A MONTH OF SUNDAYS

Worship services and children=s religious education begin at 10:30 a.m.

May 4: ANueva Esperanza del Norte: New Hope from the North" - Kevin O=Brien, pulpit guest

Each of us can, somehow, do something pretty remarkable for someone else from our ordinary places on this planet. This service will remind us of that reality through the story of a UU from Saratoga who, inspired by the martyrs of the 12-year Salvadoran civil war, has brought children of that war to New York for a college education.  Our May Social Action Shared Offering will be taken to benefit Nueva Esperanza del Norte.

You=re invited to bring a contribution of non-perishables for our monthly food pantry collection.

Greeters:      Jim Rudd; Carol & Tom Pynchon; Colleen Smith 

Social Hour:      Carmen Stuart-Fennessey and Rich Fennessey; Joel Foisy & Gretchen Koehler

May 11:  AComing of Age Sunday@ - COA Youth

Our wonderful Coming of Age (COA) group of 8^th and 9^th graders will share their ideas and values, their music, and their creative spirits.  The service will also include a recognition ceremony for COA youth and their mentors.

Greeters:      Judy & Shaili Singh; Debbie St. Germain; Peggy Sperling         

Social Hour:      Carol Gable; Brian & Claire Gardam; Kathy Curro   

May 18:  ADivine Passion@ - Wade Wheelock and Anne Marsh

Some religious traditions around the world have portrayed the relationship between God and humanity as one that can rise to the emotional level of romantic love.  Often taking the form of popular songs, do these examples of passionate religion have anything to teach us?

Greeters:      Ann Spies; Emmy Stevenson; Ginger Storey-Welch; Eileen Wheeler

Social Hour:      Pat Gengo; Judy Gibson; Pat Glover; Richard Grover;

May 25: AProphetic Non-Violence@ - Anne Marsh

On this weekend when our culture honors those who have served in our country=s armed forces, we also remember the horrors of war, its destruction of life and of soul and spirit.  Can we learn another way?  Wade will be preaching in Saranac Lake this Sunday.

Greeters:      Jean Thompson; Louise & Marie Tyo      

Social Hour:      Milner Grimsled; Jackie Gotham; Bobbi Haldane

IN PARTNERSHIP

With the visit of the Pope to the U.S. in April, we UUs, along with every other religious group in the country, must feel considerable jealousy for the kind of publicity he commanded. If we were to grow to being the largest single religious denomination in the world, we could match part of the fascination with the Pope. We would also have to designate one single person as our supreme leader. That wouldn=t be worth the price for the press coverage. This recent surge of publicity for American Catholics has included much of the family wash on display. We find that one-tenth of U.S. Catholics have left their church in recent decades. Only about one-half attend Mass at least once a month. A strong majority say you can be a good Catholic without going to Mass every week. Few go to confession and about half never do.

How are we UUs doing in comparison -- not in terms of simple numerical counts to measure a standard set from above, but by our own personal measures of satisfying levels of participation in our religion? Unlike the Catholics, our liberal religion affirms that the prime leadership for our movement=s health comes from within each of us. It flows up and into our democratically-organized, voluntary institutions. This basic recognition has led our church=s Staff Relations Committee to try a new way to gauge the congregation=s satisfaction this year than the standard annual evaluation of the ministers (though that will return in some form next year).

In consultation with the ministers, they have asked, instead, for the congregation to undertake a self-reflection on how each of us individually feels we are doing in contributing to and being enriched by this religious community. A few simple questions will be part of a survey given during the church service on April 27^th, copies of which will also be available for others to fill out at a later time. The object is not so much to gather a lot of data (though our leadership will look over the results), but to encourage each one of us to think more deeply on how this religious community is important to us and the ways in which our own quantity and quality of involvement is a significant determinant of what our church is and what we and others, including the wider world, get out of it.  Let us consider how we lead our church, even without one focal person in the spotlight.     

