Starr King View

Summer 2007 Newsletter

Sunday Services - 9:30 a.m.

 

June 24: “Poetry, A Sharing ”

            Carli Carrara

            Bring a favorite poem or any piece of writing that moves you.  We’ll read to each other and discuss how and why language effects us so deeply.  After sharing we’ll write a response to what we’ve heard.  Please bring a pen and paper.  The muse is waiting for you in the sanctuary.

 

July 1: “Lifetime Achievements ”  

            Cindy Spring

            I was never one to make a list of things I wanted to do in my life, like climb Mt. Everest or speak French, but now that I am sixty I can look back and realize that there had been some pretty good achievements.  How about you?  At this service you will have a chance to talk about what you have done with your life thus far and to hear from others about theirs.  Come prepared to share.

 

July 8: “Thrust and Trust—How my life blends Christianity’s Grace and Buddhism’s Detachment”

            Joel Heathcote

            Like many of us, Joel Heathcote has followed an eccentric pathway to discover his life’s purpose, mission and personal philosophy.  As a member of a very large and energetic congregation of the Agape Center of Metaphysical Christianity, he explored the freedom and empowerment of God’s Grace to courageously THRUST into the world.  As a Buddhist, he learned to cast aside expectations and stand calmly in TRUSTof all outcomes.  His presentation will be full of fascinating stories and powerful examples of how these two great principles operate in our lives.

 

July 15: “The Tarahumara”

            Forrest and Beverly Seavey

            With a population of between 50,000 and 70,000, the rugged and reclusive Tarahumara are the second largest indigenous group in North American.  Before the Spaniards arrived in Mexico , Tarahumara communities ranged across the entire area of the state of Chihuahua .  As the Spanish arrived in greater number, the Tarahumara moved deeper into the most isolated canyons.  At this service, we will look at these reticent people and their interesting religion, which is a mixture of Catholicism and their traditional beliefs.

 

July 22: “We’re All Doing Time”

            Bo Lozoff is the cofounder, with his wife Sita, of the Human Kindness Foundation and its award winning Prison Ashram Project.  Bo’s first book, We’re All Doing Time, is now in its thirteenth printing, and is available in several languages.  It was hailed by the Village Voice as “one of the ten books everyone in the world should read.”  It has been lauded by prison staff and prisoners alike as one of the most helpful books ever written for true self-improvement and rehabilitation.

            That book and several others he has written have forwards by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.  The Lozoffs have been cited for numerous humanitarian awards, including the prestigious Temple Award for Creative Altruism from the Institute for Noetic Sciences.  Bo holds an honorary doctorate from the Chicago Theological Seminary and was also named by Utne Reader as one of America ’s one hundred Spiritual Visionaries.  His sincerity and commitment have earned the respect of hundreds of thousands of prisoners and others around the world who feel inspired to follow a similar path of living simply and joyfully caring about others.

            Bo is currently on a tour of visiting prisons, giving public talks and playing music in every state in the country.  In late July he will be in the state of New Hampshire . Please come and spend some time with one of the world’s great humanitarians as he shares his wisdom of what it means to live a meaningful life.

 

July 29: “Lammas”  

            Mark and Elizabeth Becker

            Celebration of the first harvest of the season and food stores for winter.

 

 August 5: “ Building a Home ”

            Jules and Janet Doner

            Be prepared to learn about the emotional side of losing everything and having to start from scratch.

            Hear the various decisions a couple make in arriving at a design, selecting a builder, getting the resources together for the actual construction.

            Learn the value of outside council during time of stress.

            Learn how a community support system shapes your thinking about why you are building where you are.

            Learn that this is only the start (making the building), and that a home takes years and love.

 

August 12: “Herb’s Philosophy ”

            Nancy Chaddock

            One man’s reliance on scientific philosophy to interpret life experience

 

August 19: “Small Group Ministry ”

            The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart and Small Group Ministry facilitators will lead the service, giving everyone a taste of the spiritual experience of Small Group Ministry.

 

August 26: “ What is Unitarian Universalism ”

            The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart will offer an introduction to Unitarian Universalism and answer your questions about our faith. Religious seekers, newcomers and experienced Unitarian Universalists are all welcome to attend.

