Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Emerald Coast

Here we are, at the start of a new year.  Watching media coverage of depressing “memorable” 2011 events, I am grateful for many things at UUFEC.  We are the antithesis of misery.  Despite all of the 2011 hate and violence, we have love and pacifism. Our congregation fills me with pride as I witness intergenerational signs of our commitments as a Green congregation.  The new playground is a great example of both Green and Intergenerational efforts.  The fence and arbor are being built to be climbed on and crashed into by kids on a regular basis.  No poisonous pressure treated lumber was used.  Natural pest and rot resistant cypress timber was the choice. An aesthetically pleasing wood, it was milled locally reducing our carbon footprint.  Rather than oil or creosote [BP has already left enough oil in our waters] fence posts were treated with age old methods:  burning the bottoms to prevent moisture from wicking up and installed in French drains of gravel.  To keep the finished product beautiful and reduce construction chemicals, stainless steel screws are being used. Nonpoisonous construction materials  have allowed for nine children to be active in constructing the fence.  The children range from teens all the way down to a two-year-old (handing out screws when needed, and even when not).  The project is progressing quickly now despite  only nine adults actively involved.  The new playground will enhance our Fellowship all the more and give the kids a sense of church ownership.  Projects like this teach our kids the importance of being environmental stewards and give them a sense of UUFEC belonging, hopefully to keep them involved in our religious community for many years to come. 

As we approach this Season of special celebration – all connected with some aspect of Light, and Giving and Sacrifice – many of us celebrate the fullness of our lives, recognizing the help we have received in reaching this comfortable life many of us live. As we celebrate our good fortune, we can also reach out to help and assist others by assisting our Fellowship is preparing to be a Cold Night Shelter. We will open our doors to those needing shelter on assigned cold nights, providing a good meal and a warm, safe place to sleep. But it will also be a chance to meet, talk and socialize with people who may be in need, but people who can teach us in ways we may not be aware of. We can come in that night and talk, play games and just be there. We can assist as volunteers, and with the providing goods and funds needed to support this effort. There are many ways of helping, and as most know, when you do step out of your comfort zone, you gain more than what you feel you are giving. So please, think about ways you can help, not just in this specific endeavor, but in the many ways our Fellowship is reaching out. Come join in the Celebrations of this Season and help extend this season of giving of ourselves. If you are interested, please contact Rev Debs, myself or our Cold Shelter coordinator, Felicia Barr.

We have just finished our Annual Meeting and elected a new UUFEC Board of Directors. The new Board will take over in January 2012. Here is the new Board: 

Executive Board (Serves 1 Year): 

President ————— Micah Krider 
Vice President —–— Kathy Roniger 
Secretary —————  Sandra Topp 
Treasurer —————  Ed Farley 
Past President ——– Denny Lauer 
Ex Officio ————— Rev Rod Debs  

At Large Board Members (Term Expires) 

Millie Williams —————— 12/12 
Scotty Zilinsky —————— 12/12 
Brenda Fleming —————– 12/13 
Derek Reading —————— 12/13 
Josh Ashley ——————–- 12/14 
Diane Gibson ——————  12/14 

If you have any questions or have any ideas or issues that our Board should be aware of, please contact one of your Board Members, and remember, the Board Meetings are normally held on the 3rd Monday of each month at 6:30pm at the Fellowship and the Board Meetings are open to members.  

In Fellowhship. 

Well, it’s that time of year and we have our Annual Business Meeting coming up on Sunday, 23 Oct, immediately after the Service and should take about half an hour. So Please attend! You will be exercising the democratic process, one of our 7 Principles, electing a new Executive Board (Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary) and at least two new Board Members. Our current Vice President, Micah Krider will take over as President, as stipulated in our By-Laws, and I remain as part of your Executive Board as Past President. If you wish to serve, please contact one of the Board Search Committee members, Micah Krider, Chris Larson or Karen Lauer. Serving on the Board is interesting and fun. We meet once a month, usually a max of an hour and a half, and you are asked to coordinate with one of our committees. Ask one of our current Board Members and see if you’d like to join in. I know…..everybody hates meetings, but we do get efficient business done and enjoy the fellowship while serving our religious community. The Business meeting will also consist of making a few changes to our By-Laws. Those are also in work and will be distributed, but the main focus will be giving the Board more authority over the Budget process, and administrative changes to the current By-Laws to reflect how we are currently doing business. There will also be a few reports from some committees and then we finish up. So please join in. 

We have a number of special welcomes this month, we have our Minister, Rod Debs returning from his Sabbatical along with Jeannette. They traveled to the birthplace of Unitarianism in Transylvania and have some very interesting stories so share. And we have our new Directors of Religious Exploration, Debbie and Darrell Bruning. They are taking the reins of our youth RE programs after such a successful time with Sandy Urbanczyk as our DRE. Just look at how many youth and young families we now have active in our Fellowship! Each Sunday, our Story For All Ages is full of kids coming forward and filling our Fellowship with laughter and fun. It is so invigorating, and yes, Sandy played a big role in our RE growth, but so did so many others, including our RE Chairs, Jennifer Jordan and Don Harrison, along with so many teachers and volunteers, and our RE Staff. They all make up the core program, but our success is because of the commitment of our members who step forward to assist and finance these programs. We all understand their importance and our commitment is reflected in the number of kids, but also in our expansion of our adult programs. Our 2nd Hour programs continue to grow and many new, exciting subjects are added. So, yes, thank our RE people and our Minister, but thank yourselves for supporting these programs in so many ways.  

