We are a Welcoming Congregation. A Welcoming Congregation is inclusive and expressive of the concerns of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender persons at every level of congregational life.

 Very appropriately, Lore' Eargle and Ray Williamson are co-honorees for January, 2010.  As the first to be recognized in the new decade, Lore' and Ray were selected by the UUC Board of Trustees for their wonderful work with our youth program and for leading the program on non-violent communication.  They served on the faculty of the OWL program(Our Whole Lives), which required extensive training time and many hours working with the youth who took part.  They always seem to be working on their projects together, so the board felt it could only recognize them for their efforts as a couple.  Congratulations and great thanks to Lore' and Ray.

 

Join together with other Unitarian Universalists on Martin Luther King Sunday in affirming our common bonds and purposes on our annual Association Sunday! Our liberal religious faith is needed to help heal our wounded world. Now is the time to pool our resources to help Grow Our Diversity, through new programs to develop spiritual communities that are more welcoming to ALL people. Funds raised by this Sunday's collection will be used by the Unitarian Universalist Association as part of the ongoing effort to Grow Our Faith.

This year, we are fortunate to have the Rev. Dr. Bill Schulz, former UUA President, as our guest preacher. With your participation in Association Sunday, we will continue our efforts to build the beloved community. Through this year's Growth in Diversity funding initiatives, we will expand the Building the World We Dream About curriculum and associated resources and training, support congregations that are working to create a Unitarian Universalism that is racially, culturally, and economically diverse, and enable UU congregations and districts to minister effectively to youth and young adults who identify as people of color or multiracial, and to their families, in the areas of spiritual development, racial/cultural identity development, and leadership development.

Come ready to give generously to help grow our diversity and faith; we are better together!

 

The restaurant is at the western end of Corey Causeway, on the water.

Thursdays are "Friends of Florida Folk," so if you want to come early, musicians start around 6 p.m.   If it is not too cold, we will be in the more open air section so dress appropriately.

January 14-17

Reconciliation with the Earth, Each Other and the Stranger

Schedule, fees, registration information, volunteer information, etc.:

the UUC website. 

More information is available in the Social Hall on the 'IARF' bulletin board or by contacting Denise Seeber at 727-474-2647 or Denise_Seeber@tampabay.rr.com.

 

For more information contact Owen Thompson or Bill Snell, Co-Chairs, Stewardship Committee.

March 12-14

Mark your calendar for UUC's first All-Congregation Retreat at Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center in Lithia, Florida (about an hour away from Clearwater). To get a preview go to
the Cedarkirk website..

July 18-24

Are you looking for a great, affordable experience, one with lots of adventures and filled with friends? If so, then come to SUUSI! Sign up for a FREE catalog!

 

January 8
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
 
Two Years of Travel is a photography show featuring the work of Laura Carroll.  These photos come from the time she spent working as a tour leader in Morocco, Russia, Mongolia, and China. Her images will transport you to places that few tourists ever see. The show continues through February 24; the wonderful show of art by Shirley Frank can be seen through January 6.

PSI Symposium Website

Clearwater Chapter
Workshops
Toning Workshops - Tones for Living  
Laughter Yoga

February 28: Susan Golden will lead a discussion on music healing, based on Wisdom of the World.

In the Readers Forum, we read and discuss books selected by the group from a variety of genres. Starting January 8, the group is reading the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
 
Leaders: Catherine & John Conover
Four consecutive Fridays beginning January 8, 2010.
10:00-11:30 AM in the Chorale Room of the UUC Octagon
$20 ($5 if you already have the book)

On January 8, we will discuss the Introduction and Chapters 1-2
On January 15, Chapters 3-5
On January 22, Chapters 6-8
On January 29, Chapters 9-10

No registration required -- to be part of the Readers Forum, just show up.

To make the journey into the Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. From the very first page of this extraordinary book, we move rapidly into a significantly higher altitude where we breathe a lighter air. We become connected to the indestructible essence of our Being, "The eternal, ever present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death." Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart Tolle uses simple language and an easy question and answer format to guide us.  Books are available after the service in the UUC Social Hall and at the Friday Readers Forum sessions.

On January 18th UUC members and friends will join many other groups at the breakfast/march to Coachman Park in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The program begins with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Line-up for the march begins at 9:45 a.m. at the North Greenwood Aquatic Center. Participants will then march from the center to Coachman Park for a rally and celebration. Tickets to the breakfast are $4.00 for adults and $2.00 for children under 10 and can be purchased at the door. Children are welcome to march but young ones should be in a stroller as the walk is over a mile long. Remember to wear your UUC T-shirt. This event is one the whole family can be a part of. Information and times are tentative. Watch the Weekly Bulletin for further details.
 

Why not make volunteering for the Social Justice Council a New Year's resolution?

