BUUF News – December 2013

Contents

Featured this Month

Inviting the Spirit of Winter for Deck the Halls Weekend!

Come join in the festivities all weekend long

Let the holiday merriment commence with our Deck the Halls workshop and rehearsal

All are invited on Saturday Dec. 7 from 1:00-5:00 pm for crafts and ornament making, music, fun and fellowship. Come enjoy some hot cider on a cold day.

While all the fun is happening in the Deck the Halls workshop in the elementary class room wing, the

RE classes will be rehearsing for Sunday's services in the sanctuary.

Then on Sunday, the merriment will continue in our two family-friendly services featuring our children and youth. This beloved holiday tradition here at the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will take you on a journey through winter holiday celebrations and poetic reflections on the spirit of heart and hearth during this time of year.

Let the spirit of winter and the warmth of community carry you through the holidays and holy days ahead.

Waiting in the Dark – A Solstice Celebration

In our modern world, we can become distant from the rhythms of nature. Technology can insulate us from the turning seasons. We lose these rhythms at the cost of our wholeness. As we approach the darkest and longest night of the year, let us gather to celebrate the turning of the year. Let us come together to pay attention to these rhythms and cycles in the midst of the swirling maelstrom of the holidays. What gifts does this dark time offer?

Come celebrate your pagan roots and welcome the return of the light. We will celebrate the Solstice this year on Friday, December 20. The service will start at 7:00pm, sharp, but please arrive early so there is time to get everyone smudged! The doors will be open no later than 6:30. Please arrive on time – once the service starts the doors will be closed and no one will be allowed to enter. You can enter through either vestibule. Bring goodies to share after the service, if you like – there will be a table to leave them on as you enter the church.

This is a quieter, more contemplative service and children who can sit relatively quietly for about an hour are very welcome. The Wiggle Room (aka the Preschool room) will be available for nursing mothers and infants. Children will be celebrating the Solstice in the Senior High room in the South Wing.

Christmas Eve in Candlelight & Song

Come to a candlelit service of story and song and spirit on Christmas Eve. Together, in a service of Lessons and Carols for all ages, we will enter the mystery and magic of the night before Christmas. Bring your whole selves – even your inner Humbug – to hear of the blessings and surprises of this holiday that reminds us that love is born again and again in the world and in our hearts.

A Fiery New Year

On Sunday, January 5, we will have a Fire Communion service. This will be a time to let go of things from the past year, literally by burning them away using a very nifty medium called "flash paper" which flares up brightly and then disappears in a poof leaving no smoke or ash. Then we will invite the New Year in by considering what new energies and attitudes we wish to welcome and embrace in the next twelve months. Rev. Dana Worsnop brings us this new communion service which she first experienced at her internship congregation in Toronto, Ontario in Canada. Come prepared to flare up like flame, to let go and be open to what is yet to come.

President's Message

While sitting in a chair, trying not to watch the purple, warmth drain from my arm, I asked the nurse why the Red Cross was in need of blood? (I was thinking of the victims of the typhoon).

She casually said, "the holidays are a rough time of year for many, so we ask for help to get us through the season."

I gulped. "Yes, I guess it is," whispered my naïve head.

It is the holidays and everywhere I go I hear campaigns for food, jackets and soon, bell ringers will be willing to freeze, just to ask for your change. Meanwhile, pictures on Facebook call for boycotting stores open on Thanksgiving day.

It is my hope for you, this season when we celebrate the birth of something that should transform our lives profoundly, that you find the joy in being made slaves to kindness.

As we treat ourselves, so shall we treat others. Together, we do make a difference.

In gratitude for the loving community which I am a part,

Robyn

In The Interim

So, I come to my first holiday season with you all. I get to see your holiday traditions and offer you some of my most favored holiday stories and practices. Such traditions can be some of a congregation's – as well as a minister's – most fondly held things about church. This is precisely one of the places that being open to change can be the so very important and so very hard to do. I am not proposing any radical changes to your holiday traditions, yet I am asking that you notice your own attachments.

