JULY 3

“John Burton Wolf's Lincoln Sermon”

Mark Tade

Join us this Sunday as Mark Tade dramatically reads one of the greatest contemporary  UU sermons ever written!  John Burton Wolf took All Souls Unitarian church of Tulsa Oklahoma from a congregation of 30 to the world’s largest UU church.  After hearing this sermon, you'll know how he did it. 

During the summer months, Rev. Van Zandt reprises some of his sermons from the past year.

July 10

 “The Idolatry of Inerrancy”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

We religious liberals often look askance at those who take sacred texts literally and uncritically and as “the inerrant word of God.”  How is it possible, then, that we’d fall prey to the same failings?

JULY 17

“Justice is What Love Looks Like in Public”

John Herndon

Pride weekend is truly a celebration of Life, Spirit and the moving toward being Omnigender. I would like to share more of my thoughts about my journey to PRIDE and what it means to desire to become a straight queer.

JULY 24

“Priestessing yourself –  The Power of Practice”

Michelle Bryant Barbeau

A musician hones his talent by practicing note by note.  Same goes for a martial arts practitioner who repeats things carefully to let her movements sink deep into muscle memory.  As we minister our spirituality to and for ourselves, how do we practice?  How can we attempt to move from "thinking about" into "living" or "being" spiritual?

JULY 31

I have always been both fascinated and curious by the concept of forgiveness. My interest has grown in recent years given my work as a therapist as often we are presented with the need to forgive others and ourselves for acts that have been done. I believe that it is such a complex term that we often speak about as if it is an easy and straight forward task but what does it actually mean?

Adult Religious Enrichment (ARE)

Sunday mornings July 10 & 24

Ethical Eating with Marcie Nagle

@ 9:00 in Emerson Place.

Childcare is available.

Clear Sky UU Meditation Group

9:20 – 9:50 am on Sundays

The meditation group has moved into the Spirit Play Room.  They are meeting at 9:20 am during the summer and returning to their 9:30 time in the fall when the two services start.  

The name of group is also changing to Clear Sky UU Meditation Group.  This change is to reflect the UU practice that we honor all spiritual traditions.  

The structure of the group will be determined each week by those attending.  The group practice is also changing to reflect the honoring of all traditions.  When the group meets, if a meditation leader steps forward that week, then they will lead the group in meditation.  If no leader steps forward and the participants want a leader, we will ask someone to volunteer to lead. This will enable others who have wanted to lead meditation to lead without feeling that they have to provide a Buddhist meditation.  It also allows those who follow Buddhist practices to lead others in this practice when they wish to do so.  Some meditations may be totally silent with no leader if the participants request this.  

We hope that these changes will encourage those who want to lead meditation and those who want to learn various meditation techniques to join us on Sunday mornings.

Dee Evans

A First Glance

 [With all the natural disasters occurring recently, this column from last June seemed appropriate for this June as well…]

I awoke on a Tuesday morning in May 2010 to a newscast reporting that several tornadoes had devastated Oklahoma City the previous evening.  I have friends at >First Unitarian Church there in that fair city and my first thought was to hope they had fared all right through the storms.

The next news story concerned the continuing failure of British Petroleum to staunch the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from their broken drilling rig.  The first gigantic dome they lowered into place over the spewing well had failed when liquid methane mixed in the oil froze and stopped up the contraption.  A new, smaller dome was being readied with the intent to inject more chemicals into the erupting oil in order to keep the methane from freezing when it reached the seawater.

Oh, great, I thought.  Millions of gallons of oil aren’t enough - now we’re pumping even more chemicals into the sea.

But that’s not all.  The third story, this one about a thousand-point drop in the Dow during a sixteen-minute period the previous Thursday, said no one knew what had caused the panic but that speculation centered on the possibility that someone somewhere had mistyped a number while performing a financial transaction - left off a couple or three zeros at the end of a billion dollars or so - and the resultant mistake had set off a frenzy of automated selling.  The Dow bounced back, but the underlying weakness hasn’t been fixed - it hasn’t even been found.

All that, and no mention of the attempted bombing of New York City’s Times Square nor of the Nashville flood.

Tornadoes, floods, man-made disasters, economic upheaval - it’s enough to make you believe the end-times are near!

In her book, A House for Hope, Rebecca Parker reminds us that such thinking falls prey to a destructive tradition of apocalypticism in this country, a tradition of placing one’s hope in a perfect future instead of doing the best we can today and staying focused on caring for each other and our world.

