ENews from Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church

In the Lounge: * Alliance Books * Bagels and Donuts * Beacon Books Cart * Environmental Task Force * Fair Trade Coffee and Tea * * Kiplinger Lecture Registration * Music Committee * Social Justice Council *

Sunday Morning Forum:

Can America Afford To Be the World's Police Officer? Options for Defense in an Age of Deficit Reduction. Our speaker is Gordon Adams, Professor of International Relations at American University and a Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center where he directs the program on Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense. During the Clinton Administration Dr. Adams served as Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget. He was a member of the OMB Agency Transition Team for the Obama transition in 2008.

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

The Offertory this Sunday will be split 50/50 with Housing Unlimited, Inc. (HUI). HUI offers affordable, independent housing for adults with psychiatric disability in Montgomery County. This local organization provides direct service to County residents since 1994. Tenants have celebrated their independence and the opportunity to have traditional housing in the community. Please mark your check with 50/50 split or pledge if it is intended as a pledge payment.

From the Ministers

Rev. Evan Keely

All across our country, when we think of November, we think of Thanksgiving Day, and for millions of Americans, that means getting together with family. What we often rediscover annually at the Thanksgiving table is that our relationships with our families can be very complicated. It's human nature to feel intense love, loyalty and connection to family members, and there can be immense joy in those bonds. At the same time, family relationships can be also be fraught with frustration, disappointment and pain. Probably every one of us could tell personal stories about love, loyalty, frustration, pain and a lot of other emotions around the Thanksgiving table. Even those that don't get together with family on the fourth Thursday in November have their stories to tell about their families and why they're not with them: perhaps stories of disappointment at being too far away or not being able to forsake some other commitment (think of our military personnel overseas, for instance), or stories of loss for those whose family members are no longer living, or stories of hurt from those who don't want to be with their families.

In many ways, congregational life is like that too. Even a large congregation like CLUUC, much bigger than any extended family that any of us could identify, has these characteristics. In church, we are bound together by love, and by intense feelings of loyalty to shared values. And in church as in our families, we are confronted over and over again with our humanness-our own, and that of those we love-and the ways in which that is such a beautiful blessing as well as a source of frustration, disappointment and pain.

I've really enjoyed getting to know people at CLUUC and hearing your stories-stories of love and loyalty, stories of communal commitment to deeply held values, and yes, some stories of disappointment and hurt. No congregation is without these things. CLUUC, like all congregations, is a humans-only club, with all the beauty and all the brokenness of what that entails. What we need to come to terms with in all our human connections-family, church, country, and all our relationships-is the truth about ourselves and those around us: the love that binds us, the values to which we are loyal, and the hope that we can learn from the inevitable disappointments we experience and move forward together in enduring connection.

Rev. Heather Janules

I hope you will indulge me as I use this space as more of an invitation than a reflection...

When I first came to Cedar Lane, I learned that a new Aging Support Group was forming and was asked to help get it off the ground. To that end, I gathered the people together who expressed an interest in this new group and we discussed the kind of group experience folks wanted. I learned early on that "Aging Support" was not the right language to use for this group as this circle of women - as they were all women - were more focused on the many experiences of active living than the challenges of aging. So a new name was chosen - the "Friday Friends."

As this name suggests, welcoming and supportive relationships have been at the heart of the Friday Friends group. Meeting twice a month (except during the summer and holiday times,) the Friday Friends check in with one another about the blessings and challenges of their lives. After an hour of check-in, we break for refreshments (at least one person usually brings something sweet to enjoy) and then, for the remaining 45-minutes or so, we focus on a previously-chosen topic. In the past we have discussed "spirituality," "keeping our family story alive," "favorite poems" and "the houses we have lived in." Participants have been creative in bringing in items to share with the group to illustrate their experiences - photos, illustrations, memoirs, small keepsakes.

Through these opportunities to share and hear one another's stories, meaningful bonds have formed. When one member is going through a particularly difficult time - two have lost spouses since the Friday Friends began - the group takes special care in being present and supportive to each other.

