General Assembly opened this evening with its usual celebratory zeal. I’m attempting to come back with a video report for you all when we reconvene after Labor Day. Below is a very quick clip of some of what I’ve got so far. Blink, and you’ll miss our very own Leo Rose marching the UULA banner in the traditional opening banner parade.

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Lots to come in just a few days. I’ll try to post more as we go along.

“. . . the very word ‘religion’ comes from a Latin root that means to tie, to bind. Ultimately what ties us together, what makes us a religion, a united people, is what we love. Religion, our religion, is what we truly care about, what we want to preserve, embrace, and create.”—“The ‘It’ Church” by the Rev. Peter Morales, UUA president, in UU World, Spring 2010 (http://uuworld.org/life/articles/158390.shtml)

The question is asked of us all the time: “Is Unitarian Universalism a religion?”

Many of us are quick to jump on the bandwagon of either side of what seems to be a “yes or no” question. Usually, our answers have a lot to do with our own personal relationship with that loaded little word, “religion.” Those comfortable with the presumably traditional idea of “being religious” are more likely to say “yes” than those who are more critical of religion or count themselves among the crowd who consider themselves “spiritual, but not religious.”

I think where we get stuck in this conversation is around that traditional idea of what “religion” means. Belief in a deity, a creedal checklist, some sort of stark moral absolutism—all of this is wrapped up in what many people hear when they hear the word “religion.” And while that is certainly a definition of religion, it is not the only definition. As Rev. Morales notes in his column in the current UU World, and as every first year seminarian hears ad nauseum, “religion” derives from the Latin—to bind together. Religion, then, at its best is the practice of connection. If there is anything truly sacred in this world, it is the connections between us – those we know, and those we don’t yet know. Or, as the residents of Grovers Corners refrain throughout Thornton Wilder’s classic Our Town, “Blessed be the ties that bind.”

I’ve told newcomers for years that Unitarian Universalism is a religion, but not a religion that stresses what to believe. Rather, we focus on how we should be together. You’ve heard me preach about the importance of how we “walk together,” and that it’s action—the empirically observable output of belief—that matters more than language. Beyond action, though, is what Rev. Morales has to offer. The answer to the question “What do we love?” may be even more important than the question of how we act. Unitarian Universalism is the religion that asks not “what do we believe?” but “what do we love?”

As we explore what it means to “celebrate diversity in belief, and seek unity in action,” it is perhaps the question of what we truly love that points us in that direction of unity. That is my question for meditation over these summer months. I invite you to ponder it with me.

What do we love?

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“Summer Blockbusters” returns in June and July. We had a lot of fun with the series last year. If you didn’t get a chance to try it out last year, give it a try now. I’ll e-mail information on the Saturday night dinners (and the family-friendliness of each movie) just ahead of our Blockbuster weekends. We begin June 13^th with Where the Wild Things Are.

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I’m on vacation and study leave for the majority of these next two months. I’ll have office hours in the weeks preceding my pulpit dates in June and July. As always, I’m available for emergencies via cell phone and e-mail.

See you in church,
Rev. John Cullinan

Summer is upon us and of course gardens are blooming. When I think of religious education in our Unitarian Universalist congregations I don’t usually think of desks, chairs, books and lessons. But I do dream about cultivating the spirits of children and youth in the sense of preparing the site; planting seeds of relationships, ideas, support, and nurturing; and then harvesting friendships, wisdom, compassion, and maturity.

As I recently re-read Transforming Liberal Congregations by Roy Phillips, I noted that William Ellery Channing, the ‘father’ of American Unitarianism also used the metaphor of a garden, saying that Self-culture (or cultivating the spirit, soul or Self) was our purpose in life and was the purpose of religion. He said, “I do not look on a human being as a machine, made to be kept in action by a foreign force, to accomplish an unvarying succession of motions, to do a fixed amount of work, and then to fall to pieces at death, but as a being of free spiritual powers, and I place little value on any culture but that which aims to bring out these, and to give them perpetual impulse and expansion.”

Channing, who also influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalists, rejected Calvinism’s idea that we are born sinful and depraved. Channing said that humans have a sacred potential for growth that is positive and in constant process. Phillips suggests that the role of any congregation is to prepare the soil or cultivate the environment in which such growth is possible. As a gardener I learned just that—feed the soil, not the plant—which I take to mean you plan, you find the right tools, you invite others to help, and you supplement with just the right nutrients. I hope that’s what we can do here at this church.

