The Grapevine Newsletter

June 2010

Published by:  Pullman Memorial Universalist Church  Albion, NY

Member of The Unitarian Universalist Association                           www.pmuc.org

 

Opening Words

 

"The founders of our nation were nearly all Infidels, and that of the presidents who had thus far been elected [Washington; Adams; Jefferson; Madison; Monroe; Adams; Jackson] not a one had professed a belief in Christianity....

 

"Among all our presidents from Washington downward, not one was a professor of religion, at least not of more than Unitarianism." 

 

 

The Reverend Doctor Bird Wilson, an Episcopal minister in Albany, New York, in a sermon preached in October, 1831.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date	Minister	Notes	Coffee Hour
June 6	Rev. Kelly W. Asprooth-Jackson	Book club	Monica Beck
June 13	Susan Daiss	Time Share	Need volunteer
June 20	Rev. Donald Reidell		Chris Loss
June 27	Rev. Kelly W. Asprooth-Jackson	At Cobblestone	Everyone is welcome to bring whatever snacks or treats they would like to share for these services.
July 4	Rev. Kelly W. Asprooth-Jackson	Patriotic Service at Cobblestone with Gaines Congregational Church
Aug. 7	Susan Daiss	Mid-Summer Service at PMUC Time Share	Picnic to follow service

 

 

“Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again.”

 

By now I hope that nearly all of you will have heard, following the announcement at our congregational meeting, that I will not seek to renew my contract with the board to be your minister in the fall. There is sadness in every ending, and this is not an easy one for me, as I know it is not been for some of you. But as our time in partnership draws to a close, I would like to reflect just a bit on what we have accomplished together.

 

The focus of my ministry among you these past nine months has been on underlining one particular phrase from the covenant of this congregation: “To advocate in a spirit of optimism for freedom and tolerance in our community.” I have tried in my time here, to renew that spirit of optimism. There have been wounds to heal from the crisis of the previous year; I have tried to address these and to serve as a pastoral presence in your midst. This is what I have done, but far more moving and inspiring, for me, is what I have seen you all do. Folks offering their time, their wealth, and their creativity to the support of this congregation, in large ways and small. Volunteering to lead meetings, to greet newcomers, to help strangers and to repair sinks. Sharing the gifts of music, of technical know-how, of food and of elbow-grease. I have seen so many of you give so much – it has affirmed, once again, my belief that the power of our faith resides not in grandiose moments and dramatic miracles, but in the day-to-day wonder of people caring for one another.

 

Near the beginning of the year I asked you to think about what it is that you love about your church – what brought you here and keeps you coming back. And what I heard over and over again is that you like each other, you like being with one another and, in particular, you like working together towards a common goal. My hope for your future is only that you continue to work from this strength, and know that you are powerful together, and that power is needed in the world.

 

You are capable of great warmth and hospitality. Your community offers a message and a set of values that is sorely needed in the world in general and in Orleans County in specific. And I cannot say this enough: you have told me that you like being together. So all I can wish is that more folks should hear of this place and come to see what it is about. There are concrete steps I would name: in particular, making a program of religious education for children a basic commitment, as important or more important than the regular Sunday worship, so that it does not continue to default solely to families with young children. Mostly, however, I only want for you to see what I see in you, which is a kind and loving group of people who can do a great many things when they set themselves to the task.

 

I have loved being your minister, and I thank you for the honor and for the warmth you have shown me. It has been a gift to get to serve among you this past year, one which I would not trade for anything. As you proceed forward into the next chapter of your collective history, I leave you with the words of the folk melody printed above: “Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again.”

 

In Faith,

Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, June 6 – Book discussion on ‘The First Book of Genesis’ by R. Crumb. Please join us following the regular church service.

 

Monday, June 7 – Potluck Supper at the church at 6:30 p.m. Please bring a dish to pass.

 

Friday, June 11^th and Saturday, June 12^th – Strawberry Festival in Albion . The church will be selling coffee and doughnuts each morning and the church will be open for tours.

 

Sunday, June 13^th – Board of Trustees meet at 9:30 a.m. This is also a Time Share Sunday. Eastman Concert Series presents “Upbeat Innovators”, a Quartsemble at 3:00 PM at St. Joseph ’s Church.

