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Learning to Become a Multicultural Community
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 Jefferson Unitarian Church has been learning and growing in new ways in our faith formation over the last year. We are opening our hearts and minds to learn more about ourselves, and our culture in this predominantly white community, and how we can expand this understanding - opening ourselves up to the beauty of a multicultural community.
We are also learning that simply striving for diversity isn't enough, as diversity's main focus is the differences between people. Our intention in a multicultural community is to see and understand our differences, respect one another in those differences, and acknowledge that there is unequal power not only in society but also within Unitarian Universalism. In a multicultural community, we not only accept differences - we embrace these differences.
Building a multicultural community challenges our understanding of liberal democracy, where the focus is on recognizing the common identity and insistence that everyone be the same. We are learning that identities have been homogenized and the expectation is that everyone participates in "the norm." Unfortunately, this view ignores other important identities that exist outside the "norm." In this "melting pot" mentality, we are likely to underemphasize ways in which people are not, in fact, equal in society. In building a multicultural community we learn how to reject the traditional ideals of an assimilated culture and allow new realizations of community to form.
Not long ago, many of us believed that Unitarian Universalist congregations were welcoming communities, but in building a multicultural community we may need to expand our understanding of welcoming. Welcoming this new way of being together asks us to examine what exists at the center of our church. It invites us to question our current characteristics and culture and how the values of white culture may dominate it. We are being asked to look closely at who we are and who we want to become.
Culture, my dear hearts, is one of the most powerful forces in our world. We are no longer a monochromatic society. Building a multicultural community opens our hearts and minds to make sense of our world and how we express our identities - individually and as a church. We cannot wish this into being. It takes practice and a commitment to learning how to engage with differing ideas, discovering ways purpose is manifested, and how power is shared. It is learning that disagreeing and resolution include all voices, values, and the life experiences of those not in the predominant culture, which requires patience and determination. Many old attitudes need to be confronted by creating new ways of building community that incorporate differences rather than requiring members to adapt to the community.
Building a multicultural community is not easy work, but it is a vital part of our faith formation. The beauty of being on this journey at Jefferson Unitarian is that you do not have to do it alone. We are here to love and support one another into this deeper understanding of belonging and becoming - together.
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Transitions
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Linda Cobb-Reiley died February 20. You can read her obituary here.
Marc Goodbody died February 26.
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Board of Trustees Report
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The Board is preparing for an in-depth study this spring of Widening the Circle of Concern: Report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change.
Discussions with the Staff continue regarding the decision of when to open the church facility for in-person gatherings.
The Board is discussing the 2021/22 Budget in preparation for the May Congregational Vote.
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Commitment and Planned Giving
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It can be difficult to commit to doing an estate plan and related end-of-life documents. Through this process we can form commitments to ourselves, our loved ones and the causes we have supported throughout our lives. We may put this off because we want to do a perfect job, but it is OK to not do a perfect job because it is impossible to know the future. The process for planning for the future is enough. These plans can always be changed. Once we have gone down this path, we become more aware of the possibilities and everyday living becomes clearer.
JUC is a life-giving community where we commit to support each other in good and bad times. Including JUC in your estate plan as a beneficiary will support our commitment to being a vital force now and for generations to come.
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 Karey Sutton, Children, Youth, and Family Ministry Coordinator Katie Edwards, Membership and Adult Faith Coordinator
Anyone else been watching lots of movies during quarantine? The ways in which JUC is becoming a multicultural community through our faith formation has us thinking about the movie Field of Dreams. Remember that inspirational line: "If you build it, [they] will come?" Well, the same is true of widening our JUC circle. Just as Kevin Costner's character had to build his baseball field first, so too must we become a multicultural community first if we hope to grow into a more diverse one. How we do this is through our faith formation. Fortunately, we're already doing some of that educational and internal soul work.
