Congregation established 1836

Newsletter of the

First Unitarian Church, Alton, Illinois

www.firstuualton.org

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt, Minister

February 4^th

“Why Go To Palestine?”

Mark Chmiel

Adjunct Professor of Theology, St. Louis University and Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies, Webster University

Simply using the word Palestine can make some people bristle with anger.   Can Americans as a nation speak of the Palestinian people as victims without being accused of anti-Semitism?   Mark Chmiel, an adjunct professor at both St. Louis University and Webster University, talks about his experiences with the International Solidarity Movement in the Occupied West Bank, and about how we can have a conversation about the rights and concerns of the Palestinian people.

See more about Mark Chmiel elsewhere in this newsletter.

February 11^th

“The Second Inaugural Sermon”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

Lincoln set a standard for oratory in American politics that has rarely if ever been matched, and his Second Inaugural Address - more ‘sermon’ than ‘speech’ - is a succinct statement of belief in the American experiment.

We will also be celebrating Heritage Day this Sunday. This is a time for us to consider our history and to look forward to a bright future. There will be discus-sions of out legacy during the service, and festivities after the service. The collection on Heritage Day will benefit the church’s endowment, to ensure the long term financial viability of our community.

February 18^th

“The Power of the Word”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

On this Presidents’ Day weekend, we’ll see how the words used by some of our national leaders has formed and transformed the nation-state we live in today.

February 25^th

“A Plain Sermon”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

Matthew’s report of Jesus’ words known as the “Sermon on the Mount” is oft quoted and almost-as-oft misunderstood.   The parallel passages from Luke, known as the “Sermon on the Plain,” can be even more challenging.   What can this amalgam of ancient wisdom mean to us today?

Thurs., Feb.   1^st – Choir practice – 7:00 p.m.

Sat.,     Feb.  3^rd – ‘Our Whole Lives’ for Jr/Sr high

                1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sun.,    Feb.  4^th – Committee Sunday – 9:00 a.m.

Sun.,    Feb.  4^th – UU Pagans – after coffee hour.

Mon.,   Feb.  5^th – UU and You! 7:00 p.m.

Thurs., Feb.  8^th – Anna Ds – 11:30 a.m. – “brown bag” lunch at church.

Mon.,   Feb. 12^th – Sierra Club film series – 7:30 p.m.

Tues.,  Feb. 13^th – Board Meeting – 7:00 p.m.

Thurs., Feb. 15^th – Choir practice – 7:00 p.m.

Mon.,   Feb. 19^th – Sierra Club film series – 7:30 p.m.

Sun.,    Feb. 25^th – Potluck lunch and Choir practice.

Mon.,   Feb. 26^th – Sierra Club film series – 7:30 p.m.

February 4^th – 9:00 a.m. – Committee Sunday.  

Committee chairs and committee members meet for program review, planning and evaluation.   Everyone is encouraged to participate.   The Finance Committee is in charge of refreshments.  

February 11^th – 9:00 a.m. – Welcoming Congregation.   This ongoing workshop is open to everyone and you need not have attended previous sessions to start attending now.   This program is designed to help congregations develop individual and institutional strategies in order to become more welcoming to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their families.

February 18^th – 9:30 a.m. – Forum Topic:   "Democracy, Capitalism, and Socialism."   The discussion leader is Dr. Ron Glossop.

Do democracy and capitalism necessarily go together?   Do democracy and socialism necessarily go together?   What political and economic systems are best for a society?

January 28^th – 9:30 a.m. “In Search of the Historical Jesus” – Facilitator: Beth Nalick.

A First Glance

     “I don’t get it,” she said.   “Why can’t they just use the regular phone book like everybody else does?”  

I had lots of interesting conversations over the holidays, and this was becoming one of the more interesting.   A relative of mine had seen a gay-, lesbian-, bisexual-, and transgender-friendly phone book on a counter in one of the many malls where she shops.   She had cared enough (or was bored enough) to pick it up and see that the businesses that advertised inside were not just those owned by gays and lesbians.   They were major corporations and local companies who apparently wanted to get the word out among the GLBT community that they were open to doing business with differently-oriented persons.

My relative went on.   She said the whole concept of different phone books for different communities was silly.   When I suggested that those of us who live with cultural privilege sometimes find it hard to put ourselves in the place of people who live without such privilege, she scoffed, retorting that “no one turns people away at the door of Neiman Marcus just because of who they are!”

I tried to say that a GLBT phone book made great sense to me - I know many people who would like some assurance before they go shopping that business owners are likely to treat them with some modicum of respect.   We were in Texas, for goodness sake, and I know there are places down there where certain types of people don’t want to be caught after dark, whether because of their color, ethnicity, orientation, or other difference from the mainstream.

