May 2011
Published by:
Member of The Unitarian Universalist Association www.pmuc.org
Welcome!
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The Minister's Musings, by Lee Richards
On May 1st the members of this church who attended the annual congregational meeting accepted my proposal to provide part-time ministry at Pullman Memorial, to begin on June 1st.
I want to say again that I am deeply honored at being able to work with you as your pastor. Honored, because I am so impressed by the level of passion and commitment of this church's members. As I heard the various committee reports describing the activities of the church year just ending, I was amazed at how hard you all worked to successfully "keep the home fires burning."
I have no doubts about the future of this church with its 100+ years of history. Most congregations, like a living being, experience a cyclical "biorhythm" – an organic wave of ebbs and flows. It is exciting for someone like me to come along at a moment when the wave toward growth and prosperity is starting to swell.
You are dreamers, doers, and achievers - and I congratulate you for that. Now, together, over the coming months (and years) we will see this church flourish. So again, my thanks for allowing me to be a part of the journey of this community of faith.
H. Lee Richards
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Date
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Minister
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Notes
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Coffee Hour
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May 8
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Rev. John Rex
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Mother’s Day
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Refrigerator (aka left overs)
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May 9
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Pot Luck 6:30 PM
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Please bring a dish to share.
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May 15
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Susan Daiss
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Time Share
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May 22
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Lee Richards
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May 29
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Lee Richards
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June 5
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Rev. Donald Reidell
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UPCOMING DATES AND EVENTS
Monday, May 9 – Potluck supper, 6:30 PM. Freeman Lattin, card tricks. Please bring a dish to pass.
An Invitation
Sunday, May 15th -- The Brockport Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, BUUF, will celebrate its Charter Sunday on Sunday, May 15th, at 10 a.m., at the
Sunday, May 15 – Time Share, and Susan Daiss’ 3rd installment of a sermon and talkback on our 4th and 5th principles.
Sunday May 22 – Lee Richards on "Privatization as a Religious Concern." In his last sermon, Lee mentioned the
Sunday May 29 – Lee Richards on "Fail!" Have you seen those funny videos on the internet called "fail?" Somebody attempts to do something and - worse than just failing to succeed - their failed attempt is caught on camera to give us all a good laugh. Lee will explore why people take risks in the first place, and how they might recover if they should fail.
Sunday, May 29 - Book discussion group meets directly after the service to discuss ‘The Big Short’ by Michael Lewis.
JOYS AND CONCERNS
Betty Knight - wanted to share that she is thinking of someone who heard some bad news recently and needs some support to move on.
Sara Phillips – attended an Elton John concert with 11,000 people, was great!
Louise Wu – was very excited that she saw one of her idols, Kathy Kelly, in
C.W. Lattin – had a chance to meet Kathy Hochul recently and said she was a pleasure to talk to and certainly looks like congressional material. Democrat Kathy Hochul will be running in a special election against Jane Corwin, Republican, to fill the seat of Congressman Chris Lee who stepped down following allegations of misconduct.
Alan Nugent – is back from
Sara Phillips – was watching the royal wedding of Catherine Middleton and Prince William and noticed that one of the songs played is one that is often played in our church. ‘Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer’ by Peter Willkims (1726-94)
Rich Della Costa – said his son was on his way to
Craig Smith – Announced that
Chris Loss – said son, Dustin, is graduating from the SUNY School of Environmental Science and Forestry in
PULLMAN PLAUDITS
C.W. Lattin – who has been there each Sunday to open the church, turn up the heat, make the coffee, and create floral arrangements. He has been our ambassador in the community; gives frequent tours, provides knowledge about church history, and is always advocating for and caring about this church!
Dick Hoffman – has spent a lot of time this past year working in the church in his spare time, making repairs and doing odd jobs, in addition to being a Board member and also spending many hours on his duties as Treasurer. Dick is also a tireless advocate for this church.
Craig Smith – this man knows how to fix everything, and he has lent his talents to doing a lot of repair work for us this past year. He has worked on our microphone, the outside wiring, the gutters, and so on. He has been truly amazing!
