Starr King View
December 2007 Newsletter
Schedule of Sunday Services - 9:30 a.m.
December 2: “This Little Light of Mine ”
The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart preaching.
December 9: “Necessary Joy ”
The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart preaching.
December 16: “Mary, Then and Now ”
The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart preaching.
December 23: “Season of Lights ”
A family celebration of Christmas and the winter solstice.
December 24: 5:30 p.m. “No Room at the Inn”
The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart preaching. Join us for a candle light Christmas service for the whole family.
December 24: 11:00 p.m. A quiet service of readings, carols, and candle lighting led by the Rev. Sarah C. Stewart to welcome Christmas.
December 30: “Annual Book Sharing Service ”
Worship and Music—Share with others your favorite reads of 2007 at this informal end-of-year service.
Christmas Trees
Our annual Christmas Tree Sale will be held Saturday and Sunday, December 1 and 2 and December 8 and 9. The trees are locally grown and freshly cut. Please include one of our trees on your shopping list.
This is an opportunity to support our Fellowship, a local grower, and own a very fresh and beautiful tree. Our cost has risen thus, the price of a tree will be $35.00. This is still a bargain and a good way keep the dollars in our community. I look forward to helping you select your tree.
Ed Loranger
In Fellowship December 2007
There is an advertisement I’ve seen on television which sums up the worst aspect of the holiday season for me. A family man gives each member of his household a new cell phone as a gift, telling each of them that they’re his “number one.” The family and the household are defined by their possessions. The commercial implies that the family (especially the kids) love the father because of the gifts he provides; in this case, cell phones. But the worst part of the commercial comes at the end, when it is revealed that the father has only given his family gifts because it enabled him to get and keep what he thought of as the best cell phone for himself. He only gave a gift to get a gift. He is happiest when he leaves his family behind and interacts with his new possession.
If you were to trust the commercials on television, you would think that Christmas and Chanukah were mere opportunities to manipulate gift-giving and spending so that you got the object that you really wanted. Commercials are the front page of the marketplace, and the marketplace wants you to spend money. Winter gift-giving holidays are simply a convenient excuse. You’ll never see a commercial which encourages you to spend more time with your family enjoying each other’s company, or to engage in the life of your fellowship, or to sit in meditation. Commercials encourage you to “look out for number one,” and to seek to get the best gift for yourself.
A spiritual view of the holidays helps us to see that they provide a rest from the marketplace. We have the chance to spend time with family and friends and to contemplate the truly lasting gifts in life: love, fellowship and peace. Gift-giving is a lovely tradition in both Chanukah and Christmas. We just try to remember that the value of a gift is not based on its price tag but on the connection it helps us feel with the giver. Anyone who has opened a gift from a child knows that the worth of a present has nothing to do with its purchase price.
I hope you all enjoy happy holidays with your families and friends. May you find joy in gifts you give and connection in gifts you receive. May the true gifts of the season stay with you for another year.
In fellowship,
Sarah C. Stewart
Religious Education News
Listening to the howling wind as I write this, we are reminded of the winter weather coming and the winter activities in the SKUUF family. December is a busy time, with preparations for the Holiday Parade in Plymouth, gingerbread houses, making decorations, celebrating other winter holidays.
Saturday evening, December 1, at 5:00 p.m., the parade will begin on Main Street . The RE program is participating again this year and would love to see many of you in the crowds along the street. “Float” assembly will be held at the Clay’s, 5 Rogers Street, and we hope to have 100% participation from the children and youth and their families. Fireworks after the parade are visible from the Clays, where all participants will share hot cocoa and other goodies.
Carli Carrara will be sharing time with the children and youth on December 2, and December 9 is the Gingerbread House Construction Day (HELP NEEDED). December 16 is unknown at this time, but I can promise it will be in line with the holiday celebrations. December 23 will be more celebrations of the Winter holidays.
There will be no religious education program offered on December 30, and there will be NO nursery care that morning. Speaking of the nursery, we are very happy to announce that Allison Browne accepted the position of nursery care provider for our little ones. Nancy Crowell assists Allison and both provide consistency for the young people. We are very fortunate to have these dedicated individuals.
A friendly reminder: Sign up to share a Sunday morning with our children and youth. The calendar is available in the foyer, on the RE bulletin board, and there are many open dates to choose from. Speak with Mary Crowell, committee chair, Stewart Weldon, Elizabeth Becker, or me if you have questions. Come learn the gifts of the children and youth as you share your gift with them. Everyone WINS in this game.!
