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November 2002 Newsletter All services begin at 10:15 a.m. There is religious education for children and child care for babies and toddlers.
Being a part of the effort to change the Decatur ordinance that expands
human rights to include discrimination because of someone's sexual orientation
was a sweet victory for all citizens of Decatur. But how does defending
human rights benefit us all? It is In Our Own Best Interest, as the book
title of Dr. William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International
USA, asserts. Here's why, with discussion to follow.
Terry, a UUFD member, recently gave a fine example of the sound of Tibetan
singing bowls during a service on covenant groups. He will give a little
history on how they are made and different techniques of playing.
Is God an evolutionary process? The idea of God is basic to most religious
thought. In previous sermons, I have spoken of God in different ways.
In alignment with theologian Paul Tillich, I have discussed God as our
ultimate concern or the ground of our being. To the Liberation Theologians,
God is that which frees us from bondage. To the Universalists we would
speak of God as Love. Today I will speak of another view of God, that
of the Process Theologians, followers of philosopher Alfred North Whitehead.
Lucy, official of the Community Foundation of Decatur/Macon County, will
be our speaker. Lucy is a longtime member of the Fellowship. The foundation
she directs helps agencies get and increase their endowments. She will
speak about the importance of development donations to groups such as
UUFD. Wednesdays at 1 p.m. -- The Men’s Lunch Group, “We’re Only UU Men”, new Red Lobster. All men are welcome! Nov. 3 -- Orders for the Christmas Wreath and Greenery fund-raiser due.
Contact Marge Evans, 864-2843 or vicepres@uufd.org,
for more information. Human rights expanded in Decatur Thanks in part to the help of UUFD people, the Decatur City Council has
added "sexual orientation" to the categories protected from
discrimination. Among the speakers for the change were our Joan Brown
and David Kirchner. John Biedler is scheduled to be in the office in the Fellowship Hall
each Monday in November from 1 to 4 p.m. One of the projects I am working on for the Fellowship is to create a
Committee on Ministry from among the members and friends of the congregation.
Since I have always viewed the work of ministry within a Unitarian Universalist
congregation to be that of shared responsibility, the input of such a
committee is vital.
Warmly, John Adding a year: These
fine folks celebrate birthdays in November: Smiths on the move: We’re sad to find out that the Smiths are moving out of state! We’ve enjoyed so much having them as part of our church family. They will be greatly missed! The advent of our 50th anniversary gives us the opportunity to look back on what we’ve done. Now, take another second to contemplate “how we do it”. That is, how we keep the programs and services going that we’ve come to love and expect. There’s no magic or mystery to it: UUFD keeps going because people volunteer time and creative energy to their church. The more that people help out, the more gets done. The following list shows who’s on what group. As you can see, there
isn’t anybody on the Membership Committee. Isn’t that sad? People
who shake their heads about how we’re getting smaller could be some
of the same people who could help turn the situation around by taking
charge of the Membership Committee.
UUA President to Speak at UUFD! We’re delighted to say it’s been confirmed that the Rev. William G. Sinkford, president of our national Unitarian Universalist Association, will be in Decatur on May 3!
Delegates at the Cleveland General Assembly in June 2001 elected Sinkford the first African-American president of the UUA. As he promised in Cleveland, he has been an outspoken advocate for social causes, including the protection of civil liberties of the safety of Muslims in America and recently, his contacts with congressmen to express concerns about the United States going to war unilaterally, as well as the UUA's historic commitment to the United Nations and international institutions. Yes, President Sinkford plays on a national stage – but we’ll
have him on May 3. Look forward to much more exciting information about
his visit.
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Rev.
Sinkford’s appearance will be a highlight of our celebrations of
the Golden Anniversary of our Fellowship and the 20th Anniversary of our
wonderful building. Details of the schedule and programs are just beginning
to be put together, but we will both try to give Fellowship members the
chance to meet this nationally known religious leader and invite the community
and nearby UU churches to come visit us.