Mountain Vista UU News

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Northwest Tucson

3601 West Cromwell Drive, Tucson, Arizona

520-579-7094 OCTOBER 2011 office@uucnwt.org

Living Green / Reaching Out

External Links

Gateway

Donations Wanted for This Year's Service Auction

What type?

Dinner-pick a theme, create a menu, set the date. You've got a money-maker.

Gift basket-an assortment of food items, wines, craft beers-you name it

Service-such as pet or house sitting, a ride to the airport, handyman work

When? By Friday, October 21

How? Three ways to get your donations listed:

1. Get your donation forms at Sunday Services and return to Jane Paul-put in the Membership box in the office.

2. Email the details to Jane at janerpaul@yahoo.com.

3. Online form to be added to the website soon!. Watch this space.

It's going to be a roaring good time when Mountain Vista UU Goes Back to the Roaring '20s on Friday, November 4, 2011. Your donation will be the cat's meow and also ensure that the auction is a success.

Grocery Gift Cards

Easiest way ever to help our church!!!! Just see Alberta Gunther and let her know which store you frequent. She will explain how each time you visit the store can result in MONEY to MVUU! She has accounts set up with Albertson's, Fry's, Basha's and Safeway. It is quick and easy to get started. Help our church each time you shop! Please sign up today!

It's Time to Order Your Coffee

Join the others who order coffee every month from Cafe Justo. Just email reedeliz@gmail.com to get on her list or call her at 520-269-3414. Next month, she'll send an email reminder (which you may opt out from). By ordering through Elizabeth, your postage is paid and MVUU earns almost $1 per pound sold.

Why Cafe Justo? To support a coop of coffee growers and processors in Mexico. You can learn about this coop at their website justcoffee.org.

Interim Minister's Column

Words of Joy

Throughout all Creation, just beneath the surface, joining each person to every other person and to every other thing in a luminous organism of sacred responsibility, we discover invisible lines of connection.

Lawrence Kushner

We have designated October 16 as "Association Sunday." It is a Sunday set aside at the request of the Unitarian Universalist Association to provide an opportunity to recognize and support the work of the UUA. On this day, thousands of Unitarian Universalists will celebrate their commitment to Unitarian Universalism, and a special collection will be taken during the service to support projects that are beyond the means of the UUA's operating budget. This year, Association Sunday will support such projects as training and support for ministers to build and renew their skills, collaborative programs between ministers and other religious professionals, multicultural training for both ministers and lay people, support for music professional credentialing and support for the composition of new music.

As we celebrate Association Sunday together on October 16, may we remember our "invisible lines of connection" to the other members of our Unitarian Universalist family across the country, and may we be as expansively generous as we can be.

Speaking of generosity-- There is a serious shortfall in pledge collections for the fiscal year that ended on June 30th, and pledges to date for this fiscal year are coming in more slowly than usual. If you have not completed your pledge payment on last year's pledge, or have not made a payment yet on your current pledge, bringing your pledge payments up to date, if you can, will be of great help to Mountain Vista UU in these economically challenging times.

In support of a strong and growing Unitarian Universalist faith,

Joy

Activities and Events

Bookaholics Unanimous September 28

A Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank chronicles a young New Yorker's journey through love, sex, and relationships. Remember those days? Both funny and painful, this collection of short stories follows Jane, beginning at age 14 and continuing through adulthood. We learn, as we already figured out, that all happy endings are provisional. We'll be discussing this book on Wednesday night, September 28th, at 6:45 in the Fireside Room, and we've got a chair reserved for you.

Our October 26th book choice is Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. This is a portrait of a Midwestern family from St. Paul and how their lives align at times with some of the Big Issues of our age (mountaintop removal, war profiteering, and cloth diapers, to name but a few.) Called a spiraling epic, Freedom reveals how obliviously we squander life and love. Don't skip this one. For November 16th read two short but powerful memoirs by Jeannette Walls: The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses. These also will have you up late reading "just one more chapter."

