BUUF News – October 2014

Contents

FEATURED THIS MONTH: Beyond Categorical Thinking

The Ministerial Search Team

What IS a good minister? As our community embarks on the path to calling a new minister, we must take time to reflect on this fundamental question. As part of our shared path, on October 5th, we will host guests from the UUA Transitions Office to help us start this important time of reflection. Each of us has personal ideas about what a "good minister" might look like.

Sometimes those ideas have a "shorthand" that focuses on identities that we think explain exactly what a good minister is, but are not actually instructive or helpful in finding the best candidate for our congregation. Co-facilitators Jo Victoria and Gil Guerrero participate in this ministry of the UUA, and are devoted to helping congregations begin the process of finding the best choice. They will share their personal perspectives on the experience of identity, and how our understanding of identities impacts the ministerial search. After worship, we encourage everyone to attend the second part of their work: an interactive workshop entitled "Beyond Categorical Thinking" as we learn about the way that our personal experiences and biases can hinder us from finding the best minister for our congregation.

** Please plan to join us for the 9:30 or 11:15am service, stay for pizza lunch and then a workshop with Jo and Gil. Child care available with advance notice to any Search team member.

All Congregational Meeting - October 18

Roger Sherman, Board President

Mark your calendars for October 18. On that afternoon we will have a congregational meeting to talk about some of the directions we will be going during this year. I hope the idea of a fall congregational meeting, distinct from our annual meeting in the spring will become a tradition. After the meeting we will have a potluck to share in the bounty of the season and the fellowship of our congregation.

President's Message

Roger Sherman, Board President

What will we leave behind for future generations of BUUFers? That is a question that has been running around in my brain for awhile and that is an open question for all of us as we head into the congregational meeting on October 18th and beyond. What do you want as the legacy of this generation?

We are the current congregation of a church that has roots back to the earliest years of the 20th century in Boise, though our current Fellowship was started in the 1950's. We stand on the shoulders of folks who met in peoples' homes, in the YWCA, who bought a building on Pierce Park and outgrew it to build this building we now inhabit. They operated with a minister and without. They struggled over their opposition to the Vietnam War and protested nuclear weapons, stood for peace and human rights. They created a home for liberal religion, this free faith. BUUF was a refuge, as it is now for free thinkers, humanists and theists, heretics from less open religion, searchers and people looking for a spiritual home.

What will be our legacy?

Jo and David Douglas, two of our BUUF forebears and most recently, Besse LaBudde, left us generous gifts. What is our responsibility to their memories? While the Douglas' did not stipulate how their money should be used, Besse asked that it be used for something permanent—building a sanctuary or starting an endowment most specifically. They left it up to us to decide what is most important to us and future generations.

We have some tremendous collective physical assets: our lovingly cared for grounds with manicured gardens and the rare and distinct grove of poplars fed by one mother tree. The little Transylvanian style bridge that leads to Jeremiah's Adventure Garden with its mazes and water feature. We have an acre of land that is often called the "Chelan property" that abuts the grove and was purchased to be used in the future for a parking lot, for a community garden or for some plan that has not yet been devised. And of course we have our building that is used for worship and religious exploration classes on Sundays, church and community meetings in the evenings during the week, periodic ceremonies like weddings and funerals. How else might we use the building and grounds to further our goals and values?

And of course our greatest asset is, well, us: the volunteers who teach our children, make coffee, clean up, care for the sick and well, care for those grounds, and go out in the community to stand up for human rights and minister to those left out. How do we best nurture our own spirits to inspire us to go out and do good in this world?

Reverend Dana says we are at an "inflection point". I looked it up. Mathematically it has to do with the precise point at which a curve goes up or down. We are at that point as we call a new minister and as we become the congregation that gets ready to do so. At this inflection point where the past and the future merge, the question of legacy is potent. Let's keep talking.

In The Interim

Rev. Dana Worsnop

At last month's meeting, the BUUF Board did something inspiring that I wanted to share with you. They set "ministry visions" to guide the life of the congregation, its minister, staff and groups for the coming year. The point of these visions is to help answer the question, "In what ways will we transform lives in the next 1-3 years.

Here they are:

1) BUUF will strive to become a more welcoming, transparent and inspiring congregation. A major piece of this will be to create easily discoverable pathways to participation for newcomers and others who seek to deepen their engagement.

2) Social justice ministries will help guide and inform all aspects of BUUF's congregational life.

Imagine for a moment that these visions are not just there to guide the specific committees and groups that usually have responsibility for the Justice Outreach Ministry or the Welcoming and Fellowship Connections teams.

How might the Library Committee welcome new people in or do the work of justice?

How about the Music Committee, the Children and Adult Religious Explorations committees? Landscape, Interiors, Safety?

For some the answer is more clear. The very existence of the Congregational Care Team, Festivities, Hospitality and Food, the Usher and Greeters is meant to be welcoming. Adult RE, the Senior Sages, the many Affinity groups always hope to deepen engagement in the congregation and in a spiritual life. How might they also take up a ministry of social justice?

How might the Rainbow Outreach Committee be welcoming? How can more and more people be invited into the various social justice activities – from the Crop Walk (Oct. 21!!) to Habitat for Humanity to the Interfaith Sanctuary?

The Library Committee can buy books that address issues like economic justice – things like The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness for instance. Adult RE could create a book discussion group. The choir, always welcome to new singers, can explore music from many cultures and traditions. The RE Program for Children and Youth can think about its larger ministry to families who often have a particular challenge in engaging in many church programs.

The Safety Committee might begin a discussion on how all can make people of color, people with fewer economic resources, groups outside the "mainstream" culture can feel welcome and safe at BUUF. Interiors might look at how the artwork and signage are most welcoming and inviting to newcomers with a particular eye for those on the margins of the culture.

And all should think about how to be more actively inviting. This means more than just putting notices in the newsletter, Sunday order of service or the Facebook page (though those are important). How do you let people know what is going on and that you really want them to join you?

This can be as simple as being sure you wear your nametag(!) on Sundays and as engaged as agreeing to make personal phone calls to invite people to join – church activities and justice efforts alike. It may simply mean joining a Chalice Circle and then agreeing to facilitate one in the next round.

Think of the lives that would be transformed if BUUF took these ministry visions truly to heart. This isn't a transformation that will happen overnight, though if you take on these practices for a year or two or three, what will the spirit of this place look and feel like into the future?

You already have the heart for this kind of work. How can you become even more effective and strong as a congregation?

Go forth and make it so.

Religious Exploration

Family Games - Family Time – Family Faith Together

Emmie Schlobohm, Director of Religious Exploration (DRE)

Last month, I started a year-long project to feature familiar family games with a twist. I invite you to play the traditional versions and to explore deeper questions with the children in your life around the theme of these games. Expand the rules and your "playground" to encompass our BUUF community and the wider world.

October is a time of falling temperatures and breath-taking colors. It is also a month filled with scary images and themes surrounding Halloween. This month's theme is confronting your fears by sharing them and working together - Hide and Seek is our game. For me, Hide and Seek used to be a frightening experience as a child because my older cousins would jump out and startle me from their hiding places when I was "it". I loved to hide so I had to confront my fears in order to play with the big kids. Here are some ideas on variations of Hide and Seek...

Play a game of Flashlight Hide and Seek where, after counting to 50, "It" takes the flashlight (turned off) and seeks out the other children. When they find a hidden player "it" turns on the flashlight and shines the light on them. The child who was found takes the flashlight (turned off) and goes to find another player who is hiding. The game can go on for a long time without counting and hiding all over again.

Use the Hide and Seek analogy to talk with your children about their fears. Things aren't as scary when they are revealed and shared. Keeping them hidden to yourself lets them grow and get scarier. Finding them and talking with others about them brings them into the light so they can be faced and dealt with. Share some of the fears you had at their age.

Read Hide-and-go-seek, a (very) short story in UUA's Tapestry of Faith collection of stories, with your children.

Use the following questions to explore their feelings and yours. Ask for their reactions. Note that people often mean different things when they use the word "God." In fact, some people might want to use words other than "God" in this story.

How would they feel about the story if the word "wisdom" replaced the word "God"? What about "love" or "mystery"? Can they suggest other terms? Ask if ideas about God, wisdom, love, and mystery are spiritual ideas. In other words, do they help us understand our connections with our inner selves, with others, and with the universe?

Here's another story, "Hide-and-Seek with God," from the storybook of that name by Mary Ann Moore, with a different message to share with your children.

As you play these games throughout the year, please share stories of your family's experiences with me and others in our Religious Exploration community. I'm looking forward to hearing all about the fun and the opening hearts!

Stand Up and Be Counted in Religious Exploration! It's never too late!

Emmie Schlobohm, DRE

Religious Exploration registration forms are available and due back!

It is time to turn in your registration form for Religious Exploration for Children and Youth and tell us All About YoUU. You can pick one up in the Religious Exploration section of the Information Center in the north vestibule or in the fellowship office or in any of the class rooms or here on our website. Please return your registration forms – either by mail or directly to the Director of Religious Exploration, Emmie Schlobohm. We are launching into our fall classes and would love to hear from you. Your response and information will allow us to include you in important communications and better serve your children. If you have any questions, please contact Emmie Schlobohm at 658-1710 or dre2014@boiseuu.org.

First Sundays are now Social Justice Sundays in RE!

Emmie Schlobohm, DRE

This year, we will be exploring social justice issues inspired by our monthly plate partners on first Sundays in the elementary RE classroom. Starting on October 5, our Social Justice Sundays will be a multi-age celebration of the mission of that month's plate partner. As an integral part of the class, we will be taking an offering as one of the opening rituals. The money collected will go to the plate partner and the activities in the class will be created around the central mission of the organization. This month's plate partner is our own Pay It Forward Fund. We receive support, insight, love, and a place to be ourselves here at our Fellowship and, as our BUUF community gives to us, we in turn give our own gifts of energy in many forms, among them love, time, and money. Our children are vital members of our community who receive loving teachers/guides and a caring community supporting their spiritual growth and development as human beings. As members of our community, our children will have an opportunity every month to participate in this offering.

Parents and family members, please talk with your child(ren) over the upcoming months and help them collect some money and talk with them about stewardship, shared community and gifts we give to help those we love. Thank you for all that you do for your children and for our beloved community.

Junior High Coming of Age Program Continues this Month

Emmie Schlobohm, DRE

This year Religious Exploration is offering the Coming of Age program as a rite of passage for junior high school youth into young adulthood. In our Unitarian Universalist tradition we ask young people to consider our shared seven principles, how they apply to their lives and what they believe. From September through May, youth are paired with an adult mentor to sort out their questions and perform a community service project together. The group will also have monthly gatherings with Emmie Schlobohm, the Director of Religious Exploration and our interim minister, Dana Worsnop. The program culminates in the creation of a personal credo or statement of faith that is shared with the BUUF community at the Coming of Age worship service on May 10, 2015.

Children's Dedication

Emmie Schlobohm, DRE

Our children are an essential and life-affirming part of our congregation. Unitarian Universalists believe that each child brings new life and hope into the world and we, here at BUUF, include a special ceremony to dedicate ourselves to the spiritual growth of our children during a Sunday service. If your family would like to participate in this beloved ceremony, please note that October 26 is our next scheduled date. For more information, or to indicate your interest, please contact Emmie Schlobohm, Director of Religious Exploration at 658-1710.

Committees

The Pancakes are Coming, the Pancakes are Coming

Claudia Fernsworth

Mark your calendars for a family friendly "Pancake Supper": Saturday, November 1, 2014 at 6:00. Doors open at 5:45. Invite your family, friends, co workers and neighbors. One less night that you have to cook...

Gluten free and wheat pancakes will be provided.

Children of all ages (that means adults and children) are invited to wear their Halloween costumes one more time

Look for more details in the November newsletter and in the Sunday orders of service.

November All Silent Auction

Claudia Fernsworth

Now is a good time to set aside items you no longer want or need, or to think of a holiday treat or handmade item you want to prepare to donate to the November All Silent Auction. Set up will be on Thursday October 30, so items can be brought in Sunday October 26 unless other arrangements are made with Claudia Fernsworth.

If you would like to help with set up, contact Claudia Fernsworth.

You can use our auction donation web form to send us information about your donation. Thanks!

Fall Fire Drill October 12

Paul Schlobohm

We care a great deal about each other. We care enough to look out for our mutual safety and well-being. This includes being prepared for all of us to safely exit from the building, should we ever have a fire at BUUF. In coordination with the Worship and Religious Exploration Committees, the fall fire drill will take place at the conclusion of both services on Sunday, October 12, in observance of National Fire Prevention Week. Instructions will be announced on the day of the drill and can be found in the Order of Service.

Conducting a fall fire drill with the entire congregation and a spring fire drill with RE classes only is part of a new preparedness plan being developed by the new Safety Team. The Safety Team is Dan Bacon, Arlene Baldwin, Warren Bean, Allie Gooding, Nancy Riley, Paul Schlobohm and Bill Smithey. Contact Emmie Schlobohm, DRE, with your RE-related questions or Paul Schlobohm with your fire drill-related questions.

Events & Activities

October Fellowship Fun and Potluck – October 18

Karen Raese

This month, the all congregation potluck moves from the second Saturday to the third Saturday. Plan to attend this informative session and join with friends, old and new, for fellowship and a meal. Please look for specific details about this elsewhere in this newsletter or order of service. Bring a potluck dish to share and, if you like, your own plates and utensils. See you there.

A Cirque in the Forest

Jeanette Ross

For our September meeting the humanists will meet with Linden Boice, a member of the search committee, to consider the qualities that can lead a progressive fellowship into the future. As preparation, I'll characterize our earlier suggestions in terms of roles blending Cirque de Soleil and King Arthur.

a) We need a ringmaster who can keep us all performing. b) We need to share the work, with some marching behind the horses with a broom while a crew of aerialists defy gravity and connect with others across a political abyss. c) We need soldiers who march into a forest without a pathway, ready to rescue those in danger. d) We need to gather, regularly, at a round table and listen to each other. We are putting on a show, living theater, by improvisation, writing our sacred text as we seek meaning. We are enlarging our understanding of what is community, applauding each other, witnessing to and for each other.

Join the humanists for our October meeting in the library, 11:15pm. Allison Benjamin will lead us in considering what our DNA tells us about ourselves.

Idaho Friends of Jung Presentation and Workshop, October 17 and 18

Elton Hall

Certified Jungian analyst Joseph Rutte will speak on "The Alchemical Gold of Failure: From Freud to Jung, and from Jung to White," on Friday, October 17, 7-9 pm in the North Wing of BUUF. Jung's book Symbols of Transformation created a sharp break with Freud, which Jung suspected it would, and led to his own journey through depression and renewal. Similarly, Jung's close relationship with the Dominican White ended in White's failed attempt to rejuvenate Thomistic teaching with Jungian ideas. He, too, found renewal in working through failure and exile. The presentation will help one to understand failures and suffering as sacred opportunities for deep self-examination and transformation into what we are meant to be.

The workshop on October 18 from 10 am to 1 pm, will consider failures as openings to new psychological life, examine individuation more deeply, and critically evaluate the views of others in understanding one's unique path as guided by one's own psyche.

Come on Friday at 6:30 p.m. to enjoy wine, coffee, cheese and companionship before the presentation. Suggested donation $10-20; no one will be turned away. Similar suggested donation for the workshop.

Sages History

Tom von Alten

Join the BUUF Sages this month for two glimpses of days gone by: Dr. Charles Lauterbach on the plays of Berthold Brecht, and Dr. Jeanette Ross on the iconoclasm of Stephanie Coontz, author of "The Way We Never Were" (1992) and "The Way We Really Are" (1997). We meet second and fourth Thursdays, Lauterbach on Oct. 9 and Ross on Oct. 23, 9:30 am at the Kopper Kitchen (2661 Airport Way) over a no-host breakfast for friendly conversation. Contact Tom von Alten, 208 378-1217, or tva2014@fortboise.org for more information, or to be added to our email reminder list.

Not Your Ordinary Companion

Mike Philley

"This Quest program at BUUF ... what is it that you do?"

"I'm a spiritual companion."

"So, you provide spiritual guidance?"

"It's more like being a witness. It's listening and respecting silence. Above all, it's being present."

"What do you mean? If you're with someone, you're present—right?"

"No, I can be with someone and at the same time be lost in my own thoughts. The challenge of being a spiritual companion is to resist the impulse to tell my partner what to do. It's important to empty myself of all pretense."

"So what does this do for your partner?"

"If my partner sees me as non-judgmental and trustworthy, it's easier for him or her to be vulnerable. Revealing one's personal story, warts and all, really matters for spiritual growth."

"Everyone has a story. What does that have to do with spirituality?"

"We get caught up in our storylines. We're so busy rehashing in our minds each insult or compliment, every failing or achievement, all that threatens or bolsters the protective armor of the ego—it's no wonder that we forget who we truly are."

"Who we truly are?"

"It may seem paradoxical, but the less we're bound by who we tell ourselves we are, or who we think we must become, the freer we are to be authentic and real. It's our birthright. Or, as we UUs might say: each of us is uniquely woven into the interdependent web of all existence.

Travel Bugs on Medical Mission

Patty Nakaoki

This month, Travel Bugs go on a medical mission to Myanmar (Burma) with Mary Schwartzman. Mary travels with her daughter and a group from the University of Virginia. The group does medical assessments in an orphanage of 250 children, working with staff in a small rural medical clinic. They also distribute basic medical supplies. Mary will share her adventures with us. Myanmar has only been easily open to travelers for a few years, so this is a great chance to hear about a country that has been largely closed for many years. Please join us at 7pm, October 24, in the Channing room at BUUF. Contact Patty Nakaoki, 409-0807 or Karen Raece, 853-3865 for questions. Everyone welcome!

The Other Book Club

Erin Logan

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

October 12, we will be discussing Sherman Alexie's Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian. We will meet in the BUUF Library.

November 9, we will be discussing Charles Portis's The Dog of the South. Our gathering will be at the home of Patti Raino, 4905 W. Outlook Ave, Boise, 336-2280.

December 14, we will be discussing Undertow by one of our own resident authors, Eric Wallace. Place to be determined.

Future books include Love in the time of Cholera, Swamplandia, The Price of Silence, and All the Light We Cannot See. Stay tuned.

If you'd like to receive our emails, let me know at erins49602014@msn.com.

Happy Reading.

History Keepers Note

Charlotte Tompkins & Janelle Wintersteen

There was a time when after singing a hymn, we placed our hymn books on empty seats, balanced them on out laps, or even put them on the floor. After services, whoever cleaned up retrieved these books that BUUF had spent money on, or that had been bought as donations or memorials for people who had died, and replaced them on the seats. It was Nancy Harms who finally changed this in 2008 by designing the cloth hymnal holders that we now use. Once she had the design finished, she and Erin Logan shopped together for the fabric. She and Erin called for volunteers. Over several weeks the Balasz Room room on Saturdays became a sewing room, full of sewing machines as about eight people cut and stitched, making real the two pocket hymn holders that we now use. New ideas often take getting used to but these hymn holders were such a convenience! Once in place, they were taken for granted and memories of how we managed before faded.

PNWD & UUA News

General Assembly is Coming to the PNWD!

Our Pacific Northwest District is host district to GA 2015, June 24-28 in Portland, and General Assembly needs you!

When and where does it happen? June 24-28 (Wednesday afternoon through Sunday afternoon), in Portland, OR. We'll meet in the Oregon Convention Center and with some events in nearby hotels.

Who can attend? Anyone! All are welcome, of all ages.

Does it cost money to attend? Yes. To participate in General Assembly, you pay a registration fee. GA runs on a break-even basis. But there are opportunities for free registration by serving as a volunteer, as well as financial aid that you can apply for.

Where can I learn more? The General Assembly website already has lots of information, and will keep adding lots more as GA gets closer. Give it a look now, and keep going back to it. If you can't find what you're looking for there, ask me, or a district board member, or someone in your congregation with lots of GA experience.