TIDINGS

"How the Earth Works: Crystallization - The Rock Cycle Starts"

With Jim Bys and Alfred McDonald

"How the Earth Works: Volcanoes - Lava and Ash"

With Jim Bys and Alfred McDonald

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: "Inauguration Part I: An Overview of the History of United States Presidential Inaugurations.

With Carol Emerson

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: "inauguration Part II: An Review of Presidential Inaugurational Addresses                           

With Carol Emerson

The following is from a UUA document on Membership Growth. It is important to understand that a congregation can not create sustained growth simply by adding numbers. A congregation must also help people grow spiritually, relationally and developmentally in response to the challenges of the world.  

I recommend that we think about how congregations grow, and think about how we can apply these lessons because it will help Throop Church become the welcoming, inclusive, and active congregation that we have promised to work together to build.

"When we think of membership, we tend to think of numbers. Yet membership in a 

Unitarian Universalist congregation is as much about quality as it is about quantity.

Unitarian Universalist congregations exist because of the free choice of their 

members to be "gathered" into covenantal relationship with one another.  

To put these points into a historical perspective, the concepts of free choice and 

gathered were fairly extraordinary in the days of the early colonial Puritan settlers. Prior to this evolution in church governance, people went to the church of their own parish, which was a geographic location and, thus, an involuntary assignment of membership. The new concept of church became known as the free church. As current members of Unitarian Universalist congregations, we continue the covenantal relationship to "walk together" despite our differences in theological perspective. Walking together implies undertaking a journey of making meaning, which is very different from adherence to a creed.

Membership is a dynamic process rather than a single act. It begins when one makes the conscious choice to formally affiliate with a particular congregation--yet that decision marks the beginning of the membership journey rather than its end. In More Than Numbers: The Way Churches Grow, Loren Mead outlines four dimensions of growth and states that a growing, vital congregation would most likely be attending to each of these four aspects of membership: 

• Numerical growth is best calculated by tracking how many attend per week at Sunday morning worship, in Sunday school, and at adult religious education programs. This number represents the active members and is also tied to the size of the budget and the number of activities offered by the congregation. The number of people who are reported by each Unitarian Universalist congregation to be active members is the number the Unitarian Universalist Association certifies annually. 

• Maturational growth represents opportunities for members to deepen their faith and spiritual roots, as well as to increase their understanding of the spectrum of religious possibilities. This kind of growth also includes the ways in which, and the depth to which, the congregation cares for others. For maturational growth to occur, a congregation must empower members to contribute their unique talents and gifts for the well-being of the whole.   

• Organic growth is growth of the congregation as a functioning community and an institution that can engage with other institutions of society. The term refers to healthy internal organizational structures such as policies, processes, practices, and programs; recruiting and succession-planning practices for leaders; evaluation mechanisms for programs, volunteers, and paid staff; and practices that deal with conflict openly and honestly. 

• Incarnational growth is the ability to take the meanings and values of 

Unitarian Universalism and make them real in the world outside the congregation. A congregation must be able to build itself into a religious community in which people can deepen their spiritual life, be challenged to live out their faith, and engage in the larger community to make the world more loving and just." 

What does this church do? We give generously to support a shelter for abuse women and their children.

Each month we choose an organization we are affiliated and covenanted with to show our generosity. The organization for December is Haven House. We have been donating to this organization for over 10 years. We plan to split the offertory on Sunday, December 21st. Please plan to give generously.

In addition to splitting the offertory we will asking those of you who wish to bring socks and undies. Haven House is a shelter for abused women and their children. When they leave home they often leave with nothing. When they arrive at the shelter a fresh pair of undies and warm socks is a pleasant welcome. The other item we asking for this season are Target Gift Cards. When the families leave the shelter to start a new life they must purchase supplies for a new home. With our gift cards they are able to purchase sheets, blankets, and kitchen supplies.

Join together and give generously.

Once upon a time, in a temple nestled in the misty end of south hill, lived a pair of monks. One old and one young. 'What are the differences between Heaven and Hell?' the young monk asked the learned master one day. 'There are no material differences,' replied the old monk peacefully. 'None at all?' asked the confused young monk.

'Yes. Both Heaven and Hell look the same. They all have a dining hall with a big hot pot in the center in which some delicious noodles are boiled, giving off an appetizing scent,' said our old monk. 'The size of the pan and the number of people sitting around the pot are the same in these two places.' 'But oddly, each diner is given a pair of meter-long chopsticks and must use them to eat the noodles. And to eat the noodles, one must hold the chopsticks properly at their ends, no cheating is allowed,' the zen master went on to describe to our young monk.

'In the case of Hell, people are always starved because no matter how hard they try, they fail to get the noodles into their mouths,' said the old monk. 'But isn't it the same in Heaven?' the young monk questioned. 'No. They can eat because they each feed the person sitting opposite them at the table. You see, that is the difference between Heaven and Hell,' explained the old monk.

Being generous in life is the moral of the story. Being generous in spirit is the practice. We grow spiritually by becoming involved with our church community and then reaching beyond our walls to the outside community. We build our morale by becoming more generous. 'What does this church do? It helps the community in this way.' 

Each month we choose an organization we are affiliated and covenanted with to show our generosity. The organization for November is Union Station Family Center. This is the organization for which we make lunches once per month. We plan to split the offertory on Sunday, November 23rd. Please plan to give generously. 

By Mary Jane Holden

My daughter, Lily, and I went to the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last summer. We have gone to the last two General Assemblies together. (I hope she joins me for the next one in Salt Lake City, Utah.) Each time, we peruse the catalog looking for interesting workshops to attend. We like the workshops where we can learn about something we can bring back to Throop Church and we find personally appealing. 

This time we found a workshop about the new Tapestry Series for adults. The workshop was an introduction of the new curricula that is available on the UUA.org site. There are two curricula out so far Spirit of Life and Spirit in Practice. 

We were introduced to the Spirit of Life curriculum first and then the Spirit in Practice. We were then taken through a class of Spirit in Practice. At the end of the class Lily turned to me and said, "I would like to do that curriculum." As many of you know when ever I hear those words "I would like to do that..." I think of how I can help make that happen. 

Lily and I held the first class of Spirit in Practice on Sunday, November 2, 2008. Our plan was to offer the series and see who showed up. The attendance was inspiring. During the class we explored what spirituality meant to each of us individually. I found the exchange very uplifting. I think others did too because we decided this was a curriculum we wanted to continue. 

We will be holding classes every first Sunday of the month in the Fireside Room. I led the first class and Lily will lead the second on Sunday, December 7th at 12:45 p.m. There will be a total of 10 classes in all. Each class is designed to explore a different aspect of spiritual practice. There are eight practices in all with the intention that if you do all of the practices to some extent your holistic self will be spiritually grounded and connected to the sacred. This program is define the eight spiritual practices and explore the variety of way to practice. 

Our hope for ourselves and others is develop an essence of the spiritual in all that we do and to start classes at Throop Church were we can do a few of the spiritual practices we find most appealing. Please join us.