Turner Ensemble performing at the 9 a.m. service.

As the UUA’s Transitions Office puts it: 

No choice is more important to the future of a Unitarian Universalist congregation than its call of a minister.  A thorough, uncorrupted, and mutually respectful search process is the essential first step in the hoped-for partnership of lay and ordained leaders.  For both minister and congregation, the process is strenuous, exciting, and informative.  It can also be frustrating and discouraging.  But generations of lay leaders and ministers testify that such a process, followed well, richly repays the time and effort it requires. 

UUA Settlement Handbook                                                                                       Having hired Orlanda Brugnola as Interim Minister and arranging to have the Beyond Categorical Thinking workshop at the Fellowship on January 22, our transition towards calling a new minister in 2013 already is underway.  But as described in our January Newsletter, the next and crucial step in the process is selecting a Ministerial Search Committee.  The following job description link outlines the expectations and qualifications for members of the Search Committee: Ministerial Search Committee Description.  Anyone interested also needs to be familiar with the description of the search process found in the  UUA Settlement Handbook and in the UUA Resource Guide for Ministerial Search Committees

The Board of Trustees has formed a task force to oversee the process of selecting the members of the Search Committee.  The task force members - Gerry Peet, Teri Lukin, Janet Englund, Daria Gregg, Pete Connolly and Rob Malionek - discussed this process in depth at the Mid-Year Meeting on January 8, and will make themselves available for questions and to help get the word out about the process.

Generally, the process for selecting the members of the Search Committee will be as follows: 

1.      Interested members of the Fellowship should review the job description and the materials referenced above, and make sure they understand the commitment required to serve on the Search Committee. 

2.      The task force will accept applications until February 5, 2012 from members who wish to become candidates for the Search Committee.  Click on Application. Please include a picture of yourself with your application.  You can submit your application by leaving it in Rob Malionek’s mailbox or e-mailing it to robert.malionek@lw.com. 

3.      The task force will review the applications to ensure that they are in order, and speak with potential candidates. 

4.      The names of all candidates will be published to the Fellowship, and the candidates’ applications will be made available.  Members of the congregation will be encouraged to get to know any candidates with whom they are not familiar. 

5.      In late February/early March 2012, the task force will hold an election open to all members of the Fellowship.  The seven candidates with the most votes will be elected to serve on the Search Committee.  (Caveat: This number may change, depending on the number of candidates.) 

We hope that the entire Fellowship will take an active interest in the election of the Search Committee.  As the Settlement Handbook explains, the Search Committee members will invest hundreds of hours in their task, working together as a group on behalf of the entire Fellowship, “so they can make the best choice not for themselves as individuals but for all.  No wonder search committee members often become lifelong friends!”

Robert J. Malionek

The Fundraising Committee (and some friends!) is busily working on planning for a Coffee House which will be 2012’s big fundraising event for the Fellowship.  Be sure to SAVE THE DATE!

General information:  The event will start at 7:30 p.m. with coffee house style entertainment, followed by a reception with refreshments.  During the reception, we will hold drawings for a variety of raffle items, and we will also have a live auction.  Tickets for the event will be available starting in early February - please look for more information in the coming weeks.  Raffle tickets will also be available in advance of the event.

Raffle and Live Auction:  Please contact Bethany Swanson (bethanyq@yahoo.com/914-293-7858) to donate items and services for the Live Auction and Raffle to be held after the Coffee House.  While this is a smaller scale event than our biennial auction, with fewer items, we expect to have an exciting variety of items to appeal to all tastes!

Successful live auction items from previous years include: weekend getaways, sporting event or theater tickets, and personal services (some ideas: offer to make h’or d’oeuvres for a cocktail party at a mutually agreed date, provide transportation to a local airport, or give lessons or be a personal trainer!).  Other ideas are always welcome! Raffle items in the past have included handmade items and artwork or themed baskets (Italian gourmet items, a pre-made picnic basket, or breakfast goodies, for example).  You might even donate together with another member of the congregation.  Bethany would be happy to discuss any ideas you may have.  Donations will be needed by Sunday, February 19.

Our Coffee House will be brewing!  Get ready for an evening of music, poetry and great fun, including favorites from the past as well as a few surprises. 

Sienna Project presentation:
During the month of January,SAC will “split the plate” with the Sienna Project,an organization originally suggested by Ginny Stillman. The Sienna Project envisions building schools in the small indigenous mountain villages of the Highlands of Guatemala, where there may not be enough classrooms or no classrooms at all. The national government pays teacher salaries, but does not provide funds for school buildings. In many indigenous villages children may never go to school.

This project is intended as a living memorial to Sienna Lavanhar, the daughter of the Reverend Marlin and Anitra Lavanhar who died suddenly and unexpectedly three days after her third birthday. The project was initiated by her grandfather, Marlin Lavanhar and uncle,Derek Lavanhar, who have established non profit organizations (NGOs)in both the US and Guatemala to make it happen.

Marlin Lavanhar and his wife Caroline, are seeking volunteers to help build schools in Guatemala through the Sienna Project which UUFBCO has been supporting for several years now through 2nd collections. This year, the trip is scheduled for February 25 through March 3. Marlin will be speaking at the January 15 Sunday Service and will be presenting a slide show from past Sienna Project projects, providing informational brochures and telling you about this year’s trip. Ginny Stillman and Jane Hackenburg have both volunteered in years past and can talk more with anyone who is interested.

Read more about this project at http://www.siennaproject.com

Fellowship Choir at 9 a.m., with Keith Harris performing at 11 a.m.

Mid-Year Business Meeting at 12:30 p.m.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dear Members and Friends, 

Happy New Year!

