The ODYSSEY
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MAY,
2003 Newsletter
of the Bowie Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship
Minister’s Musings
Dear Members and Friends of the BUUF:
It is that time of year again. At the end of April and
into the beginning of May we will be asking you to make a pledge to the ongoing
work of the Bowie Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Your pledge will
help pay our regular bills; rent, salaries, Religious Education curricula,
worshop supplies, paper, etc. But let’s also dream.
What programs that we do not have now would you like to see?
Someone from the larger community asked this week if we had a men’s group.
Do we want one? How about a women’s group? More adult religious
education programming? An office/meeting space that we could use throughout
the week? More music for the choir?
More books and resources for children’s religious education?
A trip to Boston for our Coming of Age classes? A paid choir director?
More ministerial or Director of Religious Education time? More advertising?
A summer day camp? A larger commitment to social justice?
It is time to think about our priorities and our dreams.
It has been said, “the proper use of money is the only advantage there is
to having it.” The same can also be said of time. To hold together
and to grow a spiritual community takes a commitment of time and of money.
That time and money can only come from us.
The Bowie Unitarian Universalist Fellowship can only be what
we make it to be. I encourage your commitment to this community’s
maintenance and growth.
“We welcome [all who wish to come] to [our fellowship], which
we tend with love and care.
“We do not inquire of our fellow worshippers what they believe.
We do not expect them to think as we do, only that they share a concern for
truth and goodness.
“Those who speak here have the task of presenting religion freely,
fearlessly and faithfully. Those who listen have the responsibility
of testing what they hear, not only with critical minds but also in the living
of their everyday lives.
“We welcome the support of all who believe that religion is
wider than any sect and deeper than any set of opinions. We also welcome
those who might find strength and encouragement for daily living through
our friendship.”
We have been welcomed. May we tend BUUF with love and
care so that it may welcome others.
Blesses Be,
Cyn Snavely
Worship Schedule
May 11th – “Women Changing the World” Julia Ward Howe organized Mothers'
Day as a day to rally for peace. She and other women worked to try
to make the world better than they found it. On Mothers' Day we celebrate
these women.
May 18th – Developing Spiritual Practices: Exercises in Developing
One’s Faith. The Transcendentalists had a variety of practices which
they believed would aid in their faith development. We look at their
practices as we consider our own.
May 25th – The Worship Service Committee presents a Memorial Service
-- The theme will be announced.
PAGE 2
MAY 2003
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Minister:
Rev. Cynthia Snavely
240/475-2111 (cell)
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RE Director:
Zoë Vilicic
301/809-3911
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Music Director:
Dick Wobus
301/249-1703
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Administrator:
Cindy Murphree
301/464-8331
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Minister Emeritus:
Rev. John Gaffney
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ODYSSEY Editor:
Jim McLaughlin
jimmcl@hotmail.com
301/352-8809
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Board of Trustees
President: Steve Buckingham
410/451-2338
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Vice President: Sarah Raymond
301/218-2089
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Financial Officer: Roger Davidson
301/262-4632
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Secretary: Joe Herring
301/490-8163
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Trustees:
Kathy Cunningham(301/390-2947)
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Maury Marks (301/262-5613) |
Marian Rubach (301/262-1649)
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Pam Schulman (301/261-0760)
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Committee Chairs:
Membership:
Pam Schulman
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Social Action:
Joe Herring
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Social Activities:
Sarah Raymond
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Worship:
Marian Rubach
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Religious Education:
Maury Marks
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Communications:
Kathy Cunningham
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Denominational Affairs:
Louisa Davidson
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Ministerial Relations:
John Dutrow (member)
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Deadline for June ODYSSEY:
May 20, 2003 
President's Notes
Labors of Love and Faith
Spring finds us as busy as the bees that suddenly appeared as
the season comes to full bloom. There is a flurry of activity within
our congregation as we celebrate our sense of community, renew our commitment
for the future, and choose our leaders for the coming year. For those
of us who take an active part in BUUF affairs, these are labors of love and
of faith.
• At the end of March, we enjoyed each other’s
company at the Annual Auction while raising funds for operating expenses
as well as social justice and future worship space.
• At the Joseph Priestly District Conference in Timonium
in April, Roger Davidson and I participated in workshops and worship with
UUs from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, DC, Virginia and Delaware.
• Our Fellowship Dinner on April 26 gave us another opportunity
for community, and we kicked off our annual pledge drive to assure BUUF’s
financial future.
• The Annual Meeting scheduled for May 4 after our Flower
Service will include the election of officers and members of the Board of
Trustees to guide our community through the next year.
• On May 14, 2003, we will revitalize the Space Committee
and charge it with finding us a new home in the coming year.
• During this time, the Committee on Ministry will also
be conducting a congregational survey to measure our progress and success
in ministering to the needs of our congregation.
In all these activities, we choose to join together in common
purpose, to celebrate what each of us brings to the effort, and to demonstrate
our faith in each other and in the success of our labors.
Steve Buckingham
President, BUUF Board of Trustees
Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism
by John Shelby Spong will be the base for a book study to begin this spring
led by Rev. Snavely.
Publisher: Harper
SanFrancisco copyright year is 1991
ISBN:
0060675187
The publisher is Harper San Francisco and the copyright year is 1991.
Read the first three chapters: “A Preamble: Sex Drove Me to the Bible,” “Raising
the Issues” and “The Pre-scientific Assumptions of the Bible” (pages 1-36)
PAGE 3
MAY 2003
UUSJ is Growing Up
Since October of last year, UUSJ has hired a ½ time executive
director and a part-time administrative assistant, rented office space with
the Unitarian Universalist Affordable Housing Corporation, established our
own 501-3c status as a non-profit corporation, and created our own bank account.
