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Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Lake Norman
An inclusive community embracing individual spiritual growth
-- living our beliefs through works
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Our services begin at 11 a.m. Sundays in the Lodge at Woodlawn School,
just north of Davidson. A nursery for children up to pre-kindergarten age starts at 10:45 a.m. in the classroom adjacent to the Lodge. Children in K-5th grade go to Spiritual Exploration following the children's story during the service.
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Feb. 7: "John Dietrich - A hUmaNITARIAN!" with member J. Rodger Clark, Humanist Celebrant, American Humanist Society
A look at one of UU's earliest humanist leaders, who many refer to as the "Father of Religious Humanism" in celebration of Darwin Day.
A Souper Bowl Sunday Potluck will follow the service.
Feb. 14: "It's All About Love: An Intergenerational Service of Music and Reflections" with Rev. Amy Brooks and music director Theresa Woody
See Music notes below for details.
Feb. 21: "The Holy Indecent" with Rev. Robin Tanner, guest speaker
In the midst of mixed messages of bodies and holiness, as religious ideas of purity grow, what wholeness and holiness unfolds from the indecent?
Rev. Tanner is Lead Minister at Piedmont UU Church in Charlotte.
Feb. 28: "Metaphors We Know and Love: Gates and Doors and Thresholds" with Rev. Mary Frances Comer, guest speaker Religious traditions often speak of prophets as doors and gateways to "the way" of truth and life. Whether to a path of spiritual enlightenment or simply as a means of imaging a desire, these metaphors help us frame questions as central actions behind transformative experiences. Rev. Comer is Affiliated Community Minister at Piedmont UU Church.
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The next Coffee and Conversation with Rev. Amy Brooks and members will be on Feb. 14 at 9:45 a.m. in Classroom #2. This is for anyone interested in finding out more about our faith and our Fellowship in a fun and informative discussion. Child care will be available if requested in advance. Please RSVP to membership@uulakenorman.org if you plan to attend.
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Milestones
We continue to send Kim Worthington healing thoughts and prayers. She reports feeling stronger.
Our love and concern go to John Lawrence as he recovers at home from a recent illness.
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Sunday morning groups
The Humanist Discussion Group meets at 9:45 a.m. in classroom #2 on the first and third Sundays of the month. This month's meetings will be Feb. 7 and Feb. 21. The group welcomes all those interested in discussing life from a humanist perspective.
The Adult Discussion Group group meets at 9:45 a.m. in classroom #3 and all are welcome.
Youth Spiritual Exploration (grades 5 and up): Youth are welcome to stay for the service or leave with the children for a separate break-out discussion.
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Music notes
Love, love, love ...
Our service on love Feb. 14. "It's All About Love" will be music-rich, with songs about different kinds of love. Some musical highlights: Eddie Gunn and Barb Haggart sharing verses of the old jazz standard, "Let it  Be Me"... the UU Lake Norman Band, with Jeff Pender on guitar, John Boles on bass, and Kamel Bouchoucha on drums ... our talented Rev. Brooks singing "What Wondrous Love is This?"... Jeff Pender channeling John Lennon and Dan Aldrich singing verses of a Silliman-winning UU hymn ... Laurie Walker singing "You've Got a Friend," and a beautiful song from our teal hymnbooks celebrating love and support for all our children, sung by Nicole Gantz. Come prepared to sing. Come prepared to be moved and stirred up, by music about love.
Choir
Our adult choir, after our winter hiatus, will start up again in late February. We practice on Tuesday nights, and will be preparing special music for a few key services this spring. If you 'd like to sing with us, please contact me.
Drumming and a potluck
Have you ever wanted to try your hand at playing beats? On Friday, Feb. 26, from 7-10 p.m., the music department invites young and the rest of us to enjoy food, fellowship and drumming! We'll have a jam session upstairs, with Kamel Bouchoucha taking the lead and the rest of us improvising on the many instruments owned by UU Lake Norman and by our host. Food and merry fellowship will be downstairs for those who prefer to listen, visit, and eat the delectable snacks and dishes you are all invited to bring!
It's BYOBeverage. (Plates, utensils, glasses and bottle openers provided.) For more information, and to RSVP, contact me at music@uulakenorman.org.
Theresa Woody
Music Director
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Stewardship campaign
Stewardship: The values or moral principles that include the responsible planning and management of resources.
Stewardship is a quiet hum of activity that goes on all year long. Once a year, for a whole month, we take it public. The idea is to engage in a congregation-wide conversation about stewardship's guiding values and how we apply them, as a group and as individuals.
To be a member or a friend of the Fellowship implies engaging with the aspirations, the concerns and the everyday life of the whole congregation. Here's what we see:
We love music, so we sing in the choir, play instruments, sing along on Sundays, and rejoice in the talent and energy Theresa brings to her work as music director.