I mentioned that people have been attacked, oppressed, even killed because of their sexual orientation.   Wouldn’t it make sense, then, that some people might still live in fear and that a listing of safe businesses would be useful?

But she was on to other things.  

Privilege is a difficult concept, and it’s not fun to bring it to consciousness and explore its meanings.  

We’d like to believe that we can get by in this world by working hard and by doing our best.   Many of us can, of course, but we shouldn’t delude ourselves that the cards are not stacked against many of our sisters and brothers.

May we work toward the day when all of us can feel safe in this society, when we can each do business wherever we want.   Perhaps then we’ll all be able to use the same phone book without feeling either fearful or silly.

See you in church,

GETTING BETTER ACQUAINTED WITH …

            DR. RONALD GLOSSOP

     Ron signed our membership book on June 12, 1994, shortly after the Thomas Jefferson Fellowship in Florissant, of which he had been a member since 1966, disbanded.   He preached his first sermon from our pulpit on Oct. 9, 1994, entitled “God, Religion, and Ethics.”   Between then and now, Ron has preached 98 sermons for our congregation!   A service for which all of us are very appreciative!   Many of his sermons are available on the church’s website and CDs or audiotapes are also available of some of his more current sermons.  

     A couple lesser known facts … Ron plays the accordion … and is an enthusiastic square dancer, attending all the square dances held at the church.

     Ron was born in Aurora, Illinois on February 17, 1933, eight minutes after his identical twin brother Don.   They always dressed alike and did almost everything together.   Both were interested in mathematics, but for Don that meant engineering and for Ron teaching.   By their junior year of high school, Don began to focus more on mechanical drawing and basketball while Ron focused more on debate and football.   In 1947 the national debate topic was whether the United Nations should be converted to a world federation in order to avoid World War III.   That was an idea which has stayed with Ron and which became important again during the Vietnamese War.

     Ron went to Carthage College, a Lutheran liberal arts college (from which Ruth Shaw had graduated earlier), in order to become a high school math teacher and football coach.   But after a course in philosophy Ron switched to a double major in philosophy and religion.   While at college Ron met his wife Audrey, from St. Louis .   A campus joke was, "Who but Ron and Audrey would go on a date and talk about philosophy and religion?"   Ron became President of the Luther League of Illinois while Audrey was the Secretary.   Upon graduation Ron went to a Lutheran Seminary for a year, an important experience because he then became convinced not only that he would rather teach philosophy than be a minister, but also decided to become a Unitarian.   He did his graduate work in philosophy at Washington University because Audrey was in St. Louis and he got a good scholarship.   While doing graduate work from 1957 to 1960 Ron taught teenagers at First Unitarian Church in St. Louis. Ron and Audrey were married in Carthage in 1958 (the day before Audrey graduated), and Ron got his Ph.D. in 1960.  His first teaching job was at Boise Junior College in Idaho, but after a year he moved to Portland State University in Oregon .   Their son Kent was born in 1961, and they soon decided to move back to the Midwest so that son and grandparents could be closer.   In 1965 Ron came to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville where he taught until officially retiring at the end of 1998 (although he taught a couple of courses during the next two years).

  At SIUE Ron taught the traditional philosophy courses and published articles mainly about the philosophy of David Hume.   He started the SIUE Peace Studies program in 1974 just after the publication of his book Philosophy: An Introduction to Its Problems and Vocabulary. He then helped initiate the interdisciplinary program which included courses on "The Problem of War and Peace" and "Global Problems and Human Survival." In 1983 the first edition of his book, Confronting War was published.   His World Federation? book was published in 1993, and the 4th edition of Confronting War was published in 2001.  

     After coming to the St. Louis area, Ron became very active in the World Federalist Association locally, nationally, and internationally.   A couple of years ago, partly under Ron's leadership, the name of that organization was changed to Citizens for Global Solutions.   In 1977 when beginning to write Confronting War Ron came to believe that an important step in preventing wars was the development of a feeling of global solidarity through the use of a single world language (in order to override the influence of the national languages, which were so important to nationalism, a major factor in wars).   Later that year he learned that such a language, Esperanto, had already been developed almost 100 years ago.   He learned the language and soon began teaching it and promoting it both at the university and in area elementary schools.   Now he is Treasurer of the local Esperanto club, President of the American Association of Teachers of Esperanto, and Director of "Infanoy chirkau la Mondo" (Children around the World), whose web-site is www.icxlm.org.

Reminders from Jamie

The first session of “Our Whole Lives” sexuality education for the junior and senior high group will be on Saturday, February 3^rd from 1:00 – 6:00 p.m.