When your new settled minister arrives, you will begin creating new traditions together. Part of my work with you will be to help you make room for those new practices. So pay attention to your holidays this year, notice what is the same and what is different and how you may make more room for change.

Another part of my work with you is to hold up a mirror that reflects the congregation back to you – both healthy practices and challenges. It's so easy to focus more on challenges than strengths, so I want to hold up something that you do very well.

You take good care of one another. You are generous givers to the Pay It Forward Fund and you have a well-stocked pantry of food for people who are in need. And the Congregational Care Team well supports the minister in the pastoral and caring ministry of the church.

A particular recent event highlighted this to me. When Dan Peterson – a long-time friend of the congregation – had a stroke and later died last month, I was out of town at the Starr King School for the Ministry board meetings. I have served on the board of my former seminary for going on four years now.

The CCT was ready to handle the situation. They let me know right away, and they were in touch with Dan's family. Team members visited Dan in the hospital. I was able to talk to his family from afar, yet they knew the physical care of this community through the outreach of a dedicated team of lay leaders.

My sense is that the healthiest congregations have a shared ministry. The Minister is a key part of this equation, of course, Yet the Minister who thinks she can or should do it all is setting herself up for trouble. Equally, the congregation who puts all the expectations of ministry on the Minister is setting itself (and the minister) up for a rocky road.

I am reminded by a poem about ministry by Rev. Gordon McKeeman, a former president of Starr King School....

Ministry is all that we do - together.

Ministry is that quality of being in community that affirms human dignity - beckons forth hidden possibilities, invites us into deeper, more constant, reverent relationships, and carries forward our heritage of hope and liberation.

Ministry is what we do together as we celebrate triumphs of our human spirit

Miracles of birth and life, wonders of devotion and sacrifice.

Ministry is what we do together - with one another - in terror and torment - in grief, in misery and pain

enabling us in the presence of death to say yes to life

We who minister speak and live the best we know with full knowledge that is never quite enough

And yet are reassured by lostness found, fragments reunited, wounds healed.

May your holidays be warm and spirited.

May you know the deep blessings of community.

dana

Religious Exploration

Oh There You Are!

Emmie Schlobohm, Director of Religious Exploration (DRE)

In the movie Hook, Robin Williams's character, a grown-up Peter Pan, goes to the Lost Boys to ask them to help him rescue his children from Captain Hook. Peter has no memory of being in Neverland before and the Lost Boys don't recognize him. To the Lost Boys, he is just a nasty old grown-up. They harass him and all seems lost until the smallest of them approaches Peter and examines his face very closely. He takes off Peter's glasses, smooths out the worry lines, stretches back the skin around his eyes, and pulls his mouth into a smile. At that moment, the young one's face lights up and he says "Oh, there you are, Peter!"

It's a magical scene because, in the midst of stress and the craziness of life, it reminds you that you can recognize a friend if you just take the time to really look at someone or let go of the chaos all around you. I have had two profound "Oh there you are" moments recently. After a crazy detail-filled day dealing with inattentive drivers and clocks that seemed to go faster every time I looked at them, I walked into a Quest gathering here at the Fellowship and had a crystal clear moment of recognition at the level of my heart and soul. And again, when walking into a class room full of UU youth advisors for a recent regional training held here at our Fellowship, I had that same recognition with a room full of people I'd never met. As I listened and watched, these strangers spoke the same language and lived the same philosophy as I do.

The greatest gift is that now I feel that same sense of profound recognition every Sunday and at every gathering of our beloved Boise UU community, be it an important committee meeting or joyful all-generations gathering for a fun-filled evening. Oh! There you are!

Deck the Halls for both services!

Our 9:30 and 11:15 Religious Exploration classes are preparing unique programs that will be different each service. Come join us for both services and kick off your holiday season with our joyful version of merry mayhem!

On Friday, December 20, while the Solstice service for adults and older children is going on in the sanctuary and the north wing classrooms, your RE Team will have a celebration for younger children in the south wing classrooms. We'll have Solstice crafts and stories and rituals for your younger children. More information can be found in the orders of service in December and on our Religious Exploration at BUUF Facebook page.