We care about human needs, so we sign on for meal trains when home-delivered food is just the right thing. We follow up when a concern needs some further comfort or attention. We support clean water in Guatemalan communities -- and our own.
We love thoughtful ministry and leadership, and we rejoice in the long and caring hours Rev. Amy devotes to our needs, whether from the pulpit, on the phone, or in our hospital and living rooms.
We care about our future, so we adopted a strategic plan and created a building fund; we're growing our SE program; we support the time and effort of our board members and other volunteers; and we know all that work makes us stronger.
We love this Fellowship, so we pledge our financial support. Some fulfill that pledge every week or every month; others do it in one fell swoop. Some contribute even more, perhaps to a specific activity or to celebrate their personal good fortune. We use our checkbooks, old-fashioned folding green, as well as automatic withdrawals from our bank account.
In the weeks ahead, and especially during the month of March, we'll be asking everyone to consider what this Fellowship means in their lives and the lives of their children. We'll share charts and numbers that show how we've grown and where we spend our money.
Yes, we'll talk about the "M" word -- money. And we'll talk about what more we can accomplish with greater engagement and increased financial commitment.
Stewardship Campaign Committee
(Marge Flowers, Kerry Miller and Marilyn Campbell)
Consultants: Rodger Clark and Amy Hartman
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Room in the Inn
UU Lake Norman is partnering with Davidson United Methodist Church to host Room in the Inn for our homeless neighbors on Monday evening, Feb. 15. We provide a hot, home-cooked meal, fellowship, and a safe, warm place to sleep. Volunteers are needed to help with set-up, provide food for dinner, serve and fellowship with the neighbors, and clean up. RITI takes place at Davidson United Methodist on Main Street in Davidson. We use the Dale House, which is the small white house on the right after you enter the parking lot.
All food for dinner must be delivered hot and ready to eat no later than 6 p.m. There is limited space to keep food hot, so please plan accordingly. Non-perishable foods (drinks, bread, fruit, etc.) may be left in the RITI storage container on the front porch if you need to drop them off earlier in the day.
UU Association Common Read
Rev. Brooks, with the blessing of the Social Action Committee, invites the congregation to read together Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Brian Stevenson during the month of February. The book is a factual, personal story about one man's commitment to bring justice and mercy to those trapped in an often brutal system of mass incarceration. Along the way he questions the death penalty and the overwhelming numbers of people on the margins of society whose poverty, illness, ignorance, and poor decisions seem to render their lives invisible and disposable. In March we will hold one to three meetings to discuss the book (depending on timing and interest).
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Announcements
Souper Bowl Sunday Potluck
Please bring a favorite hot or cold soup and the recipe, if possible, for after our Feb. 7 service. All other supplies and a hungry crowd will be provided. For information, contact Connie Lyon at conielyon@gmail.com.
HKonJ Please join other UUs and people from across the state as we gather for the annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m in Raleigh. This rally sparked "Moral Mondays" a few years ago when 16 people from our congregation joined thousands of others to support a broad set of concerns (from the environment and health care to voting rights) that have been systematically blocked by our legislators. If you are interested in attending, please contact Rev. Amy at minister@uulakenorman.org.
Orders of Service
If you have announcements for the Sunday Order of Service for Feb. 21 and Feb. 28, please contact Linda Heydenburg at forestburghhootch@earthlink.net. The deadlines are Wednesday, Feb. 17 by 5 p.m. for Feb. 21 and Wednesday, Feb. 24 by 5 p.m. for Feb. 28. Billie will be gone during that time period.
Volunteers needed for Sunday worship services Some new hands and hearts are needed for handling the sound system (third Sunday) and for the set-up and take-down (second and third Sundays) of each month. Please contact Veronique Singerman or Sandy McFeeley if you or your group is interested. We have instructions and photos and mentoring for all these tasks.
Book group
The group meets at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Volunteer hosts are welcome, but Sandy McFeeley and Margie Flowers are happy to be the fallback meeting place. For more information, email bookclub@uulakenorman.org. This month's book is The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro. In 1990, 13 works of art today worth over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there's more this crime than meets the eye.
The March selection will be The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women who Helped Win World War II, by Denise Kiernan.
Women's Centering Group
The group meets on Fridays at 8 a.m. at Community Yoga in Cornelius. For more information, contact Laurie Walker at laurie1059@gmail.com.
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Our website is full of information on our congregation and Unitarian Universalism.
Board of Trustees: Veronique Singerman, president: president@uulakenorman.org Sandy McFeeley, secretary Anne Pender, treasurer Rodger Clark, trustee Dan Aldridge, trustee Nicole Gantz, trustee Eddie Gunn, trustee Remember to "Like" us on Facebook. We announce our upcoming services and events there and hope you will share them with your friends and family.
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new energy since I have been reading Rev. William Barber's book, The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement.