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A Hope and Prayer for Pope Benedict XVI
There is a deep human need to seek answers to certain perplexing questions.
Who am I, and why am I here?
Is there a God? If so, what is my relationship to this God?
What shall my code of conduct be? What shall I value the most?
What will happen to me after I die?
To whom or what shall I turn for answers? What shall my source of authoritative knowledge be?
These are fundamental human questions. Others follow.
When does human life begin? At conception? During the third trimester? Which physical, cognitive, or spiritual characteristics determine the beginning of human life?
Can we end a human life? If not, why not? If so, under what conditions? In self-defense? As punitive retribution? To end someone's suffering?
Then there are the questions about human sexuality and reproduction, individual rights and the common good, freedom and responsibility, equality and justice.
Some people look to religion or spirituality for many of their answers. Others do not. Some people need clear-cut answers and turn to sources of authority they trust--religious leaders past or present, sacred writings, political leaders, media figures, cultural heroes--for definitive answers that spell out what is true and false, right and wrong. Some people are more comfortable with ambiguity. Skeptical of once-and-for-all eternal truth claims, they question authority, look for new evidence, continue to explore, and experiment with different ideas and life-styles. Some believe all knowledge is relative and claim no belief is truer than another because there is no objective foundation or deity upon which to base truth. Some are just plain confused and don't know what to believe. No longer trusting the traditional sources of knowledge and authority, and barraged by alternative worldviews, truth claims, opinions, and life-style choices, they feel nothing makes sense any more. Believing there's no compelling vision to pursue except self-protection, they withdraw from religious communities and civic participation, and they stop asking the questions altogether.
It's clear that people around the world, enmeshed in different life situations, respond differently to the fundamental human questions. Individuals and communities develop different maps of reality in their heads. They accept different truths about God, the identity and purpose of the human being, and morality. They do so, in no small part, because they look to different sources of knowledge and authority for their answers, and because they understand the very nature of truth, knowledge, and authority in different ways.
In our increasingly globalized world, it seems these divergent maps of reality, truth claims, value systems, and orientations of meaning are simultaneously producing greater friction, more confusion, and new possibilities for the expansion of human consciousness as people come face to face with their differences. Some people are furiously digging in their heals and claiming their truth is the truth. Some are more confused than ever. And some are finding their interactions with people who hold different views and values to be an exhilarating learning experience.
I believe one thing the world desperately needs right now is a group of enlightened religious leaders from different nations and traditions who can stand together on the world stage, and who can look upon the world with a deep and compassionate understanding of what is going on in people's heads, hearts, and lives. Rather than simply defending their particular truth claim and value system against others, we need women and men of extraordinary spiritual depth and expansiveness who can understand and mediate the conflicting truth claims and value systems in our world.
As the world welcomes a new Pope to the Vatican and the world stage, I hope and pray that Benedict the XVI will become one of these enlightened spiritual leaders. I hope and pray that he will move beyond his declared war on "relativism" and his zealous defense of Catholic orthodoxy. The world has had enough wars over truth. It now cries out for wise and compassionate spiritual leaders who understand how people seek to answer the fundamental human questions in their time and place with the spiritual and cultural resources available to them; who understand that all people struggle with meaning and meaninglessness within the complexity of their own lives; who understand that nobody has a monopoly on truth; and who understand that we all have much yet to learn--about God and one another, and from God and one another.
Liturgy...The Work of the People
The word liturgy means "the work of the people," and it signifies the expressive work of the people during worship. This summer, Nodie and I are going to try making our church's worship liturgy more reflective of our church's people. If you have something that you would like to contribute to our church's Sunday worship--a spiritual poem, a song, a prayer, an inspirational reading, a work of art, a dance, a short reflection...anything that lends itself to worship--then let Nodie or me know, and we'll talk about integrating it into one of our worship services this summer.
TOM
FROM THE BOARD OF DEACONS
We are pleased that our Lenten and Easter worship services went well. In particular, the Easter Sunrise worship on Mt. Bonnell was lovely and inspiring, with a good attendance of (guessing) 150 to 200 people, even after the bad weather the day before. We thank Rev. Liz Spencer for her fine preaching at that service, and Tom for his insightful and inspiring worship leadership throughout Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.