I’ve been reading a lot about transitions lately. Much of the literature centers on our own Fellowship transition to calling a new minister. The other “transition” is personal and centers on my move from a happy and fulfilling 44-year professional career into a happy  and hopefully long retirement this coming year.  The issues are the same in both cases. There are endings, confusion, concern over what’s next and time in a “neutral zone,”  a termed coined by author William Bridges that represents the all-important space where we empty ourselves in order to learn how we want to fill ourselves once again.  The “neutral zone” is the place where we can safely explore new things and new ways of thinking and experiencing our lives and our spirituality. 2012 is full of the promise of new things. We have many opportunities and events to help us learn about who we are and how we want to see our Fellowship in the future. 

Midyear Business Meeting-Sunday, January 8 at 12:30 p.m.

Over the past few years, the Board has held a midyear business meeting to let you know about how things are going at the Fellowship. This year’s meeting is very important because we will be discussing, in detail, the ministerial search process which commences this winter. We will discuss the Ministerial Search Committee-the selection of its members, the significant responsibilities and the commitment of time and energy required of committee members and the steps and timing for the search process itself. We will also discuss our budget and the financial commitments we will need to make this year to meet all of our goals.  A meeting notice and agenda will be distributed prior to the meeting. 

Beyond Categorical Thinking (BCT)-Sunday, January 22-single service at 11:00 p.m. followed by lunch and workshop from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

You have probably heard me talking about BCT at the Sunday services. Jacqui Williams and Donna Dolham from the UUA Transitions office will facilitate this workshop to promote inclusive thinking and help prevent unfair discrimination in the search process for our new minister. Signup sheets are available at the coffee hour. Make sure to take a ticket and mark your calendar. 

Congregational Retreat-Community Unitarian Church of White Plains-Friday, March 23 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This is our opportunity to build community to determine what we, together, see as our vision for the Fellowship and our mission as UUs. The identification and articulation of our vision and mission will help us to call a Minister whose skills and characteristics are as representative of the congregation and our goals as possible. There will be lots to do and you can expect to work hard. But the rewards will be great because you will be creating the structure for the future of your spiritual home. More details will be available in upcoming emails and newsletters. 

Your presence is needed to make this process and these events meaningful and successful for all of us. I urge you to please attend all of these events.

Babysitting will be available for all events.

Stewardship Campaign-Month of April

In an earlier newsletter, I announced that our Stewardship Campaign would take place in February with Sharon and Greg Kullberg as chairs. The Board met with Sharon and Greg  at our last meeting and decided together that, in light of all that we want to accomplish this winter and early spring, it would be better to hold the Stewardship Campaign in April.   This way we will have a better idea of our goals and what we will need, financially, to attain them.

Lots to do and lots to learn. It is a very exciting time for all of us. The Board and I are delighted to be partnering with you on this journey and encourage your suggestions and questions.

In joy,

Nenette Kress

First and foremost, all blessings for you in this New Year! May your joys be great and your burdens light. May you find its challenges exciting and renewing. May you experience ever more love in your heart and compassion in your work. 

Back in October, I mentioned the five tasks that are part of transition for congregations. Here they are again:

First, the congregation must claim and honor its past.

Second, the congregation must illuminate its unique identity.

Third, the congregation must clarify the multiple dimensions of leadership.

Fourth, the congregation must renew its connections with available resources.

And fifth, the congregation must renew its vision. 

The tasks are not necessarily in order, nor are they a punch list of sorts. These tasks are completed at different paces. Now one task seems to pick up momentum, then slows and another races forward, etc. They are simultaneous not sequential but each has its own rhythm and that is not necessarily predictable. Sometimes a task may seem stalled, but only until one of the others moves forward. 

This explains why I can not give you a map of the process with discrete moments. What we can do and will do, is evaluate where we are several times during the interim ministry. The first such evaluation is due on February 15, 2012, the second September 30 and the final one on June 15, 2013. The Board and I will do separate evaluations which we will share before they are submitted to the Transitions Office at the Unitarian Universalist Association. The mid-year  evaluations give us a chance to make needed course corrections during the interim process. This will be immensely useful when we have our congregational retreat in March 2012 and engage in a visioning process for UUFBCO’s future. 

From my observations so far, I can say that I think that while change is virtually always unsettling, things are going more smoothly than I expected. I am learning your strengths, testing boundaries in terms of what you really think you must hold on to of the past, and offering some challenges to spiritual growth.  Know that my heart is absolutely with you and your future. I admire your talents, your commitment and the passion you bring to what you do. 

Look for an announcement soon about adult religious education offerings. I will be doing a series ‘The Genius of the World’s Religions,” and also offer multiple one-hour spiritual journey workshops for 5-10 people. 

In the meantime, please be sure to sign up for the January 22 “Beyond Categorical Thinking.” 

Rev. Orlanda Brugnola

This project is intended as a living memorial to Sienna Lavanhar, the daughter of the Reverend Marlin and Anitra Lavanhar who died suddenly and unexpectedly three days after her third birthday. The project was initiated by her grandfather, Marlin Lavanhar and uncle, Derek Lavanhar, who have established non profit organizations (NGOs) in both the US and Guatemala to make it happen.

Marlin Lavanhar and his wife Caroline, are seeking volunteers to help build schools in Guatemala through the Sienna Project which UUFBCO has been supporting for several years now through 2nd collections. This year, the trip is scheduled for February 25 through March 3. Marlin will be speaking at the January 15 Sunday Service. where he will be presenting a slide show from past Sienna Project projects, providing informational brochures and telling you about this year’s trip. Ginny Stillman and Jane Hackenburg have both volunteered in years past and can talk more with anyone who is interested.

Read more about this project at http://www.siennaproject.com

The Split the Plate Program is one way the UUFBCO affirms and supports the Unitarian Universalist Principles which calls for us to outreach and generously serve our local, as well as our international communities.

Thank you, Bearni Croft and the Social Action Committee

Spirits in Harmony/Fellowship Choir: Breath of Heaven

No need for a crystal ball to know that the holidays are here already. Our Fellowship is poised for a wonderful holiday season of celebration, and we have some good news to start us off.

