President’s Letter — December 2006

Dear Members and Friends,

Have you noticed? While the Sunday Services and Programs are great, and very well received (a packed house for today’s Thanksgiving program!), we are a very busy Fellowship the rest of the week. If you have not participated in some of these activities, you are missing some very exciting opportunities.

In my President’s Letter last month, I described the role of the Fellowship as welcoming, nurturing, empowering, and serving. We start by truly welcoming those who are checking us out, looking for a religious home. And then we nurture our members by providing a safe place for them to find the truth, the sacred, and principles that give purpose to life. We can then empower them to make a difference and provide opportunities to serve the Fellowship and Community. Yes it is cyclical and it can be more powerful than nuclear energy!and sometimes just as controversial!

You see, if we fuel this source of righteous (forgive me) energy, then we have to give members the opportunity to express themselves!and that is what is happening in our congregation. Every Sunday we now insert a sheet of announcements in the Order of Service. Announcements used to be oral. As the weekly announcements became voluminous (and perhaps a few “announcers’ were too loquacious!) we initiated the insert. It quickly went to both sides of the sheet, and now we need to reduce font size to get everything in. And it is not just that people are active. Yes committees are meeting and yes they are welcoming new volunteers, for that we can be thankful. Please take a closer look. Some of those welcomed, nurtured, and empowered individuals are taking some risks. They are stepping into new territory, new areas that they feel compelled to address within our Fellowship. For Example:

∞ On Sunday, Dec 3rd (10:15 am) a group will gather to consider a Hurricane Katrina Relief group traveling to Louisiana from our Fellowship!

∞ On Saturday, Dec 9th (7:30 pm) come and see a heralded film, “Paradise Now” and explore the alternatives to violence in the Mideast with a former Fulbright scholar.

∞ Also on Saturday, Dec 9th (2:30 pm) attend a Family Group Social at an Ossining kid friendly restaurant. This is an opportunity for young families to enjoy and help each other. UU’s helping–and enjoying–UU’s. (Contact Christine Clayton at moandcd@optonline.net)

∞ Dealing with Teen Culture. Many of us agree that we need to focus on the concerning behaviors of many teens in our community. (Think drinking, driving and more!) We may ask Reverend Jim to do a sermon, as part of a broader effort to understand our teens, and help get them more safely to adulthood. If you are interested in a support network or a task force, please contact Marjorie Redleaf at mredleafcsw@aol.com.

These “announcements” are a symptom of members taking risks, members challenging the limits or presumptions of the role of our Fellowship in serving the needs of our members, our Community, and our potential members.

We are involved in a TRANSFORMATION. Yes we continue to have many maintenance functions to address so that the building is clean, the heat is on (!), and the coffee is ready after services (thank you Daniel Schwartz) and many more. We continue to define and redefine ourselves. Imagine a religion that is open and searching.

What is this TRANSFORMATION, you ask? Rev. Virginia Safford expressed the challenge to her congregation, who asked if they can, “!rise to the occasion of hearing one another, beholding one another!to listen to the beating of hearts.” We can do this on Sunday mornings, we can do this in Community Circles, and we can do this as we seek to serve the heartfelt needs of our members.

While Rev. Jim Covington, the Program Committee, and the RE Committee can and do assure a special experience on Sunday mornings, you are encouraged to participate in the very busy seven-day week of this Fellowship as we welcome, nurture, enable and serve. There is room for you in this transformation.

The light is on, the door is open, please come in, we have much warmth to share.

Eddy Fried

President of the Board of Trustees