Alan Nugent – aka, Webmaster! Alan is also a very talented person, and we’ve seen his work each month with each edition of the newsletter. Chris Loss sends him information and he puts it together, edits, and comes out with a very professional product! He has also sent out mailings, and e-mail updates all year, and he’s actually in
Pat Bemont - is another very talented soul! She has done a lot of work for the church this past year! She worked on ideas for updating the website, repaired church cushions, made copies of programs for special services, purchased disposable coffee cups with lids, and created inserts for our hymnals with our Covenant in print.
Sara Phillips – has been the virtual ‘Rock’ of the Board. She has kept us on a timetable, sent out reminder notices, kept track of all vital information, sent out minutes, updated the directory, kept track of collections, sorted the mail, and so much more.
Diana Dudley – has been studying to learn the job of Treasurer all year, serves as one of our organists, came in to do odd jobs, made many reminder calls to members, attended some district meetings, agreed to serve on the Board, has brought in a large screen TV on a trial basis, donated other items, and has brought many good ideas to the Board, and basically has just worked very hard for this church!
Doris Brown – donated a coffee pot to the church and it works beautifully!
Andrea Rebeck – served her three-year term on the Board and worked very hard. She has gone all through the church to look at areas we need to address, and has agreed to write a grant for us. Many thanks, Andrea for your service to this Board and the church!!
Rich Della Costa – has been our organist/pianist, along with Diana Dudley, and has produced much beautiful music!
Chris Loss – has served as our Board Chairman this past year. She has tirelessly devoted innumerable hours to serving our church. Chris has held our congregation together through difficult times and has been instrumental in directing our future course. And all of this done while managing a challenging career and taking care of her mother. Thanks Chris!
Observations from the Road on 4/17/11
Combined to form a Spring Haiku
Ø Green grass has appeared! (Sara Phillips)
Ø Daffodils are blossoming (Gay Smith)
Ø Flocks of birds are everywhere (Susan Daiss)
Ø Nature is blooming (Dan Miller)
Reports from our Annual Meeting held May 1
Has it been a Year Already?
The Board made it a priority this year to find a minister, knowing it would be a difficult task. And I am so pleased to announce that, on the day of the meeting, by unanimous vote, H Lee Richards was elected to that position!! Lee will formally become our 1/3 time minister on June 1, 2011. After the vote, Lee expressed how honored he is that he was chosen and how eager he is to begin with us. We are very excited, for this is the culmination of a long journey. And, just to recap a bit, Lee has agreed to serve in the pulpit twice a month, and for special services, to provide more continuity of service and enhance our religious experience here at PMUC. Our other pulpit-fill ministers will still be with us to continue the diversity of religious experience that we also cherish. Lee plans to engage in more dialogue to further explore issues raised during his sermons and open up more dialogue about issues in general. He has proposed a movie night each month to further explore and discuss ideas. He will offer a regular column in our Newsletter, and will explore ways to get our message out in the community. He will offer pastoral care and be available for supportive dialogue with members. He will perform rites of passage, such as marriages or funerals, at no cost to members. Social justice up until now has been something that each of us has done pretty much on our own, but many members have expressed that they would like to be able to see our church more active and engage as a group. Lee has said he will be investigating issues of concern and work with small groups of us to have a social justice program that will result in the betterment of this community. Lee will also be working on expanding our ability to advertise our group by assisting us with updating our website. This is an exciting and dynamic proposal for our group, and we look forward to all of Lee’s ideas.
Many thanks to all of you who came out because you considered it important to be there, to be part of the democratic process that is integral to this church. Thanks for making a comment, or voting, or offering a report, or agreeing to serve. Your contributions are very much appreciated. It is certainly clear that our small church is blessed with a group of talented and committed people. Let us move forward and have another rewarding and fruitful year!
Sincerely,
Chris Loss
Board Chairman
Report of the Nominating Committee
The following were elected to a three-year term as Board members: Diana Dudley and Jim Knight.
Current Board members also include C.W. Lattin, Chris Loss, Dennis Seekins, and Dick Hoffman.
Sara Phillips was elected as Church Secretary for another year.
Dick Hoffman will continue to fulfill the duties as Treasurer for this year, and Diana Dudley will continue to shadow him to learn the position.
Alan Nugent and Eileen Della Costa were elected to serve on the Pulpit Committee for this year, and a third person will be appointed by the Board of Trustees.