Attention all Families in Religious Education! Deck the Halls Rehearsal Schedule is Here!

On Saturday, December 7, we will hold our mandatory and very important final rehearsal for our Deck the Halls extravaganza. Crafts and activities will be happening in the north wing class rooms led by your RE Team members from 1:00 to 5:00 pm, so come play and create with us before and/or after your rehearsal time!

The following is the rehearsal schedule for the various classes. Please make sure you and your child(ren) are here for their scheduled time! Our dedicated guide/teachers, musicians, and Emmie will be here to guide this last opportunity to pull it all together. Rehearsals will be held in the sanctuary.

1:00 – 2:30pm 9:30 service: Preschool-1st grade class, 2nd through 3rd grade class, 4th through 6th grade class, and Junior High youth and Senior High narrators

2:30 – 3:30pm 11:15 service: Preschool class, Kindergarten & 1st grade class

3:30 – 4:30pm 11:15 service: 2nd and 3rd grade class & 4th through 6th grade class

4:30 – 5:00pm 11:15 service: Senior High youth

December Dates to Remember

for Religious Exploration for Children and Youth

On December 1 in Children's Religious Exploration, we will be celebrating acceptance of one another and a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, our third and fourth principle. Our First Sunday all-ages RE class will explore the story of Glooscap and the Baby. This Algonquin tale celebrates accepting one another, natural powers & beauty, the importance of the 'least of these' (babies). During this Thanksgiving Sunday, we will share the wisdom of our native traditions by creating costumes and acting out the story about an ancestor hero.

On Saturday, December 7 from 1:00-5:00, our holiday merriment will continue with our RE rehearsal and "Deck the Halls" seasonal kick-off activities. Prepare to celebrate "Spirit of Winter"! Everyone, whether you have children in RE or not, is invited to join in the fun for all ages with decking the halls, craft and ornament making, singing and fellowship! All of our Religious Exploration classes will have our final rehearsal on Saturday afternoon. See below for specific rehearsal schedule. Would you like to help make this all happen? Please call Emmie at 658-1710.

On Sunday, December 8, we will have two services, at 9:30 and 11:15, with all of our annual Deck the Halls merriment featuring our children and youth. Everyone will be included in the sanctuary so there will be no Children's RE classes offered. All children will participate in this wonderful all-generations service. The nursery will be staffed, as usual, for care of nursery-aged children, infant through newly-minted 3-year-olds (since Sept. 1). For those young ones who find it difficult to remain in the service, the preschool room will be available for free play. We invite parents to supervise their own children if this option is chosen.

Transitions

Making the Good Even Better

Jeanette Ross

If you attended our November History workshop or browsed the results you may have seen congregational benchmarks, personal highlights, and 'elephants,' unanswered questions and moments when we weren't as effective as we could have been.

We in the Transition Team are still interested in your concerns, your doubts and regrets. Still, as an organization we are doing pretty well, and it's a good time to assesses our strengths and hopes and look for common ground so that we can make a good religious institution even better.

Saturday morning, January 18, we will stand on this solid and much loved spot to consider what BUUF might be. We will utilize a well-tested tool from the world of organizational development, called Appreciative Inquiry. We will share our own favorite moments here and dream big. What's the most we can contribute to our community and each other? Results of the workshop will be tallied by the Transition Team, summarized and then used for some serious planning. What can we do here? What should we do?

A report of what we determine at this workshop will then be handed to the Search Committee. This is your opportunity to assist in the search for a minister who will know which way we want to go.

Those who can't wait to know more about the AI process, and how it has been helpful to communities, corporations and many other churches can use their web browser to find the Appreciative Inquiry Commons. Contact Jeanette at 378-1217 jross@idx.fortboise.org with questions.

JUSTICE Outreach

Interfaith Homeless Shelter

Rick Groff

During this winter month of long, cold nights please make a donation to the Interfaith Homeless Shelter through our social justice plate offering. Why?

