Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Emerald Coast

A few Sunday’s ago, I asked the Fellowship three questions. I received 60+ responses. And here is a sampling of the responses:

1. What brought you here and why do you stay?

-        There is no other community that is so inclusive, so compassionate.

-        We stay for the warmth of friends and the sanctuary of reason and open-mindedness.

-        To give my children a greater family and instill in them UU values.

-        Come to focus on things that are bigger than me. The Services, Rev Debs.

-        Strong women, respected for who they are. A balance between secular and spiritual life.

2. What has changed in you since attending?

-        We have been inspired to share the UU perspective. I have gained a feeling of acceptance.

-        Relief from self-centeredness. Caused me to ‘rethink’ former positions.

-        Inspired by the children. Want to see this UU Fellowship be here after I am gone.

-        New ideas, traditions. Challenged by Minister’s talks. My life has changed by this church.

-        First day. So far so good. Very open-minded. Love it.

3. What do you want our Fellowship to do in our Community?

-        Provides music appreciation program. Provide book study group. Continue supporting charities.

-        Start a community and garden on our land. Let’s go for the building purchase.

-        Help support local student groups which don’t fit into set categories.

-        Our Fellowship should reach out to Christian communities to foster a climate of tolerance.

-        Could support food banks, or members. Habitat for Humanity.

-        Support solar power for the church in the next few years.

Do any of these touch you? If you’d like, send me your responses to these questions to: kdlauer2@gmail.com.

Here we are in the middle of the summer and you’d think things would be a bit slow and easy….not so. “Things” are happening!  Our attendance continues to rise, we have more members and visitors for Sunday Services this summer, we have members attending Leadership Training, the UUA General Assembly, and many attending our various committee meetings throughout the warm summer months. And now we are investigating the purchase of land and a building adjacent to our church property. We already own the land parcel just above us that sits at the corner and now the land next to it with the A-frame building has become available. No decisions yet, and no price. We are in general discussions, but if we are able to put together an affordable package, the fellowship will be asked to consider supporting this purchase. Lots of exciting options – more room to use for classes, and more space for future growth. We’ll see how this plays out. But whatever is done, it will involve the entire fellowship.

August 29th we will have our annual UU FAIR – an open house with lots of fun and information on Children and Adult RE programs, Circles, and chances to fellowship together. We will also highlight opportunities to get involved in community service. Keep your eyes open. Get ready to join in.

There are a lot of chances to get involved.  I hope you find one that interests you. We are growing not only in size but in commitment to our church and to the entire community.

In Fellowship,

Denny

Greetings from the UU Association General Assembly! We are here in Minneapolis having a great time meeting so many UU friends, new and old, and participating in workshops and the UUA Plenarys (business meetings to vote on various issues).

A Statement of Conscience on Creating Peace was passed – a very strong statement on how we UUs, as a community, will work supporting Global Peace initiatives but also peacemaking in the community and our personal relationships. We advocate a culture of peace through a transformation of public policies, religious consciousness, and individual lifestyles.

In 2012, the UU General Assembly is to meet in Phoenix AZ. A Proposal to Boycott was put forward to protest the Arizona Immigration Law which is seen basically a racial profiling law. After a great deal of work and cooperation to come to a consensus, we passed, as near to unanimous UUs can be, a resolution that we will hold the General Assembly in Phoenix, but not ‘business as usual’. We will focus on supporting the Arizona communities and organizations with workshops, worship and hands-on projects focused on community involvement – an exciting prospect.

There are a number of changes being put forward to how our Association will support the local churches and fellowships, but I won’t bore you with that – just to say we are streamlining our organization to join the 21st Century.

We participated in numerous workshops and worship services: fantastic music, speakers and discussions. We came away with ideas and tools we hope will be of assistance to our Fellowship. But what I mainly came away with was the excitement and energy gained from being with 3800+ UUs – what an experience!

Our next General Assembly will be held in Charlotte NC, 22–26 June 2011. This is within driving distance for us, so please put this on your calendar for next year. It would be exciting to take a large Fellowship contingent there. We’ll talk on this more in the future. There is a strong Youth Caucus here and children’s programs, almost like Summer Camp for the kids!