TRIANGLE PARCEL
After many years of thinking, talking, negotiating, (and re-thinking and being distracted by other issues and then talking and then waiting . . . and waiting while more urgent issues were addressed), your Board has concluded the process of purchasing the fabled “triangle parcel” which adjoins our property. The parcel is approximately ½ acre and is located directly behind our property; it borders the rear parking lot for Gaetano’s Grill at 2025 Albany Post Road and the ±12 acre undeveloped “Santucci” parcel at the intersection of Albany Post Road and Watch Hill Road. (You may recall that the Santucci parcel was the focus of a potential development proposal for an ice hockey facility/ recreation facility in 2006/ 07.) The purchase price for this ½ acre parcel was $15,000, or less than $0.70 a square foot. Needless to say, the Board’s discussions with real estate experts confirmed that this was an extremely favorable price.

Over the years various Boards have looked, inquired and considered the merits of acquiring this parcel. Some long time members may recall that the triangle parcel was the focus of serious attention immediately after we purchased our parking lot (former County Road 657) from Westchester County in 2003. Since acquiring our parking lot, the prospect of adding the triangle parcel was discussed in the 2004 Strategic Planning Task Force Report and has generally been part of the long range planning discussion/ process for several years.

Why add acreage when we’re unsure of our future? Yes, there is some uncertainty about where, how and when we’ll grow- but there is no doubt that UUFBCO doesn’t exist in a vacuum. To grow, evolve or merely survive the future, we have to think strategically. Your Board was motivated in part by the opportunity of taking advantage of a “down” real estate market; we believe this additional acreage will enhance the value of our property.

Among the many reasons motivating this purchase are the following:

Investment. Our cash reserves are presently earning 1% APR. We have no mortgage and healthy reserves. The purchase price is less than a dollar a square foot (!) and is a one time expense; i.e., our property is tax exempt and aside from a negligible increase in our property insurance, there will be no continuing operational cost. The purchase was funded entirely from reserves. From a purely financial perspective, the opportunity to invest a small portion of our reserves that don’t otherwise earn that much sitting in the bank is sound.

Future Potential. This acquisition increases our total acreage and therefore, increases the potential resale value of our property. Development potential is calculated largely (but not exclusively) on “floor area ratio” (FAR), meaning the larger the property, the larger the structure that can be built. If we build or rebuild here, we can build a larger structure. Alternatively, a developer could also build a larger structure; remember: our property sits on a 4-way intersection and if (if) we ever decide to sell our property, its potential for commercial development is very real. We believe that this additional acreage will increase our options for growth if we stay here, and also improve the ultimate sale price if we do choose to sell and relocate.

Strategic Planning. The near development of the 12 acre Santucci parcel at 9A and Watch Hill Road is a sobering reminder that things around us change and will continue to change. The Hilltop Nursery across the street was a private residence a few years ago. With the acquisition of the triangle, we both protect our border and position ourselves as a potential player in the future development of this neighborhood.

Thank you to Rick Turner for negotiating this important deal and to Jeff Hass for helping with the business end of the process.

BEYOND CATEGORICAL THINKING
Our Beyond Categorical Thinking Workshop (BCT), a prerequisite for our Ministerial Search and our Congregational Retreat, will take place on Sunday, January 22. Workshop leaders Donna Dolham and Jacqui Williams, along with Reverend Orlanda, will conduct a single 11:00 a.m. service. We will then break for a congregational lunch, which will be followed at 1:00 p.m. by the BCT workshop. As noted in last month’s president’s letter, this workshop is to help us work through our feelings and reactions to ministerial candidates who may be bisexual, gay, lesbian or transgender, a person of color, or a person who may be physically challenged in some way.

ENJOYING THE HOLIDAYS TOGETHER
In a world that is quite fractured, we are very fortunate to have each other to share this warm, wonderful season. Reverend Orlanda will celebrate Hanukkah at the Fellowship on Sunday, December 4; bring your favorite holiday goodies to share during the coffee hour on Sunday, December 18 at the single 11:00 a.m. service; come caroling at the Christmas Eve service at 4:00 p.m. on December 24; and join Reverend Orlanda for the last day of Kwanzaa on January 1 at the single 11:00 a.m. service. There will be no service on Sunday, December 25.

I wish you a season of warm hands and full hearts, filled with children’s smiles and the love of good friends and family.

In joy,

Nenette Kress

We are going to be moving the special music around a little and the Words for All Ages will now follow the chalice lighting. The offering will follow Joys and the hymn that previously followed Joys, will now precede the sermon.

The final hymn in the service will be one that affirms or amplifies the theme of the sermon, as is the case in virtually every other Unitarian Universalist congregation.

And now, just a word about that beloved #123, “Spirit of Life.” As I have said in person, it was written by Carolyn McDade when she came home after a meeting for Central American solidarity and sat in her darkened living room and composed it as a prayer. When the last hymnbook commission wanted to include it, she was reluctant because, she said, “I thought of it as a living prayer, not a hymn.” In the last months I have been honoring her wish for a meditative version. Apparently, some prefer a more vigorous version and so for now, we’ll keep it as the closing hymn and stand for it, but I will still ask that we sit for the postlude in silence unless we have to leave early. We have certainly been enjoying Erika’s postludes!

And lastly, in December, the flaming chalice will become a real flaming chalice, not a candle whose light is barely visible. (Dave Morkal is on board!) And we will not extinguish it during the service. Virtually, no religious tradition extinguishes such symbols during the service unless they are excommunicating someone! That flame is symbolically always lit. Thus is being introduced in the month of December because we will have the winter solstice on December 22 and welcome the growing light of the new year.

Look for a worship workshop in January for all interested-date to be announced.

May the season bring you blessings and promise!

