We Care

The We Care program is a network led by volunteers who reach out to address short-term needs - food deliveries, rides to doctor's appointments, a listening ear in the event of a loss. The Cedar Lane congregation is organized geographically by "neighborhoods"; each neighborhood has at least one chairperson to coordinate support. Look at your nametag or the map in the church office to find your neighborhood. 

Upcoming Sundays   

10:10 in the Chalice House Main Room (between services)

Click here for future forums 

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The collection at the two services on Sunday, October 23, 2011, will be split 50/50 to benefit Housing Unlimited, Inc. (HUI) and the good works of Cedar Lane. HUI offers affordable, independent housing for adults with psychiatric disabilities in Montgomery County. It was founded in 1991 (with seed funding from the Montgomery County branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness) by parents of adults with psychiatric disabilities. The first house was purchased in 1994. Today HUI has 47 homes throughout Montgomery County serving 138 individuals.

HUI's unique Tenant Empowerment Program provides education and training on the privileges and obligations of being a responsible tenant as well as a member of a shared living community. HUI tenants celebrate their independence and cherish the opportunity to have traditional housing in the community. 

Discover more about HUI, our tenants, and how you can make a difference by visiting: www.housingunlimited.org

Music Notes From the Director of Music

Dr. Henry Sgrecci 

October 16

We welcome our talented children and youth musicians to lead us in the music of this morning's service. The Youth Handbell Choir rings a simple but lovely arrangement of "For the Beauty of the Earth, the same song that we will sing as our opening hymn. As our Call to Worship, the Children's Choir sings lyrics that are particularly apt for this morning's service, from one of John Rutter's most popular songs, "All Things Bright and Beautiful." During the Offertory the Youth Choir finds a comfortable groove in four-part harmony in the traditional spiritual, "Keep Your Lamps." CLUUC member Emma Vawter returns from her undergraduate voice studies to sing with the Choir in the solo introduction of "Under the Willow Tree" from Samuel Barber's opera "Vanessa, premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1958. Vanessa was a wealthy aging beauty who believed she may have discovered love again. The song was sung by a long time friend of Vanessa's, a doctor, to her younger suitor; the doctor describing how love was in days gone by. The song is set in the guise of a German art song in waltz time and was adapted by the composer into a concert selection for solo voice and four part choir. Thomas Guthrie's postlude is the theme song from the famous "Peanuts" animated television special.

Special thanks to members of the Children's Choir, Youth Choir, Youth Handbell Choir, and to Emma Vawter for their contributions which enhanced today's worship services.

Got Halloween delights? Plan to attend Thomas Guthrie's organ concert on Saturday evening, October 29 at 7:30 PM. Thom promises lots of fun and merriment as he casts a delightful Halloween spell. He'll be assisted by the Choir, Gruppo Piccolo, members of the Children's and Youth Choirs, the Whatever Four Quartet, and a special spooky guest. This will be a creepy, eery evening of free fun for all. See you then...

Mother Wove the Morning - A social justice night at the theatre!

A play about one woman's search for the feminine face of God will be performed on Fri Oct 21 and Sat Oct 22 at 8pm at the UU Congregation of Fairfax in Oakton, VA. This passionate and poignant play  takes the audience on a spiritual journey through history and the human heart.   The play was originally performed over 300 times as a one woman show by the author, Carol Lynn Pearson, both in the United States and Europe.  The UUCF production is a benefit for the Fistula Foundation.  The Fistula Foundation is dedicated to the elimination of fistula, a devastating injury caused by obstructed labor or violence, which affects nearly 2 million women in the poorest countries in the world.  Tickets are $20, with a $10 reduced price for students, seniors, and low income.  Advance tickets are available online at www.uucf.org  

For more information about the production contact Susan Bennett scbennett@cox.net and Carmela Knepler carmelask@msn.com, for more information about the Fistula Foundation see their website www.fistulafoundation.org  

Calendar

Please visit the calendar here. 

From the Church Administrator

We have a few requests from the staff.  This is a very busy time of year for us, if you look at the calendar or drop by the church you will see the joint is jumping.  We request simply that if you move items out of a room or around a room like tables, chairs, equipment, please return them items to where you found them before you leave.  If you are meeting with a group and need to leave don't assume that someone from the group knows the layout and knows to return the room you meet in to rights before they leave.    Please be sure to remove any trash; if items get spilled or broken please clean up in a timely fashion and not leave it to staff.   

Sara Deshler  

Generous support from the Cedar Lane community over the past several years has made attending university a feasible option for the young people in our partner church congregation in Dicsöszentmárton, located in the part of Romania known as Transylvania. This year we are again grateful for all who have contributed to support these students. However, the funds we have collected for this academic year are running behind what we had hoped, and well behind the amount we have been able to send in previous years. In the hopes of being able to provide greater support, we are delaying the transfer of the funds for a couple weeks and extending the period over which we will accept donations to Sunday October 16.

Although tuition in Romanian universities is free or minimal for students who score highly enough on the admission tests - as have the students we are sponsoring this year - the cost of living in the university cities has risen markedly, and it is increasingly challenging for their families to provide the necessary funds for room and board or for books, as many adult members of the congregation been unemployed since the onset of the global recession. Every contribution -- large or small -- makes a difference.

As our associate minister Heather Janules says, this program has changed lives.  Former scholars are now working as social workers, legal advisors, town administrators, computer programmers, sound engineers, or are currently working through their medical residency training - occupations much needed to bring Romania forward.