Well, off I go! Looking forward to sharing more with all. In Fellowship, Denny

This is going to be a ‘subject oriented’ article, about the UU Association (UUA). The UUA is making a number of changes that will be voted on at the upcoming June General Assembly (GA). We have three delegates attending: John Lindegren, Karen Lauer and me. Cecile Lindegren will be the Alternate. At our Annual Business Meeting, we voted that the Board would select the Delegates and the Delegates would vote their conscience – no specific direction from the membership or the Board. But our Delegates need to hear
your opinions.

The UUA is modifying how the UUA will be governed and should the UUA boycott Arizona over the new Illegal Imigration Law by moving the 2012 Phoenix, Arizona GA. The Summer 2010 UUWorld and the UUA website (uua.org) have a comprehensive discussion on the proposed governing changes. So think through these and pass on what you’d like your Delegates to consider, understanding they have been given the responsibility of deciding.

As to the governing proposals, here are the main ones:

– The UUA President will serve a single 6-yr term. An elected Nomination Committee will select two candidates for GA consideration. This selection approach is similar to our Fellowship process, and allows other candidates to run.

- GA would move to every 2 years. Delegates will no longer be assigned just prior to a GA, but identified early in the GA cycle and would engage in ‘meaningful discussions and business’ prior to GA. The UUA is discussing financially supporting Delegates so Delegates are not limited to those who can afford GA on their own.

As to the proposed Boycott over AZ Illegal Immigration Law, we already had a number of members share their views. Here are the pros and cons (condensed):
– Pro, i.e. supporting a Boycott: Makes clear the UU opposition; would punish AZ businesses and attempt to force a change. Attendees could have their ‘papers’ checked.
– Con, i.e. against a Boycott: Minimal impact on the State; isolates the State and turns it into ‘them against us;’ sets a precedence of boycotting when laws are not in line with UU Principles – all States have such Laws and identifying when to boycott turns this into a political ‘football;’ if we are present, we’d voice our opposition as done at other GAs – if the law is still in effect at that time.

Our Board voted unanimously to recommend that our Delegates vote against the Boycott, in favor of holding GA 2112 in Phoenix.

In Fellowship, Denny

What a beautiful Spring we are experiencing, and how energetic these days make me. Got to get out and start cleaning up, organizing and just getting going. And it seems to be the same for so many others. So many of us are involved in our Fellowship. And enjoying it.

Many times, we hesitate stepping up and getting involved, but in our Fellowship, we have so many Members and Friends stepping in. This is reflected in our recent Stewardship Drive – 60% of our givers increased their pledge – many of our new Members have committed to giving, resulting in our Fellowship being able to finance many of its goals set by our Committees and our Board. It’s still lean, and we still face the challenge of expanding our Religious Exploration programs. But we are stepping up and providing that helping hand.

Look around. We have so many volunteering- volunteering to provide snacks each Sunday, volunteering to greet, be a Service Leader or serve on the Board. Some tasks require a commitment of a Sunday morning, others require an extended commitment, but we are stepping up and getting involved. Are we so altruistic, or is there something we gain from volunteering? We meet new friends and get to know others better. We gain the deeper Fellowship of small groups, interaction with others and the feeling of getting out of ourselves. Volunteering helps expand our vision.

And in this celebration of involvement, I’d like to thank our Newsletter Editor, Alex Gacic, for his work and commitment, and welcome our new Newsletter Editor, Chris Larson. Chris is stepping up once again- she has helped our Fellowship in so many ways and is doing this again, continuing a vital program of our Fellowship functioning well.

Do you want to get the most out of your Fellowship experience? We have our Saturday clean-up on May 1st. We have openings in our Religious Exploration programs, a need for new ideas for Fund Raising and assistance in our Religious Services. Our meetings are fun and focused. We can get involved by joining a committee and meeting new friends and having some fun. We can get involved signing up to be a Greeter or bringing snacks, join the Choir…Come step out of yourself and have some fun doing it. If you want any assistance, just ask one of our committee chairs, Rod or me and we’ll help you find your niche.

In Fellowship, Denny

Hello to all. We’ve really started this year with a bang – we’ve had average of over 100 attendees to our Jan-Feb services, and a high number of people taking part in the 2nd Hr programs – 68 at our Jan 24th Sunday. I bet you can tell I love statistics! I do, and I think they help us gauge how we are doing. The biggest number is the kids attending our Religious Exploration programs – averaging over 20. We started our current RE approach being led by a professional RE Director with 2 or 3 kids attending. Our Fellowship’s commitment to the children’s RE programs and to our adult RE programs during 2nd hr is really showing not only numerical increases, but improvements in quality – reflected by the attendance increases and in the number of people who consistently support them.