Sincerely,
Jane Clay,
Director of Religious Education
Adult Ed - Sundays at 11:00 a.m.
December 2 - Kilowatt Hour – movie and discussion
This session uses a 36 minute documentary to provide us with more information on how most electricity is generated and the environmental and health hazards associated with this process. The focus is on the production of coal in the United States and the consequences of its use close to home. Discussion led by Betty Ann Trought
December 9 -Vote on the Preferred Building Plan: Fellowship meeting. All are welcome. Only members will be voting.
This will be followed by the Christmas Tree Decorating Party. Bring your lunch if you’re staying for this.
December 16 - Sermon Discussion led by Rev. Sarah Stewart on the difficulties women face in patriarchal cultures. We consider the story of Mary, poor, unwed, and women like her today.
December 23 - No Adult Ed program
December 30 - No Adult Ed program
From Your Prez ~
A few weekends ago I drove up to the Highland Conference Center in Crawford Notch. I was there to attend a District workshop on leadership issues in UU congregations. Two topics were offered; Governance and Spiritual Leadership. I wish I could have taken both! There were only six participants in the workshop on Governance and we were all Board Presidents or Vice Presidents. We were also all women, though there were three men in the workshop on Spiritual Leadership. Participants in our track came from New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
Our leader was Sue Phillips, former minister of the Keene UU Congregation. Before entering the ministry Sue had served as president of the Board in a UU Congregation so she knew the issues from “both sides” of the table.
During the weekend we met in the large group for worship and in our smaller groups to really talk about the issues. We had seven hours of workshop time so there was time to really get to know each other and to cover quite a bit of material.
Sue began by talking about the “theological underpinnings” of congregational governance. Why does our congregation exist? What is its purpose? After talking about this for a few minutes, we agreed that our reason for being is to provide a safe container where people can practice living as their best selves. Our Board, our bylaws, and our committees are the structures needed to keep our community both open and safe.
We spent much of our time talking about congregational size and the issues that arise as a congregation moves from “Family” (10 to 50 people at a service) to “Pastoral” (50 – 150 at a service) and from Pastoral to “Program” (150 – 300 at a service). We were all from Pastoral size congregations, though some were moving toward Program and beginning to feel the tensions inherent in that move.
I received lots of good ideas for how to cope when tensions arise and things get a bit “rocky.” I realized that since we are not currently at a transition point, we can move forward with a sense of stability. Growth will be slow but steady, leaders will arise as needed, and the energy will be positive. This is exactly what I see at SKUUF at the present time!
I was able to attend the conference through the generosity of our Nominating/Leadership Development Committee and the NH/Vt District. Thank you for continuing to augment my leadership skills.
Cindy Spring
Remember to wear your Nametag.
It helps Everyone.
Notes from the Treasurer
Hi Everyone! I hope that you had a great Thanksgiving and are well underway into preparation for the upcoming holiday season. Whatever your beliefs, I wish you peace.
The discussion below is related to the investment of the SKUUF Endowment Fund. As most of you know, several years ago we received a generous, anonymous donation to kick off our endowment program. After much discussion among the people on the Budget and Finance Committee, the decision was taken to recommend that SKUUF invest the money in the Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Investment Fund. That decision was recommended to, and accepted by the Governing Board.
At the time that our investment was made, there was a category in the GIF called “non-correlated” funds. We were assured that this did not involve “hedging” or other high risk investment strategies. As it turns out, the “non-correlated” part of the GIF does in fact consist of “hedging.” I am probably not the best one to explain “hedging” but it is essentially a bet on the future value of something. The assumption is that it will either go up or down in price by a specific time in the future. We believe that this is not in accordance with the written policy of the GIF and involves unacceptable risk to our Fund. So, with regret, the Budget & Finance Committee recommended to withdraw our Endowment Investment from the UUA GIF and that recommendation was presented to the Governing Board tonight (14 November 2007), and approved. The notification to the UUA was mailed on 15 November 2007. Below is a snapshot of what was presented to the Board.
