Congregation established 1836

Newsletter of the

First Unitarian Church, Alton, Illinois

www.firstuualton.org

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt, Minister

March 5^th

“ Virtues and Vices ”

Dr. Ronald Glossop, Professor Emeritus,

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville

Ron will discuss various ideas which have been advanced about which qualities of character are virtues and which are vices and why. He will explain and critique the views of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, St. Thomas Aquinas, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, John Dewey, and Friedrich Nietzsche on this issue.

March 12^th

“ For What It’s Worth ”

Rev. Khleber M. Van Zandt

Our Annual Canvass begins today and somehow we have to find a way to talk about money. With that in mind, this will be a hopeful sermon designed to calm your fears, ease your anxieties, and think anew about your relationship to your money and your connection with the church.

March 19^th

“The Journey”

Jeremy Melvin, Ministerial Intern

First Unitarian Church of Saint Louis

Life is often compared to a journey; some of us know where we are going (or at least where we would like to go) and some of us do not. Regardless of where we are going, it is important to benefit as much as we can from the experiences we have along the way, learn what wisdom is offered us, and take advantage of the opportunities that are opened to us. But not all journeys are smooth ones, or easy, and so it is important also to have traveling companions we can count on as we go.

Jeremy Melvin is currently the Lewis Ministerial Intern at First Unitarian, St. Louis.  He recently graduated from Harvard Divinity School and did his undergraduate work at St. John's College, Annapolis.

March 26^th

“Giving It Up”

Rev. Khleber M. Van Zandt

Perhaps the best-known Lenten tradition in the Christian church is the giving up of something special. We UUs have not been particularly good at doing without, and it may be time to consider the benefits of such a religious practice.

March 5^th - New series

                    to be held on 1^st and 4^th Sundays.

• In Search of the Historical Jesus

  Who was Jesus of Nazareth? What was he like? For more than 2,000 years, people and groups of varying convictions have pondered these questions. From the late Roman Empire all the way to our own time, no continuously existing institution or belief system has wielded as much influence as Christianity, no figure as much as Jesus. Worshiped around the globe by more than a billion people today, he is undoubtedly the single most important figure in the story of Western civilization. In this series, we’ll view presentations by Professor Bart D. Ehrman as he approaches the subject of who Jesus might have been from a purely historical perspective, and explains why it has proven so difficult to know about this “Jesus of history.” Dr. Ehrman also reveals in accessible ways the kinds of conclusions modern scholars have drawn about Jesus.

  Rev. Van Zandt coordinates this series.

March 12^th

• “Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work For Racial Justice.” The book used for this class is Uprooting Racism by Paul Kivel. This is an ongoing series held on the 2^nd Sunday of each month. The moderator for this series is Beth Nalick.

March 19^th

• “Understanding the Bible” is a monthly class led by Gerry Gilman on the 3^rd Sunday of each month. The class is based on a book written by the Rev. John Buehrens, former president of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

March 26^th

• “In search of the historical Jesus”

A First Glance

Sometimes we Unitarian Universalists don’t talk enough about stewardship - maybe you’ve noticed that the subject of money doesn’t come up very often around here. As I told the most recent UU&You! class, talking about money all the time is not what this church is about.

On the other hand, to ignore the issue of money in any organization is tantamount to institutional suicide.

So here’s something to think deeply about: none of the stuff we think we “own” is really ours. The house, the car, the bank account, the coffeepot - all is borrowed. All of is it on loan. All of it may be ours to use while we’re here, but in the end we will take nothing of the physical world with us when we go.

If all these things are on loan to us, it stands to reason that it matters what we do with all this stuff - how we use it, how we share it, how we discharge the responsibilities that come with the loan, and how we take care of these gifts that are given to us for a short time.

Being good stewards means we pay attention to and support those things that are most important to us. It means that we give generously from what we have received so graciously. It means that we take good care of things now so others can use them later.

All the world’s religions speak of giving back some of the gifts we’ve been given. A common number in religious practice is 10% - one-tenth of one’s bounty to be returned for the communal good. Participating in a religious practice to this extent keeps one focused on the fact that all we have is borrowed and also on the work to be done beyond oneself.

