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IN THIS ISSUE
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 Traveling Ministries
Rev. Katie's Animas View
As we move forward to the close of the church year (our fiscal year ends at the end of June), there is still much activity at UUFD. Our Facilities Planning Task Force has invited our architect to make a presentation
of initial findings on the evening of May 9
th
(6pm). I am sorry that I have a previous commitment and will be in Boston in my role on the UU Funding Panel (Fund for Social Responsibility). I look forward to hearing and seeing the outcomes and to working with you all in refining our vision.
I'll be missing worship on the last Sunday of April because I will be representing our congregation at the Pacific Western Regional Meeting in Portland, Oregon
. Folks from our district (Mountain Desert District) and three other western districts will be there.
On the week of May 21
st
, I'll be taking one of my four weeks of study leave and will be away except for emergencies.
All of this time is ministry, time that I count as serving you and this fellowship, where I represent us, provide ministry, make connections with other leaders from our movement, bringing home the best new thoughts and practices for our faith. My study time is used for planning, creating, researching and reading. It allows me to focus without the regular distractions.
As always, I continue my gratitude to you, to be serving this fellowship as it grows in numbers, as it grows in welcoming in new families of all ages, where in this chaotic time in our nation and world we keep finding ways to buck the system and create love and community.
With love,
Rev. Katie
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May Sunday Services
Monthly theme:
Which Side are You on?
(Concepts of justice, solidarity and peace)
May 6
May Day Affirmation
-Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris & Diversitones
As we celebrate International Workers Day, we'll also acknowledge our delightful choir and say goodbye to our director. Come hear beloved music and consider the wonderful history of May Day.
May 13
Being Known, Being Cherished, Being Found
-Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris
As the Rev. Mary Harrington wrote, "All of us have been mothered in our time, all of us have mothered." Today, we'll dedicate some of our babies and children, remembering the gift of life itself and our commitment to each other.
May 20
Spirit is Speaking; We are Listening
-Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris
Our annual meeting following the service inspires our time together today. Bring a flower to offer for our annual flower communion, and consider the meaning of spirit speaking in our lives.
May 27
A Look Back at Racism and Culture
-Hal Jackson, pulpit guest
What is "learned behavior" as it relates to racial prejudice? We'll compare legal (de jure) discrimination and cultural (de facto) discrimination considering where we are today.
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President's Message
Tom Miller
We're nearly half a year away from Thanksgiving, but for a couple reasons, it feels right to invoke the spirit of that holiday even as we move deeper into Spring. In his book
Serving With Grace
, Erik Walker Wikstrom quotes Rev. Gary Kowalksi as follows: "People who come to Unitarian Universalism seeking spiritual goods are likely to be disappointed so long as they have the outlook of consumers in search of material goods. If their connection to our liberal faith is to grow into something more rewarding, they have to give up the consumer mindset and begin to think of themselves instead as shareholders, investors, co-owners in what happens in church."
One way you invest in UUFD is through our annual Stewardship campaign, which is now winding down. Our membership is growing nicely, which has contributed energy and intention to expand our sense of mission. As a result, there were a number of areas in which budget increases were requested. In addition, sound fiscal budgeting also required budgeting this year for expenses that were not considered in previous budgets. The good news is that to date, our projected pledge income has increased 16% over last year. This means that most of the increases requested by committees and teams have been fully or partially honored. If additional unbudgeted pledges come in over the year, it may be possible to restore some or all of the small gaps that still exist.
The bottom line is that your pledges provide the bulk of support (about 84%) for a nearly $300,000 annual budget. We are truly blessed with your continued commitment and generosity in sharing the responsibility to support the work of our Beloved Community. Thanks to all the staff, committee chairs and team leaders for careful budgeting, and to Elizabeth Crawford and Lynn Griffith for their creativity and leadership in coordinating this year's stewardship activity. If you have questions and/or want to get a deeper perspective on how we will fund our mission activities this coming year, please join us at noon on either May 6 or May 13 for a budget chalk talk. As required by our bylaws, we will vote to approve the budget at the Annual Meeting on May 20.
