February 2012
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Services are held each Sunday at 10:00 am. For further information call (832) 377-7NWC, or (832) 377-7692, or visit our website's Sunday Services page.
If you have any suggestions for speakers for NWCUUC please contact speakerscheduler@nwcuuc.org.
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| February 5, 2012 |
Why Can't They Just...?
Margaret Anderson |
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…be more logical?
…prevent the problem now instead of waiting to repair its effects?
…see that there’s a pattern here?
When people frustrate us, when we can’t fathom their decisions and actions, temperament differences often play a role. Groups can have temperaments too. Explore the group personalities of different religions, what they say about our roles in society, and how we can communicate better with those who differ from us. |
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| February 12, 2012 |
Faith in Tension
Dr. Ken Shuman |
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“Faith is as much about questions as it is about answers. It is possible to be a believer and a listener at the same time, to be both fervent & searching, to honor the truth of one’s own convictions and the mystery of the convictions of others.” Krista Tippett in Speaking of Faith. |
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| February 19, 2012 |
Who Really Are Our Neighbors?
Brian Ferguson, Minister, San Marcos Unitarian Universalist Fellowship |
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Unitarian Universalists like good questions, possibly even more than good answers. Most people in North American culture are familiar with Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. What many people forget is the question that prompted Jesus to tell the parable. The question was “And who is my neighbor?” This question from nearly 2000 years ago is still a good one. This worship service will consider in our seemingly super connected world what the idea of neighbor means to us as individuals and as a Liberal Religious community. |
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| February 26, 2012 |
The Grateful Whale
Rev. Paul R. Beedle |
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A reflection on good deeds and the interdependent web of life. |
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ADMINISTRATION:
LIFESPAN FAITH DEVELOPMENT:
STEWARDSHIP:
OUTREACH:
OTHER:
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Please verify all event times and locations before attending. Please note that Board meetings may occur on a weekday evening offsite during some months.
February 4 (Saturday):
9:00 AM - Elders Meeting with Board Members
10:00 AM - Sanctuary Setup
February 5 (Sunday):
10:00 AM - Sunday Service
February 8 (Wednesday):
1:00 PM - Crones Group
February 10 (Friday):
6:00 PM - Spiritual Cinema Circle
February 11 (Saturday):
9:00 AM - The "You Matter" Project
10:00 AM - Sanctuary Setup
February 12 (Sunday):
10:00 AM - Sunday Service
10:00 AM - Share the Plate Sunday
12:00 PM - Monthly Birthday Celebration
February 18 (Saturday):
9:00 AM - All-Committee Meeting
10:00 AM - Sanctuary Setup
10:30 AM - Board of Trustees Meeting (likely to be moved offsite February 21 or 22 at Denny's FM1960/290 at 7 pm)
February 19 (Sunday):
10:00 AM - Sunday Service
12:00 PM - Town Hall Meeting on Trial Satellite/Merger Proposal
February 24 (Friday):
5:00 PM - dUUdes Night Out!
February 25 (Saturday):
10:00 AM - Sanctuary Setup
11:00 AM - Bowling
February 26 (Sunday):
10:00 AM - Sunday Service
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| Southwest UU Women's Conference
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The Southwest UU Women's organization is holding its annual conference this winter. This year the conference is in nearby Clear Lake. Please visit the SWUUW website for more information.
February 24-26, 2012
"Exploring the UUniverse of Women's Spirituality" with speaker Meg Barnhouse!
Please join us at the Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake, TX. Where is that? Clear Lake City is really a part of Houston but don’t think of the downtown skyline or busy freeways. The 2012 SWUUW Conference will be held in the beautiful Hilton hotel overlooking Clear Lake and across from NASA Space Center. It is located 25 miles south of downtown Houston, 17 miles from Houston’s Hobby Airport and is a perfect place to relax, rejuvenate, reconnect and join us in Exploring the UUniverse of Women’s Spirituality. Contact convener Lynn Young at conference@swuuw.org if you have any questions.
We'll share details here and on our Facebook page as plans progress.
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To Boldly Go...
For several months now I have felt there is a change a-comin’. We have been in our temporary location at the Kids Club now for 15 months, (we expected to be there 3-4 months). And while our landlord/hosts have been very hospitable to us, the fit has been tight and it has hampered our growth potential. Therefore we are putting Our Next Home as priority one on the church docket. The budget will be increased to help fund it, and our canvass and pledge drive is less than 2 months away. Your generous pledge increases will be needed to secure our commitment and growth in 2012-13.
