Unitarian Universalist Church of Jackson

NUUSLETTER

 A Newsletter for our Members and Friends

June 2005 - Web Edition

Love is the spirit of this church, and service is our law.

To dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help one another.

This is our covenant

WORSHIP SCHEDULE

Every Sunday Fellowship at 9:30am, Service at 11:00am

Note: Forums are on hiatus for the summer.

June 5

Service:  In the Beginning Was the Tao.  One of the places that the Rev. Jacqueline Luck finds deep beauty is in Taoist poetry. This service will be a reflection of Taoist thought, and its relevance to our lives.

June 12

Service:  May 5, 1819, is an important date for Unitarians. Not sure why? The Rev. Jacqueline Luck will be most happy to elucidate. This will also be her last day in UUCJ’s pulpit until the middle of August. She will travel to Ellisville, then attend General Assembly and begin four weeks of study and two of vacation the first of July.  Please join us afterward for a Potluck lunch.

June 19

Service:  Dr. D.E. McGee, UUCJ’s long time member,  has agreed to speak on this Father’s Day.  He will share with the congregation his reflections about his father.

June 26

Service:  On the Death Penalty, Presented by Wayne Sorge.  Mr. Sorge is a recognized broadcaster and has written, WATCHING DEATH: Capital Punishment in America. There will be a time for questions and answers after the presentation.

 

Deadline for submissions to the July UUCJ NUUSletter: June18.  Please make submissions to Susan Voisin at NUUSletter@uujackson.org.

If you would like to receive the NUUsletter by email, contact Susan at the email address above.

     A New Leaf     

By Rev. Jacqueline Luck

I keep books of meditations on my bedside table and on the end table where I sit as I drink my morning coffee. One such book is of Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes, A Dream Too Wild. This reading from Emerson’s essay on Intellect struck a cord with me recently:

God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take what you please,-you can’t have both. Between these, as a pendulum, man oscillates. He in whom the love of repose predominates will accept the first creed, the first philosophy, the first political party he meets,-most likely his father’s. He gets rest, commodity, and reputation; but he shuts the door of truth. He in whom the love of truth predominates will keep himself aloof from all moorings, and afloat. He will abstain from dogmatism, and recognize all the opposite negations, between which, as walls, his being is swung. He submits to the inconvenience of suspense and imperfect opinion, but he is a candidate for truth, as the other is not, and respects the highest law of his being.

Many Unitarians and Universalists are people “in whom the love of truth predominates.” It is a basic drive to seek security for most, and yet, seeking truth drives one from mooring in the harbor of certainty. Truth asks more of us. It is not that we don’t seek and find our truths; I think we are called to do just that. It is that we as lovers of truth are willing to question our truths, to hold them up to the light. We “submit to the inconvenience of suspense and imperfect opinion.” There is humility in knowing and submitting to our limitations, and all the more courage in leaving one’s moorings, or staying “afloat,” and entering deeper uncharted waters armed with questions more than answers.

Fascinating! I recognize in Emerson’s words both a description of spiritual discipline, and the discipline of the scientific method.

A tiny plaque on a wall of Our Home Church says, “It is better to leave a question unanswered than to leave an answer unquestioned.” It troubles me deeply that a source of intelligent dialog and entertainment such as the Corporation of Public Broadcasting is under siege by dogmatism.

Jacqueline

The President’s Corner

The President’s Corner:

Despite our short planning timeline for the April 29-30^th rummage sale, we were marvelously successful, making $803.50.  There are so many people to be thanked: Brian Heffner for going and picking up the 80 or so boxes of left over books from the American Association of Women book sale and for his wonderful big sign; Natalie Maynor for donating so much stuff, for guiding us in book pricing and coming to help open up early two mornings in a row; Dary Shenefelt for storing the books, arranging stuff and generally being present almost all the time; Sue Gillespie for publicity, for balloons, for lending her cash box, for the coffee display; Fran Leber, for receiving donated goods, for pricing, for encouraging and guiding; Joe Clayton for getting the change, coming and picking up the money and helping the Goodwill guy load the leftovers; Mary Margaret Bollinger for attending the cash box and doing whatever needed to be done; for Susan and Peter Haik for donating goods and helping with moving and arranging stuff and buying books; for Patricia Ice for attending the cash box and buying tapes, etc.; for our minister back from a brief vacation in Florida to cheer us on and to fill any gaps such as tending the cash box, choosing books for our library; for JoAnn Bienvenu, our president emeritus, for storing Imke’s stuff and delivering it to the church, attending the cash box, and helping the Goodwill guy load the leftovers; Steve Bollinger for lending his clothing rack and general help; the Voisin family for donating their old computer. There are so many more that I have not mentioned. Please excuse me if I forgot you and tell me when you see me at church.  Our excitement and energy gathered us together for this project and demonstrated how great we are when we get focused. It was fun, too.  We got to know each other better - even if it was by seeing what we get rid of or what cast-offs of others we will buy. Congratulations to everybody and excuse me if I forgot to mention your contributions.

