vineyard uu voice2019/07/06 · our surroundings. i look forward to island hopping and returning to...
TRANSCRIPT
he met and fell in love with
Siren Mayhew. He moved
here in the fall of 2017. Sean
and Siren have a beautiful ten
-month old daughter, Isla.
Sean’s journey to the UUSMV
feels like a match made in…
the Island community. Know-
ing his quest for music
ministry, many Island folks
told him about the UUSMV.
So, welcome, Sean. We are
delighted to share in your
spiritual journey.
Note: If you are seeking a
music teacher for yourself or
another, Sean teaches guitar,
voice, piano and composition.
--Dorie Godfrey
Welcome, Sean McMahon,
our new Music Director!
Sean is excited about the
creative opportunities await-
ing him at the UUSMV. He
loves arranging and compos-
ing music and is looking for-
ward to working with the
voices of our choir and con-
gregation.
Sean earned a Bachelor of
Music degree from the New
England Conservatory in
Boston and has studied
sacred music of various world
religions. Sean explores and
finds his spirituality in music.
He and his brother Griffin
share their music with
churches on the Island and
the entire Island with their
Sunday night “Holy Rock and
Roll Revival.” Sean also works
with the Wampanoag tribe
teaching group music classes
to the children.
Sean grew up in Long
Meadow, Massachusetts with
his three siblings, who are all
in the creative arts. He came
to Martha’s Vineyard to visit
his brother, Griffin, and here
The Chapel and backyard will
be in use by ACTmv every
weekday from 8:00 am to
4:00 pm from June 24 to
August 16. The Island The-
atre Workshop (ITW) Acad-
emy of Children’s Theatre
Martha’s Vineyard (ACTmv)
is an intimate Summer Drama
Program for young people
ages 8 to 18: music, theatre,
voice and speech, dance and
body movement. We are
delighted to be able to offer
our space to this community.
UUSMV groups and individu-
als will not be able to meet
or access the Chapel during
these days.
--Editor
And the Beat Goes On
I n s i d e t h i s
i s s u e :
July Worship
Calendar
2
Minister’s and
President’s
Columns
3
PC Notes 4
Play Discussion
Groups
7
Meetings in July
and Beyond
7
In Our Com-
mUUnity and
July Coordina-
tors
7
Contacts 8
July Calendar 9
UUSMV Rents Stevens Chapel to Academy of
Children’s Theater This Summer
Vineyard UU Voice
J u l y 2 0 1 9 V o l u m e 6 , I s s u e 7
S p ec i a l
p o i n t s o f
i n t e r e s t :
Review of the
Religious Explora-
tion Program, p. 2
Join the UUSMV
Cropwalk Team,
p. 4
Summer Reading
Suggestions, p. 10
We are an intentionally welcoming congregation of diverse faiths and shared
values, fostering spiritual growth, community action and universal justice.
P a g e 2
Review of Religious Exploration
Worship Services 11:00 am July 7: Wabi Sabi
Faith - Reverend
Janet Newton
In
tradi-
tional
Japa-
nese
aes-
thetics, wabi-sabi describes an
appreciation for finding beau-
ty within imperfection, imper-
manence, and incompleteness.
Applied to our faith lives, Rev.
Janet wonders whether ap-
preciating imperfection-- with
gratitude for its sometimes
painful lessons--might be
the...perfect...way forward.
The Reverend Janet Newton
is our former intern minister.
She was recently ordained in
this chapel, by this congrega-
tion, in a stunning gift of spir-
it. She extends deep gratitude
to this church and its extraor-
dinary people. Janet currently
serves First Parish Church of
Berlin, MA.
July 14: Conversations
between Hildegard of
Bingen and a Religious
Naturalist - Ursula
Goodenough and Jes-
sica Goodenough
Sanseverino
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-
1179) was a German Benedic-
tine abbess, writer, composer,
philosopher, and considered to
be the founder of scientific
natural history in Germany.
