The Flaming Chalice

Tues	Feb 2	11:00 AM	Break Bread Together Meal Delivery
Tues	Feb 2	7:00 PM	Women’s Group at the church
Sat	Feb 6	7:00 PM	Games Night!
Sun	Feb 7	9:30 AM 10:45 AM	R.E. - Youth Service - Jack Ford, "Journey Toward Wholeness: Whitney M. Young Urban Ministry Sunday"
Sun	Feb 14	9:30 AM 10:45 AM	Youth R.E., Adult Forum Service - Heart to Heart (Service Leader, Charles Judah)
Tues	Feb 16	7:00 PM	Women’s Group at the church
Sun	Feb 21	9:30 AM 10:45 AM	Youth R.E., Adult Forum Service - Jack Ford "Counting On Our Faith: Money and Its Relationship to the Spiritual Life of Our Church."
Sun	Feb 28	9:30 AM 10:45 AM	Youth R.E., Adult Forum Service - Louis Schmier, Passover (Service Leader, Betty Derrick)

Let us break the silence.

Let us speak out -- for justice.
Let us spread the good news of our faith.
Let us reach out for each other.
Let us live out our Unitarian Universalist values in a community where all are welcomed, and all are treasured -- in wholeness, in holiness, and in love.

The Membership Committee thanks all who participated, helped with, joined, and brought snacks for the "UU and U" session held Sunday afternoon, Jan. 24. In true UU fashion, great discussion, good questions, companionship, filled the allotted time (and then some!) Let us know - did you enjoy this? Was it helpful, should we do it again? For our new members (and others who wish to participate), look for a member ingathering ceremony as a part of the service on Sunday, Feb. 14.

The Adult Forum discussion and meditation groups have begun to meet under the leadership of Wendy Sue Lamb and Bill Hayes. On the 1^st and 3^rd Sunday of each month, Wendy will lead (with input and suggestions from others) an Adult Forum discussion group. On the 2^nd and 4^th Sundays, Bill will lead discussion and practice of various meditation procedures used in different religious traditions. Any 5^th Sundays are open, and the group will decide on an activity for that extra Sunday in a month. Both groups are ‘drop-in’ and flexible - there is no need to commit to an extended participation.

Both will meet at 9:30 a.m., before the service. For more information, please contact Wendy Sue Lamb or Bill Hayes by phone or e-mail Wendy (wslamb@valdosta.edu) or Bill (bhayes@valdosta.edu).

Women’s Group meets the 1^stand 3^rd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Articles/books/project suggestions are welcomed - please bring them with you!

We gather for good food and company and sharing, in the presence of women, various activities. Join us, Feb 2 and Feb 16, 7 p.m.

If you can deliver meals the 1^st and 5^th Tuesdays of each month beginning about 11:00 a.m., please contact Carol Stiles. Meal delivery only takes about an hour of your time.

Sat., Feb. 6, 7:00 p.m. Bring a snack if you wish, and your favorite game, and join us for an evening of fun! Call René or Julie for more information.

Everyone is invited to participate in a book discussion and potluck at René’s house, Friday, Mar. 12, 1999, at 7:00 p.m. The book is titled Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom, and was suggested by Charles Judah (as well as the Rev. Mary Higgins, Florida District, Executive Director, among others!). As a bestseller, it is available at Books-A-Million for 40% off. Please bring a dish to share, and a beverage! It is NOT necessary to have read the book to participate!! All are welcome....

Thank you, thank you parents that helped pull together the Chalice Light dinner and program, and Youth, I heard that you put on a first rate program!! I also hear that the church members really appreciated it. Thank you also parents for helping teach sunday school while I was away.

The elementry RE students have started a new curriculum called Travel in Time this January. Students learn about UU principles by traveling differnt places both in the present and in the past and even possibly in the future to discover how UU 7 principles have been applied to bring about possitive change. So if you see a big travel space box around the church you will know what it is being used for. Why not ask the students where they traveled that day.

The Youth group have started a new curriculum also. Doug and Molly are getting the youth to listen to music and discover UU principles in the lyrics. Maybe they even will compose a song for the congregation!! Why don't you ask?