The Budget and Finance Committee has been discussing our Endowment Funds. At the present time the investment is with the UUA General Investment Fund (GIF). The Committee feels that the GIF is no longer the best place for our funds for the following reasons:
- 20% of the GIF is now invested in a category of assets called “non correlated” which has been determined to involve hedging and other techniques and assets that are considered to be of high risk by the SKUUF Budget and Finance Committee.
- The new category had begun when SKUUF signed on with the UUA GIF, but we had been advised at the time that this new category did not involving hedging or other such risks.
- When the UUA created this new way of investing, they took funds away from the equity allocation position, such that it is the Committee’s belief that the assets remaining in equities will be insufficient to grow the funds to meet our investment goal.
- The UUA officials responsible for asset allocation and overall strategy seem to be aware that the “non correlated” portion of the Fund is at odds with the provisions of its approved GIF investment policy.
Given the above, the Budget and Finance Committee recommends that the Board give it approval to terminate the arrangement with the UUA GIF at the next possible notice date- 30 November 2007. (It is a three month process after the UUA has been notified. This means that we would receive the proceeds of our investment about the end of February 2008. The Committee, with much help from Nancy Chaddock, will use that time to find and recommend a new home for our investment.)
If you have any questions, please let me know and I will try my best to answer any questions that you may have.
Peace!
Gary Walker
Dear Members and Friends of Starr King UU Fellowship,
After working at the Fellowship for two years I have resigned my position as Office Assistant. I am turning my focus towards expanding my yoga teaching, and I need more time to do that. On the other hand, SKUUF is growing, and the job really needs more time than I have to offer.
It has been a pleasure working with such an active community, and it is great to see this community growing. Your energy and diversity of interests are feeding this growth – and good thing! The world needs more of this. The Strategic Plan is full of worthy goals for SKUUF and the community at large.
It has also been a pleasure working with Rev. Sarah Stewart. She is happy, pleasant and reasonable, and inspiringly dedicated in her role as Starr King Fellowship’s minister. She is far too busy with more consequential items to do much church administration. Besides – you keep her busy!
It is this growth that is making the Office Assistant position bigger and BIGGER. Some concern has been expressed that too much work had “gone to the office” and had become too much. Well, it did – but only because I have other commitments that are important to me and I don’t have the time this job really needs now. The Board and committee work that comes through the office belongs in the office. In fact, send more work to the office! Having the office do administration frees up the committees to do the creative work. The building gets used more because someone can coordinate the schedule. Rev. Stewart can’t be there all the time, and the office provides continuity and a friendly voice on the other end of the phone for members, visitors and the community at large.
As the Office Assistant job has grown I began to look at my time and my priorities. I realized that my yoga “business” needed attention, as large projects still weren’t completed for want of some time. And I need some mornings available to pursue a lingering goal; yoga classes for cancer patients at area hospitals. (I have an additional 85-hour certification to teach yoga to cardiac and cancer patients.)
As all things pointed to my departure, I decided it was time for transition. I thank you for the honor of having served you.
Namaste~
Lindsey
Lindsey Santaniello
SKUUF Finances Snapshot
as of November 14, 2007
Fiscal Year to Date:
Income $ 45,998.15
Expenses $ 47,288.85
Important Balances
Operating Funds $ 13,402.86
Building Funds* $ 122,896.50
Endowment Funds* $ 11,512.35
Remaining Principle on Meetinghouse
$ 45,499.71
This represents only selected funds and liabilities. Please note that this is not a full accounting of assets or liabilities. If you would like more detailed information feel free to talk to Gary, or me.
*These funds represent multiple accounts grouped together.
Dutifully submitted
Mark Becker
What's Coming up for Winter and Spring Adult Education?
Mark and Elizabeth Becker are exploring whether to offer a four session weekday evening program on Wicca, using a UU curriculum designed for this purpose. They will run it if there are at least four folks who are interested and can meet on the same evening. If you’re interested, please let them know by signing your name and preferred evening on a sheet they’ve started for that purpose in the foyer.
Wise Women in Training has two ongoing groups, one on Tuesday evening, and one on Thursday morning. The evening group has its last meeting of the calendar year on December 11 at 5:30 p.m. The Thursday morning group meets on December 13 at 10:00 a.m. At these meetings, each group will be creating schedules and agendas for the new year. New members are welcome.
Facilitators of Small Group Ministry, Wise Women, and any new discussion groups are invited to periodic meetings with the Reverend Sarah Stewart on the dynamics of group facilitation. Their next meeting is December 19 at 6:00 p.m.
