Congregational News
Upper Valley hosts Indian visitors
(posted 8/2011)
Even seasoned global travelers know how rare it is to connect with people from far places for a sustained enough period of time for deeper conversations to take place and mutual discoveries to emerge. The UU Congregation of the Upper Valley in Norwich, VT, had that chance this past June! For six days the congregation participated in a cornucopia of fun-and-friendship-building events to welcome the Rev. Derrick Pariat and Dani Pariat of Meghalaya, India to their congregation.
Rev. Pariat is the minister of Nongthymmai Unitarian Church in Shillong, the capital of the state of Meghalaya in northeast India. He is also President of the Unitarian Union of Northeast India and a producer for Broadcasting Corporation India. His wife, Danibha Pyrbot (Dani) teaches at the university in Shillong and is completing her doctoral dissertation on the history of Unitarianism in northeast India.
The UUCUV has is an active partner with the Unitarian church in Mukhap, Meghalaya, one of many such partnerships around the world made possible by the UU Partner Church Council. UUCUV would be happy to share their experiences and enthusiasm for Partner Churches with other interested congregations in the District.
Ringing Out Justice at Auburn UU
August 31, 2011
After the church bells were tolled for "A Call to Remember, A Call to Action." Safe Voices' Victoria Williams and Kelley Glidden (front, l to r) joined First Universalist Church of Auburn's Toby Haber-Giasson, Rev. Jodi Hayashida, Anne Kinney and Karen Lane (back) to reflect on the two groups' partnership for both raising awareness through the Social Justice committee's educational events, and fundraising around domestic violence through V-Day aUbUrn's theatrical events.
Houlton Turns 200
While the Houlton Unitarian Society is turning 200 this year, the minister hit the 50 mark....
[Read newsletter article]
Brunswick Maine UU Church Suffers Fire
In the early morning hours of June 6th our sister Unitarian Universalist Church in Brunswick Maine experienced a devastating fire at the rear of their sanctuary. Their minister, Rev. Sylvia Stocker, and shocked members of their church and community stood outside and watched as fire fighters worked for many hours to put out the flames that enveloped their sanctuary. Though their spirits are undaunted, our friends in Brunswick need our help to rebuild and return to their church home. Please consider a donation to the Brunswick UU Fire Fund. Together we can restore this congregation to its home: together we can do anything. To send a contribution directly to the district office, please mail to NNED, Brunswick Fire Fund, 10 Ferry St., Ste #318, Concord, NH 03301. To make a donation online, click here. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
In Community,
Rev. Mary Higgins, District Executive
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The Window Dressers – Rockland, ME
Reprinted with permission from the UUA Green Sanctuary Blog
Diane Schetky, Chair Green Sanctuary Committee, First Universalist in Rockland, ME, wrote to the Green Sanctuary Program to share “A Happy Story.”
“Last fall our church underwent needed energy saving improvements in response to an earlier audit. We caulked leaky windows, installed window inserts (made by members of the church), two fans in the sanctuary and an energy saving blind for large window at the rear of the sanctuary. We repositioned thermostats and upgraded to an energy efficient industrial strength dishwasher.
The sanctuary became a comfortable 10 degrees warmer during our hard winter as a result of the window treatment and fans. This along with our generous and hardworking window insert makers (AKA the Window Dressers) inspired members of the church to order window inserts for their homes. A total of 210 custom window inserts were made and sold for the cost of materials, alone.
We were astonished to learn that as a result of the energy improvements in the church, that our fuel consumption was down 25 % over last year for the first quarter of this year and we had saved almost $665. The fuel company wanted to know how we’d done it and commented that almost all of their customers’ fuel consumption had gone up over this winter.
The Window Dressers have taken their project to a new level. We are reaching out to churches in the community trying help them replicate our window insert project with a goal of making 1,000 inserts next fall in time for winter. Some of the inserts will be made available to low income families in the community. The inserts are fairly easy to construct with the proper equipment. They consist of wooden frames cut to order covered on both sides with a clear polyolephin shrink film. The barrier stops drafts related to poor-fiting sashes and jambs. Dead air between the film layers acts as an insulator. A compressible foam edge gasket allow for a snug fit into a window frame from the inside and pull tabs allow for easy removal.”
First Universalist in Rockland, ME was accredited as a Green Sanctuary on November 4, 2009. Check out the full list of accredited Green Sanctuaries at the UUA website.
Auburn UU Awards Rose Window Honor
The First Universalist Church of Auburn has awarded its Rose Window honor to Mary Kay Weisenberger, whose efforts have made a significant impact on the health and vibrancy of her church. This annual award cites members who have been outstanding models of Unitarian Universalist principles and recognizes their exceptional contributions to the faith community.
Mary Kay served for two years as Vice President of the Board, and two more years as President. She has served on the Committee on Ministry for more than three years, helping to guide both our minister and our members with the challenges of staying in right relationship with one another when difficulties arise. She is one of our Lay Pastoral Care providers who reaches out to members with sympathy, understanding, and assistance in times of special need.
Throughout her membership Mary Kay has demonstrated how to personify our liberal religious vision of truth, justice and love through her many deeds and her own life. Several years ago Mary Kay and her life-partner, Claire, shared the joy and love of their relationship with their beloved church family through their wedding here in the sanctuary. Modeling the hopes of our Welcoming Congregation role in our community, their celebration illustrated one of the ways in which we each can honor our multiple identities and help promote justice in our world.
Green Altar – UU Society of Bangor
For one of their Green Sanctuary Worship and Celebration projects, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor (UUSB) created a ever-evolving Green Altar.
They took a unused christening font, located in the back of the Sanctuary, and turned it into a pedestal for a vase holding items such as harvest corn, pine cones and acorns. On the other side, they set up a bulletin board where members of the congregation could add natural elements. At one point in time there were feathers, dried flowers, photos and mini-gourds – and of course, the elements change from time to time. As a symbol of their reciprocal relationship with the natural world, there are “wonderful world” cards to take when leaving an item on either side of the altars.
The double Green Altar was advertised in the church newsletter, The Chalice and Chimes, and sometimes at services people were encouraged to add a little something to the altars.
The Green Sanctuary Committee wrote:
“This has been a simple and easy project, but very satisfying, and we think it has added to the atmosphere of the Sanctuary, giving it a green flavor… and draw comments from visitors.”
UUSB was accredited as a Green Sanctuary on December 8, 2010.
(Reprinted with permission from the UUA's Green Sanctuary Blog.)