The Deacons are working, at the direction of the Coordinating Council, on a proposal to change by-law wording to clarify the steps for bringing new members into the church. The Coordinating Council has directed us to work on changes that would bring new members in after a meeting with the pastor and deacons, an agreement with the prospective member to our covenant, and an agreement by the prospective member to participate as a member in keeping with the spirit of that covenant. The major change would be that a vote from the congregation to approve new members before they join would no longer be required, although advance notice of the rite of membership would be required. The Coordinating Council felt that this procedure would be in keeping with our desire to be a welcoming church, while also asking new members to make a serious commitment to our covenant. The Deacons are still in the process of formulating wording to be presented to Coordinating Council. If the Deacons' proposal is accepted, it will go through the church's normal process of by-law consideration.
We continue to work on spreading the word about our church to the wider community. A postcard invitation to our worship went to new residents of the Austin area during Lent. In May, a monthly ad will begin in the Statesman to invite people to worship in area UCC churches. Now that we have clarified our financial commitment to that ad, we will begin selecting other area publications (neighborhood newspapers, the Austin Chronicle, etc.) for advertising as our budget permits. We also plan on putting a "God is Still Speaking" banner from the United Church of Christ up on the outside of our building. And we continue to rejoice in those who have been visiting and enriching the life of our church with their presence.
Chairs of our Boards
Trustees: Pam Tucker
Deacons: Liz Nash
Christian Education: Marilyn Vaché
Christian Outreach: John Goff
OUTREACH ALERT FOR MAY
400 Voices
At our last meeting, the Board of Christian Outreach spoke at length with Dita Dauti, who is the founder of the "400 voices" project (www.main.org/400voices) - a program to connect the children of Austin with those of her war-ravaged home town of Stanterg, Kosovo, with letters and school supplies. Dita has also been involved with refugee location (recently signing papers for her own sister's family to emigrate), and it was through those efforts that she originally got to know some of our members when we began our process of hosting a refugee family some years back. On Dita's first return trip to Stanterg in 2004, she brought over 200 letters from Austin area school children, as well as large amounts of donated school supplies. She returned with many appreciative letters from the Trepca School in Stanterg, along with wonderfully moving photographs. Dita now spends much of her time giving presentations on her visit, and is preparing for her next trip in September of this year. The Board of Christian Outreach is planning on hosting a presentation at our church in the near future, and we hope to be involved in helping Dita by raising school supplies for her next trip. This will also be a great opportunity for Christian Education.
Back Bay Mission Trip Yard Sale
May 21 is the date set for the yard sale to raise money for our church's Back Bay Mission trip later this summer. The sale will be held at Tom and Robin's house. Please donate items for sale either by bringing them to Tom and Robin's house during the week or so prior to May 21 (preferred), or by bringing them to church on Sunday, May 15. If you are interested in helping out, either at the sale or at the "pricing party" the evening before, please let Tom know.
Child Sponsorship
At the Board of Outreach's fellowship hour BBQ on April 10, we received $319 in donations for our child sponsorship! The sponsorship continues to be a wonderful project, with regular letters sent back and forth between our Sunday school class and Hala. Hala's teacher sends very informative letters, and Hala (who is 5 now) sends creative drawings.
FROM CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
If you haven't already, please take the time to enjoy the beautiful new colors in the courtyard garden. Flowers are blooming, strawberries and tomatoes are ripening and herbs are growing! If you look closely, you'll notice a visitor in the parsley, who (hopefully) will be staying until his/her transformation into a butterfly. Nancy Edison and Ellie Nash led the church youth in planting the strawberries, tomatoes and other new plants, and Nancy and Vic Appel spent many, many hours after church completing the spring makeover. Thank you!
The annual Slumber Falls retreat, held April 15-17, was a great success. More details on the weekend will be published in next month's Visitor. Until then, our thanks to The Narrow Ridge co-facilitators Whit Bodman and Cecile Adam for guiding the group on this journey toward wholeness, and to all those who attended!
HIGHLIGHTS FROM TRUSTEES
Trustees heard a brief report from the Centennial Project Committee with request for feasibility study funding. Previously, the Coordinating Council had requested a feasibility study with financial analysis and preliminary drawings. That request is pending further information on exactly what the deliverables would include.
Hooray! Hooray! We now have a working dishwasher (new and professionally installed) upstairs in the nursery. We are looking at the stoves downstairs and may have someone who wants to fund a new stove(s)! Exciting!