--Wade

FROM THE PRESIDENT...TOOL TIME MINISTRY

Since our church building is over 100 years old, opportunities to participate in special work projects abound.  The Buildings & Grounds Committee has a growing list of fixes, repairs and improvements.  Some jobs, such as re-pointing the church=s bell tower, require professional intervention, so we hired a mason.  But those requiring a strong back and a weak mind (labor intensive) are taken on by committee members with assistance from others in the congregation. 

Our most recent foray into Achurch improvement@ entailed the replacement of Apunky floor joists@ below the Sanctuary.  Over the years water infiltration rotted the ends of the floor joists resting on the foundation. Pete Wyckoff and Miles Manchester (the brains of the operation) came up with a plan, materials were purchased, and a crew assembled to complete the project.  We usually set aside a weekday for these projects, avoiding a stay in our respective spouses= dog houses by preserving Saturdays for home improvements.

Weekdays ensures I use up the vacation time my employer generously provides, but more importantly, it gets me out of my work routine.  The punky joist project came at a welcome time, as I had spent the previous two days communicating with voice mail for many of the Clarkson alumni I am trying to see on my next trip.  Ed Hildebrand and Stefan Grimberg rounded out the work crew.  Ed and I were assigned the task of removing a 20-foot joist which we attacked with vigor.  I did not know Ed well before this project B just well enough to be envious of his singing ability. 

Over the intervening 4 hours, Ed gave me a wonderful history lesson on the church.  In the 1970s a successful fund-raising campaign provided the resources to hire a team of masons to re-point the entire church.  The mortar was in such poor shape, water was coming in the church (likely the reason we were replacing punky floor joists).   Discussions turned to the price of gas and energy consumption.  Ed recalled a winter when the Sanctuary was closed off.  Sunday services were held in the Social Room heated by a wood stove.  He remembered loading wood into the basement and then moving it by hand up to the Social Room.

While completing the project was fulfilling and you can now stand at ease at the name tag table, what was and will continue to be most rewarding is the opportunity to get to know others better.  Looking for a change of pace?  Then give your name to B&G chair Steve Farina.  Trust me B there are still lots of projects to be completed.  

B Pete Beekman  

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS

At last, spring has finally settled over the North Country and we are all breathing a collective sigh of relief.  Plants are in bloom again after a long season of turning within and surrendering to the forces of transformation.  And so, too, it is with our Religious Education program.  Spring, for us, is the season of completion, the season to bring into being our newest selves, born of nearly a year=s worth of work and play with Jewish and Christian traditions, and UU beliefs and values.  As we look ahead to RE Sunday in June, the students are completing their year-long exploration of UU identity.  We celebrate with them the journey that each has undertaken and the new person that they have become. 

As I write this, our Coming of Age group is shining in its full glory.  The recent COA Café has given them an opportunity to share with us their great enthusiasm and abundant talent.  Final plans are being made for their June trip to Boston, the culminating activity of a year spent investigating the nature of their faith.  On May 11^th, these amazing young people will lead the worship service and share with us the fruits of their inquiry.  There will be special music and a few surprises.  Please join us as we welcome them into their new place within our church community.

Spring is, of course, also the time for planting seeds.  Here in the RE program we are beginning our season for recruitment.  As always, we will need teachers and assistants for each of our classrooms in keeping with our Safe Congregation Guidelines.  Consider from the following list, where you might thrive:

$       Playing finger games with our youngest members in the nursery.

$       Enjoying the quiet diligence of preschoolers engaged in self-directed play in our Montessori-styled Spirit Play classroom.

$       Introducing school-age children to the trees in the park as part of our new AHonoring All Our Relations@ curriculum.

$       Helping children practice non-violent communication as they learn to articulate differing beliefs and perspectives.

$       Supporting and guiding our youth in community-based service projects.

 

As always, the coming year promises to be a fun-filled opportunity to get to know our children and share with them the riches of the UU experience.  Even if you are not planning to teach, we will need people to support our all RE Gatherings and participate in a variety of RE program events throughout the year.  We hope you=ll join us on May 11^th after the COA service to make a commitment to the RE program.  Oh, and did I mention that, to sweeten the deal, we will be serving ARE Sundaes@? Don=t miss it.  Happy Spring!

