Path to Membership Success
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Last Saturday's Path to Membership proved interesting and uplifting to the ten who attended the session. Of course, Rev. David Green provided them with a thorough introduction to the beliefs and principles of Unitarian Universalism and they also received insights into the operations of the Fellowship from Bruce Fielder, Eric Berg, Jerry Goebel, Keralee Clay, and Larry Campbell. Even the refreshments were a hit! Big thanks to ALL who contributed Saturday to the gathering.
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| Children's Religious Education Update |
Our Children's Religious Education (CRE) program is divided into two groups by age. In CRE, which meets each Sunday at 11 AM, we challenge our children with interactive studies about religion and science.
The older children will be focusing on the following topics during August:
August 30: Memories -- The role memories play in worship and how we can work them into our services.
In the nursery, we are discussing:
August 30: We Can Be Angry Without Hurting Others
Lesson plans are subject to change, but this is the plan.
Contact: Wes Phillips and Sarah Brown
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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for Children's RE
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We need a volunteer for the Elementary Classroom on September 6th, 13th and 27th. We also need a volunteer for the Nursery Classroom on September 27th. I'd love to get a habitual volunteer for the 4th Sunday of every month, and one for the 5th Sunday of every month (when there is a 5th Sunday).
I would also like some stern-ish figures to act as hall monitors. This position has been traditionally pretty flexible, and doesn't require you to miss the entire service. However, it has come to my attention that we (occasionally) need to be able to pull hall monitors from the service in case disciplinary action (time out in a separate classroom) is needed.
We could also use some volunteers for the Buffalo Lake camping trip on September 18th-19th. Since the camping trip is close to the autumn equinox, I am planning to focus on seasonal changes and will be telling some stories about pagan myths surrounding the equinox, perhaps some sort of traditional pagan equinox craft I am also envisioning a possible scavenger hunt.
One more thing we could use volunteers for is Science Club, which starts on Wednesday, September 16th at 6 PM. For the first Science Club meeting, I am thinking about focusing on the solar system, lunar and solar cycles, and astronomy. Email me directly if you are interested in helping out on the 16th, or with future Science Club meetings.
Contact: Sarah Brown
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In addition to the events described in this newsletter, you can find a complete listing by clicking on the Calendar icon to the left.
Want more detail? Check both the News and the Events sections of our website, uuamarillo.orgAlso on our website, you can learn more about our Fellowship and our faith, Unitarian Universalism.
All events are held at the Fellowship, 4901 Cornell St., unless otherwise noted.
If you are unsure how to reach any of the individuals named as contacts, please email the AUUF office or call our Office Administrator, April Myers, at 806.355.9351 and leave a message. She will return your call during her office hours, which are Tuesday- Friday from 9 AM to noon.
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Sunday Worship - 9:30 and 11 AM
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Ellen Robertson Green will speak on I've Been Zappo'd! What can an online shoe store teach us about how we treat each other? Ellen describes her experience of customer care and employee service training at the online retailer Zappos.com, and how the positive culture of Zappo's can be applied to any organization and our interpersonal relationships.
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David Green speaks on Faith Without Certainty, discussing the challenges and benefits of religious ambiguity, inquiry, and skepticism.
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September 13, 2015
David Green speaks on May the Force Be With You, discussing religious concepts found in science fiction.
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Adult Religious Education
Sunday, August 30 - 10 AM
Adult Religious Education class will watch and discuss the 2nd lecture in the series called Science and Religion by Prof. Lawrence Principe. The subject will be "The Warfare Thesis." Please join us at 10: 00 Sunday.
Contact: John Gay
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We Agnostics AA Group
Thursday, September 3- 6 PM
The "We Agnostics" Alcoholics Anonymous group meets weekly on Thursdays at 6 PM, in Chandler Hall. This AA group is for anyone with a desire to stop drinking and maintain sobriety, but particularly for those who are uncomfortable with AA meeting formats stressing particular religious beliefs.
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Meet the Artist -
Mike & Kristy Fuller
Tuesday, September 8 - 7 PM
Kristy is a published poet who used to write poems on tests for extra credit in high school. Mike is a singer-songwriter who has played gigs everywhere from package liquor stores to airport landing strips. (More here)
Together, they will share some of their work and discuss their creative processes.
This presentation is open to the public. Invite your friends and enjoy meeting these artists!
Circle the date on your calendar NOW!
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 We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and other related cases, and move to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.
Read House Joint Resolution 48 introduced April 29, 2015, oftencalled "We the People Amendment."
The 2016 general election is still over a year away, and already candidates for Congress and the Presidency are lining up in droves to parade themselves in front of corporate billionaires looking to buy their next vote.