“We come to know the world as paradise,” says Parker, “when our hearts and souls are reborn through the arduous and tender task of living rightly with one another and the earth.  Generosity and mutual care are the pathways into knowing that paradise is here and now.  This way of living is not utopian.  It doesn’t spring from the imagination of a better world, but from a profound embrace of this world.  It brings hope home to today, to this moment and its possibilities for faithful love.”

None of us alone can hold back the floods, quiet the tornadoes, staunch the flow of oil, or fix the markets. But with a generosity of spirit, mutual care for one another, and a faithful love, we can know ourselves in paradise here and now.

See you in church,

Your Church Board

2011-2012 Church Year

(Please note that none of the Johnsons are related)

President –                 Sayer Johnson

President Elect –       Marty Moore Johnson

Past President –         Cheryle Tucker-Loewe

Secretary –                 Sarah Lazarz

Treasurer –                Jerry Johnson

Trustee –                   Jim Moore

Trustee –                   Don Allen

Youth Rep. –             TBA

Board meetings are held at 7 pm on the 2^nd Wednesday of each month and are open to members of the congregation.

          Chalice

            Circles

Fifty-Plus (50+) Chalice Circle – See Under Interest Groups

Renegade Women’s Chalice Circle will not meet in July.
Their next meeting will be Saturday, August 20 from 12:00 noon to 2 pm – At Church.

The discussion topic will be “transitions. ” – Contact: Beth Bourland.

Parents Seeking Peace Chalice Circle

Sunday, July 17 from – 11:30 am to 1 pm - Emerson Place at Church.

Contact: Diane Thompson or Sayer Johnson.

Belleville Chalice Circle

Thursday, July 21 at 7 pm – At the home of Jan and Don Allen in Belleville.
Contact: Don or Jan.

Men's Chalice Circle

Tuesday , July 26 at 7 pm – At Church.

Contact: Khleber Van Zandt .

The GLBT Chalice Circle

will not meet until August 28.

Look for them on facebook under “GBLT UU Chalice Circle - Alton, IL."

For updates on GBLT Chalice Circle topics, etc., please go to the website and join http://groups.google.com/group/stl-uu-lgbt-plus/topics.
Contact Layne A. Simpson for more information.

THE FIRST ANNUAL BEER-OFF

(fundraiser)

Saturday, July 2,

4 to 7 pm

Kate Wuerker Room

Bring what you believe is the “best” beer and enter it in the tasting for a chance to win!  Bring enough for the tasting party.  The entry fee is $10.  Tickets for beer tasting will also be sold at a minimal charge.  Grilled hotdogs will be available for a small donation.

More details will come out nearer the date and there will be a sign up sheet at church.  Only those 21 and older may participate in the tasting.  Nursery care will be available.

The Alton Fireworks begin around 9 pm with great viewing from the park next to the church.  Soft drinks and snacks will be sold prior to the fireworks.

Brynda & Willis McCoy, _____________

July 10

Linda VanZandt, Teri Brickey, & Melody Hardman

July 17

Lou Bailey, Mary Johnson, Nan & Neil Adams

July 24

Jennifer Timpe, ___________, & ____________

July 31

Megan & Ryan Wasoba, & ________________

Please see the sign up list at church or call the church office to volunteer.

Most people enjoy getting a card or email or phone call on their birthday.  Below is the list we have of church members and friends celebrating birthdays this month.  If you don’t think the church office has your birthday on file, please contact Becky Green at church@firstuualton.org) and give her that information.

7/01      WOLFF, Stacey

7/06      HASHIMI, Joan

7/08      OTT, Kay

7/09      KOCH, Jonah (10)

7/15      BERNEY, Paul

7/16      GRIPPI, Claire (4)

7/18      BLANTON, Dick

7/19      GIBBS, Katie

7/20      MCCARTHY, Kevin

7/21      REBMANN, Elise

7/21      TARBELL, Paula

7/22      PRADO, Kati (7)

7/23      CONNIFF, Dan

7/23      OLDT, Catherine (15)

7/23      SCHOENBORN, Veronica

7/24      HALLETT, Midge

7/24      MONDHINK, Irene

7/26      HEIL, Erin

7/26      JOHNSON, Lyric (4)

7/26      TUCKER-LOEWE, Cheryle

7/28      BAKER, Erkin

7/28      FISCHER, Patricia

7/29      MADISON, Grace

7/30      HOEFT, Alex (18)

7/30      SAKALAUSKI, Tom

Shoes Into Water

A Social Justice Project in September

http://www.shoeman.org/

This is just a “heads up” advisory that we will be collecting shoes at church in September to help in a clean water project for Kenya.  More details in next month’s newsletter.  So, when your kids get new school shoes, or you think you’ve got to get new shoes ‘cause yours are “too scruffy” – don’t put your old ones in the back of the closet – put them aside and plan to donate them to the “Shoeman” in September.