Contact: Elaine azbooklover@comcast.net 290-1026

Sunday Morning Book Discussion Group

The Sunday Morning Book Group has chosen our next book for discussion, Storycatcher: Making sense of our lives Through the Power and Practice of Story, by Christina Baldwin, $10.70 at Amazon. We will be discussing the first ~= 50 pages on Sunday Oct. 2. We meet at 8:30. Come one, come all.
Tom Blackburn

Hike October 7

We have a group who hike on the first Friday of each month during the cooler part of the year. For October we're planning a hike at the top of Mount Lemmon. An email with details has been sent to the usual hikers. If you'd like to be added to our list, or want more information, contact Gene McCormick at genemick@comcast.net or leave a message at 297-9498.

Movie Outing October 23

Sunday, October 23, Foothills Mall Cinemas, time to be announced, "Ides of March," stars George Clooney. An idealistic staffer for a newbie presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail. Supper after at Café Tremolo outside the mall. Look for a poster, a review, a signup and directions at Mountain View UU. Please sign up to be notified of the time for the movie. We will aim for a late afternoon showing. john.wilcox2008@comcast.net 531-1413

Adult Religious Education

Our first Adult R.E. course will start this month.

"The Way of Mastery" with Jolie Hoskkin 395-7486 or jhoskkin@msn.com
6 weekly sessions, starting October 12

"Immigration as a Moral Issue" with John & Margaret Fleming and Anne Jagnow will start November 7. 888-7059 or margefleming@earthlink.net 6 weekly sessions.

For more information, contact the instructors listed above.

Beyond Categorical Thinking

"Will the new minister hear me? Will my concerns and needs be met? Will the minister understand what I'm living with? How will the community respond to our minister?'

In answering these questions, a picture of the "ideal minister" (categorized by age, gender, gender identity, nationality, physical ability, race, and sexual orientation) comes to mind. With this picture in place, it can be easy to unintentionally exclude ministers who fall into certain categories. At times, as we get caught up in comparing candidates to our "picture," we can even forget what it is we hoped for in a minister.

On October 23, MVUU will participate in the Beyond Categorical Thinking workshop offered by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) for congregations involved in the search for a new minister. Our Ministerial Search Committee invites all congregational leaders, youth and adult members, and friends to participate in this workshop.

The Beyond Categorical Thinking program is designed to promote inclusive thinking and help prevent unfair discrimination in the search process for a new minister. This program includes a Sunday morning service at 10:30 a.m. with BCT workshop facilitators Deb Hillgartner and Gil Guerrero followed by lunch and a three hour workshop from noon-3:00 p.m. In the workshop, Mountain Vista UU members will:

Consider the hopes, expectations, and concerns they have for a new minister
Learn more about the ministerial search process, and
Explore how thinking categorically about people sometimes interferes with choosing the best candidate.

Come on Sunday, October 23 for the BCT worship service at 10:30 to be followed immediately by lunch and participate in this UUA-sponsored workshop.

In your responses to the Ministerial Search Committee Survey and the several forums in which you participated, you indicated the crucial role of the selection of a minister in the congregation's overall health and well-being. The Beyond Categorical Thinking workshop is another opportunity for everyone in our congregation to be a part of that process. This experience will provide guidance for the search committee in our work.

Your MVUU Ministerial Search Committee

Religious Education News

RE Classes: 10:30 on Sundays. Students report to the sanctuary for a Story for All Ages on the 1st and 3rd Sunday each month. Once dismissed, Tigers (K-5th graders) will meet in the Small RE Room. TAMS (6th-8th graders) will meet in the Large RE Room.

OWL CLasses for 7th-9th graders will continue for the next 3 months. The sessions kicked off Friday, September 23 with a sleepover. Eight students are participating, and we want to say a special Thank You to the hard-working and dedicated facilitators: Lara Brennan, Sybelle van Erven, Kristi Gerrard, and Jim Gessaman.

Immigration Project

It's not too late to join in on this fun and worthwhile project. See John Fleming for more details.

