header
Newsletter - November 25, 2016
Welcome to the Amarillo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship!
Table of Contents
Quick Links
7 UU Principles
Calendar
Rev. Addae's Recommended Books
Social Action Volunteer Opportunities
Sermon Library

Rev. Addae Kraba holds office hours in the Fellowship on Tuesday and Thursday each week from 10 AM to 2 PM, or by appointment if necessary. Home visits are made upon request.

Calendar


Children's Religious Education Update
Our Children's Religious Education program is divided into two groups by age. In CRE, which meets each Sunday at 11 AM, we challenge our children with interactive studies about religion and science.  The nursery group topics change according to individuals who attend and cannot be listed in advance, but they fall under the curriculum Tapestry of Faith.
For the next 2-3 months elementary students will be working from Tapestry of Faith an intergenerational curriculum. All 8 sections are called "Miracles." They will also do special classes for each of the upcoming holidays. Children's RE has its own Facebook page with more specific topics and activities outlined.  See their page at AUUF Children's RE News. .
 
Contact: Lydia Miller, Coordinator of Children's RE

Toolbox Literacy Book Drive
Toolbox Literacy Group will start a new book drive December 1 . This time the books will go to second graders at Wills Elementary. The books will be delivered to Wills on January 23, 2017 .  I know our social actions often seem to ask a lot, so I want to let you know that I'm changing things a little to make things easier for all of us.
  • Any donated books will be picked up by me and taken to Wills elementary rather than left at AUUF. That way, we won't make a mess again.
  • There is already $200.00 earmarked for books from the coffee treats donation box. That means all of you who put a donation in the box on the cookie table have already contributed to the book drive. 
  • I have opened a Go Fund Me account and made it public on Facebook. That means you can share the Go Fund Me post with friends outside the Fellowship and get them to contribute instead of you. This is the Go Fund Me link: Click here to support Toolbox Book Drives for Families.
Contact: Linda Jackson

SnackPac 4 Kids Monetary Donations
Starting November 6 in connection with Children's Religious Education, the Social Action Committee collects a once-a-month monetary donation for Snack Pak 4 Kids. The children retrieve the donations from individual congregants during the Children's Moment of the 11 AM worship service just as they collected canned goods or school supplies in the past.  After this date, this special monetary collection will be gathered each first Sunday, the potluck Sunday of each month, to help feed hungry children of our surrounding community. Collecting school supplies will continue on Sundays of the month other than the first one.
 
Contact: Yvonne Moore

Just Saying
"The new deed is yet a part of life-remains for a time immersed in our unconscious life. In some contemplative hour it detaches itself from the life, like a ripe fruit, to become a thought of the mind.  Instantly it is raised, transfigured; the corruptible has put on incorruption.  Henceforth it is an object of beauty, however base its origin and neighborhood.  Observe too the impossibility of antedating this act. In its grub state, it cannot fly, it cannot shine, it is a dull grub. But suddenly, without observation, the selfsame thing unfurls beautiful wings, and is an angel of wisdom. So is there no fact, no event, in our private history, which shall not, sooner or later, lose its adhesive, inert form, and astonish us by soaring from our body into the empyrean. . . . If it were only for a vocabulary, the scholar would be covetous of action. Life is our dictionary.  . . . Life lies behind us as the quarry from whence we get tiles and copestones for the masonry of today.  This is the way to learn grammar.  Colleges and books only copy the language which the field and the work yard made. 
 
"But the final value of action, like that of books, and better than books, is that it is a resource.  . . . Character is higher than intellect. Thinking is the function.  Living is the functionary. The stream retreats to its source. A great soul will be strong to live, as well as strong to think."
 --Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The American Scholar" [An oration delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge on August 31,1837.]     
We Are Each Other's Business
"I attended high school in the western suburbs of Chicago. The group I ate lunch with included a Jew, a Mormon, a Hindu, a Catholic, and a Lutheran. We were all devout to a degree, but we almost never talked about religion. Somebody would announce at the table that they couldn't eat a certain kind of food, or any food at all, for a period of time. We all knew religion hovered behind this, but nobody ever offered any explanation deeper than ''my mom said,'' and nobody ever asked for one.

"A few years after we graduated, my Jewish friend from the lunchroom reminded me of an experience we both wish had never happened. A group of thugs in our high school had taken to scrawling anti-Semitic slurs on classroom desks and shouting them in the hallway.