           

September 2: “Flower, Candle, Heart, and Stone: Weaving Our Stories Into One ”

            Marcia VanderMast

            Adapted from a community building activity created by Pamela Mott and featured in the May/June 2007 issue of Handwoven Magazine.

 

 

In Fellowship                                                                 Summer 2007

 

            By the time you read this, Starr King Fellowship will be fully in summer mode.  You will have exchanged flowers at the Flower Communion; you may be enjoying summer services led by other members of the Fellowship.  You may even have signed up to lead a summer service yourself.

            I spend the third week of June at General Assembly, the annual meeting of representatives of all our country’s Unitarian Universalist congregations.  Then, from the end of June through the beginning of August, I will spend time visiting family, as well as reading and writing to prepare for another year of preaching and ministering at Starr King.  This schedule honors my agreement with Starr King Fellowship, which indicates that I will spend the month of July either on study leave or on vacation.

            Many Unitarian Universalist congregations operate on this schedule, with a full religious education program and clergy-led services during the “church year,” and less formal services, or no services at all, during the summer.  It mirrors the school year, and may once have allowed families to turn their attention toward farming during the summer.  It may also reflect the iconoclastic attitude that some Unitarian Universalists had toward their religious endeavors in the twentieth century, when liberals wanted to establish congregations without being too “churchy.”

            What I experience during our summer down-time is that you, the members of the congregation, have just as many spiritual needs and just as rich a spiritual life during the summer as during the other seasons of the year.  While I enjoy and respect our strong tradition of lay-led services in the summer, I wonder how Starr King Fellowship and I could offer a stronger ministerial presence together during the summer.  If I spent even one Sunday in July preaching and leading worship, I would have a chance to see those members and friends of the congregation who are only with us in the summer.  With one or two weeks of office time over the summer, I could attend to pastoral needs beyond emergencies.  A more robust children’s program during summer Sunday services would continue to provide ministry to the families in our midst even when school isn’t in session.  What we do now during the summer is wonderful.  I imagine how we could build on our existing summer program to provide more ministry to more people throughout the year.

            This would be an important change in Starr King Fellowship’s traditions.  It is not a change I propose lightly.  I hope this column will give you the chance to begin thinking about it, and tell me what you think.  I hope your committees and groups within the fellowship will talk about how this would affect your work, and bring up any questions or concerns you may have.  One big change the different schedule would have for me is that it would take me away from the office and the pulpit slightly more in the winter, fall or spring.  How would it feel to you to have more professional ministry over the summer?  How would it feel to change Starr King’s schedule to be more year-round?

            For now, I hope you enjoy our lay-led services and more relaxed congregational schedule.  I will be back in the pulpit on August 19, leading a summer-style service, and back in the office during the week of August 13.  If you need to talk to me as your minister before then, you can always reach me at home at 536-7507 .  Have a great summer!

 

In fellowship,

Sarah Stewart

 

Religious Education News:

 

 

            I was taken by surprise on Sunday, June 10 when I was presented an “extra” gift by the fellowship!  I extend a big thank you to everyone for all the support and well wishes for finishing my Bachelor’s degree in December.  It is greatly appreciated!

            Even though the Religious Education program is not meeting over the summer and I have some time off, I have the calendar posted and invite you to share your gifts with the children and youth in 2007-2008.  Sign up anytime for a Sunday of your choice!

            The religious education committee has their first meeting for the new year scheduled for August 16, at 5:00 p.m. , with everyone bringing some food to share.  Mary Crowell is continuing as chairperson, along with Stewart Weldon, Elizabeth Becker, and Jerrett Hoffman, also Jordan Browne has accepted our invitation to be the new junior youth representative.  Jerrett will step up to serve as the senior youth representative.  I strongly urge other committees to invite youth to participate, as they are important to the future of SKUUF.  Please join us if you want to join this great committee that works hard for our children and youth!

            Fundraising will be a focus for the RE program, as we would like to visit the UUA office in Boston , and we have a contact in New York City and the UN.   (Maybe we can do this trip with the RE program in Laconia as Bob and I have discussed!)  We hope to sell lemonade, baked goods, and books at the community-wide yard sale in September as the first major event!  And of course, the Holiday parade in December was fun last year, so we want to make this a fantastic opportunity to promote SKUUF.  Think about helping with this event!