We are not a group of passive, absentee owners. We step up and participate in a wide variety of volunteer activities that enliven our mission. Another note of thanks needs to be sent out to our Nominating and Leadership Development Committee, led by Allison Andersen. Their recruiting has resulted in a full slate of highly competent, new and continuing board officers to lead us through the issues and challenges of the coming year. You will be able to find out more about them in the coming weeks. The vote to approve the new slate will also take place at the Annual Meeting, along with approval of members of the Nominating and Leadership Development committee.
Finally, we continue to learn how to operate effectively as a program level church. The Governance Committee, under the able leadership of Teresa Jordan, has helped the board revise both policies and bylaws that clarify and refine how we deliver our mission. Most notably, we will vote on a bylaw change that eliminates the position of Associate Treasurer (work taken over by our new Financial Clerk).
Whether you have a formal "title" or join one or more of the variety of UUFDs' mission-focused endeavors, you are a stakeholder. You are an owner of our mission. Your vote is important. We hope to see you on May 20 at the annual meeting.
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Faith Formation News You Can Use
Camping and Connection and Pride, oh my! Summer (and the end of the school year for families) brings transition, travel and, well, lower church attendance. I understand choosing, especially as a parent, "is this the mountain I'm willing to die on?" I certainly floated in the spiritual ether for much of my adolescence and young adulthood. In all honesty, I can still do that here. Though, it seems now that if "it takes a village," then church, specifically in the religiously liberal form, is so needed. In a town, a state, even a nation where so many are transplants, intentional community is vital. I choose to plant my flag here. I choose to wake up tired children on Sunday morning. I choose because these multigenerational relationships affecting their life matter. I choose accepting the seeds we're cultivating may not sprout until they have, if they choose to, their own children. Admittedly mine are free range kids but on Sunday morning, I choose.
Plant Your Flag at one of these great events this Summer at UUFD
New for Families: First Sunday Family Meet-up:
Join us May 6th at 9am for breakfast in Columbine House.
Allergy-friendly breakfast included. Connect and meet other parents and kids.
Monthly Saturday Evening Picnics in the Park: June date and location TBD
SAVE THE DATE: Annual 4 Corners UU Summer Retreat:
Multigenerational, fun, meaningful connected weekend camping on the Pine River in Vallacito, CO.
Friday evening July 13 through Sunday July 15, noon.
Child Dedication and Bridging Ceremony: Sunday, May 13. Please contact [email protected] if you'd like your children to participate in this nurturing UU ritual.
The regular Covenant of UU Pagans meeting scheduled for
Thursday
will not be held. Instead the Gardening Magic class is on
Saturday, April 28 at 2:00 pm
at Bowman Hall, followed by
our joyous annual BELTANE RITUAL! Come and celebrate Beltane with us.
It will be held outside. As always, children are welcome and childcare is available with advance request.
Sage Circle off site: The next Sage Circle, Tue
sday May 8th, will be at Marye Jackson's house.
Meet at church at
10:00 am to carpool to Edgemont Ranch. Call Marye for directions.
Join in the annual
Pride Parade and the festival in Buckley Park
June 23rd.
Beloved Conversations: A s
eries on Race and Ethnicity, is coming to UUFD. Opening retreat begins
Friday
evening,
October 19
and goes through
Saturday
Oct. 20 during the day
. Sponsored by the Healing Racism Team.
Join the UUFD Immigration Team for a four-session
online course focused on immigration. May 1, June 5, and July 10 from
6:00-8:00 pm
;
and August 7 from
4:00 to 8:00 pm
. Meets in Bowman Hall and virtually. Sponsored by the Immigration Team.
--Lisa McCorry, Director of Faith Formation |
Social Responsibility & Justice Special Features
LGBTQ Team, Love Out Loud
Continuing our Welcoming Congregation Journey
The LGBTQ Team is actively working on the process leading to renewal of our certification as a Welcoming Congregation.* We were recognized by the UUA as a Welcoming Congregation in 2012 after extensive learning and exploration by the fellowship. The renewal process is recommended if the initial certification was achieved five or more years ago. The team has completed the phase of assessing our successes and gaps, and is now working on assessing how we've done with the commitments we made at the time of our first recognition. If you have any input you would like to share with the team, please contact Bonnie Miller at [email protected].
