Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Our Mission:  The Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is an inclusive religious community.

 Minister’s Midmonth

February 2010

A glorious sunny stretch!  It was cloudy for so long that I was surprised by an early sunrise -- it seemed that spring had taken a great leap forward all at once.  And also... it will be fun to see when we achieve the 200 inch mark for snow. The first of the Environmental Initiatives is taking advantage of the forecast! Carol Ekstrom wrote this nice y'all come:

Come join us for the first KUUF "Nature Snowshoe" next Sunday at 2 pm. Our own Rachel McDonald  will give us an introduction and then lead us on a 1+ hour hike at Churning Rapids.  The trail is relatively flat so novice snowshoers are encouraged to come too.  Parking space is limited, so please try to carpool.   We will meet at the intersection of Hwy 203 (Canal Road) and Christians Road.   If you are planning to come please RSVP to pekstrom@rhodes.edu .

Hope to see you there, Sunday the 28th of February.

This is a significant style of organizing social justice, I think, by trusting many members to take on many different activities, all tied together by the committment to sustainable living & environmental justice.

Last Friday evening, the Board and chairs of committees had a substantive meeting with Ian Evison, the Director of our Midwest District Congregational Services.  The lively discussion to clarify who does what around the Fellowship was productive.  Meeting late into the night, the Board came up with some creative approaches.  Board minutes will be on line, as always.  Here's a few highlights:

1. A revitalized Memorial Committee will work on a service, a forum and a Fellowship form for expressing members' memorial wishes.

2.  A Worship/Services/Forum Committee -- clearly in need of a catchy name -- will meet regularly.

3. Just because we don't own a building does not mean that we don't have building-type issues, so Building Committee gets to expand it's job description to "facilities" -- the physical spaces we inhabit. Let's hear that committee say, "Hurrah!"

Sometimes UU members think of these sorts of discussions as moving from family into bureaucracy, but in a small congregation like ours, it's more about moving from implicit governance to explicit governance. The more everyone knows what everyone else is doing, the more the congregation can make choices -- even choices to be informal!  Our ancient tradition of congregational polity works to empower each member, and the congregation as a whole.  When Ian asked how our lists of responsibilities looked, I burst out "It looks like a healthy, zesty, vibrant congregation!"  And so it does.

With Great Respect & Appreciation,

Sydney