Since there have been some questions and discussions on what can be posted in the Fellowship and what are our Fellowship guidelines, I thought it good to list out our current guidelines: 

- Anything posted on the bulletin boards should come down and be put in scrap books after 30 days. Bulletin Boards are provided to share UU information. To keep our Fellowship a safe place, opinions may be expressed verbally rather than posted on the Boards. 

- Any displays put up in the Sanctuary for the purpose of a Sunday message, are to be approved by the Service Leader and taken down after second hour.  

- Ongoing displays specific to groups should be put in meeting rooms where such groups gather. 

- Any permanent displays must be reviewed by the Aesthetics and Facilities committees.

- No structural changes of any kind may be done to the building or its contents without the approval of the Aesthetics committee prior to other committees. 

Our Posting Policy also states that  postings are to be within the UU Seven Principles.                           

Our Fellowship has accomplished a good deal recently. Members gathered and delivered needed goods to Alabama after the tornado disaster. Over $800 was also donated to the UU Mid-South District Emergency Fund. We had our largest ever Religious Exploration Sunday Service with children and youth presenting an outstanding program as organized by our energetic and innovative RE leaders. Our highly successful OWL program is wrapping up.

Just a few years ago, we were concerned our Fellowship was becoming older and set in our ways. We now have many families, in many forms, and our new members are taking active roles in our UU community. We should pause as we take part during our Services and 2nd Hour to think through these changes and how they not only support our young families, but also our ‘mature’ members. We have the advantage of many venues and many ways to serve, not only our UU community, but our community at large. Summer is always a time of pause. Attendance is lower and we have more guest speakers and varied programs.  And as we enjoy the warm season, let us think about what we’d like to see in the future and how we can add to our communities.

I hope many take advantage of attending the UU General Assembly in Charlotte NC 22-26 June. GA always hosts wonderful programs and an exciting time amongst many UUs. Come join us. Call me if you have any questions: 651-3040.

We have so many things going on in our Fellowship and in our Movement, and we learn about these through the many of our avenues of communication, and our Fellowship is lucky to have these resources. I was looking through our Fellowship website, uufec.org, and realized how up to date and how well maintained it is. Chris Jordan, our website manager is doing a fantastic job on this very important venue. We’d be surprised how many visitors and new members have found and researched our Fellowship through this informative site. If you missed one of Rod’s talks, it will be on the website…wonder what is coming up in the Fellowship, check the website. And if you are a member but don’t have the password, just give me a yell.

And talking about sharing information, you are reading one of the premier newsletters of our District.  It is so well presented and laid out that it is a pleasure to read. So many contributors and so many photos, but it is here thanks to the direct work of Chris Larson and her team.

Finally, we have our weekly form of communication during our Sunday services where John Drury keeps our microphones and speakers up and working and our music playing. I bet you don’t realize that few of us could hear the beautiful music Cecile plays without proper setting up of the power and output. We are lucky to have these venues and to have such dedicated, hardworking people behind the scenes keeping us informed.

Here we are at the start of Spring, and our Fellowship is growing in so many ways. Our Religious Exploration programs are expanding for both Adult and Children. You can see it in how our 2nd Hour programs are growing in attendance, and in how many kids come forward during our Story for All Ages. It is exciting to see all the growth and change. We are improving our sound system. Our choir is taking on new programs. Our minister is presenting very challenging talks. Sometimes, I find myself getting up Sunday morning and thinking about just relaxing, but I then I start looking forward to the Fellowship. And when I walk in, it’s like being recharged. I feel so good after spending the morning with friends and new visitors.

We also have our Pledge Drive ongoing, a chance for each of us to share in our commitment. And at the same time, we are actively raising funds to purchase the land next to our Fellowship in order to insure our future growth. I used the term ‘growth’ a number of times, but I really don’t mean the physical growth, but growth in friends. and growth in spirituality. I hope everyone is enjoying this journey as much as I am.

Each Sunday brings new people and families to our Fellowship. With the New Year, many take this time to review and make changes. I think that is why we see many visitors, they may be stepping out of the old and want to try something ‘new’, and here we are!

So what about us as a Fellowship?  We do have a number of challenges in front of us, but I was thinking more about what our Fellowship will do as a community for our community. The Rev. Debs spoke this last Sunday on why “You Can’t Get There From Here,” about changes we have to make if we wish to take a new path. I thought a lot about his talk and how I had to make some pretty significant changes. I couldn’t get to where I had wanted to be living the way I was, and I made changes. One of those changes was coming to our Fellowship. I needed a spiritual life, a spiritual self and coming here brought it to me. I think I have a deeper understanding of my relationship with my fellow travelers on this journey being a member here.

And that is what I’d like to challenge each of us to consider, and for our Fellowship as a whole to consider. What is Worthy of our Fellowship to do? What do we want to step forward and take on as a community? I have no answers, not even any suggestions. This is for us as a community to consider.