We are off to a slow start with the windows restoration, but the contract is signed and the permit is being pulled. Soon you may see scaffolding around the exterior of the sanctuary which will mean work has begun.
Our custodial/maintenance person, Victor Cardenas, seems to be doing a great job. He will do only maintenance after Melodi, our regular custodian returns from maternity leave. Victor will be a big asset for the church in getting so many of the maintenance items fixed that we have let go for some time. We are very thankful to Reuel Nash, the Building and Grounds chair (committee of one, but he could use other help), who has organized, prioritized and estimated the projects that need attention. If you have additional items, please contact Reuel.
It has been a joy to have long-time members Marilyn and Gary Pickens back in our midst on recent Sundays. Marilyn, who teaches French and English at the Huntington-Surrey School (where Steve Domingue also teaches) and Gary, who works with Austin Info Systems, are delighted to report that their daughter Larissa is finishing up her MFA degree at the Parsons School of Design in New York City this May.
John, Sarah, and Travis Moore took their friend and frequent church visitor Jesse Chladil to Colorado for a ski trip over spring break. They were greeted by snow showers alternating with sunny days for the best possible skiing conditions at Winter Park / Mary Jane and Monarch ski resorts. The Moores got to see all their relatives on John's side of the family including brother Gary's new fiancé Katherine. While driving from one fabulous ski experience to the next, they drove by a retreat owned by the United Church of Christ in Frisco, Colorado, called La Foret. John used to go to this retreat in his youth for spiritual development and ski trips and would like to know how many of the young or young at heart in the church would be interested in exploring the Colorado mountains from that retreat either in summer or winter. All interested mountaineers should let John know. Also keeping John busy in his new career in real estate is the 12 1/2 acre property that he and a partner bought right at the edge of Johnson City. He is busy clearing the cedar from the land and is planning on building a spec house there.
Betty and Bill Phillips continue to enjoy their stay in Panama where Betty teaches voice at the Fundacion Bel Canto. Betty and the group have raised a great deal of interest in operatic singing there. The group will be in transition as Betty and Bill will be returning to the States , probably in the fall. Bill continues to write poetry and is published in the local paper on a fairly regular basis.
Congratulations are in order for Liz Nash. She successfully defended her dissertation at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley at the end of February, and turned it in at the beginning of March -- the end of a LONG program. Becky doesn't remember a time that she wasn't working on this (Becky was one when Liz started and she will be 13 in August.)! The Graduate Theological Union is a consortium of eight seminaries, most of which are located on "Holy Hill" on the north side of the Cal Berkeley campus. Her Ph.D. is in ethics, and her dissertation deals with the implications of an ethic of care for economic theory and economic life, and vice-versa, using a case study of urban sprawl in the San Joaquin Valley as a focus. For Liz, it was a way of bringing earlier all-but-dissertation work in agricultural economics together with her work in ethics. A professor from Cal. who was in her old ag. econ. department there served on her committee. She will graduate on Thurs., May 12 in Berkeley. All five of them will go, although it will be a very quick trip because they have to be home that weekend for the girls' spring dance program. Actually, Liz thinks the lovely place where she will graduate, the chapel at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, is probably very close to one of Paul and Ellen Deisler's former homes, since their home, she believes, and this seminary both perch on the top of the Berkeley hills overlooking Tilden Park. High school freshman Annie Nash just started at the Khabele School located at 8th and Rio Grande. It is a small school and is suiting Annie very well.
Lisa Kirch reports that her nine-year-old third grader Sarah has been giving geography and history lessons. For instance, she doesn't think it's right that Delaware was the first state. She thinks Texas should have been the first state. She also informed Lisa that "Hitler was the leader of the Yankees." When Lisa corrected her, she said, "Oh, yeah. Nazis--Yankees. I get 'em confused." Lisa says, "My child is a Texan and a Southerner. Obviously."