Please save the date:

TALENT SHOW: October 25th

Participants and helpers needed.

See Ashlen or Catalina to sign up.

Will be lots of fun!

RE Committee Meeting: Tuesday, October 4, 6:00 pm, Fireside Room. All interested persons are invited to attend.

Wish List: Snack Food! The teachers like to provide students with a small snack after class to tide them over while their parents visit at coffee hour. We depend on donations to keep our snack closet stocked. Next time you are shopping, please consider picking up something to add: a bag of pretzels, a box of Goldfish or Teddy Grahams, a box of crackers, etc. The kids and teachers wi ll really appreciate this.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me, or call me any time (520) 406-5121.

Donna

Save these Dates

All-Congregation Halloween Party October 29

Fun, games, costumes, prizes. Stay tuned.

Service Auction Friday, November 4

5:30 PM. This is the Roaring 20's (and 50's and 100's, because we will take all denominations of money.) So practice the Charleston, put on your fringe and Zoot suits and donate an item and then come that evening and buy. If you need donation ideas see Catalina, Clare, Jan Hatunen, Anne Tatum, Anne or Larry Jagnow, or Joe Bredau.

charleston

Doors open at 5:30 pm with wine to purchase and a silent auction. At 7 pm the silent auction ends and the live auction begins. Along with the new day of the week we are trying a new menu of wonderful and art deco desserts, not a meal, but worth the $10 in advance admission price or $12 at the door. Sign up with Clare. Don't be a square, be there.

Alternative Giving Projects Begin

Sunday, November 6, 11:30-12:45, through December 11.

IMAGINE GIVING THE WHOLE WORLD A MERRY HOLIDAY!

WHEN: Sundays, November 6-December 11, 11:30-12:45 following the service.

WHERE: Table under the mesquite tree near the Goldblatt Building.

1) Mountain Vista volunteers will show you the Alternative Gifts International 2011-

2012 Catalog, with 35 projects that you can donate to projects that help those in great need, for as little as $1 or as much as $55, if you wish!

2) We will also be collecting gift cards for Youth On Their Own (YOTO), an organization that supports high school graduation and continued success of homeless youth. We'll have a holiday tree decorated in the Sanctuary, with ornaments created by our RE children. Simply take an ornament and return it, with your $25 gift card from Target or WalMart, to Debbie and Jim Gessaman at church.

Check Mountain Vista UU Newsletters, Sunday Orders of Service, and bulletin board posters in the Sanctuary and Goldblatt for more information.

"'Every great change in individual and social conditions begins small, among simple, earnest people, face to face with the facts of life. Ask yourselves seriously, "Why should not the coming change begin with us'?" Kevin Baker, from his novel Dreamland (1999)

LUUNITARIAN Weekend October 14-16

Yes, friends, there really is a LUUNITARIAN Weekend in Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point)!! Please clear your calendar for Oct 14-16 (Fri-Sun) and join other UU's to soak up sun, friendship and relaxation on the beach. Some folks will go early on Friday and others will arrive after work. Some families will choose to tent or RV camp at Playa Bonita campground and others stay at Laos Mar Hotel (VERY reasonable price!!) walking distance away. We usually plan to have dinner together Friday or Saturday night ( restaurant or potluck) and spend days in the sun, shopping swimming, etc. This is an Arizona wide event and is attended by UU's from other congregations as well.

YOU MUST HAVE A PASSPORT OR PASSPORT CARD TO RETURN TO THE U.S. There will be cars going from Tucson and rides can be arranged. Please call Jan Hatunen, (622-2812), for more info as well as reservation numbers for the campground and hotels. LET'S GO PLAY!

Aluminum Cans Needed

Please bring your empty aluminum cans to church and place in the special bin. The price of aluminum is currently 81 cents a pound. Proceeds from cans go to the Camp de Benneville Pines Scholarship Fund. Thank you to Emily Ricketts for sponsoring this worthwhile project.