Jessica will sing several of the
haunting chants about the natu-
ral world composed by Hilde-
gard of Bingen and Ursula will
complement Hildegard’s Chris-
tian sensibilities with spiritual
reflections elicited by our pre-
sent-day understandings of the
natural world.
Ursula Goodenough is Profes-
sor of Biology Emerita
(Washington University, St.
Louis), now living in Chilmark.
Jessica Goodenough Sanseveri-
no is a professional soprano
who just moved with her family
from Nantucket to Chilmark;
she will begin teaching K-8 cho-
ral music at the Tisbury School
in the fall.
July 21: The US Slave
Song Project Spirituals
Choir, Directed by
Jim Thomas The US Slave Song Project Spir-
ituals Choir
under the di-
rection of Jim
Thomas re-
turns to Ste-
vens Chapel.
This is always a
deeply meaningful service of
song and story.
Jim Thomas is founder and
president of the Spirituals
Choir and member of the
UUSMV. The U.S. Slave Song
Project (USSSP) is a nonprofit
organization dedicated to
educating the public about
authentic U.S. slave songs.
U.S. slave songs, also known
as Negro spirituals, are true
American folk music. They
were sung by slaves between
1619 and 1865, when the last
slaves were freed.
July 28: Salvation -
Reverend Bill Clark Reverend Bill returns to our
pulpit to deliver one of his
favorite sermons: Salvation.
What is salvation to a Unitar-
ian Universalist? Do we need
to be saved? And if so, from
what are we saved?
youth, the families, and the
congregation? Can we be
more effective or more
efficient? Are there ways to
increase participation?
Kristy and Celeste wel-
come your thoughts. If you
have any comments to
The Parish Committee has
asked Kristy Brooks and
Celeste Stickney, who are
members of the PC, to
conduct a review of the
Religious Exploration Pro-
grams. Are we meeting the
needs of the children and
share about existing pro-
grams or ideas for future
programs, please share
them with Kristy and
Celeste.
—Editor
V i n e y a r d U U V o i c e
In Faith and Service...
P a g e 3 V o l u m e 6 , I s s u e 7
I am composing my column
from a very wet Star Island. For
those who don’t know about
Star Island, it is a UU and UCC
conference and retreat center
off the coasts of New Hamp-
shire and Maine. I am here as
their minister of the week for
what is called the “Star Arts
Conference.” It is always a
great honor and privilege to
serve here.
It has been raining most of the
time, which is challenging since
one of the best things about
Star is to wander about the
Island and take in all of its natu-
ral beauty. But we have that
luxury daily living on Martha’s
Vineyard and being continually
surrounded by natural beauty,
oh, and some tourists, as well.
Finding solace and inspiration in
the natural world has always
been important to me. As Hen-
ry David Thoreau wrote “Let
us spend one day as deliberately
as Nature, and not be thrown
off the track by every nutshell
and mosquito’s wing that falls
on the rails. Let us rise early
and fast or break fast, gently
and without perturbation. Let
company come and let company
go. Let the bells ring and the
children cry, determined to
make a day of it.”
Nature brings balance into our
world and often also to our
lives.
The first day of summer can
remind us to take things a tad
bit more slowly than before and
to simply bask in the beauty of
our surroundings.
I look forward to Island hopping
and returning to all of you very
soon.
See you in church.
~ Reverend Bill
the Minister and the members
of the congregation, with em-
phasis on the mutually support-
ive partnership that needs to
exist between the Minister and
the Lay-Leaders of the Society.
Our COM members are Sarah
Shepard, Barb Caseau, and
Katharine Colon.
