UUCGT  Flash 
    July 7, 2016
Vol. 10, Issue 437
 
In This Issue
Reflection
Sunday Service
Children and Youth
What's Going on at UUCGT?
We Are Listening...
FYI
End Note
Congregational Vision
UU Logo
We are a Congregation creating a better world by nurturing the heart and expanding the mind.
We provide a safe, caring community where all can freely explore diverse religious thought. We work for justice and equality with the power of compassion and compassionate power.
UUCGT Quicklinks
   
Find us on Facebook
_______________________

 
____________________

UUCGT Beacon

If you are not receiving our monthly newsletter, the Beacon, and would like to, please contact the office .
____________________

Reflection:  
May We Be Filled with Loving Kindness

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."  - Plato

Friends, coming back from the General Assembly I am fired up!  Excited to help make our congregation into a beacon of hope, care and kindness for a broader world in such need.  You will be seeing some important movement in our congregation this year:

** This Sunday, a service of meditation and chant that will calm the heart and soul!

** Our new design for the themes of Sunday Services was presented to the Sunday Services Committee yesterday - a year of really diving deeply into our UU sources.  We'll be sharing more details after we have had a chance to digest and discuss.

** A renewed sense of larger community will be vital to our growth.  Here's what UUA President, Rev. Peter Morales, said to us at GA:  "Inward looking congregations tend to decline.  Congregations that look beyond their walls and their immediate members tend to grow.  They grow because they feed a deep need human Spirit.  We are relational creatures.  We must be relentlessly useful.   Congregations that see themselves as a tight-knit family do not succeed, but those who see themselves as a beacon in a broader community do."

** Beginning this Fall, our 9:00 AM program will be a powerful chance to explore how we live in community through the lens of our member-created covenant.  This will be open to the community and will be a POWERFUL reflection and learning.

** Sarah and I are scheduling a conversation on August 5 (6:00 PM at @ Brew) with Millennials to talk about meaning in their lives and how we can help them create meaningful community:   The Rise of the "Nones"  -
GenX Millennials - A Conversation About Meaning and Whether Congregational Life Can Add Anything to Yours

** Our little Spiritual Book Club will be reading The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness by Rami Shapiro for our July 19 gathering.  And, o n August 23, we will be discussing Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg.

And so so much more.  We are open and we are willing!

In blessing - 
Rabbi Chava 

Sunday Service 
Sunday, July 10
10:30 a.m. Service:  "Enter, Come In and Rejoice - a Chant and Meditation Service"
According to Ancient Huna, the theory of chanting says that the sounds being chanted, the tonal patterns and the frequency of the vibration of the sounds, invoke in the neurology of the listener and also the chanter, the deepest spiritual essence of what is being spoken of in the chant.  Join us for an hour of true heart-centered calm, joy and peace this Sunday morning!

This Sunday for Children and Youth
10:30 a.m.

SPECIALTY CLASS SUMMER FORMAT

Children (preK-5th grade) and Youth (6th-12th grade, 12-18yrs) are invited to join their families in the service through the Story Wisdom.  Following Story Wisdom, Children (preK-5th grade) will follow their teachers to the large classroom space.  Youth (6th-12th grade, 12-18yrs) will REMAIN IN THE SERVICE.  Following the service, parents of Children (preK-5th grade) should make their way to the classroom/program wing of the building to sign their child(ren) out of programming.
  
This Month for Children...   In July we continue our annual Specialty Class Summer!  Throughout the summer the children will take part in a delightful array of activities.  This month features an Independence Day celebration (complete with ice cream sundaes), Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses, Super Hero Sunday, Movie Magic Sunday and more!

This Month for Youth...  This month, and for the remainder of the summer, our youth will join the adults in the sanctuary for the duration of the service. Please contact Sarah in advance to make arrangements if this is problematic for your family.  This provides youth with the much needed opportunity to learn to be in community with the adults of the congregation, and to learn more about UU Sunday services.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday Night Out is July 8, 5:30 - 9:00pm

What's Going On At UUCGT?
   
FLASH   CALENDAR
Link to the UUCGT WEBSITE CALENDAR HERE  
Weekly activities are listed in the Order of Service & the Beacon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday Night Summer Potluck:  July 13, 5:30pm at the home of Mike and Sandra McDonald.  Please BYOB and place settings.  Please join us for a lovely summer meal with UU fellowship and sharing!  Contact Mike or Sandra with questions and/or directions.

What's Love Got to Do with It? The Challenge of Human Relationships
A presentation by Anthony Wilgus, MSW, Social Work Faculty Emeritus at the University of Findlay, Board Member of Healthy Congregations
WHEN:  Monday, July 24 and Tuesday, July 25 from 9:00-12:00 noon.  
$60 both days/$40 one day.  Please find more information HERE.

We Are Listening.....

It's no secret that we've recently been through some rough waters in this congregation.  As we emerge from this turbulence, we seek healthy reconciliation of those issues/concerns that have contributed to our disturbance.  This begins with insuring that every voice will be heard so that we might move forward fully informed and able to minimize or avoid such a recurrence in the future.

Toward that end, 3 listeners have been designated to hear any person who wishes to participate in our learning and growing by talking about your personal experience during our troubled time.  All input is confidential and the anonymous data will be compiled and presented to the Board for consideration of how best to heal from the past and move into a healthy future.  

If you would like to help with this healing please contact your choice of the listeners listed below to establish a meeting(s) so that YOUR voice can be heard:

Joan Sheard:   joansheard@aol.com 
Jane Watts:    jswatts10@gmail.com 
Linda Fletcher:  linlfletch@gmail.com

Your voice is important.  Please don't let your ideas and feelings go unrecognized.
 
For more information on this initiative and the Healthy Reconciliations Task Force, please see the article in the July 2016 issue of The Beacon.

F Y I

 Please Note Date Correction:   Leelanau County UUCGT Friends &
Members Gathering at the home of Karl and  Rabbi Chava Bahle is Saturday, July 23, 7:00 to 9:00 PM.   RSVP to the office (231)947-3117. 

If you would like a copy of "Additional Suggestions for Finding Calm in the Political Storm" by Dr. Ann Marie Love, p lease click  HERE  to print, review and share widely.  Extra copies are also available at the Welcome Table.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Local Community Needs
request form is HERE

End note...



In summer, the song sings itself.
- William Carlos Williams


 phone: l(231) 947-3117       website:   www.uucgt.org         email:   office@uucgt.org

  

Office hours:  Monday by appointment

 Tuesday - Thursday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

  

FLASH articles are due by noon on Wednesday each week