            We will advertise for the position of nursery care provider later in the summer, and if any of you know someone you feel would be interested, tell them to contact me over the summer.  My home phone is 536-2296 , email is jhclay@adelphia.net.

 

            Jane Clay, Dir. of Religious Education

 

 

 

From Your Prez ~

 

            As incoming President I thought it might be a good idea to tell you a little about your Board of Trustees and how it works.  The Board consists of an Executive Committee (President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer) and three Trustees.  The minister is an ex officio member of both the Board and the Executive Committee.

 

            The congregation elects new members to the Board at the Annual meeting.  This year I was elected to be president, Eric Hoffman was elected to be Vice President, Barbara Avery will be our Secretary and Marcia VanderMast will serve as our new Trustee.  They will join Gary Walker, our Treasurer, and Stew Weldon and Mary Tierney, current Trustees.

 

            The Board meets once a month.  Next year those meetings will take place on the second Wednesday of the month from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. .  Before the meetings the members review the minutes from the last meeting, the notes from the Committee Chairs’ meeting, the financial report and the minister’s report.  These reports are “accepted” at the beginning of each meeting.  Any concerns are noted and dealt with at that time. 

 

            About a week before the meeting, the president meets with the minister to talk about topics for the meeting and to set the agenda.  The agenda is also sent out ahead so members can read it and suggest additions to it.  We have been using a “timed agenda” to help keep the meetings down to two hours and this has worked well.

 

            If you have ideas or concerns you are welcome to meet with the Board.  This past year we had conversations with members from Religious Education, Landscaping, Public Relations and the Nominating Committee.  Give me a call if you have an issue that you would like to present to the Board.

 

            I am looking forward to my new role in the Fellowship and to working with our old and new Board members as we continue to serve you.

 

            Cindy Spring

 

 

 

Green Sanctuary                                    

 

            Just a few notes as summer reminders:

 

Composter  

            What is composting?  Composting is the natural process of decomposition and recycling of organic material into humus rich soil amendment known as compost.

            Why not just send this stuff to the dump for land fill?  In a landfill, organic matter reacts with other materials and creates toxic leachate that may contaminate nearby streams and groundwater.  Organic mater placed in airtight landfills stops the earth’s natural cycle of decomposition.

            Our SKUUF composters need more than coffee grounds to perk.  Good compost requires a balance of wet, green materials (grass clippings, food scraps (no meat, fish, etc), and dry, brown materials (dry leaves and woody materials).  This mix of materials generates high temperatures that simmer thus creating compost.  Please feel free to bring in kitchen waste from home and particularly any green waste (grass?).  The greater the variety the richer the compost. 

 

Local Foods Plymouth  

            Local Foods Plymouth (LFP) is beginning its second season.  This program allows local food buyers to combine purchases of produce, eggs, meats, baked goods, flowers, and more from many local farms on one website:  lfp.dacres.org .  Online ordering takes place from Monday afternoon through Tuesday night; orders are purchased with a credit card or PayPal account.  Prepaid orders are then picked up at the Plymouth Farmers’ Market on Highland Street  on Thursday afternoons from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.   This year the Market runs from June 21 to September 27.

            Please contact LFP Technical Coordinator Melissa Greenawalt-Yelle at lfp@together.net to be added to the LFP email list and to receive weekly reminders and regular updates about Local Foods Plymouth.  In addition to adding your name to the e-mail list, LFP Buyers must register on-line at the Local Foods Plymouth website prior to placing an order.  There is no charge to sign up.  To read more about Local Foods Plymouth, download the LFP brochure located in the lower right hand corner at the Plymouth Area Renewable Energy Initiative's website: www.plymouthenergy.org.  

 

            Betty Ann Trought

 

 

SKUUF Finances Snapshot

                                                       as of June 13, 2007

Fiscal Year to Date:

            Income                         $ 129,304.59

            Expenses          $ 116,416.20

 

Important Balances

            Operating Funds                       $   15,500.70

            Building Funds*                        $ 122,003.96

            Endowment Funds*      $   10,623.60

 

Remaining Principle on Meetinghouse    $48,416.41

 

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 myself.

