few people have served the Association and its related bodies with such devotion or in as many different positions as Natalie." Read more.
The UUA’s 2007 Annual Report on Giving is now available. For fiscal year 2006-07, 46 of 51 Metro NY District congregations are Fair Share congregations; five congregations are Merit congregations, giving at least 20% more in 2006-07 than in the previous year; and five congregations are Leadership congregations, among the 50 congregations in the nation giving the largest contributions. For the first time, the report also identifies congregations that have contributed their Fair Share for at least 10 consecutive years. In the Metro NY District, 27 congregations are Ten Year congregations. To view the congregational giving section of the report, click here . To request a copy of the entire report, click here.
Drive Time Essays -- short, spoken essays for and by UU leaders -- are available online in both audio format (MP3) and written format (PDF). The essays are designed to engage, inspire, uplift, enlighten, rejuvenate, and motivate. Essay authors include the Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, minister at the Fourth Universalist Society (Manhattan) and District UUA Trustee, the Rev. Michael Tino, minister at the UU Fellowship of Northern Westchester (Mount Kisco NY), and Denise Davidoff, member of the Unitarian Church in Westport (CT) and past UUA Moderator.
The UUA will begin to look at youth in a new way, following the presentation of a report, drawn from a three-year examination of how the UUA and its congregations relate to youth, presented to the UUA Board of Trustees in October. The report is the end result of the Consultation on Ministry to and with Youth, formed by the board in October 2004. The Consultation recommends that the UUA and its congregations move away from “youth programming” and toward “youth ministry” in order to better serve young people. Read more.
The UU Partner Church Council has been accepted by the UUA Board of Trustees as an Independent Affiliate Organization, all but completing its annual review of groups seeking affiliate status. The board has accepted only five applications out of more than 40 under new rules implemented this year. The board tabled consideration of the only remaining application, from the UU Ministry for Earth, to give the UUMFE an opportunity to modify its application to meet the board’s requirements.
The UU Fellowship of Huntington (NY) raised more than $10,000 on October 21 to benefit the UU Service Committee's Darfur Relief Fund by sponsoring a 5K run/walk. A total of 151 people participated in the run/walk, while other "virtual" runners contributed their registration fees. Charlie Clemens, President of the UU Service Committee, presented prizes to the winners and delivered a sermon titled "Whose Responsibility to Protect?" Read more .
Rebirth,
a song written and performed by the children of the UU Congregation
at Rock Tavern (NY), is now available on CD. Assisted
by Congregation songwriters Keith Jordan and
Jackie Venable, the children wrote Rebirth
as a way of expressing their feelings about the loss of their
meetinghouse from a tragic fire in September 2006. Click
here
to
see the front, back, and inside of the CD. Call Keith Jordan at
845-457-4849 to purchase the CD for $10 per copy.
Read more .
The
Unitarian Church in Westport (CT) recently hired John Carroll
as Church Administrator/Business Manager, responsible for the church office,
administration, human resources and payroll, IT systems/software, and
facilities. Organizational needs and projected church growth generated the need
for this new full-time position. John is a former human resources executive,
business consultant, and active motivation/inspirational speaker.
The UU Society in Stamford is pleased to report the success of the Society's new religious education program, including hiring three enthusiastic teachers who are actively recruiting children for the program. Read more .
The UU Congregation of Danbury (CT) is exploring the New Sanctuary Movement as a vehicle for immigration reform. The New Sanctuary movement is an interfaith coalition dedicated to responding actively and publicly to the suffering of immigrants residing in the US. Read more .
Balancing Acts: Keeping Children Safe in Congregations, a 2-3 hour online course, is now available free of charge, thanks to a grant from the UU Funding Program. Offered by the New England Adolescent Research Institute, the course is taught by the Rev. Debra Haffner, Director of the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing and Community Minister at the Unitarian Church in Westport (CT), and by Joan Tabachnick, the Institute's Director of Educational Initiatives. The course provides information, policies, and procedures to create a congregation where children and youth are safe from sexual abuse.
