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The Minister’s Corner 1
From the President... 2
Second Sunday Special Collection September 10th 2
Did UU Know? 3
Installation Celebration
September 23rd 3
Gifts of Honor Received 3
Mark Your Calendars 4
...A Discussion about Suicide
...Nonviolent Communication
Circles of Trust
Children’s Religious Education
2017-2018 Academic Year 5
Welcome Our Membership Coordinator 6
Welcome Our New Member 6
Teaching Calendar-September 7
September Worship 7
September 2017 Volume 21 Number 8
The Minister’s Corner
Members and friends of our congregation have had their fair share of happy occasions this summer - vacations spent with family or friends, birthdays, anniversaries and births. We also have experienced some sad times: diagnoses of illnesses, hospital stays, and even the loss of friends like long-time member Janet Reichard.
This summer has also been a busy time for the congregation: many of you attended the Military Ministry Toolkit training workshop with the Rev. Jake Morrill. That same weekend, we held a very successful benefit concert with music from the Louisiana Soul Revival, and raised a thou-sand dollars for the medical assistance fund of the UUA for the two staff members who were attacked in New Orleans while attending GA.
In August there was a very good turnout for our Next Steps Weekend with Barry Finkelstein. And we also enjoyed the first concert of our fourth series of the Four Seasons Jazz Concerts, with a wine and cheese reception held beforehand. We celebrated our Ingathering and Water Communion, and wonderful volunteers made us some great pancakes on the morning we blessed the backpacks for our children starting a new school year.
We are also welcoming our new Membership Coordinator, Catherine Carlos, and conducting our first Faithify online crowdfunding campaign.
Finally, I am happy to report that our Committee on Ministry is up and running. It is charged with assessing the health of congregational life. Its members will be carrying out two assessments per church year. The ini-tial assessment will be for Children’s and Youth Religious Education. More information will be forthcoming in September’s E-nnouncements. The COM members are: Quentin Davis, Ted Newton, Ruth McClelland-Nugent, and Nancy Phillips.
In the midst of it all, I have celebrated the start of my fifth year here with you, and will be excited to see you all at my installation as the settled minister on Saturday, September 23rd.
We have much to look forward to this church year, and I want to remind you again that, during that time, whatever life transitions, joys, or chal-lenges you face, the Pastoral Care Team and I are here to give you sup-port.
In faith and friendship,
Rev. Gaye
Inside this issue
Page 2
Second Sunday Special Collection September 10th
On the second Sunday each month, members and friends of UUCA donate funds specifically contributed to organizations that do work consistent with our UU principles. On September 10th, our special offering will go to Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund. https://giving.uua.org/harvey-floods
“On Friday night, August 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 Storm and brought with it deadly winds and rain to an area of the United States millions call home. Much of the Texas Gulf Coast has been impacted and communities in Louisiana and across the state of Texas are still coping with more days of rain. We’re holding all of those affected in our hearts and prayers and we are in touch with local Unitarian Universalists so we can meet the needs as they arise. To do this, the Unitarian Universalist Associa-tion (UUA) has joined with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) on a recovery and relief fund.
Please give as generously as you are able. Half of all funds raised will go to at-risk populations served by UUSC partners and the other half of the funds will support Unitarian Universalist congregations and members of those congregations most affected by the storm. Those funds will be administered by a group of leaders in the UUA’s Southern Region, which includes the states across the southeast from Texas to South Carolina, and from most of Virginia to Florida.
Using their eye-to-eye partnership model, UUSC will work with and support local grassroots community partners on the ground in Texas serving at-risk populations who may not be able to access relief services and who are traditionally left out of mainstream re-sponse efforts. UUSC and their partners will work to bolster locally led relief efforts that are serving immigrant families, in particular young mothers and their children. ..”
Your donation to this fund through our Second Sunday Special Collection is much appreciated. Thank you.
From the President…
The UUCA Board of Trustees Hits the Ground Running
The new UUCA Board of Trustees (Stephen Heyl, Jenny Malizia, Nixon Childs, Dan Cooper, Dee Medley, John Moore, Robert
Turner, Catherine Prysiazny, Frank Carl) has hit the ground running during the first two months of our new fiscal year! Our board
members were involved in the Military Toolkit training as well as the Next Steps Weekend. Here are some highlights of our recent
accomplishments:
Policies
We approved a new Right Relations Team Disruptive Behavior Policy.
