Congregation established 1836

A Newsletter for
Members and Friends of the

First Unitarian Church, Alton, Illinois

www.firstuualton.org

January 2^nd

“New Year’s Meditation”

Dr. Ronald Glossop

The winter solstice is behind us and a new year is beginning, so it is a good time to take stock of what we have been doing with our lives in the past, what we want to be doing with our lives in the future, and the significance for us of the passage of time.

January 9^th

“Our Connection with Earth – Part 1”

Fr. Maurice Lange

January 16^th

 “Our Connection with Earth – Part 2”

Fr. Maurice Lange

Father Maurice Lange has been in love with Earth since boyhood.  He was ordained in his hometown of San Antonio TX in 1990 and moved to Alton in 2000.  In 2001 he moved to the Oblate Novitiate along the bluffs in Godfrey to found the “Oblate Ecological Initiative.”  This consists of both an ecological learning center and community supported garden.  The learning center hosts programs, retreats and celebrations dealing with ecology and spirituality.  The four acre garden allows families to become “shareholders” enabling them to come each week from May-November to receive a “share” of the vegetable, herb, and flower harvest that was organically grown.

January 23^rd

“Are We There Yet?”

Khleber M. Van Zandt

It’s a common question during holiday travels and not a bad thing to ask as we transition into a new year. We’ll ask it of ourselves as we travel on our cultural and theological journeys.

Khleber Van Zandt is a UU ministerial student at Eden Seminary and will graduate in May, having completed his ministerial internship at the First Unitarian Church in Dallas. He owned and operated a successful construction company for twenty years before deciding in 2001 to enter the seminary. He is a long-time member of Eliot Chapel.

January 30^th

“Our Church”

David Wiseman

A glimpse of the First Unitarian Church of Alton. Inspired by the play “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder.

January 2 - Forum - “World Religions and World Peace” Presented by Dr. David Oughton, Professor of Philosophy at CBC High School and area community colleges.

January 9^th - Meditation Led by Ted and Pam Loucks

January 16^th - Adult RE Led by Gerry Gilman.

January 23^rd - Forum - “Ancient Iraq” Presented by Don Boswell. Ogden Nash wrote, “One man’s Medes is another man’s Persians.” That’s very poetic, but if you want to hear more than that about Mesopotamia, come hear Mr. Boswell, a student of that area.

January 30^th - Forum - “What About Euthanasia?” Led by Jim Elliott.

Thumbnail Sketch of Upcoming Happenings

Jan. 6^th - 12:00 p.m. - Anna Ds

Jan. 11^th - 11:30 a.m. - Men’s Lunch Group

Jan. 11^th - 7:00 p.m. - Board Meeting

Jan. 15^th - 6:00 p.m. - Game night and smorgasbord

Jan. 23 - Sunday potluck after church

RE NEWS

Dear Parents and Friends,

With the Holidays now over, we will be getting back to our regular RE classes and curriculum. I know that with the busyness of the holiday season attendance usually drops some as families are either entertaining out of town guests or being out of town guests themselves. I would like to take this time to invite all of those who have been missing church to come back and see us again. We have missed having you here.

We have had a few social justice projects that were completed during the month of December. As of press time for the newsletter, however, they were not yet done. Please look to next month's newsletter for updates on the Children's Holiday Gift Shop and the RE Mitten Tree. Both of these projects go to benefit local charities.

I have had a couple of people step up and volunteer to help out with the remainder of this year in the pre-school class, but we could probably use a few more to help us round out a full teaching staff.

The RE committee has not been meeting regularly this year. This is due in part to not having a Chair for this committee. If anyone is interested in filling this need, please let me know. It is getting close to the time of year when we need to begin to plan for next year's curriculum and budget, and it would be helpful if this committee could meet at the next committee Sunday to start the planning process.

I will end with a couple of reminders. The best way that parents can be involved in the RE department of this church is to encourage prompt, regular attendance of your children. Also, please remember that I always welcome any feedback that anyone in the congregations wishes to share.

Thank You, and Happy New Year.

Jamie Gross

“A Martyr Soul Remembered”

For four days in October 2003, Unitarian Universalists from Europe and America met in Geneva to commemorate Michael Servetus ― theologian, physician and martyr for religious freedom. This publication is the record of that meeting. Peter Hughes offers a highly original theological consideration of Servetus’ place in the Unitarian Universalist tradition. Elek Rezi’s Transylvanian view gives the lie to the oft-repeated claim that Servetus had no lasting impact in his own time. Andrew Hill asks if ‘UU’ origins didn’t actually owe more to Calvin than to Servetus. Other contents include dramatic and devotional material that enrich the remembrance. Excerpts come from plays penned by Henry Warburton Hawkes, Jane Rzepka, and contemporary Hungarian Andras Sütõ, and from meditations written by Clifford Reed, a Unitarian minister in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. As a conference participant wrote, ‘What was good about Geneva was that it brought Servetus and his thought and faith into our own time. It wasn’t just a dry repetition of well-rehearsed history.’ The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) was founded in 1995 as a partnership of member groups in 20 countries: www.icuu.net

A Martyr Soul Remembered - Commemorating the 450th Anniversary of the Death of Michael Servetus, edited by Clifford M. Reed. xxii, 240 pages. Includes references and index. ISBN (paperback): 0-9723134-1-9 $22 plus shipping & handling.

INFORMATION CONTACT:

Diane Worden

269-341-9207

WordenDex@aol.com

Come One - Come All

To

SMORGASBORD AND GAME NIGHT

Saturday, January 15^th

Games - Fun - Food

6:00 p.m. smorgasbord

6:30 p.m. games begin

Everyone (well almost) loves to play games. Let’s shoot for an all-member turnout. Tell the Member Services Committee (mcuster@siue.edu) the games you’d like to play or just wait and see what we dream up. If you’re really not a game-player, bring a dish to share anyway and enjoy the meal and conversation.

All ages are invited. Childcare will be available for the youngest set, and there will be supervised games for children in addition to a selection of games for adults.

Community Volunteer Opportunities

Nelson Shaner wants to remind you that volunteers are needed at Rosewood Care Center to help with social activities such as bingo. If you would like to help in this way, please contact Nelson at nshaner@charter.net.

Looking Ahead …

We’ve proclaimed February as “Get to Know Your Unitarian Neighbors Month”

A series of small Community group dinners is being planned by members of the First Unitarian Church of Alton

You will receive an invitation to attend one close to your home; and if that isn’t convenient, choose another date that’s more calendar friendly for you.

Come - get to know others from our church community better, talk about church questions/issues (or not).

Anyone wishing to host such a gathering

(8-10 people) please contact Marcia Custer or Pat Moore.

More information about this February activity will be forthcoming.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN PRESENTING A WORKSHOP AT THE CENTRAL MIDWEST DISTRICT ANNUAL MEETING?

The theme of the April meeting is Creating Beloved Community: The Challenge and the Promise.

If you or someone you know would be interested in presenting a workshop please have them contact Carol Hosmer at 708-236-0831 or chosmer@cmwd.uua.org to get the workshop proposal form.

The deadline for proposal submission is January 5^th.

If there are any questions, please contact Dori Davenport DoriDuure@aol.com

Note from Nancee Magilson

I've only just learned that some long-time friends, Niles & Carol Ross, who moved from Florissant to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, eight years ago, used to attend the Alton UU church.  They were married in a large UU church in Rochester, NY, in 1966, and asked me to pass along to you that this (Alton) was their favorite church among all the many UU locations they have attended over the years.  Also, they transplanted some practices from the Alton church, such as the yellow visitor mugs and monthly social events, and introduced them to their new UU home.  They wanted to send their good wishes and to let you know that your influence has extended as far as Cedar Rapids!

Sunday Pot Luck Lunch

January 23^rd - the 4^th Sunday

Bring a dish to share and plan to stay after church to join in food and fellowship.

A-L will do Table Set Up

M-Z will do Clean Up

Everyone will be responsible for setting food out on the buffet table.

Men’s Lunch Group

The Men’s Lunch Group will meet at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 11^th at the Chinese Buffet at 2610 Homer Adams Parkway in Alton. This lunch meeting is planned as a regular event on the 2^nd Tuesday of each month.

Anna D’s

The Anna D. Sparks Women's Alliance will meet January 6^th in the Wuerker Room of the church.  The 12 o'clock lunch will be a bring your own "bag lunch" with beverages and dessert served. All women members and friends are invited.

Our Congregational Covenant

On our life-long quests for continual learning and personal growth we covenant together:

 '

• To seek fellowship with others on our spiritual journeys;

• To establish a caring community of acceptance and mutual respect;

• To foster compassion, integrity, and justice.

Is Faith Worth the Price?

A Review of

“The End of Faith”

by John McCall

Sam Harris’ thought provoking book examines serious topics like religion, ethics, and spirituality. His central thesis is dogmatic religious faith has limited our intellectual and spiritual development. If we could give up this faith, we might enjoy a more civilized society, greater ethical maturity, and a better spiritual life. As it is, we learn intolerance, endure constant religious wars, and depend on dreams about heaven while ignoring certain realities of life. This is strong stuff. Readers who believe in sin, heaven, and hell might look for Satan’s name on the title page.

The author is critical of Christian, Jewish and Muslim moderates who protect their faiths. They encourage extremism by making religious criticism off limits. And they add to muddled thinking on issues like human origins by not fully rejecting Creationism or Evolutionism. For example, millions of Americans still believe God created humankind just six thousand years ago. Yet, we know that Babylonian farmers developed agriculture long before that. All realms of understanding, in philosophy, art, and elsewhere, benefit from open and honest evaluations. Even science, which has brought so much understanding, requires constant updating. So-called truths that are not exposed to new insights become dogma. Of course, religious claims that appeal to the supernatural are not subject to objective tests.

Harris challenges liberals who maintain that Muslim terrorism stems from poverty and limited education. Too many suicidal bombers were well educated and from middle class backgrounds. The long-term problem, he thinks, is dogmatic religious faith that tolerates no amount of critical evaluation. His reminder of religious holocausts, inquisitions, and witch burnings is rather scary. We should worry about our own politicians who seem headed toward theocracy. Will they also prompt a religious war with Muslims?

His views on spirituality connect us with the more positive side of religion. Isn’t this what most religions are about, the quest for personal happiness? All religions, in some way, address this concern. Most preach that ultimate happiness can only be gained in the afterlife. For Harris, this unrealistic dream denies the reality of death and puts off dealing with life here and now.

JANUARY

BIRTHDAYS

Here are the names of church members and friends who are celebrating birthdays this month. If this is ‘your month’ and your name didn’t get included, we’re sorry. For future months please let Mary Johnson know your birth month and day (mejohnson@mindspring.com).

2 January - Alex Gross

11 January - Glenn Brunner

25 January - Caleb Tucker-Loewe (2000)

26 January - Doug Leavell

30 January - Deb McNaughton