EverGreene
Reverend Elizabeth Greene is on Sabbatical until the fall. She will return to the office August 1 and to the pulpit Sunday, September 7.
This Month's Highlights:
Welcome Back Elizabeth! Join us August 24 for fun, food and a poetry slam
Register your kids for Religous Exploration: Now is the time to get your kids registered for the coming school year's journey through Religious Exploration.
Fall into Community Fun Fair: in the courtyard, Saturday, September 6, 7pm, a fun evening hosted by the Chalice Circles and the BUUF Social Groups. Entertainment, desserts and getting to know each other.
Chalice Circles: Find out what they have to offer and how to get involved.
SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, September 20
FEZSTIVAL!
Details in next month's issue.
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Sue Philley, Board President
Last month I wrote that the Board had increased staff hours to provide more complete office and Sunday music coverage. However, I didn't explain that we actually have much greater needs to fund staff and programs ($60,000-$100,000) and a larger vision than our budget allows us to implement at the moment! We need your input.
Would you like to see our office staffed five days a week, rather than part-time? Would you support a part-time assistant for Gerry Morris, so that she could attend to more administrative tasks that support committees? Would you join the Board in raising monies to fund our Director of Religious Education position at levels recommended by the UUA so that we are competitive in a national search process for a full-time DRE? We'd like to increase our custodial hours (needed due to increased building usage), pay a Building Steward, hire a ministerial intern to learn from and help Elizabeth in a range of program areas including Sunday Services, hire an Assistant for Religious Education (with 125 enrolled children, we need one), staff the office on Sunday, and our Board "list" goes on...
We'd like to know YOUR vision? What is on your "list"? How generous can you be in supporting, planning, and funding these exciting opportunities? We Board members would like to hear from you! UUA Consultant, Larry Wheeler, also wants to hear from you (as many of us as possible) during BUUF's Visioning/Planning weekend, September 12-14. Please mark your calendars and plan to join in discussion sessions and social activities on Saturday, the 13. Note: at least one member from each Committee and Group at BUUF is asked to attend one meeting to plan the Visioning weekend. This will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, August 11. Please call me if you can attend. (208-340-9450 cell)
Did you know that our Chalice Circles have doubled in number during the last year? Hats off to Wanda Jennings for working with Chalice Circle leaders and social groups to organize our first Fall Into Community Fun Fair at BUUF on Saturday, September 6 from 7 to 9 pm to celebrate all the many ways that we connect and grow at BUUF! If you have thoughts about a Chalice Circle or social group you'd like to join or start, please speak with Wanda.
Another exciting BUUF happening was the excellent turnout recently for the Habit for Humanity "Green Build" planning meeting! It is inspiring to see so many of us Boise UU's matching our actions with our values; i.e. "living" our faith.
We also put our faith into action by joining as Members and making a financial pledge to the Congregation. If you are a Friend or would like to get more involved at BUUF, watch for the fall lineup of membership activities including Sunday morning chats (non-newcomers, please drop in to meet newcomers!), New UU classes, and "joining" Sundays where your commitment to our liberal religious community can be officially recognized by the Congregation. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday!
RELIGIOUS EXPLORATION
First Day of Fall Religious Education Classes
Karen Raese, Co Director of Religious Exploration
The first day of the 2008-2009 program year and of children's Religious Education will be Sunday, September 7. We are busy planning! Come see what's happening and bring your children and youth to join the fun! Religious Education Classes for children preschool age through grade 6 will be offered again this year at both the 9:00 and 11:00 services. Programming for Junior and Senior High youth will be offered at 11:00.
Register Your Children for Religious Education Classes
Karen Raese, Co Director of Religious Exploration
As you prepare for back to school and back to BUUF, please take time to register your children for Religious Education (RE). Please return one form per child, including nursery aged children. If you registered your children for RE last year you will automatically receive registration forms in the mail. Additional forms will be available in the BUUF information rack in the north vestibule or on the BUUF website. Your quick response will allow us to make plans to accommodate all our children and youth. Scholarships are available so do not let the registration fees keep you from registering your children. Registration allows us to contact you and your children about events at BUUF, special classroom activities and helps us to know your children.
Coming of Age is ...Coming!