Welcome to Our Newest New Member

T.J. Boothroyd

I grew up in England but have spent most of my life in California, first Southern then Northern. I trained to be an actor in London, and shortly after graduation, I met my wife, Kaaren, a native Californian. We married in l966 and promptly left England for California. We moved to the village of Sierra Madre, near Pasadena. I decided to pursue a law degree by taking night courses. This led me into a career in labor law, human resources, and a career with the Automobile Club of Southern California in Los Angeles.

I was raised in the Anglican tradition in English schools but, when I left, religion did not seem important. When we started a family in California, we felt we needed to have our children baptized in an Episcopal church, and that began a revisiting of our religious roots. Alas, disillusionment with church hierarchy, hypocrisy, and politics resulted in our leaving for the secular world.

Smog and earthquakes contributed to us moving to Placerville, California, in 1994. I started a labor relations consulting business and also studied hypnotherapy at the California Institute of the Healing Arts and Sciences. (I also began acting again in community theatre.) For ten years, I ran consulting and hypnotherapy businesses contemporaneously. Meanwhile, Kaaren had started a career in management of non-profit corporations. Five years ago, an opportunity for her led us to Tucson. I officially retired and, after two escrows from hell, we settled in bucolic Catalina.

We joined an Episcopal church in Oro Valley but, after a couple of years, the old disillusionments returned; that and the lack of real social awareness from the pulpit began my researching Unitarian-Universalism. It seemed that the philosophy was speaking to me directly, and I started attending Mountain Vista.

My hobbies include tennis, hiking, music, theatre, art museums, movies; and interests I pursue are American political history, health and nutrition, and commercial aviation. I also believe there is nothing like stimulating the creative talents of young people, and I would like to do something to elevate the spirits, especially of the underprivileged, by getting them involved in music, drama, and other artistic activities.

Sunday Services for October

October 2, 2011

"The Fiction of Purity"

Christiane Heyde

Christiane Heyde will share a sermon inspired by a class on World Religions and Ritual Arts, which she took this past summer at Starr King School of the Ministry in Berkeley. The class focused on Maftirim, a musical form which originated from the interaction of Jewish and and Muslim Sufis in the Ottoman Empire. Christiane will address the often illusionary differentiation between various faiths. Romy Fouad with be worship associate. Romy Fouad is Worship Associate.

October 9, 2011

Jewish High Holy Days Service

"Whatever Became of Guilt?"

Rev. Joy Atkinson

We Unitarian Universalists boast a "guilt-free" religion, without the threat of eternal punishment for our wrongdoings. Freedom from religious guilt is liberating for many of us. The emotional experience of guilt can certainly be debilitating. But can guilt also be useful and motivating? Does guilt have a positive side? Margaret Fleming is Worship Associate. Our choir will be joined by the UUCT choir to provide the special music.

Association Sunday

October 16, 2011

"Parson Means Person: Reflections on the Ministry"

Rev. Joy Atkinson

As the search for a settled minister continues at Mountain Vista UU, our interim minister will explore some aspects of ministers and ministry, and the multiple roles required of ministers who serve our congregations. This Sunday is designated Association Sunday, and a special collection for the UUA to support programs that promote excellence in ministries in our Association will be taken during the service.

October 23, 2011
"Beyond Categorical Thinking"
Deb Hillgartner and Gil Guerrero

"Will the new minister hear me? Will my concerns and needs be met? Will the minister understand what I'm living with? How will the community respond to our minister?'

Co-facilitators Deb Hillgartner and Gil Guerrero from the UUA Transitions office 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 their 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. Barbara Gates is Worship Associate. The choir will sing.

October 30, 2011

"Sympathy for the Devil"

Rev. Joy Atkinson

We Unitarian Universalists have long rejected the idea of hell and a literal devil figure, but what might the "devil" in human experience symbolize? The sermon will explore aspects of good and evil in human experience. We will also observe the Day of the Dead traditions of Central and South America with an altar, to which you are invited to bring pictures of loved ones who have died. Children of all ages, and adults too if they like, are invited to come in Halloween costumes. Irene Sattinger is Worship Associate.