The RE Book Hutch in the Kate Wuerker Room is open for your shopping and browsing enjoyment before and after Sunday services.

Please remember to bring in your empty ink jet printer cartridges for recycling.   The receptacle for these is in the RE foyer.

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 ( mejohnson@mindspring.com ) know the day and month of your birth.

  2 February – Mary Johnson

  3 February – William Loucks (1998)

  3 February – Susan Folk

  6 February – Nancy Brunner

  8 February – Patrick Kelley

11 February – Gene Eaton

11 February – Chris Sutton

13 February – Katherine Miller

14 February – Yvonne McCall

17 February – Ron Glossop

23 February – Beth Bourland

28 February – Tom Allred

28 February – Rachel Berg

28 February – Max Sutton (1996)

4^th Sunday

Sunday Pot Luck Lunch

February 25^th

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

A-Mc will do Clean-Up

 M-Z will do Table Set Up

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

Anna D. Sparks Women’s Alliance

Thursday,

February 8^th

11:30 a.m.

The Anna D. Sparks Women's Alliance February meeting will be on the 2^nd Thursday instead of the 1^st Thursday this month.    It will be a “brown bag” lunch held the Kate Wuerker Room at the church.   Brynda McCoy is the hostess. All women from the church are welcome.   Reservations should be made by February 1^st by call or email Brynda at   wbmccoy@charter.net.

CHOIR REHEARSAL SCHEDULE

Thursday, February 1^st – 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, February 15^th – 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, February 25^th – following potluck.

Contact Willis McCoy for further information.

wbmccoy@charter.net

Crisis Food Center

The Crisis Food Center provided meals to 590 families during December.   Our church donated 155 food items and a check for $300.   It was the greatest monthly amount ever donated by our church family.   Thank you for your generous support. A special thanks to the Brunner family and to Ruth Shaw for their continued support throughout the season.

Think healthy as you make your purchases for February donations. Bring “heart healthy” food items such as low sodium canned goods or low sugar and whole grain cereals. Be creative!  

Jen Politsch

UU Pagans Celebrate Imbolc

Are you getting the first twinges of springitis?  It’s a sure sign that spring is just around the corner.   Seed catalogs begin to arrive in the mail.   Families make resolutions.

Decisions are made.

Come join the Alton UU Pagans

In celebration of

  Imbolc

Sunday, February 4^th

Following coffee hour

Imbolc is the Pagan celebration of the first signs of spring.

Bring yourself. Bring a friend, and bring something to share on the Imbolc altar or perhaps a chant or two and a favorite poem or reading for the new season beginning to unfold.   Childcare and light refreshments will be provided.   For further information, please contact Stacey Wolff at kartoffel@piasanet.com

ENERGY

Sierra Club Film Series

Clean energy has rapidly become a key issue in our country.   These films are a great way to become more educated and motivated to take action on a personal and public level to create a clean energy future.

All films will be shown at no charge at 7:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church on the following Mondays.

Feb. 12^th –  An Inconvenient Truth (90 min.)

Feb. 19^th –   Who Killed the Electric Car? (92 min.)

Feb. 26^th –   The Global Banquet: Politics of Food (56 min.)
& French Fries to Go (15 min.)

March 12^th – Oil and Ice (90 min.)

Contact the Sierra Club for more details:

christine.favilla@sierraclub.org

Emerson Chapel Seeking Youth Director

Emerson UU Chapel in Ellisville Missouri seeks a creative, resourceful, fun-loving part-time Youth Director for the Senior Youth Group.   Applications may be sent to: Youth Director Search Committee, Emerson UU Chapel, 73 Strecker Rd., Ellisville MO 63011 or minister@emersonuuchapel.org.  

UU bed and breakfast directory UU’re Home (formerly Homecomings).   For 27 years, we’ve provided a network of hosts in the United States (and a few abroad) who enjoy meeting new friends and who are happy to open their home to like-minded people.   You can also become a host and be listed in the directory.   Contact us at 828-281-3253 or at info@uurehome.com.

Host listings are on the UU’re Home website at www.UUreHome.com. The paper edition is published every year in April (and has many listings different from those on the website).   For a copy of the 2007 directory, please send a check for $20 (or $25 and your e-mail address for both the book and a year’s access to the website) to UU’re Home, 43 Vermont Court, Asheville, NC 28806 .

Thirty people joined the church in 2006.   We’ve met some of them already in this column and this month, and in subsequent months, we’ll meet more.

John and Diane Herndon joined in January 2006, and here are their stories.