Perhaps to get to that 10% you could start with a goal of 5% of your net income to the church and 5% to other important causes. If you’re not giving 5% to the church yet, you might calculate what percentage you are giving now and pledge to raise your level of giving one or two percentage points each year until you get to the 5% level.

Linda and I are pledging what we consider to be 5% of our net income this year - $195 per month. We hope you’ll join us in making a serious commitment to good stewardship this year, and that you’ll consider the church in your monthly giving as well as in your estate planning.

See you in church,

Thumbnail Sketch of Upcoming Events

Read details in other parts of the newsletter.

Thurs., March 2^nd - Anna Ds at noon at Belle Milano

Thurs., March 2^nd - Choir Practice - 7 p.m.

Sat., March 4^th - Work Day - 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sat., March 11^th - Square Dance - 7 p.m.

Sun., March 12^th - Church canvass begins

Tues., March 14^th - Men’s Lunch Group - 11:30 a.m.

Tues., March 14^th - Board Meeting - 7 p.m.

Wed., March 15^th - Ethnic Lunch Group - 11:30 a.m. -

Michaels - Maplewood, MO

Thurs., March 16^th - Choir Practice - 7:00 p.m.

Fri., March 24 - Movie Night - 7 p.m.

Sun., March 26 - Pagan Spirituality Group - at Potluck

Looking Ahead

Sat., April 8^th - Canvass Wrap Up Party - 7 p.m.

Women’s Alliance Meeting

(Anna Ds)

March 2^nd

The March meeting of the Anna D. Sparks Women's Alliance will be on March 2^nd at 12:00 noon, at the Belle Milano restaurant off Highway 157 - 1063 S. Route 157, in Edwardsville.

The restaurant is located just west of the new Edwardsville High School in a shopping area. Lorli Nelson will call for reservations. All members and friends are welcome.

Here are the names of church members and friends who are celebrating birthdays this month. If this is ‘your month’ and your name didn’t get included, we’re sorry. For future months please let Mary Johnson know your birth month and day. (mejohnson@mindspring.com)

  3 March - Jerry Johnson

  5 March - Eowyn Wolff (2004)

  7 March - Dennis Nalick

14 March - Emily Sutton (1992)

15 March - Pam Loucks

16 March - Avery Myers (1996)

17 March - Megan Gross (2003)

25 March - Gerry Gilman

28 March - Emma Ray (1993)

In Our Church Family

Please contact Khleber and / or the church administrator, Becky Green, when members or friends of our church are ill, hospitalized or special attention is needed.

WORK DAY SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 4^th

Jamie Gross has scheduling a church Work Day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 4^th. There are always many tasks to accomplish so pack a lunch and come spend a couple hours or the whole day, whatever fits in your schedule. Childcare will be provided.

Church Pledge Drive

(a.k.a. Canvass)

2006

What has over 60,000 yesterdays, lives for today and eagerly awaits the excitement and mystery of tomorrow?

It's the "Past, Present and Future" of the First Unitarian Church of Alton!

AND the time is right to think about how our "tomorrows" will be spent as we approach our 2006 Pledge Drive.

Pick up your pledge packet on "Kickoff Sunday" March 12^th.

Be sure to mark your calendar for the wrap up event Saturday April 8^th at 7:00 p.m. in the Wuerker Room where you'll find eats, treats and laughs with "Comedy Canvass 2006." Look for your invitation in the mail!

Nancy Brunner

The UUA General Assembly is coming to town!

This is a fantastic opportunity to gather together with several thousand other UUs in learning, worshipping, singing, and gathering inspiration for our journeys.

Registration forms and Volunteer Forms will be available at http://www.uua.org/ga on March 1st. Materials will also be available at the church office.

The registration fee for those registering between March 1^st and April 30^th is $280. After April 30^th the registration fee is $325.

However, those who are chosen as volunteers - and over 200 are needed - will have their registration fees waived. Volunteers will need to work a total of 24 hours during the conference. So, fill out and send in the volunteer application!