- Rebecca Rivers, Asst. DRE

AN INVITATION TO CREATE COMMUNITY WITH OUR YOUTH

During the coming year, we will be restructuring our high school Youth Group in an effort to re-energize our programming. We are looking towards a new format and have some new ideas for structure. If you have ever considered working with youth, we hope you will join our existing youth group leaders in mid-May for a youth group Atown meeting@ where we will offer opportunities for discussion, experiential training and support for working with youth.  You don=t have to be ready to commit to join us. Just come with an open mind and see what we have in store.  There are a variety of ways to participate including serving on a youth-adult committee, chaperoning youth activities, facilitating discussions during RE time, and supporting youth service projects.  Let a member of the RE staff know that you are interested and watch the order of service for a specific date and time for the meeting. - Jan, Rebecca and Natalie

PRESENTATION ON SHI=A ISLAM

Join Wade on Tuesday, May 13^th from 7-9 pm for a one-night public presentation on the origins of the Shi=a form of Islam and how it differs from the majority Sunni version. With Iraq and Iran being the only major countries in which Shi=ites are a majority, knowing the basics about Shi=ism is essential for understanding the dangerous dynamics of the contemporary Middle East. Wade is a former professor of comparative religions and has been keeping up with the religious dimensions of the current situations in Iraq and Iran

JOYS AND SORROWS

$       Kudos to Nelly Case and our Handbell Choir for their great performance at the April 13 Handbell Festival at Crane, and to Jamie Szafran for organizing the event.

$       We bid a fond farewell to Mary Smallman, who has moved closer to her son.  Her new address is Hamilton Continuing Care Center, 1059 Edinburgh Road, Hamilton, NJ 08690.

$       Congratulations to Ed Clark, whose photographic exhibit, AManholes and Mandalas,@ is at SUNY Potsdam=s Dunn Theater lobby April 17-May 18, then moving to Arts Central May 24-June 20.

$       And congratulations to Ines Sanchez-Ferriera, whose paintings can be seen in two current art exhibits -- one at the EarUp! Gallery in New York City (May 2-16), and the other closer to home at the Flower Memorial Library in Watertown (April 28-May 9).

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

$       Thanks to Lisa McCarty for organizing a fun-filled evening of bowling and pizza.

$       Thanks to Stefan Grimberg for helping install the new lighting in the corner of the sanctuary near the piano.

$       Thanks to the stalwart crew who replaced some punky joists in our basement: Pete Wyckoff, Pete Beekman, Miles Manchester, Ed Hildebrand, and Stefan Grimberg.

$       Thanks to Eileen Jarrett for donating ADuck Enough to Fly.@

$       Thanks to Anne Marsh for donating ACome into the Circle@ and AComing of Age: A Treasury of Poems, Quotations and Readings on Growing Up.@

$       Thanks to the Religious Education Committee for a wonderful Teacher Appreciation evening, and to the many folks who are contributing to our COA programming this spring!

EXPLORING CHRISTIANITY

The Exploring Christianity group meets after church on the first Sunday of each  month to share experiences and deepen understanding of Jesus and the Bible from a liberal perspective.  The next gathering will be May 4 in the Upstairs Room, and the topic is The Beatitudes, also known as the Sermon on the Mount.  There are three versions of this famous passage, in Matthew, Luke, and the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas.  What do the differences among them say about the different views of Jesus held by the authors?  Which perspectives most resonate for us?  All are welcome to join in the discussion. If you=d like to be added to the email list for Exploring Christianity updates, let Anne know.

HAVE YOU READ GODLESS?

If not, check out a copy from the Coots library and start reading, for Betsy Kepes will lead an intergenerational book discussion before church, tentatively on June 1.  Godless, by Pete Hautman, won a National Book Award and is appropriate for ages 12 through adult.  The book raises some challenging questions about religion, while never losing its edgy sense of humor.  As the 15-year-old hero says, AWhy mess around with Catholicism when you can have your own religion?@  He invents a new god (the town water tower) and then discovers that creating a religion is a lot easier than controlling it.  It will be interesting for youth and adults to compare responses to Godless, which is also available in paperback from local and online booksellers.  Plan to join the discussion! 