We will be doing some planning for a community project this spring. I would appreciate any ideas. Thanks! Janet

Join Chalice Lighters and lend a helping hand to new and growing UU Congregations in the Florida District. Chalice Lighters is a program run by the Florida District, UU Association which allows member churches to apply for funds to establish various programs and carry out projects. By joining Chalice Lighters and donating $10 up to a maximum of three "calls" for donations per year, we can have the satisfaction of helping other churches. Support this program, join Chalice Lighters! (This is a program that helped us finish the church-in-the-woods; please continue to support it. Ask Jack for more information).

I can identify that flower! It is Arisaema triphyllum, an herb also called "Indian Turnip." It is a member of the Arum family, which includes philodendron, calla lily, and the water lettuce; all of them growing in our backyard. My distinctive "namesake" is wild and thrives in tropical areas (just like me), especially damp woods and swamps. This specimen of flora is reported to flower most throughout the spring time. It is known to us as Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

I am reminded of a beautiful Japanese Magnolia in our front yard. It does not behave according to the rules, which say that it will lose its leaves in autumn and then fill its naked branches with blooms. Our bush wants to flower spring AND fall, before, during and after dropping foliage.

Life is wonderfully exuberant. Even the lowly abundance of flowers declare their uniqueness. Like ourselves, they are dependent on environment, heredity, geography. Yet -- like them -- we express our beauty and our gifts as only we can do. Thoreau said every person is the builder of a temple, called the body, to the god they worship, after a style purely their own. So be a poet, a painter, a sculptor, an artist of your soul.

We congratulate Rev. Yvonne Miller, and our neighbors to the north in Macon, GA, on the installation of Rev. Miller as the settled minister at High Street UU Church in Macon. Rev. Miller’s installation ceremony was held Jan. 24, 1999.

Check the bulletin boards in the church and R.E. building for information on the following events:

The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, an independent affiliate of the Unitarian Universalist Association, near Highlands, NC, (about two hours from Atlanta).

VSU’s Annual Connell Lecture: For those of you particularly interested in environmental and world social issues, the 17^th annual Connell Lecture will present Joe Kane, an award-winning journalist, who has written two best-sellers, Savages and Running the Amazon. His illustrated lecture is titled "Who are the Savages?" in which he will talk about the Huaorani people of the Ecuadorian Amazon and their fight against petroleum companies extracting oil in their territory. The lecture will be held Tuesday, Feb. 16, 1999, 7:30 p.m. in the Magnolia Room, University Center, on the VSU Campus. The lecture is sponsored by the Connell Lecture Program, VSU Dept. of Biology, the Withlacoochee Watchers, and, this year, a number of other VSU departments.

Available at the church for distribution: Timeless Voices, Middle and South Georgia’s Official Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered and Friends (LGBTF) Newspaper published in Macon, GA. This resource contains helpful information for all people (including info on national and state hate crime laws.)

Feb. 26-28, 1999. The keynote speaker is Donna Woolfolk Cross, Sat. Feb. 27, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. (open to the public, $5.00). Ms. Cross will speak on "Pope Joan: An Inspirational Story of Female Empowerment Through Education." Cross is the author of a book on Pope Joan, the only woman ever to sit on the papal throne. (Apparently this book will be in a film version in the future!)

Other workshops going on during the conference will explore themes of women and power, writing your life history, and health empowerment as well as offer opportunities for dance, movement, and drumming around a sacred fire. Registration for full conference is $70 before Feb. 12, $45 for Saturday only. Contact Carol for a registration form or more info.

Deadline for articles for The Flaming Chalice is the 15^th of each month. Contact Carol Stiles

UU’s are being asked to participate in the historic process of bringing this first-ever UUA Statement of Conscience to General Assembly 1999! The UUA Commission on Social Witness is accepting comments. The following is excerpted (incompletely!) from the UUA website.

"The Unitarian Universalist Association, meeting in General Assembly, calls upon individual Unitarian Universalists and our member congregations to commit to the challenge of building religious tolerance through interfaith cooperation by:

As the twenty-first century approaches, the Unitarian Universalist Association, gathered in General Assembly, hereby rededicates itself to the challenge of building religious tolerance through interfaith cooperation. May our commitment to building a more tolerant world begin with ourselves as we work with others to make the world awaited, a world attained."

The full text of this statement of conscience will be posted on the bulletin board in the RE building, or copies may be obtained from Charles Judah or Carol Stiles, or on the UUA website: