April 2012 BCD In Brief

The 2012 BCD Spring Conference -- May 5, 2012 --will be AMAZING. We have an amazing keynote presenter - a minister who is leading a small congregation with a mission to work to change the lives of some of the poorest of the poor in a small Oklahoma town. (See his story in the October 11, 2010 issue of uuworld.org http://www.uuworld.org/news/articles/172162.shtml ) We have an amazing line up of conversation workshops to further explore what it means to be a mission-focused congregation: Discuss what it may mean to take church beyond our church walls, or learn techniques about how to get deeply involved addressing community needs, or how to safely discuss controversial social justice issues in a congregation, or how to focus one's spiritual center to be a foundation for doing mission work, or share personal experiences and aspirations for Unitarian Universalism and the UUA. We will have an amazing picnic lunch prepared by the members of the Fairhaven congregation. And we will be gathering in the amazing Fairhaven church, a gothic style church building displaying amazing work by stone masons, wood workers and stained glass artisans.

Schedule:

8:15 Registration & Delegate Credentialing opens, continental breakfast, UU Mall

9:00 Worship service opening

9:15 BCD Annual Meeting Convened

10:45 Hymn sing (and stretch break)

11:00 Keynote sermon

11:45 Worship service continue with recognition of new and departing ministers, religious education directors; Collection for Bring Home the Justice Fund (BCD GA scholarships) Swearing in of board and nominating committee members

12:00 Picnic Lunch

1:00 Conversations & Gathered Here Sharing

2:30 Closing in Conversation Groups

For detailed conference information and to register on-line for the amazing BCD Spring Conference go to http://bcduua2012spring.eventbrite.com

2012 District Annual Meeting on May 5, 2012

The 2012 BCD Annual Meeting will be held in conjunction with the Spring Conference. This year the meeting will be incorporated into the morning worship service. The district president will call the meeting to order at 9:15 a.m. Delegate credentialing will be done between 8:15 and 9:00 a.m. in the registration area.

The agenda includes voting on amendments to the District By-laws, electing officers, directors and Nominating Committee members, voting on the FY 2013 budget, receiving various reports about district operations.

An official packet of information including the call to meeting, agenda, proposed revised Bylaws and an explanation chart, delegate cards, proposed FY12 budget and Nominating Committee report has been mailed to congregation offices. The agenda, budget, Nominating Committee Report and Bylaws as proposed can be seen on the BCD website, www.bcduua.org.

BCD Justice GA Task Force Available at Spring Conference for Information

Members of the District's Justice GA Task Force will be at an information table at the UU Network Mall at the Spring Conference to provide information and answer questions about the 2012 General Assembly. The Task Force is working on developing a lunch hour conversation with a showing of Detained: The New Bedford Immigration Raid

FY2012 APF and BCD Contribution Amounts

Both the UUA Annual Program Fund Fair Share and the BCD Congregation Contribution will remain the same as in FY2012

APF Fair Share $58 per member
BCD CC $19 per member

Spring Cranberry Cluster Meeting

The Spring Cranberry Cluster Meeting will be held at First Parish Church UU, Bridgewater.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012
6:30 p.m.
First Parish Church
50 School St., Bridgewater

The program, following the social hour and dinner, is "Body and Soul: Sacred Music Through the Ages" with the recorder trio Triple Time that will explore the musical interplay of sacred and secular experience from the ninth century to a twentieth centuries. For reservations contact call 774-226-0942 by May 6. Suggested donation $7.00

Job Opportunities

Choir Director / Keyboard Player

All Souls Church, Braintree

The congregation seeks a versatile, "outside of the box" choir director / keyboard player (organ, piano, synthesizer). Part-time on Sunday mornings 9:00 to 11:30, September to June with one Sunday per month off. Responsible for choosing music, playing on Sunday morning including accompanying hymns, accompaniment during rehearsals and service, and directing the 10 to 12 member choir. Forward cover letter, resume, and 3 references via email to donsixalex@gmail.com

Religious Education Director

Director of Religious Education

Second Parish Unitarian Universalist, Hingham

Second Parish a small, but growing vital part of the Hingham community since 1742 aeeks a part-time Director of Religious Education. Responsible for: Administering the RE program, reviewing and planning curricula, recruiting and training volunteers, helping spread the word within our community about the program. The position begins in August 2012.For more information about Second Parish and our religious education program, go to www.secondparish.org or call 781-749-1671. To apply, send a resume and cover letter to dresearch@secondparish.org or mail it to Second Parish Unitarian Universalist, 685 Main Street, Hingham, MA 02043.

Ask the Right Question*

Leaders do not need to have all the answers.
Leaders need to be able to ask the right questions

C. Jeff Woods, Associate General Secretary for Regional Ministries of the American Baptist Churches, USA, notes Visionaries are people who can lay aside the dominant patterns and discern more creative and productive patterns. They can see little predictors in an environment that could be the starting point to develop alternative ways of doing things.

What are some small occurrences in the current life of your congregation
that could be the catalyst for doing things in a new way that
could make the church more vibrant?

*from "What Type of Visionary are You?" Congregations, issue 1 2012

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News from the Lager UU World

General Assembly Program on line

Want to know that the 2012 General Assembly program will be? Go to http://www.uua.org/documents/gaoffice/preliminaryprogram.pdf to see the schedule and descriptions of workshops, special presentations, plenaries, worship services and witness celebrations and activities.

Partner with the UUA Bookstore for Justice in Phoenix.

The UUA Bookstore is committed to the social justice mission of the 2012 General Assembly in Phoenix. With any purchase from the UUA Bookstore a 5% donation will be made to Service Project Recipient Organizations in Phoenix when the code PhoenixGA is entered on the order form at checkout. These organizations provide vital services and have been approved the GA Planning Committee to be recipients of this donation. But wait, there's more! If sales using this code exceed $100,000 the Bookstore will make a donation of 10% of each additional sale up to a total of $15,000.

Church of the Larger Fellowship Has Resources for Young Adults

The CLF offers many resources on their new website www.QuestforMeaning.org for young adults to keep them connected to Unitarian Universalism after they have left home. Through the website young adults and join in contemporary worship on Sundays at 9:00 pm, join a young adult Facebook group, read and write blogs and talk to a minister.

Guide to Using Facebook Effectively

One and One, an e-newsletter from the UUA's Ministry and Faith Development Staff Group has published useful information on how to use Facebook effectively. Go to http://www.uua.org/documents/mpl/one/120411_issue49.pdf

New Pamphlet Available

Pamphlets are great ways to quickly introduce spiritual seekers to the values of Unitarian Universalism and make them feel welcome. The newest pamphlet, To the Point: 15 Elevator Speeches, offers a diverse collection of brief responses to the question "What Is Unitarian Universalism?" To read the full text and purchase packs of 25 from the UUA Bookstore go to http://www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1508

To see the full list of UUA pamphlets, read the text, and place orders, visit http://www.uuabookstore.org/showproducts.cfm?FullCat=51.

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Calendar

May 5 Spring Conference and Annual Meeting 9:00 a - 3:00 p

Unitarian Universalist Society of Fairhaven, MA

May 7-9 BCD UUMA Chapter Retreat

Glastonbury Abbey, Hingham, MA

May 21 BCD Board of Directors Meeting 6:00 - 9:00 p

First Congregational Parish in Kingston, MA

Jun 10 Westminster Unitarian Church Building Dedication 3:00 p

Westminster Unitarian Church, East Greenwich, RI

Jun 18 UUMA Ministry Days

Phoenix, AZ

Jun 20-24 General Assembly

Phoenix, AZ