The Minister has primary lead-
ership responsibility for these
ministries: Worship, Music,
Pastoral Care, and Rites of Pas-
sage. The Parish Committee
has primary responsibility for
the ministries of Universal Jus-
tice and Community Action,
Communication, Governance
and Stewardship, Denomina-
tional Affairs, and Right Rela-
tions. Together the Minister
and PC are responsible for
Membership and Lifelong Learn-
ing and Faith Formation for
children, youth, and adults. The
Parish Committee is responsi-
ble to charter--establish
the scope of work--for ALL
committees, and together with
the Nominating and Leadership
Development Committee, re-
cruit members to serve.
We are currently searching for
one or two members who will
take on chairing or co-chairing
the Music Committee, the Uni-
versal Justice and Community
Action Committee, and the
Communications Committee. If
you might consider volunteer-
ing, lunch is on me to talk about
the expectations and scope of
work!
--Rita Brown, President
The Parish Committee (PC) and
Rev Bill (the Minister), and the
Committee on Ministries
(COM) have been working on
defining our roles in the opera-
tion and governance of the So-
ciety, and how we can best sup-
port one another in our re-
sponsibilities. Rev Bill is part-
time, living and working on the
Island 14 days a month and
from his home in Provincetown
the second half of the month,
when he is reachable by phone,
text, or email.
The COM consists of three
members of the Society ap-
pointed by the PC, in consulta-
tion with the Minister. They
serve 3-year terms. They are
responsible for the overall
health of all our ministries and
our congregation. The primary
purpose of the COM is to facili-
tate a balanced and positive,
two-way relationship between
From the President
P a g e 4
CUUPS
Parish Committee Notes Your Parish Committee
(PC) met on June 11. Here
is what happened:
Sean McMahon’s em-
ployment as Music
Director was
approved. Welcome,
Sean.
A personnel policy
manual for the UUSMV
is in the works.
Norman Stickney
provided a report of
the Trustees.
The resignation of Rick
Bausman, RE Director,
was accepted. Rick’s
employment ends in
August.
Treasurer reported
that although expendi-
tures exceeded reve-
nue in May and June,
we still have an excess
of revenue to expenses
year to date.
Rita was approved as
the UUSMV off-site
delegate to General
Assembly.
Ewell Hopkins volun-
teered to coordinate
the UUSMV team for
the Crop Walk in Oc-
tober and has already
got a team started with
about $800 raised so
far.
The service auction is
scheduled for Novem-
ber. The Stickneys and
the Krause-Palmers
will co-chair.
UUSMV has joined the
Massachusetts Coali-
tion to Prevent Gun
Violence.
The Forum on Creat-
ing Our Shared Future
is June 29.
Religious Exploration
program is being re-
viewed by the PC with
a goal to recommend
option(s) for going
forward with Faith
Formation (as it relates
specifically to children
and families).
--Editor for the PC
-centered traditions which
celebrate the sacred circle
A celebration of the Sum-
mer Solstice was enjoyed
by 17 adults and children
on June 19 in Stevens
Chapel. Our next celebra-
tion will be Lammas on
Thursday, August 1 at Na-
tive Earth Teaching Farm.
Watch for details later.
CUUPS stands for Cove-
nant of Unitarian Universal-
ist Pagans. CUUPS honor
"Spiritual teachings of Earth
of life and instruct us to live
in harmony with the
rhythms of nature."
CUUPS is chartered by the
UUA and CUUPS chapters
are affiliated with a UU
congregation. See Barbara
Caseau or Sam Greene for
more information if you are
interested.
--Barbara Caseau
V i n e y a r d U U V o i c e
P a g e 5 V o l u m e 6 , I s s u e 7
home of Doreen Kinsman and on
Thursday, July 25, 2:00-4:00 pm
at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs with
Steffie Michalczyk as host.
—Celeste Stickney
The Sewcial Ac-
tion Knitworkers will NOT meet in July.
The next meeting will
be on Friday, August
2, 2:00 pm at the home of Barb
Caseau.