Our sources encourage us to learn from and honor the wisdom of other cultures' traditions; we can do so without appropriating them. Some of these traditions may
seem "new" and "different" to us, but they've been around for a long time. We are adapting our faith formation opportunities to incorporate aspects of a multicultural community. Here are a few examples:
New Ideas Are a Gift, Not a Challenge: COVID has challenged us to re-envision our programs in many ways, thus breathing new life into them. For example, we've all attended worship services or RE classes in our comfy clothes thanks to Zoom. As staff and volunteers, we've also had to be very intentional in thinking about your needs and perspectives to keep our programming engaging.
Embrace Discomfort: This year, the Going Deeper circles challenge our adults with quotes and questions designed to make us uncomfortable. Our facilitators hold the space and uphold the covenant of "no fixing, no saving, no advising, no setting each other straight." Discomfort is a gift that shows us where we can grow.
Creation Is Done in Community: All of our RE classes have created classroom covenants for how they will be together within their values. This shared work about how we commit to treating one another is a key and daily manifestation of how our kids live our first and proposed eighth principle.
Such communal soul work spiritually grounds us in practical skills to actively pursue social justice, which is a core value in our faith, and it must be a daily practice. This is why faith formation is truly the work of a lifetime.
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In fall 2015, when thinking about a scheduled Choir Sunday in May 2016 on the Soul Matters theme of "Blessing," I had searched for but not located a multi-movement choral work with a particularly Unitarian Universalist approach to the topic of "Blessing." When I shared this with our Senior Minister, Wendy Williams, she suggested, "Why don't we write one ourselves?" After blinking a few times, and without further consideration, I agreed with her that this would be a good project for us to undertake, with Wendy writing the words and me crafting the music.
The process of creating the music for this cantata was one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences I had undertaken in my music ministry, but I was highly motivated to contribute to the body of Unitarian Universalist music. As a UU choir director I have constantly been challenged to locate multi-movement,
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| | Banner created by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Princeton, NJ for their 2017 performance of "Awakening to Blessing" |
thematically unified, neither too-difficult nor too-easy music for choir and small orchestra whose duration could fit inside a Sunday morning worship service. In particular, I have been interested in finding such music that speaks in the language of my faith, with text that was not written in another religion's point of view.
The cantata as musical form is hundreds of years old, with defining characteristics being: a religious text, a number of distinct musical movements, contrasting instrumental and vocal forces, and varying musical styles or tempi between movements. While aiming to create music that recognized these considerations, I was influenced by two successful contemporary models of the form: Christopher Tin's 12-movement song cycle, Calling all dawns, and the explicitly Unitarian Universalist Sources cantata by Rev. Jason Shelton. In each case, each of the movements had its own character, quality, or musical style, and they both had overall unifying narratives.
For the third movement, Rev. Wendy had initially proposed using a short John O'Donohue text:
I would love to live
Like a river flows,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding.
When I reached out to the O'Donohue estate to request permission to set the text musically, I received this reply:
Dear Keith,
Thank you for reaching out regarding the possibilities of integrating John's poem, 'Fluent,' into your own musical composition. As you might imagine, we receive numerous requests from composers to use John's work and in particular, this poem. We are not granting permission to any composer at this time as John's family contemplates the best approach to consider. I am certain this will come as a disappointment and send our very best wishes for your continued success composing.
Kind regards,
Ann Cahill, Director
John O'Donohue Literary Estate
With no permission to set O'Donohue's text, and inspired by the O'Donohue poem, Rev. Wendy crafted a brief and evocative line: "Awakened to love, being is becoming." And taking a cue from the "river...carried by the surprise of its own unfolding" line, I combined Wendy's text for the choir with a depiction of a watery stream that splashes down rocks, taking twists and turns, ultimately opening up into a broad river. Instrumentally, this movement features handbells for color and interest; the piano makes rhapsodic entries as well. Unlike other movements, this one includes spoken poetry and explication of the words sung by the choir.
Those with a musical interest may be curious to find that the entire key of the movement is based around a crystal bowl in my office (that now makes a weekly appearance at Evensong services). The bowl rings the note "E", and subsequently "E" is a repeated note in the handbells, and first and last note sung by the choir.