• Families stay together.
• It is a place of love and compassion.
• With minimal rules and openness to under-the-influence individuals, it is the shelter of last resort for many homeless people.
• It is supported by a wide range of religious affiliations and organizations of good will.

BUUF has maintained a presence there from its inception with a team volunteering every Sunday evening since 2007.

Twenty-five percent of the non-designated plate offering and 100% of checks that are marked "outreach" in the memo field will go to Interfaith Homeless Shelter.

Please attend the Xtreme Holiday Xtravaganza December 21, 22, or 23 hosted by Curtis Stigers and the Fool Squad. It is an important fund-raiser for the shelter and has become a fun holiday season tradition.

Why I Volunteer

Shari Wallace

I volunteer at the Sanctuary because I was scared to. I volunteer because I didn't think I could. I volunteer because when I arrived my first night, my emotions and judgments took off on a roller coaster, and realizing I couldn't stop them, I leaned back and went for the ride.

I volunteer because I watched young, old, disheveled, neat, colorful, drab, sharp and dull pass before me. I met eyes that withdrew, eyes that calmly looked back, eyes with a twinkle, and eyes that were twin pools of weeping winter. I saw babes in arms, a blind man complete with white cane, a young couple playfully batting at each other obviously smitten.

I volunteer because I watched many of them quickly make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, their total concentration on the food.

I volunteer because of the homeless "helpers" that appeared grateful to have a "place" to feel responsible toward. The elderly man who sat with us in the intake room, eager to contribute what he could. The middle-aged man who had offered to tackle the mound of laundry on a nightly basis. The young girl who proudly stood at her guard post at the back door.

I volunteer because of the entire line of "guests" that quietly walked through the front door, respectful, thankful, and in dignity.

But most of all I volunteer because a momentous fortress inside me crumbled in a matter of a couple of hours that first night. How simple that all it took was being present, allowing the ride of an emotional and prejudicial upheaval, and experiencing the reality of what was left after all that fell away.

I guess I volunteer because I am grateful.

ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

December Fellowship Fun and Potluck

BUUF's halls will soon be decked. How about yours? Everyone is invited to attend the December fellowship fun and potluck on December 14 at BUUF. Bring a dish to share and stay for some fun making an evergreen wreath or swag afterwards. We will gather at 6:00 and begin eating about 6:15. Bring your own dishes and silverware, if possible, to save on clean up time and to be extra "green." After dinner, we hope that you'll want to make your own evergreen swag or wreath. We'll have some folks able to help guide you. Make an evergreen wreath or swag with your child or try a child friendly version. We'll have evergreen trimmings, cones, ribbon and other necessary supplies. Please bring garden or work gloves and garden clippers, if you have some. If you have holly or evergreen trimmings to share, please let Karen Raese know (853-3865 or craigraese@idx.cs.com .) See you there!

Just in time for the holidays new items are available in the book nook.

Book Nook News

Madge Thomas

Books for children

Sunday and Every Day contains information on UU principles, sources of faith, music, graces, history of Unitarian Universalism and other topics written for young children.

A Cup of Light is a children's book on the chalice. Possible gift for new chalice lighters?

The Family Book is a picture book on different types of families.

New for adults

Tending the Flame: The Art of Unitarian Universalist Parenting explores topics such as rituals and big questions. It deals with "a practical and proactive approach to raising Unitarian Universalist children.

Poems to Live by in Troubling Times is the sequel to Poems to Live by in Uncertain Times. It contains 64 poems by authors such as D.H. Lawrence and E.E. Cummings.

Also, check out the chalice note cards and the UU jewelry. Perhaps these would fit in those stockings! See you at the book nook.

One Event Changed You

Jeanette Ross

I removed a sentimental photograph for my contribution to the topic of BUUF's humanists. It captured the long-treasured moment with my cousin Marlene, one salvaged memory, before we met again sixty years later. In our one hour in the BUUF library I shared this and received much more. One stalwart of our group and of BUUF spoke of several days spent in our partner church village in Transylvania, living in utmost simplicity, among a minority of Unitarians, a remnant from the beginnings of our faith. A few days could only hint at the burdens of a people intimidated and mistrusted by their neighbors.