*Welcoming Congregation means striving for radical inclusion, and creating spaces that honor every part of our identities, backgrounds, and experiences...working hard to make sure lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people are full members of our faith communities. (UUA Welcoming Congregations, website)
Love Out Loud
The Basic Needs Team is continuing our commitment to participate in the annual interfaith community service project. June 9-10 is the weekend this year when we will join other faith-based groups in service opportunities to benefit local nonprofits, schools, and individuals in need. A variety of service projects, such as painting, yard work, food preparation, home repair, letter writing, and making sleeping mats for the homeless, are typical of the tasks for volunteers of all skill and ability levels. It's a great chance for families and people of all ages to work together in contributing to our community!
Watch for specific information in a flyer at the Social Responsibility and Justice table on May 20 and 27 which describes the service opportunities this year. You can register for your strongest project interests. There will also be a link on the UUFD website. A Project Coordinator organizes work teams based on interests and contacts volunteers with assignments. All volunteers are invited to lunch at the Methodist Church on the 10
th
- a great way to connect with other faith-based groups! For more information, please contact Betty Schwartz-Bozeman at [email protected].
UPCOMING EVENTS
May 18 - Durango Food Bank volunteers
May 22 - Manna Kitchen volunteers
May 30 - Days for Girls sewing project, BH
June 9-10 - Love Out Loud service projects
June 15 - Durango Food Bank volunteers
June 23 - Durango Pride Festival and Parade
June 26 - Manna Kitchen volunteers
June 27 - Days for Girls sewing project, BH
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Nominees for Board and Committees
The Nominating & Leadership Development Committee is grateful to all the UUFD members that attended meetings, engaged in conversations and considered new board and committee positions recently. Below are our nominees for Board of Trustees and for the Nominating & Leadership Development Committee:
Board of Trustees
President: Tom Miller - 1 additional year
Vice President: Elizabeth Long - 1 year (moving from Member at Large position)
New Treasurer: Mark Swanson - 2 years
New Member at Large: Julie Jordan - 2 years
New Member at Large: Becky Malecki - 2 years
Bios for the new nominees will be posted to the UUFD website. In addition, the following persons will continue for another year:
Member at Large: Kathleen Adams
Secretary: Vanessa Self
Susan Koonce will be leaving her Vice President position as of June 30
th
, 2018. Many thanks to Susan for her years of service to our board, as well as many other areas in our fellowship.
Nominating & Leadership Development Committee
Robert Winslow: Committee Member - 2 years
Linda Gumper: Committee Member - 2 years
In addition, Allison Andersen will continue as Committee Chair for another year.
Dennis Aronson & Susie Francis's terms will terminate as of June 30, 2018. We are very grateful for their service and hard work on this committee.
UUFD Members will be able to vote and approve the above nominees at our May 20
th
Annual Meeting. Please take a moment to thank our existing and new board members for serving in such an important role for our fellowship.
Submitted by the Nominating & Leadership Development Committee: Dennis Aronson, Susan Francis, Allison Andersen
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Immigration Team Update
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Facilities Planning Meeting May 9 at 6 pm
Architect to present "diagrams and doodles"
MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR MAY 9, 2018, 6 PM, IN THE SANCTUARY
Prior to Round 2 of constituent group meetings, architect Tom Umbhau will present "diagrams and doodles" to all interested parties - constituent group members, sub-group members (please invite them), as well as members and friends of the fellowship, at a joint meeting. Tom is currently working with the information that you provided (questionnaires and Round 1 meetings) and will present a first pass at identifying space needs and developing relationships of one program to another. This is your chance to see his preliminary schematic proposals before you meet with him again in your respective constituent groups. His intent is to ensure that you understand the graphics and the impact that the "diagrams and doodles" have for your respective groups. The presentation will be Tom's understanding of your previous input. This meeting is not intended to be a discussion; you can offer your feedback in Round 2 of constituent group meetings.
Thank you for attending and/or providing information in Round 1 of our constituent group meetings with Tom. Lively discussions and exchanges of ideas are beginning to shape our long-range facilities planning direction. We hope that you will stay involved and encourage others to participate as well. Remember that under the "connections" tab on the UUFD website, you can provide additional input at any time on the long-range facilities planning form.