What interests do you have that you’re interested in sharing with the Fellowship? If you have an idea, or if you just have the willingness to offer something, we can help you develop an idea for adult ed programming. Just contact one of us.
Barbara Lambert & Betty Ann Trought
Worship and Music Committee
Worship and Music has joined the Green Sanctuary movement and will be recycling all batteries used in our electronic equipment. Additionally we have procured four rechargeable batteries and a charger to reduce our consumption of batteries.
All three of the Hearing Assistance Devices have been checked out, batteries replaced, equipped with head phones and are available for use by those who need some hearing assistance. They are located on a shelf just above the electronics cabinet in the rear of the sanctuary.
Sunday, December 16 will be our Guest musician Sunday with the music provided by the Ellsworth family. We hope you have enjoyed the Guest Musician Program, we hope it has added to your worship experience. If funds become available, we will be able to continue it in January to May .
Paul Tierney
Nominating Committee
Seeks to Expand its Role
The SKUUF Nominating Committee consists of three elected members, currently, chair Forrest Seavey, Janet Doner, and Nancy Chaddock. The Committee works throughout the year, endeavoring in numerous ways to nurture current leaders, determine the nominations for elected positions and to help identify leaders for committees when vacancies occur. The processes developed over the years by the Committee to accomplish these tasks have been determined in a thoughtful, caring way. As the newest member to join this committee, I am impressed to learn of the amount of time and energy and skill that has gone into identifying and carrying out the continuing efforts to identify and encourage our leaders.
Over the last couple of years the Committee has been thinking about the need to expand its role, a role that has always been implicit to its work, but determined now to become more intentional as an important part of the development of the Fellowship: a focus on leadership development. What exactly will this mean? Well, its going to take some time to determine the specifics and we will probably need to seek a bylaw change to allow more elected members to the Nominating Committee! However, for this year, at least, we seek to add a couple of additional folks willing to work with us in an unofficial way to help us plan, communicate, and carry out activities designed to transform the Nominating Committee into what might be considered a true human resource committee, with effective processes in place for the encouragement and training of both existing and future leaders of the Fellowship.
There are many resources and methods, both internal and external that are available to make our leadership development efforts far more effective, visible, and accessible than has been the case. For example, the Committee has the ability at present to pay from its budget registration fees for leadership training and workshops to improve committee functioning. If you are not aware of this, please take note! The Committee would like to be able to do more than offer reimbursement for registrations to these trainings and workshops, but it is mindful of its responsibility to also offer registration reimbursement to those representing our Congregation at the annual business meetings of the District and UUA General Assembly. A possible solution the Committee is exploring is to create a scholarship fund reserve with a fair and equitable selection process to be determined.
Nancy Chaddock
New Resource on UU Theology
Thank you to Jane and Bob Clay for giving SKUUF the CD set of the theme talks from the 2006 Religious Education Conference at Star Island. The speaker was Thandeka, a UU minister and professor at Meadville Lombard Theological School. Thandeka’s theme was Experiencing the Music of our Being - a New Theology of Faith. “...the foundation of our faith is not an idea or a set of beliefs. It is an experience that affirms and renews us, gives our life direction, purpose and meaning, and establishes the principles that guide our ethical lives as a religious people.”
The set may be borrowed from the SKUUF library.
Social Justice
Social Justice Issues Chosen
On Friday evening, November 16, about forty members and friends of the Fellowship came together for a potluck and discussion of the issues they would like the Social Justice Committee to help them focus on over the next two years. The food and social interaction were wonderful. Child care was provided.
Kathy Hillier facilitated the discussion. She began by giving a little history of the work of the Social Justice Committee’s engagement with the congregation and wider community over the years. Then she described the process we would be using this night to determine our future activities, a process that had worked well in the past. Folks were asked to write down on a card the three issues they care the most about. Then Kathy asked them to flip the card over and write down their number one issue with a few statements about it. Individuals then rose to talk about their issue. The ideas were posted. We had eight issues to choose from. Each of us were given three different colored dots to indicate the order of our top preferences.
When all the calculations were completed, the voting was clear: the overwhelming favorite issue chosen was climate change and sustainable living. At first these were two different issues, each with large votes, and the group decided that they should be combined. Lots of activities relating to climate change and sustainable living were suggested and written down.