The floodgates of unlimited political spending opened by Citizens United has turned our electoral process into an open auction, and now more than ever we need a constitutional amendment to end corporate rule and legalize democracy.
We have the opportunity to make corporate personhood and money as speech a defining campaign issue this election cycle.
Reversing the SCOTUS decision to grant corporations personhood can only happen through Congress. You can sign the petition online. If you missed Minnie Venable's report on the General Assembly of the UUA in Portland, you can find information about this movement initiated by organizations and churches around the country on the AUUF website page. On September 13, the congregation will have an opportunity to vote whether to add the Fellowship to the list of affiliates in support of Move to Amend.
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Outdoor Day and Campout at Buffalo Lake
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 For UUs and friends who are lovers of the outdoors-we're planning an outing at Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge, with opportunities for hiking, photography, bird watching, nature study, camping, and just hanging out! This event will reflect our 7th Principle: respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Save the dates- Friday evening, Sept. 18, and all day Saturday, Sept. 19. We have reserved the Group Education Area, which includes a large covered area with several picnic tables, and those who plan to camp can do so right around that area, with tents, campers, trailers, etc. Handicap-accessible primitive toilets are available nearby.
Contact: Janda Raker at 352-0589 or e-mail Ljraker@suddenlink.net.
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Fiction Book Group - Preview
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September 22, 7-8:30 PM at the Fellowship
The book for September is Lila by Marilynne Robinson: In Robinson's highly acclaimed 2014 follow-up to the Pulitzer prize winning Giliad, its narrator, Reverend Ames, recalls the challenge he found in the lost soul of the young, tenacious woman he married. As in Giliad, compelling characterizations are combined with theological ponderings to produce top shelf literature. Get your copy and begin reading.
Contact: Dick Moseley
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Autumn Circle Dinners, 2015
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 Many UU members have indicated they'd like to host a circle dinner in the early fall. In many cases, it's because they enjoy entertaining outside. So let's do it, in or out!
Once we start the sign-up sheets, we're going to ask that new UUs, those who have only been attending our fellowship (whether members or not) two years or less, sign up in the first couple of weeks, with longer-standing attendees signing up afterward. That way we can be sure that all the "newbies" get to attend. And it will ensure that almost everyone will get to dine with some folks they don't know so well.
Remember a "stranger is a friend you haven't made yet." And if they're UUs, you're going to love them! Prospective attendees, watch for further information.
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UUA Southern Fall Conference - Glen Rose, Texas
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Fall Conference is scheduled for November 13 through 15 at Glen Lake Camp and Conference Center near Glen Rose, Texas. The theme for this conference is "Into the FUUture!" Let's all register before October 26 (for discount) to boldly go where no UU congregation has gone before to gain tools and resources for charging ahead into the coming year, the next 10 years, or the next 10 decades. There are five tracks each designed to help leaders effect real cultural change toward growing a vital, healthy, effective UU community that helps its members achieve our vision of a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. Click here for more information. Contact Nina Stein to coordinate transportation and off site room sharing.
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Karen Armstrong. Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life. (2010)
Recognized world-wide for her erudition and readability, Karen Armstrong once again takes a complex subject and unpacks it eloquently, yet simply, for those of us who are mere mortals. Her elaboration on the role of compassion in the world's religions and the twelve steps necessary for individuals to attain depth of understanding and more effectively unlock our potential for more compassionate living is no overnight transition. In fact, the author provides a step-by-step map for a lifetime of growth. This book offers such practical guidance that it could easily be a life-long source of challenges toward self-improvement for any mortal.
Recommendation level
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Newsletter and Website Submissions
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As always, we are eager to publish information regarding committees, boards, Adult RE, CRE, events, and services, but we need your help. The website and Facebook page can be updated daily, but the newsletter cannot. New information needs to be submitted (submissions@uuamarillo.org) by noon Wednesday if you want it to appear in the Friday morning newsletter. If you need an event placed on the website calendar, you may submit that request with description, image (or we can provide one), starting and approximate ending time, specific location, date (or dates for a recurring event), and name of contact person. Help us help you get your message out in a timely manner.
PLEASE, EVERYONE CAN MAKE ALL THESE COMMUNICATIONS MORE EFFECTIVE BY READING THEM EACH WEEK--ESPECIALLY THE WEBSITE AND NEWSLETTER!
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WTAMU Faculty Flute Recital
WTAMU School of Music presents Helen Blackburn's Faculty Flute Recital. Tuesday, September 1, 2015 at 7:30pm in Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall at 2403 Russell Long Blvd., Canyon, TX 79015. For more information regarding this performance, please contact Monica Little in the School of Music office at 806-651-2840 or by email at mlittle@wtamu.edu.
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