Weekly
Newsletter
High
Country Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (HCUUF)
Weekly
Newsletter: December 3-9, 2018
CONTENTS
• Sunday
Services
• Upcoming
Service & Social Time, December 09, 2018
• Volunteer
to Help with the Community Dinner
• Holiday
Depression Notice-Blue Christmas
• Blue
Christmas
• 2018
Annual Meeting Notes
• 2018
Minister’s Annual Report to HCUUF
• HCUUF
Year End Appeal and 2019 Proposed Budget
• HCUUF
Scholarship Update
• Save
the Date-Chili Dinner Friday, December 7th, 2018
• Touchstones
Corner: Peace
• Touchstones
Journal for December: Focus on Peace
• HCUUF
Facebook Page
• Other
News Sent under Separate Cover
• HCUUF
Website
• Contact
Information for Newsletter Announcements
• Contact
Information for HCUUF
• Consulting
Minister, Board Members, Committees, Musician, Staff
• Sunday
Services
Our
weekly Sunday Services take place in the Fellowship Hall of the
Lord of the Mountains Church in Dillon, CO at 4:00 pm and are
followed by a Social Hour or Potluck at 5:00 pm. Potlucks
usually occur on the last Sunday of the month.
During
2017 we have had a short sabbatical during the months of May
and October during which no services are held but other
activities takes place from time to time.
• Upcoming
Service & Social Time
December
09, 2018: Service & Social Time
Sermon
Title: A Peaceful Kingdom
Speaker: Rev.
Kirk Loadman-Copeland
The
idea of a peaceable kingdom goes back to the 8th century BCE
when the Hebrew prophet Isaiah wrote, “And the wolf shall dwell
with the lamb.”
He
concluded this passage, “And a little child shall lead them.” We
return again and again to the idea that peace, however illusive,
is possible.
Join
us as we explore the concept of a Peaceable Kingdom.
• Volunteer
to Help with the Community Dinner
Tuesday,
January 1, 2019, 4:30 to 7:30 pm
HCUUF
volunteers will be serving the Community Dinner on Tuesday,
January 1, 2019 from 4:30 to 7:30 pm. We need approximately 12
to 14 people to help. To volunteer, email Don Parsons at parsondo@hotmail.com.
The work also includes some set-up and clean-up.
This
weekly dinner, which began on March 3, 2009, has served over
100,000 people since then. The Community Dinner is held at the Elks
Lodge, 1321 Blue River Parkway, Silverthorne, CO 80498.
Typically, 300 to 350 people attend each week to eat.
Make
helping with this worthwhile endeavor a New Year’s Resolution.
We are also scheduled to help May 7 and August 6 in 2019.
Thank
you!
• Holiday
Depression Notice-Blue Christmas
It
was just learned about this collaboration between the Interfaith
Council and the Building Hope organization to teach various ways
of working with The Holidays depression that so many of
us go through.
May
we all focus on community and connection, especially during the
Holidays.
Spread
the news!
Thank
you!
• Blue
Christmas
Rev. Kirk Loadman-Copeland, Consulting Minister
I
wanted to share this thoughtful piece about a Blue Christmas by
Unitarian Universalist minister Debra Faulk.
All
around us are bright lights and merry messages, yet in our heart
not all is joyful. There is grief with the loss of
relationships; those we love, no longer with us because of
death; those we have loved who are estranged from us; those we
love, yet experience a diminishment of intimacy. There is grief
with the loss and change of relationship, grief, bittersweet for
it is a consequence of the presence of love. This season brings
forth many feelings.