It was also decided by the group to take on a second issue, the next most popular issue voted on, the New Hampshire tax structure – exploring and advocating for alternatives to our reliance on the property tax. These two issues seem to have been well chosen to engage us all in some meaningful way. The Social Justice Committee thanks everyone who participated.
Nancy Chaddock
Social Justice Outreach for December
Plymouth Area Community Closet
Plymouth Area Community Closet will again be the December Outreach of the Social Justice Committee. PACC is the local organization which helps those who sometimes find it hard to help themselves.
The four ‘arms’ of the Closet are: Food Depot, Meals for Many, Financial Assistance and 2nd Comings. PACC depends on the generosity of the fourteen communities where our clients live, and the financial success of 2nd Comings. It has been awhile since 2nd Comings has been financially able to adequately support the programs of Community Closet, but thanks to Laurie Vachon from Lakes Region Community Service Council, things are beginning to look more hopeful. She is now managing 2nd Comings, and the store is hiring persons with disabilities to work in the store and to receive compensation for their work. We at PACC are hoping for great things, ie. increased profits.
The growth of 2nd Comings will take time and until then, PACC still needs money! What with the price of gas and oil, it is going to be a long winter for many folk.
The informational talk will be December 2 and the collection will be December 16. Thanks so much for your continued support.
Mimi Ford
News from UU Action Network
Coordinator Tess George:
Same Mission, New Name – New Hampshire Faithful Democracy is now Unitarian Universalist Action Network of New Hampshire. The new name has been chosen because it is more descriptive of who we are: a network of UU congregations and individuals actively working on issues reflective of UU values. This year we are still
working on: (1) The Federal Budget as a Moral Document, (2) Access to Health Care, (3) Fair Taxation, (4) Global Warming/Renewable Energy and we are studying Water.
We focus on representing our values to our legislators, on witnessing in the public arena, and on issue education. We hope you like our new name! (SKUUF priorities chosen November 16 at the potluck will mesh nicely.) Please visit us at our new website address: www.uuactionnetworknh.org.
Want to get more involved? Visit our website and sign up to receive Action Alerts. These are targeted, specific alerts just for New Hampshire UU’s, on the four issues mentioned above. You will receive a letter that you can edit or send as is, and you don’t even have to find your legislator. Just supply your zip code when you sign up and the software locates your legislator for you! (There are also forms on the table in the foyer for signing up.)
As the primaries approach, there will be more of a focus on health care and on global warming/renewable energy as many organizations bring these issues to the candidates. We will have opportunities to join forces with these groups listed on our website. Please check in often for updates.
Thanks for all you do! Unitarian Universalists around the state are actively engaged in the democratic process. When we get together and combine our efforts, our vision widens and our power grows.
Sally Davis
7th Principle Hint
Confusion about what is good for human health and what is good for the environment is caused by corporations who advertise to convince us into believing we need and must have products they produce.
A great example of this is the use of antibacterial soaps. Ads for antibacterial soaps, detergents, and cleaning products can make you feel like your home is a germ-infested mess. But regular use of these products to get rid of all those nasties hanging around your house may not be either effective or harmless.
For one thing, to get the claimed 99.9 percent reduction in bacteria, you might have to clean that surface for several minutes, something that few people are likely to do. And simply using soap and water eliminates many germs. In fact, one study of 238 New York City households found that people who used antibacterial products for hand washing, laundry, and general cleaning got no fewer infections than those who simply used regular cleaning products.
What’s more, there is evidence that triclosan, an antibacterial agent in many of these products, can irritate skin and may create potentially carcinogenic chemical mixes when it is mixes with chlorine in tap water.
In addition, some research shows that widespread use of antibacterial products may undermine the effectiveness of antibiotic drugs by promoting drug resistant bacteria.
Finally remember everything gets washed down the drain and we have no idea of how these products are adversely affecting septic systems and water supplies.
To cut infection risk, clean regularly and wash you hands frequently with soap and water (scrub and lather for 20 seconds) especially after handling germy things like raw chicken or dirty diapers.