Over the Palm Sunday weekend Paul and Ellen Deisler attended the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the founding of The First Congregational Church of Houston. They, along with many past and current members were present at, first, a dinner on the Saturday night at Houston's Lakeside Country Club and, second, at the Sunday morning service. Paul and Ellen were members of First Church for 22 years so they had a fine time seeing old friends. Rev. Robert Tucker, former pastor at First Church and now enjoying a very active retirement, preached and Paul and Ellen sat in their old, accustomed pews and listened. After the service there was a splendid "light" buffet (if you call lox and cream cheese on bagels light) and, then, a reconfirmation of vows by a couple of their friends who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, Rev. Tucker presiding. After the reconfirmation there was yet another splendid buffet from which Paul and Ellen retired from the field well sated. No supper that night! First Church was founded largely through the intense efforts, over many years, of Winn Greason. Her husband, Tom, an architect, went to new England to study several Congregational meeting houses and then designed and oversaw the building of First Church's Meeting House. This couple, whom Paul and Ellen knew well and remember fondly, passed on several years ago. If you have ever seen First Church in Houston you will have seen the beautiful legacy this fine couple have left for others.
Julia Adams was baptized on Easter Sunday, outdoors(!) at the Evangelical Free Church. It was a joyful day for the family and some of their friends, who made it to the early morning event and to the house, after church, for Easter dinner. They have been busy painting the room that was Jamie's, then Michael's mother's, and is now Julia's. There was quite a discussion about what color to paint it--Michael preferred white, but Julia wanted green. Now that it is green, she is not too thrilled with it. Perhaps it will grow on her. Word from Atlanta, TX, is that Michael's mom (who had been at home for a year and a half with the Adams family because of ill health) is just fine at home with his dad and a home health aide for a few hours a day. His long-time patient will be moving to Bastrop County, and Michael shall follow her, at least for a while. If the long commute gets him down, he says he can change.
In late March, Rizer Everett enjoyed a visit to Fredericksbug with friend Doris Tyler. They enjoyed the Becker winery, the Wild Flower Farms, and the excellent Museum of the War in the Pacific--originally the old Nimitz Museum. On April 1, he drove to the Heart Hospital for his appointment to take his treadmill stress test. Since the wind was blowing at 40 mph, he decided that he had better use his wheel chair for the trip to the building from the handicap parking space. When he removed the chair from the car trunk and closed the lid, he set the locks on the wheel chair tires. After closing the trunk lid, he sat in the chair and released the brakes. The north wind was so strong that he was pushed along the sidewalk clear to the front door of the hospital. Fortunately the doors operated automatically and he entered the lobby with little hands or feet effort to propel the chair to the elevator. Necessity is the mother of invention! Rizer passed the tests with flying colors and was able to take a delightful drive with Johanna Householder to Smithville and Rodansky to view the wildflowers in bloom later that week.
Jim Howicz's parents, who live in Chicago, celebrated their 40th anniversary at the end of April. In lieu of a party, the entire Howicz family met at Disneyworld for 6 days of fun! Jim and Jennifer thought it was time to check the tires on Tess's stroller. Big sister Emily was counting the days months in advance of the big trip.
Bee Harris Polomé Weiss had a less than exciting birthday celebration this year. She spent a good part of April 19 getting a new chemotherapy treatment. She continues to fight her lung cancer which was discovered more than 2 years ago. She and Milt continue to go and do and enjoy themselves as much as possible. Bee's daughter Marilyn, our former church cellist, has been attending regularly since she moved back to Austin and quite enjoyed the Slumber Falls retreat which was held the weekend of April 15-17.
Long-time members Garry and Judy Cole have been in Toledo, where Garry is on the faculty of the Medical College of Ohio, for nearly 10 years. In a recent conversation Judy reported that they are grandparents again. Allison and Chris Cole-Stutz, who live just outside London, England, are the proud parents of their second daughter, Violet Cole Stutz, born on April 11. Violet was 10 days late. Allison had already made several trips to the hospital with false labor and went to the hospital on the 11th to have the baby induced. Things were very busy at the hospital and Allison waited some time--and then went in to labor on her own. Big sister Hazel, who turned 3 in December, seems to be adapting to her new role quite well.
Frances Alford enjoyed a trip to Washington, D.C., in mid-March, in her capacity as chair of the National Peace Corps Association Director's Circle The meetings were most interesting, but one additional highlight included meeting Senator Ted Kennedy and his two standard poodles, Sonny and Flash, while on the elevator in the Russell Senate Office Building. Frances was also presented an autographed copy of the new autobiography SARGE, by Sargent Shriver, first director of the Peace Corps. Travel with Frances is never dull. This trip was enlivened by a fire in their hotel which meant that they had to evacuate the place at 1:30 in the morning. Fortunately, they knew friends who could take them in until the hotel reopened the next day.