Cathy Carmen, Co-DRE
In our Unitarian Universalist tradition one of the rights of passage for our youth is the Coming of Age Program. This is offered to our Jr. High aged youth, entering grades 7-9, to have them consider some of life's larger questions such as; what is the nature of good and evil, what do some of the other faith traditions have to say about this and other important matters and finally, what do I believe? From September—April youth are paired with an adult mentor to consider these kinds of questions and perform a community service project together. The group also has monthly meetings with one of the Directors of Religious Exploration, Cathy Carmen and the minister, Elizabeth Greene. All of this culminates in the youth creating a personal credo or statement of faith which is shared with the BUUF community at a Coming of Age worship service on May 10,, 2009. If you or your child is interested in taking part in the Coming of Age Program this next year, please contact Cathy Carmen at 658-1710 after August 12.
Children's Religious Education and You
Karen Raese, Co Director of Religious Exploration
Children's Religious Education (RE) at BUUF is essentially a cooperative effort. We rely upon the generosity of parents, grandparents and congregational members to guide or teach classes, advise youth groups, provide nursery care and assist in the classrooms. The Co-Director's of Religious Education provide support, training, lessons and program materials. Please consider how you might share your talents with us. Applications are being accepted for those who would like to work with our RE program as classroom teachers or guides or youth advisors. Please contact Karen Raese or Cathy Carmen, Co Directors of Religious Education.
All families of children and youth in RE will be asked to participate in the program. This year there will be a new and improved method for signing up to assist in the classroom. Please watch for more details.
Boston Bound Informational Meeting
Cathy Carmen, Co-DRE
All youth entering 7-9 grade and their parents are invited to attend an informational meeting about the proposed trip to Boston, MA in the summer of 2009 on Sunday, September 21 at 12:30. This trip was created by Jennifer Thomas, a former Director of Religious Exploration, as a way for UU's here in the Treasure Valley to explore the larger Unitarian Universalist movement and connect with UU's in other parts of the country. It is our hope in RE to continue the tradition. This special project takes the full program year, September —June, to plan, organize and raise funds for, so come ready to fill your minds and hearts with a vision of how to make it all happen. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Cathy Carmen at 658-1710 after August 12.
COMMITTEES
Stroll around BUUF's incredible grounds
Before you leave for home after a Sunday service, take time to experience the wondrous out-of-doors and special areas that lay outside our doors. There is much to see and savor. In the next few issues of BUUF News, we would like highlight our landscape features, giving you a sense of their history and how the can be enjoyed.
Once upon a time (as all good stories begin), there were some very Wise People who looked at the newly purchased four and a half acres destined to become BUUF's new home and decided that there should be a Master Plan. It would incorporate the aesthetic, environmental and recreational elements to complement the educational and spiritual program of BUUF. With the intrepid Mary Schwartzman at the helm of the new Landscape Committee, members Barb Alexander, Maureen Cunningham, and Jolene Schow carefully researched, planned and collaborated with landscape designers and architects to develop that plan. Then came the actual physical work. The initial building was constructed with the landscape crew's working in areas that would not be impacted by future construction. And future construction there was. The last section to be completed was the education wing and with it, the need to move plantings from their former location to their present home. The wisdom, foresight and generosity of love, spirit and resources of these dedicated people had served BUUF well. And so it continues to this day with an expanded committee—one which always welcomes new faces and willing hands.
On a sad note, it is only after repeated incidents of vandalism in The Grove, that the Board approved the erection of a security fence and access gates on our border on Chelan St. and the posting of 'Private Property—No Trespassing Signs' near the Children's Play area, The Pasture and along Chelan St. It is such a painful 'un-UU' action, necessary because of the thoughtless acts of a few. It was always a pleasure to see people walking around enjoying the various areas. Even enlisting the help of local students to help safeguard our grounds was for naught. So we enter a new phase of caring for the place we love.
The next issue will feature the landscape which borders Garrett Street Grove.
SOCIAL ACTION
Foster Care of Idaho to Receive the July and August Plate Offerings
Foster Care of Idaho will be the recipient of the July and August plate offering. Funds collected will help to purchase bikes, scooters, backpacks, a swing set for the waiting area, and passes to local attractions. Twenty-five percent of the non-designated plate offering and 100% of checks that are marked "outreach" will go to Foster Care of Idaho.
Boise Habitat for Humanity Goes Green And You Can Help!
The Boise Valley Habitat for Humanity is working toward being certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System which encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices.
Two years ago the Senior High Youth helped this Fellowship raise $5,000 to contribute to the building of two Green homes being built by the Boise Valley Habitat for Humanity and we presented the money to them in June. We welcome other contributions to this worthwhile project.
Our own Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship has a Green Sanctuary Team coordinating these efforts. BUUF has been given the following 2 dates for 10 to 15 workers: Saturday, August 2 and Saturday, Sept. 6. If you can work only during the week there will be some openings for individuals on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Students 16 to 18 years of age can work if accompanied by parents.
See Wanda Jennings to sign up or contact her at 362-7563 or desertfox4@cableone.net.
Thanks for the School Supplies
Kristen Raese
Back from a two week Girl Scout trip to Ecuador, I would like to give my thanks to those who contributed school supply donations. The school I was able to give them to was very thankful for your generosity. The trip in itself was an experience to remember. Most of our time was spent in Quito helping out at various schools. For a two day adventure, we stayed in the jungle. Thank you again for all of the donations!
BUUF ACTIVITIES & EVENTS
It's Time to Welcome Elizabeth Back ...with a poetry "slam"!
Please make plans to attend the welcome back celebration for our dear minister on Sunday, August 24 in the Fellowship's courtyard, beginning at 5 p.m. Bring the whole family because dinner will be served, and fun will be served up!
We'll begin with an "augmented" potluck. We'll provide the teriyaki barbequed chicken, baked potato bar, lemonade, and other beverages to purchase. You bring a salad and your potluck plates and utensils. We'll take care of the cake and ice cream.
Now the fun part: We are sponsoring a haiku/limerick contest! [Get it? Japanese haiku (teriyaki) and Irish limericks (potatoes)?] You know Elizabeth loves poetry, right? Well, what better way to welcome her back than to "roast" her with funny and light-hearted verse? Your job is to submit a limerick or a haiku in her honor (or you can make light-hearted fun of UU's in general). Submit your limerick or haiku ahead of time, along with a $4.00 fee (to help defray the costs of the meal) and we'll put you on the schedule for the poetry reading.
Drop off your poem and payment in the box at church, or mail it to Debra Smith, 12434 W. Red Spruce Drive, Boise, 83713.
Need help remembering how to write a haiku? It's 3 lines:
First, 5 syllables;
second, 7 syllables;
third, 5 syllables.
You know limericks: "There once was a girl from Nantucket..." The winners of the contest will share in a cash reward! So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, start your scribbling!
A Fun Social Evening
Want to join some of the many social activities at the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship? Come to our Fall into Community Fun Fair in the courtyard on Saturday, September 6, at 7:00 in the evening hosted by the Chalice Circles and the BUUF Social Groups.
We will have a fun evening of entertainment, desserts and getting to know each other. You will have a chance to talk to Chalice Circle leaders, the knitters group, and our book clubs. You might find some friends to start a new Women on the Verge group or a new Chalice Circle group, a bowling club, a singles group, a young adult fun group, or any other social group you would like to have at BUUF. Some of the Chalice Circles include Single Parents, Phoenix Rising Health and Healing, Curious Explorers, Cool Group, the Eggheads, Men's Group, and the Saturday Morning Group. Child care will be available.
For more information contact Wanda Jennings at 362-7563 or
Remember Your Water!
Don't forget, during your summer travels, to take a small container with you to collect water samples from the various places you visit. Why? Because on Sunday, September 7, we will be celebrating our Water Communion: the Mingling of the Waters, when we pour our containers of collected water into a communal bowl.
"We think the joining of the water is symbolic of the rejoining after being apart (and is) symbolic of our sharing faith coming from several different sources. This is our holy water, so to speak," says UU Rev. Craig Roshaven.
So don't forget to collect water and to bring it with you to BUUF on September 7!
August Sages
Tom von Alten
The Senior Sages will be potluck for our first meeting in August: join us for a Sage Breakfast Picnic at Chuck & Dorothy Hansen's house, 2415 Eldorado (off Northview near Cole). We'll gather there in the cool shade of a summer morning on Thursday, August 14 at 9:30am.
On August 28, Gary Richardson will be our guest, with tales and slides from his visit to Vietnam this year, back at our regular venue, the Kopper Kitchen (2661 Airport Way). We share friendly conversation over a no-host breakfast, and all are welcome, with no reservation. Call Tom von Alten, 378-1217, for more information, or to be added to our email or telephone reminder list.