To contribute, please mail or leave a check in the church office, made out to CLUUC with "Partner Church Scholarships" in the memo line. Rev. Endre Nagy and Mrs Nagy, the families of the students we are sponsoring, and indeed all of our Partner Church congregation are most grateful for the continued generosity of Cedar Lane members. Thank you very much!

REVFALL11.pdf; page 14.  Admission is open and free but donations are welcome ($5-$10 suggested.)

If you haven't heard of "Raw Faith," in the words of the film's website,"This surprisingly open and revealing documentary follows two years in the private life of a [Unitarian Universalist] minister. Marilyn Sewell is successful and beloved in the pulpit, but behind the scenes she is lonely and yearning for change. As she considers leaving the ministry, she realizes she will be leaving her only social network. Yet when she falls in love for the first time, she realizes she does not trust intimacy. A study in contrasts, Marilyn must rely on raw faith as she questions her future, her difficult past, her God and, most importantly, her ability to love." You may view a trailer here: http://alivemindcinema.com/req.php?req=static.php&page=RawFaithFIP The subject of the film, Marilyn Sewell, will be present that evening and will engage the audience after the film.

 For flyer click here.

Around the Church

Click here for event information.

Check out the Farmer's Stand in the Upper Parking Lot this Saturday, October 6th, from 9 am -1 pm. 

Click here for more information

"Traces of the Trade"

The first film in the "Racism: Then and Now" series presented by CLARITY will be "Traces of the Trade" to be shown on Friday, 10/21/2011 at 7:30 p.m. in the CLUUC library. All are invited and welcome. The cost is $5 at the door if you have not already enrolled in the series through Adult Programs. Light refreshments will be served.  There will be a group discussion following the film co-facilitated by Rev. Heather Janules and Alison Moses.

In "Traces of the Trade", producer/director Katrina Browne tells the story of her forefathers, the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. Given the myth that the South is solely responsible for slavery, viewers will be surprised to learn that Browne's ancestors were Northerners. The film follows Browne and 9 cousins as they retrace the Triangle Trade and gain powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide.

The issues the family are confronted with dramatize questions that apply to the nation as a whole: what, concretely, is the legacy of slavery - for diverse whites, for divers blacks, for diverse others? Who owes who what for the sins of the fathers of this country? What history do we inherit as individuals and as citizens? How does Northern complicity change the equation? What would repair - spiritual and material -- really look like and what would it take?

For further information contact CLARITY: CLUUC-CLARITY@yahoogroups.com or Ariel Mora: ariel_mora1@hotmail.com.

Cedar Lane Nursery School asks

Cleaning your closets, basement, storage units or playrooms?  Consider donating your gently used items to Cedar Lane Nursery School for sale at our annual Rummage Sale, to be held on Saturday, October 22. All proceeds go directly to the school.

Acceptable items:
- all gently used infant and children

  clothing and accessories, washed and

  ready to go home with a new family
- nursery and child bedding and accessories
- infant and children toys, books, CDs,

  DVDs
- high chairs, strollers, bouncy seats, 

  swings, etc.
- household items to include furniture and 

  furnishings
Unacceptable items:
- all cribs
- stained or torn items
- recalled children toys or accessories

Items not sold during the event will be donated to Interfaith Work's Clothing Center. 
If you would like a receipt for your donation, please let me know:  jessicahyman@graffiti.net

Thank you in advance for your support! 

From the Membership Coordinator 

Welcome Workshop Saturday, Nov 5

We offer this opportunity to learn about Unitarian Universalism, our spiritual community, how we operate, what we offer, and ways to get engaged. The workshop is hosted by the membership coordinator with interactive sessions led by each of the ministers. If you are a new member, longtime member, or interested visitor, this is an ideal way to extend your knowledge of the faith, the church, and to build relationships. Lunch is provided.  No fee.

We want to extend a warm invitation to all members, friends, and visitors to our Welcome Workshop, Saturday, November 5, in the church library from 10am to 1pm.  And if you have already attended one, you are encouraged to do it again.  Because there's a different group of people each time, it's always a little different and a great way to meet new people.  Feel free to bring a friend.

For long time members this is a chance to be extend the hand of welcoming and hospitality to our new members and visitors as well as an opportunity to learn more about our church.   Each time we do this people report being surprised at how the time flies by and that they enjoyed the experience, learned a lot, and got to meet others.  It's a great event.

The workshop is free and we can provide childcare if you let us know in advance.  It is listed in the Adult Programs booklet as course A9.  To register, contact Adult Programs (Jeannette Wilson, 301 493 8300 or jwilson@cedarlane.org@cedarlane.org). If you have questions contact our membership coordinator Andy Streich, astreich@cedarlane.org.  

Andy Streich

 Environmental Task Force 

Click here to check out some Green Tips!

 The LGTB Task Force 

National LGBT History Month (October) at Cedar Lane  
*A highlight for the month will be a celebratory exhibit in the main building vestibule area featuring a preview of the newest (and still evolving) photo-text exhibit by Family Diversity Projects--WE HAVE FAITH.  The focus of this new exhibit is on LGBT faith leaders, some of whom are well known to Cedar Laners.     
 

For further information, contact Stephen Colgan smcolgan@hotmail.com or Marge Dimond Margeryjd@aol.com.