 

*These funds represent multiple accounts grouped together.

 

Respectfully submitted

Mark Becker

 

 

Fall 2007 Walking Program

 

            For several years the Congregational Church together with Plymouth State University has sponsored a walking program.  This year SKUUF has been invited to join.  The fall 2007 program will run eight weeks, beginning the first Sunday after Labor Day and ending with the CROP walk and a breakfast for all participants the second or third Sunday of November.

            Every year the program has a theme; this year’s theme will be “Women Explorers and Hikers.”  Each week we will celebrate lives and accomplishments of different women. There will be at least two public lectures on some of the women being celebrated.

 

            The purposes:

1.      Encourage all participants to exercise regularly

2.      Support Church World Service – All registration fees will be donated to CWS to combat world hunger

3.      Facilitate community spirit between campus, community and church

 

            There will be two divisions, a competitive and a non-competitive one.  People mostly walk on their own or with friends and keep track of steps taken or times exercised and report weekly by e-mail to a record keeper.  There will be group walks organized on weekends and possibly daily walks at noontime.

            More information will be forthcoming later.  If you have always wanted to start a low-key, fun exercise program, this is for you.

 

            Gigi Estes

 

 

Seventh Principle Suggestions

 

            As we move into our short New Hampshire summer we have the opportunity to enjoy the bounty of the earth. 

            Gas prices continue to rise making distance driving more expensive not only for us personally, but for food commodities traveling long distances.  Local Farmers are working hard to provide local produce and hopefully many of you have already begun to enjoy some productivity from your own gardens.  To reduce your carbon imprint give some thought to decreasing your driving and reducing the demand for food that is transported long distance. 

            This is the time of year when we have the opportunity to enjoy many local seasonal fruits and vegetables.  If you can’t eat all you produce or buy, it is also the time to think about freezing, drying and canning for the winter.  This may save you time and money next winter. 

            Eating local helps improve health, supports local farmers, keeps money circulating at the local level and contributes to decreasing the carbon burden in the earth’s atmosphere.  Your local Extension Office has information on how to safely preserve the summer harvest for winter consumption.

 

            Betty Ann Trought

 

 

 

 

Words from Walter Faithorn

 

The Unitarian Cat

            In a parking lot near his college dormitory, my son, Charlie, off and on for many more than several nights, was approached by a little gray cat declaring herself in a most plaintive voice to be utterly homeless.  Charlie, unable to keep detached and unmoved by all this, picked her up, and because his college was no more than an hour or so drive away, he brought her home to his mom and pop in Evanston , Illinois .  And in the silent wee hours of her first night at our house this little lady cat scratched and desecrated about one square foot of brand new, green grassy-like, fabric wall paper in our front hall.

            Charlie’s mother, Valentine, although truly kind, was quite selective when it came to quadrupeds: she reacted quickly and firmly: ....... “That cat must find a different home!.....…”

            “Well,.......,” , I thought, “how about a home in an office in a big city factory?” And that’s where I took her.  That decision led to another—her name; suddenly it flashed clearly and decisively: Morgan le Fay.

            My office was one of three spacious and comfortable ones with secretarial, accounting, and clerical rooms all connecting (some by a flight of stairs) and including a customer reception and waiting room.  This layout was housed in a fifty by fifty foot square, stumpy, tower that emerged through the roof and stood four stories higher than the seven stories of a huge manufacturing plant standing on six square city  blocks of west Diversey Parkway , Chicago .  It was the home of the Stewart Warner Corporation, a massive facility with an annual production of hundreds of thousands of machined metal parts and pieces, tens of thousands of automotive,
aircraft, and industrial parts assembled on the premises into mechanical, electrical, and electronic devices, instruments, mechanisms and machines of every description –– year after year avalanches of fabricated metal and assemblies from that massive structure –– a ramparted, industrial-Gothic-styled fortress with castellated parapets completely encircling the roof, and all fully machicolated to facilitate the pouring of boiling oil and molten lead down on the heads of any advancing enemy.

