BUUF News – January 2014

Contents

Please Join Rev. Dana Worsnop and the Interim Minister Transition Team

Saturday, January 18 from 9-noon

Appreciative Inquiry Workshop: The Next Step Towards our Future

Adult Education for Spring 2014

We have new and continuing courses for life-long learning, spiritual growth and bulding community, from estate planning to Translyvanian cooking, the Path to Membership classes, ongoing meditation and yoga groups, ans salons and workshops co-sponsored with the Idaho Friends of Jung. The printer-friendly (PDF) version of the January newsletter includes the three page syllabus and registration form, or visit the Adult Education page to browse the offerings.

Looking Forward to 2014 – Program Ministry Council and You!

Cathy Carmen

What is ahead on the horizon for 2014 here at BUUF? Many, many good things. Here at the Program Ministry Council (PMC) many of our committees/groups have great visions of what's to come. Read along and see where you might fit into the fabric of our community.

The Landscape Committee looks forward to a smooth transition to new (yet-to-be-identified) leadership! (Note to congregation: Long time volunteers Mary Schwartzman, Jolene Schow and Barb Alexander are retiring from doing the manual labor. Might a party be on the horizon?)

The newly reorganized Fellowship Strand (under the talented leadership of Miriam Woito) is excited to offer us a Welcoming Committee AND Fellowship Connections. The first group works with newcomers who wish to be oriented to UUism in general and BUUF in particular offering a spectrum of introductory classes for the newbie and potential member alike. Then ALL of us will benefit from Fellowship Connections helping us all become better "linked in" with its effort to match BUUFer's interests, talents and time with the many and varied volunteer opportunities of our committees/groups. David Woito is heading up this effort. Stay tuned for more!

The Safety Team (headed up by Paul Schlobohm) anticipates new and improved preparedness for medical and fire emergencies at BUUF in the year ahead.

Finally, the Stewardship Team shepherded by the creative Judy Holcombe & Alan Schwartzman (that's right, Alan!) has plans to become inspired and trained in early January by Cecilia Kingman of the Pacific Northwest District of the Unitarian Universalist Association (PNWD of the UUA) on how to support a year-round concept of stewardship.

This is simply a sampling of what's ahead. Maybe it's time you asked yourself "What am I looking forward to here at BUUF?" The PMC is interested!

President's Message

"And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been." – Rainer Maria Rilke

January not only is the beginning of a new year, it marks the next step towards finding our settled minister. To be successful in this work, several committees are pursuing activities that will call our congregation members to action.

Sometime in January or February, Board members will begin the labor-intensive task to select a seven member committee that will search for our next settled minister. This committee will have the job of preparing a packet that describes our congregation, what we are looking for in a settled minister and will help see the new minister hired.

The process the Board will follow looks like this: each household will provide a few names of people they feel would best represent the congregation to serve on the committee. When all households have been contacted, the top 12-14 names will be compiled. The Board will contact these individuals to see if they are willing to serve on the committee. Finally, from those who say 'yes' (thank you in advance), a special congregational meeting will be called to present the ballot of candidates. BUUF Members will vote on four candidates. The Board will convene in executive session, count ballots and elect the top four. We will also select three additional people from the ballot to complete the seven member committee. At the following Sunday, we will recognize and thank these members for volunteering and celebrate!

The first step the Board will take is to contact every household to mine your thoughts about who should be on the Search Committee. We will ask one question: Who in the congregation would you trust to work on behalf of the whole congregation to select our next settled minister?"

What to be thinking about between now and when you receive a phone call:

Who do I feel represents and serves the whole congregation and can do so without bias? Don't forget the needs of our children!

Who works and plays well with others and can get tasks accomplished?

Who knows the history and culture of BUUF, whether old or new to the congregation?

Remember – we are in a time of change and working on creating a new identity – who is capable of holding this image to help us move forward?

The Board is also making slight adjustments in the way we communicate and share information. Starting January, members of the Board will be serving you coffee. This is a new practice we wish to start to better hear your thoughts and create community together.

"Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy New Year!
Robyn

In The Interim

Happy New Year to all!

By the time you read this we will have been through our first holiday season together from Deck the Halls to Solstice to Christmas Eve. It is a joy to be serving you. We have done good work together so far, and there is more to come.