One man faced simultaneous life changes, including loss of a parent and the intense learning curve of a new job. Someone else spoke of his growing confidence living alone now, after 27 years of a partnership. The increasing dark of winter will be a challenge; he uses a light treatment before going to work. Another regular member of our group had a stroke a few months ago; this has been complicated by another health challenge. Her partner: we are living day by day. An elderly woman spoke of how she survived becoming a widow with four children at a time when choices for women were few. A sense of humor was invaluable. A man at midlife reflected on losing his father while still young, and only finding friends in college, working with and helping others. We heard several stories of surviving losses and major change with a willingness to start over. It was good to speak, good to listen as the stories went far beyond our simple starting theme.

We make an upbeat shift next month. We promise. One possibility: the gift and the burden of your given and your family names. It's tradition and nicknames, just in time for the holidays! Join us in the library at 11:15am, December 15.

Changes...That Includes the Newsletter

Jennifer Grush-Dale

Our new layout is coming along! Thank you for your continued patience as we discover what works and what needs tweeking. We learned a lot last month and I'm sure we'll learn more this time around. Again, we ask for your patience as we work out the details. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the new format!

The Other Book Club

Come join us for lively discussion on books and other topics. We meet on the second Sunday of the month from 7 to 8:30 PM.

December 8 we will be discussing Blood, Bones and Butter,the inadvertent education of a reluctant chef by Gabrielle Hamilton. We will meet at the home of Benita Coleman, 8169 W. Beckton Ln, Garden City. 375-9082. This is a memoir, nonfiction.

We will not gather in January due to the anticipated icy, snowy and generally hoarded road conditions at this time of year.

February 9 we will be discussing Notes from the Sand, by Jeffrey Neil Simon. We will meet at the home of Mindy Arnold, 7790 West Devonwood Dr., Boise, ID 83714. RSVP at 853-2337.

March 9 we will be discussing A Street Cat Named Bob, by James Bowen. We will meet at the home of Carol Wilke.

If you'd like to receive our emails, let me know at erins4960@idx.msn.com

Happy Reading.

Before There was Deck the Halls...

A History Note from Janelle Wintersteen

Deck the Halls has been a long-standing tradition at BUUF since the early 1980s. But what came before we had Deck the Halls?

When I first arrived at BUUF in 1973, 95% of the RE kids were three and under. After a few years, we finally had a majority of children who were not toddlers or babies.

The RE teachers began the practice of making an ornament for each child, plus a few more for guests. On the second Sunday in December, a tree was set up, decorated with these ornaments, and each child picked one off the tree.

I remember a year when we made straw ornaments and another when we were painting designs on flat discs. It was always a chore to come up with a new ornament idea each year, one that was simple enough that non crafty people could make two decent ones during one of the November work parties where we assembled them.

This was a sweet but transitory Christmas tradition because the church was really beginning to grow. After maybe four years or so, we had to come up with a new Christmas idea because the numbers were beginning to make their handmade ornament idea very impractical. Still, for those who might remember it is a humorous memory. I might still have one of the straw ornaments...

Greene Grove Changes

Paul Schlobohm

I hope you have enjoyed the changes taking place this fall in our poplar grove - the Greene Grove. I'm referring to the changing leaf colors, the muted sunlight as it enters through the tree tops at a lower angle, the familiar smell of moist vegetation after a rain shower. For a tree nut like me, these changes in a splendid stand of trees like ours are why fall is one of my favorite times of the year.

Speaking of changes, I have recently completed an inventory of all the stems in the grove so that we can measure other changes happening in the grove through time in order to understand how to sustain it for the future. This has led to some recommendations for the Landscape Committee which they have adopted. (Contact me if you would like to know more.)