We approved a new Key Policy for those who need to borrow a key from the church.
We launched an effort to make sure the UUCA Bylaws and Policies and Procedures are up-to-date on the UUCA Media site.
Personnel
We approved the minister’s new contract (thank you to last year ‘s team that worked on this).
We are involved in planning Rev. Gaye’s installation ceremony. Please join us in celebration on September 23.
Property
We hired Farrah La Pan, realtor and UUCA member, to represent us in purchase negotiations for 755 Tripps Court.
We made an offer for the property that was accepted by the seller.
We had a building inspection. The seller is making the necessary repairs to the building.
We are developing an application packet to seek zoning exception approval.
Pledges
We put together a core stewardship team to plan this fiscal year’s pledge drive. We hope to incorporate strategies we learned
from the Next Steps Weekend to lead an innovative and successful pledge drive.
I am thankful for all the support and encouragement I have been receiving from the congregation this year as I get acclimated to my
new role. I am truly blessed to be working with such an enthusiastic and capable board.
Pam Hayward President, UUCA Board of Trustees
We request that you make a Gift of Honor at least once this Church fiscal year (ending June 30, 2017). Always consider celebrating a friend or loved one’s birth, birthday, marriage, anniversary, graduation, or recent achievement.
Members and friends wishing to give a Gift of Honor this month are encouraged to make a donation to commemorate the installation of our minister, which occurs on September 23rd.
____________________________________
Gifts of Honor Received
- In Memory of Janet Reichard - ____________________________________
This program is organized by the Budget Team. A check or cash-in-an-envelope should be clearly marked – Gift of Honor – and be sure to tell us
who or what you are honoring. All Gifts of Honor will support the General Fund. Gifts of Honor may be placed in the offering on Sunday mornings or sent to or dropped off in the church office.
Gifts of Honor received are announced in the UUCA Newsletter.
Page 3
Did UU Know? Our Worship and Celebration activities include:
o 52 Sunday services each year, plus
o Christmas Eve
o Blue Christmas
o Service on the Shore
o Pagan Vespers
o Blessing of the Animals
o Passover Seder
o Día de los Muertos
o Children’s Chapels
o Child Dedication
o Ingathering and Water Communion
o Four Seasons Chamber Jazz Concert Series
o Acoustic Café concerts
o Recitals by musicians including our own Josef Patchen
o New audio-visual technology in the Sanctuary
o Sunday sermons on YouTube (go to www.uuaugusta.org)
Who makes all this possible?
YOU DO…by your generous yearly financial pledges.
And it matters.
From a friend: “I so much enjoy coming to services (and other
happenings) at the UUCA. The first service that I attended was
the Blue Christmas service last year. I had just lost my Mom the
previous December, and that service was not only therapeutic
but also the beginning of making some wonderful new friends.”
By taking care of each other and the wider world,
we are creating the Beloved Community.
Would you like to sing in the Installation Choir? We need all parts - soprano, alto, tenor and bass - to sing special music, including a new composi-tion by our director of music, Josef Patchen! Make a joyful noise at this special service. Please contact Josef if you are interested, email: [email protected].
Rehearsals are being scheduled, and include Saturday, September 10th at 10am, and before the installation service on Saturday, September
Mark Your Calendars: Sunday, September 10th at 1pm UUCA Sanctuary
The UUCA Pastoral Care Team and the Southeastern Buddhist community will host a panel discussion:
An Honest Discussion about Suicide Panel members will include, Dr. Sam Payne, a psychiatrist serving Ft. Gordon, Dr. Doug Pryor, a retired psychologist with 30 years of experience, and Dr. Gaye Ortiz, UUCA Minister.
Any member of the Pastoral Care Team can provide additional information. A free sandwich lunch will be provided.
Back to
School
Pancake Breakfast
Thanks to our enthusiastic volunteers who provided a wonderful Back-to-School Pancake Breakfast!
