UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION OF WHIDBEY ISLAND
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P.O. Box 1076, Freeland, WA 98249 360-321-8656
CALENDAR
May 4 - Neal Sandler and Jeannie Celeste - Neal and Jeannie will teach some new dances and review dances we've learned throughout this last year.
May 11 -The very popular band "Folkvoice" will be back to end this series. We will have monthly summer potlucks and dances, but will not dance weekly until September.
Everyone is welcome. No partner is necessary. Admission is $6.00 per class or $30.00 per series. Call Gail, Inge, or South Whidbey Parks and Recreation at 221-5484 for more information.
CHAMBER MUSIC
Saturday, June 2, at 7:30 p.m.
A house concert of music for violin, cello and piano will be performed by members of the Chaminade Trio Peggy B., violin; Carol G., cello; and Nola A., piano. Proceeds of the concert will benefit UUCWI.
The music selected for their program will span over a century from the late romanticism of Cecile Chaminade ((1857-1944), to the early modernism of Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) and contemporary idiom of Seattle composer, Carol Sams, whose delightful "Trio" was composed in 1998. The Chaminade trio was formed in 1985 on Whidbey Island and has performed under various auspices in Seattle, Spokane, Bellevue, and Whidbey. Their program was performed in March at Whitworth College in Spokane. The concert is open only to UUCWI members and guests due to seating limitations (40). Elegant refreshments will be served following the program. Reserve your seats by calling Mavis C. Suggested donation $10.00.
RELIGIOUS WITNESS FOR THE EARTH
Religious Witness for the Earth is an interfaith network dedicated to bearing public witness on critical environmental issues, concentrating on global climate change. Seeing the environment as a justice issue, RWE invokes the loving spirit, disciplined courage, and moral authority of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s. In response to plans for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, RWE has issued a Call to Religious Witness for the Arctic Refuge and is planning Prayer & Witness for the Arctic Refuge in Washington, DC, May 1-3, which will include lobbying public officials, public prayer and witness, and loving and nonviolent civil disobedience by those who choose. To sign the Call or join the Prayer & Witness, please visit http://www.religiouswitness.org.
SOAPBOX
from Ken M., newsletter editor
We've been through a lot this year. Maybe we bit off a little more than we could chew. This is only our second year of weekly services, our first year with a regular ministerial presence, we inserted a new board and president, purchased land, grew by several new members, completed a face-to-face all-member canvass, launched a web site, started a choir, began a building campaign stop me when you get dizzy.
This flurry of activity wasn't accomplished without some casualties. Many eggs were broken in the making of this omelet (I may have some yolk on my hands). And yet, in spite of the wrangling, endless meetings, mistakes, worrying, e-mails, and on-the-job training, we are a tighter, more vital, more involved, and better congregation than we were a year ago.
This isn't just a pep talk. I've got solid research to back this up (it's Farmers' Almanac type researchyou know, where they can tell it's going to be a long winter by how woolly certain caterpillars arebut it's what I got).
Two years ago, when I took on the job of newsletter editor, I held a meeting to see what people wanted out of this publication. No one showed. I took that to mean I could do pretty much whatever I wanted. Back then, I had to beg people for submissions, cajole the committees for reports, cull the Internet for fillers, and run four-pagers just to get it out. If I held a meeting now on newsletter content, the only person who wouldn't show up with an opinion of what we should do would probably be me. I get more submissions than I know what to do with. We often have to cut things back, including my column. Bitter? No way it's a good thing. It's a healthy thing.
While some among us are lamenting our newfound contentiousness, I celebrate it. Granted, there's been a lot of conflict lately. But as disconcerting as conflict may be, it is infinitely preferable to the apathy I experienced when I first came to this congregation.
We are a faith dedicated to the democratic process. It is a core value of our religious tradition and one of our seven basic principles. But, like many ideals toward which we strive, our execution often falls short of our best intentions. This isn't because we're bad people, or because we don't care, or because we care too much. It's due to the simple truth that democracy is messy. It calls on us to be both impassioned and reasonable, vocal and attentive, defiant and respectful, a champion and a good loser. To the extent that we are true to these dichotomies that encompass inclusivity, fairness, and courage, we can count ourselves successful in honoring one of our highest principles in spite of the bumps and bruises we receive along the way.
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CHANGES IS HERE!
The spring issue of CHANGES, the newspaper of the PNWD/UUA can now be picked up at the membership table located outside the church sanctuary. It includes highlights of this year's District Annual Meeting, news of the possible separation of Canadian congregations from the UUA, and more. You can also read CHANGES on the Internet at www.pnwd.uua.org/changes.html
AN OPEN BOOK (CLUB)
The UU Book Club has room for two new members (male or female). We usually meet the third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m., except for August and December, and rotate homes and facilitators. Members have chosen a nice variety of fiction and non-fiction and the meetings are filled with lively, spirited exchanges generally inspired by questions posed by the facilitator of the month. If you are interested, please contact Mavis C.