            Herein, I believed, our little gray kitty would be safe and secure.

            And within the walls of this citadel were employed sometimes more than eight thousand men and women as factory hands and more than three to four hundred more in white collar jobs, brothers and sisters of every race, color, creed. and national origin –– all citizens in and of that wonderful, Midwestern, heartland-of-America, the cosmopolis of Chicago .

            I should, of course, avoid treading in classified areas, but I can’t resist whispering to you (George B. would say “leaking” to you) that while in the factory, democrats were the overwhelming majority, there were even a few of such radicals among our white collar ranks –– although we endeavored to keep that sort of intelligence pretty much under wraps.

            I started working in that redoubt as a factory hand in 1939, a deep depression year in which for several months I had been fruitlessly seeking employment.  For the next two years in the factory I worked and operated a number of different jobs, different machines, cleanup, re-machining faulty pieces, inspecting and measuring thousands of other parts –– a whole variety of oily, greasy, excruciatingly boring, 20th century mass production tasks of the kind that Charlie Chaplin so brilliantly depicted in his magnificent, satirical, spell-binding, heart-moving film, Modern Times.

            All that was before my navy life in WW II, and although I rejoined Stewart Warner in 1946, I didn’t get back to Chicago until 1966, moving into the newly created International Division.  It was into that milieu that Morgan entered her new home.  She took to it immediately; she apparently loved the manufacturing business, particularly the overseas aspects of it. The girls in the office gave her wonderful care and asked me to promise not ever to take her away.  I brought in a boxy little house I had once built for a puppy; at first Morgan ignored it, but after Violet put a nice cushion in it, and Pete, an old factory friend, attached a little scratching post near its front door, she moved in and, according to Jake, one of the indoor patrolling security men who fell for her, she used it especially fondly during the long, lonely weekends.

            She was silent and unobtrusive, and strangers to the office were often unaware of her existence, but when a group gathered at the big conference table it was not unusual for someone in the meeting to suddenly start, lurch, stare, grope, and find a pretty little cat in his lap.  It was always good for a great laugh and often guaranteed success for the meeting.

            This is how Frank K_______ met her. Frank, a Japanese business man and one our best overseas customers was with us on one of his semiannual U.S. visits.  Morgan really startled him by jumping in his lap, but they both fell for each other, and ever after their reunions and communions were endlessly affectionate.

            Frank’s father, who, before the war, had been an export customer of our grease guns, pumps, and lubricating devices (it’s a miracle both he and Frank survived the war; their factory and home was completely destroyed) sent Frank to the USA to learn English and to go to college.  It was a monumental challenge and a huge effort  for a young high school boy, but he succeeded with honors and graduated from Marquette University , Milwaukee , Wisconsin .  Not surprisingly, while there, he was converted to the Roman Catholic Faith.  No one at S-W knew anything about this until one day Frank walked in representing his father’s reconstructed business.

            His meeting Morgan was long after he and I had become really close.  He had taken me all over Japan on the most interesting and informative trips that anyone could have had. Places of indescribable beauty and touchingly friendly welcomes, and only twenty years after the war!  It was very moving.

            Anyway, one day he said to me,  “I don’t know if it’s because I am a Roman Catholic, or if there is some other explanation, but I’m pretty good at guessing what other peoples’ faiths and beriefs are.  And I think Morgan, like you, is a Unitalian.” (He meant, of course, to say ‘beliefs’ and ‘Unitarian,’  but like so many native Asians, he occasionally found it difficult to differentiate between the sounds of “l” and “r.”  Rather rare in Frank’s case, and when he did it, it genuinely amused him –– as much, in fact, as it did any of his listeners.  My readers, I’m sure, are familiar with this quirk. One traveling in Asian countries even sees this spelled out in written English –– like “raundry” in stead of “laundry.”

            Well, that’s how Morgan got to be identified as a Unitarian Cat.

