What's going on ....

Sun	Sept. 28	10:45 AM	Service - Melanie Byrd, Napoleon: His Interests, and Attitudes Toward Religion
Sat	Oct. 4	7:00 PM	Games Night
Sun	Oct. 5	9:30 AM  10:45 AM  12:30 PM	R.E. - Adult and Youth  Service - Jack Ford, The Seven Story Mountain: A Portrait of Thomas Merton  October Board Meeting
Tues	Oct. 7	11:00 AM	Break Bread meal delivery
Tues	Oct. 7	7:00 PM	Women's Group at the church
Sun	Oct. 12	9:30 AM  10:45 AM	R.E. - Adult and Youth  Service - John Dunn, Uzbekistan - Religion and Cultures
Sat	Oct. 18	4:00? PM	Cook-out/picnic at the church
Sun	Oct. 19	9:30 AM  10:45 AM	R.E. - Adult and Youth  Service - Jack Ford, Singing the Living Tradition: Hymns for Celebration and Worship
Tues	Oct. 21	7:00 PM	Women's Group at the church
Sun	Oct. 26	9:30 AM  10:45 AM	R.E. - Adult and Youth  Service - Mouyyed Hassouna, Jerusalem from a Muslim Perspective
Fri	Oct. 31	6:30 p.m.	Halloween party! At the church....

Dedication Service - A Huge Success!!

We did it!! Nearly 140 people attended the dedication service September 21 for our new facility in-the-woods! Along with Jack Ford (in a robe, no less!), featured speakers included Mary Louise DeWolf-Hurt and Bud Evans, founders of the Unitarian Fellowship of Valdosta, along with charter member Jim Ingram, and long-time members Martha Horowitz and Betty Derrick, who spoke on "Remembering the Past." The Rev. Mary Higgins passed on the flame while speaking of "Empowering the Future." Rev. Higgins also brought us surprises, including a $1000 check from the Chalice Lighters program. There really was music in abundance with Michele Ingram Mobley and Fleming Slone, soloists, as well as the voices of the Okay Chorale with pianist Helen Faub from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee - filling the sanctuary with notes of celebration! Dee Tait, president, provided the welcome, Jason Halter lit our chalice for the celebration, and special guest Rev. Harold Hawkins gave the benediction. Chuck Cape, past-president, made a special presentation to Jim Ingram, for guiding us to the realization of this terrific new facility!

Lunch was served afterwards (special thanks to Danny and Lucy Montgomery!), with games and fellowship. A time capsule with photographs, a program, and so on, was prepared and sealed to be placed in the wall of the church. All in all, a great day!

Our dedication service met and exceeded all my expectations! It was a wonderful day for me, filled with friends and hopes and celebration of our lives together. Thank you every one for your support and energy which makes our church a beacon of hope and love in the community. May we continue "passing on the flame."

Preparing for this sixth year as your minister reminds me of my childhood days in school. Summer comes and I look forward to some time off. Then it swiftly passes, leaving me with lots of good time memories as well as plans and projects which I never had time to complete. Now as Summer is replaced by Autumn, I am anxious to return to "school" in Valdosta, and see all my best friends again. Returning brings a sense of wholeness to my life: it defines my higher nature, just as meditation completes the circle of a day.

Do you ever sense this need to return, to complete a circle? Perhaps to stop, for just a moment, and catch up to what is real and is important and what feeds our soul. Religion does not do that for me; relationship does. Relationship with best of friends and loved ones. Relationship with that "transcending mystery and wonder." Relationship with nature's heartbeat. William Wordsworth caught the spirit of returning in his poem, which follows:

The World is Too Much With Us

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

and are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not. -- Great God! I'd rather be

A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Games night will be held the first Saturday of each month. Come to the church on Saturday, October 4 for Games Night! Bring a game, a snack to share, and a dollar donation. The games begin at 7:00 p.m. and will continue until…. Call Ren Kerr or Julie Halter for more information.

Women's Group - New night!

New night for Women's Group!! We have decided to move Women's Group to Tuesday nights, the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesday of each month, so that more people can join us this fall. We will meet at the church on October 7, at 7:00 p.m. Bring a snack to share, if you wish, but mostly bring your ideas to this meeting! Books to discuss, projects, anything you would like to consider as an activity for the women's group!!

We "dedicated" our beautiful new building last Sunday. What an exciting day it was with nearly 140 people at the ceremony! What teamwork and how smoothly the events of the day progressed!

Now that the ceremony is over, what do you think we dedicated the building "for" and "to"?

I am asking that each of us give that question some thought and bring your ideas and suggestions to the board meeting after the church service on October 5. If you can't attend the board meeting, make sure you pass your thoughts on to a board member or another person attending the meeting.

Some "for-instances" are:

• Would you like to start a choir?
• Next fund-raiser? And when? (I am hearing "another coffee house")
• What community efforts should we continue to pursue or start pursuing?
• What additional activities or groups would you like to see our new building used for?
• What would you like to see our Chalice Lighter money used for?
• Would you be interested in a copy of the video of the church dedication for $10?

The UU Church of Valdosta has been invited by the District UUA to host the Super Saturday Seminar on Feb. 28, 1998. The District has sent us details on what our responsibilities would be. I will bring the material with me to the Oct. 5 board meeting.

Danny and Lucy, thank you for all the food! You do it too well. That could get you into trouble, you know! And my appreciation to everyone for such a lovely and successful occasion. -- Dee Tait, President

On Sunday, October 5, a board meeting will be held after the church service, with potluck lunch (please bring a dish to share). As always, the board meetings are open to the public and all friends and members are encouraged to attend. Some of the items to be discussed are described in Dee Tait's column in this issue.