John writes, “I was born and raised in the Roxana, IL area where Diane, Erin, Ian, and I still reside today.   After graduating from Roxana high school I attended both SIU-C and SIU-E, finishing my bachelors degree in Biology from SIU-E in 1987.   Shortly after graduation I began working at Washington University School of Medicine as a Research Technician, and I have been there ever since.   A year or so after I began working I married the love of my life – Diane – whom I began dating in high school.   I have switched laboratories a few times since coming to Wash U, and I have always sought new challenges with different areas of research.   My religious upbringing was in the United Methodist Church, but I was always attracted to the Roman Catholic Church, which I joined shortly after starting college.   After years of trying to be a faithful dissenter, and then deciding the sharp right turn the church was taking was no longer relevant, Diane and I decided to leave the church and look for our real faith elsewhere.   I had always heard about the Unitarian church but never really knew what it was about.   After Diane dragging me to our first service here at First UU in Alton I was hooked.   I have come to think of this church as my faith family.   I have many hobbies which include music and reading.”

Diane writes, “I was born in Alton, raised in East Alton, and lived a couple of years in St. Louis .   Once a person starts having children, having family near is a real asset, so we moved back ‘home.’   I have a degree in Dietetics from Eastern Illinois University and did a year internship at SLU.   I did a few odd jobs like managing a restaurant and refinishing furniture before starting real work at St. Anthony’s in Alton in my field.   I was born and raised Catholic and never understood why John wanted to become Catholic.   We have been married since 1988 and we’ve been fortunate to have grown together in our life perspectives.   I have taught swimming for over 25 years at various pools in the area.   I love photography and have pursued this interest since college.   We have been blessed with two great kids, Erin and Ian.”

Kirk and Susan Folk joined in March 2006,
and here are their stories.

Susan writes, “The Folks are an Air Force family ... so it's hard to say where we're from.   Kirk was born in Michigan in the fall of ’71 and Susan was born in Homestead, FL in '72.   We met as sixth graders in Tampa, Florida and were the best of friends.   We were married in Oct 1999.   We both attended college and graduated, though neither of us currently use those degrees.   Kirk is a Civil Engineering Officer at Scott AFB but his degree is in Electrical Engineering.   Mostly he enjoys defusing bombs (EOD, Explosive Ordnance Disposal), which lucky for him falls under the CE umbrella in the Air Force.   Susan has a BSN and was a hospice RN for about 6 years, though now she is a SAHM [stay at home mom]. We have two children, Zac and Luke, whom we homeschool with a child led approach.   We love to sail, hike, bike, woodwork, garden and travel.   We are all avid pirate enthusiasts.   Kirk and Susan grew up going to the Gasparilla Invasion of Tampa (similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but with Pirates) and are now raising a new generation of little 'buccaneers.'   When Kirk's 20 years in the USAF is completed (in about 8 years), we plan to retire to Rockland, ME. ”

Rachel Berg joined the church in April 2006, and here is her story .

Rachel writes, “I lived in Waterloo, IL until I was 8 in '93, when my parents, two younger brothers, and I moved to northeast Texas .   I stayed there with them until I was 16, and moved back up to Illinois to live with my grandparents.   It was only going to be for one school year, but I ended up staying, finishing high school in Waterloo, and attending Southwestern Illinois College and now Southern Illinois University. I recently changed my major again, to Social Work, which I intend to stick with.   I would like to work with families, children, and/or the LGBT community.

What drew me to First Unitarian was a web search for Pagan communities in my area.   I happened to see an ad for the Pagan meetings that were going to start up here.  Though I had never heard Unitarian Universalism, my interest was peaked, and I had to find out more.   And I am so glad I came!   How wonderful it was to find a church where I could believe any way I wanted and not be shunned for it!   I am so glad to have found my new church family.

RE NEWS

Dear Parents and Friends,

I have been thinking about gifts lately.   I know that this may seem a little strange given that we have just past the largest gift-giving time of the year, but as I have been finding a place to put all of the gifts that I, and especially my children, have been given, I have been thinking about them.  

What does it mean to be given a gift?   If Santa brings you a gift, then it is supposed to mean that you have been good all year.   Gifts can be rewards.   They can also be a tangible measure of something that is intangible like when a family member or friend gives you a gift because of the love and affection that s/he feels for you.   However, gifts can also be a responsibility.   When something is passed on as a gift, that gift then becomes the responsibility of the recipient.

My family was given a gift of this sort last Christmas.  It took the form of a wooden cutout figure of Santa Claus.   This Santa has been a part of the family for 70 years, maybe even more.   Every year the children in the house would put a dated Easter Seal sticker onto the Santa on Christmas Eve.   This Santa was brought to my house last year, and when this passed to my household the responsibility of Christmas Eve and Easter Seal stickers passed to my household as well.   It is a sacred responsibility.   I cannot be the one who dropped the ball.   I cannot let down my children's heritage.