As I have said, my work with you goes beyond naming the unacknowledged "elephants in the room," to "painting elephants." Because such elephants usually represent painful or challenging issues, it feels lighter and more whimsical to think of painting them bright colors and watching them dance around the room. Even so, such work often feels like dwelling in the harder places – more critical than affirming. Yes, you are a congregation that has its "issues," and yet you are fundamentally a healthy, strong and caring community who know how to work collaboratively and respectfully with a minister and leadership. The minister who you call in 2015 will be lucky indeed.

The interim time is one for dancing with your challenges and your strengths. So after painting a bunch of elephants, this month we undertake an Appreciative Inquiry process which starts with your strengths and builds upon them. (See more about the January 18 workshop below.) In short, Appreciative Inquiry is a process of evaluating an organization not by its deficits and weaknesses, but by its strengths and gifts.

It is an interactive group process that starts with the simple sharing of stories and experiences of this congregation at its best. Then it seeks to tease out the underlying shared values and aspirations from these stories.

Eventually, it will help you dream about how you can develop what you already do well and live into your fondest dreams. Appreciative Inquiry leads to creating a vision of who you can be at your best. It is intended to be an aspirational vision and yet achievable. It is meant to stretch you – a little or a lot – but not be pie-in-the-sky unrealistic.

This is important work you undertake, and I very much hope you can be there on Jan. 18. The thoughtful, creative and dedicated Interim Transitions Team is concocting another engaging event. (Talk to anyone who attended the History Workshop for testimonials.) I will be moderating the workshop and you will be doing the sharing, the dreaming, the aspiring.

The most attractive quality for a congregation in search for a minister is self-awareness. You already know who you are, mostly, and you know who you want to be, mostly. You know what you're good at, and you know what you have to work on. So these two years interim years are about dancing with your strengths and challenges as well as all those elephants. And it's about dreaming a little (or a lot).

You have so much going for you – so many good things you have already done well together. Yes, you have ways you can grow, old habits to break open, policies and processes to rethink, and at your foundation is so much health and love and devotion to the church.

What fun we have ahead! See you Jan. 18!

dana

Mid-Winter Religious Exploration Family Fun Festival

Your RE Team is sponsoring a family gathering on Sunday, January 12 after second service. After the holidays, when it's cold outside, we'll have engaging and creative indoor activities – quiet and not so – along with food, fun and fellowship. Please bring your favorite winter food to share and we'll provide hot cider and hot cocoa. For further updates, keep your eyes on the weekly orders of service and on the Religious Exploration at BUUF Facebook page. Like us and find out all about what's going on in our classrooms and beyond!

The Gift of Change

Emmie Schlobohm, Director of Religious Exploration (DRE)

During these interim years, while we reflect on who we've been, who we are and who we'd like to be in our future, we adults pay attention to how we feel in the moment and care for each other as we do this essential work together. While that is important, I would also invite you to pay special attention to how our children and youth might be feeling during this time of change and transformation. Change can feel strange and uncomfortable, especially when, for some of our young people, this congregation and its familiarity is the only community where they feel safe and loved by others besides their families.

As Fred (Mr. Rogers) Rogers said when talking about beginnings and endings of things in our lives,

"... My hope for all of us is that 'the miles we go before we sleep' will be filled with all the feelings that come from deep caring – delight, sadness, joy, wisdom – and that in all the endings of our lives, we will be able to see the new beginnings."

Over the next couple of years, we will have several minor and major changes in our congregational life here - endings and new beginnings. May we care deeply for and pay attention to each other, young and older, and live in all those vital feelings together.

Would you like your child to light our chalice?

Every Sunday morning, children from our beloved community are a part of our worship tradition. A big part of that involvement is to be a chalice lighter. Our chalice lighters are 5 years old or older and registered in Religious Exploration. (Registration forms are available in the classrooms, in the information center in the north vestibule, and from Emmie.) The sign-up sheet for chalice lighters can be found on the table in the hospitality area by the coffee after services. One of our Worship Service Coordinators will contact you to confirm your participation.

Pick a special day like a birthday or pick a day when the whole family can be a part of the worship service. Sign-ups for all worship tasks are organized by date and located in the hospitality/coffee area.

Lighting the chalice for the first time is a very special event in a child's life. Rev. Dana and Emmie cherish their time with new chalice lighters and love to get to know them better and introduce them to the congregation. First time chalice lighters are recognized and introduced to the congregation on Sundays when Rev Dana and Emmie are here in the fellowship. Questions? Please contact Emmie Schlobohm, your Director of Religious Exploration at 658-1710.

Great Magnitudes of Gratitude to the Delightful "Deck the Halls CrUU"!

The merry mayhem of Deck the Halls was a fun-filled kickoff to the winter holidays and a joyous celebration of all things BUUF and the spirit of winter! I would like to offer my special thanks to Mike Lemieux and Debra Smith and all of our Religious Exploration teacher/guides and advisors who spent the last few weeks creating and crafting all the happiness and merriment of our Deck the Halls weekend. And particular thanks to Mary Schwartzman who, once again, led our sing-along with grace and enchantment.

Saturday's ornament and trimming workshop was warm and wonderful and amazing! It was expertly guided by Kristin Bergeson and other members of the RE Team and their families with special contributions from Jen Grush-Dale. May your winter be warm and your hearts full during this holiday season! For those of you who enjoyed our joyous kick-off, please take some time to thank these fine folks for all their heart work and dedication!

TRANSITIONS

Standing here, looking ahead: Report from Interim Ministry Transition Team

Jeanette Ross

New and old BUUF attendees, members and friends, nearly sixty of us, gathered to summarize our experiences for our lively History workshop. Some posted comments were personal, some institutional (a funny word to use for a Fellowship). We shared in groups, then contributed highlights and concerns, the steps forward and the unresolved, on an actual time line. Here is some of what we discussed.

• Joys with continuing benefits to all of us include marriages and families finding us and then finding reason to linger and contribute. A related concern: how do we nurture both children and their parents? How do we identify and use the talents of newcomers, of those who have not yet led us?
• The effort to find and build on our present site is on some minds, while a few noted that many love our unique landscaping while far fewer devote the energy needed to maintain it.
• Some long-timers look back and see how loyalty to the staff and each other (a good thing, of course) can lead to reluctance to share, publicly at least, conflicts and misunderstandings. Suggested response: find ways to discuss important subjects in ongoing ways, not saving grievances or conflict points until our annual meetings.
• How do we portion and use our limited space? We can talk about it, for starters.
• How do we pay for what we want to do here?
• Encouraging the new: our Program Ministry Council, coordinating and assisting our many committees and groups, is working on plans to assist with leadership development.

Going forward, the IM Transition Team is looking to supplement what we can do with our own resources with expert help from the UUA and the many other churches and fellowships who have dealt with similar issues. Communication failures of several kinds benefit from better preparation and understandings between us. Covenants of Right Relationship are a proven way of meeting and agreeing, before crises emerge, how to relate to each other in difficult moments.

Our next step, though, is Appreciative Inquiry, a workshop from the field of organizational development, meant to help us work toward a new way to see who we are, how we can move ahead—and toward a goal we will name together. We can DREAM of what might be, DISCOVER the possible, DESIGN this together, and then begin the serious work of CREATING what can be.

Here's your start for Appreciative Inquiry, an all-congregational experience at BUUF January 18, 9am to noon. Consider your favorite memories here: what happened, what part did you play? What did you carry away?

COMMITTEES

Fellowship Strand

Miriam Woito

We have some exciting changes to the Stewardship Strand newly named Fellowship Strand. The Fellowship Connections Team has been split into two new committees. The Welcoming Committee will welcome and support newcomers who enter our doors from inquiry and along the pathway to membership. The new Fellowship Connections Team will seek to make opportunities for involvement in BUUF known and easily accessible to all who wish to connect with others at BUUF in meaningful ways. And the Stewardship Team will redefine what Stewardship means in our congregation as an ongoing committee.

Thank you to David Woito who will chair the Fellowship Connections Team and Judy Holcombe who will chair the Stewardship Team. We are seeking a new leader for the Welcoming Committee. If you would like to be involved in any of these committees or become a chair of the Welcoming Committee please contact me if you are interested! Miriam Woito, 208 890-6074 or miriamwoito.nix@xgmail.com

From the new "Fellowship Connections Team"

David Woito

Becoming connected in a meaningful way, sharing your time and talents with others, being part of something bigger than just you...have you been wondering, "How can I connect, make a difference and be a better me at BUUF"?

Well the good news is that the NEW "Fellowship Connections Team" is here to help you answer these questions. Currently we are working with congregation members, committees, and affinity groups to identify opportunities within the congregation for people to get involved and connect with others. We are gathering lists of ongoing as well as many specific one-off opportunities to volunteer. Have you been dreaming up an exciting new small group activity and are just wondering how to attract like-minded individuals, let us know! We are collecting ideas for new small group ministries and affinity groups. After all the collecting of information and ideas we will be letting you know in lots of ways so, look for us in late January! Contact David Woito, 208 761-0082 or dave.woito.nix@xhp.com">

JUSTICE OUTREACH

An Interfaith Gathering for Reflections on Women

Thursday, January 16, 7:00pm
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
6200 Garrett St., Garden City, ID

Come share in an hour of songs, words, sacred texts, and simple rituals from throughout our interfaith community. Light refreshments following.

Questions? Call Rev. Dana Worsnop (658-1710) or Jay Wechselberger (871-3765)

Sponsored by Healing Our Future, an interfaith organization with representatives from many local faith communities. BUUF hosts these events four times each year. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

January Plate Partner: Boise/Mészkő Annual Scholarship Fund

Gwyn Reid

For the third year, thanks to the generosity of members and friends of our fellowship, we will be able to fund scholarships for roughly half the tuition and expenses to help the youth of our partner congregation in Mészkő fund their college educations.

Education is one long-term strategy to break out of the cycle of poverty, but going to college means paying tuition and expenses of approximately $850 per year. This is beyond the reach of many families in Mészkő.

The Boise Partner Church Committee hopes to be able to continue to subsidize expenses for qualifying students of the Mészkő congregation. A scholarship committee consisting of three members from Boise and three board members from Mészkő collaborate to determine who has met the eligibility requirements of the scholarship. The Mészkő subcommittee provides periodic reports, and accounting for the expenditures under the scholarship fund.

Students receiving the scholarships are responsible for maintaining passing grades and provide a recap of the year. After graduation, and after attaining employment, every student is expected to pay back to the fund 20% of the total scholarship amount (over a five year period). This will help to ensure that future students will have the same opportunities.

For the past two school years, the scholarship fund helped to support four students: Júlia Halmágyi (kindergarten and elementary education), Emóke Novák (English and Spanish), Balázs Petho (Physical Education), Éva Szél (Library and Information Science). This year, Emóke and Júlia will be continuing their studies and Mária Terézia Nagy is beginning her studies (Nursing).

Twenty-five percent of BUUF's unpledged January plate offering will go to the Boise/Mészkő Annual Scholarship Fund. You can designate all of your donation to go to the fund by writing "Outreach" on the memo line of your check.

Mark the Date for "Influencing Public Policy" Speaking Event

Sue Philley

TransForm Idaho will sponsor a program by David Adler, director of the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University, where he holds an appointment as the Cecil Andrus Professor of Public Affairs. His topic, "Influencing Public Policy," will be presented Monday, January 27, 2014, from 5:30 p.m. in the legislators' dining room, located in the West Atrium Wing of the Capitol in Boise. This event is co-sponsored by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the League of Women Voters, and the American Association of Retired People (AARP). The event is free and open to all. Refreshments will be served. If you would like to volunteer to help create this event, please contact Chris Stokes at (208) 286 7694 or (208) 283 2580, or email her at chris60plus.nix@xgmail.com.

ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

What's in a Name?

Jeanette Ross

What were we told, what can we guess or trace back? Sunday December 15 (still ahead as I write this) we will share what we know—family names, family lore, our given name, nicknames and pseudonyms. Bonus: what do you call yourself? How do you feel about labels relating to the current state of faith or doubts?

I'll share one story already shared by one of the regulars. Dan's grandfather was an immigrant from eastern Europe, working on a crew in the New England area, when a supervisor mentioned that he was about to quit, and would this hard working employee under him like to take the job? Yes, yes, and so Dan's grandfather stepped right into the vacancy. Only one problem: the paycheck arrived in the previous supervisor's name. Grandfather explained the problem and was given the check but after numerous efforts the checks continued to be provided in the name of the previous employee. The solution: the family simply changed its name.

Join us for our next third Sunday meeting, January 19, 11:15 in the library.

BUUF Bunco and Potluck

Wanda Jennings

Come To a Fun Social Evening for our Second Saturday Potluck

Saturday, January 11 at 6:00 at BUUF

We will be Playing Bunco!

Bunco is a fun dice game of chance with opportunities to get acquainted. Newcomers and Oldcomers are especially invited to come and meet each other across the dice tables.

It is easy to learn and takes no skills!

Prizes will be awarded!

Bring your own plates and utensils and label your potluck dish. Consider bringing a vegetarian dish.

Activities for Children available

For more information contact Wanda Jennings at 362-7563 or desertfox4.nix@xcableone.net.

Women on The Verge

The Women on the Verge group would like to welcome and invite women to an open meeting on February 20, 2014 at BUUF in the Balzac Room at 7:00 pm.

Please contact Diana Borrero-Lowe at 208 424-5143 if you are interested in developing a friendship with like-minded women with similar values in an atmosphere of trust.

Sage New Year

Tom von Alten

The BUUF Sages start our new season of 2nd and 4th Thursdays on January 9. Join us as Patrick and Jolene Schow share their recent river cruise along the Rhine, Main, and Danube. From Amsterdam to Budapest, they visited Netherland's windmills, Germany's fairytale castles and charming towns with historic churches and picturesque vineyards, floating through Austria's Wachau Valley, Slovakia and Hungary, 67 locks and under bridges dating from the 1100's.

The show starts at 9:30 am (come a little early to settle in and order breakfast, if you like). All are welcome! Contact Tom von Alten at 378-1217 or tva.nix@xfortboise.org for more information or to be added to our reminder list. We'll meet on January 23, too; topic TBD, but something interesting. Watch the announcements.

Travel Group visits Wales

Karen Raese

In the 8th century, King Offa of Mercia built, or rather conscripted his subjects to build, an earthwork along much of the border between present day England and Wales. The assumption is that it was meant to keep the Welsh out of Mercia. In 1971 the Offa's Dyke Footpath was opened, the fourth of at least 15 national foot trails in England and Wales. Mary McGown walked the entire path from the Irish Sea to the Bristol Channel. On Friday, January 24 at 7:00pm at BUUF, Mary will share pictures and stories about her walk through the wind swept moors, grassy pastures and picturesque villages. One of the highlights was learning how to pronounce Welsh place names – can you pronounce Llangollen?

We look forward to having you join us for fellowship and a fun adventure on Offa's Dyke Footpath. Contact Karen Raese (853-3865) if you have questions or to share your travels near or far.

The Other Book Club

Come join us for lively discussion on books and other topics. We meet on the second Sunday of the month from 7 to 8:30 PM.

We will not gather in January due to the anticipated icy, snowy and generally hoarded road conditions at this time of year.

February 9th we will be discussing Notes from the Sand, by Jeffrey Neil Simon. We will meet at the home of Mindy Arnold, 7790 West Devonwood Dr., Boise, ID 83714. RSVP at 853-2337.

March 9th we will be discussing A Street Cat Named Bob, by James Bowen. We will meet at the home of Carol Wilke, 5186 E Trail Wind Dr., Boise, 761-1769. Please bring reading ideas for the next 4-5 months.

April 13th we will be discussing Delta Wedding, by Eudora Welty. This is a joint meeting with The Classics Book Group. We will meet at BUUF in the Junior High Room (Channing)

If you'd like to receive our emails, let me know at erins4960.nix@xmsn.com

Happy Reading.

Welcome to Harn

Have you ever wanted to try Fantasy Role-Playing? If so, then the BUUF Gaming Affinity Group needs you! Welcome to Harn - a rough, hazy, forested island known for its foul weather, murky politics, barbarian tribes, mages and mysterious ruins of long-vanished peoples. Oh, and let's not forget the monsters created by the god Ilvir, who is said to live on the Isle. Finally, there are the many races on Harn - the Khuzan (Dwarves), Sindarin (Elves), Humans, the various Gargun (Orc) species...and others. Harn is not an easy place to live. Can you not only live there, but become a Hero? Join us and find out.

Harn starts Monday, January 6. Please call or e-mail Hawk Silverthorn for details - 208-639-9812 or daelda.nix@xcableone.net.

A Fiery New Year

On Sunday, January 5, we will have a Fire Communion service. This will be a time to let go of things from the past year, literally by burning them away using a very nifty medium called "flash paper" which flares up brightly and then disappears in a poof leaving no smoke or ash. Then we will invite the New Year in by considering what new energies and attitudes we wish to welcome and embrace in the next twelve months. Rev. Dana Worsnop brings us this new communion service which she first experienced at her internship congregation in Toronto, Ontario in Canada. Come prepared to flare up like flame, to let go and be open to what is yet to come.

Game Night sure is fun!

We played Guillotine, Killer Bunnies, and Once Upon a Time. Come play board/card games on the First Friday of the New Year, January 3 at 7 pm, in the Balazs room, South Wing, BUUF.

Exploring Pagan/Nature Spirituality:

Come join us as we continue to explore the wisdom of the ancients, ancient continuing pagan religions, and reverence for Nature, Friday, January 10, 7 pm, Channing Room, South Wing, BUUF.

Seeking Knowledgeable People

We are looking for folks who are knowledgeable about and/or practicing various forms of any earth/nature tradition or paganism (such as Australian Dreamtime, Hawaiian Huna, Celtic Druidism, HIndu, Eastern European, Native American, etc.) to share their knowledge and hopefully lead in an experience in that tradition at future meetings of Exploring Pagan/Nature Spirituality. You need not be an "expert"! Please contact group facilitator Debbie Espen at debbieespen.nix@xyahoo.com

Coincidences & Synchronicities:

Have you experienced them? What can it mean? Does it mean anything? Is there such a thing as Luck? Come share and discuss this topic at Fringe Topics Discussion, on the 4th Thursday (instead of the usual 3rd Thursday), Jan. 23, 7PM, Channing Room, South Wing, BUUF.

Speaker: Living in the Holy Land

Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) will meet on Saturday, Jan. 25, 7PM, in the Channing Room, South Wing, BUUF. Tentatively scheduled: a Speaker telling about living for several years in Israel, and what she experienced there.

Share the Ride

Submitted by Amy Stinnett

Are you in need of a ride to BUUF?

Do you regularly attend and have room in your car for an extra person or two?

Please email and let us know! We will try to match up those who need rides with a fellow BUUF'er who lives close by and is willing to share the ride.

Email your name, phone, and address, along with which service you attend to Rideshare.nix@xboiseuu.org or contact the BUUF office at 658-1710.

What's Your Name?

Wanda Jennings

We have new people at BUUF all the time who do not know your name. Also, our new Interim Minister, Dana Worsnop is trying to learn your name.

You can help by ALWAYS wearing your name tag! If you forget your name tag, make a temporary one at the Newcomer Cart.

You can also help by stating your name when you speak into the microphone when introducing folks during the welcoming and when you speak during joys and sorrows.

Everyone thanks you for your effort in helping us to learn "What's Your Name"!

OUR LARGER UU COMMUNITY

PNWD Assembly set for March in Spokane

Bryan Jennings

The Pacific Northwest District of the Unitarian Universalist Association will hold its annual Assembly on March 14, 15 and 16, 2014 in Spokane. Those of you who attended the Assembly sponsored by BUUF here in Boise a few years ago know what a fun and inspirational event this can be. This year's Assembly will be a little different, as it will be built entirely around the theme of "Love Beyond Belief," presented by Rev. Dr. Thandeka, a UU theologian, speaker, writer and educator. There will be large and small group activities, worship, music, and a special program for UU Youth. Activities begin Friday evening and run until noon on Sunday, with several meals included. Information regarding cost, online registration, lodgings, and transportation will be available soon. You can learn more from the PNWD web site or talk to Bryan Jennings.

Grow the Flame ... Be a PNWD Chalice Lighter

There are many good reasons to join this congregations-helping-congregations program in our Pacific Northwest District. Being a Chalice Lighter brings you the joy of watching your modest contribution multiply to a grant of $19,000 or more to support the growth of our liberal religion in our part of the country. Also very important is that being a Chalice Lighter you will help our congregation qualify for a Chalice Lighter grant. THE MORE OF US WHO TAKE THE CHALICE LIGHTER PLEDGE, THE MORE THE PROGRAM WILL HAVE TO OFFER GROWING CONGREGATIONS—INCLUDING OUR OWN FELLOWSHIP!

When you become a Chalice Lighter, each church year you will receive up to three call notifications. They will explain the purpose of the call and ask for your donation of at least $15. The grant must be used for the stated purposes, so you will always know exactly where your donation is going.

BUUF was a recipient of $9,125 in 1998 for improvements to our hearing- assisted sound system and for signage, and again in 2006 we were granted $16,000 for our new sanctuary flooring. To receive a grant, 30% of a congregation must be involved in the Chalice Lighter program as donors. When you do receive a grant, you also agree to keep that membership number at 30%. BUUF now has 47 active donors, and our 30% level requires 75 of our 250 members to be involved.

Please consider joining now to help other congregations as well as our own at some future time. You may contact Janet Wyke at jewyke.nix@xcableone.net to receive an enrollment card, or visit the PNWD website and enroll online.

Thanks to all of you loyal supporters of this program over the years and to new donors who step up to further the efforts of this terrific helping-hand organization within our District.