"I did not confront them. I did not comfort my Jewish friend. Instead I averted my eyes from their bigotry, and I avoided my friend because I couldn't stand to face him.

"My friend told me he feared coming to school those days, and he felt abandoned as he watched his close friends do nothing. Hearing him tell me of his suffering and my complicity is the single most humiliating experience of my life.

"My friend needed more than my silent presence at the lunch table. I realize now that to believe in pluralism means I need the courage to act on it. Action is what separates a belief from an opinion. Beliefs are imprinted through actions.

"In the words of the great American poet Gwendolyn Brooks: "We are each other's business; we are each other's harvest; we are each other's magnitude and bond."

"I cannot go back in time and take away the suffering of my Jewish friend, but through action I can prevent it from happening to others."
--Eboo Patel, excerpted from UUA.org
Newsletter and Website Submissions
As always, we are eager to publish information regarding committees, boards, Adult RE, CRE, events, and services, but we need your help. The website and Facebook page can be updated daily, but the newsletter cannot. New information needs to be submitted (submissions@uuamarillo.org) by noon Wednesday if you want it to appear in the Friday morning newsletter. If you need an event placed on the website calendar, you may submit that request with description, image (or we can provide one), starting and approximate ending time, specific location, date (or dates for a recurring event), and name of contact person. Help us help you get your message out in a timely manner.

 

PLEASE, EVERYONE CAN MAKE ALL THESE COMMUNICATIONS MORE EFFECTIVE BY READING THEM EACH WEEK--ESPECIALLY THE WEBSITE AND NEWSLETTER!

In addition to the events described in this newsletter, you can find a complete listing by clicking on the   Calendar icon above.

Want more detail? Check both the News and the Events sections of our website, uuamarillo.org
Also on our website, you can learn more about our Fellowship and our faith, Unitarian Universalism.

All events are held at the Fellowship,
4901 Cornell St. , unless otherwise noted.

If you are unsure how to reach any of the individuals named as contacts, please email the
AUUF office or call our Office Administrator, April Myers, at 806.355.9351 and leave a message. She will return your call during her office hours, which are Tuesday - Friday from 9 AM to noon.

null
Sunday Worship - 9:30 & 11 AM

November 27, 2016
Kayt Peck speaks on Truth in Fiction, dealing with the conviction that storytelling helps people see and understand basic truths more effectively than factual material alone. "Politicians and business people may determine what the world will be like next week or next year, but it is the novelists, film makers, songwriters, poets, and actors who determine what humanity will become for they are the ones who touch and inspire the soul."

December 4, 2016
Rev. Addae speaks on Choosing Transformation. The people who come into our lives help us transform, as we intersect. Refusing to admit change into our lives is a major obstacle to transitions and transformation
December 11, 2016      
Rev. Addae speaks on Do You Find Joy, Do You Bring Joy? In contemporary American life we seem obsessed with happiness, but unlike happiness there is a "something more" quality to Joy.  Let's explore the difference, and answer these questions.  

Upcoming Events:
Adult Religious Education
Please join us at 10 AM each Sunday . All are welcome. No advance reading is necessary and no test will be given.

We have begun a series on Archaeology: An Introduction to the World's Greatest Sites. We have elected to alternate the series with one entitled Emerson, Thoreau, and the Transcendentalist Movement.
 
November 27 Emerson, Thoreau and the Transcendentalist Movement : The Roots of Transcendentalism: Lecture 2
 
December 4 Archaeology : Lesson 4

Contact: John Gay
Nothing Much Buddhist Covenant Group
Monday, November 28, 7:30 PM
Following our meditation practice, we shall watch Oprah Winfrey's interview with Deepak Chopra and discuss the content after the screening. Deepak Chopra is an Indian American author, public speaker, alternative medicine advocate, and a prominent figure in the New Age movement.  
 
Contact: Tony Tackitt    

November Fiction Book Group

Tuesday, November 29, 7:00 PM    
The November selection is Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad. An early favorite for this year's National Book Award, Whitehead's imaginative novel presents a young woman's escape from pre-Civil War slavery as a literal underground train trip from state to state as her experiences reveal the brutal currents of racial injustice that persist up to the current day. Dr. Dick Moseley will facilitate the discussion.

Give #Thanks2UU on November 29
After the busyness and business of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, many will take time to consider how we can give back to our communities on #GivingTuesday . This year, the UUA invites you to share the name of someone in our UU community for whom you are particularly grateful (a minister, teacher, friend, or colleague) using the #Thanks2UU tag on social media. To show appreciation for that special person, please consider making a tribute gift to the UUA in his or her honor. On Tuesday, Nov. 29, check out the #Thanks2UU hashtag on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation, and make your gift by texting "THANKS2UU" to 41444.