Special Announcement - Chalice Lighters!

The Rev. Mary Higgins brought news to the dedication service that we had the most participation in the May-June Chalice Lighters Challenge fundraising drive for Community UU Church of Volusia County, and presented a check for $1000 during the service. She also announced that our church would be the beneficiary of the next Chalice Lighters fundraising drive!! Thanks to all who participated for making this possible.... If you have not signed up for this program, see Dee Tait. By joining Chalice Lighters and donating $10 up to a maximum of three "calls" for donations per year, we can help other churches - as well as show our appreciation for this program, which has already helped our own fellowship here in Valdosta!!

How about a cook-out/picnic on Saturday, October 18, a weekend Jack Ford will be here for the church service? If the weather is nice we can gather for outdoor games around 4:00, eat at 5:00 or 6:00? Call Dee Tait or Jack Ford for more information.

Please bring non-perishable food items to the church and they will be delivered to the Lowndes Associated Ministries to the People program. Our normal month for this program is April, but additional donations are needed now!

Now that the church dedication has come and gone, the fall R.E. program is up and running! All R.E. classes meet at 9:30 a.m., Sundays, before the 10:45 a.m. service. The classes will be as follows:

Class 1 - primary elementary through 4^th grade

Class 2 - 5^th through 8^th grade

Class 3 - Adult R.E.

The curriculum for Class 1 is We Believe, Learning and Living our UU Principles; for Class 2, we will use Travel in Time. Both curricula are put out by UUA and concentrate on the seven UU principles. The parents decided that they wanted their children to learn about the seven principles before moving on to other UU curriculum offerings.

We already know that We Believe is an excellent program since it has been used over the years at our church. Travel in Time is a new UU curriculum, and it looks to be very informative with lots of activities to reinforce the seven principles. Delane and Albert Slone will be teaching Class 1, with Virginia Branan and Janet Andersen as substitutes. Class 2 will be taught by Julie Halter and Janet Andersen, with Jan Tait as substitute. Class 3 will be led by Jack Ford and Hue Jacobs. For high school students, please see Janet Andersen, and we can individualize a program for you (or for a group if more than one student) with help from the UUA high school resource materials.

Gina, a high school certified children's sitter, will supervise Class 1 during the 10:45 church service with games, crafts and reading. Class 2 will be supervised by an adult from the congregation during the service. He/she will help coordinate games, crafts, discussion for social events and social action activities, nature trail building, sprucing up the outside of the church, possibly planning and building playground equipment - the sky's the limit! Whatever the adult volunteer and the students decide (within reason!)

All students, however, will attend the first 10-15 minutes of the 10:45 service. On Sundays when Jack Ford is here, there will be a short student service during that time.

STUDENTS, COME ONE, COME ALL! We would love to have you join us for exploring the seven UU principles and their importance in our lives, as well as games, activities, and refreshments. See you Sunday, October 5!

-- Janet Andersen, R.E. Director

An article on worship and church attendance appeared in the Valdosta Daily Times, Sept. 24, 1997, reporting the results of a study which found that the leading church-going regions of the U.S. were the South (50% of people interviewed reporting attendance within the last seven days of their interview) and the Midwest (46%) while the Northeast (41%) and West (39%) were the least church-going regions. An attempt to explain the lower turnout for church services in the Northeast was given by Benjamin Hubbard, (chair of the Dept. of Comparative Religion at California State University-Fullerton):

"These old Yankees are the great, great, great grandsons and granddaughters of the Puritans. They were born into a Congregationalist tradition that has become very liberal. It spawned Unitarianism and appears to have led to a kind of general skepticism about religion and its importance. There has been a lot of free-thinking skepticism in New England, always has been, in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau." What do you think? --Ed

P.S. By the way, the explanation for the West was different. Hubbard believes that people in the West do not have the same loyalties to religious institutions, that religion is more "free-wheeling," and that perhaps "with the allure of the beach, some would rather surf than pray on Sunday."

The following items are needed (or wanted) for the church. If you have them to donate, or can help locate the item for donation, your help would be greatly appreciated! Contact Dee Tait or Janet Andersen.

TV/VCR

sofa bed

file cabinets

table and (comfortable) chairs

(for Adult R.E. room)

craft supplies

board games

outdoor sporting equipment

educational books, especially on

science and ecology;

books on games or crafts

UUA President to Visit Jacksonville

John Buehrens, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, will meet with interested members and friends at the Buckman Bridge Unitarian Universalist Society in Jacksonville, October 11, 6:00 p.m. For details, call Jack Ford. They will provide home hospitality, and "admission" will be a covered dish.

UU Activities

Oct. 3 - Installation of Rev. Mary Higgins,

District Executive, Orlando, FL

Oct. 24 - 26 MAUUI - Mountain Autumn

Unitarian Universalist Institute,

The Mountain, Highlands, NC.

Dec. 26 - Jan. 1 - SWIM, Miami, FL

Check the bulletin board in the church for more information and announcements!

The Ministerial Internship committee will meet after the service on October 19.

A Note from the Newsletter Editor

The Flaming Chalice is your newsletter! Please help to fill it by sending articles, notes, news, what-have-you, for future newsletters, to Carol Stiles.

Deadline for November issue: October 24

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Valdosta is committed to building a community of acceptance and love, where all people may strive for intellectual, moral and spiritual enlightenment. We offer a place to celebrate life's passages and to join in social action on behalf of local and global communities.
 
 

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:

• The inherent dignity and worth of every person;
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part;