beacon (november 2011)

November 2011

The Lowcountry

Beacon Unitarian

Universalist Congregation of the

Lowcountry

A Month of Sundays

Sunday Service: 10:00 am

November 6 "God And Empire"

Rev. Pat Jobe

November 13 "Paradoxes East and West

of Modern Experience" Dr. Gordon Hais

November 20 "Truth and Meaning in

Religion and Elsewhere" Rev. Manuel Holland

November 27 "Mama, Don't Let

Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys"

Rev. Lynne Garner Children and Youth Religious Education from 10 am to 11 am. Refreshments following service. Our church is located at 110 Malphrus Road, Bluffton.

For further details please call:

843-837-3330.

Standing on the Side of Love in Bluffton and Hilton Head Island for over 30 years.

Remembering Richard Lucas

By the time this reaches you I will have placed stones on our Joys and Concerns cairn expressing thanksgiving for the life of Richard Lucas and for all who were supportive of him until his death Wednesday, October 26, I visited Rich on the Friday before he died. He was alone in his room at the Fraser Center at the Seabrook. I spent a few minutes holding hands and talking to him. He may not have known I was there, but I am sure that he knew his hands were being held. For many months Sara has held his hands, stroked his face and affirmed her love for him hour after hour, day after day. I placed stones of thanksgiving for Sara. Dear friends Judy and Don have spent many hours with Sara and Rich and I placed stones of Thanksgiving for them. I also placed stones for the hospice nurses, for the Fraser Center caregivers, and for all the others who assured that Rich was given loving tender care. Many are grieving because of Rich’s passing. Let us reach out to them.

~ Rev. Manuel Holland

2 The Lowcountry Beacon, November 2011


Programs, Meetings, and Special Events Board Meeting - Thursday, November 17 at 6:30 pm. The monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees is held the third Thursday of each month in the UUCL Clara Barton Conference Room. Visitors are always welcome. Circle Dancing - Tuesday, November 15 from 7- 9 pm. Circle Dancing returns! Carolyn Hubers leads traditional, seasonal dances of different cultures and peoples--some fun and light-hearted and others deep and powerful. It is believed that old dances have messages to teach us about peace, unity, celebra-tion and reverence. No experience or partner needed. All ages welcomed, and each dance taught--steps are simple and easy to learn. Your free-will offering is donated to UUCL. Knitter’s Circle - Wednesday, November 30 from 6:30 - 8 pm. Meets on the last Wednesday of every month from 6:30-8 pm. We make Prayer Shawls, Comfort Blankets, Wraps, Hats, Baby Clothes, and other items to give to members and friends of the congregation in times of need. You do not have to be a Knitter to be in this group. Our doors are open to those who crochet, quilt, weave, sew, and do macramé. Bring whatever you are working on and come enjoy an evening with good company. For more in-f o r m a t i o n c a l l A n n a t 4 2 2 - 2 5 9 8 o r email [email protected]. Membership 101 - Sunday, November 20, following service. Newsletter Deadline - Tuesday, November 15. The deadline for the Beacon is on the 15th of each month. Items should be emailed to Mary-Michael at [email protected]. UU Animal Ministry - Sunday, November 13, following service. UU Animal Ministry meets the second Sunday of each month. “UU World” Discussion - Sunday, November 20, following service. Discussion topic: Altruism: Social Justice, Fairness, and the Wis-dom of Punishment.

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS Our Bylaws state, under Arti-cle III, Membership, that “Any person is a member of this Congregation who has: 1. Attained the age of eight-

een (18) years; 2. Signified agreement with

its principles and pur-poses by signing his/her name in the membership book, and;

3. Made an annual financial contribution of record".

But what is “membership” all about? Interested in knowing more about UUCL and Uni-tarian Universalism? Becom-ing a member? Need a re-fresher course? Come see for yourself. Our next MEMBERSHIP 101 Class will be held following the regular church service on Sunday, November 20th. Refreshments will be pro-vided as well as childcare services if needed. Look for the signup sheet in the foyer. ~ Ron Membership Committee Chair

The first part of our foyer sound sup-pression project was completed last week, when the ceiling panels were installed! Our deep gratitude to Dan T for spearheading this project!

