Stillness
Rev. Katie's Animas View
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As the world closes up and we keep each other safe, may this time of dark and quiet help us find a piece of calm. The spiritual aspect of the many holidays and holy days of the season may be just the antidote we need. Even though we’re home, Marilyn Garst and I have prepared for you a special online meditation service with beautiful harpsichord and some readings. We’ll even sit for a few moments of online silence.
On Christmas Eve, please join us online for some of the beloved pieces of our usual evening event (at 5 pm). We’ll follow it by a drive-by of our Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango building, safely remaining in our cars, while appreciating the beauty of our building and a showy display of luminarias. If you would like to help with the set up, let me know.
As this difficult year comes to an end, may these words provide tranquility.
Winter Solstice
by Rebecca Parker
Perhaps
for a moment
the typewriters will stop clicking,
the wheels stop rolling
the computers desist from computing,
and a hush will fall over the city.
For an instant, in the stillness,
the chiming of the celestial spheres will be heard
as earth hangs poised
in the crystalline darkness, and then
gracefully
tilts.
Let there be a season
when holiness is heard, and
the splendor of living is revealed.
Stunned to stillness by beauty
we remember who we are and why we are here.
There are inexplicable mysteries.
We are not alone.
In the universe there moves a Wild One
whose gestures alter earth’s axis
toward love.
In the immense darkness
everything spins with joy.
The cosmos enfolds us.
We are caught in a web of stars,
cradled in a swaying embrace,
rocked by the holy night,
babes of the universe.
Let this be the time
we wake to life,
like spring wakes, in the moment
of winter solstice.
ALWAYS in the love,
Rev. Katie
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December Services (all services held online) |
DECEMBER THEME: Stillness
December 2, 7 - 7:30 pm
Wednesday Evening Meditation Service
–Rev. Katie + Marilyn Garst
Kick off the season of this strangely odd year by listening to beautiful music, readings and quiet. This half hour service is intended to ground your heart and bring inspiration.
December 6, 10 am
Dona Nobis Pacem
–Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris
Let us celebrate the quiet, waiting season of Advent with the request to “grant us peace.”
December 13, 10 am
In A Warm Barn in An Ancient Field
–Rev. Katie + Sara Sautter
With so many things being different this year, let’s repeat our annual on-the-spot pageant. Ready yourself to participate by bringing to your screen a cape, a crown, animal ears, or a cane. Update your Zoom settings and you can find special settings that allow you to put on virtual mouse ears or even a beret.
December 20, 10 am
Sure Stars Shining
–Mary Ocken (with Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris)
What small bright star do we seek in these darkest days? Can stillness guide our way?
December 24, 5 pm
Be Still and Know
–Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris
Join us for Christmas Eve beauty and light. Our choir will sing, and we’ll offer carols for you to sing at home. Afterwards, we’ll gather in our cars at UUFD, enjoying the beauty of the luminarias, giving some love to our UUFD home.
December 27, 10 am
Celebrating Classical Music and its Meaning In A Life
--Marilyn Garst
We’ll explore the reasons for choosing classical music as a life's work, concluding with a performance of a quintessential nocturne by Chopin.
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What Next?
Message from K Redford, UUFD Board President
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Unitarian Universalist congregations are organized into five regions. The Pacific Western Region (PWR) stretches from West Texas to Hawaii and includes four large western districts. UUFD is a member of the Mountain Desert District, serving more than 50 congregations in eight states, from the border with Mexico to the Canadian border. In addition to District support, a Regional Lead and Congregational Life Staff provide a wide variety of congregational services for each region.
In November, the PWR presented a Zoom session on Board Development: Leading in These Times. Members of the UUFD Board and Nominating/Leadership Development (N/LD) Committee and our Minister attended the all-day workshop that was divided into three sections: Flexibility, Resilience, and Partnership. We were given several questions to consider:
- What do you want your congregation's story to be when you look back at how you came through this tough and anxious time?
- What will be your congregation’s resiliency story? What did you do to survive and thrive during these difficult times? How did you make meaning out of this time? What did you co-create together?
Also in November, the N/LD Committee presented a Zoom Workshop on Our Resiliency and Our Spirituality During COVID-19 Pandemic. The following quotes from that presentation seem most appropriate:
“What happens to us becomes a part of us. Resilient people do not bounce back from hard experiences; they find healthy ways to integrate them into their lives.” -Eric Greitens
“While we don’t know what the days ahead hold for us, we do know the values we seek to make real every day. Justice. Compassion. Equity. Liberty. Peace. Democracy. Dignity. Acceptance. Responsibility. Community. Respect. Interdependence. Love. And we know that regardless of what happens, we will still need each other. We can love our way right through these troubled times, and we will." -Rev. Carlton E. Smith, Developmental Lead of Pacific Western Region
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Love Reaches Out
Social Responsibility and Justice special feature
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“Generosity is the most natural outward expression of an inner attitude of compassion and loving-kindness.” —The Dalai Lama XIV
UUs are generous year-round. At UUFD we consistently demonstrate our care for others through our Share the Plate donations, Guest At Your Table contributions, and various special collections during the year such as the Navajo Nation food drive, and our Christmas collection for the Minister’s Discretionary Fund to help UUFD members in time of special need.
The Christmas season often brings particular feelings of gratitude for our own blessings and thoughts of those who may be struggling. If your financial circumstances permit, and you wish to provide help to others in need, here are some of our justice partners working with individuals and families who need help.
4 The Children, a local nonprofit working with families in crisis, advocates for and supports children in Southwest Colorado who have experienced abuse, neglect, or family trauma. Advocates can use donations to purchase clothing and toys for children whose families or guardians may not have the means to put something under the tree this year. There are three different ways you can help.
- To donate cash, send check to UUFD with "4thechild" on the memo line by December 12.
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To order gifts (also by December 12) on the wish list for foster youth, go to https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1KUD7ZIL42UEE?ref_=wl_share. Gifts you purchase will be organized, gift wrapped and delivered by 4 The Children staff.
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You can also help the nonprofit’s fundraiser by shopping at their auction/holiday bazaar which begins December 1. You can read about it on their website www.4thechild.org If you want to donate items for their auction go to this LINK.
The Durango Food Bank is committed to providing emergency food relief efforts to all residents struggling with food insecurity throughout La Plata County, especially the most vulnerable among us – children, seniors and families struggling to make ends meet. Supplies have diminished with the extraordinary spike in food insecurity related to the financial impact of Coronavirus. To donate:
- Send a check to Durango Food Bank, PO Box 156, Durango, CO 81302.
- Or send check to UUFD with "Durango Food Bank" on memo line.
Manna Soup Kitchen is launching a Brick Campaign to expand their garden facilities to become ADA wheelchair accessible, provide an outdoor classroom, and do fencing and irrigation repairs. Purchase of engraved bricks allows improvements that will increase their capacity for food security and provision of job training, nourishing meals and supportive services. To purchase a brick, go to https://www.mannasoupkitchen.org/garden-expansion-project/
Compañeros Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center is the only organization in this region with its primary focus on serving immigrants. In regular times, the priority for Compañeros is to provide bilingual assistance to immigrants in navigating the immigration or justice system, education about their civil and workers’ rights, and community organizing to build capacity for self-sufficiency. Due to the loss of jobs as a result of the Coronavirus impact of business closures and reductions in service, helping immigrant families with basic needs has become an additional priority.
In these hard times, thank you for not giving up, and thank you for your compassion, your courage, and your generosity.
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Faith Formation update
From our Interim Director of Faith Formation, Sara Sautter
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Help Us Keep Those Book Boxes and Stuffys Moving!
Because not all kids learn well on Zoom, and still others are feeling over-Zoomed, we have added new programs to bring faith formation right into your homes.
Our Book Boxes and Travelling Stuffy programs help teach anti-racism and Unitarian Universalism. And we want the books and stuffys to make it to all of our kids.
If you’ve had a book or stuffy at home for over two weeks please send an email to Sara at faithformation@durangouu.org for a prepaid postage label. Tape the label to the original mailing envelope and send it off to the next family. Soon, your child will receive a new book or stuffy.