Pat and Mel Oakes had a great 6 day trip to San Francisco where they visited Mardie and her fiancé Tony Deifell. They have been there more than 18 months, but because of Pat's mom's illness, they were not able to get to the west coast. They enjoyed seeing where Mardie works in San José, toured the Tech Museum there where Pat rode a Segue, had dinner with Beth's mother-in-law in Oakland, and learned their way around the Mission District where Mardie and Tony live. It was amazing to see the huge two-story mural that is on the outside of their apartment (they are on the second floor and there is a taqueria on the first floor. One day they went to the Headlands Arts Center where the wedding will be on Aug. 20. They worked on wedding plans and saw the sights and met some of Mardie and Tony's friends.
As this was being written, Clark Hubbs was doing fine, waiting for more X-rays to determine the rest of his treatment. He is keeping busy reading (Louis L'Amour) and playing computer games. He cannot start chemotherapy until they are sure that everything has healed first.
Mary Charles Williams has a new address. After 25 years in her apartment at Royal Orleans North, she is now safely ensconced in an assisted living facility at Arden Courts, 11630 Four Iron Drive, Austin, 78750. She enjoys having visitors and it is easy to get to--just off of 183 at Spicewood Springs Road. She would also enjoy notes or cards. Daughter Meredith and her husband Graham Parker from England were in Austin for a month helping Mary Charles make the move.
MAY BIRTHDAYS
2 Louise Froelich
3 Joyce Sinclair
4 Stephen Luna
6 Fran Briggs
11 Mel Oakes
13 Florence Castle
15 Jim Tomasek
16 Mary Charles Williams
22 Julia Kato Kaneda
23 Heather Cole Fernandez
Ben White
26 Matthew Wilding
28 Gregg Appel
29 Matthew Tomasek
30 Kathleen Hawes-Domingue
31 Louise Whitworth
PARKING
Since there are only 4 spaces in our "parking lot" here at the church, parking is and will continue to be a problem.
The designated spots for "Pastor" and "Administrative Associate" make it possible for Tom and me to be here and do our jobs. That said, we don't want to be selfish about those spots when we are not actually using them.
Tom takes Monday off, so his spot is available then. My hours are from 9 until 1 Mondays thru Fridays, so after 1 p.m. have at it! I try to ride the bus as much as possible during the week, but I always drive in (and need my parking spot) on Tuesdays.
If you are coming to the church and will need a parking space please call ahead and see if Tom's or my spot will be available (on a first come first served basis). DO NOT PARK FIRST and then check if you can park, even if it is in the middle of the work day, we might be out on an errand and we might be right behind you!
Thanks, Trish
BACK BAY MISSION TRIP
JUNE 26 to JULY 2
Summer's just around the corner. You can see how my mind works! We need to begin thinking more seriously about our Back Bay Mission trip at the end of June. Here's some information that may be helpful. We can bring anywhere from 12 to 24 people. The mission work is housing rehab with a lot of scraping and painting. There is also some recreational time scheduled. We stay in dorms, and the cost is $50.00 per person for the week. Our group must purchase and prepare its own food. Our church must pay a $150 registration fee. The camp experience is geared toward High School youth and their adult chaperones. However, Junior High youth may participate as long as they are mature, willing to work, and do not consist of more than 25% of the total group. Please keep your eyes and ears open for our next information and planning meeting.
BRIGHTENING YOUR EASTER
If you wondered about the unusual phenomenon of the flowering trees around the perimeter of our church having both red and white blossoms, you may wish to know the following about our trees. They were planted some 19 years ago in an effort to beautify not only our property, but San Antonio Street down to 21st. In that effort, we were striving to replicate Washington D.C.'s "Cherry Blossom Lane." Since cherry trees don't do as well here, we substituted flowering peach and pear trees. We even got the City of Austin to supply the pear trees which line San Antonio.
The trees surrounding our property are a special variety of flowering peach. They are called "Peppermint" Flowering Peach to acknowledge that these peach trees have had some branches grafted into them so that they will bear both white and red blossoms. The best part of all is that they bloom with great regularity at Easter time. If you are interested in getting one or more for yourself at home, they are available at Howard's Nursery in north Austin at their location on Koenig Lane.
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