So what happens next? We are nearing the end of our current Canvass Drive, asking our Members and Friends to step forward and fund our special religious community we have here. We will see where we are at the end of February, but early indications are we are doing very well. We need each in our Community to step forward and assist in the financial support of this most special place.

And what now? We seem to be becoming limited, again, by space. Yes, we have room for all who attend our Sunday Services, but we are limiting what we can do during 2nd Hr. We have little to no room for additional classes. Our kids’ programs must be combined and one moved back to 1st Hr; our Adult Classes are restricted to 3 or 4 a Sunday because of limited space. We have a number of members come forward with new and exciting programs for 2nd Hr, but can’t add them – no room. So we need to look at how we can add more room, more flexibility. Our various Committees and our Board will begin looking at options, short and long term options.

And each of us can join in. We need volunteers and ideas. Come join in this exciting time. Our Members and Friends stepped forward when we realized we’d outgrown our older building. We now need to look again at how we support our growing Community. Come join in the fun!

In Fellowship,

Denny Lauer

Well, we have another new year starting – new President and Executive Board, and new Board Members – and the President’s first Newsletter should list their goals and ‘vision’ for the Fellowship, and what they wish to accomplish this year. OK, I’ll tell you what I want to accomplish, but our Fellowship already has stated it’s goals and vision, so what I want to accomplish is to help the Fellowship strive for those – not to set my own vision or path. My job is what many of our previous President’s have done, which is to assist and coordinate the path and vision set by the members.

Our Fellowship has grown from a small group of friends and neighbors into one of the larger UU communities in the MidSouth District. Once, we were focused on just keeping the doors open (yes, we still are battling the Budget Crisis) but we now strive to build a safe place for each of us to grow spiritually, and to build a community that not only supports each other but our larger community. I know, I’ve overused the word ‘community’, but I think that is a word we need to overuse. We are a Community and need to keep that in mind, especially those of us that have taken on specific leadership rolls. One of our main tools is the exercise of the democratic process. This means our committees, boards and individual leaders need to focus on working for the common good, not our own personal wishes and views. But each Fellowship member needs to keep in mind that we have given our committees and boards responsibilities. We don’t tell a committee, ‘you have responsibility over this unless you make a decision I disagree with’. We need to insure a proper process is followed, not that the committee or board comes to the right, i.e. my, decision.

We are transitioning from a small individual-action Fellowship into a Process Fellowship. Before, individuals would see what they believe needed to be done and go do it. We’d appreciate their work and their commitment. But now, we are working through committees and processes that reflect the overall democratic process and what is best for the Fellowship in meeting its goals and vision.

I’ve held many positions in the Fellowship over the 20+ years I’ve been a member, serving on the Board and on most of the committees, but never President. Why? Because I saw my ‘leadership’ approach to be in conflict with what our Fellowship needed. Being a military person, the democratic process wasn’t the proper model – you researched an issue, discussed options, prioritized them, presented them to either the person or committee in charge which then made the choice. And the decision was then executed. Process was important and this works well in committees and for certain Board actions, but not for the overall Fellowship leadership. Working here, I slowly learned the importance of ‘consensus’ and working the democratic process.

So, hopefully, I won’t let my personal views and goals interfere with what is best for the Fellowship, and I hope each of us see our Fellowship as a place to become involved, at the level we are comfortable with, and join in.

In Fellowship,

Denny Lauer

Don Harrison

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.” — T.S. Eliot

As we transition to a new year of fellowship and new leadership, I find myself in that strangely familiar posture of both looking backward and looking forward simultaneously. There is much that we can find to be grateful for over the past year, from buying down our mortgage and installing a new HVAC to celebrating our accreditation as a Green Sanctuary. Our congregation has supported Opportunity Place and the generosity of our members has fed their residents. There is the remembrance of shared fellowship in Family Nights and potluck gatherings as well as the successful Dining for Dollars meals together in small groups. We found ourselves inspired and entertained by Peter Mayer and called to introspection and spiritual growth by our minister Rod Debs, and guest speakers including Nels Oas. We have weathered challenges together and celebrated successes together. In the year to come, we will have many more opportunities for service, caring fellowship and spiritual growth. I want to thank this beloved community for your support and friendship over this past year. I look forward to hearing new voices, including each of yours, as we continue our journey together into the new year. Remember that we are willing to be changed by your presence among us.