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]?subject=Beacon%20Newsletter%20Submission



UUCL was well represented at the Cluster Meeting of the Southeast District which was held in Charleston, SC on October 8th. Those attending

were Doris H, Linda O, Carol F, Liz P, Ann H (DRE), Donna T, Valerie P and Doris K.

GRATITUDE CORNER On behalf of the UUCL, I would like to thank the following members and friends for making phase one of our foyer sound suppression project possible with their generous contribu-tions: Bob and Lois D, Dan and Joely T, Anthony and Wendy S, Dorthy F, Gordon and Ar-lene R, Mary M, Libba B, Pat T, John and Cathy S, Bill B, Doug V, Gordon S and Jeff A. A big thank you goes out to the following individuals for lending their hands to this impor-tant project: Jack A, Jeff D, Harry G, and Les L. Marcus Hernandez Drywall for doing the labor for $400, and I can tell you they did us a huge favor at this price! Thank you to Doris H for sponsoring live music for the Oct 23rd service. Giving generously serves to help us all grow and benefit. Gifts of treasure and time to your church will enrich your life as well as enriching the lives of all those your church serves. I hope we can expand our vision of outreach and healing and by increasing our generosity in giving, our reach will be extended further beyond our service to one an-other. The old saying "Charity begins at Home" means that we must establish a firm base from which to launch our healing efforts to others. Again many thanks on behalf of the UUCL for your continued support,

~ Dan Tweel, Treasurer

Tuesdays, 7 - 9 pm

Folly leads a psychodrama workshop that helps partici-pants understand their strengths and weaknesses. Meetings will be in the UUCL sanctuary every Tuesday from 7-9 pm. Fees are on a sliding scale from $1 to $10. Guests and newcomers are invited to at-tend. Contact Folly at 682-3191 for more information.

November 20th Our “UU World” discussion group, led by John Q, will meet Sunday, November 20th at the coffee circle following service. The topic will be Altruism: Social Justice, Fairness, and the Wisdom of Punishment. We will try to understand a moral reaction to Wall Street greed and wel-fare cheats.

UUCL HAPPENINGS



FAMILY PROMISE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Our hosting week for Family Promise begins Sunday, Oc-tober 30 and ends Sunday, November 5. Volunteers are needed for set-up and take-down of the guest rooms, dinners, over-night hosting and the organi-zation of Saturday events. For those who are new to our church community, Family Promise is a Beaufort County nonprofit that coordinates

with local churches to provide

overnight lodging, meals and comprehensive support to families who find themselves

situationally homeless. UUCL hosts families 4 to 5 times a year. We have help from two support churches but it takes a lot of volunteers to staff the week. We hope y o u w i l l v o l u n t e e r ! To join the team of volun-teers, please email Kathy at [email protected] or 836.2892 or John at [email protected] 705-9424.

Financial Report For October

What is a Pledge? It is defined as "A solemn promise or agreement to do something". In the case of your pledge to the UUCL it is exactly that, "a solemn promise". Each of us by way of our pledge has stated that we support the mission and operation of our congregation. Without your support it could not exist. Last year we had a very high rate of unpaid pledges. If we had not had some very positive in-come situations occur we would have ended the year in a deficit situation. If we have a similar amount of unpaid pledges this year I would suspect a deficit for the year. There are extenuat-ing circumstances that occur in a year in which pledges may not be paid and you are encour-aged to discuss this with your Treasurer should this arise. Due to the small size of our congregation we cannot say "let someone else do it" - it is up to us. Thus far the first quarter shows that we are on track with our budget, no major sur-prises. We have a good cushion due to advanced payments of annual pledges. Building maintenance and utilities are running slightly higher than budgeted. A hot summer and wear and tear on our cooling systems accounts for this. We still need donations for the noise reduc-tion project for our foyer. We have completed the ceiling portion of the project as donations were received to cover that step. Your Treasurer, Dan Tweel