This church can be looked upon as being one of those gifts.   It has been given to us by the generations of Unitarian Universalists that were here in this area before us.   We have a rich history in this area.   You could ask some of the 4-6th graders about this.   It is something that they have been learning about recently.   We have been given this great gift, but what is our responsibility to it?   We are responsible for continuing the community of this church by being present and available for one another.   We have to nurture this community in order to help it grow and develop further.   That is the responsibility that we have to the intangible church that we have been given.

Do we have a responsibility to the tangible church as well?  The church building is also a gift that has been given to us.   It was here long before any of us who are using it here now, and it could be here long after all of us are gone.   This will happen if and only if we take care of it.

When we leave here after service every week, we need to check on the church and see if it is okay, and we need to teach our children to do the same.   Has it been picked up?   Is it locked up properly?   Has everything that was turned on been turned off again?   The building is old, and big.   There are a lot of different rooms, and we are using all of those rooms every week.   This is evidence that we are working hard at taking care of our church community, but let's not forget to take care of the other gift that we have been given, the building.   This is a big responsibility, but I think if we all work on it together, we will find that we can live up to it.   Thank you.

Jamie Gross

Friends of the UUA Phonathon

We would prefer that no one would be surprised to receive a fundraising call from Friends of the UUA, so we ask that you please share this information with the members of your congregation.   As a supplement to periodic mailings, Friends of the UUA will be conducting a fundraising phonathon beginning the week of February 19^th and continuing through the third week in March.   Outreach Associates, a telemarketing firm located in Pittsburgh, will be phoning members who are currently active Friends of the UUA to ask them to renew their support.

Our contract with this firm requires that all callers must be courteous, respectful, and succinct as they offer identified Unitarian Universalists an opportunity to support our Association directly. Your feedback about the calls will help us to monitor their quality. We have established a Friends Phonathon Hotline to facilitate that feedback.   Members may call (617) 948-6525 to leave a message to ask to be placed on the "no call" list or to share a comment directly with a UUA staff member.   Your willingness to support the UUA enhances our ability to provide services and programs to member congregations and presents avenues for future growth of Unitarian Universalism throughout the country.

Cynthia Salloway, Director Friends of the Unitarian Universalist Association Stewardship & Development.

Help support Our church financially with

NO EXTRA EXPENSE on your part

We are participating in a fundraising opportunity called eScrip.

This is a way for our church to raise money without your spending an extra penny.

eScrip and merchants such as Schnucks have created a system whereby a certain percentage of your purchases will be donated to a group of your choice (OUR CHURCH).

All you need to do is:

Pick up a Community Club Card at Schnucks.

Log on to http://www.escrip.com and go to “sign up.”   You may also register by calling1-800-931-6258 to activate the card.

Designate our church to receive contributions.   Our church group ID is 164501344.   [Or search by Alton zip code 62002 to make sure that you get the correct First Unitarian Church, as there are 16 or more listed under that name in the nationwide escrip system.]

Register your Schnucks Community Club Card number (found under the bar code on the back of the card) and your debit, ATM, or credit cards if you wish.

Then do your shopping as usual, but make sure to have the cashier scan your Club Card barcode each time you shop to have your purchase counted towards our account.

Note from the Newsletter Editor – I’ll be out of town for a week starting Feb. 17^th.   Please try to get newsletter items to me by Tuesday, Feb. 13^th.

The UU’s of Napa, California are proud to offer our third season of Wine Country Excursions, a delightful way to enjoy two of America’s most scenic valleys, Napa and Sonoma, an hour northeast of San Francisco.

Tours are small and customized to focus on guest’s interests, e.g. wine education and tasting, art, history of the region, gourmet dining, or exploring the natural beauty of the hills and valleys.   Visits will include private room/bath and breakfast in the homes of congregation members.

Sites of particular interest include COPIA (the American Center for Food, Wine and the Arts); Jack London’s home; renowned and boutique wineries; fine restaurants including the Culinary Institute of America; the diRosa Art and Nature Preserve; many museums and galleries; miles of bicycling and hiking trails, etc.

In 2007 we will offer Excursions from mid-May through mid-October.   Plan for two days of touring and a two or three night stay with all local transportation provided.   Home hospitality without tours is also available.   Our fees are below market rate for similar services with all proceeds donated to our small fellowship.   We have limited openings, so contact us now for details.   Contact Iris Barrie at 707-265-6926 or email barrie001@comcast.net.