Rev. Orlanda Brugnola

You can feel the air crackling at the Fellowship. All committees are in full swing and the activity is focused and energized. Reverend Orlanda joined us at the first Leadership Council meeting on October 1 and has attended most, if not all, of this year’s committee meetings as well. We shared plans for the year, (make sure to read the committee news in each monthly newsletter), and finalized the calendar. The next day the Board held its retreat which was facilitated by Andrea Lerner, our district leader. It was, for me, the best retreat we have had since I joined the Board. We brought the discipline we used in the interim process last year, and with Andrea’s facilitation and Reverend Orlanda’s guidance, kept ourselves on track. What resulted is an understanding of the developmental tasks that need to be accomplished during the interim period and a timeline for the search process.

From Transition to the Search for Our New Called Minister

There are five developmental tasks that Reverend Orlanda will help the Fellowship accomplish this year as we move through the interim and discovery process. Each will help us understand who we are and what we value, and eventually determine the type of congregation we want to be in the future and the kind of spiritual guide we seek to lead us there. Through this process, including during our congregational retreat, we will: claim and honor our past; illuminate our unique identity; clarify multiple dimensions of leadership; renew connections with available resources; and renew our vision. In preparation for the March Congregational Retreat, a team from the UUA Transitions Office with Reverend Orlanda, will conduct a January Sunday service and seminar entitled Beyond Categorical Thinking. The goal of this service is to help us acknowledge and understand our feelings in calling a minister who may be bisexual, gay, lesbian or transgender, a person of color, or a person who may be physically challenged in some way.

Search Timeline

Over the next two years, a search committee will be identified and its members will move the congregation through the important and intense process of finding our new called minister. Many of you have asked about the timing for this process. The timeline is:

March/April 2012-Identify search committee; conduct congregational survey; conduct congregational retreat.

Fall 2012-Search Committee reviews candidates; exchange candidate packets; conducts phone interviews.

Winter 2013-Search Committee conducts pulpit visits with three to five pre-candidates of which one will likely be selected.

March 2013-Search Committee meets with selected candidate.

Late April/Early May 2013-Candidate Week, where the selected candidate will preach for two Sundays and meet over the week with the congregation in various venues.

Late April/Early May 2013-Immediately following the second Sunday service of Candidate Week, a congregational meeting will be held to vote on the candidate.

August 2013-Minister arrival/move in

In the coming weeks and months, you will hear more about the fulfillment of the developmental tasks and the search events from Reverend Orlanda, members of the UUA Transitions Office and the Board.

Stewardship Campaign

This year’s Stewardship Campaign, (formerly known as the pledge campaign), will be held during the month of February. Greg and Sharon Kullberg have graciously agreed to chair this important event to support the financial needs of the Fellowship. More information will be available in the coming months.

Important Dates

Arts and Crafts Fundraiser-Friday and Saturday, November 4and 5 with art displayed throughout the month of November. Volunteers needed.

Fall Cleanup-Saturday, November 12. Volunteers needed.
Beyond Categorical Thinking-January 2012. Watch for date.
Stewardship Campaign-February 2012.

So Much To Be Thankful For…
This has been an eventful year for our Fellowship. It has been filled with many joys as well as the heartache of illness and loss. Yet, each Sunday we come together to share with each other, learn from each other, and support each other, all in a spirit of warmth and love. It is these connections that help to make our Fellowship the spiritual home that it is for all of us. My thanks to all of you for your many contributions to our Fellowship, and for simply being you.

Happy Thanksgiving!
In joy,
Nenette Kress, President of the Board of Trustees

Welcoming Congregation
During coffee hour several weeks ago, Ken Counselman and I were standing next to the framed letter to the left side of the sanctuary door that cites our Fellowship as being a Welcoming Congregation. Ken said that it’s probable that many of us might not know what being part of a Welcoming Congregation means. It prompted me to learn more and share it with all of you.

The Welcoming Congregation Program is a completely volunteer program for Unitarian Universalist congregations that want to take intentional steps to become more welcoming and inclusive of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT). First launched in 1990, the Welcoming Congregation Program grew out of an understanding that widespread negative attitudes, deep prejudices, and profound ignorance about lesbian, gay, and bisexual people existed within Unitarian Universalism, which resulted in the exclusion of lesbian, gay and bisexual people from our congregations. Within the next decade, it became clear that transgender individuals also faced particular problems. This reality troubled many people who are committed to making UU congregations welcoming and inclusive places for all people, especially minority groups who have traditionally experienced exclusion, discrimination and misrepresentation within our society. Citing the principles of our UU faith-especially the affirmation of the inherentworth and dignity of every person, the 1989 General Assembly voted to initiate the Welcoming Congregation Program.
Today, 65% of U.S. Unitarian Universalist congregations and 92% of Canadian UU congregations are recognized as Welcoming Congregations, and UUFBCO is proud to be one of them. This Sunday, take a moment to look at the letter proclaiming our Welcoming Congregation participation. It is an important example of why we have chosen to be Uus.

Reminder
This month we will have two lay-led services, one on October 2 and one on October 30. This means that there is only a single 11:00 a.m. service. Also, this year’s fundraiser, a musical cabaret, will be held on Saturday, March 10. Mark your 2012 calendars so you don’t miss it.

October is a symphony of permanence and change.
Bonaro W. Overstreet

Take a moment to appreciate its beauty.
In joy,
Nenette Kress, President of the Board of Trustees

Welcome Reverend Orlanda
As you know, we are welcoming our interim minister, Reverend Orlanda Brugnola this month. To help Orlanda get to know us and to help her make her ministry as effective as possible, we have formed a Transition Team. The role of this team is to provide Orlanda with history and insight about our congregation and to act as organizational and facilitative willing hands as her ministry proceeds. The team, consisting of Bearnie Croft, Geoff Golson, Ken Swanson, Amalia Connolly, Sandy Lewis and Gary Simon, will be Orlanda’s “brain trust” as she guides us through our visioning and towards our search process next year.