Benita and Aubrey Hogan, Jenny Malizia (above), and Nina and Tim Hunter (below) worked tirelessly to fill the
stomachs of hungry UUCA members and friends.
A Study in Nonviolent Communication Beginning September 13th
Do you want to improve the quality of your relationships? Develop your spiritual values through compassionate connec-
tion with others? Change patterns of thinking that cause repressed anger, conflict and depression?
Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a revolutionary and sys-tematic approach to self-expression and empathy in action, is here. You will have the opportunity to learn active and empa-thetic listening, express feelings and needs, understand others, earn trust and to release anger fully without escalating conflict.
NVC is the down to earth expression of compassion in daily life.
Our first study and practice session will begin on
Wednesday, September 13th, here at the UUCA in the
Common Room at 6:30pm and will last until 8:00pm.
Sessions will continue every second Wednesday of the
month.
In this first session, we will be forming groups, negotiat-
ing structure and expecta-tions and providing an over-view of what and how we will
learn together.
Admission is always free, although a book purchase will
be required for future ses-sions and homework.
Food and child care will be provided upon request.
Let’s learn together in the coming months. Let’s prac-tice together for a lifetime.
See Chris Garcia for more information.
Sign-up sheet at the
Welcome Table and Online
www.uuaugusta.org Page 4
Page 5
The summer that was… in Children’s Religious Education 2017
The highlight of the summer was our July Camp called “Art-n-Artifacts”; focusing on three questions.
Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?
Our activities included:
Morning Chapel each day with Rev. Gaye
Making crystals in egg shells and building dinosaur dioramas in old shoe boxes
Creating water pots out of clay and examining fossils while eating homemade fossil cookies
Doing our own digs: Each participant had their own clear plastic shoe box. The bottom had a layer of gravel which was
mixed with tiny sea shells. The next layer was black dirt with sterilized chicken bones scattered throughout. The top
layer consisted of a bird seed mix with small everyday objects mixed within. As each child dug through one layer at
a time, they each graphed what they found.
Making lists of items in our bedrooms and imagining what future archeologist will think of all of us.
Lots of pictures were taken and some have been on display at the Welcome Table. The camp was a cooperative endeavor by Pam
Link (Coordinator), Veronica Leaptrott, Nadia Baisden, Ruth Garrison, Jenny Malizia, and Rev. Gaye Ortiz.
Dr. Seuss stories, Aesop’s fables, and Fragle Rock episodes were other topics this summer. We also decorated some rocks from the
labyrinth, played BINGO and learned about the solar eclipse & how to view it safely.
Interested in the Lives of Our Children?
1) We are looking for adults interested in teaching or assisting in a classroom once a month. No prior teaching experience
required, only a love for children and a desire to serve. Lesson content is provided.
2) The Children and Youth Religious Education (CYRE) Committee is gearing up for the school year. We always have topics to discuss
and decisions to make. We are looking for more folks to join our committee whether you have a child currently in the program or not.
Please check us out.
Please contact me at [email protected] if you would like to sign up or if you have any questions or hesitations. Ruth Garrison, Di-
rector of Religious Education (DRE)
————————————————————————————————-
Curriculum Line-up for 2017-2018 Academic Year: Starting September 10th
Preschool –Kindergarten: The Rainbow Connection, by Karen Hager, 2016. The curriculum uses popular story books to acquaint children with the values inherent in each of the Seven Principles in Unitarian Universalism. We focus on the values that all parents wish to instill in their children, such as respect, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, responsibility and good citizenship. Children begin to understand the concepts of justice and fairness and begin to learn about what is “right” and “wrong”, “good” and “bad”. Story books are chosen to help illustrate the values supported by parents.
Grades 1 – 3: Picture Book Unitarian Universalism , by Kate Covey, 2009. The curriculum is a Unitarian Universalist Identity cur-riculum. It is fun, friendly and concise with teachable moments that introduce our faith to young elementary children. It introduces some of prominent and influential leaders in our UU heritage and includes multiple hands-on activities.
Grades 4 -6: Bibleodeon , by Richard & Tirrell Kimball, 2003. This curriculum introduces young Unitarian Universalists to stories of the Hebrew and Christion Bibles. Both Hebrew and Christian Bibles have: 1) had profound impact on world and western cultures, and on the national and regional cultures in which our children live, 2) played critical roles in helping shape today’s Unitarian Univer-salism and the earlier religious movements which spawned it, 3) been helpful windows into myth, religious thought, and world views of the past. (Information taken from the introduction)
Grades 7 – 12: Our Youth group has a new Advisor, Veronica Leaptrott. She has been planning a variety of activities that includes group journaling following the Book, Exploring Unitarian Universalist Wisdom , by C. Mahoney, 2017, social justice work, involve-ment in worship, volunteering for the church and of course occasional outings and lock-ins. Leadership skills will be encouraged and developed.
We are looking forward to a full and exciting year! Ruth Garrison, UUCA Director of Religious Education
Page 6
August Attendance
August 6th
94 August 13th
98 August 20th
95 August 27th
98
July Attendance
July 2nd
81 July 9th
~84 July 16th
69 July 23rd
88 July 30th
81
Catherine Carlos
Catherine Carlos was born and raised in sunny Los Angeles. She moved to northern California to attend Chico State University and attained a de-gree in Communication Design. Catherine has been working in Print and Marketing since 2004 working with clients in various fields including the entertainment industry. She moved to Alba-ny, New York in 2010 where she took an interest in wellness and natural foods and started her own marketing firm in the emerging Social Me-dia Influencer market. Catherine has lived in the CSRA for 2 years and currently handles Design and Marketing for the Family YMCA of Greater Augusta. Catherine enjoys outdoors activities including camping, hiking, and nature runs. She loves meeting new people and learning about other cultures.
Welcome Our Membership Coordinator
Clark Fox
Welcome Our New Member Endowment Donation
A generous donation has been given to the UUCA Endowment Fund
In Memory of Carol Taylor A Friend to the Church
A N D F I N A L L Y . . .
Unitarian Universalist Church of Augusta
3501 Walton Way Ext Augusta, GA 30909
Phone 706 .733 .7939
www.UUAugusta.org
We welcome stories, news and pictures sent in for our month-
ly Newsletter.
Deadline: Monday before the last Thursday
e-mail directly to the church office:
September Worship at UUCA Sundays at 11am
Sunday, September 3rd – “Love Hurts” - Rev. Gaye Sunday, September 10th – “Love Is the Drug” - Rev. Gaye
Sunday, September 17th — “What Kind of Love Do We Need?” - Guest-in-the-Pulpit, The Rev. Duncan Teague
Sunday, September 24th – “A Higher Love” -Rev. Gaye 7pm—Full Moon Vespers
Teaching Calendar—September 2017
3rd
10th 17th 24th
Nursery &
Toddlers
Sherron Shonk Alan Totten
Sherron Shonk Laurie Booher
Sherron Shonk Melanie Roberts
Sherron Shonk
Pre-kindergarten - Kindergarten
R. E. Room 2
Callista Kiss Liz Goodson
“Labor Day: Games and Ice Cream”
Helen Baisden Nadia Baisden
“It’s Not Nice to Make Fun of Others”
Stephen Heyl Assistant Needed
“It’s OK That We Are All Different
Jenny Malizia Chris Garcia
“Treat Others the Way That You Want to Be Treated”
Grades 1-3
Common Room
Tim Hunter Quenton Davis
“Labor Day: Games and Ice Cream”
Denice Traina Betsy Alger
“The Big Orange Splot”
Aubrey Hogan Dan Cooper
“Old Turtle”
Nixon Childs Zak Skibo
“Henry Builds a Cabin”
Grades 4-6
R. E. Room 3
Chris Drescher
“Labor Day: Games and Ice Cream”
Pam Link Sam Link
“Bibleodeon: Introducing the Bible, part one”
Brandon Anderson Rev. Gaye
“Bibleodeon: Introducing the Bible, part two”
Liam Dakin Ruth Garrison
“Bibleodeon: Cain and Able”
Grades 7-12
R. E. Room 4
“Labor Day: Games and Ice Cream”
Veronica Leaptrott Veronica Leaptrott Veronica Leaptrott
If you can help where Assistant Needed, please contact Ruth Garrison: [email protected]
