Newsletter

These words from me (appearing in their usual spot in your newsletter after a short absence) mark my return from sabbatical. My time on sabbatical was extremely valuable, more so than I had anticipated. With the editorial expertise of Marilyn Keller I was able to submit a book of plays to Beacon Press for possible publication. The work of rewriting and revising was time consuming yet rewarding. I enjoyed revising the texts our young people performed so admirable over the past five years. Also, I've completed the work for two classes toward my doctorate of ministry at Meadville Lombard and accumulated a great deal of material for my thesis. The research I did in Scotland was eye opening and has dramatically shaped my theological thinking, more about that to appear on Sunday mornings to come.

While discovering many changes in myself during this six month time period, I'm beginning to discover the changes that have occurred with the Fellowship during my absence. Some of those changes have been very positive, a renewed sense of vigor and ownership among the members of the Sunday program committee, excitement and ideas with the membership committee and a settling in to the wonderful new spaces in our building. There have also been some difficulties during my absence that we will need to work through together.

One is the need for our Director of Religious Education to take a leave of absence. Deb is dealing with issues of major depression and will need the time to heal. During this time we will want to be the supportive community that I know the Fellowship is, offering Deb a place to be nurtured as she has offered herself in nurturing our children. During Deb's leave we will maintain the high standards of our religious education program through a variety of options. The details will be forth coming as soon as we know them, since I am writing this before the board has had a chance to settle on an interim solution.

We also continue to face issues regarding the over whelming number of children and youth attending the 11 AM RE program compared to 9 AM. The numbers of students in various classes and the rooms available during the two meeting times mean that we need to seek an alternative to the current way we are scheduling our Sunday mornings.

This is not just an RE issue. During my seven years as your minister, the attendance of the 9 AM service has gradually decreased while the 11 AM has greatly increased. The result has often been a nearly empty room at 9 AM and the need for extra chairs at 11 (resulting in complaints by those who felt unwelcome because there were no seats or hymnals or orders of service). It seems people are less satisfied with the time of the earlier service. This is an issue we need to explore. Since people are voting with their feet, I want to listen to what they are saying and find a way to respond appropriately. During August I will host conversations with the members of several affected committees as well as our RE families and the entire congregation. During those conversations we'll seek ideas regarding how we can deal with this issue.

This is not the column I'd planned to write for my first newsletter back from sabbatical. Yet this is the nature of congregational life. As Unitarian Universalists we do not expect divine intervention to fix the issues that arise during our walk together. Instead, we need to address them ourselves. Only our hearts and hands will guide us through the journey of our lives. As we proceed on this walk together, my hope is that we will bring our best selves to these discussions, that we will listen at least as much as we speak and remember that here at the Fellowship we are all part of an important mission: to bring a more humane and compassionate view of religion into our lives and our community. This vision impels us to create a community to help us become the people we want to be, so that we can shape the world into the place where we want to live and pass on to future generations.

I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.

Brian

Each morning lately when I take Haven to her summer dance workshop, I feel as if I've walked into a UUFA satellite office in the middle of the ISU campus. Of the 26 dancers, 10 are connected to our fellowship. It seems UU kids are as thick as mosquitoes.

Indeed, children and older youth are an ever-growing and increasingly visible part of who we are and what we do at the fellowship, thanks in large part to committed staff members working with youth from the nursery through high school. As with any growth, this presents both opportunities and challenges.

The nursery has been transformed into a safe and engaging space that will welcome a new coordinator this fall. The Free Spirits children's choir has become an established presence and will transition to its second director this fall. Elementary-age kids will soon scramble over a play structure donated by a member. The youth brass ensemble has added a new dimension to Sunday morning music, and the high school group has expanded its programming to include a summer service experience. All this and much more have led to a greater sense of belonging for our children. In fact, my own kids chastise me when we miss a summer Sunday, even if we're out of state.

In the not-too-distant past, the few children who showed up on Sunday mornings either attended the service or were offered bare-bones child care. But since the DRE has designed creative summer programming and teens have stepped up to provide a consistent presence, summer attendance is running as high as 15 kids - more than you'd find in a typical RE class.

Our well-oiled RE Committee does an excellent job throughout the school year, but a full 40 percent of our Sundays — including summer and non-RE Sundays near holidays — fall outside that committee's purview. While the RE Committee is pitching in to provide adult backup during Super Summer Sundays, it is time for a more permanent solution.

What was once a task force to evaluate building safety and a coordinator to line up teens to provide care has morphed into a one-person committee that handles everything from ensuring summer Sunday staffing, supervision and snack supply; interviewing and training nursery coordinators and coordinating nursery assistants; training, scheduling and supervising teens who provide child care; and coordinating with other committees for special-event care.