A Southern Civil Rights Tour, led by the Rev. Gordon Gibson, is being offered by Meadville Lombard Theological School for the second time. It can be a credit course for up to 15 theological students, but at least 15 additional seats on the bus are available for the general public. Registration is on a first-come basis and is due no later than January 18, 2008.
The 9th Annual White Privilege Conference, sponsored by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, is scheduled for April 2-5, 2008, at the Sheraton Hotel in Springfield MA. The purpose of the annual conference is to examine and explore difficult issues related to white privilege, white supremacy, and oppression.
Did you know the father of E. E. Cummings (born October 14, 1984; died September 3, 1962) was a Unitarian minister serving the South Congregational Church in Boston? When E. E. Cummings died, Dana McLean Greeley, UUA President at the time, led the funeral service.
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Milestones and Transitionss |
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The UU Congregation of Queens (Flushing NY) is celebrating its 100th year. In honor of founding member Lewis Latimer, a descendant of slaves and an inventor, the congregation has created the Lewis Latimer Scholarship Fund for local AA college-bound students.
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| The Rev. Barbara Coeyman, Interim Minister at the UU Fellowship at Stony Brook (NY), has been granted Final Fellowship by the UUA's Ministerial Fellowship Committee. |
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| The Rev. Bob Janis-Dillon was called to serve as settled Minister at the First UU Fellowship of Hunterdon County (Baptistown NJ). |
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| The Rev. Julie Newhall was installed as Minister at the UU Congregation of Somerset Hills (North Branch NJ), on October 14. |
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The Rev. Galen Guengerich was installed as Senior Minister at the Unitarian Church of All Souls (Manhattan) on October 28. |
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| The Rev. Linda Goonewardene was ordained by the First Unitarian Society of Plainfield (NJ) on November 4. |
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| The Rev. Michael Tino was ordained and installed as Minister by the UU Fellowship of Northern Westchester (Mount Kisco NY) on November 4. |
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The Rev. Chris McMahon began service as Consulting Minister at the UU Fellowship at Bellport (NY) on November 4. |
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| The Rev. Dr. Patrick O'Neill will be installed as Senior Minister at the First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn (NY) on November 18 at 5:00 p.m. Note this is a change in date from previous announcements. |
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| The Rev. Addae Watson will be installed as Minister at the First Universalist Church of Southold (NY) on January 6 at 4:00 p.m. The Rev. Bill Sinkford, UUA President, will be attending. |
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Upcoming Workshops and Meetings |
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| Visit the District's Calendar
and Events
page for these and other events: |
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YRUU Rock and Run for
Justice: December 28-30, First Unitarian Society of
Westchester (Hastings-on-Hudson NY). For more information,
contact Kasey Neiss.
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Long Island Leadership
Institute: January 12, 2008, location to be
announced. For more information, contact
Reba Siniscalchi.
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UU Ministers
Association District Chapter Post-Holiday Social:
January 13, New York City (location to be announced). For more information, contact the Rev. Anthony (Tony) Johnson. |
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YRUU CON:
January 18-20, UU Congregation of Monmouth County (Lincroft
NJ). For more information, contact
Corinne Hallander.
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Long Island Leadership Institute: February 9, 2008, location to be announced. For more information, contact
Reba Siniscalchi.
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UU Ministers Association District Chapter Winter Retreat: February 15-16, Stony Point Conference Center, Stony Point NY. For more information, contact the Rev. Anthony (Tony) Johnson.
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Long Island Leadership Institute:
February 9, 2008, location to be announced. For more
information, contact
Reba
Siniscalchi.
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Presidents Roundtable: February 23, 2008, Community Church of New York UU (Manhattan). For more information, contact
Andrea Lerner.
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YRUU CON: February 29-March 2, 2008, Unitarian Church in Summit (NJ). For more information, contact
Corinne Hallander.
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