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Sanctuary Renovation Plans
Wondering about our current plans to reduce crowding?
At the April Board meeting, the Board approved the recommendation of the Crowding Remediation Task Force (CRTF). Some changes were made to the way we do the Fellowship time in Bowman. The facility limitations there are not conducive to any immediate or inexpensive expansion possibilities. By removing furniture, using the old youth room off the kitchen differently, and spreading out where food and drinks are placed, we will get some additional space to move around. As we are able to move outside for our Fellowship time, the crowding issue we experienced in Bowman should be lessened, at least during the warm weather.
The major thrust of CRCC's recommendation involved an expansion of the seating capacity of the Sanctuary. You can see a diagram of the new plan on the wall just inside the hallway to the west of the Sanctuary. Essentially, the plan is to continue to expand our seating to the west, significantly opening the view to the old sanctuary, moving the cry room one room back, including the glass window and additional sound insulation, and expanding the recently repurposed old minister's office further back. We will also move the sound booth further back, enabling another row of seats in front of the raised portion in the back. This expansion will net us an additional 64 seats, bringing our permanent seating capacity to 216 and giving us a bit of "breathing room" on Sunday mornings.
To reduce expenses, the expansion work will be accomplished mostly by volunteer labor as we did for the Office renovation earlier this year. The reconstruction will happen over the two week period surrounding our Pinesong retreat, when the Sanctuary will not be needed. You can contact John Redemske to find out how you can be a part of the renovation team.
Most of the cost for the physical renovation (estimated at $7200) will come from unrestricted funds already in our budget. However, once we have the space, we will need chairs to sit in. The cost of a chair (and a bit extra to cover the balance of the cost of the renovation) is $170. A very generous member has offered to match the purchase of each chair 1:1. Please consider sponsoring at least one of these 32 chairs. Further information about how to make your donation will be forthcoming.
These are "short term" solutions to dealing with the limitations of our current facilities. We hope you will continue to participate in the various dialogs and meetings surrounding the long term planning we are working on with our architect. Especially remember the meeting him on May 9 at 6p to hear his initial thinking about how to manage our space needs.
It is important to remember that we have not committed to any particular long term solution to our space needs. Much discernment is left before we come to a conclusion. If, how much, and when to expand are still open questions. The potential of moving to two services, while a bit complex to initiate, is still a possibility. We hope you will stay active in voicing your thoughts as we move forward with this endeavor.
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Hey parents with babies!
Meet up Thursdays at 9:30 am
UUFD hosts a casual gathering for babies and parents
on Thursday
mornings (
9:30am
) at Columbine House. Liza Tregillus leads this time aiming to connect parents with small children (0-3). All young parents are welcome, or if you would like to help, call Liza at 970-749-9607.
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CUUPS Corner
Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans
May CUUPS Schedule
Thursday, May 10 6:30PM Bowman Hall
Celebrating the Divine Feminine in all of us
Thursday, May 17 6:30PM Bowman Hall
Monthly Sliabh Anam Druid Grove Meeting
Thursday May 24
6:30 PM Bowman Hall
Making your own Magical Charms!
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Pause for Poetry
The next session of the Poetry Circle is
May 14, 6-8pm. The group will study Chapter 4 of Kowit's
In the Palm of Your Hand. Light refreshments. For information:
[email protected].
The Perfect One
Which perfect one
From jewels rattling
On frayed silken edges of
Rolled Aqua satin
Faded from
midnight blue
Which perfect one
To honor a day
Of hot sun, white sand
Clouds drifting aside
In deference to cerulean sky
Perhaps that perfect one
With its edge of lavender
Borrowed from sunset
And a great fan of ridges
Gathered at the hinge
Or that perfect one
with pale pink merging
from a deep purple hollow
of Smooth glass walls
in an abandoned home
Or that swirl of broken white porcelain
a glossy whorl of shrimp colored wall
spiraled to the entrance of a
maroon glass door
left behind by the conch who outgrew it
Which perfect one
to hold the music of waves
The dance of birds
The breath of ocean
In my pocket
For that day
When I'm far away.
Sue Loweree
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