Rev. Cynthia Johnson is now a regular columnist in the Door County Advocate! Watch for her Faith Perspective articles as she rotates through the sequence of other county clergy every seven weeks. It is a great opportunity for our Fellowship to share the unique perspectives of Unitarian Universalism with Advocate readers.

Thanks Cynthia!

By Marilyn Hansotia

The New Year brings a new feature to our UUFDC Members and Friends. We have added a password-protected tab near the top of the home page www.uufdc.org that will be updated regularly with information pertinent to our congregation. Some items posted there include Member and Friend contact lists, policies for our Memorial Garden and Building Use. Other items will be added as we explore the possibilities.

We will email the password to all Members and Friends on our email distribution list. Once you click on the Members & Friends tab on the website you will be asked to enter this password. It may take a few minutes for this to load the first time you attempt to access it. Be patient! All computers are not created equally! If you have trouble getting into this portion of our website, contact either our Administrator Pat Crow at the office contact@uufdc.org and me at mhansotia@charter.net

Where can you find the most up-to-date information about UUFDC events? On the website calendar at www.uufdc.org! Items will be added to the calendar by Pat as they are set. Simply click on the CALENDAR tab on the opening home page. The current month will display but you can go forward or backward to other months. Hold your cursor over a calendar entry and you will see details of the event. Our website is always being updated with new information about our Fellowship. Use it regularly and suggest it to others who may have an interest. If you have a new event to post, please send that to Pat or me.

Highly recommended as a prelude to Rev. Joan Shiels’ message on Jan 8^th titled Reel Spirituality: Enlightenment at the Movies, is seeing the 1972 Academy Award winning film The Godfather. You will have that opportunity to view this classic starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan at 4 pm, January 7^th at the Fellowship. We plan to serve up some Italian pizza to set the mood. The movie is free; shared cost for the pizza.

By Chuck Lauter

Above is the title of a forum sponsored by the Governing Board and conducted by Adult Education and SRC, to be held at 3 pm on Wednesday, January 25. The coming year will be a period of intense political ferment in our locale, our state and our nation. After inquiries and discussion, the GB determined that it would be wise for the Fellowship to focus on how we should act and/or re-act in this climate.

Political issues almost always have moral and/or ethical dimensions. As such, religious/spiritual communities may wish to act on them. In the recent past UUFDC has by resolution condemned Arizona immigration laws and opposed a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The UUA General Assembly in Phoenix in June 2012 will have as its theme Immigration Justice. UUs have a long history of responding to  political/moral questions.

The Fifth Principle which UUs affirm and covenant is “The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.” This and the other principles are intended as the grounding for the forum. Political positions can be divisive and we as a Fellowship wish to avoid dissension. Yet, as noted in the Fifth Principle, we need to balance conscience with democratic process. The question is, “How do we do this?” The forum will explore how UUFDC can act and how members and friends can interact on political issues in the context of the Fellowship.

This is a critical event. Please put the date and time –January 25 at 3 pm–on your calendar and plan to attend.

UUFDC Friend Jami Hanreddy will meet with Conversation Partners at UUFDC  October 4 at 10 am.  This project of SRC provides help with English to immigrants in our community. New members are welcome.

We hope to expand our program and reach out to more learners this fall. Please respond to both Karen Cruz (nanacruzk@yahoo.com) and Jami Hanreddy (hanreddy@uwm.edu) if you plan to attend.

“The challenge of talking about Unitarian Universalism — it’s easier to be one than to tell someone about it.” Rev. Cynthia Johnson.

During the three sessions in October, UUFDC members, friends and the curious will have an opportunity to learn about the UU faith. Information will focus on an accurate short course about how, when, why, and where Unitarianism and Universalism emerged within the Christian tradition more than two hundred years ago in America; and explain how it is that UU congregations today can possibly contain such an amazing diversity about religious language and images. A goal of the sessions is to engage or re-engage the individual spiritual journey at a deeper level by exploring what we believe about ourselves, our relationship with the world and our understanding of ultimacy.

October 6, led by Cynthia Johnson and Juliana Neuman:

1. Introductions; Individual spiritual journeys
2. Growing up Unitarian/Unitarian Universalist
3. Some very important moments and individuals in Unitarian Universalist history

October 20, led by Lynn Olson:

Lynn and a small repertory theatrical company

Lynn and a small theatrical company will demonstrate how we live out our Unitarian Universalism today, together here in our community.

October 27 (rescheduled from 10/13), led by Bob Lindahl:

History: a variety of congregations where Unitarians and Universalists gathered to worship and live out their religious ideals

Register for Faith Like A River by October 5 by contacting Pat at the UU Office (920) 854-7559. Classes are held at the UU on the above dates from 3-5 pm. You are encouraged to attend all three sessions but not required. And please invite non-UUs to join us.