—Laura Beebe
The Book
Group will read
Manhattan Beach for
the next meeting on
Tuesday, September 10, 2:00
pm at the home of Doreen Kins-
man. Over the summer, readers are
encouraged to read one of Tony
Horwitz’s books in preparation for
our October gathering. Many thanks
to Doreen for hosting.
—Peter Meleney
The Men’s
Group meets on
Saturday, July 6,
9:30 am at the home
of Steve Engh.
—Peter Meleney
The Women’s
Group meets on
Thursday, July 11,
2:00-4:00 pm at the
Meetings in July, August and September
Wishing the very best birthday to
Jan Casey who is 69 on July 8
Kristy Brooks on July 9
Jeff Fisher who will be 70 on July 10
Chris Fried on July 11
Betty Burton on July 12
Alan Wilson on July 13
Jack Street on July 16
Tripp Hopkins on July 19
Pamela Street on July 20
Celeste Stickney on July 23
Steve Engh on July 26
Contact Dorie Godfrey if you would like your birthday
included in UU Voice. And remember, donating to the
UUSMV is a beautiful way to honor someone on their
birthday!
July Coordinators:
Caring: Mimi Davisson; Hospitality: Nancy Wood
P a g e 6
Share the Rainbow - Share Your Dreams
It was a morning of fun and celebration
as the children and youth shared their
year of exploration at the annual youth
service on June 16. Under the direction
of Rick Bausman, our Religious Explora-
tion Director, the children and youth
shared the adventures of the year.
What a great morning!
—Dorie Godfrey for the Lifelong
Learning Committee
V i n e y a r d U U V o i c e
Isabel offers Welcome!
Iyla shares
Explorers 1’s
Rainbow
Connection
with Rick
and Alex.
Talia and
Lily share
Explorers
2’s dialogue
with Her-
shey about
child labor.
Joey shares the experience
of Our Whole Lives.
Jack and
Kyle ask the
question: Is
Pastafarian-
ism a reli-
gion?” ex-
plored in
Big Family
Day.
Rita recognizes the many volunteers
who helped in the Religious Explora-
tions programs this year.
Children
and youth
hand out
the power-
ful sword
of making
someone
feel good!
Play Discussions and Potlucks
P a g e 7 V o l u m e 6 , I s s u e 7
The dis-
cussion
of Dear Elizabeth by Sarah Ruhl
will be on Sunday, July 7 at
6:00 pm at the home of Myra
Stark, host.
The discussion of Vanya and
Sonia and Masha and Spike by
Christopher Durang will be on
Sunday, August 4, at 6:00
pm at the hone of Tad and Judy
Crawford, hosts.
The discussion of Low Down
Dirty Blues by Randal Myers will
be on Sunday, September 8
at 6:00 pm at the home of
Anita Christian, host.
Each of these plays will be in-
teresting and thought provok-
ing. As we have for the past
twenty or more years, UUSMV
provides opportunities for com-
ing together to discuss and eat,
two of the things we do best.
How do we do this? You are
encouraged to attend the Vine-
yard Playhouse plays at any time
during their runs. The potlucks
and discussions are held on the
Sunday following the last per-
formance. The hosts for these
discussions either lead the dis-
cussion or have another mem-
ber of the congregation pose
the questions and manage the
discussion.
You are encouraged to sign up
for the potlucks by letting your
hosts know what you will bring.
The host usually provides the
main dish and the attendees fill
in around it to make a whole
delicious meal.
These events are usually kept
to 12-14 people depending on
the size of the hosts’ homes.
The discussions can be lively
and informative. The best duo:
great conversation and really
good food.
—Johanna Kobran,
Parishioner-at-Large
quiet, because I am not a
screamer. As I mingle among
the teeming masses, I am strick-
en by the dichotomy of the
mobility impaired group and the
exercising group. Both struggle
with their unique issues while
the lawn mower sits under the
back porch desperately needing
Well, it
has been
a quiet
month
here at
the
UUSMV
Stevens Memorial Chapel build-
ing and grounds department:
action. We who have done the
mowing await the onslaught of
New England jungle. Join us.