MOVIE NIGHT

RE NEWS

Dear Parents and Friends,

This is the time of year that I begin to look ahead to the next church year and plan what we will be able to offer our children. Increased attendance this year will mean that we will need to add a classroom for next year. We will be having an all-church work day on March 4^th from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. to prepare the needed space and do other needed inside jobs. Childcare will be provided, and I am hoping that we will have a good turnout. Please come if you can stay for only an hour or for the whole day.

We will be splitting the children into four different age groups for next year. We will have the pre-schoolers and the kindergarteners together. The primary class will have grades 1-3. The elementary class will have grades 4-6, and we will have a jr/sr high class for grades 7-10. We do not currently have anyone above grade 10, but if that were to change the class would be expanded to cover all of high school. I need to meet with the parents/other interested adults and youth of all those that will be in seventh grade or above in the next school year. I would like to meet on Sunday, March 19 after church. Lunch will be provided so please RSVP to me either in person or by email at uujamie@sbcglobal.net

Next year is the Unitarian Universalism year of our three year rotation. Curricula fitting that theme have been chosen for all classes. We will have a preview meeting for all those who are interested sometime before the end of this church year. Please keep reading the newsletters for announced dates.

Since we have so many new people in our congregation. I will be having a meeting this spring for anyone who is interested in knowing what teaching RE is about. Coming to this meeting does not in any way obligate you to be a teacher, but I would also like all veteran teachers who are planning on teaching again next year to attend as well. If you are not sure if this is something that you would be interested in or not, I would invite you to take a Sunday and visit one of the class rooms. They are open for observation to anyone in the congregation at any time. Pre-registration as a visitor is not necessary.

I always welcome any questions or feedback that any of you may have about the RE program of our church.

Thank you, Jamie Gross

Feeling Adventurous?

Have a taste for something new?

Then the Ethnic Lunch Group is for you. Our second lunch event was at the Everest Café in downtown St. Louis. Eleven of us gathered for good food and very interesting conversations.

Our next lunch gathering will focus on Greek food and we’ll meet on Wednesday, March. 15^th at 11:30 a.m. at Michael’s Bar and Grill (Greek and American food) in Maplewood, MO - 7101 Manchester Rd. 63143

(314-644-2240). Directions: From I-64 (Highway 40) go south on McCausland for about one mile. Turn right on Manchester Rd. (Highway 100) and Michaels is one block up, on the right. Parking is available in the Big Lots parking lot across Manchester Rd. from the restaurant.

This is a gender inclusive group - both men and women are invited to come. So we can have an idea of how many people to plan on, please let Cathy Tade (cathytade@msn.com) know by March 13^th if you’ll be joining the group for lunch.

Join the Choir

“Let me go wher’er I will, I hear a sky-born music still. . . But in the mud and scum of things there always, always something sings.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rehearsals

Thursday March 2^nd - 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 16^th - 7:00 p.m.

Questions, want to learn more?

Contact Willis McCoy wbmccoy@charter.net

Note from Irene Mondhink

Thank you to all my friends for their notes and cards. It was a pleasure to hear from everyone. I’m glad to be home and hope to be stronger soon.

Ruth Shaw to Attend IARF and IARLW

in Taiwan

In March Ruth Shaw will be airborne for 17 hours - Chicago to Hong Kong to Taiwan - to attend the 32^nd World Congress of The International Association for Religious Freedom http://www.iarf.net/.
This conference is co-sponsored by the International Association of Religious Liberal Women http://www.theopenmind.org.uk/IALRW/index.html

The theme of the Congress is “Dignity in Diversity.”

The conference site is the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist monastery about 300 km south of Taipei. Ruth writes, “We will live in shared rooms and eat all meals at the monastery, vegetarian. FGS was founded in 1967 and has evolved from a mountaintop bamboo forest to the largest Buddhist monastery on the island. Presently FGS has over 200 branch temples throughout the world, carrying out the goals of promoting Humanistic Buddhism. There is also a temple in St. Louis.”

Ruth continues, “Traveling is easy for me, I get baby treatment in airports and can sleep or read during the flight. Although I travel alone, I will be joining a large group on arrival. I have been attending these conferences every four years since 1977 in Oxford, England.”

We’ll certainly be interested in hearing about Ruth’s travels and the World Congress when she returns.