On this Easter Sunday at Jefferson Unitarian Church, the Jefferson Unitarian Church Choir will sing a virtual performance of this movement. Listen for Choir members, handbells, a crystal bowl, Rev. Wendy's poetry, and Laura Lizut's piano artistry. More than this, listen for the encouragement to awaken to love as the percussive instruments entreat the listener to move out of slumber, open the heart, deepen into a oneness of being, and thus expand into the possibilities of becoming.
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Becoming what we are
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 Derek Bassett, Trustee
As I have mentioned in a previous article, I grew up in a Unitarian Universalist Faith Community in Kansas City. In 1967, with the blessing of the Kansas City All Souls UU Church, 85 families left to found the Shawnee Mission Unitarian Society in Johnson County.
My family joined shortly after and in the 70s and 80s, I always remembered how even in common parlance we would always call it "going to church," or "I've met someone at church." I remember wondering why, as a child, we would only refer to it as a society when talking about it as the proper name, but otherwise everyone I remembered would call it "church." I may have asked why we called it a society and I never really felt like I had a satisfactory answer but as years went on I came to accept this funny quirk as just that, a quirk of the language.
While doing research for this article, I tried to find where the original name came from and why we were called a society rather than a church. The potentially true or potentially apocryphal story I heard was, we initially lacked a minister, and later on when we gained a minister, several original members who had joined this faith struggled to accept the idea of belonging to yet another church. Words have meaning and as a child I could never understand why someone would be unhappy going to such a wonderful place as Sunday School. Looking at it now I understand the conflict and meaning to someone not raised in such an open and free educational space as our current beloved religious community.
In the late 90s, our community went through another period of growth, going from a small membership to a thriving faith community. Many of the original members had moved on and traveled on different paths. The idea of renaming our congregation to incorporate the words Unitarian Universalism into our name was met with very little struggle, but the idea of changing from a society to a church became a struggle that caused significant anxiety for several original members of our congregation. In the end the congregation adopted the name Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church.
Fast-forward to today, I'm grateful for the name change happening before the true growth of the internet. Looking for our old name I found a handful of references but most links point to the new name and we are quickly reaching the point where my faith community in Kansas City will have been a church longer than a society. So, the question I have to ask is understanding those fears long ago, has changing our name changed our faith community? Not from my estimation, not in any way more than introducing a new Minister or a new Director of Religious Education changes the religious timbre of any faith community, and yet the anxiety was real and deserves our sympathy. Change is hard and growth to become who we are is never an easy or simple task.
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The Truth About Thomas Jefferson
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278 years ago this month, Thomas Jefferson was born on a plantation near the Blue Ridge Mountains in rural Virginia. When he was 14 years old, his father died and left him 5,000 acres. Years later, he cleared a site at the top of a mountain and named it "Monticello," Italian for "little mountain" and began to design and build what he referred to as his "essay on architecture," a home that he would spend the next 40 years building and rebuilding.
When he was 29, he married Martha Skelton and they had six children, though only two of them survived to adulthood. Martha died ten years into their marriage.
During Jefferson's lifetime, he was accomplished as a lawyer, architect, writer, farmer, scientist and politician. He was the primary draftsman and signer of the Declaration of Independence, and he served two terms as the third President of the United States, as well as Vice President, Governor, Secretary of State, Foreign Diplomat and Congressman.
In addition to these accomplishments, Jefferson was someone who loved books (at one point selling his library of 6,500 volumes). He was an economic theorist, a paleontologist, an astronomer, a writer and a musician. Jefferson's theology was Unitarian in nature, but he never actually joined a Unitarian congregation (there weren't any near his home). Jefferson was a proponent of religious freedom and advocate for the separation of church and state.
Many years ago, I spent the day touring Monticello. Upstairs, visitors tour the spacious and sunny rooms with high ceilings and an abundance of triple-paned windows. Thomas Jefferson's library, furniture, and the clock he designed in 1792 are displayed for visitors to learn about his accomplishments and achievements.
Downstairs, in the basement, there is a short film and a display of artifacts that teach visitors about the lives of the 607 enslaved people who lived there from the time the estate was built in 1772 until a "dispersal" sale in 1837, where 130 people were sold, breaking up generations of families and relationships. The slave quarters are no longer standing, but visitors learn about the nail factory where young boys were whipped to increase productivity.