SHARE A RIDE

One way to help the environment and deepen our relationships at the same time is to share rides to Sunday services and other church events.  To that end, we hope to create a ride-sharing list you can use to request or offer rides.  Although the sign-up sheet has been on the kiosk for a month, and despite the memorable children=s story on March 31 featuring the world=s most fuel-efficient car, only a few people have shown interest.  If you a) need a ride to church or b) would like to carpool, sign up on the kiosk or contact the church office.  We=ll need your name, address, phone number, email, and whether or not you can be a driver sometimes.  Once we=ve determined who=d like to participate, we=ll get the information out to all. 

HELP AT FARMERS= MARKET EBT

For the third year, our church will staff the Food Stamp EBT booth at the Canton Farmers= Market from June-October.  This project, which is part of our UShare program, is done in cooperation with GardenShare, and makes it possible for low-income folks to buy fresh produce with Food Stamp cards.  This summer, we=ll staff the booth on both Tuesdays and Fridays, in two shifts (8:30-11:30 and 11:30-2:30), so more volunteers are needed.  It=s simple and fun, and GardenShare has hired a project coordinator to help get the word out and bring in more customers.  If you=d like to help, or learn more, please contact Anne or Wade by mid-May so we can get a schedule set up.

DAIRY FESTIVAL EVENTS

The UU Church will be participating in several ways in Canton=s Dairy Princess Festival on Saturday, June 6.  Join us for any or all of these:

Used Book Sale

Many UUs love to read, but what to do with all those books?  Ines Sanchez-Ferreira and Bill Biggers will coordinate a Used Book Sale on the front lawn of the church.  You may bring books you wish to donate to church on any Sunday in May.  Ines and Bill also need a few volunteers to work with them on May 31 to help sort books for sale and load them into their van.  A few people to help on sale day would also be appreciated.  Contact Ines and Bill at 389-4748 or let the church office know you=d like to help.  Proceeds from the sale will go to the church=s Caring Fund.

Rainbow Sherbet

And while folks are browsing the book tables, they can also enjoy a free rainbow sherbet cone, a celebration of diversity that will be coordinated again this year by Scott Shipley.  Scott will need volunteers to help serve.  Contact him at 386-4928 or call the church office.

March with PFLAG

Join PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) as we march in the Dairy Princess Parade.  We=ll meet in the parking lot behind the Social Services Building on Judson St. by 12:45 for a 1:00 p.m. parade kick-off.  All ages are welcome to march, whether you are a PFLAG member or not.  It=s a great way to be Aout@ in the wider community as a church that truly welcomes and embraces people of all sexual orientations. 

FROM THE COOTS LIBRARY

Your own and the UShare garden may be claiming your time right now, but when you need to rest weary muscles and hurting joints, check out some new donations to the Coots Library.  Several titles are a gift from Max himself, who has been busy minimizing his own library.  Lucky us! Both Peter Fleck=s The Blessings of Imperfection and the 1985 UU Meditation Manual, The Gift of the Ordinary, are organized in such a way that you can read sections at a time without feeling the need to plow through them in one sitting.  Max also contributed two helpful, insightful books of readings, Celebrating Easter and Spring and Celebrating Christmas. 

As mentioned elsewhere in the newsletter, we have three copies of Godless for the June intergenerational  book discussion.  Finally, thanks to Betsy Kepes (who donated the book she=s reviewed), Jean  Thompson and Zach Barnes for the reviews that follow.   B Judy Gibson

I JUST READY

I like to read I-was-a-nun books, maybe because I missed Catholicism by one generation, a safe distance.  In her memoir, The Tulip and the Pope, Deborah Larsen tells of joining a mid-western convent in 1960.  Her short, poetic chapters explore her faith and how it changed.  She left the convent after a few years and is now a writing professor at Gettysburg College.  The prose is especially poignant in her chapters on leaving the convent and in her Epilogue, where she details her 40^th reunion.  Larsen also includes a AFurther Readings@ list of titles that Ahave been nourishing to my faith.@

-- Betsy Kepes

AND I READ THIS...