Discover the one redeeming
fact of humanity: to be con-
sumed completely in a noble
cause is as good as it gets! Join
us. Contact me.
—Norman Stickney, Trustee
bury College; Owen Engler,
son of Sharon and Bill Eng-
ler, who made the top 20 in
the class and will attend Boston
College in September; and Ja-
cob Maccaferri, son of Mad-
die Maccaferri, who will be
attending Massachusetts Mari-
time Academy in Buzzards Bay
and will be majoring in Marine
Transportation. We are very
proud of you all and are sure
your parents are as well.
Best Wishes to Maddie Mac-
caferri on her new home shop
location for Mac’s Barber shop.
Contact her for an appointment
on State Rd. in Vineyard Haven.
--Celeste Stickney
Please hold Steve Clark and
Linda Wilson in your caring
thoughts, as well as Peter
Palches, who had a fall.
Join me in wishing congratula-
tions to our graduating seniors
from MVRHS: Addie Hay-
man, daughter of Lucia Hay-
man, who graduated third in
her class and will attend Middle-
In Our CommUUnity
This Old Church
Congratulations
Graduates!
P a g e 8
V i n e y a r d U U V o i c e
P a g e 9 V o l u m e 6 , I s s u e 7
Unitarian Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard Rev Bill will be on Island July 26-August 5.
ACTmv in residence weekdays, 8:00 am-4:00 pm throughout the month.
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
1 2 9:30 am: Medi-tation Circle at Nancy Wood’s
3 4 8:30 am: Cleaners in the Chapel
5 6 8:30 am: Men’s Group meets at Steve Engh’s
7 11:00 am: Wabi Sabi Faith – Reverend Janet Newton Worship Coordinator: Judy Crawford 6:00 pm: Play Discus-sion and Potluck at Myra Stark’s
8 9 9:30 am: Medi-tation Circle at Nancy Wood’s 4:15 pm: Parish Committee meeting
10 11 8:30 am: Cleaners in the Chapel 2:00 pm: Women’s Group meets at Doreen Kinsman’s
12 13 9:30 am-12:30 pm: Insight Meditation Group Rental
14 11:00 am: Conversations between Hildegard of Bingen and a Religious Naturalist - Ursula Goodenough and Jessica Goodenough Sanseverino Worship Coordinator: Barb Caseau
15 16 9:30 am: Medi-tation Circle at Nancy Wood’s
17 18 8:30 am: Cleaners in the Chapel
19 20
21 11:00 am: US Slave Songs Project Spirituals Choir - Jim Thomas
22 23 9:30 am: Medi-tation Circle at Nancy Wood’s
24 25 8:30 am: Cleaners in the Chapel 2:00 pm: Women’s Group meets at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs
26 27
28 11:00 am: Salvation - Reverend Bill Clark Worship Coordinator: Jennifer Knight
29 30 9:30 am: Medi-tation Circle at Nancy Wood’s
31
July 2019
Unitarian Universalist Society
of Martha’s Vineyard
P.O. Box 1236, 238 Main Street
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
Phone: 508-693-8982; Email: [email protected]
Website: www.uusmv.org
Reverend Bill Clark - Minister
Emily Anderson - Music Director
Rick Bausman - RE Director
Lori Shaller - Administrative Assistant, Newsletter
Copy Editor and Publisher
Dorie Godfrey - Managing Editor
Katharine Colon, Christine Ferrone, Mary Miller –
Proofreaders
UUSMV
PO Box 1236
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
Summer Reading
List Here are some books and a movie on issues of universal
justice we invite you to read over the summer. Come fall
we will schedule times for discussions.
Race: Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson and The
Stony Road by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and the movie, When
They See Us created by Ava DuVernay showing on Net-
flix.
Climate: The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
—Barbara Caseau, Adult Lifelong Learning