Betty Ann Trout
(from Consumer Reports, Better Products for a Better Planet, September 2007)
Green Sanctuary Committee -
As I mentioned in our October report, The Green Sanctuary Committee felt the need to check in with SKUUF members as to their wishes concerning the development of a community project and social justice project which would be necessary for application for Green Sanctuary certification. We were concerned about the Fellowship’s ability to carry out any more major projects for several reasons:
- the Green Sanctuary Committee has few members and few volunteers able to take on more major projects;
- those most involved in SKUUF volunteer activities are stretched with projects related to the Board, Adult Education, Stewardship, RE, Building Committee and Capital Campaign;
- the Social Justice Committee had not shown any interest in moving into eco-justice as a major focus during our two years of work and
- we had little data to show any significant personal member movement toward implementation of reducing their carbon imprint and simplifying their lifestyles.
Therefore we hosted an Adult Education Session on Sunday, November 4, 2007 entitled “Green Sanctuary - Where are we and What’s next?”
In this Fellowship conversation the Green Sanctuary Committee shared with members the objectives of the Green Sanctuary process and provided an update on our accomplishments. The resulting dialogue on what those present thought might increase Fellowship participation and eventual attainment of Green Sanctuary certification was revealing.
Given SKUUF’s current activity level, there is a real question as to whether SKUUF should attempt to proceed with a major Community Project during a time when members are so involved with other SKUUF activities. Many useful suggestions were provided and several (already busy) volunteers agreed to help continue the Green Sanctuary’s mission. There seemed to be agreement that the focus on social justice is a necessity for Green Sanctuary certification and agreed that participation in the Social Justice Committee’s potluck and priority setting meeting on November 16 was necessary.
In addition, the Committee continues to work with the Building Committee and found the presentation on environmentally sound building practices “high performance structures” very exciting. DVD copies of this presentation are available thanks to Forest Seavey and we hope everyone who missed this presentation borrow one to view at home. The Committee continues to actively look for new members so please don’t be shy if you have interest in the environment. Please call 786-9342 or email troughtel@nhecwb.com if you would like more information on the Committee and its activities for 2007-2008.
Betty Ann Trought
Radical Simplicity
The Green Sanctuary Committee in conjunction with the several area non-profits and Common Ground of Plymouth State University is sponsoring “Radical Simplicity” by Jim Merkel on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. in Boyd 144. Please plan to attend this community offering and invite some friends to find out about how to reduce your carbon footprint and help fight human causes of climate change.
New Members
On October 27, we held a Path to Membership class, and at the end, we were fortunate to have four people sign our Membership Book. We are delighted to have these four new folks with all their gifts and their interest in sharing in the activities and work of SKUUF. I asked them to each write their own bio for this newsletter, and they all did (or had someone close to them do so.) I also invited Darlene Nadeau, who joined SKUUF last spring, to submit a bio.
If you haven’t already made these folks’ acquaintance, I hope you do as soon as possible. All of them, actually, have already participated in either helping out at a Sunday service, offered a summer service, or facilitated adult ed programs or other programming at SKUUF. This is quite a group!
On December 2, we will have a New Member Recognition Ceremony during our Sunday service to welcome our new members to SKUUF.
Barbara Lambert
Bios of New Members
Jamie Cadorette
Jamie Cadorette moved to the Plymouth area ten years ago from Nashua. Jamie enjoys listening to and creating music of all sorts and treasures time outdoors (when it’s not too cold). For now Jamie wants to attend Sunday services and social events, as well as volunteer for social justice, to find a spiritual center and build a sense of connection with the community.
Joel Heathcote
Why would a guy move to New Hampshire after thirty years in San Diego? He wanted to drastically simplify his life, reduce his possessions, live much more ecologically and follow Thoreau’s advice to seek to face only the most important facts of life. California was distracting, New Hampshire is definitely about focus.
SKUUF provides activities he’s always longed for: lots of open hearted sharing, spirited philosophical roundtable discussions and those Circle Dinners! Joel loves to share, to be of service and to seek the Higher Path. He’s deeply grateful to be a fellow in this Fellowship.
Darlene Nadeau
Just over a year ago, Darlene left Hollis, New Hampshire and transitioned to Plymouth to live with George Maloof. She has two adult sons: Bryan is married and living in Truckee, California, and Jessy lives in Hollis. Darlene commutes to Nashua where she directs Service Learning at Rivier College. She is also a licensed massage therapist, Reiki master, and certified yoga and Pilates instructor. She has a passion for learning; she also enjoys travel, nature, gardening, and dance.
Darlene appreciates the open and welcoming SKUUF community and looks forward to connecting with more members and participating in increased adult education activities.