A task force is being assembled to explore structural solutions and make recommendations to the board sometime this fall. Another group will be working on an update of our child-safety policy to take into account our new space.

So if you are energized by the thought of contributing some time to nursery, children's or youth issues, please speak up. And if someone asks you to help assemble a play structure, be an adult backup upstairs on a Sunday morning or develop elevator rules for those who can't reach the buttons, please consider doing so. The needs are real.

While the mosquito population will fade with the weather, the population of UU kids, with our support, will grow and thrive.

Brenda

Cool night air, fly-fishing, beautiful mountains all around, a spectacular Fourth of July fireworks!! The UUFA congregation helped to make this description of our Youth Mission Trip a reality. From July 3-11 Terry Alexander and I, the two adults, accompanied and worked side by side with eight high school teens. Instead of going to Leadville, we were based in Eagle-Vail and worked on the landscaping of a house in Eagle, about a 25 minute drive to the west.

We stayed in the Eagle River Presbyterian Church which was beautiful and located directly next to the Eagle River where Terry fly-fished, often accompanied by Colin Kraemer. The Habitat contacts furnished us with some freebies such as chair lift rides into the mountains near Beaver Creek Resort and a reduced pool pass. We also received tickets to the rodeo! The rest of our leisure time involved horseback riding, swimming at the hot springs, playing games, going to the Vail July 4th parade, watching movies and hanging out.

Our work for 5 1/2 days was hot and tiring. We shoveled and spread four dump truck loads of soil (at least that's what they call it there!) which was loaded with rocks and then more rocks. We shoveled, moved wheelbarrows of soil, raked soil, hefted rocks, laid rocks for drains and landscaping, dug roots, etc. It was dirty and dusty work, but no one ever complained and everyone worked hard.I'm sure the Habitat folks we're happy to have us do this work.

Overall, this was a great experience. We all got to know each other better and we had many opportunities to laugh and to share thoughts. Many thanks to all of you who helped us finance our way there and for your support for the youth program.

Coming of Age Program

August 25............our first meeting with mentors and mentees at 6:30 at the UUFA. The fee for the program, $120, can be paid before this meeting or at the meeting. Checks should be made payable to UUFA (with memo "COA Program")and can be mailed to the UUFA office. (attn. B. Sherman)

Religious Education/Youth Group News

The calendar for our youth group and RE activities has been set for the coming church year. In addition to exploring the subject of Music and Spirituality as our theme in RE, we have planned dates for overnights, social action projects, Wednesday night youth groups, retreats, and youth conferences. You've all heard me talk about the importance of volunteers to make sure these activities happen, and it's always better with this age group that parents not always be those volunteers. Please let me know if you can help with any of these activities.

In a change from the announcement in the July newsletter, the UUFA kids' summer camp will not be held in August and will take a hiatus while Brian and other fellowship members are in Transylvania visiting our partner church. We expect the camp to resume in summer 2005 and apologize to those families who had already made plans to attend this year.

Boston Trip Planning

Here we go again---planning another Boston trip! But this time it's for a lot of kids, maybe 30 or so. If that's true then we'll need about 4-5 adults to come with us as friends and chaperones. You can ask me, Brian, or Donald Lewis about our experiences as chaperones on previous trips if you are thinking of volunteering for this 5-7 days event next July. In the past we've been successful in our fundraising so no one has had to pay their way. It's a super fun trip and an absolutely great way to get to know the youth better and to learn more about our New England UU history.

We will start fundraising activities in the fall and hope that the entire congregation will support these activities as has been so evident in the past. We try to plan fundraisers that will enhance community building in the congregation, so please watch the newsletters for more information.

Thanks and see you in September,

Benette Sherman

Youth Coordinator

We are doing a few articles on "environmentally friendly" hobbies that some members have. Several of us in the Fellowship and some others from our community belong to a bicycle group called Prairie Cycles. We enjoy bicycling on rail trails around Iowa and other states. Bicycling is a great hobby for many reasons. First, it is great exercise for aerobic activity. You can go as fast as you want and get your heart rate in your target range. It is a great way to see nature. We can watch birds, observe wild life, enjoy flowers, delight in rivers or streams along the way. We also practice good safety in wearing our helmets at all times. We observe safety rules in riding in single file, obeying traffic signs, signaling turns, letting others know when we are passing, staying in our lane on busy trails, etc.

We travel at different speeds and levels of fitness as we bicycle, so nearly anyone can do this. We have those who go a little faster and those who ride a bit slower. Some ride just a few miles and others ride a few more. We have a great time together and enjoy nature at the same time. Please join us for a ride sometime.

We do weekends away from Iowa where we drive to a location, stay in a motel, and ride Saturday and Sunday. We also do some local rides in Ames and surrounding towns. We would love to have you join us. All ages and bicycling levels are welcome!!