From the minister

Be a Holiday Heretic...

The most significant holiday of the year for me is Solstice. This turning of the earth back toward the sun is filled with real and metaphorical meaning. Each year I marvel on the cold winter's night as I look up to the stars, watching the silent movement of the universe as I trace my last year's journey. Each year I gaze in wonder at the faces that surround the bonfire, reflecting the orange light in smiles or contemplative faces that form the community of that evening. Solstice is an irrefutable fact, surrounded by many fanciful stories. What the fact means and what the stories tell us are oftentimes the same thing, just different expressions. In both the facts and the stories I find the seeds of hope, possibility, and new life rising from the past. That is the nature of a holiday, a holy day that helps remind us of possibilities, that helps to tie us back to the life we live and the planet we live upon.

Winter time is often a time when we need this reflection of hope. The darkness of the days is too often mirrored by the darkness in people's psyches. We are filled with expectations: if we don't spend enough, the economy will collapse; if we don't buy the perfect gift, will our loved ones still love us? If our family isn't just like the one in the Rockwell painting, are we really a family? Expectations heaped upon expectations like mashed potatoes at the holiday table. Instead of finding ourselves rejuvenated, we often end up exhausted.

It's time to be a holiday heretic. I'm not saying we should 'bah humbug' the whole thing, instead be a heretic-one who chooses. How do you and your family of choice (those whom you'd like to surround yourself with to celebrate, commemorate, or note the holiday) want to note this time? I have to say that I think it is important to engage in such rituals of reflection, celebration, and connection. These rituals, as long as they are constructed and maintained to be meaningful, help us make real our ideals. These rituals are ways to enact the feelings in our hearts. Gift giving, done appropriately, can be a wonderful ritual. Decorating, sharing meals, singing-all activities that have the potential to rejuvenate-but only if they are infused with meaning. If, however, sending those Christmas cards and buying gifts become a chore, then quit. The world will not end, nor will the economy come crashing down (and if it does because we've based our holidays on consumerism, then maybe it should).

Creating your own rituals, such as the Fellowship's Solstice Eve celebration at the Barnes-Runquist farm, can provide a new insight into why this time has been sacred to many people for many years. Give up the Ghost of Christmas Past and revel with the Spirit of Christmas Present, for this spirit may soothe your soul.

I wish you a heretical holiday. Be it Hanukah, Christmas, Solstice, Kwanza, or another that I've missed entirely, choose your way of celebrating, even it if means staring at the sky in silence, for there, too, the awe and mystery is revealed.

See you on Sunday,

December 4

Faith in Practice

Rev. Brian Eslinger

This title could be read two ways, both equally appropriate. The first is as a statement: we put our faith into practice. The second is as a question: do we have faith in our practice? In other words, does our religious practice really have the potential to make a difference, in our lives and in the world around us?
All-Congregational Service
Special Music: Christopher Hopkins

December 11

Final Discussion: The Next Steps

Rev. Brian Eslinger and others

As we conclude this series, Rev. Brian Eslinger will offer closing thoughts and engage the congregation in a discussion of where we go from here.

 

December 18

Stories of the Season

Rev. Brian Eslinger and others

Winter is a time of celebration for many traditions. Join us as we share stories and songs to brighten the winter's cold.
Youth Prelude: Erol & Esin Unal
Special Music: Cynthia Marten & Barb Evenson
All-congregational Service

December 24, 5pm

Christmas Eve Play: "Good King Wenceslas"

Rev. Brian Eslinger and Youth

December 24, 9pm

Christmas Eve Music: Fellowship Voices

Sam Wormley & Rachel Tell

December 25 (single service at 10am)

A Child is Born, Alleluia!

Rev. Brian Eslinger

Each story of Christmas has a unique meaning, but they also tell us something about what it means to be born with purpose. Celebrate Christmas morning with an exploration of meaning and lots of singing.

From the Director of Youth and Children's Ministries

The D's of Appreciative Inquiry

In late October, I attended the LREDA (Liberal Religious Educators Association) conference in Philadelphia. I appreciate the Fellowship for providing me with the professional development funds to attend this and other conferences and workshops. Not only do I get to connect and trade ideas with other DREs, but I also gain valuable knowledge that I try to integrate into RE pursuits.