There are more changes lining up as well. Your board has met with the Senior Minister Daniel O’Connell of First Unitarian Universalist Church and there has been a conversation around merging the two congregations. There will be a town hall gathering to explore this possibility on Sunday, February 19 after the service. In all, this is a very exciting time to be a Unitarian Universalist in Northwest Houston. I look forward to great opportunities ahead.
In the faith,
Bil Cusack
President
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 To members and friends of NWCUUC,
This has been a busy year for our congregation. The Visioning team has been interviewing us and collecting our thoughts to help form our vision for this congregation; we continue to reach out through Share the Plate, You Matter, and the UU Service committee through the Guest at Your Table Program; we’ve seen some new friends participate in our community; and we’ve continued Religious Education for Youth and Adults. Our Worship team continues to bring in a variety of interesting speakers; the youth continue their activities with the Houston area congregations. Meanwhile, several members of the congregation stay active in the area conferences and leadership training programs.
On the Financial side, we made it through our transition period so that our financial year runs from July 1 to June 30. So that means - it is time to start thinking about the financial part of our stewardship. Our theme this year is “To Boldly Go…..” We felt like this reflected our current status and our desire to move forward both within our church community and the community that surrounds us.
Over the next few months, we will be spending a few minutes in some of the worship services to talk about our financial goals for the year, how they align with the vision, and thus how they align with the congregation’s needs. We will be passing out brief questionnaire to make sure we adequately understand your perception of how this congregation should direct its resources in the coming year.
March 25th is Canvass Sunday, where the Stewardship Team will visit with each family in the congregation to present the annual budget, discuss what is going on in the church, and distribute and collect pledge cards. Guidelines for giving from the UU Association will be distributed to help each family establish a pledge. From this information, the board will be able to determine what programs in the proposed budget can be funded. Stewardship visitors do not see your pledge – envelopes are provided in the Financial Stewardship packet in which you can place your pledge card. Only the treasurers will know the amount.
Over the next few weeks, start preparing by revisiting your family budget, and start thinking about how you want to invest in this community we call Northwest Community Unitarian Universalist Church.
- stewardship@nwcuuc.org.
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On Canvass Sunday, the Visioning Team will have a group conversation about the draft Dream Statements based on the December session. The statements will be emailed or mailed to all members for preview, and your input will be joyfully received. Following the session, the final statements will be presented to the membership for final approval. These exciting statements will inform our future programs and policies. We look forward to continuing the conversation and the dream.
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| Lifespan Faith Development
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Children's and Youth Religious Education (RE) for 2011-2012
The Lifespan Faith Development Committee Children and Youth RE curriculum this year includes all ages in planning, producing, and performing an original play. This is a great way to combine all of our RE students in a productive effort that will let their spirituality as well as their creativity shine.
We are always in need of adult members willing to serve as supporters for this curriculum for younger elementary, older elementary, junior high, and high school Religious Education classes. For information, contact lifespan@nwcuuc.org.
High School RE and YRUU
High School youth are also able to participate in our additional youth program, YRUU, or Young Religious Unitarian Universalists. YRUU is a national organization grouped into districts. Our southwest district sponsors youth gatherings in different cities several times during each school year. A summer camp program is also available through the district website, http://www.swuuc.org. YRUU focuses on leadership and faith development as well as social action projects.
Adult RE
To sign up or ask questions, send an email to adultre@nwcuuc.org.
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| Outreach - Faith in Action
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Spring Break Food Donation for Needy Students in CFISD
 Outreach Committee plans to collect the Split the Plate funds for January-March and present nonperishable food to the counselor at Windfern High School. Thank you for supporting our local outreach project. It made the difference to keep some low-income students from going hungry over the two-week winter break, and we know that having food over spring break will be helfpul as well. Windfern High School is a public alternative school whose mission is to help nontraditional high school students graduate. About 300 students at the junior and senior level attend this special school whose logo is a lighthouse. Teachers and administrators are specially selected to work with these at-risk students. Many of them are working full-time to support their own or their original families, and must supply their own transportation to the school
You Matter!
On the 2nd Saturday of each month at 9 a.m. at the Kids Club, we host lunch making for www.YouMatterProject.org, and then caravan to downtown Houston to deliver sack lunches to the homeless. People of all ages are welcome!
For more information contact - faithinaction@nwcuuc.org
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The Smart Church, Part 7 - by Connie Goodbread
How much high drama (as in emotional turmoil) happens in your congregation?
How often does it happen?
Is there a pattern to the drama?
Does it stop the congregation from transition?
Does it stop the congregation from growth?
What kind of high drama is empowered and supported by the culture of the congregation?
Too often we mistake drama for depth. Drama of feeling is not the same as depth of feeling. Drama is engaging and easy to fall victim to. It can and does come to us in many forms. It comes in the form of people trying to place the burden of their happiness on others or on the community. It comes in the form of people trying to hand others secrets disguised as confidences. It comes in the form of gossip and rumor mongering. It comes in the form of being highly offended by this, that or the other thing. It comes when we assume the motives of others without checking out our assumptions. It comes in the form of bad manners and behavior. It comes in the form of manipulation. It comes in the form of what I call "hitting us below the liberal belt". Example: congregational leadership sets a perfectly fair boundary and someone accuses them of not respecting the inherent worth and dignity of an individual because they will not allow that individual to continue engaging in hurtful or disruptive behavior.
The first principle of our Covenant, if misunderstood, can keep congregations from setting appropriate boundaries. If there are individuals in your congregation who consistently engage in any of the behavior listed above, and this is by no means a comprehensive list, they are out of covenant. They are not honoring the inherent worth and dignity of others or the community.
Setting up and using safety polices that empower leadership to take the necessary steps to keep the members safe and in covenant will help the congregation to grow.We should not allow one individual to endanger another or the community. We should not tolerate violence or abuse of any kind. We should respect others and expect that others to respect us.We as individuals can choose to not be offended. We can refuse to participate in gossiping and rumor mongering. We can refuse to keep secrets while holding true confidences confidential. We can support and respect our leaders; they have a difficult and important job. We can allow them to lead. When we don't like something, we can go directly to the person we have an issue with and/or follow proper procedure to make ourselves heard.Depth of feeling, relationship, intelligence, spirituality, experience, covenant and justice are what Unitarian Universalism is all about. Ours is anything but a shallow faith. To be a Unitarian Universalist is to live a life of adventure, respect, integrity and responsibility, open to all the possibilities. Ours is not an easy faith. Ours is not an easy spiritual discipline. Ours is a faith of depth.We have a finite amount of energy. It is a shame to waste it on the shallowness of drama when we could be swimming in the depths of being.
"Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out in the ocean." --Christopher Reeve
Reprinted with permission of Connie Goodbread. Connie is part of a team that redesigned and led Dwight Brown Leadership Experience and Southland Unitarian Universalist Leadership Experience. To contact Connie Goodbread, email her cgoodbread at uua.org. Source: http://www.floridadistrict.org/?p=115
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We need you for Saturday morning set up! We usually begin at 10:00 and are done by 10:45. A minimum of 3 people are needed. One Saturday a month would be a big help. See Tom Parker or Susan Berg if you are willing to lend a hand. Folks meeting at the Kids Club, please keep the A/C at 75 degrees while there and turn it to 85 before locking up.
Thanks,
Tom Parker - buildingandaesthetics@nwcuuc.org
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 Extensive research with the help of members and the board of trustees shows that rents in the area for about 3000 square feet are in the range of $1500-$3000 per month, before utilities. The board believes that a new proposed budget for 2012-2013 will need to have a higher amount budgeted for finding a new and permanent home as the members have requested. A few potential locations have been identified for closer investigation.
If you know of a potential location for a next home, please send an email to boardofdirectors@nwcuuc.org.
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Free Money Opportunities
We have been associated with iGive.com for quite some time now. If you are not registered, just go to the iGive.com website and sign up. It is free, you get discounts on things you would already be purchasing, and NWCUUC gets a portion of the sale as well.
* Petco online is giving 3.6% of your purchase total to NWCUUC
* Fairmont and Best Western hotels are both donating 2% of your purchase total to NWCUUC
* And, for those of us who like to take pictures, Snapfish is giving 4.8% of your purchase total to NWCUUC
These online deals also include discounts for you - 35% off your photo order, for example! With more than 700 online merchants, there are lots of opportunities for you to help NWCUUC while you shop.
For more details, see http://www.nwcuuc.org/home/LivingYourSpirituality/SupportingNWCUUC/tabid/1097/Default.aspx.
If you have any questions, please contact fundraising@nwcuuc.org
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