Circle Dancing Returns to UUCL! On Tuesday, November 15th from 7- 9 pm, Carolyn Hubers leads tra-ditional, seasonal dances of different cultures and peoples--some fun and lighthearted and others deep and powerful. It is believed that old dances have messages to teach us about peace, unity, celebration and reverence. No experience or partner needed. All ages wel-comed, and each dance taught--steps are simple and easy to learn. Your free-will offering is donated to UUCL. Held in the Sanctuary.





Nominations for those you wish to send to SUULE will open October 15th and will close December 15th. Participants must come in congregational teams of two or more leaders (including ministers, DREs, etc.). Sorry, but no solo partici-pants will be accepted. The cost per participant is $695 (covers room & board, all meals and materials except for two books that are required pre-work). SUULE is an intense and deeply spiritual experience for lay and clergy alike. It will fo-cus on the presence and func-tioning of the individual leaders and will help to form them into a team who serve Unitarian Uni-versalism as servant leaders to their congregations and elders of the faith.

Members of the Discussion Group following October 16th’s service hearing Harvey Ramseur speak about "Life Inspiring the Artist in us All."

Through small group experi-ences, case studies, lectures, worship, and theological dia-logue, participants will gain practical understanding of healthy congregation concepts and tools, the value of inten-tional leadership process, and the vital connections between religious leadership, faith devel-opment, and the realization of beloved community. Our goal is to translate the SU-ULE experience into tangible congregational health and vital-ity. Factors that appear to make a difference in how SUULE af-fects congregational health in-clude: • participants come well

grounded in Unitarian Uni-versalism,

• participants serve signifi-

cant leadership roles in their congregation,

• participants come in teams of two or more from a con-gregation,

• congregations send teams of leaders to SUULE for several years in a row, and

• congregations have an in-tentional process for select-ing their SUULE registrants and integrating knowledge and skills from the experi-ence into the life of the con-gregation.

We urge you to begin consider-ing which leaders would help your congregation benefit most from this experience, and to submit the nomination form soon. For more information, go to the Southern Region website (www.uusouthland.org).

Southern Unitarian Universalist Leadership Experience (SUULE) February 19 - 24, 2012

COFFEE AND CONVERSATION

CORNER

Grab some coffee and a snack in the foyer and join us in the seating circle in the back of the sanctuary for an impromptu discus-sion each Sunday, fifteen minutes after the service.

http://www.uusouthland.org/



Rev. Peter Morale “Beyond Belief”

Our Unitarian Universalist Association President, Rev. Peter Morales, has a new blog titled "Beyond Belief." The following is an excerpt from his introduc-tion letter written on October 25, 2011:

"To start, perhaps I should explain the title. It stems from my conviction that religion is not primarily about what we believe. In America, the first question we tend to ask about a religious group is What do they be-lieve? and we differentiate among religions based on our broad understanding of their beliefs. Yet belief, in the sense of agreeing on what is true, is a modern preoccupation. For me, religion is much more about what we love, about what we hold sacred, about what moves us at the core of our being. Indeed, I have argued (in a sermon, no less) that belief is the enemy of religion. When we focus on beliefs alone, we tend to lapse into arguments that are at least tiresome and often dangerous. So my blog is about religion that is beyond belief. It is about how we treat one another, about how we live our lives, about the con-

nections we make and the difference we make. And if religion is ultimately about what we love, then faith is not so much about what we think is true (or hope is true, despite lack of evidence), but about being faith-ful to what we love. Beyond Belief, then, will be my reflections about the world around us and what we are to do if we are to be faithful. I encourage you to visit regularly and to pass this along to other friends who share our values. Ill be posting regularly about the work I do as president, as well as the larger social justice efforts of the UUA. Check back weekly to read new posts, and please feel free to share these posts with your friends via email, on Facebook, and on Twitter. In faith, Peter"

You can visit Rev. Morale's blog at: http://president.blogs.uua.org/2011/10/25/welcome-2/#comment-14

President’s Message

Our beautiful autumn weather has at last arrived! It is with great joy that we continue to welcome back those who have been away for the summer!

