Weekly
Newsletter
High
Country Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (HCUUF)
Weekly
Newsletter: April 16-22, 2018
CONTENTS
• Sunday
Services
• Upcoming
Service & Social Time, April 22, 2018
• Volunteer
to Help with the Community Dinner, April 24, 2018
• No
Service on April 29: Rev. Liliana’s installation at LOTM
• Dinner
with Rev. Kirk, April, 22
• Come
Join the Party-Theatre Esprit Asia, Sunday May 6
• A
House for Hope
• Circle
Brunches in May
• HCUUF
Member and Friend Directory
• Touchstones
Journal for April: Transformation
• Creating
the World Through Tenderness and Holiness
• 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
2018 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
April
22, 2018: Service & Social Time
Sermon
Title: Letting Go
Speaker: Rev.
Kirk Loadman Copeland
Letting
go is a spiritual practice. It is a reminder that the actual
range of our control is more
limited
than we like. Letting go allows the ego to step to the side so
that we might experience all
that
is happening more deeply.
Letting
go is also a means of transformation as we choose willingness
over willfulness.
Join
us in reflecting on the process of letting go and the importance
of transformation
• Volunteer
to Help with the Community Dinner
Tuesday,
April 24, 2018, 4:30 to 7:30 pm
HCUUF
volunteers will be serving the Community Dinner on Tuesday,
April 24, 2018 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.
At
the community dinner on January 9th, 17 people
volunteered to help. We served meals to 280 people.
HCUUF
volunteer engagement has 8 confirmed volunteers and needs
at least 4 more from
4:45-7:30
• No
Service on April 29: Rev. Liliana’s installation at LOTM
HCUUF
will not hold a service on April 29 since the church facilities
will all be in use for the joyous event of Reverend Liliana
Stahlberg’s installation as their called minister at 3 PM that
day.
HCUUF
members are invited to attend.
• Dinner
with Rev. Kirk, April 22
Join
Rev. Kirk and your fellow HCUUF’ers for dinner after the service
on Sunday April 22, approximately 6 PM.
We
will talk amongst ourselves and decide which restaurant to
visit. No need to RSVP.
• Come
Join the Party-Theatre Esprit Asia, Sunday May 6
HCUUF
has been chosen to be the recipient of Theatre Esprit Asia’s
nonprofit theater benefit on Sunday May 6. Money from all the
tickets we purchase will go back to HCUUF. Tickets will be
priced at $20 each. Family and friends are welcome.
The
performance is at 2 PM in Aurora, 1400 Dallas Street. The two
short plays are Dust Storm, based on the
Japanese internment during WWII, and Spirit and
Sworded Treks, a funny and poignant play written and acted
by our own Maria Cheng. There will be a talk back after the
show, with our own Reverend Kirk presiding. Given Daylight
Savings Time, there probably would be plenty of time to get home
before dark, even have early dinner along the way.
If
you are interested, please let Pat McShane know, email (pat@patmcshane.com)
is best but text is OK too. 617 733 4998. We can probably
arrange carpools also.
Don’t
miss these 2 great plays and a chance to see them with HCUUF. Spirit
and Sworded Treks has received accolades
across four continents. It won Best Actress, Choreography,
Lighting, Original Play and People’s Choice at the 2014 Colorado
Theatre Festival.
• A
House for Hope
by Rev. Kirk Loadman-Copeland, Consulting Minister
They
begin with the “garden,” which refers to earth itself and
reminds us that “salvation,” the dream and drive for wholeness,
is part of this life.
The
“sheltering walls” create the boundary within which the
religious community gathers. The word “ecclesiology” (from the
Greek word ekklesia, “called together”) is
the theological theme that speaks about religious community. It
invites us to consider, says Parker, the nature and purpose of
religious community.
The
“roof” is that which “can protect life from harm, and repair and
restore lives and communities.” As Parker notes, “religion, at
its best, provides shelter for people and communities in need of
healing, transformation, and sustenance….”
For
Parker and Buehrens the “foundation” of the house is God or
whatever word one uses for the ultimate mystery that is the
source and sustenance of life. Buehrens asserts that “God
changes,” which means that traditional notions of God are
profoundly inadequate.
The
final architectural metaphor is the “threshold.” Parker notes
that the threshold marks the “importance of movement between
shelter and adventure—of arriving home and of setting out.” In
charactering progressive faith, Parker writes, “An open door
stands at the threshold of our theological house, its doorsill
well worn by comings and goings.” The threshold leads to
consideration of the mission of a congregation.
Parker
writes passionately about mission. “Progressive faith offers a
wide welcome for those who come to its door. It has hope to
offer, and it gives people room to breathe. Its theological
boundaries make a life-giving, affirming faith
possible—providing a defining structure of meaning. Its message
is worth proclaiming openly and broadly.
“Within
the theological house of progressive faith there is room for
tremendous variety, diversity, and dissent. But there is also a
defining focus: a devotion to the flourishing of life. People of
progressive faith care for the sacredness of this world, this
life, here and now. We do not look to a world to come that will
be more valuable than this world. We cherish our bodies, this
earth, this time and place within our grasp. We reverence the
intimate, intricate, and unshakeable reality that all life is
connected. We honor and respect the bonds that tie each to all,
that weave us into an inescapable net of mutuality. We vow to
care for the interdependent web of existence; we desire all life
to thrive, and therefore we resist those social evils and
systemic injustices that benefit a few at the expense of many,
or that allow a privileged existence for some while others have
their hearts and bodies broken by exploitation, prejudice,
censure, or lack access to the rights and resources needed for
life. We critique any conception of God that functions to bless
an unjust status quo or to alleviate human responsibility. We
affirm a covenant among all beings that we honor with our
hearts, souls, mind, and strength. We will do everything in our
power to assure that this covenant of life, for life, is
honored, And we seek to connect our circle with other circles of
life, to expand our circle into ever-widening ripples of
influence for good.
“Expanding
the circles of people ‘united together for life,” is the mission
of progressive faith. This mission matters in a world threatened
by violence, injustice, and ecological exploitation.
“…This
mission requires each person to ask the questions, ‘What will
you do with your gifts?’ And it requires vibrant commitment to
life together in community.”
How
might we transform High Country UU Fellowship into a House for
Hope?
• Circle
Brunches in May
The
Board would like to offer some potluck Circle Brunches on
Sundays in May. To plan for these, the Board needs to know who
can attend and/or host on the following Sundays: May 6, May 13,
May 20 or May 27. If you are willing to host, how many people
can you accommodate.
Please
email Lorraine Gill at lorrainecgill@yahoo.com or
Marge Seabourn at mseabourn@yahoo.com the
dates you can attend or host, and the number of people you can
host.
• HCUUF
Member and Friend Directory
We
want to create a new directory and need your help to do so.
Please email the following information to our Administrative
Consultant, Daniela Acosta, at admin@hcuuf.org
Name
Address
(local)
Telephone
Email
Residency
Status: Permanent or seasonal (also indicate when you are
typically in Summit County)
If
seasonal, what is your permanent address?
• Touchstones
Journal for April: Transformation
