Northern Light September 2007

Sept. 2 Blythe Pelham offered a lay service entitled -"Pagans: Who are They and What Have They Done with Heaven?" (no RE today)

Sept. 9 Ingathering, Water Celebration (no RE today)

Sept. 16 Re-Creation: The Challenge of the High Holy Days. Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur challenge us to align our energies with the forces of creation. But how? Children’s regular RE begins (Fall session)

Sept. 23 But Enough About Me. Is a sense of uniqueness about one’s own self helpful—or not—in living out our covenant to affirm the inherent worth and dignity of others?

Sept. 30 Collective Joy. Have we lost the knack?

Oct. 7 God Wars. How many books have been published in the last year trying to prove—or deny—the existence of God? We look at what understanding Unitarian Universalism might offer to an unhealthy religious culture.

Also in this issue
Page 2 Events & Activities. Find out what's happening in September and October!
Page 3 From the Committees and Board.
Page 4 A Call to Action! See how you can support your congregation and your world!

Ingathering Sunday is a grand Unitarian Universalist tradition. On September 9, we celebrate the official start of the church year. Of course, long gone are the days when the church doors would be literally locked all summer long. Nonetheless—it is fun to have a celebration, it is helpful to mark a time for new beginnings, and it is vital that we take the time to make a deliberate “hello, and welcome!” to faces both familiar and new. Two of those new faces join our staff this month, and I hope you will help me make sure they have a special NUUC reception.

Wade Jones will join us as our new Pianist. Wade has classical training from the conservatory at the University of Cincinnati, as well as a Jazz degree from OSU—a combination of experience that’s so ideal that I wonder if I dreamed it up (I didn’t!). Wade joins us most immediately from the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Columbus. You should have heard how Wade played in his audition! But wait, you don’t have to have had that experience—now we will all have the pleasure of hearing him every Sunday.

We also have our first-ever professional Youth Advisor. Mylesant Carreno will be working with our 12+ year olds, both on Sunday mornings and for special outings and activities. Mylly has years of experience teaching middle and high school aged students, primarily through a program offered by her alma mater, the Columbus School of Art and Design. She impressed our Hiring Committee with her enthusiasm for an organic approach to teaching that begins with individual interests and capabilities, but always reaches out to find larger meanings and connections. She is a responsible Unitarian Universalist who has made an intentional commitment to live with compassion and understanding. But I don’t want to make her sound serious or boring! Quite the contrary—Mylly is the embodiment of meaningful fun, and I personally almost wept when I heard her plans for the Youth. I’m too old to participate, and, I suppose, otherwise engaged. Life is totally unfair.

And…don’t forget to bring a small amount of water to Ingathering Service for our annual Water Celebration. You’ll have a chance to add the water to a collective bowl and, if you choose, share something about your summer at the same time. Somehow, we think of the water as representing our summer travels. It is not meant to—the water represents any personal learning or experience it is that you have had over the summer that you now wish to contribute to the larger community—perhaps that experience was on the road, perhaps it was in your own back yard.