 

Sunday, June 20^th – final book discussion ‘‘The Artist’s Way” – A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. Please join us following the regular church service.

 

Sunday, June 27^th – Annual Trek to the Cobblestone Church in Childs, New York at 11:00 a.m. Please bring snacks for the coffee hour --

"The Flower Communion is a ritual observed by a great many Unitarian Universalist congregations each year, usually in June. This year, we will join with other congregations across the continent (and in fact, all over the world) by sharing in this celebration of diversity in unity. For the full story on where the ritual comes from, what it means and why it matters, I hope you'll come to the service on June 27. When you do, please bring with you a flower or other object of natural beauty which you are prepared to give away during the service. (Don't worry! Some additional flowers will be on hand for guests, and anyone else who comes without.) These need not be rare, exotic, or expensive flowers: daisies and dandelions would easily suffice. The point is only to bring something beautiful, to give it away, and to receive something else in return. I hope to see you there."

Kelly WAJ

Sunday, July  4^th – Annual Patriotic Service at the Cobblestone Church in Childs, New York at 11:00 a.m. Rev. Kelly W. Asprooth-Jackson will be in the pulpit. Please bring snacks to share.

 

Sunday, August 7^th – Mid-Summer service at PMUC.  Our congregational picnic will be held directly after the service.  Details on picnic will be announced later in June.

 

 

 

 

*Diana Dudley – had a piano recital at the Hochstein School of Music on Wednesday, May 26^th. Many thanks to Diana for all the wonderful music that she shares with us!

 

*Sara Phillips – reported that she and her mother, Doris Brown (who is a WWII veteran) attended an honors ceremony for vets in Washington , D.C. at the end of May.

 

 

*Welcome new Board of Trustees Dan Miller, Chris Loss, and Dennis Seekins!  Dan has been serving out a one-year term, so he is not technically new, but has been elected to a new term.

 

*Kris Dibelka – and crew for organizing a clean-up for Earth day.

 

*Craig Smith – who continues to work on the speaker system at church, and it is now functioning quite well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Gay Smith – for opening up her home for a small luncheon and cookie collecting on May 8^th. Thanks to all who attended this event, and to the men who came to help clean up the church. All of your efforts helped to make the Eastman concert here on the 9^th a rousing success! And a special thanks to C.W. Lattin for all of his efforts to bring this event to our church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ladies Luncheon meeting on May 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manners

 

Prig offered Pig the first chance at dessert,

So Pig reached out and speared the bigger part.

 

"Now that," cried Prig, "is extremely rude of you!"

Pig, with his mouth full, said, "Wha, wha' wou' 'ou do?"

 

"I would have taken the littler bit," said Prig.

"Stop kvetching, then it's what you've got," said Pig.

 

So virtue is its own reward, you see.

And that is all it's ever going to be.

 

by Howard Nemerov,

 

 

 

 

The next book discussion group on June 6th will focus on the selection ‘The First Book of Genesis’ as illustrated by R. Crumb.  Please join us even if you have not read the book.  This masterpiece of a book is a provocative as it is visually stimulating.  Don’t miss this event!

 

The final book selection of the year is ‘The Artist’s Way – A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. and the group will meet to talk about this book on Sunday, June 20th.

With the basic principle that creative expression is the natural direction of life, Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan lead you through a comprehensive twelve-week program to recover your creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, jealousy, guilt, addictions, and other inhibiting forces, replacing them with artistic confidence and productivity.

This book links creativity to spirituality by showing how to connect with the creative energies of the universe, and has, in the four years since its publication, spawned a remarkable number of support groups for artists dedicated to practicing the exercises it contains.

Many thanks to those who have contributed a book idea and who have facilitated a talk.  Your contributions have been thoughtful and inspiring!

 

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This is our last edition until after the Mid-Summer service.  Please send us your news items and any joys, concerns and plaudits you would like to share.  Have a great Summer and keep in touch.  

Chris   closs@rochester.rr.com

Alan     alnuge40@yahoo.com