BUUF Mamas
Okay you moms out there. Do you feel like you need a break from your kids and a chance to laugh, dine, imbibe and enjoy time with other BUUF moms, especially those with small children? Well, then we are the group for you! Join us for BUUF Mom's Night Out. Our next dinner is scheduled on August 26, which starts our regular monthly schedule of the *last Tuesday of every month*. So mark your calendars! The location varies from month to month, so RSVP to Sally Grimes at 860-6370 or . This has been such a great success that is now a regular event, so even if you can't make it to our dinner let us know if you'd like to be added to the email list for future dinners.
The Other Book Club
The Other Book Club will not meet in August. Our first meeting of the fall is September 14 at 7pm Erin Logan's house, 1702 Ridenbaugh Street in Boise, when we'll discuss The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Take some time this summer to enjoy this novel, then join us in September to talk about it. Hope to see you there.
The Game of Living Humanely
BUUF's humanist group is holding a play-day for their regularly scheduled meeting, August 13. They will gather informally for chat at 11am, engaging in the theme of the day at 11:15, in the north wing of BUUF. Two or three games reflecting our shared values will be available for play including one developed by regular participant Al Null, and "The Immigration Game" based upon life experiences of recent US immigrants. If you have a favorite, bring it along.
Start planning now to attend our September meeting, to help us plan the upcoming year.
For more information, contact Jeanette Ross or Paul Rolig. Contact Rick Groff to get on the reminder list.
The Luckiest People
Debbie Espen
I get it now. Elizabeth preached on it back in September but it didn't click right away.
She explained her previous aversion to the words of the song People, (wondrously sung by Barbra Streisand): People who need people are the luckiest people in the world. Like Elizabeth, I too felt the lyrics to be, well, needy. But I (and Elizabeth) liked Streisand's voice so much that it didn't matter. Goodness knows, none of us wants to be perceived as needy.
But Elizabeth includes the lines each Sunday, "Grant us the wisdom to know how much we need each other." Huh.
It's all about being human. We are social animals. We do need each other. And whaddaya know, because we need each other we are, indeed, lucky. Why? Because having the need met is so gosh-darned wonderful.
Until I started getting that need fulfilled here at BUUF I hadn't realized how lonely and, yes, needy, I was. The more I allowed myself to get involved, to open myself to others, to help and to be helped, the luckier I felt. And the icing on the cake is the Chalice Circles.
Chalice Circles are for all of you lucky needy people out there. Chalice Circles give us the opportunity to make connections, to build friendships, to bond, to share, to laugh and to grow together. It's lucky to need these people, because the rewards to the human soul and life are so wonderful.
Don't be afraid to admit your need. And don't be afraid to look into participating in a Chalice Circle. We who are already in a group will feel lucky to be able to need you.
Attendance at the BUUF Chalice Circles is currently about 80! Some of the Chalice Circles are listed in the box below.
More groups form as needed. If you would like to facilitate a group contact Wanda Jennings (info above)
Chalice Circles
Curious Explorers. Meets First Sundays at BUUF. Contact Wanda Jennings, 362-7563, New members welcome!
Phoenix Rising: Health & Healing Meets 3rd Sundays at BUUF. Contact Mitchel Bethel, 695-7412, New members welcome!
Saturday Morning Group. Meets 3rd Saturdays, 10 AM. Contact Julie Fanselow, 859-9006, .
Single Parents. Meets 2nd, 3rd & 4th Sundays at BUUF. Contact Lisa Johnson, 484-1797 . New members welcome!
1st Thursday Evening Egghead Group. Meets 1st Thursdays, 7PM. Contact Jay Wechselberger, 871-3765, .
Men's Group. Meets 1st & 3rd Tuesdays, 7PM. Contact Lee Stigile, 921-8433, . New members welcome!
Everyday Spirituality & Meaningful Rituals (The Cool Group) Meets 2nd & 4th Sundays at BUUF. Contact Carol Wechselberger, 871-2061, or Debbie Espen, . New members welcome!
Happy 80th Birthday, Mary Osterman
Mary Osterman, with a flair,
Finds new ways to show her care,
The Helping Hat she's always wearing,
It's incredible love she's sharing,
We all love her beautiful smiles.
Her family comes from Scottish Isles,
Sons and grandsons make her proud,
She brags a little; laughs out loud.
Thinking of others is her game,
Without her, BUUF would not be the same!
Happy Birthday, Mary!