The Rev. Larry Peers, the keynote speaker, talked about the use of "appreciative inquiry" as a tool to evaluate the health of a congregation, manage change, and focus on relationships. According to Peers, we too often dwell on a problem-saturated story and then assign a few of us to do strategic planning.
The appreciative inquiry process asks us to discover when we were, or are, at our best, and what we are most passionate about. Then we dream with questions such as, "What is the world asking us to become?" and "What would this look like if we ___ ?" and uses metaphors and imagination. The dreaming leads to a design and vision grounded in our past. Finally, we live out our destiny affirming the capability of the congregation and enabling it to build hope and momentum around a deep purpose.

Appreciative inquiry involves, in a central way, the art and practice of asking questions (framed in positive ways) that strengthen our capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential. The emphasis in this process is on listening to each other's stories, which may reveal rich textures of feelings, attitudes, and surprises.

I'm excited about all this and see many possibilities for using the process: at Board retreats, developing stewardship campaigns, designing youth programs, doing social action, planning long-range strategies, and increasing membership.
I hope many of you will join us on Christmas Eve and see the children at their best as they participate in the play, Good King Wenceslas.

- Benette

Children’s (Preschool - 6th) Activities

Dec. 4, 11, 18, 23 - Holiday play rehearsals, 2-3:30 p.m.
Rehearsals continue in the Fellowship Hall for the Christmas Eve play, Good King Wenceslas. Dec. 23 will be the dress rehearsal.
Dec. 4 - Holiday Baking & Mitten Tree Party 12-2:30 p.m.
(see article below)
Dec. 4 - Winter Spiral Walk, 6-7 p.m.
Led by Delphine Douglass, this Spiral Walk is geared to children ages 3 to 6 and their parents. It will be held in the Fellowship Hall.
Dec. 18 - All-Congregational Service, 9 & 11 a.m.

High School Youth Group

Dec. 7 - Wednesday Night Youth Group, 7 p.m.
The regular Wednesday Night Youth Group will meet in the Youth Room. Note: no Wednesday Night meeting on Dec. 21 so that all can attend the Solstice Celebration.
Dec. 10 - Overnight, 7 p.m.
Play games and eat and hang out with other 10th and 11th graders!

Cookies & Hats & Mittens,
Oh My!

Who: Children in RE and parent/guardian (if they can stay; however, children kindergarten and younger need to have an adult with them)
When: December 4, after the 11a.m. service (from noon until about 2:30)
What: Hat and Mitten Drive Kick-Off and Cookie Baking Party

This will be our first social action project. We will bake cookies to deliver to a social service agency, decorate hats and mittens to advertise for the upcoming Hat & Mitten Drive, and play some games. Pizza will be ordered for lunch (a $3 donation is suggested, but it's not required), and then the games and service will begin!

RSVP to Beth Herbel-Eisenmann or Benette by Friday, Dec. 2. Sign-up sheets will also be available in the Fireside Room or the office.

From the Office Administrator

Electronic Communication

Computers...it's the best of times; it's the worst of times. Many of you know that I'm a graduate student in Computer Science at ISU. You'd think that I'd have every electronic gismo available. Nope, my "Palm Pilot" is my palm and an ink pen. I simply don't trust that computers won't die on me with all of the information that I need locked away in its silicon memory. I use an old-fashioned spiral notebook to keep notes. And, if I don't write it down in there, it does not stick in my memory!

Email is my preferred method of communication. I'm from a large family, and a mass email is a great way for keeping everyone up-to-date on my hi-jinks. That being said, email sometimes has its problems. One of those is that it can get lost.

Right now, it appears that I've been losing some of my email. We're currently trying to trace the origin of the problem, but if you've sent mail to uufa@uufames.org and didn't get a response, please resend. Unfortunately, if that email was about getting something in the December newsletter, it's too late.

However, the huge benefits of electronic communication outweigh many of the problems. For instance, those people who are getting the electronic newsletter will get this missive a full six days before the paper copies start arriving. With a busy Christmas season, those paper copies may take up to two weeks to show up in your mailbox. And it costs money. The last newsletter averaged $0.60 per copy for printing and postage costs. Multiply that by a couple of hundred people, and you've got money that could be used for a better purpose. So, brace yourself. Because our $150 bulk-mail permit is due at the beginning of January, we have to make the decision whether to go to an all-electronic newsletter. Of course, there will be exceptions since there are people without email. But we hope those will be few and far between.

Another advantage with electronic communication has to do with the handbooks. I spent most of the last month updating the membership database and devising a method to generate the handbook from it. The advantage to this is that now a new version of the handbook can come out in about an hour. Also, changes to membership, addresses, phone numbers, and emails can be quickly determined. In a college town, information changes rapidly; my office copy of the old handbook has multiple changes on almost every page. Now, once the new handbooks are out, I'll be able to send out an electronic update, and these directories should remain useful much longer.

Finally, if you need a way to hook someone on UUFA, have them check out our Web site, uufames.org. Fritz Keinert does a wonderful job of making an attractive and useful site.

- Becca

Solstice Celebration

Please join us for the Annual Solstice Celebration at the Barnes-Runquist farm on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at 6 p.m. Wear a warm coat for the bonfire and take a dish to share, along with table service for yourself and your family. Maps will be available at the Fellowship office. For more information, contact Linda Barnes.

Wellspring Wednesdays

Starting in February, we will have a Fellowship potluck every Wednesday night. You can bring a favorite dish-or something you pick up at the grocery store-and join us for dinner at 6 p.m. After dinner, we will have a number of intriguing offerings, varying from week to week. Of course, the evening events are optional.

There will be a men's group, a film series, modern UU poets, and who knows what else! There will be a schedule of events in the January newsletter. And if you have an idea for an event, let us know! This could be a one-time thing or a topic that will be explored two or three weeks in a row. This is a chance to investigate a topic you've always wondered about.

Adult Boston Heritage Trip

Always wanted to have the experience of traveling to Boston like our Coming of Age youth? Well now you can! We will probably skip the bus and sleeping on the floor, but keep the visits to historic Unitarian and Universalist sites and all the fun side trips. If you are interested please contact the office or the Rev. Brian Eslinger. We will begin with monthly discussions of UU history and theology. The first discussion will be in February.

Virtual Attendance

Did you hear about the great program you missed the Sunday you were out of town? It is possible to hear it all, including music, on one of the tapes available for checkout in the office. They're the pink cassettes located on the wall to the right of the mailboxes. Be sure to sign out on the clipboard on top of the filing cabinets. All we ask is that you return them as soon as you're finished.

These are popular items!

COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY

The Committee on Ministry and the Board of Directors invite you to participate in conversations on the ministry of the Fellowship. Committee and Board members will be contacting members during December and January in an attempt to meet with everyone to discuss their passions and what brings them to Fellowship. Please contact Bill Kannel, chair of the Committee on Ministry, if you do not hear from someone soon and wish to voice your opinions regarding our shared ministry.

- Bill Kannel

CONSCIENTIOUS KNITTERS

Conscientious Knitters! (and practitioners of other needle arts). Please joint the drop-in group on Sunday, Dec. 11, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Tower Room. Bring your own project and any leftover yarn you may have lying around - we'll explore the possibility of a joint project. Questions? Contact Mary.

- Mary Richards

SCIENCE VIDEO DISCUSSION CIRCLE

Fritz Franzen and Sam Wormley host a Science Video Discussion Fellowship Circle at the home of Fritz Franzen on the first and third Tuesdays of each month from 7 to 9 p.m. The Science Video Series is currently discussing the thirteen part COSMOS series (with updates) by Carl Sagan. On Dec. 6, it's Part IV - "Heaven and Hell." The topic for Dec. 20 is COSMOS Part V - "Blues for the Red Planet."

