SUNDAY SERVICES

10:30 am

Children & Youth

Religious Education

10:30 am

Minister

Ron Phares  rdphares@gmail.com  

579-7094

  
Director of

Religious Education 
Donna Pratt  406-5121

mklo@earthlink.net   

Choir Director

L. H. Brown

579-7094

lbrownvh@yahoo.com 

Congregational

Administrator

Donna Pratt  579-7094,   406-5121, (cell) 441-0870  

office@uucnwt.org  

Office Hours:

7 am - 12 m  MWF

 
 Newsletter Editors John and Margaret Fleming
888-7059

margefleming@earthlink.net 

Deadlines: 12th & 24th

Board of Trustees

President:

1st Vice President:

Treasurer:

Jim Gessaman 

Sign Placers Wanted

Here is an easy way to help the congregation. We need volunteers to put out our directional signs on Sunday mornings. Some of us who have been putting them out are mobility-challenged with arthritis, back problems, and so on. So all you younger folks (younger than 70, that is), please step up and take your turn.

The fire/ambulance station at the corner of Thornydale and Cromwell has agreed to let us store the signs inside their utility room, just to the left of their back door. So all you have to do is go in--there's no door-it's an open entry--take the two signs and put one on the median strip and one on the sidewalk in front of the station. There's a sandbag for each one to keep it in place. Then, after the service, you retrieve the signs and store them away until the next week. That's all there is to it.

If you can do this once a month, or more often, please contact John or Margaret Fleming at 888-7059 or elfuturo@earthlink.net   

Thanks for your help.

Announcements  

Greeters Needed      

Here's an opportunity to meet a new people. We currently need volunteers to serve as regular or substitute greeters. Don't worry that our standards might be too high. About three minutes of intense training is all that's needed for you to join the ranks of the GREETERS.

If you're interested please contact Gene McCormick at genemick@comcast.net

Free Books 

While reorganizing the RE rooms, we found that we have more books than we have room to store. Books in the bookcase next to the bulletin board in the large R.E. room are free for the taking. We wanted to give congregation members the first chance to take them, after which they will be donated to a library. 

14th Annual Yoga and Wellness Retreat  

at Camp de Benneville Pines, Angelus Oaks, CA
Friday September 7th - Sunday 9th, 2012
Early Registration Discount ends on June 30, 2012  

2012 UU Living Legacy Civil Rights Pilgrimage

The next UU Living Legacy Civil Rights Pilgrimage is scheduled for October 6-13, 2012, and registration is now open. This unique bus trip is much more than a Civil Rights history tour through Alabama and Mississippi. We will be visiting historic sites and meeting veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, and but will also be spending time together and with guests exploring what racism, white privilege, and barriers to equality look like today in Southern towns we visit---and in our own hometowns.

Beyond experiencing first-hand the civil rights legacy, our goal is to develop commitment, vision and mechanisms within our group to work on issues of race, injustice and inequality that still bedevil our congregations and our society. The Living Legacy Pilgrimage is hosted and organized by the Reverend Gordon Gibson and Judy Gibson; the Reverend Hope Johnson; the Reverend James Hobart; Janice Marie Johnson; Annette Marquis; and Donna Sequeira, and co-sponsored by the Southeast District of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

For more information and to register, please visit www.uulivinglegacy.org. Don't miss your chance to be on the bus! Register early --costs are discounted for those who register before May 15.

Trip to Northern Arizona

Registration is now open for an exciting trip to Northern Arizona October 13-20 to visit Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, and the Petrified Forest among other interesting sites. This trip is sponsored by and is a fundraiser for the 22nd Street church, UU Church of Tucson. You will travel on a comfortable tour bus and stay at moderate hotels such as Best Western and Holiday Inns.

We have space for 24, and the cost is $1099 per person for a double room. Single room rates are also available. If you register now, you can cancel until July 1st, but after that we are committed to paying the hotels, etc., so no refunds after that date. Payment must be made in full by August 19.

For information and registration, click here. 

Welcome to Our New Minister  

Charity of the Month   

August is TIHAN month

Our woven basket collections on Sundays will be for Tucson Interfaith HIV-AIDS Network (TIHAN). The money will be used on Sept. 20 for a POZ ("Positive") Café lunch for the clients and their families.