Exciting Changes
If you stopped by the Fellowship over these past months, you have seen many changes. We have a beautiful new minister’s office, a bright, clean kitchen and a newly painted sanctuary thanks to Brian and Leigh Kahn and Sondra Treadwell and her grandson, Ben, who have done the lion’s share of the work. Thank you also for the helping hands of Greg Kullberg and sons–JJ and Mike, Daria Gregg, Lynda and Steven Karanikolas, Ken Swanson, Sandy Lewis, Bob Hudson, Sheri Brown, Don Parrish, Lourdes Valls-Weissman, Jim Terry, Dave Morkal, Peter Fromme and Ginny Stillman. The commitment of this team in the midst of heat, hail, thunder and lightning has been amazing. Special thanks to the Lynda Karanikolas and the Arts Committee for their help with selecting paint colors. And, thanks to the Trinity-Boscobel Methodist Church for lending us their scaffolding which was a big savings for us. We appreciate everyone’s energy and commitment. Thank you also to the presenters of our summer services. I attended a number of them and always came away intellectually stimulated and spiritually rejuvenated.

Sunday Services
Our regular services start on Sunday, September 11 when we will commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11 at both the 9:00 a.m. and the 11:00 a.m. services. We will hold our Water Communion on the next Sunday, September 18. We welcome everyone to bring special water from your summer vacation. Please remember to microwave your water before adding it to the communal vessel so that we may use this water for our new baby dedication ceremonies throughout the year. In addition, we will have our Welcome Back Potluck immediately following the service on September 18 and we look forward to all of your delicious contributions. Finally, all Worship Program Sundays will have only one service at 11:00 a.m. Please watch the bulletin for the dates. We will also make sure to indicate this time change on our web site, our phone message and our outdoor signage.

Mark Your Calendars
• Sunday, September 11-Ten Year Anniversary of 9/11
• Sunday, September 18-Water Communion Service/Welcome Back Potluck
• Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24-Congregational Retreat

Lot’s more to come. Welcome back.

In joy,

Nenette Kress, President of the Board of Trustees

One of the first things to change was the format and general appearance of the printed order of service and insert. First was the change to a vertical format which is easier to hold in the hand and allows the insert to fit in a pocket easily. A small color image related to the sermon appears at the top. When you have a new website, the same image will appear slightly larger with the announcement of the sermon. This means that a person finding UUFBCO on the web will experience continuity when they come for the service. The color of the insert is selected to pick up or harmonize with some color in the image.

Next came the paring down of words. Much that was in the old format is material that should go into a simple brochure usually titled “What to expect on Sunday morning” or the like. That’s where you will find explanations for each element of the service. I will be preparing that soon.

The words for the day moved to the inside of the order of service where they appear with something related to the environment. This gives the opportunity to give explanation or some other educational material that is richer than just a saying.

Next month, I will explain some things about elements within the service. And watch for an announcement of a workshop on worship (yet to be scheduled) for anyone who wishes to attend.

With every blessing in this season for you all,

Rev. Orlanda Brugnola

The Alban Institute offers many excellent resources for congregations. One of them notes that there are 5 developmental tasks that must be accomplished during the interim period if the minister you finally decide to call is to be effective. First, the congregation must claim and honor its past. Second, the congregation must illuminate its unique identity. Third, the congregation must clarify the multiple dimensions of leadership. Fourth, the congregation must renew its connections with available resources. And fifth, the congregation must renew its vision.

So what does that claiming and honoring the past entail? Several things. Part of the task is acknowledging not only the proud moments but also the disappointments at all levels. You already began this work before I got here. The second task has to do with identifying the congregation’s strengths, needs and challenges. You have enormous strength in your caring for each other. There is much talent and energy here. Your mission statement needs to articulate in a sentence or two what it is that makes UUFBCO’s presence in these communities important and necessary. Your visioning needs to be reviewed as often as every three years so that it is always a fresh engagement with life in these communities and the world. That review will help you tackle stewardship issues now and for the future.

The third task is about clarifying the flowing patterns of leadership that are a natural part of transition times. You will experience new and other ways of leadership-and those new and other ways will sometimes come from me but even more important and more hopefully, they will come from you. Leadership can be developed. Many of you have taken on leadership roles or tasks without much skills-building assistance and that is going to change.

The fourth task is using the many resources available to you from the UU Metro District and from the UUA as well. You have already started. Some of these opportunities will be eye-opening and deeply affirming. One of them is coming up at the beginning of November-November 5 to be exact. It’s a program entitled “Defying Gravity.” I’m going to go and I’d like as many of you to go as possible. When the District Annual Meeting comes around in the Spring, I’ll be encouraging you to join me there. And our Association’s General Assembly in June will be a special Assembly devoted to social action in Phoenix.

The fifth task is about new directions in ministry-not only professional ministry. Every one of you is engaged in some sort of ministry whether you realize it or not.. You are the life of this congregation and what you do matters enormously. Part of this year’s work together will be helping you to realize that ever more clearly. These are the areas for our time together this year.

And I want to say something about Lifespan Faith Development-that is our religious education program. Unitarian Universalism literally saves lives by offering a fresh perspective and a deeply inclusional philosophy. We owe it to our children to make ours the program they beg us to bring them to. And we owe our adults opportunities to encounter the world’s religions and to have deep conversations about important things in life. Some of you are already offering some of these adult programs and I will be offering some this year as well.

Let us, together, make this a great year!
With every blessings and hope,
Rev. Orlanda Brugnola
Interim Minister

It is an honor to be with you during this interim period in your congregation’s life. It has been a delight to meet and work with some of you already!

Please know that I look forward to you, your children, and your youth.

And I look forward to your stories, created from challenges and loves, heartbreaks and triumphs and much more. Glimpsing those is inspiring, to say the least!

Congregations also have their stories. Interim work is a special kind of ministry in a very short part of a congregation’s life. My job, in part, is to listen to the heartbeat of this congregation in the next year or two.

It is to strategize with you. It also might be to hold up a mirror from time to time, when things aren’t working as well as you might wish them to.