I share all of this as I am concerned that the Friday Friends may soon need to disband. While the group has twelve participants, due to travel, distance from the church, illness and competing demands in active lives, we are consistently getting only about 3 or 4 people at meetings. My experience has taught me that a group requires at least 6 people and a facilitator for viability in the long-term. As I have born witness to what this group offers, I am hopeful that it can continue and that a wider circle of Cedar Lane members and friends can have the experience of being among wise, creative, intelligent and active elders that care for each other with great kindness and grace.

The Friday Friends meet the second and fourth Friday of each month from 1:30-3:30 pm in the Cedar Lane Library. If you are interested in participating in this small, intentional community or have any questions, please let me know by calling me at the office (301.493.8300, x204) or sending me an email (hjanules@cedarlane.org ). While the group is composed of women, it is not women-only by design; men are welcome and encouraged to participate. The Friday Friends will decide whether to continue or disband at the end of this calendar year based on our enrollment and participation at that time. Please join us!

Living the Mission -- TOMORROW, October 22 from 10 am to 3 pm!!!

We will welcome members, families and friends to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church with many opportunities for learning, growth, and celebration. "Living the Mission" is a multi-generational event planned to appeal to all members of our church community. We are organizing morning activities and workshops, performances and a dance, and offering food and beverages, along with a brief worship gathering and an anniversary tree planting.

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.

We rejoice with Al and Maggie Brodnick (Neighborhood 4) with the wedding of their daughter, Caitlin Brodnick, to Allen Arthur on October 15th in the Cedar Lane Chapel.

Congratulations go out to David Stewart (N9), whose new book, American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America, will be released on October 25th...and is already getting great reviews!

We celebrate that Thomas Nissley, son of Connie and Peter Nissley (N5), will be in the upcoming JEOPARDY Tournament of Champions. The tournament will start airing on Wednesday, Nov 2.

Bob and Dorothy Britt (N23) celebrated the wedding of their grandson, Michael, to long-time sweetheart Susie in a ceremony at Brookside Gardens on October 15th. Hooray!

We are proud that two Cedar Lane groups will be recipients of awards at the annual UUSJ Open Door Social Justice Awards Gala this Sunday (5:30 pm at La Panetteria restaurant. See UUSJ.net for details.) Cedar Lane's organizers for Action in Montgomery (Nancy Janssen (N23,) Helen Strang (N5,) Debbie Trent (N4) and Sandy Shaw (N2)) will receive the Collaborative Social Justice Award for their work towards the passage of the Dream Act in Maryland and our co-chairs of our LGBT Task Force (Stephen Colgan (N7) and Marge Dimond (N1)) will receive the GLBTQ Award. Congratulations!

Should you know of a member of our community in personal need, you are encouraged to reach out to them. If you learn that this person wishes to receive a response from the church, please contact Heather Janules at hjanules@cedarlane.org. All ministers offer pastoral care to our members so you are also encouraged to contact any member of the ministerial team.

Upcoming Sundays

October 30, 2011 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
"Open Hearts and Minds"

Nancy Bird Pellegrini, Intern Minister

Seeking that which unites us in interfaith work.

Forum: The Hidden Life of Guns. More than 35,000 people have been killed in Mexico by guns that originated in the United States. Our speaker, James Grimaldi, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, was a member of a team of Washington Post reporters who undertook a year-long investigation for a series of articles on how US guns end up on Mexican streets. He will discuss their findings and as well as subsequent developments.

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

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Click here for future forums

Music Notes From the Director of Music

Dr. Henry Sgrecci

October 23

Sunday morning's vocal music embraces the spirit of the CLUUC Mission Statement: "building a more just world." In 1988, at the height of the South African struggle against Apartheid, a massive bomb blew up in the building that housed Desmond Tutu's South African Council of Churches. Upon viewing the scene, Tutu and his staff danced in the streets and sang "Freedom is Coming" as an act of defiance. Our Offertory, "Make Them Hear You," comes from the hit Broadway musical, "Ragtime." The song speaks of justice denied and those who chose to fight on, with swords, and with pens, and with ten million righteous men. UU composer Mary Lou Prince lives in Arizona and has been writing music from the age of five. She spent two and one half decades in Japan, composing works for chorus, orchestra, and opera. Her song, "Mama Never Forgets Her Birds" is a delicate, lilting setting of Emily Dickinson's poem. Thomas Guthrie's prelude, "Aria," comes from award-winning composer and organist, Craig Phillips. Dr. Phillips works have been published throughout the country, with commissions from Washington's National Cathedral and the University of California. The postlude, "Gavotte," is a dance in the classic Baroque style by noted eighteenth century English composer, William Boyce.