The Rainbow Fish was an entertaining book that teaches a good lesson.  It is about a fish that has many beautiful scales. Many fish admired him. One day a young fish comes and asks for one scale that he could wear, since the rainbow fish had so many. The rainbow fish meanly refuses and the little fish sadly goes away. He tells his friends about it and nobody admires him that much anymore.

 

One day a starfish tells him to go and talk to an octopus, because the rainbow fish was sad, and nobody liked him. The octopus told him to give one of his glittering scales to each of the other fish, and that he will no longer be the most beautiful fish in the ocean, but the he will discover how to be happy.  The rainbow fish is reluctant, but in the end he gives away all his scales but one. And even though he was no longer extremely beautiful, he was very happy.  And not only is the story wonderful, but the illustrations are well done and glimmering foil stamped scales glitter on every page. On a scale from 1-5, I=d give a 41/2.

B Zachary Barnes

AND I JUST READY

In February, after my mother had been diagnosed with kidney failure, I sought out a book whose title and cover had intrigued me every time I=d run across it in our library: Another Country: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Our Elders by Mary Pipher, a psychologist who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.  She describes old age as Aanother country@ and sets about describing its physical, emotional and spiritual landscape with both respect and realism.  While the book=s jacket describes it as Arough terrain,@ from my own, so far limited, experience I would add that it=s also an emotional mine field.

It=s important to me to be there for my mother as she enters this new, frightening, and inevitably final chapter of her life.  I often think of how she modeled this behavior in caring for her own parents and I count myself lucky to have participated in that care-taking when I could.  But now, with my own mother, there is so much shared history and emotional baggage and a very different personality and temperament for me to deal with.  Reading this book has brought me new insights, new ideas and new clarity as I tackle the most difficult thing I=ve done in my life so far.

Another Country is like a field guide to the aging process.  It=s good to have such a wise companion on the journey.        --Jean A. Thompson

CHOIR NOTES

Here is the choir schedule for May:

May 4:      Rehearsal, 9:15 a.m.

Sing at Festival of Sacred Music and Text at Koinonia in Potsdam, 3 p.m.

May 11      Rehearsal, 9:15 a.m.

May 18      Rehearsal, 9:15 and sing in church

May 25     NO rehearsal

June 1       Rehearsal, 9:15 and sing in church for Music Sunday

FESTIVAL OF SACRED MUSIC

The Ministerial Association of Potsdam presents the second annual interfaith Festival of Sacred Music and Text on Sunday, May 4, 3:00 p.m., at Koinonia Church on Grant Street in Potsdam.  Our Choir will be performing, along with choirs from many Potsdam churches, so come and support our singers and hear some great music.  Refreshments will be served.  Admission is free, but a goodwill offering will be taken for the Potsdam community van project.

USHARE

Work will continue in the Priest Field garden behind the church, as well as the opening of the gardening season in the Cecilie garden in Potsdam May 4th.  Join us after services for a light lunch at the Priest Field. Cecilie volunteers can see what our Canton brethren are up to before reconvening in Potsdam at Lehman Park, where we'll meet SUNY students at 1. It will be a busy day with the choir singing at the Koinonia church in Potsdam at a program starting at 3. But remember, many hands make light work.

ANNUAL SPRING CHURCH WORK DAY!! Have you ever wondered how our wonderful church and grounds retain their beauty?!?!  Well, the simple answer is, we work at it!   Please join us at the church on Saturday May31st at 8:30 a.m. to help us take on a variety of tasks both outside and inside. Members of the Memorial Committee, Buildings & Grounds, and UShare gardeners will be there, but we need even more helpers as we work on landscaping, cleaning, painting, reconstruction, and other necessary AND FUN tasks. No particular skill nor experience necessary!  The essentials will be provided for us all: tools, donuts, and coffee!  All we need is your willingness to help out for a few hours.  If you have any questions, please call Steve Farina 244-2558.  We'll see you on Saturday May 31!

ASIAN WORLD IMPORTS