I already know that there is tremendous energy in this congregation, as well as deep commitment. Those are most precious keys to your future. Hopefully, I will help you begin to dream that future into being. And then you will call your next Minister who will travel there with you.

Let us, together, make this a great year!
With every blessings and hope,
Rev. Orlanda Brugnola
Interim Minister

Fall 2011 Chalice Lighters Call

A representative from the UU Congregation of Somerset Hills in Somerville, NJ will visit our fellowship this Sunday. We will be having a 2nd collection at both services that day to benefit this congregation in their pursuit toward being fully inclusive and accessible to all. In an effort to fully welcome members, friends, staff and visitors, the UU Congregation of Somerset Hills has begun a project to bring the building they purchased in 2010 into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Handicap accessibility by 2014 is crucial to their commitment to inclusivity. In fact, they have vowed not to dedicate their building until it is renovated to become accessible to all who seek to enter their doors.

Please be as generous as possible with your donations to this very deserving fellow congregation. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thank you, Anne Pearl, Chalice Lighters Coordinator

November Second Collection to Benefit FINCA.

SAC will sponsor a Second Collection during the month of November to benefit FINCA. FINCA provides financial services to the world’s lowest-income entrepreneurs so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living. They are an anti-poverty organization whose work is aimed at creating employment, raising family incomes, and reducing poverty worldwide.

They offer small loans and other products to those often turned down by traditional banks, believing that even the poor have a right to financial services. With these loans, families can invest in, and build, their own small businesses and their income-earning capacity. Worldwide, their clients postrepayment rates over 97 percent.

FINCA pioneered the “Village Banking method” of credit delivery, now used by hundreds of organizations worldwide. Their programs reach the poor in more diverse countries than any other microcredit provider. FINCA operates Village Banking programs in 21 countries of Africa, Eurasia, the Greater Middle East and Latin America, serving more than 800,000 people- 70% women.

They’re not a typical charity. They offer loans, not gifts, and promote financial independence, both among clients and in programs. Not a nonprofit, they operate using sound business principles and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Their work enables poor families to create their own solutions to poverty. Village Banking methodology promotes community and individual development, helping lift entire communities out of poverty. FINCA brochures and newsletters will be available during the month of November.

For more information, please go to the website <www.finca.org>.

There is only one service at 11:00 a.m.

Keith Harris, our Music Director, will be performing at the 9 a.m. service.

Our Fellowship Choir will be performing at the 11 a.m. service.

There will be a second collection to benefit the Food Bank of Westchester.

On October 23, SAC will sponsor a Second Collection to benefit the Food Bank for
Westchester. The mission of the Food Bank for Westchester is to lead, engage and educate
Westchester County in creating a hunger-free environment.  The Food Bank for Westchester was
incorporated in 1988 as a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization under the name
“Food-People Allied To Combat Hunger, Inc.” — Food PATCH — to respond to the
growing needs of hungry people locally. Their name changed in April 2007 to the
Food Bank for Westchester.  The Food Bank for Westchester is the backbone of the county’s emergency food distribution network.  They solicit, acquire, warehouse and distribute food to 227 frontline hunger-relief programs throughout the county that include food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and residential programs. They provide over 95% of all food distributed by these programs, helping to feed some or all of the estimated 200,000 Westchester children, seniors and their families who are hungry or at risk of hunger. They deliver 10 to 12 tons of food a day and more than seven million pounds of food each year.   To date they have distributed over 75 million pounds of food to hungry Westchester residents.  

For more information, please check out their website 
<www.foodbankforwestchester.org/>  
                         

The Truth about Hunger in Westchester

200,000 people in Westchester are hungry or at risk of hunger.  The hungry in Westchester include children, families, seniors, the working poor, the underemployed, the unemployed, the infirm, the disabled and the homeless.  Half need regular food assistance while the rest need food sporadically.  Many at-risk households have at least one adult working full time but earning barely enough to reliably keep food on the table.  Then an unexpected setback- a job loss, medical problem, car repair- forces them to seek food assistance. This could happen to anyone!

The Food Bank for Westchester fights hunger by collecting, warehousing and distributing food to member agencies who in turn give it to clients in their area as cooked meals or groceries to take home. 

On SAC Sunday, October 2, Katy Flint Coppinger, Senior Director of Development for Food Bank for Westchester, will speak to the fellowship about “leading the charge to end hunger” -hunger that effects our friends, neighbors and local community members.

Please bring non-perishable food items to the fellowship on Sunday-our youth will be collecting your donations!

Catherine Marsh, Bearni Croft and Bob Hudson will be coordinating Sunday’s service.

Welcome Back POTLUCK.

at the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services.

How do you define loyalty?  In your mind, does the word have a positive or negative connotation? 

Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice.

Woodrow T. Wilson, 1856-1924, Twenty-eighth President of the USA 

Is loyalty meaningless without self-sacrifice?

Unless you can find some sort of loyalty, you cannot find unity and peace in your active living.

Josiah Royce , 1855-1916, American Philosopher 

Do you agree?

Loyalty is something you give regardless of what you get back, and in giving loyalty, you’re getting more loyalty; and out of loyalty flow other great qualities.

Charles ”Tremendous” Jones, American Motivational Speaker, Author 

Can you be loyal without getting something back?

Always laugh heartily at the jokes your boss tells, it maybe a loyalty test.

Source Unknown 

Have you ever ‘pretended’ to be loyal? 

An intelligent and conscientious opposition is a part of loyalty to country.

Bainbridge Colby 

Have you ever, out of loyalty, been part of the opposition? (to your family, country, friends, UU Fellowship) 

Was loyalty valued in your family of origin?

 *Community Circles are small groups designed to provide an opportunity for friends and members of the Fellowship to develop deeper connections and wider service within the fellowship community.  Groups typically meet once a month to discuss a selected topic and in doing so share their life stories.  For additional information about Community Circles contact Linda Griffin at forestatn@aol.com.

Spirits in Harmony at 9 a.m., the Fellowship Choir at 11 a.m.