- Sam Wormley

HAZELNUTS

A big thanks to the Hazelnuts and the morning meditation group who worked to beautify our Fellowship grounds this year. Peggy Earnshaw, Fritz and Susan Franzen, Bob Haug, Stan Henning, Erv Klaas, Ken Lane, Cheryl Lawson, Joan and Don Mathews, and Kay Puttock and spent hours clipping, digging, pruning, and preparing for spring planting. The Fellowship is very fortunate to have a landscape architect, Ken Lane, willing to donate his time and considerable talent to drawing up a plan of the UUFA. Look for the plan to be displayed in the Fireside Room and posted on our Web site sometime early in the spring. A lovely little red maple tree was planted this fall in honor of Sue Haug. It is the first of many trees, shrubs, and flowers that will adorn our property. I hope you will join the Hazelnuts in celebrating the new growing season in the spring by contributing to this project.

- Cheryl Lawson

NUTS & BOLTS

The Sunday morning tasks called "Nuts & Bolts" have been going more smoothly this year because of the dedication of several people who have agreed to take a task once a month on a rotating basis. We have all slots filled on the first, second, and third Sundays. We need someone for chair setup and coffee cleanup for the fourth and fifth Sundays. People do occasionally sign up, but a rotation is much easier to organize. If you're willing to help, please call!

- Susan Franzen

PARTNER CHURCH

Thank you for your contributions! Both the Friendship Book and your financial contributions for our Partner Church in Tordátfalva will be in the mail soon. During December, you will have another opportunity to give a gift to our friends in Tordátfalva. Look for the Christmas tree in the Fireside Room with envelopes on it. Each envelope will suggest a dollar amount for a specific item for our Partner Church or for Lajos Lõrinczi, the minister. Examples of things you can give are professional books for Lajos, assistance to parents for children's school expenses, help with funeral costs, etc. You choose the envelope with the dollar amount you want to contribute. Insert cash or a check into the envelope along with the donation card. It can be put in the collection basket or delivered to the office. Even when we think we are strapped for cash, we are blessed with much abundance. Let's share it this holiday season with our Partners in Tordátfalva.

- Joan Mathews

POTLUCKS

Potlucks will not meet during December. They will start up again the second weekend in January, on 1/13, 1/14, and 1/15.

- Bobbie Warman

UUFA WOMEN'S BOOK GROUP

The UUFA Women's Book Group will meet Monday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. in the Tower Room of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames. We will be discussing Master Builder's Singing Club by Louise Erdrich. All our selections are in paperback and available in local bookstores. Please come join us; we always welcome new members. The Book Group always meets the first Monday of the month. Our calendar for the year includes Hoot and/or Flush by Carl Hiassen (Jan. 2), From Here You Can't See Paris by Michael S. Sanders (Feb. 6), Angry Housewives Eating Bon-bons by Lorna Landvik (March 6), Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (April 3), Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers (May 1), and Mermaid's Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (June 5).

- Barbi Greenlaw

UUFA WOMEN'S WRITING GROUP

The UU Women's Writing Group meets the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Tower Room at the UUFA. Aspiring writers are welcome to come and share their writings. We will be writing some short pieces at the meeting, as well as gently critiquing pieces submitted ahead of time by email.

- Barbi Greenlaw

UUFA (FORMERLY WOMEN'S) DAYTIME CIRCLE

Circles are a great opportunity for women anyone who has a little daytime room in their lives for small-group fellowship. The members, now both female and male, of this daytime circle (currently meeting every other Monday afternoon from 1:30 to 3 p.m.) invite you to join us. Circles are a great way to make new friends and develop connections in the Fellowship. All ages and interests (and genders) are welcome.

- Susan Franzen

Tired of shopping for the "perfect gift" for your friends and loved ones? Find perfect gifts this year by shopping the Alternative Gift Market (AGM). This year there are two ways to shop at the AGM. On Saturday, Dec. 3, the AGM will be at the North Grand Mall. We will sponsor musical entertainment at the courtyard near Penney's from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. While listening to the entertainment, you can purchase Alternative Gifts and receive gift cards.

Alternative Gifts will also be available at the Fellowship between services and after the last service on Sunday Nov. 20, Nov. 27, Dec. 5, and Dec. 12. Choose from more than 30 local and global charities to honor your friends and relatives for the holidays, weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays. Purchase mango seeds for food and soil stabilization in Haiti, anti-poaching patrols to protect mountain gorillas in Rwanda, oxen for a Bolivian family, or a fruit and vegetable voucher for a Beyond Welfare participant in Ames. Special Alternative Gifts will be available for children to buy for friends and relatives.