Sunday Pot Luck Lunch

March 26^th - the 4^th Sunday

Bring a dish to share and plan to stay after church to join in food and fellowship.

A-L will do Clean Up

M-Z will do Table Set Up

Everyone will be responsible for setting food out on the buffet table.

UU World, the magazine of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, aims to help its readers build their faith and act on it more effectively in their personal lives, their congregations, their communities, and the world. To this end, it strives to be not only informative but also useful, provocative, and even prophetic. It is published quarterly.

uuworld is a companion website to UU World, the magazine of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

www.uuworld.org

Introduction to Esperanto Class

Offered at First Unitarian Church, St. Louis

Introduction to Esperanto, a class presented by Dr. Ronald Glossop, will be held weekly at the First Unitarian Church in St. Louis, 5007 Waterman Blvd., 63108. Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. - February 28, March 7, 14, 21, 28, and April 4.

Esperanto is a modernized, simplified Latin which is completely rule-guided. All grammar is regular with no irregulars of any type. Experiments show that one can learn it in one-fourth the time it would take to acquire a similar level of competence in French and one-tenth the time for Chinese. Esperanto helps students to learn grammar even more efficiently than Latin does.

Furthermore, Esperanto is not merely a language but the base of a developing world community of people committed to tolerance, respect for human rights (including the language rights of people speaking minor languages), universal friendship, and world citizenship.

Some people mistakenly believe that Esperanto aims to replace national languages when in fact it aims to allow people to preserve their ethnic and national languages while still participating in the wider world community. A common saying for Esperantists is "Se vi volus gajni monon, lernu la anglan. “Se vi volus havi amikojn, lernu Esperanton." ("If you want to gain money, learn English. If you want to have friends, learn Esperanto.")

The cost is $20 for supplies. Send payment to "1st Unitarian Church of St. Louis, 5007 Waterman Blvd., St. Louis MO 63108" with a note that it is for the Esperanto class. If sufficient demand exists, the class can be continued beyond the initial six weeks. Also, a special invitation is extended to high schoolers and anyone over the age of ten. If you have questions or would like additional information, contact Richard Stimac at <adult.education@firstuustlouis.org> or Dr. Ronald Glossop at <rglossop@mindspring.com>.

The Committee on Ministry Wants to Hear from You!

The newly activated Committee on Ministry wants to know your opinions about “how the church is doing.” Tell us what you like and what you don’t like. We are seeking input from you regarding what you want and need from the minister, from the Sunday service and other church programming, and from your fellow congregation members.

Several avenues are being provided for you to share your feelings and ideas with the Committee.

All the comments made are confidential within the workings of the Committee - what comes to us, stays with us.

First, you may talk with any of the six committee members or directly with Khleber. The members are: Nancy Brunner, Paul Hebert, Mary Johnson, Ted Loucks, Pat Moore, and Dennis Nalick.

Second, a locked Suggestion Box will be available in the RE Foyer. Suggestions of all kinds related to the good of the church are welcome.

Third, an electronic Suggestion Box will be available on the church’s homepage at http://www.firstuualton.org

Let’s communicate - talk to us - write to us - email us.

Mary Johnson

CRISIS FOOD CENTER

The Crisis Food Center served 502 families -1030 adults and 445 children in the month of January. Our church donated 250 items and $120 during December and January. A special thanks to the Brunner family for their continuing support with their annual December food drive. This month we will be collecting the items for the Center's Easter distribution: brown sugar, powdered sugar, cake mixes and canned icing, pineapple, green beans, mushroom soup, sweet potatoes and spinach. Other canned and boxed food items will be accepted, also. Please have these items at the church by March 26^th.

Thank you for your contributions.

Jen Politsch

Shop in Your IN-CHURCH

Book Store

Come and look at the new books for sale at the Book Cabinet, located in the Wuerker Room and sponsored by the RE Department. Shop for your favorite books published by Skinner House and Beacon Press. Forty percent of the proceeds will go to benefit the RE department of this church. You may suggest titles to be added to the book store’s collection.

Questions, comments, or suggestions may be given to

Jamie Gross at uujamie@sbcglobal.net