Second Collection to Benefit the Unitarian Universalist-United Nations-Sponsored by SAC 

On June 12, SAC will sponsor a Second Collection to benefit the Unitarian Universalist-United Nations Office. The UUA’s involvement in the United Nations can be traced to the early part of the 20th century. Both the Unitarians and the Universalists were active in the League of Nations Association and later closely monitored the creation of the United Nations. In 1946, the American Unitarian Association appointed Elvira Fradkin as an official delegate to the United Nations. In the 1950?s, the Universalist Church of America and the American Unitarian Association adopted resolutions in support of the United Nations. The founding of the UU-United Nations Office can be traced to April of 1962. US Ambassador to the United Nations and a Unitarian, Adlai Stevenson wrote to UUA President Dana McLean Greeley suggesting that each UU congregation nominate an envoy. That same year, working out of a makeshift space at Community Church in New York City, the first members began implementing Ambassador Stevenson’s recommendation. Elizabeth Swayzee, the first Executive Director, and Velva Sabin sent letters to UU congregations in the US and Canada. By 1965, the network had grown to over 300 envoys. Today, the UU United Nations Office represents 138 congregations and 1,855 members through 496 Local Envoys and 25 District Envoys. The UUFBCO’s current envoys are: Phyllis Tortora, Ginny Stillman, and Marianne Loffredo. They would welcome more!! For more information, please go to the website: <www.uu-uno.org>

There are still outstanding pledge amounts due for the 2010-2011 pledge year. We are making investments every year in the growth of our Fellowship, our new full-time interim minister being one of them. Each of us needs to honor our pledge commitments to enable us to fulfill on our vision and to meet our goals of a financially healthy congregation.

On May 21, we celebrated with Reverend Jim and his family at a grand event overlooking the Hudson. The sun came out and so did a show of the talent that makes our Fellowship so unique. Dave Morkal emceed and shared his memories of Jim over the years. Spirits in Harmony and the choir sang, and Jim played his famous ragtime music. An endowment was established in Reverend Jim’s name to carry on his legacy to the Fellowship. Contributions will continue to be accepted. Send them to Rita Ruotolo marked for the Reverend Jim Endowment Fund.

Over the past year, at each Sunday service, each holiday celebration and each amazing sermon, we have felt the tug on our hearts because we knew that every event marked another milestone to Reverend Jim’s last year with us. We have celebrated him joyously at his party and now must deal with the reality of his leaving. As you all know, June is Jim’s last month with us as our spiritual leader. He will always be in our hearts and thoughts as a dear friend and minister. There’s still time for hugs and stories and for us to help Jim and each other as we go through our parting.

Dates to remember: Annual Meeting, June 5; Picnic, June 12

In joy, Nenette Kress, President,

Board of Trustees

Spirits in Harmony at 9 a.m.

We will be honoring our seniors who are graduating high school in a brief Bridging Ceremony.

Fellowship Annual Business Meeting beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Please come and welcome Ron Schwager back to our Fellowship.

Budget meeting immediately following the 11 a.m. service.

Auction Appreciation
The first is a big “thank you” to Ginny Stillman and her fundraising committee of Bethany Davis, Betsy Turner, Janet Englund and Catherine Marsh. This very small committee, through its fundraising events, provides very big financial returns that enable the Fellowship to make needed capital improvements to our facility. To date this year, through a combination of the Auction, UU On-the-Road events, Art & Craft Show, B & B Hospitality and last fall’s folk concert, Fundraising has raised $20,000. A successful Auction means lots of goods and services to bid on along with entertainment, food, set up and clean up. Thanks as well to those who so generously committed their time to the event. It was a delight for the eye, ear and palate. And last but not least, thanks to every one (see below) who donated items to be auctioned. The memories and returns in enjoyment will last all year long.
Sheri Brown, Peter Callaway, Cornelia Cotton, Berni Croft & Bob Hudson, Dana Cole Salon, Pam Davis, dePrez Liquors, Marjorie Donahue, Janet Englund & Jennifer Gentry, Adele Fishman, Clare & Eddy Fried, Chris & Peter Fromme, Carolyn Fuller, Jeanette Gould, Daria Gregg, Linda Griffin, Carl Grimm, Jeff Hass & Marianne Loffredo, Doug Jacoby, Dick Joseph, Just in Thyme, Leigh & Brian Kahn, Marjie Kemper, Nenette Kress,Sharon & Greg Kullberg, Francoise LeGoues, Sonya & Sandy Lewis, Stephanie Madura, Jeanne Mahoney, Catherine Marsh, Kathy Williams & Dave Morkal, Chuck Morrissey, Brian & Kyla Oliver, Molly & Don Parrish, Anne Pearl, Susan Peters, Jana & Lang Phipps, Karen Quinn-Panzer, Jan Ruotolo, Rita Ruotolo, SharaNiko Photo, Sally & Gary Simon, Ginny Stillman & Jim Russell, Jackie Stoner, Bethany & Ken Swanson, Paul Tarricone, Elizabeth ter Porten, Phyllis Tortora, Betsy & Rick Turner, Patrick Varekamp, and Tillie Weinbaum.

Key Persons
The second is the wonderful response to the sale of our piano keys. As of Sunday’s service(I know more were purchased), we had sold 67 keys for a total of $6,700 and the keys are still for sale. A round of applause for our Key Persons listed below.