One recommendation is to improve the safety of those who enter the grove by removing many dead branches and a few dead trees that are a threat to fall on us. The Landscape Committee is working with a professional arborist to have this work done during this fall and winter. Along with reducing risk, this work will result in more light entering parts of the grove. More light in the grove makes the trees we have happier and encourages new sprouts to rise from the root system. A couple of trees that are wreaking part of the eastern fence will also be removed. The trimmed branches will be chipped and used in the grove to reduce soil moisture loss in the summer. The dead tree stems will be made available to BUUFers as firewood. All of this work will be done thanks to your generous support for a recent Special Appeal fundraiser. So, thank you!

Winter will bring its own changes to the Green Grove. Maybe I'll see you out there sometime, watching, listening, feeling the season's changes.

First Fridays Board Game Night!

Friday, Dec 6, 7 PM, Balasz Room, South Wing, BUUF. All Welcome! Last time was so fun - more folks are joining in - the word is getting out! Bring your favorite games, or play what others bring.

Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East

UUJME will not meet in December but will have an event in January. See you next year!

The Shamanic Experiences of Odin: A Symbolic Re-enactment

Come experience a moving spiritual understanding of, and gifting of Runes from, the Northern European God of Inspiration and Wisdom. All Welcome.

Exploring Pagan/Nature Spirituality

Friday, December 13, 7 PM, Channing Room, South Wing, BUUF

Travel Bugs take a Break

Patty Nakaoki

There will be no Travel Bugs meeting in December. We'll be back in January with more fun adventures.

Who was Santa Claus to you?

How did you feel about him? What did you believe about him? What experiences did you have with/about Santa? Come share your Santa stories!

Fringe Topics Discussion: All invited! Thursday, Dec.19, 7 PM, Channing Room, South Wing, BUUF

Seeking knowledgeable people

We are looking for folks who are knowledgeable about and/or practicing various forms of any earth/nature tradition or paganism (such as Australian Dreamtime, Hawaiian Huna, Celtic Druidism, HIndu, Eastern European, Native American, etc.) to share their knowledge and hopefully lead in an experience in that tradition at future meetings of Exploring Pagan/Nature Spirituality. You need not be an "expert!." Please contact group facilitator Debbie Espen at debbieespen@idx.yahoo.com

What's Your Name?

Wanda Jennings

We have new people at BUUF all the time who do not know your name. Also, our new Interim Minister, Dana Worsnop is trying to learn your name.

You can help by ALWAYS wearing your name tag! If you forget your name tag, make a temporary one at the Newcomer Cart.

You can also help by stating your name when you speak into the microphone when introducing folks during the welcoming and when you speak during joys and sorrows.

Everyone thanks you for your effort in helping us to learn "What's Your Name"!

UUA & Our UU Community

Grow the Flame ... Be a PNWD Chalice Lighter

There are many good reasons to join this congregations-helping-congregations program in our Pacific Northwest District. Being a Chalice Lighter brings you the joy of watching your modest contribution multiply to a grant of $19,00 or more to support the growth of our liberal religion in our part of the country. Also very important is that being a Chalice Lighter you will help our congregation qualify for a Chalice Lighter grant. THE MORE OF US WHO TAKE THE CHALICE LIGHTER PLEDGE, THE MORE THE PROGRAM WILL HAVE TO OFFER GROWING CONGREGATIONS—INCLUDING OUR OWN FELLOWSHIP!

When you become a Chalice Lighter, each church year you will receive up to three call notifications. They will explain the purpose of the call and ask for your donation of at least $15. The grant must be used for the stated purposes, so you will always know exactly where your donation is going.

BUUF was a recipient of $9125 in 1998 for improvements to our hearing- assisted sound system and for signage, and again in 2006 we were granted $16,000 for our new sanctuary flooring. To receive a grant, 30% of a congregation must be involved in the Chalice Lighter program as donors. When you do receive a grant, you also agree to keep that membership number at 30%. BUUF now has 47 active donors, and our 30% level requires 75 of our 250 members to be involved.

Please consider joining now to help other congregations as well as our own at some future time. You may contact Janet Wyke at jewyke@idx.cableone.net to receive an enrollment card, or go to the PNWD web site and enroll online.

Thanks to all of you loyal supporters of this program over the years and to new donors who step up to further the efforts of this terrific helping-hand organization within our District.