If you have questions, contact Bonnie Bowen.

Don't Miss Peter Mayer on January 27!

Currently, singer/song-writer Peter Mayer plans to perform at our Mooncookie Café on Friday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. Tickets will be $8 for adults and $5 for children. You will be able to purchase his new CD, Mid Winter.

(Note from Becca: In my opinion, Peter is the best folk singer in the Midwest. My very first visit to the Fellowship was to see his concert. Come! You won't regret it!)

On Oct. 16, we welcomed eight new members to UUFA:

• Mary Brooks
• Mindy Buyck
• Julie Freed
• Carolyn Heising
• Matt and Anne Keller
• Jean Marie Marsden
• Tom McGiverin joins his wife, Jo Ann Masterson, in becoming a member of the Fellowship.

Webmaster's Note: The printed newsletter contains more information about our new members. This information is not posted on the web.

ART SALE: Sunday, Dec. 4, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Fireside Room and Main Lobby Glass, Ceramics, Scarves, Jewelry, Drawings, Cards, Paintings, Music $25 participation fee goes to the Fellowship COMING in JANUARY: Ashley Kyber and Students

Three Good Reasons Why UUFA Should Participate in AMOS
(A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy)

We UUs pride ourselves on our social-justice activism. But many of us work alone, and that can feel isolating and even futile at times. One UUFA member described her individual efforts as "holding a finger in the dike." But we can think of AMOS as a pump potentially large and powerful enough to lower that water level.

Here's what UUFA's participation in AMOS will do for us:

1. Trickle up: Working on some facet of social action in our community, you may be working alone, which can be overwhelming or at least discouraging. At such times, you may yearn for a mechanism to tap into the power of our UUFA community. But imagine having your particular passion taken up by a powerful organization of many faith communities, all working together. Help is on the way.
2. Widen our pool: The good news of Unitarian Universalism deserves to be shared beyond our church doors. What better way to raise the profile of our liberal religion, with all it has to offer to a diverse array of seekers, than by working face-to-face with likeminded souls from other denominations?
3. Casting bread upon the waters: While the charitable giving we currently do is critical, investing as a congregation in AMOS's organizing structure would provide a multiplier effect for our generosity. Even a modest contribution of time and treasure to AMOS would fuel social change to create a more just world by addressing social inequality at the systemic level. Lower the water level instead of just plugging the leaks.

Want to know more about AMOS? Look at the bulletin board in Fireside Room. There will be a meeting of AMOS Wannabes between services on Dec. 11 in the Fellowship Hall.

- Liz Weber

From the president

The Coming Conversations
On Ministry

Not a sales pitch, just a conversation

Members of the board and the Committee on Ministry will be contacting as many of the congregation's members and friends as possible between now and the end of January to arrange one-on-one conversations.
There's no sales pitch or committee opportunity to consider, and these conversations are entirely distinct from annual stewardship efforts. They are simply conversations. We hope they encompass all aspects of the life of our Fellowship, everything from Sunday morning programs to RE to how we express care and work toward spiritual growth together.

We will apply collective, anonymous results to definite purposes, though. As you've heard, we embark this year on an effort to assess our collective understanding of our minister's role. Last year, we scrutinized needs and challenges related to job descriptions for professional RE staff and for office staff.
Exploring the ministerial fit is the culmination of this process. And while the name of our minister, Brian Eslinger, will undoubtedly arise, we are not seeking a large-group performance evaluation of him. Instead, these are discussions about the definition of the minister's job itself, how its scope works for all of us at this time and place, and ideas for how it might continue to grow and evolve.

A second, equally important outcome is an invigorating focus on our web of internal relationships. As we grow and reconstitute ourselves - in numbers and in rich breadth and depth - it sometimes takes a little more work to break into or out of established circles and get to know each other.

These 30- to 60-minute conversations can only strengthen our bonds as we listen to each other, articulate our hopes and aspirations, and consider how we collectively and individually find meaning in this space at this time. Please let Bill Kannel, Committee on Ministry chair, know if you haven't been contacted within the next few weeks.

- Brenda

Next Board Meetings:
7pm Wednesday, December 14
7pm Wednesday, January 11