CUUF

  

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Circle Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

1818 West 57th Street • Indianapolis, Indiana  46228

Volume XXXIX, Number 2 • Editor: Dan Henkel

www.CUUF.org • October 2008

 

Sunday Morning Meeting 11:00 - 12:15; Continental Breakfast 10:30

 

Oct. 5              The Humanism of John Dietrich

John Dietrich is often called the father of religious humanism. We’ll explore his thinking and discuss the state of religious humanism today. Speaker: Rev. Andy Burnette of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Danville, Indiana.

 

Oct. 12            A Sixties Pilgrim’s Progress: Memory and Epiphany (Michael Doyle, Ph.D.)

Dr. Doyle reflects on the generational experiences of a spiritual seeker whose quest led from Roman Catholicism to Unitarian Universalism. Stops along the way included psychedelic inner space, sweat lodges, Yoga ashrams and utopian communities. Dr. Doyle is associate professor of history at Ball State University.

 

**Saturday, October 18: Work party—Let’s get Fellowship House ready for autumn!)**

 

Oct. 19            Interfaith Coalition on Nondiscrimination (Dan Funk)

Dan Funk is executive director of ICON, a faith-based advocacy coalition for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. CUUF is one of 23 member churches and synagogues who supported ICON in helping Indiana become one of the only states to defeat an anti-gay constitutional amendment.

 

**Saturday, October 25: Michael Johnathan—Indy Folk Series at UUI” (See below)**

 

Oct. 26            The Vigorous Mind: Cross-Training Your Brain (Ingrid Cummings)

Contrary to the popular notion, specialization is not the answer to every problem in the world. Let’s flex our contrarian muscles and figure out how the generalists of the world can get back on the playing field! Ingrid Cummings is author of The Vigorous Mind: Using Kaizen to Cross-Train Your Brain. She also hosts “Rubicon Salon” on WICR-FM and authors the “Life Lessons” column in Indianapolis Monthly magazine.

Nov. 2             Day of the Dead (Grace Starcke)

This holiday began in Mexico and now is an annual observance for the Fellowship. Join us as we honor our friends and relatives who have died. Please bring photos or other small items in remembrance of loved ones to place on our specially created altar.

 

 

 

Indy Folk Series Presents Michael Johnathan

7:00 p.m. Saturday, October 25 Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis: 615 West 43rd Street    ♪   www.uui.org

12 and under free   ♪   Snacks, coffee and wine available    ♪   www.indyfolkseries.org       

October 25: Michael Johnathan. This self-described folksinger, songwriter and tree-hugger  also a playwright, producer, author and touring artist.  Johnathon has a worldwide radio audience exceeding a million listeners each week.
More info at: http://americanaagency.com/aa_mjohnathon.html

 

Paul Newman: Farewell to a Blue-Eyed UU

Beloved actor, humanitarian and race-car driver Paul Newman died Sep. 26th after battling cancer. Newman is noted as a Unitarian Universalist on the UUA website. “We are such spendthrifts with our lives,” The New York Times quoted him as saying. “The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”

 

Douglas LeBlanc noted the lack of coverage of Newman’s UU connections in a recent posting at www.getreligion.org/?p=3977

Those familiar with Circle Fellowship singalongs will appreciate the following verse LeBlanc cites:

The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations lists Newman among several other famous UUs (including Christopher Reeve, Pete Seeger and Kurt Vonnegut). A UUA-distributed songbook, Singing for the Green, includes this verse, set to the tune of “Give Me That Old-Time Religion”:

Well, it don’t take much acumen to rejoice in being human,
Especially when you know Paul Newman is a Unitarian too.

 

Winter Retreat?

The Fellowship is considering a getaway weekend, possibly at Turkey Run State Park. Likely weekends are January 24-25 or January 31-February 1, 2009. Please look for a brief e-mail survey to let us know your interest and availability or talk to a board member to help our planning. Rooms at Turkey Run Inn range from $59 to $104 per night (meals extra). Room sharing is encouraged to reduce cost and increase esprit de corps, joie de vivre and je ne sais quois.

 

On Retaining Visitors

By Alex Rowan

Why do people visit, return, join, and become involved in the CUUF community. Through a moderated panel and group discussions,

we asked: Why have people become involved with Circle Fellowship?  What have we personally gained from our experiences in this spiritual community?  How can we encourage more visitors and newcomers to return, and to become involved in our Fellowship's community?

 

These activities developed a list outlining ideas about what we do well and what may be improved, in terms of attracting and retaining potential members. Further ideas and discussion on these topics are certainly welcomed.

 

What the Congregation Does Well:

1.       Visitors are noticed and greeted at the entrance. Members engage visitors in conversation and draw them out.

2.       Visitors are made to feel like we care (and are glad) that they are joining us.

3.       Good follow-up and talking with visitors after the service.

4.       Continental breakfast and pre-service fellowship are welcoming ice-breaking activities.

5.       Casual atmosphere.

6.       Members do a good job of explaining our programs, services, and UU-ism to visitors.

7.       Through atmosphere and actions, members generate a feeling of inclusiveness for all.

 

Opportunities for Improvement:

1.       Provide more spiritual diversity in the programs. Experiential programs demonstrating practices of various faiths and tradition are desired, so we may incorporate new and different pieces into our personal spiritual practices.

2.       Provide more prominent signage out front, for parking and for the back door entrance. There have been reports of potential visitors not being able to find where to go.

3.       Be more persistent with improving the appearance of the facilities (improvement tasks and cleaning).

4.       Start and end on time.

5.       Center the service experience in the sanctuary. Have everyone seated together (no more coffee drinker gallery). Perhaps add folding doors to the entrance of the sanctuary so it feels more cohesive and focused.

6.       Provide more consistent quality and diversity in the programming.

7.       Make personal contact with visitors and members that haven’t been around for a long time (postcards and maybe phone calls).

8.       Start and maintain a mid-week service or covenant group to provide more opportunities for interaction, keeping in touch with each other, and spiritual growth. This could also be a draw for visitors who can’t make it on Sundays, or prefer to meet a smaller group of people at first.

9.       Put member biographies on the CUUF website. Will allow old and new members to get to know each other better, and provide potential visitors with a greater level of familiarity and encouragement to join us.

10.    Do a better job of getting newcomers involved with services, activities and tasks to integrate them sooner into the community.

Thanks, Alex and ReaRae, for a great program. We welcome ongoing discussion on how best to serve those who may find a spiritual home at Circle Fellowship. We are all enriched by the diversity of those in our community. – Ed.

 

Board Bits

The CUUF Board met Sunday, September 28. Here’s just a sampling of their scintillating discussion:

-          Authorized up to $1600 for construction of a new entrance on the east side of our building

-          Authorized spending up to $300 to extend the deck to the side entrance

-          Scheduled a work party for 10:00 a.m. Saturday, October 16

-          Dick Patterson is collecting contractors’ estimates for adding insulation, which will reduce energy use/cost

-          Adopted guidelines to reach consensus after all Board members have had expressed their views

Minutes, agendas, financial reports and other board documents are available at Fellowship House or by request.

 

Heads Up: Jury Duty Scam

From snopes.com
While this particular attempt to coerce information from potential identity theft victims is not new, it is real. In a number of U.S. states, con artists have been contacting people by phone to assert those they've targeted have evaded jury duty and announce warrants are being issued for their arrest. When the about-to-be-duped protest they never received such notifications, that surely a mistake has been made, the sharpies go after what they really want, which is their pigeons' personal and financial information. Under threat of being hauled off in paddy wagons unless they succeed in straightening out this terrible mess, many folks who would otherwise be more wary about what they reveal of their personal data will find themselves reeling off their birth dates and social security and credit card numbers in an effort to convince their callers the notifications that never arrived actually went to other addresses or were never meant for them in the first place.
NOTE: The majority of alerts passed through e-mails are bogus—well-intentioned, but a waste of time or worse. PLEASE check them out before passing them along. www.snopes.com is a good reference site to verify such warnings. – Ed.

 

 

This concludes our newsletter. Submit newsletter items to Dan Henkel - Dan@DanHenkel.com. Thanks!