Men's Brotherhood 
Wednesday, November 30, 6:30 PM
Men's Brotherhood is looking for a few good men to join the monthly meeting.  This covenant group provides men a private place for discussing feelings, for developing the trust to share without judgment in a confidential and safe environment, for permitting open discussion of concerns and receipt of the collective wisdom of others who have dealt with similar problems, and for finding ways to use new insights to improve one's everyday life.  It is also a group dedicated to serving the needs of the Fellowship and is often called upon to provide help assistance to individuals and groups.  For instance, we moved furniture into Rev. Addae's apartment in preparation for her arrival in Amarillo.  
 
The Brotherhood invites interested men of the Fellowship to attend a special dinner Nov. 30 to hear more about how their covenant to the Men's Brotherhood can enrich their lives and offer them an opportunity for service to Our Beloved Community. 
 
Contact: Rick Todd

Congregational Meeting December 4
Sunday, December 4, Immediately following 11 AM worship 
 at Chandler Hall
At a Congregational Meeting following the 11 AM worship service and before the potluck lunch begins, we shall discuss and vote on some much needed repairs and replacements to our building. All the details are available HERE . We hope all members of our Fellowship who are able will attend this important discussion and vote on these improvements.

AUUF Hosts OAC
Monday, December 5, 7:00-8:30 PM
The focus of this gathering is to create an organization of Open and Affirming Congregations in the Texas Panhandle.  Their proposed pledge tells much of the story:  "As people of faith we celebrate diversity.  As an OPEN and AFFIRMING CONGREGATION of the Texas Panhandle, we pledge to be a safe space where members of the LGBTQIA communities will be welcomed and affirmed, and have all the rights and responsibilities to:
  • Participate fully in all rituals and sacraments including marriages and rites of passage
  • Use all your gifts openly in service
  • Have equal opportunities to participate in congregational leadership
  • Be part of our community of faith-with the freedom to participate fully in the life of the church, sharing your joys, your griefs, and your life with us-as we share ours with you."
Find more information and answers to questions by clicking HERE .
 
By the way, AUUF's Board of Trustees unanimously approved becoming a member congregation of the OAC in November.
 
Contact: John Hintz

Ministerial Search Committee Update
There was an incredible turnout for the Beyond Categorical Thinking workshop on Sunday after the 11 AM service! Fifty-five people stayed for the workshop, far more than even the most optimistic guesses of the Ministerial Search Committee members. Even the facilitators were very impressed with the number of people in attendance. It's a big reminder of how much our membership is invested in choosing our next minister.

Discussion and questionnaires revealed some interesting things about our congregation. While we are very open and accepting to visitors and new members, regardless of their backgrounds and what they might represent, we still have some biases/prejudices as part of our make-up.

Those biases and prejudices are even more pronounced and wide-ranging when we express what we want, and don't want, in our new minister. Biases range from sexual orientation and gender identity to disabilities and age and political beliefs. The attendees who stayed through the entire workshop spent some time discussing those biases and how we might work through them.

The facilitators reminded everyone that the members of the Ministerial Search Committee have been tasked with making an informed and educated choice for the Candidate they will present to the congregation. They know that they have been entrusted with a difficult job, and they welcome hearing questions and concerns that may or may not have been expressed in the Congregational Survey, focus groups and the BCT workshop.

On another note, the Congregational Record, the first information potential ministers for our congregation will see, should be available on our website, uuamarillo.org, within the next week.
--Larry Campbell, MSC Secretary
Just Acts: Facing the Challenges Ahead
Congregations across the country held special vigils and vespers last week, and many reported high attendance last Sunday. The people need hope. Rev. William Barber, II, calls hope a subversive act. So let's engage in subversive just acts of hope and faith together.

Here's what we can do:  

1. Join the  We Say Enough! campaign of the Interfaith Organizing Initiative (a coalition of denominations and organizing networks). Sign the Moral Manifesto, sign up for the On Call for the Movement Virtual Mass Meetings, and attend or host a radical truth-telling speak-out in your community. We recently livestreamed 13th and recommend showing it in your congregation.

2. Step up our support for
Black Lives of UU and the Movement for Black Lives. We are launching a campaign next week at the request of Black Lives Matter to transform Black Friday and contribute to their effort to purchase books and clothing for Black children (watch for our special alert next week). Partner with an organization in your community.