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Kids: Watch for Luminaria Kits in the Mail
We are planning a Luminaria display at the fellowship on Christmas Eve. In preparation, we will be sending out kits to all children so that they can decorate their luminaria with punched hole designs.
Just be sure to have the luminarias returned to the church by Wednesday, December 23. Then grab your parents for a drive-by on Christmas Eve after dark.
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Soul Matters Faith Formation
In January 2021, we will return to Soul Matters curricula for all ages in faith formation.
Soul Matters lessons are designed as a companion program to the congregation’s worship and small group program, Covenant Circles. Theme-based religious education curriculum enables parents, children and the whole church to go on the same spiritual journey each month, breaking down the silos between the ministries within the congregation.
Our Winter and Spring themes will be as follows:
January: Imagination
February: Beloved Community
March: Commitment
April: Becoming
May: Story
June: Play
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Sue Loweree's "ekphrasis"
Words and images mutually inspire
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This month we honor the memory of our multitalented member Sue Loweree by exhibiting her example of the meaning of the word ekphrasis. She inspired us all with her understanding of and enthusiasm for the power of words and images, and she was collaborating with our UUFD poets, writers and artists to create an upcoming exhibit for the Bowman Hall Gallery walls. Other entries are most welcome and can be exhibited virtually. Please submit entries to annsmithsws@hotmail.com.
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"Iris," watercolor by Sue Loweree |
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IRIS
Come into this place
This sacred space
Where the bee visits daily
To sip the nectar
An ant wanders through
Finds a dew drop or two
Holy water
In this quiet cathedral
Where a breeze bristles
The crested beard
Of gold carpet under
An angel winged alter
Flies buzz by un-anointed
No prayers are heard
No thanks or regrets
No candles to eclipse
Illumined spheroid walls
Sculpted by shadows between
Tissue petals
Arc in prayer
Purple velvet
Falls from the door
No robes, crowns, scepters
Or books
In this simple temple of spring
Sue Loweree
2020
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Board Bullets
Highlights from Nov. 18, 2020 UUFD board meeting
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Call to Order
- Lit Chalice
- Heard Opening Words
- Read Board Covenant
- Reviewed Process Observation Form
- Completed Check-In Practice
Accepted by consent
- Minutes of October Board Meeting
- Membership Team Report
- Interim Faith Formation Director Report
Minister’s Report
- Staff needs members’ cooperation to schedule building access during pandemic
- Christmas Eve Processional will be a stay-in-your-car event
Treasurer’s Report
- Payroll Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness application to be submitted to Federal Government
- Pledge fulfillments are behind schedule
- Water bill is high
- Vallecito property is being listed for sale per condition of donation
Approved Copyright Compliance Policy
Reviewed work completed to establish Healthy Congregation Committee
Studied work completed on rewriting UUFD Mission Statement
Participated in exercise on importance of systems in promoting healthy congregational growth led by Interim Faith Formation Director
Heard/discussed Process Observation Report
Heard Closing Words and extinguished Chalice
Next Board Meeting: Wednesday, December 16, 4:00 pm
-Submitted by Teresa Jordan, Secretary
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Contact Us
Newsletter Editor: Shanan Orndorff
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
419 San Juan Drive, Durango, CO 81301
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SUNDAY SERVICE 10 AM
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Our mission at UUFD is to:
Provide a home for liberal religion, spiritual exploration and personal growth.
Provide lifespan religious education that draws on multiple sources and explores religious, spiritual, intellectual and ethical questions.
Work toward a community with peace, liberty and justice for all.
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Ministry & Staff
Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris, Minister
Jeanne MacKenzie, Office Administrator
Sara Sautter, Interim Director of Faith Formation
Marilyn Garst, Classical Pianist & Artistic Director for Recital Series
Lawrence Nass, Contemporary Pianist
Elizabeth Crawford, Choir Director
José Duran, Choir Accompanist
Shannon Beaver, Connections Coordinator
Tricia Bayless, Financal Clerk
Caesar Sanchez, Sexton
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Board of Trustees
K Redford, President
Terri Reherman, Vice President
Teresa Jordan, Secretary
Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris, ex-officio
Board meetings are held the third Tuesday of each month, 4 - 6 PM (check calendar for changes).
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