All
around us are bright lights and merry messages, yet in our heart
not all is joyful
There may be pain in our bodies,
Physical pain as a natural outcome of aging
Physical pain that presents itself in illness
Pain in the body that forces us to change and imposes limitations
Pain, bittersweet for physical experience includes both pain and pleasure and
...this season brings forth many feelings
There may be pain in our bodies,
Physical pain as a natural outcome of aging
Physical pain that presents itself in illness
Pain in the body that forces us to change and imposes limitations
Pain, bittersweet for physical experience includes both pain and pleasure and
...this season brings forth many feelings
Response:
We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in
being together
All
around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There may be anger and regret with the memories we hold,
Anger with past experiences of hurt or abuse,
Regret of our own actions that may have cause hurt to others,
Anger that life has not turned out as we imagined,
Regret for what we might have said or done,
Anger and regret, bittersweet in presenting the possibility for healing and forgiveness,
...this season brings forth many feelings
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There may be anger and regret with the memories we hold,
Anger with past experiences of hurt or abuse,
Regret of our own actions that may have cause hurt to others,
Anger that life has not turned out as we imagined,
Regret for what we might have said or done,
Anger and regret, bittersweet in presenting the possibility for healing and forgiveness,
...this season brings forth many feelings
Response:
We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in
being together
All
around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There may be uncertainty that accompanies transition and change,
Uncertainty of what the future may bring with changes,
Uncertainty of direction or purpose after retirement or change of vocation,
Uncertainty when changing residence, by choice or necessity,
Uncertainty, bittersweet for change, a constant in life, let’s us know we are alive, and change along with
...this season brings forth many feelings
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There may be uncertainty that accompanies transition and change,
Uncertainty of what the future may bring with changes,
Uncertainty of direction or purpose after retirement or change of vocation,
Uncertainty when changing residence, by choice or necessity,
Uncertainty, bittersweet for change, a constant in life, let’s us know we are alive, and change along with
...this season brings forth many feelings
Response:
We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in
being together
All
around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There may be a sense of hopelessness,
Hopelessness in the face of so much violence and suffering
Hopelessness with attempts to heal our aching world and ourselves
Hopelessness in witnessing what we have not managed to accomplish
Hopelessness, bittersweet for its longing reminds us of our capacity for hope and the human spirit’s tenacity and courage that rest deep within each of us as
...this season brings forth many feelings
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There may be a sense of hopelessness,
Hopelessness in the face of so much violence and suffering
Hopelessness with attempts to heal our aching world and ourselves
Hopelessness in witnessing what we have not managed to accomplish
Hopelessness, bittersweet for its longing reminds us of our capacity for hope and the human spirit’s tenacity and courage that rest deep within each of us as
...this season brings forth many feelings
Response:
We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in
being together
All
around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There is loneliness,
Loneliness when we find ourselves alone after being long-partnered,
Loneliness when we are separated from loved ones,
Loneliness when we move to a new community and struggle to find our way,
Loneliness that never seems filled even with good company, Loneliness that is an ever-present aching in the heart,
Loneliness, bittersweet for it is felt only when we have known connectedness and
...this season brings forth many feelings
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There is loneliness,
Loneliness when we find ourselves alone after being long-partnered,
Loneliness when we are separated from loved ones,
Loneliness when we move to a new community and struggle to find our way,
Loneliness that never seems filled even with good company, Loneliness that is an ever-present aching in the heart,
Loneliness, bittersweet for it is felt only when we have known connectedness and
...this season brings forth many feelings
Response:
We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in
being together
All
around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
We know grief and pain,
We know anger and regret,
We know hopelessness and loneliness,
We know all these feeling, we name them, we live them for such is the human experience
That love presents us with the possibility of being hurt, with the grief of loss,
That connection holds the potential of loneliness and uncertainty,
That forgiveness can begin to heal anger and regret
That being alive is a courageous act in which we engage all of our emotions and
...this season brings forth many feelings
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
We know grief and pain,
We know anger and regret,
We know hopelessness and loneliness,
We know all these feeling, we name them, we live them for such is the human experience
That love presents us with the possibility of being hurt, with the grief of loss,
That connection holds the potential of loneliness and uncertainty,
That forgiveness can begin to heal anger and regret
That being alive is a courageous act in which we engage all of our emotions and
...this season brings forth many feelings
Response:
We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in
being together
• 2018
Annual Meeting Notes
The
HCUUF Annual Meeting was held on December 2, 2018 with 14
members attending.
Doug
Bair and Julie Dufford shared their perspectives on the state of
the fellowship and noted that it was positive.
Rev.
Kirk Loadman-Copeland shared some highlights of his annual
report. Please read below.
The
Nominating Committee (members Nancy Lee, Harold Gant, and
Lorraine Gill) recommended that the bylaws be changed to permit
a range for the size of the Board of Trustees (e.g., 3 to 5
members) to acknowledge variations in the membership size of
HCUUF. Nancy Lee, Harold Gant, and Lorraine Gill were elected to
the Nominating Committee. Joanne Michalski and Annadane Dayton
were elected to 3 year terms (2019-2021) on the Board of
Trustees.
Don
Parsons noted that we began the year $29,000 in reserve and are
currently at $23,000. The proposed budget involved a number of
significant budget cuts. We still need a $3,000 increase in
pledge income to reach a balanced budget. The goal budget was
adopted. In January, based on the pledge campaign, a final,
balanced budget for 2019 will be brought to the congregation in
January.
Harold
Gant gave an update on the HCUUF scholarship program. Rather
than donating money to Mountain Colorado College, the money will
be directed to the Summit Scholars program administrated by the
Summit Foundation. The focus will be on providing scholarships
to a student for several years to support them through college
rather than just a scholarship for the first year of study.
Pat
McShane reported on the work of the Celebrations Committee and
Don Parsons reported on HCUUF’s social justice activities.
In
2019, we will celebrate HCUUF’s 20th anniversary.
• 2018
Minister’s Annual Report to HCUUF