INTEREST GROUPS

Anna Ds Women’s Alliance

The Anna Ds will not meet in July or August.

The next meeting will be on Thursday, September 1, at the home of Corinne Hawkins.

Fifty-Plus (50+) Forum

Six months ago the Fifty-Plus (50+) Chalice Circle was formed, with the intention of meeting for six months and then evaluating what those attending regularly wanted to do about continuing.  At its June meeting the group decided to disband as a formal Chalice Circle and reinvent itself as the Fifty-Plus (50+) Forum.  This change will allow for a wider range of programming and will encourage more people to “drop in” to the meetings when they have the time.  The group will now be coordinated by Sandy Shaner, Pat Murrell, and Mona Hebert.  There will be no meetings during July and August.

The first meeting of the “new” Fifty Plusers will be on Saturday, the 3^rd of September from 10:30 am to noon, with the opportunity to continue the camaraderie by going to lunch together afterwards.  A big Thank You to Brynda and Willis McCoy for their leadership in getting the Fifty-Plus Chalice Circle started and facilitating its growth over these last six months.

Men’s Lunch Group

All Men in our Church Family are invited!

The Men’s Lunch Group will meet at 11:30 am on Thursday, July 14 at the St. Louis Buffet, 672 Wesley Dr., Wood River, IL.  Contact Dick Blanton for further details.

The Seekers – Book Group

July 27

The Seekers meet at 7 pm on the last Wednesday of each month to discuss whatever it is the group is reading for that month or ideas that come out of that reading.   The current book is “Blessed Unrest : How the largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World.”   The group is open to everyone … and you don’t have to have read the book to join in the discussion.   Join us in July and help choose the next book.

4^th Saturday Lunch – JULY 23^rd

Helping at our 4^th Saturday lunches are a way you can contribute your time and talent and also share a meal with people you might not otherwise ever meet.

Everyone has a story.  Come eat with our guests, learn about their stories, and share your stories with them.

We need everyone’s support in this ongoing social service program.  There will be a signup sheet in the Kate Wuerker for July’s meal.  Sign up to help or to bring food – or both.  Sign up early so those organizing the lunch won’t have to scramble at the last minute to get enough food. 

For the last couple months we’ve had 40 to 50 guests.

Coordinator:  July & August – Mary Johnson

Coordinator: September – Linda Van Zandt

Community

Outreach Offering

July’s Community Outreach Offering will be sent to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick, Maine that suffered heavy damage in an early morning fire on June 6.

This church is the one that Brynda and Willis McCoy’s daughter and her family attend.

The fire was due to faulty wiring in the church that was built in the mid-1880s.

The historic stained glass windows were shattered. However a historic Bible given to the church by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was salvaged.

The fire started on the first floor, and went up through the second floor to the roof of the church.  The front of the church suffered water and smoke damage. 

The UUAs Northern New England District has set up a relief fund to aid in the repairing and rebuilding of the church.  The congregation will not be able to meet in the sanctuary for a long time.  The roof will need replacing, the back of the church torn off, and the interior gutted.

The congregation plans to hold services for the time being in the town library.

http://www.uuworld.org/news/articles/184523.shtml

No Choir Rehearsals in July

Rest your voices and plan to join the choir when we start up again in August. 

Willis McCoy

Campfest 2011

 Looking Ahead to Summer
for First UU Alton!!

Love the great outdoors? Want to get to know your church community members better? Want to learn how to make a heck of a s’more?  Well, mark your calendars for the first Campfest!!  We have reserved a group camp at Pere Marquette State Park.  

Camp:  Ouatoga

Arrival:  7/29/2011 to Departure: 8/4/2011

Rustic cabins ... swimming pool ... community meals games … talent show … chalice circles … memories for a lifetime … more details soon.  Questions:  please contact Sayer Johnson.

A former long-time member of the church, Lucy McAneny,  passed away in May in Silver Spring MD where she had moved to live closer to her son.  Lucy joined the church in 1959 and over the years was very active in many church activities including the Anna Ds.

The Rev. Dr. John Hoad died on May 27, 2011 in Charleston SC where he and his wife Karen retired some years ago.  Dr. Hoad was a Leader Emeritus of the Ethical Society, serving there from 1980 to 1994.  For six years in the 1990s he preached at our church twice a month.  He was born in Barbados and educated at Cambridge.  He began his career as a Methodist minister and had churches in Guyana and Jamaica.    He moved to the U.S. in 1972 and earned a PhD in Pastoral Counseling and became part of the humanist Ethical Culture movement.

Summer RE Program Calendar