 

 

Activities Committee

 

Kayak and Canoe Trip

Saturday, July 14

           

            We will all meet at SKUFF at 9:00 a.m. and leave for Robin’s Nest on Route 3 to drop off our canoes and kayaks.  Someone will stay with the kayaks etc. and we will drive our cars down to CAMPTON SAND and GRAVEL and leave cars there because that is where we will get off the Pemi.  At the end of the trip down the Pemi, someone will have to take drivers back to their cars at Robin’s Nest.  We should be back at Campton Sand and Gravel between 2 an 3 p.m. .

            If anyone wants to rent kayaks etc., make arrangements at Ski Fanatics ahead of time.  They are located at exit 28, first right after you turn right at the exit, in the shopping area.  They will take people up to Robin’s Nest along with the kayaks etc.  Cars are left at Ski Fanatics.  They will pick up at Campton Sand and Gravel and return people to their cars.  Ski Fanatics Phone number is 7264327.

            Be sure to bring life jackets, sun screen, bug spray, lunch etc. in a sealed bag just in case it lands in the water.

            Any Questions Call Adrina Cassel 786 9013 or Bill Trought 786 9342 .

 

            Adrina Cassel

 

 

Newsletter Deadline

 

            September Newsletter deadline is Friday, August 17, 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@adelphia.net

Phone  - 745-8845

 

 

  

 

 

News Notes - Summer 2007

 

            These notes are written in the second week of June so read accordingly.

 

            Congratulations to our graduates!

 

            Jane Clay graduated from PSU with a B. S.  Her son, Scott Clay, graduated from Plymouth Regional High School and will enter the University of Connecticut in the fall.

           

            William Hopkins, the first baby born in SKUUF, was a magna cum laude graduate of PSU .  He has served in Iraq with the National Guard, has taught skiing in Waterville Valley and has begun graduate studies.  What joy to have his mother, Rachel Hopkins Moore, her husband and William’s grandmother, Jeanne Pomeroy attend the SKUUF service the day after graduation.

            William has offered to work with our youth program next year.  What a gift!

 

            Mimi Ford is busy as usual, in addition to all her SKUUF work and Whole Village involvement plus Pemi Choral Society, keeping up with her family.  Her granddaughter, Julia Ford, a champion skier and as of next year president of the Senior class at Holderness School , was a speaker at this year’s graduation.

            Mimi’s daughter, KC, will be married on June 16 to Mathew Russ at Cape Rosier , Maine .  Joy and Best Wishes.  KC’s daughter, Molly, graduated from Waterville , Maine High School and will enter Boston University in the fall.

 

            Bob Pothier recently hosted a family reunion at his home.  Twenty-six family members attended, some of whom had not seen each other for many years.  Marcia VanderMast prepared Rappie Pie, the special Nova Scotia meal with potatoes and chicken, which was enjoyed by all.  Alex and Rodger Ellsworth played a short musical program.

 

            The recital by Alex Ellsworth, joined by three friends and his father, Rodger, at SKUUF was an evening not to have missed!  To be in the presence of young people so talented and so dedicated was a joy and a privilege.  Thank you all.

 

            We were delighted to have Pris Weston and Cris Criswell with us recently .  Pris is now living in California to be near her children.

 

            I have spoken to Suzanne and David Appleton.  David is at home and feeling better and better.  Continue healing and we hope to see you at SKUUF soon.

 

            Once again, Gigi Estes completed the Mount Washington road race, her fifth time!  She placed second in her age group.  The weather was warm and sunny, rather atypical for Mount Washington .  Five family members also did the race and others joined in the celebrations at the Eagle Mountain House in Jackson .  A good time was had by all.

 

            The trip to Nicaragua was a wonderful and, for me, a life changing experience.  A great group of six from here plus my son, Jim, made it pleasant despite 100+ degrees which did wear me down.

            Time spent with the cheerful, loving women and children and seeing their talents and eagerness to learn, their sense of humor were a joy indeed.

 

            I’m off to a wedding and fun with lots of family.

 

            Happy summer to all

            Walt

___________________

 

 

            Barrie Sawyer, a recent Sunday attendee and UU relocated to Groton , invites SKUUF stargazers to his Bailey Hill home July 12 to 16 and August 8 to 13.  He will be setting up telescopes on those dates, the latter of which include the Perseid meteor shower peak times.  Contact him at 786-9032 or barrie_sawyer@yahoo.com for more information.