In the political arena, Jefferson opposed slavery and advocated for emancipation. He called it an "abominable crime" but did not insist on abolishing it. He also did not imagine a multi-racial future for this country, and his plan for ending slavery included sending the newly freed people away.
One of his slaves, Sally Hemings, was his wife Martha's half sister. Sally's mother was their father's slave who bore six of his children. Martha "inherited" Sally after their father's death. After Martha died, Jefferson took 16 year old Sally Hemings with him to France and she returned pregnant. Sally's descendants tell the story that Sally hesitated to return to Virginia since she was legally free in France, but that Jefferson promised her that any children she had would be freed at the age of 21.
In the coming years, Jefferson fathered all five of Sally's children and they were put to work weaving, sewing, and doing housework and carpentry. About three years ago, a hidden room was discovered at Monticello that had been described in the diary of a family member. It is believed that this room, not far from Jefferson's bedroom, was where Sally lived and bore his children.
Stories passed down through the Hemings family for generations were confirmed as DNA testing technology advanced in the 1990's and the descendants of Sally Hemings were able to prove their ancestry to skeptics. I find this story deeply unsettling.
I've been wondering about JUC's name and the fact that many UU churches, such as ours, still carry the name of Thomas Jefferson. In 2011, the Thomas Jefferson District of the Unitarian Universalist Association changed its name to the Southeast District, (many years after the first vote to change it in 1997). UU congregations in Charlottesville and Louisville, among others, have recently dropped Jefferson's name as well.
This month our theme is Becoming. As JUC wrestles with the 8th principle and continues to offer ways to become anti-racist, I wonder how being named after Thomas Jefferson reflects who we are and how we want to be seen. Does this reflect the past or inspire who we might become?
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JUC's Special Plate
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 June LeCrone
Usually around this time of the year you would be reading an article written by Rev. Eric Banner about special plate selection, but since he is on sabbatical the Justice Council is stepping in. Every month, usually on the 3rd Sunday, we give away our offering to partners and projects beyond our church walls. This month's theme of Belonging reminds us that JUC forms a relationship with the programs we support through our donations. We value the work of these groups and it is our honor to support them.
Organizations can apply to be one of the recipients by submitting an application to the Justice Council. The Justice Council carefully considers each request and selects recipients based upon their merits and current needs.
If you are considering making a special plate suggestion for the coming church year here are some general guidelines, and organizations must be a 501(c)(3). They are more likely to be approved if they
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Operate in Jefferson County or Colorado generally
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Are small enough that $2,000-$4,000 would make a meaningful difference in their budget
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Help larger numbers of people
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Have ties to members of Jefferson Unitarian Church
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Align with Unitarian Universalist values and traditions
Only 12 special plate applications are approved each year, and a few organizations are included every year, including the Action Center, Family Promise, and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.
To apply, submit applications by Friday, May 14 so that each application has time for a fair review. Decisions will be made in June, and all applicants will be notified of the results. Thanks to all of you who partner with JUC to work toward justice and goodness in our world.
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UU the Vote
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 Jessy Hennesy
I don't want to be a downer. I really don't. But there are a lot of voter suppression efforts in legislatures across the country (I just learned there was even a bill aiming to make mail-in voting harder in Colorado this session - thankfully it was killed in committee). There's a pretty good chance with the current Supreme Court they'll hold up to judicial challenges. We aren't seeing much movement of the For the People Act or the John Lewis Voting Rights Act in the federal legislature.
But there's good news!! I promise!!
There are people working to ensure the political process works for everybody, here in Colorado and across the country. Our JUC UU the Vote team has decided on three priorities for the year, all under our overarching goal of expanding access to the democratic process: -
Fighting voter suppression
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Working to institute ranked-choice voting (which would allow everyone to vote for the candidate they like best, without worrying their vote won't count because it isn't for a candidate polling well. We'll be offering opportunities to learn more soon)
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Education and involvement in local elections
We'd love to have you join us if you care about one or all of those things. But, you don't need to come to our meetings, or even subscribe to our emails (but you should! Email [email protected] and we'll get you on the list) to make a difference yourself.