January is the start of a new decade as well as a new year! There are so many activities every month at UUC that it can be easy to forget that our congregation is connected to the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA).

The UUA represents more than 1,000 liberal religious congregations. The UUA is governed by a Board of Trustees consisting of District Trustees selected by the various districts and at-large Trustees, who are elected by delegates to the General Assembly. The General Assembly is the annual business meeting of the denomination, held in various parts of the continent. The Board of Trustees meets four times each year, three times in Boston and once at the General Assembly. This year's General Assembly is June 23 - 27 in Minneapolis, Minn.

The UUA is divided into districts and UU Clearwater is part of the Florida District, which serves 44 affiliated congregations (5,000 UUs!) and one emerging congregation located throughout Florida (not including the panhandle), south Georgia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Check out the Florida District news and calendar!
 
There are five Florida Clusters in the Florida District: Northeast, West Central, East Central, Southwest, and Southeast. UUC belongs to the West Central Cluster. The West Central Cluster is looking for a volunteer to help upgrade the website. If you have these skills and would like to volunteer, just contact Judy Wade at jwade866@verizon.net for more information.
 
Let's all add "Increase My UU Advocacy" to our New Year's Resolutions!

-- Judy Wade, UUC Denominational Affairs Chair

 

January 3                                     Is The Iceberg Melting?                                        Abhi Janamanchi
"Change, if you look around, is everywhere. Handle the challenge of change well, and you can prosper greatly. Handle it poorly, and you put yourself at risk," says John Kotter, management guru at Harvard Business School and author of the best-selling book Our Iceberg is Melting. The book is a simple fable about doing well in an ever-changing world. The service will investigate.
 
January 10                                   Repressive Tolerance                                          Abhi Janamanchi
Tolerance is a deceptive virtue. It does not require us to attempt to understand one another or to know anything about each other. "It is a step forward from active hostility, but is a long way from pluralism." The service will explore the limits of tolerance and offer some alternatives.
 
January 17                       Bread Of Course, But Why Roses                                Revs. Bill Schulz & Abhi Janamanchi
Music - Jim Scott & UUC Chorale
"We want bread, but we want roses too!" the women on the picket line shouted as they struck a textile mill in Lawrence, Mass., in 1912, and ever since the phrase "Bread and Roses" has come to symbolize the importance of something more than subsistence in the struggle for life. Having visited steaming refugee camps in Darfur, rat-infested prisons in Liberia and death row in Louisiana, I have been struck repeatedly by the human spirit's quest for something more than bread. Unitarian Universalism embodies a commitment to the needs of both body and spirit. What better Sunday to celebrate that than Association Sunday -- the day we take note of our ties to our larger religious enterprise, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), and to one another? We are delighted to welcome one of the best UU preachers, Dr. Bill Schulz, who served as the UUA President (1984-1992) and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. He will be joined by acclaimed UU musician, singer-songwriter Jim Scott. Our share-the-plate collection will support the UUA's Association Sunday. This year's theme is Grow Our Diversity. 
 
January 24                                   Being Human, Religiously                                               Abhi Janamanchi
The service will draw upon the ideas of James Luther Adams, the most influential theologian among American Unitarian Universalists of the 20th century, and one of the finest 20th-century American liberal Christian theologians generally, and provide a framework for the essential principles of religious liberalism.
 
January 31                       Guest Speaker and Topic To Be Announced

Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
 

January 3. Bill Deshong. Second half of Coal Country, The Sierra Club's just-released  documentary about  mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. On one hand it dumps waste into our streams; on the other hand, it provides jobs to the locals to mine coal.

 

January 10. Deborah Simeone, volunteer coordinator at UPARC (Upper Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens) talks about UPARC. "I've watched people blossom," she says, "They come out of their shells. It's a phenomenon to see."

 

January 17. Paul and Debbie Langrock, "The State of Real Estate." The latest info by UUC's real estate brokers.

 

January 24.  Dianne Steele talks about Vincent House in Pinellas County, a social and vocational recovery program for adults living with mental illnesses. Vincent House adheres to the model of the International Center for Clubhouse Development (ICCD).

 

January 31.  Jack Perlman: My 36 years of experience in public education, the bad, the good, and the future. Jack started from a black-listed beginning in Los Angeles during Senator McCarthy's witch hunt and rose to the top of the heap in the NY school system.

 

Phone: (727) 531-7704 

Fax:     (727) 531-4188
mail@uuclearwater.org

 

Staff

Senior Minister Rev. Abhi Janamanchi
Consulting Minister Rev. Bill Welch
Intern Minister Rev. Nick Ozuna

Music Director Dr. David Katz
Pianist Linda Jones
Office Administrator/Bookkeeper Karen Roeder
Facilities Manager Janine Tompkins
Religious Education Program Assistant Christine Pensa

 

Board President Sue Boone
Octagram Editor Karen Witham