Belinda Phillips
Belinda wasn’t born in the White Mountains but she got here as fast as she could. That took her six decades. She moved to Thornton in 2000 from Fairfield County, Connecticut. She loves the people here, outdoor activities, contra dancing, gardening, and teaching yoga. Belinda shares her renovated barn home daily with two sweet Australian Shepherds, bossy Tabby cat, and, as often as possible, with her three grown children, their partners and four grandchildren. SKUUF feels just right for Belinda, with its open-minded inquiry into all ideas about what is happening on this wonderful planet. She is interested in helping out in Adult Ed and perhaps some youth planning, but says she has definitely “retired” from the kind of extensive committee involvement which has been a big part of her experience in other churches.
Suzanne Schwartz
Suzanne Schwartz migrated to Campton from New Jersey in the early seventies. Her interests are diverse. She farmed her way through her hippie years, raising two wonderful children with her mate, Mo The Clown. She is a licensed massage therapist, and organizer of The White Mountain Dowsers, a friendly monthly esoteric study group, meeting at SKUUF on the second Monday of the month.
Play Bridge?
If you are a bridge player interested in the Thursday afternoon bridge game at Starr King Fellowship, please see Phil Morse, or call him at 764-4358.
Share-A-Book Project
Supports Community Bookroom!
In the past ten years we have sent thousands of small books written in Spanish to the children in one of Managua’s poorest neighborhoods. Many of you have discovered how easy it is to make a donation in the name of family or friends or as part of your own holiday sharing. We will give you a simple gift card to send with your holiday greetings to acknowledge the donation made in your loved one’s name.
We have located inexpensive books for beginning readers that cost only 25 cents each. That means your gift of $10.00 equals forty books, and $50.00 equals 200 little books. Each year we send more of these little books, but also send larger picture books in Spanish and cash to be spent in the local bookstore for dictionaries, novels or cookbooks—whatever is the greatest need. This allows us to support their publishing industry, a local store and the children, all through one project. We are happy to also send Spanish language children’s books you may have on your shelves.
If you have questions, please ask one of the committee members: Margaret Salt or Gigi Estes. Remember, you may write your check in this or the coming tax year, whichever is better for your purposes. We will be collecting money through January 30 again this year.
This project is coordinated through the Women In Action program, and the books are delivered by one of the delegations which travels to Nicaragua in the spring.
Coordinators, Ana Narvaez and Michael Boudreau, have told us repeatedly how happy the children (and adults) are to have the books which we have sent. There are now large shelves in the new community building, and we know some of this year’s collection will be used on those shelves to add to the small community resource library. We were honored at our visit last spring to learn that the book room has been named for our Share-a-Book project.
Margaret Salt
Newsletter Deadline
January Newsletter deadline is Friday, December 21, 2007. Send articles, committee reports, notice of upcoming events, news, calendar items, etc., to:
Barbara Avery
PO Box 35, Woodstock, NH 03293
E-mail - bdavery@roadrunner.com
Phone - 745-8845
Words from Walter Faithorn:
The Feminine Divine, our service the last Sunday of October, was for me intensely beautiful and moving. It’s quite possible that it was even more beautiful and moving for everybody else. I say that because in our lovely meeting house (and in a lot of other places, too) I don’t hear very well. I got lost in some of Sarah’s beautiful and complex similes and metaphors –– including the ones about the number of names, shapes and forms that God has been presumed to assume. ( I don’t think she was suggesting that He has been capricious about it, but that thought did occur to me.)
What Sarah chose to read –– and she reads so beautifully –– was transporting; and her sermon –– actually, it was more like a presentation than a sermon –– the way she walked back and forth with that microphone in her hand, going to center stage, then back to check her notes, then back to center stage –– was really arresting and charming. I’m much indebted to Sarah for a wonderful Sunday morning.
As for the music, I got it all –– the voices of our choir, the soft, soothing melodies, harmonies, and metaphorical flights of the three flutes together with Eva’s beautiful, tender and gentle piano. Music, of course, is simply loaded with metaphors; Leonard B. over and over called it a “metaphorical language,” and the hymn, “Lady of the Season’s Laughter” was surely that; it was really spellbinding. It seemed to me that most of us let our voices trail off so that we could listen just to the choir and the instrumental music of that particular piece.