The annual Board Retreat on Saturday, October 15 from 10 am – 4 pm and on Saturday, October 22 from 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm was inter-esting, informative and inspirational and covered many important subjects that we believe will greatly benefit our congregation. (We extend our gratitude to Mary Alice Walker who arranged for us to meet on the 15th in her beautiful community of TidePointe.)

We are planning member “circle” meetings for January 2012 to discuss many key issues affecting the fu-ture of our congregation, including ministerial direction. We are presently finalizing these plans and will be contacting you soon with more information.

Some exciting news . . . we are in the final phase of completing our new website and it will soon be ready for you to view!

May we continue to work together to nurture our minds, our hearts and each other!

In warm fellowship, ~ Peggy

http://president.blogs.uua.org/2011/10/25/welcome-2/#comment-14






The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Lowcountry covenants to affirm and promote:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;

• Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;

• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;

• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;

• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregation and in the society at large;

• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;

• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

The Living Tradition Which We Share Draws From Many Sources:

• Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder; affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;

• Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;

• Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspire us in our ethical and spiritual life;

• Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;

• Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;

• Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sa-cred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Lowcountry

Our Mission To enrich and clarify our understanding of religious thought;

to provide experiences for spiritual growth; to encourage and protect the right of individual freedom of belief;

to promote the democratic process in human relations; and to advance these principles for the benefit of each other,

our community and our world.

Committees

Aesthetics & Décor Fran Farrell Peggy Tweel Beyond Sundays Folly King Building Maintenance Doug VanNostran Care Committee Dan Tweel Grounds Mary A. Walker Finance Dan Tweel Fund Raising Janice Alden Hospitality & Kitchen Kathleen Mirin

Membership Ron Titus Music Kathy Burmeister Planned Giving Coordinator Rev. Manuel Holland Promotion & Publicity Sandra Rumanek Religious Education Carol Weir Social Activities Libba Beerman Worship Cheryl McCarthy Social Justice Groups: E Team Harry Gregory Family Promise UU Animal Ministry Peggy Tweel

Editor Mary-Michael Hanbury

Email: [email protected]

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Lowcounty

110 Malphrus Road Bluffton, SC 29910

(843) 837-3330

[email protected]

www.UULowcountry.org

Office Hours Volunteer Office Staff

Thursdays 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Senior Minister Manuel Holland

Religious Education Ann Harrison

President Peggy Tweel

Leadership Staff



http://www.UULowcountry.org

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NOVEMBER 2011 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

All Saints Day

2

Day of the Dead

3 4 5

6 10:00 Worship "God And Empire" Rev. Pat Jobe

7 8

Election Day

9

10

11

Veterans Day

12

13 10:00 Worship "Paradoxes East and West of Modern Experience" Dr. Gordon Hais 11:30 UU Animal Ministry

14

15 December

Newsletter Deadline

7 - 9 pm Circle Dancing

16

17

6:30 pm Board Meeting

18

19

20 10:00 Worship "Truth and Mean-ing in Religion and Elsewhere" Rev. Manuel Holland 11:30 UU World Discussion

21 22

23

24

Thanksgiving Day

25

26

27

10:00 Worship "Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" Rev. Lynne Garner

28 29 30

6:30 pm Knitter’s Circle

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."

- Albert Camus

beacon (november 2011)

Documents

placed stones

t i o n c

stones of thanksgiving

hilton head island

o r email

manuel holland

month of sundays

months sara