Late spring and summer are the times when the RE committee and DRE start the important planning (planting?) and dreaming for the coming church year. We decide on curricula to use. We invite people like you to be the gardeners of spirit (RE teachers and youth advisors). We find ways and resources to supplement growth and formation. Please consider that holy service of teaching in RE—consider how nurturing others will influence your growth.

It is as William Ellery Channing so eloquently wrote: “The great end in religious instruction is not to stamp our minds upon the young, but to stir up their own; Not to make them see with our eyes, but to look inquiringly and steadily with their own; Not to give them a definite amount of knowledge, but to inspire a fervent love of truth; not to form an outward regularity, but to touch inward springs.”

Have fun gardening and see you in church,

Benette Sherman
Interim DRE

Summer Day Camp—Me and The Universe is the theme of the day camp (for K-6^th grades), which will be offered from August 9-13 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the church. Deadline for registration is July 15^th. Contact Benette Sherman for more details at dre@uulosalamos.org.

Fall RE start up—September 12^th

“Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning, and under every deep a lower deep opens.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I begin to write my last column for the Voice I feel a sense of relief and sadness. At the beginning of the church year writing for the Voice was one of my most difficult tasks. I often didn’t know what to say and I would forget that the submission deadline comes as early in the month as it does and end up feeling pressured to get something written by the deadline. But at some point I started to write from my heart and people started to comment to me that they actually READ what I was writing. So now that I am beginning to feel like I have the “hang of it” my obligation is almost over. To those of you who read the Voice, I say thank you. Time is required for the publication of our newsletter and reading it is a way of connecting with one another and what is happening in our congregation.

A few months ago the Committee On Ministry (COM) held a congregational round table meeting to discuss issues pertinent to “volunteerism” in our congregation. The COM has made four suggestions to the Board of possible remedies for volunteer burnout and options to facilitate recruitment of committee members. The Board discussed the recommendations and the consensus is that the recommendations may also be addressed through the Council. We will continue to work together to look at ways to address these issues.

For those of you who attended the Annual Congregational Meeting on May 16, you saw the beautiful stole woven by Ann Shafer to be given by the congregation to Sonya Sukalski in celebration of her ordainment as a UU Minister earlier this year. The stole has been mailed to Sonya along with our continued best wishes.

At the congregational meeting concern was expressed over the fact that there are no line item amounts contributing to our reserve funds. These funds have received contributions through fundraisers during the past few years, but this has not been a yearly occurrence. I agree that it is unwise to not contribute regularly to these funds. The past two years have been difficult financially. Last year the Board was faced with the unpleasant task of reducing many line items to zero. This year we gave no raises to our staff, but decided to refund some of the programs that we drastically cut in last year’s budget. Neither situation is ideal. We do need to look at ways to contribute to our reserve/contingency funds, and as our incoming Vice-President suggested, members are encouraged to take an active part in the budgeting process. The Board wants to plan strategically and practice looking forward. However there are many tasks charged to the Board and input from a finance committee that is actively meeting throughout the year would be helpful. If you have an interest in this process, please speak to me, Dean Carstens, or Larry Schultz. We have an excellent incoming Board taking office on July 1 with Dean Carstens as our president and the Board vice-president, Larry Schultz, will be our new Council chair.

The outgoing and incoming Boards met together at the May Board meeting and we plan to meet together again in June. There is still plenty of work ahead as we continue to look toward and plan for our future.

I wrote in my annual report that I believe we should not put the work of the church on the back burner for the summer. I realize however, that we all need to take a break at times and summer seems to be the traditional season for that to happen.

I hope you all have a chance for some rest and relaxation and that you come back recharged in August with ideas on where you are ready to serve our congregation.

If you have not picked up your copy of the new Membership Directory or 2010 Annual Report, please find them in the church office.

It was a pleasure and an honor to serve as your President. Keeping track of the goings and comings and the pulse of the congregation was made easier with so many dedicated and talented volunteers. Thank you for your contributions in helping to make our church community so vital and interesting. Have a safe and wonderful summer!

Rebecca Howard
2009-2010 Church President