May I return to one of the several wonders to which Sarah referred: the different forms of, and names and metaphors for God.
My father, on this very subject, got me, as a preteen boy, a bit confused for a while. On more than one occasion he would unexpectedly but politely knock on my bedroom door, come in, look around at the usual mess, and then say with a touch of horror in his voice, “Mother of God, look at what you’ve done to your room.”
If that Mother is around in our universe, She’s the one with whom someday I would like to converse. And for all we know, it may have been She who was holding up the pants of that talented and handsome young flautist.
Community Closet
Remember, the Community Closet can always use our help. There is a basket in the foyer for your non-breakable food contributions. You can drop off canned or boxed goods anytime.
SKUUF Sermons are now available on the internet!
Whether you missed a sermon or would like to listen again, now you can! From our website, look for the link in the left navigation called “Podcast” and that will take you to our new SKUUF Podcast page. The sermons can be heard right from that page.
Whether you have a PC, a Mac, an iPod or other portable media player, listening is easy to do. But you don’t need any special software, sermons can be played right from the SKUUF Podcast directory page.
Forrest Seavey
News Notes - December 2007
I wish everyone could have seen the wonderful musical, “Fiddler on the Roof” at Plymouth Regional High School. The theatre there is always good but this one could hardly be matched. So much of this is to be attributed to the director, Sarah Bunkley who recognizes and inspires talent.
All parts and actors were remarkable but the lead, Tevya, played by Alex Ellsworth was outstanding and he was on stage almost throughout. Helen Ellsworth was the middle daughter, Chava, and played it so well. Also in the cast as villagers were Rachel DeRaymond and Lilly Sutherland, both animated and adding to the overall excellence. We were fortunate enough to be there the only evening the Fiddler on the roof was played by Rodger Ellsworth. My seat mates were Mimi Ford and Alex Livingstone and his mother.
Lindsey Santaniello, our outstanding office assistant, has left SKUUF to further develop her yoga classes. We thank her for her excellent service and her warm, thoughtful, efficient way of going about it! We shall miss you.
We have missed Shelly Chamberlain, Joe Webb McKellar, Molly Lu and Laurel River, their daughters. Joe is recovering well from surgery as they work to finish their home and move up from the basement. Take care.
Margaret Smith has undergone a procedure called ablation. She had suffered a periodic rapid heart beat which sometimes caused her to faint. She was tired and a bit bruised and sore but is doing well. We’re glad it is over. Stay well.
It was fun to have Kathy Hillier’s daughter, Sarah, and grandson, August, age 4 1/2 months at the pot luck dinner on November 16. They were visiting from their home in Florida.
We miss our summer members as the weather cools and they return to warmer climates. We also welcome our northern neighbors, Nancy and Roger Aldrich, who join us after closing Polly’s Pancake Parlor for the winter. It is quite a drive from Sugar Hill.
Welcome home to Mary and Nevin Scrimshaw after their remarkable visit each year to the Royal family of Thailand.
John Chandler spoke with such joy on a recent Sunday of his long involved treatment at the V.A. facility to learn to walk, even in the woods, with confidence despite his loss of vision.
Martha Copithorne returned recently from a most interesting trip to Bhutan. I had to check it out in the encyclopedia.
Natalie Thompson returned recently from another interesting trip to several countries in Eastern Europe.
Three cheers for our choir and many thanks for the hard work that must go into the beautiful music they perform for us. Thank you all!
Walt Mayshark
December Dates to Note:
Saturday, December 1
- Christmas Tree Sale
- Holiday Parade 5:00 on Main Street
Sunday, December 2
- Christmas Tree Sale
- New Member Recognition Ceremony during service
Saturday, December 8
- Christmas Tree Sale
Sunday, December 9
- Christmas Tree Sale
- Meeting of the Fellowship to vote on Building Plans and Estimated Costs at 11:00 a.m.
Sunday, December 16
- Guest Musician Sunday
Friday, December 21
- January Newsletter deadline
Monday, December 24
- Christmas Eve Services at 5:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
Aluminum Cans
Remember to bring your aluminum cans to SKUUF.
Let us continue to recycle for the good of SKUUF and the planet.
Starr King View
Minister: Rev. Sarah Stewart
sstewart@starrkingfellowship.org
Office Administrator:
admin@starrkingfellowship.org
Office: (603) 536-8908
Website—www.starrkingfellowship.org