Please call your Senators to ask them to abolish or reform the filibuster (at the very least, we need to exempt Civil Rights legislation from the filibuster). Also ask them, and your US Representative, to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Legislators do pay attention to the communications they receive, and phone calls are widely regarded as the most effective.
You can also get in touch with your State Senator and Representative and encourage them to support HB 1071, which would make it easier for local elections to utilize ranked-choice voting.
It's not a presidential election year, which can mean it's easier to ignore politics. Please don't. We have an opportunity to pass legislation now that can have an impact for decades to come.
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Pastoral Care Update
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 Elaine Zerger
The Pastoral Care Team (PCT) has been active during this past year. We are "becoming" more proficient at virtual organizing, thus enhancing the capacity of JUC members to care for one another. There are several subgroups under the PCT umbrella:
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Monthly Connectors coordinate meals and rides for members in need of short-term assistance and arrange for loans of durable medical equipment during recovery from surgery.
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Our Card Ministry Team sends cards acknowledging joys and sorrows.
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The Memorial Service Team hosts receptions following memorial services. At this time, most services are virtual, but when it is safe to do so, the team will reactivate.
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The Mental Wellness Advocates, Caregivers Support Group and Chronic Illness Support Group are part of the Pastoral Care Team and have been meeting online.
A virtual Memorial Planning Workshop was held on two Sundays in February, led by Rev. Eric Banner. Those in attendance received ideas and tools for planning their own or a family member's eventual memorial service thus easing the decision-making for the grieving family at the time of a death.
The Mental Wellness Advocates applied and were granted the Special Plate collection on May 16th for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). NAMI offers support groups and educational programs to support family members, friends and individuals affected by mental illness. The numbers have been growing during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Our team is delighted to be working with Jenny McCready, Intern Minister, while Rev. Eric is on sabbatical. Jenny is eager to work with our various groups. For more information about how we care for each other, see our Pastoral Care Group Handbook.
Do you need to reach a minister with a confidential pastoral concern? The minister on-call is available either by phone, 720-CHURCH9 (720-248-7249), or by email at [email protected].
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Take Real Action Now to Keep Colorado Families Housed
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Jill Armstrong 
As we end our month-long reflections about Commitment, here is an opportunity to take action on anti-racist social justice work. Last week, as a small landlord, I testified in support of a state bill SB21-173 that would give more rights to renters in Colorado. I was so sad to hear the various tenants' stories at the committee hearing: an elderly woman without heat in her house for months because her landlord didn't make repairs; an apartment with untreated mold; a family who had their water shut off in an effort to force them out, among many other stories.
While I realize that most landlords are responsible, the bad actors - often large corporations - can cause incredible harm. Under current Colorado law, tenants cannot even bring up these issues in eviction court without paying a bond which most cannot afford. COVID protections are ending, and many renters will incur large late fees that increase daily, costing hundreds of dollars in addition to rent. Again, under current law, even if renters can manage to come up with their rent but not late fees, they can be evicted for late fees alone. Colorado is among the worst states for renters' rights. SB21-173 will help to level the playing field between tenants and landlords for these and other issues.
No person, regardless of race, gender, class, age, ability, citizenship or previous criminal or housing record, should be denied a home. JUC's Community Action Network (JUC CAN) and Together Colorado are working in partnership with other organizations to increase tenants' rights and protections so that our community can remain housed now during the pandemic and in the future.
For more information about legislation, click here. There is another bill that would allow local municipalities to create local solutions for affordable housing needs. Please read, and then take real action by emailing or tweeting your legislators to say that you support these bills.
If you would like to be added to the JUC CAN Action Alert list to receive timely updates about this and other Colorado legislation regarding housing, mental health and criminal justice, please send an email to [email protected].
Together we CAN make a difference.
Email or Tweet your State Senator to support SB21-173
Make your voice heard about legislation that impacts the most vulnerable among us. Joining together with our partner organizations, we can create new statewide policies that have an impact on all Coloradans, no matter their zip code.
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