Also we are doing a toiletries collection for the same clients. Please bring to the congregation toilet paper, paper towels, dish detergent, laundry detergent, shampoo, etc. These items cannot be bought with food stamps and the TIHAN clients often run out.

Remember AIDS is still a deadly disease; the infection rate is not declining; treatments often have many side effects. Victims of AIDS continue to be stigmatized by their families, jobs, churches, and the public. TIHAN is a safe and supportive home for some very desperate people.

See Pat Desai (577-9642, csdesai@comcast.net) for details.

Please remember to make checks out to MVUU and put the name of the charity in the memo line.

Weekly Activities

Anyone interested in writing is invited to join the Writers' Workshop on Wednesday mornings from 10:00 to 12:00. Participants share their writing, critique each others' work, and offer suggestions for such aspects of writing as plot development, organization, tightening, and word choice. Come any time for one session or a series of sessions. If you have writing to be critiqued, please bring at least 9 copies.

For more information, contact Margaret Fleming at 888-7059 or margefleming@earthlink.net.  

Conversation about Stewardship on Wednesdays, 7 pm

The MVUU Community Growth; Stewardship, Leadership, & Membership group is discussing Community, The Structure of Belonging by Peter Block. Anyone interested is welcome, whether you have read the book or not. For more information, please contact Tom Bunch at www.sparky9132000@yahoo.com   

Grief Support Group 1st and 3rd Thursdays 4:30-6:00 pm

For Members of the GLBTQ Community, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, 4831 E 22nd Street, Tucson. This is an informal and relaxed group for anyone grieving a loss of any kind, no matter how long ago it was. We are sponsored by TMC Hospice. Before attending, please call Karla Brockie 269-9573.        

Monthly Activities

Movie Outing August 12

"Beasts of the Southern Wild"  

Sunday, August 12, 5 pm

El Con 20, 3601 E. Broadway

Supper after at Feast, 3719 E. Speedway.  

Roger Ebert, in giving this film about a little girl and hurricane Katrina, four stars, says, "Sometimes miraculous films come into being, made by people you've never heard of, starring unknown faces, blindsiding you with creative genius."  

"Beasts of the Southern Wild" is one of the year's best films." If you wish to see the complete review, click here.   

We will aim for a late afternoon or early evening showing, with supper at a nearby restaurant before or after the movie. If interested, contact John at john.wilcox2008@comcast.net or 531-1413.

Bookaholics Unanimous August 29  

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. For this hot desert month, you'll get to read about climbing a cold mountain--how about that for clever scheduling? For September 26th: In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.   

Religious Education News

The "Share Your Passion" Summer RE Program continues. Thank you to all the members and friends who have agreed to help out this summer. The Tigers and TAMS will meet together in the Large RE Room.

July 29- Wax Casts with Lara Brennan 

Aug. 12th- Horses with Bibiana van der Heiden

Aug 19th- Birding with Jim Gessaman

********************************************* 

R E Swim Party August 18--ALL WELCOME 

WHEN: Saturday, August 18th

TIME: 4-7 pm 

WHERE: Tucson Racquet Club

ADDRESS: 4001 N. Country Club

WHO: Students, parents, siblings, teachers, RE Committee Members, and any other MVUU members who just like to hang out with RE Kids!  

We will have a ramada at the pool. Pizza and dessert will be provided.  

RSVP: We need to give a head count to the pool beforehand. Please RSVP to office@uucnwt.org by Monday, August 13th.

************************************************** 

If you have any questions, please call Donna anytime, (520) 441-0870 or email her at cdpratt1@live.com

GA Debriefing August 12

Sunday, August 12, 2 - 3 pm, in the Sanctuary.

You didn't get to Phoenix, but you can come and hear what the delegates and attendees learned and did. It was a wonderful, moving, uplifting, and inspiring event. We want MVUU to put to use what we learned and continue to 'Stand on the Side of Love.' You can be a part of our experience.