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...

Concerts at cedar lane

From the Church Administrator

Church life is in full swing, we are moving ahead apace. Just a reminder to keep us all safe, leaving the parking lot onto Cedar Lane it is best to only turn right as there is limited visibility making left turns due to cars parked on Cedar Lane and the speed at which folks fly down Cedar Lane. Other requests/reminders, please do not remove furniture/supplies/equipment from classrooms, if you need to move anything please make sure it is returned. If there are spills please clean them up. The staff is stretched especially thin this time of the year with all our glorious activities happening so your assistance is needed to keep up with it all. Lucy Dubinsky has updated the membership directory, drop by the office if you need a current copy. Hope everyone is aware that our church calendar is now accessible from our website. We received $640 last year from the Safeway rewards program, please consider helping us out again. Click here to signup, or click here to access a flyer about the program.

Sara Deshler

Beyond the Church

Click here to learn about some events sponsored by friends of Cedar Lane.

Issues Affecting Local Immigrants/Preparing

for Justice GA 2012: Mobilizing Area UUs to

Transform Concern into Action!

Saturday, November 19 8:30am-12:30pm

Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church

9601 Cedar Lane, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4099

Save the Date!!

Joseph Priestley District of the UUA

2012 JPD Worship Arts Festival

February 24-25, 2012

Friday Evening Training for Worship Presenters

6pm to 9pm

Saturday Plenary and Workshops

8am to 4:30pm

Featured Presenter:

Rev. Carol Howard Merritt, author of Tribal Church and Reframing Hope

Saturday workshops include Multigenerational Worship, Thematic Worship, Choral Repertoire, as well as Membership and Communication Support.

When your annual workplace giving campaign kick offs this year, please select UU charities. Beacon House, UUSJ and OpenDoor Housing Fund are neighborhood organizations formed by UUs from local congregations, and UUSC is an international human rights organization. If you give through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), please remember:

OpenDoor Housing Fund ID# 65151 www.opendoorhousingfund.org

UUSC ID # 11685 www.uusc.org

UUSJ ID # 17271 www.uusj.org

Beacon House ID # 85145 www.beaconhousedc.org

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Beacon House 20th Anniversary coming up on Friday, October 28, at 7:00 pm in Washington, DC. Follow the link for address & information:

http://www.beaconhousedc.org/event-information/

NovemberFest! at Rockville UU Church

UU of Rockville's new fall fundraiser, NovemberFest, will be held on Saturday, November 12, 9 AM - 3 PM. This year's event features arts and crafts vendors; a great book sale; toys, bikes, and other pre-owned treasures in a community yard sale area; signature baked goods; and of course UUCR's famous quilt raffle. For more information (and to see the quilt) visit www.uucr.org/novemberfest.

Calendar

Please visit the calendar here.

HELP WANTED

Chalice with Flame

To bridge the six-month continuation of the 2011-12 Religious Education year following the Rev. Susan Archer's departure January 1, until our RE Interim begins next August, the Board of Trustees is actively seeking congregants to assist with the ongoing tasks of the RE program from January through June 2012 - including a paid supervisor to oversee the entire RE program and volunteers willing to help. Recognizing the long history and strength of our current RE program and the many talented Cedar Laners who have longstanding experience with it, we will complete the upcoming RE year through a combination of lay-led ministry and increased staff support. More information is forthcoming, including an information session in the library after both services this Sunday. Please contact Sara Deshler, sdeshler@cedarlane.org , if you are interested in helping on a paid or volunteer basis toward our common goal of a continuously strong RE program.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION FOR ALL AGES
Susan Archer, Minister of Religious Education
Vanessa Steck, Coordinator of Senior High Youth Ministry
Gale Ginther Luce and Jeannette Wilson, Administrators
For information and to register for classes and programs call 301-493-8300 x207 or e-mail RE@cedarlane.org.