Congregations and individuals can now write checks directly
to UUSJ rather than to Cedar Lane for UUSJ. Phone calls and correspondence
can go to the UUSJ office at 301-588-1951, 8730 Georgia Ave. Suite 306 Silver
Spring, MD 20910. The executive director, Vanessa Eaton, has begun
visiting UUSJ member congregations. If you would like to invite her
to a service, event or meeting, please feel free to contact the UUSJ office.
We hope that these changes, taken together, will all make UUSJ
more available to the congregations and better able to help you in your commitment
to social justice.
Washington, D.C. National Capital
Area Walk
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Family & Friends Supporting
the National Alliance for Autism Research
Registration 1:00 p.m.
2-mile walk 2:00 p.m.
To register, call (888) 777-NAAR
http://www.autismwalk.org/WDC/
For more information please contact Pam Schulman at (301) 261-0760 or schulman10@comcast.net
Fun Entertainment & A Fund Raiser as Well
The UU Revue, music by Betsy Angebrandt
and book by Pat Guyton , is coming. Performed by the Choir of the Annapolis
UU Church on one day only, Sunday , June 8 at 3 PM at the Annapolis
Church. Then it is going on to the UU General Assembly, later in June.
It was performed in March when I saw it and, believe me, it is a professionally
performed, wonderfully funny collection of songs, dances and jokes about
UUs and UUisms. The show lasts two hours with one intermission when
refreshments can be purchased.
This will also be a Fund Raiser for BUUF, we have generously
been offered half -- I said half -- of the proceeds. Tickets are $15 each.
Bring the entire family (appropriate for older children who can sit through
a two hour show). Child care will not be provided by Annapolis. If we can
work out a child care arrangement, then so be it. Attending this unique event
will be members and friends of the Annapolis Church (who missed it in March),
members of the Eastern Shore UU Church, and BUUF. We get half of all of the
proceeds. The Annapolis Church netted $2600 the last time it was performed.
This is a win-win situation for BUUF. All we have to do is show up and enjoy
the show.
Tickets will be available for purchase at BUUF on any Sunday.
See Maury Marks after the Service. Seating is limited, so get your tickets
early.
submitted by Maury Marks
General Assembly: The Annual Meeting of the Unitarian
Universalist Association
This year’s annual meeting for the denomination
will be held relatively close to us in Boston, Massachusetts. The location
rotates from year to year. In 2004 the GA will be held in Long Beach,
CA; in 2005 in Fort Worth, TX and in 2006 in St. Louis, MO. See the
program sampler for more about General Assembly and/or check the website
www.uua.org/ga.
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MAY 2003
Dear friends,
Many of you will remember me from the years when the Rev. Kerry
Mueller, my wife, was your student extension minister. A few years after
Kerry graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary I heard the call to ministry
myself. My several years of formal study in preparation for Unitarian Universalist
ministry will soon come to an end. In December I was approved by the UUA’s
Ministerial Fellowship Committee, and this month I will graduate from Wesley
Theological Seminary. As a result, I am now eligible to be ordained as a
Unitarian Universalist minister.
I have asked the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington,
VA, the congregation in which Kerry and I were members for 15 years and in
which I first became a UU and started on my path toward ministry, to ordain
me. They have agreed, and the ordination is scheduled for Sunday, September
21, at 5 p.m. You are all invited to participate in that ordination, and
I hope that many of you will be able there with me. I would greatly appreciate
your support during this rite of passage in my life as a Unitarian Universalist.
Yours in faith,
Dave Hunter
Membership Committee
News
Saturday, June 7 is Bowie Fest. BUUF will have a table
with brochures and an activity for children. To sign up for a 2 hour slot,
please contact Pam Schulman at (301) 261-0760 or schulman10@comcast.net.
We need coverage all day.
The Membership Committee meets on the 4th Tuesday of each month.
Our final meeting for this church year is on May 26, 2003
If you are interested in joining this committee or just want
to attend meetings of the Membership Committee, please contact Pam Schulman
at (301) 261-0760 or schulman10@comcast.net.
HELP needed by the
Worship Service Committee
A person to act as caretaker of the audio tape recordings of the Sunday services.
These recordings are made so that they can be loaned out to our congregants,
but at present there is no system in place to make this possible -- to publicize
the tape availability, to store and maintain them, and to track the tapes
if they are loaned out. I guess what we need is a "tape librarian."
Any person who has an interest in this ongoing project should speak to Marian
Rubach or telephone her at 301 262-1649.
Administrator Notes
Dear Members of BUUF:
I've only received responses from 26 people/families about their
preferences on receiving emails. That is out of a total of 44 people/families
I have listed in the database as having email. I'm certainly not pushing
anyone but they need to know that they will not get any BUUF info that is
sent out via email unless they choose to sign up for at least that option.
Please contact me @ BUUF@comcast.net if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Cindy Murphree
PAGE 5
Annual UUA Assembly
Coming June 26-June 30th
PAGE 6
May 2003
May Calendar
Tuesday, 5/6 – Board Meeting, 7:30 PM
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Sunday, 5/11 – “Women Changing the World” by Rev.
Snavely.
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Sunday, 5/18 – “Developing Spiritual Practices” by
Rev. Snavely.
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Tuesday, 5/20 – Membership Committee Meeting, 7:30
PM
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Tuesday, 5/20 – Deadline for ODYSSEY
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Sunday, 5/25 – “The Worship Service Committee presents
a Memorial Service.
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Monday, 5/26 – Memorial Day
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Bowie Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship Mission Statement
We, the free and open community
of the Bowie Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, join in common goals: to
support each other in our spiritual journeys, to serve humanity, to celebrate
diversity, to be in harmony with the universe, and to open our hearts, our
minds, and our spirits to the adventure of life.
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