3.
Report hate: The Southern Poverty Law Center has set up a special web page to report hate incidents and crimes.

4. Be prepared to intervene when you see people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, and people with disabilities being harassed or threatened. This
video from our Standing on the Side of Love Campaign Director Caitlin Breedlove will help you be prepared.

5. Connect with the Sanctuary Movement to fight for migrant and refugee rights and to provide welcome and safe harbor. The Sanctuary movement helps congregations become sanctuaries, support others that are sanctuaries, and advocate for sanctuary city policies in their communities. Watch this Interfaith Immigration Coalition
webinar  and sign the pledge to resist deportation and discrimination through sanctuary. Join the Sanctuary Call for People of Faith on Thursday, November 17th at 8 pm ET, 5 pm PT. Register here

6. Support Standing Rock by contributing to
  Black Lives Matter Stand with Standing Rock Fund, Bismarck-Mandan UU congregation's ministry to Standing Rock, and the UU Presence at Oceti Sakowin Yurt Fund.

7. Engage in the UUA
Social Witness Process . Our draft Statement on Escalating Inequality is now up for review and comment. The new Study Action Guide on the Corruption of Our Democracy (the Congregational Study Action Issue that was chosen at General Assembly) is now posted as well. Both look at how structural racism undergirds these systemic problems and are timely for the moment we face.

Stay strong, stay loving, stay connected with the
Moral Movement and faith coalitions and community organizations in your area. We need each other now more than ever and our communities need us too.

--- Susan Leslie
UUA Congregational Advocacy and Witness Director
Multicultural Growth & Witness Staff Team

Heart to Heart
Being Truly Thankful
November, 2016
Often when we practice being thankful, we go through the process of counting our blessings, acknowledging the wonderful people, things and places that make up our reality. While it is fine to be grateful for the good fortune we have accumulated, our gratitude deepens when we begin to be thankful for simply being alive during this time. We are living the life we are living, and when we feel it, we feel it regardless of our circumstances. In this deep state of gratitude, we recognize the purity of the experience of being in and of itself. Moreover our thankfulness is part and parcel of our awareness that we are one with this great mystery that is life. It may be difficult for most of us to access this level of consciousness as we are caught up in the ups and downs of our individual experiences in the world. However, the thing to remember about the world, though, is that it ebbs and flows, expands and contracts, gives and takes, and is by its very nature is somewhat unreliable. So if we only feel gratitude when it serves our desires, this is not true thankfulness. No one is exempt from the twists and turns of fate, which may, at any time take the possessions, situations, and people we love away from us. Illness and near-miss accidents can also serve as wake-up calls to the deeper realization that we are truly fortunate to be alive. Ironically, sometimes it's this kind of loss that awakens us to a thankfulness that goes deeper than just being grateful when things go our way. We don't have to wait to be shaken to experience this state of being truly thankful for our lives. Because tuning in to our breath and making an effort to be fully present for a set period of time each day can do wonders for our ability to connect with true gratitude. We can also awaken ourselves with the intention to be more aware of the unconditional generosity of the life force that flows through us regardless of our circumstances. 

From My Heart to Yours,
Rev. Addae

Governance Information Easily Available

.
Some are wondering where they can access names of the Board of Trustees, contents of the Board Minutes, a listing of the By-Laws, a list of committees and chairs, or the entire Policy Manual adopted in September of 2016.  All of this information is available by Clicking Here to take you to the webpage you need.  Clicking on the underscored items on the page will take you to the appropriate pages for that particular item.  Easy as Pie, as my grandmother used to say.
 
If you are wanting to review the results of the Congregational Survey conducted by the Ministerial Search Committee,  Click Here.
 
You may not be aware that we now have a listing of the books in the AUUF library available for you to read and return to the Fellowship.  The pages use alphabetical listings in two formats:  by location and by title.  If you are looking for a book on Unitarian Universalism or some other topic, you might want to check this listing for the book before you go to the store or website to buy one.  There is no charge to read any book in the AUUF Library.  HERE is the easy access to the listing of titles and locations.    If you wish to donate a book you have found helpful or interesting, please drop it in the box in the office. Please do not place it on any convenient shelf.  We need to catalogue the book, place the AUUF imprint in it, and find a location for it on our shelves.   

Amarillo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
4901 Cornell St.
Amarillo, TX  79109
806.355.9351

 

 

 

 uuamarillo.org