Religious Education for Children (RE)

Families! Don't Miss this Once in a . . . 60 Year . . . Opportunity

Bring the whole family to enjoy the variety of activities for Cedar Lane's 60th celebration, "Living the Mission," on Saturday, October 22. Mark your calendars for NEXT Saturday! Events start at 10:00 a.m.! Have your children paint pumpkins and moon-bounce, learn about church committees, stay for lunch and the chili cook-off! An event for all ages to participate in TOGETHER

"Halloween Delights"

Hear Cedar Lane's revered organist and accompanist, Thomas Guthrie, in his finest hour as he casts a mischievous spell over his audience. Listeners will be treated to such tasty morsels as Bach's Toccata in d minor, Horvit's A Diet of Worms, and the CLUUC Choir singing Berlioz's Dance of Ghosts. Saturday, October 29, 7:30 p.m., in the auditorium.

RE Registration Forms!!

Still needed for many families! Please send them in, especially health and volunteer forms! Keep our RE program vibrant, and volunteer where you can!　

...Click here for MORE Religious Education news!!!

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

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

Cedar Lane Nursery School invites you to their

annual Rummage Sale, to be held on Saturday, October 22. All proceeds go directly to the school.

Save the Date for Holiday Craft Day on Saturday, December 3. Please know that

Holiday Craft Day needs volunteers; contact Katie Spurlock at spurlockk@aol.com or (301) 320-3345 if you can help with this festive Cedar Lane tradition.

Social Justice Council
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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.

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WE HAVE FAITH: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Clergy and People of Faith Speak Out

o     Join us for a preview showing of the newest photo-text exhibit created by Family Diversity Projects.

o     Participate in a discussion about WE HAVE FAITH and its value as a resource for opening hearts and minds.

o     Share ideas about using WE HAVE FAITH for moving toward full equality and inclusion of LGBT people in faith traditions and in society as a whole.

Where:
     Cedar Lane Unitarian

     Universalist Church
     9601 Cedar Lane
     Bethesda, MD 20814

When:
     Friday, October 28th 7:30 to

     9:00 PM

RSVP:
    Susan Staff dstaff44@comcast.net
    Marge Dimond margeryjd@aol.com

For further information about Family Diversity Projects visit www.familydiv.org

All Humanity is one undivided and indivisible family - Gandhi

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

CLARITY -- In This Together

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?

During the "Living the Mission" celebration on Saturday, Oct. 22, CLARITY will lead discussions at 10:00 & 11:15 on The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. The thesis of this book is that discrimination against people of color, esp. African Americans, has simply taken a new form following the gains of the Civil rights movement of the 1960s. In today's society, the "War on Drugs" is the tool primarily responsible for keeping the majority of young black men in major American cities locked up or labeled as felons for life. The U.S. criminal justice system now functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness.

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

Award-Winning Activist Songwriters
CD Release Concert
November 11th, Hyattsville MD

L-R: Sandy O & Pat Humphries. Photo: Tom Wolff

emma's revolution

Friday Nov 11th, 7pm
"Revolutions Per Minute" CD Release Concert
With guest musicians Gary Johnson (keyboards)
& Ken Quam (drums)

The New Busboys & Poets
5331 Baltimore Avenue
Hyattsville, MD

$15 in advance/$18 at the door
Advance tickets at www.emmasrevolution.com

Contact Sandy for further info

Raw Faith
November 4, 7:00 p.m. Cedar Lane
With special guest, the Rev. Marilyn Sewell

Cedar Lane UU Church - in partnership with River Road UU Congregation and the Joseph Priestley District - is delighted to offer a screening of the documentary film "Raw Faith" as part of our "Meaning of Ministry" program series. Find out more about the series in the Fall Adult Programs booklet, page 14, or at http://cedarlane.org/ap/ 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.

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Sara Deshler
Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church