Diana Dudley and Gay Smith were elected to serve on the Nominating Committee for this coming year, and one more will be appointed by the Board.
Many thanks to the Nominating Committee –Eileen Della Costa and Diana Dudley.
Report of the Pulpit/Music/Ministry Committee
Worked to fill the schedule with four alternating speakers: Rev. Donald J. Reidell, Rev. John Rex, Susan Daiss, and H. Lee Richards.
*All Annual services were held, with the exception of the Good Friday service which was incorporated into the Easter Sunday Service with Lee Richards.
*Special services this year included the following: Animal Service with Dr. Beth Allen, Gary Kent, former
*Our services were posted on the board outside the church, were advertised in the local papers, and were posted on the website at pmuc.org, as well as being advertised in our monthly Grapevine Newsletter.
*Diana Dudley and Rich Della Costa alternated each Sunday to provide organ and piano music.
*This committee did a great job of working together and filling all the necessary slots, and a special thanks to Lee Richards, who was always happy to fill in as needed.
Members on the committee: Alan Nugent , Chris Loss, Diana Dudley, Monica Beck, and Dan Miller.
Newsletter Report
In the past year, we have published ten editions of the Grapevine Newsletter, one more than the previous year. We are now mailing 17 copies via USPS, a reduction of 3 thanks to more members and friends using e-mail delivery. We have 76 people on the e-mail distribution list, a decrease of 2 from last year. We continue to urge everyone who can to use e-mail delivery.
Our goal is to publish each edition prior to the beginning of each month. Therefore, we request all articles and information be submitted on, or soon after the 25th of each month. Contributions from all members are welcome and encouraged.
Although still serviceable, our website www.pmuc.org is in need of updating. Our web host, Genesee Gateway, has increasingly poor support and we are investigating changing to a commercial, e.g. GoDaddy.com. Work continues on an updated site but has proven more difficult than was expected. Lee Richards has suggested alternatives and will assist in the future.
Members on the committee – Alan Nugent and Chris Loss.
*The church was rented out for three weddings in 2010.
*The Swan Library used the church for several community events which brought people into the church. The campaign committee for The Swan Library has also met in the church social room.
*The Orleans County Genealogical Society meets generally once a month in the social room. They also hosted a concert in the sanctuary in December.
*C.W. Lattin has conducted several tours of the church for various groups including four different classes at GCC.
*Eastman at Albion Court House Concert Series held a concert last May at PMUC.
*The church was used to host the Concerned Citizens of Orleans, a group trying to save the county nursing home from being sold and privatized by the Legislature.
*Craig Smith worked on the sound system, greatly improving it. He has also mounted a new light to brighten the large window at night. Thanks to him, the gutter by the east door was repaired after ice damage occurred.
*Dick Hoffman has restored several basement windows, totaling a great deal of volunteer time. Thanks to him with the donation of a new kitchen stove, the old one could be removed.
*A new electrical line was run to the kitchen by Richard Nenni, who we also pay to mow the lawn.
*Larie Vagg continues to remove trash cans each week to the curb. Community service people generally kept the ramp and sidewalk shoveled on Sundays.
*Last fall, Dennis Seekins fixed some minor leaks in the roof. The Board hired an Architectural firm from
*C.W. monitors the building and prepares it for use on Sundays and for groups coming in.
*Diana Dudley has cleaned an organized the Sunday School room.
*We now have the following new equipment: copier, coffee pot, popcorn machine, and flat screen TV (on loan).
Report was prepared by C.W. Lattin. Members of the committee: C.W. Lattin, Andrea Rebeck, Dennis Seekins, Dick Hoffman, and Craig Smith.
Collector’s Report
Just summarizing the report, 57% of pledges met their goals this year, 94.5% of pledged money was collected this year, and there was a 3.4% increase in total collections with less attendees. More money was actually collected this year than last!
Pledge statements need to be completed and returned to Sara Phillips. These pledges are included in next year’s budget, and any questions can be directed to her. Please note that church envelopes are available to any person attending church…you do not have to be a member! All you need to do is contact Sara and she will issue you the envelopes. And if you utilize the envelopes, you can request a tax statement in January. Using the envelopes is an easy way to track your contributions, especially if you pay with cash in addition to writing checks. Many thanks to Sara Phillips for keeping track of this information so well!
Highlights from the Secretary’s Report
-information obtained from the report submitted by Sara Phillips, Church Secretary
Ø The Board of Trustees met for 12 regularly scheduled monthly meetings from May 2010 to April 2011.
Ø Seven special meetings were also held.
Ø Board of Trustees focused on church goals, ministerial leadership options, upkeep/repairs of the church, and promoting Lee Richards as 1/3 time ministerial candidate to the congregation.
Ø Points of Interest:
o Board meetings were changed back to every 3rd Sunday of the month.
o Rev. Kelly W. Asprooth-Jackson resigned at the end of his first year.
o Board sent a letter of appreciated to Kelly in Sept. 2010.
o In August 2010, Karen LoBracco met with the Board to discuss Kelly’s exit interview.
o Susan Daiss expanded her responsibilities in the interim by providing pastoral care and Adult Ed programs.
o Board sent a letter of support to the Waterport Mosque after they experienced threats and harassment from local teens, and Board received a very nice letter in return.
o Members of the Brockport Fellowship, BUUF, were invited to our Annual Thanksgiving dinner, and about 10 people attended.
o The Board approved the Genealogical group to be allowed to hold their meetings at this church once a month. Their monthly donation to the church of $25 per month was approved to be donated to the Christ Church Soup Kitchen.
Ø Membership List
o Active membership list has been updated with the UUA.
o Membership list was submitted to the UUA 3/10.
Ø Advertising
o The church is advertised in the Batavia Daily News and the Medina Journal Register.
TIME SHARE
Each Sunday when Susan Daiss serves in the pulpit, she asks members to share their thoughts, an article, a poem, whatever. On April 17 we received these offerings:
Ø Gay Smith –talked a bit about the controversy with the book ‘Three Cups of Tea’by Greg Mortenson, which we recently read and said that 60 minutes will be including a story on it. Greg Mortenson has been accused of literacy inaccuracy. She also attended ‘Movies on a Shoestring’ all three days and had a great time.
Ø Chris Loss –read a brief chapter from Robert Fulghum’s book ‘Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten’ about a game that Robert organized with a group of kids at Sunday school. They each had to choose teams and decide whether they wished to be a giant, a wizard or a dwarf. Well, one little girl insisted that she was a mermaid and would not allow herself to be put in any other category. “Where do the Mermaids stand?” Well!! Where DO the Mermaids stand?? Answer that question and you can build a school, a nation, or a world on it.
Ø Dennis Seekins – talked about a poem entitled ‘September 1, 1939’ by W.H. Auden.
"September 1, 1939" is a poem by W. H. Auden written on the occasion of the outbreak of World War II. It was first published in The New Republic issue of October 18, 1939, and was first published in book form in Auden's collection Another Time(1940).
I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.
Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence
From Luther until now
That has driven a culture mad,
Find what occurred at Linz ,
What huge imago made
A psychopathic god:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.
Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
To an apathetic grave;
Analysed all in his book,
The enlightenment driven away,
The habit-forming pain,
Mismanagement and grief:
We must suffer them all again.
Into this neutral air
Where blind skyscrapers use
Their full height to proclaim
The strength of Collective Man,
Each language pours its vain
Competitive excuse:
But who can live for long
In an euphoric dream;
Out of the mirror they stare,
Imperialism's face
And the international wrong.
Faces along the bar
Cling to their average day:
The lights must never go out,
The music must always play,
All the conventions conspire
To make this fort assume
The furniture of home;
Lest we should see where we are,
Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.
The windiest militant trash
Important Persons shout
Is not so crude as our wish:
What mad Nijinsky wrote
About Diaghilev
Is true of the normal heart;
For the error bred in the bone
Of each woman and each man
Craves what it cannot have,
Not universal love
But to be loved alone.
From the conservative dark
Into the ethical life
The dense commuters come,
Repeating their morning vow;
"I will be true to the wife,
I'll concentrate more on my work,"
And helpless governors wake
To resume their compulsory game:
Who can release them now,
Who can reach the deaf,
Who can speak for the dumb?
All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
Pullman Memorial Universalist Church