Newsletter Notes

Maumee Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation

A Welcoming Congregation

20189 North Dixie Highway (Route 25)

Bowling Green, OH 43402

Tel: 419-353-8353

Office Hours:

"One minute south of the 582 intersection"

SUNDAY PROGRAMS (11:00 a.m.)

May 11, 2008: Rev. Ken Phifer - Blessings

When I was a child, one of my favorite songs was Irving Berlin's Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep. I still like. He was a wonderful songwriter. In this case, he was also expressing what I feel is an important truth of our lives: that it is wise from time to time to count the many ways in which our lives are blessed. I want to talk about why blessings are important and what I think some of our blessings are. Please join us for our Celebration of Life.

May 18, 2008: Rev. Ken Phifer - For Such A Time As This

On December 14, 1941, my father, a Presbyterian minister, delivered a sermon to his congregation in Nashville, Tennessee about the dreadful events of the previous Sunday and what they meant. I have borrowed his title because we, like him and the world in 1941, are living in parlous times and we need to think clearly about our values, our goals, our hopes, and the means we intend to use to attain our purposes. Please join us for our Celebration of Life.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MVUUC BOARD MEETING: The next MVUUC Board Meeting will be held on Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 9:15 a.m. at the church.

SUMMER NEWSLETTER SCHEDULE GOES INTO EFFECT NEXT MONTH: There will be only one edition of the Newsletter for each of the months of June, July and August. I will resume distributing two Newsletters per month in September. In the interim, I will send out emails with any timely information that cannot wait for the next Newsletter.

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING We will hold our annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday, May 18, 2008 directly after the service. At that time we will elect 3 Board members, the members of the Nominating Committee and approve the Operating Budget all for the period of July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. We will also vote on our new Mission statement. The exact agenda for this Congregational Meeting will be distributed after the Board of Trustees meets on May 11.

UU ADULT CAMPS CAMPS: The UU camp season is about to begin! To say that you could be a part of an adult community which provides friendship, fun, and personal growth is putting it mildly. I've been attending these camps since 1994 and it is where I enjoy life the most. My camp friends are my best friends. Not only do we look forward to camp, we get together frequently during the year to relive the camp experience.

AMUUSE (Adult Midwest Unitarian Universalist Singles Enrichment) is open to any SINGLE adult. Camp dates are June 15-20, Saugatuck MI ($450), July 13-19, Lake Geneva WI ($490), and Aug 10-16 , Saugatuck MI ($465). Their website is: www.amuuse.org

SAUG-FOR-ALL is for ANY adult. There is only one camp: June 22-28, Saugatuck MI ($450). Their website is: www.saugforall.org

The camp fee covers lodging and meals.

SHIRLEY SOAPS & SUCH:THANK YOU for your continuing donations to Shirley's Soaps & Such, the PERSONAL HYGIENE PANTRY, which operates out of First Unitarian Church. We now have a wallet-size card showing the most needed items, which is very convenient to carry in purse, pocket or wallet. They are available next to the donation box in the foyer. Questions? Email Shirley R.

TEXTS OF KEN PHIFER'S SERMONS ARE NOW ON OUR WEBSITE: Complete texts of all the sermons that Ken Phifer has already presented are now available on the MVUUC website. Just Click here to go to our Services and Events page, find the description of the sermon you want,(they are listed by date of service), and click on the appropriate link.

A MINISTER'S MUSINGS

I do not know of anyone in the congregation currently running for political office. Just in case, though, I would like to make it clear that I will support you 100% from the distant sidelines by not saying anything. I will request that Charlie remove quickly all my sermons from the website and delete from the newsletter all the columns I have written. I will not become Jeremiah Wright to your Barack Obama. I will be like John Kerry's parish priest, Joe Lieberman's rabbi, Al Gore's pastor, i.e., unknown and quiet, very quiet.

Now truthfully, it is a bit much to expect Jeremiah Wright to be unknown and quiet. Long before this mad political season, he was a very well known figure. I have read articles of his. I long ago knew his reputation as a brilliant, dynamic, hard-working, enormously gifted pastor whose church programs were a bright spot on the South Side of Chicago. Several articles in a recent Christian Century magazine made clear that his colleagues in religious leadership in Chicago hold him in the highest esteem.

No matter. The American political process has a tendency to chew up and spit out almost everybody, one reason why some top notch potential candidates have refused to have anything to do with it, and one reason why smart people with spectacular credentials can end up looking like idiots. This is both sad and dangerous. It is sad because we are not really that stupid a people and we ought to be able to figure out a way to do politics without such foolishness. It is dangerous because in our system the best people do not rise to the top-the most ambitious do, and the best fund-raisers, and those capable of not being bored by saying the same thing day after day after wearying day without ever really saying anything of consequence‹and given the enormous power and influence of our country, we desperately need the very best minds, the most compassionate hearts, the hardest-working hands we can find.

I am not sure that that is who we have running for the presidency this year. While it is true that any one of the three is very likely to be better than what we have had for the past seven plus years, we need more than a good-by-comparison. We need outstanding so that we can wisely and humanely address the frightening issues of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other potential wars in the Middle East, the sagging economy that is hurting so many ordinary Americans, the threat that global warming presents to us, the grossly unjust and unnecesarily expensive health care system that we foolishly continue to think should be driven by profit, and the numerous other issues that are on the agenda for our nation.

I still believe in the old-fashioned way of letting our elected officials know what we think-visit their local offices if they are national figures, write letters, including letters to the editor of newspapers and magazines, make phone calls about important votes, and look for good men and women among your friends and relatives who might be persuaded to try for elective office.

And meanwhile, in whatever form you do so, pray, pray very hard for wisdom and kindness and good luck to descend on the candidates and on our nation.

            Ken Phifer

NEWS FROM EQUALITYTOLEDO

BECOME A LOBBYIST FOR A DAY: Join the hundreds of Ohioans who will visit their elected officials at the Columbus Statehouse on Wednesday, May 14, to talk about equal rights for all Ohioans, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Lobby Day is a great opportunity for LGBT people and their friends, families and allies to tell their own stories about why the passage of a statewide nondiscrimination bill is important to protect our families. Register by May 1 by: Clicking Here .

NEWS FROM OHIO-MEADVILLE DISTRICT

OMD SUMMER INSTITUTE:Planning for Ohio-Meadville (OMD) Summer Institute 2008 at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, is in full swing. Theme speaker Meg Barnhouse is set to wow the Unitarian Universalist crowds that are expected to converge on tiny Gambier, Ohio, from July 13-19. This year, in a push to make SI a "greener" event and to help our budget, we will be posting the Summer Institute brochure on www.OMDSI.org and on www.ohiomeadville.org. If you are willing to read the brochure online and not get the expensive paper copy via snail mail this year please e-mail us at omdsi2008@gmail.com -- Dave Murray, SI08 Chair

Note that we have some Summer institute brochures on the table just outside the entrance to the sanctuary.

      MEDITATION

Water flows over these hands.
May I use them skillfully
        to preserve our precious planet.
                Thich Nhat Hanh