I am planning to attend both the Mid-South Presidents’ Convocation at Camp McDowell near Jasper, Alabama, in early June and the General Assembly in Fort Worth, TX, June 23-26^th. I hope I learn useful things for our church. The board will be holding a planning retreat in the church on the morning of June 11^th.  If you have ideas for us, please look at the board listing on the About Us page and identify someone to carry your ideas to the retreat. 

I am so pleased that we have welcomed nine new members over the last year.  They are Charity Klueckman, Susan L. Gillespie, Lora Dougherty, Karen Cathy-Austin, Natalie Maynor, Esther Denise Young, Tommy Garrett, II, Kelly M. Bradshaw, Barbara Scobee, and Barbara Lewis.  When you meet and greet them, please tell them how glad you are that they have joined with us.                

Summer is also a time to let down a little.  Our schedule will be more relaxed but we expect many visitors so our well known “warm welcome” will not take a vacation.

Margaret

July 4^th  

George Vockroth, our longest-time member, and his wife Marilyn have invited us all to their new place in Terry for the Fourth of July. We are invited for a 5 pm sandwich, salad potluck-picnic-buffet.  Bring your own beverages, wine & beer and soft drinks. Please bring chairs if you have portable ones.  There will not be fireworks, as they would jeopardize the farm fields on either side. Call the church for directions and/or details.

Children’s RE News

Beautiful spring weather lately has been perfect for outdoor games led by Ranjan Batra, Mary Margaret Bollinger, Steve Bollinger, and Brian Heffner.

We still have openings for volunteers to participate in our summer program.  We especially need volunteers for the nursery and, lately, preschoolers.  Don’t miss out on the fun!  Contact Dary for details.  Sign up sheets are posted on the church hallway bulletin board.

Dary Shenefelt                    

 

At the Mid-South District Annual Meeting held in Birmingham, Alabama in April, Jim Becker, a member of UUCJ, was elected to the position of Secretary of the Board of Directors for the Mid-South District. His official duties begin July 1 and extend over the next two years. In addition to these duties, Jim will be working with our district executive, Eunice Benton, on an addition to our district website, entitled "Sunday Sources."  Some of the options being considered for Sunday Sources are: worship resources, sample bulletins, sample sermons, specialized service options; and a listing of UU ministers, non-UU ministers, and lay ministers who are willing and able to fill available Sunday pulpits within our district.

In July, Jim will also be attending The Mountain School for Congregational Leadership that will be held at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center. His attendance will be sponsored by the Mid-South District Board of Directors.

 

Slingers continues to meet and remains open to any and all UU-attendees. Slingers meets every Wednesday evening from 7:00 to 8:30 PM, at the Video Cafe (across from Millsaps College and next to the Fire Station on North State Street).

We cover a variety of topics that are usually taken directly from the UU World publication. Trying to remain accepting of all points of view, our conversation sometimes becomes heated over issues of abortion, stem-cell research, divorce, conception, human civil rights, and politics, but! we do take on all challenges.

If you have Wednesday evenings open, consider joining us! Please call or email Jim Becker if you are planning to attend. Sometimes, due to circumstances, meetings are canceled. Once we are aware you will be attending, we will call you if our plans change.

 

Brian Heffner has agreed to facilitate forums in July on Krista Tippet's MPR show, Speaking of Faith, Sundays from 9 until 10. He is encouraging people to listen to Krista on the way to forum and then listen to the last 30 minutes together with discussion following.  Stay tuned for more details in next month’s newsletter