Purchase of One Piano Key Each:
Anonymous donator, Board of Trustees, Jean Brigleb, Sheri Brown, Peter Callaway,Matt & Christine Clayton, The Connolly Family, Amalia Connolly, Ken Counselman, Berni Croft & Bob Hudson, Iris & Roger Dayer, Marjorie Donahue, Jessica Franklin & Suleman Khawaja, Marge Grimm, Carl Grimm, Lorraine Keegan, Sara Kelsy, Sharon & Greg Kullberg, Francoise LeGoues, Herb & Bobbe Lipton,Teri Lukin & Chris Oliver,Catherine Marsh, Bettina Meyer & Al Morgillo, Maria & Chuck Morrissey, Dawn Norris, Anne Pearl, Jan Ruotolo, James Russell, Erika Schenker & Roberta Kosse, Sally & Gary Simon, Nenette Kress for Mille Stand, Bethany & Ken Swanson, Nancy Thomas & Judy Wells & Lydia Rivaud, Phyllis Tortora, Sondra Treadwell, Lourdes Valls-Weissman, Heather Hewitt & Matthew Weidner, Kathy Williams & Dave Morkal.

Purchase of Two Piano Keys Each:
Joel & Karla Cambron, Suzanne Hall & Jim Covington, Janet Englund & Jennifer Gentry, Clare & Eddy Fried, Jessica & Robert Malionek, Catherine Marsh-NY Community Trust Fund matching, Peter Stand & Susan Walker for Holly & Milly Stand.

Purchase of Four/Five Piano Keys Each:
Brian, Leigh, Hayleigh & Harrison Kahn (4), Nenette Kress (5), Anne & Elliot Sumers (5).

What is striking about these lists is the number of names that we see repeated event-after-event, year-after-year. I know how much creativity, innovation and energy resides in each of you. I urge you to commit yourself to an upcoming event. It would be my greatest pleasure to include your name in my next thank you note.

Dates to remember:
May 1-Coming of Age Ceremony (single 10 a.m. service)
May 15-RE Sunday
May 21-Reverend Jim’s Celebration
June 5-Annual Meeting (11 a.m.)
June 12-Annual Picnic

In joy, Nenette Kress,
President, Board of Trustees

Robinson Lilienthal, Ph.D. has been teaching philosophy, religious studies, and applied ethics for over 30 years, the past 20 of them—at Rutgers University. He received his BA from Reed College, Masters in Religious Studies from the Hartford Seminary Foundation, and Masters & Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Graduate faculty of the New School for Social Research. He has a long standing interest in the social sciences, especially in environmental ethics & policy, and in psychoanalysis. He is currently a public lecturer for a wide variety of multidisciplinary audiences.

Please come and welcome Robinson Lilienthal back to our Fellowship.

Second Collection to benefit The Loft.  Located in White Plains, New York, The Loft is a not-for-profit, community-based organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community of the lower Hudson valley. The Loft works to further the cause for inclusion, diversity and pride through education, advocacy and celebration. The LOFT was formed in 1983 when individuals from the Gay Men’s Alliance of the Hudson Valley and the Lesbian Task Force joined forces to create one organization. Today, because of the foresight of these brave pioneers, The LOFT continues to serve the LGBT community of The lower Hudson valley. The UUFBCO has supported The LOFT through a Second Collection since 1997.

For more information, please go to the website: http://www.loftgaycenter.org/index.html

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Rubin and learning more about the UUA Statement of Conscience.

Fellowship Choir: Be Still at 9 a.m.

There is a lot of news packed into this letter, and indeed, the entire newsletter. Please take few minutes to read it and to note the events listed in your calendar. We are anticipating a full and exciting spring.  

Religious Education 

Peggy Clarke is resigning as of Director Religious Education effective April 6. We greatly value all that Peggy helped us accomplish during her time with us. RE has a strong  structure and focus including a path for continuing education for our adults. The result of this great foundation is that Peggy’s successor steps into a strong and growing program that is valued by the parents, loved by the children and filled with great expectations for the        future. And, the future is already here… Jane Podell, the former RE Director at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie, will be joining us as our new RE Director in April. Jane brings 17 years of RE experience and a lot of great ideas and enthusiasm. We wish Peggy all the best in her new endeavors and welcome Jane to our family. 

Quiet Pledge 

We have $137,150 in pledges through March 15 and not all forms are in as yet. We’ve begun our budget process with the committees, all of whom have ideas and needs for 2011-2012. Your pledge commitment helps us plan how to make it all happen. A gentle reminder-if you’ve not sent in your form as yet, please do so as soon as possible. We are counting on your help to make next year a great year. 

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent” ~Victor Hugo 

I know I said thank you to Keith Harris, Erika Schenker, Daria Gregg and the Music Committee for all their efforts to bring us the piano. But, I hadn’t heard it played… and beautifully played it has been by Erika these last two Sundays. It is an amazing addition to our musical legacy. Thank you to all of you and to our “key persons” for making it happen. 

B & G-Whiz! 

We have spring at the Fellowship thanks to the collective energies of B & G. It was a tough one, but we lost not one member, friend, kid or car.

Celebrating Rev. Jim Covington

Earlier this year, I asked you to mark Saturday, May 21 in your calendars for our party to celebrate Rev. Jim. Here are the particulars for the celebration:

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Briarcliff, Croton and Ossining
invites you to a celebration honoring the Rev. Jim Covington
upon his retirement after serving 21 years as our Minister

Saturday, May 21, 2011
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The Cove
5 John Walsh Boulevard
Peekskill, New York 10566

Celebratory entertainment

Hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, Cash Bar

Advance tickets required at $20 per person
Tickets will be available after services from Sunday, April 24 to May 15
Children’s tickets at $20 per child
Babysitting will not be available

Jim has requested in lieu of gifts, that contributions be made to
the Rev. Covington Endowment Fund.
Contributions can be made at the event.

It promises to be a wonderful event. We look forward to seeing everyone.

More Dates to Remember

• April 2-Taking a Chance on Love Auction

• May 15-RE Sunday

• June 5-Annual Meeting

• June 12-Picnic

So many people in the world are going through such great difficulty. Our Fellowship encourages contemplation and sharing. I constantly am surprised and delighted each week by how renewed I feel after spending time with all of you. Thank you for giving me a place to find serenity.

In joy,

Nenette Kress, President
Board of Trustees

Please join us in welcoming Rev. Tony Hoeltzel to the Fellowship.