Call Catalina if you have any questions, 572-1881, or write catalinahall_9@msn.com 

Get lunch beforehand--we are not messing with food. cch

Stewardship Conversations  

This year Stewardship will offer regular commentary in the MVUU newsletter. We hope these writings spark conversation. We also invite you to submit your own Stewardship commentaries and stories. With your permission we will make editorial comments/suggestions, send it back to you, and then submit the final version for this space in the MVUU newsletter.

Context

This month's comments come from the book Community, The Structure of Belonging by Peter Block (page 30) which is the current book being discussed in the MVUU Growth Conversation and Book Club (GCB). It constitutes a context or mental model that we in the Stewardship Committee might choose for the coming year:

• We are a community of possibilities, not a community of problems.
• Community exists for the sake of belonging and takes its identity from the gifts, generosity and accountability of its citizens. It is not defined by its fears, or its isolation.
• We currently have all the capacity, expertise, programs, leaders, regulations, and wealth required to address our challenges and create an alternative future.
• For comments or contributions or to find out more about MVUU GBC please talk to any member of the Stewardship committee, its chairperson Tom Bunch, or email Tom at sparky9132000@yahoo.com

All-Church, Family and Friends Picnic for Leon Bennet-Alder

Saturday, August 25, 5:00 PM

5339 E. Ft. Lowell Road

Barbecue Chicken, Veggie Burgers, Salads and S'mores

RSVP: 401-2698, 408-7141

Prison Orientation September 14 

We have scheduled an orientation on September 14 at 1:00 for those who wish to become prison volunteers. Chaplain Brunk from the La Palma Correctional Facility will conduct it for us here in our sanctuary. If you would like to be part of this inspiring fellowship, or if you have any questions, please contact Margaret Fleming , (margefleming@earthlink.net 888-7059) or Paula Trahan (742-6657, socalgirl@comcast.net)

Welcome Our Newest New Member

Sandy Braun

Sandy Braun is a singer-songwriter, who was raised in Tucson by loving, Christian parents. At the age of 13 her family began attending a more extreme fundamentalist Christian church where critical thinking and education were discouraged. After graduating from high school, having adopted the values of the group, she chose not to attend college.

Over time, however, Sandy began to experience inner conflict over many of their church's doctrines. Most significantly, the idea that God created the earth with so many wonderful forms of life, just so that He could destroy it, then send countless trillions of people into the lake of fire to burn forever.

After leaving fundamentalism she decided to attend college, earning a degree in Creative Writing from UA. This was a very fulfilling time for Sandy. For a number of years she felt certain that there was no need to be involved in any type of organized religious group ever again. Yet her longing for loving community never went away.

However, just this year, after a series of losses in her life, she looked up MVUU in the phone directory and attended a service on a whim. As soon as she read the first of the "seven principles," she knew this is a group she desires to be associated with. Discovering that there are others who affirm the inherent worth and dignity of all people helps to heal many of the wounds acquired from fundamentalism's damaging images of God.

Sandy looks forward to getting to know everyone! We look forward to listening to her musical gifts!

Upcoming Sunday Services 

July 29, 2012
"Is God a White Racist?"
Christiane Heyde

Christiane Heyde will share a sermon with this provocative title, exploring African American Liberation theology, the cause of injustice and evil, as well as our concept of the divine. Margaret Fleming is Worship Associate. 

August 5, 2012  

"Your First Kiss" 

 Ron Phares

In more ways than you'd think, the first sermon in a newly settled pulpit is much like your first kiss. Thrilling, awkward, promising, and hopeful, the first kiss is an initiation and also frequently hysterical. And just like there is only one first kiss, there is only one first sermon.

August 12, 2012

"Sunday Morning with Books"

Members of the Book Discussion Group

The Sunday Morning Book Club is part of our adult religious education program. It's where knowledge that has been stored in books is brought alive through discussion. The reading we do makes a difference in each participant's life. We want to share with you our experiences of spending part of each Sunday with the ideas in books.

 August 19, 2012
Sermon Series: Spirit of Life
Part 1, "Roots Hold Me Close"

Ron Phares

Where are we? The desert. Tucson. A body. All are compelling answers. Place is meaningful both literally and symbolically. As we embark on the ministerial adventure together, we will explore these meanings and their implications regarding our identity as "one strong body."  

Ron Phares

With ambition, resolve and strength, we are free to pursue our future as embodied, spiritual adventurers.