UUFD Newsletter, January 2023

January 2023 * Happy New Year

January Services

Services begin at 10:00 a.m. in our sanctuary located at the corner of West Third and San Juan Drive (419 San Juan Drive) in Durango. If you are unable to attend, we stream the service on Zoom, which you can find by clicking here.

Theme for January: Finding Our Center

Jan. 1

Weebles Wobble, but They Don’t Fall Down

-Mary Ocken, Pulpit Guest

Mental health is fundamental to our collective. We can create our own peace and balance inside ourselves, and through meaningful connections and care, we become stronger together.

Jan. 8

History as Identity: History as Spiritual Practice

-Rev. Barbara Coeyman

How well do you know UUFD’s history? What about the history of Unitarian Universalism? History explains our identity, our centeredness. Because connections with the past inform our present and inspire future direction, focus on a congregation’s history is one of the five focus points of interim ministry. Indeed, considered as part of congregational life, history is spiritual practice.

Jan. 15

Making Good Trouble: MLK, John Lewis, and a Bridge in Selma

-Rev. Barbara Coeyman

Martin Luther King and John Lewis, leaders in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, were committed to working for racial justice through non-violent methods of social reform, committed to making this world a better place for all people. On this weekend recognizing King’s birth, let’s reflect on the Civil Rights march in Selma, Alabama in March 1965 led by King and Lewis and the intentional response of UUs to King’s call to Selma to support the work of civil rights leaders.

Jan. 22

The Centering Power of Trust

-Rev. Barbara Coeyman

As part of a congregational book group during January, some congregants have considered the theme of “Trusting Change.” Trust is essential to authentic personal relationships as well as to thriving communities and congregations. Trust enhances centeredness, that feeling of wholeness, focus, and mission. Today’s reflections on trust as centeredness also pave the way for the “Circles of Trust” program we begin here at UUFD in February.

Jan. 29

Save the People

-clare hammoor, Ministerial Intern, Namaqua Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Join dr clare hammoor for an exploration of incarceration, mercy, and action in a service that gets curious about the magic of divinity between, rather than above, us. Inspired by his recent production of Stephen Schwartz's Godpsell with 150 people incarcerated in Colorado, "Save the People" is a call for collective justice and joy in the loneliest of places. dr clare hammoor is the Intern Minister at Namaqua Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Loveland, Colorado. His commitment to justice and joy has led him over the past twelve years to collaborate through the arts with people who are incarcerated.

A Message from Rev. Barbara

History Matters

Tracing family history, as through Ancestry.com, has become a popular and often revealing endeavor for many of us. How many of you have traced your genetic lineage, on Ancestry or other search options? What have you learned?

Knowing who and where we come from matters on so many levels. Knowledge of our past influences how we see and understand ourselves in the present. If you’ve traced your personal ancestry, perhaps you’ve reacted like a man on a recent Ancestry.com commercial, when, on discovering that a large percentage of his genetic make-up was Scottish, he understood why he was curiously drawn to wearing kilts! Knowing more about our many histories - genetic, family, racial, national, and more - clarifies our identity and helps us understand our particular personal habits and tendencies. Knowing more about the leaves on our family trees helps explain personal and biological relationships.

You may have varied responses when you hear the word “history.” Perhaps you think of Ancestry.com, or stories about people you never met. Perhaps the term “history” conjures up memories of academic classes you’ve taken, when I hope that the history you studied was examined for its relevance to life today, even as in my career before ministry as a teacher of music history I heard many students who had not yet taken my course assume that music history would be a boring class. I hope any history courses you’ve taken have demonstrated that “History Matters.” Even as we might hope that knowing the history of injurious events such as wars would help humankind forestall war in the future, sometimes learning the lessons of history can be long in coming, but they still matter.

When I teach history subjects (these days about Unitarian Universalism) I ground my treatment of history on two premises: 1) history is facts - the data - about the past, and 2) history is also interpretation - that is, the lens through which we view and evaluate that data. Thank goodness that historical data is always subject to new, revisionist interpretations, as historians uncover new information and as changing cultural contexts open us to new interpretations and acceptance of the stories of our past. The same data viewed through new lenses can assume significantly different meaning and importance. Just consider how our lens on history has expanded over the past decades, from an earlier white male supremacist paradigm, to activities and accomplishments of women, people of color, people of lower and middle classes, and so on. From our UU publisher, Beason Press in Boston, alone there is an entire “Revisioning History Series,” offering histories of Indigenous People, Queer, Black Women, and more.

In addition to family histories, or histories of nation-building, or histories of previously marginalized populations, history in congregational life matters, just as it does in other arenas. During interim ministry, as UUFD is pursuing right now, one of the Five Focus Points of Interim Ministry invites a congregation to explore its history, in the words of the Focus Points, to “Claim and honor the past and engage and honor past griefs and conflicts.” If you are a relative newcomer to UUFD, learning more of its history will enhance your connections to the community. If you’ve been at UUFD for awhile, new lenses on the past may help you re-examine and re-consider your identity here. Can you see why religious professionals encourage congregations to write up or otherwise publish their own histories on some regular basis, such as UUFD did for your 50th anniversary year in 2017? Knowing a congregation’s past helps clarify why we do things the way we do today.

To address the Focus Point on history, a common activity during an interim period is a project referred to as a “History Timeline.” A History Timeline is a physical display of the years of the congregation’s existence - UUFD’s since 1967 - drawn on large sheets of scrolling paper with relevant data from the past delineating the congregation’s chronology. UUFD’s Transition Team is preparing the History Timeline, which will be installed on the walls of the sanctuary, ready for “unveiling” on Sunday January 8. Following a worship service on History as Spiritual Practice, all congregants, in-person and online, are encouraged to attend a post-service workshop that Sunday to learn more about this Timeline. This Timeline is not a listing of factual data about UUFD - that you can see on the history display in the UUFD main office. Instead, this Timeline is a record from you, the congregation, of personal experiences and memories in your relationship with UUFD. During the workshop, we will engage in a number of conversations to stimulate your memories of UUFD. You will be invited to post your memories and read the postings from others. The Timeline will remain available for about six weeks, ample time to return again and again to post more of your own memories and read the postings of others.

The primary goal of interim ministry is for a congregation to discern two questions: Who Are We? and Where Do We Want to Go? I hope that examining your history will expand your perspective on UUFD’s current identity and support your moving into a new future. Indeed, UUFD’s History Matters.

UUFD Magical History Tour

Join us after worship Jan. 8

Come to church Sunday January 8 and stay for the next step in our ministerial transition. Expanding on the activity timeline that we created at our 50th anniversary, Rev. Barbara will guide us through an interactive workshop designed to continue and deepen our understanding of who we are as a fellowship. We will have the opportunity to reflect personally on what is and has been so for us as members and friends of UUFD, to acknowledge, own and celebrate our individual emotionally impactful experiences through our involvement with UUFD over the years of our membership. Bring all your memories - joyful, challenging, affectionate, regretful, uplifting, fearful, hopeful, frustrating…

We will work together and individually to build a composite, visible picture of the important events and changes that have occurred in the congregation over the years, building a broad picture of our collective memory. We will create a tapestry of UUFD’s collective church experience which will allow us to connect our past, in the present, as we move to a desired future.

If you have pictures of you or others in UUFD activities over the years of your membership, feel free to bring them to attach to the history wall we will build in the Sanctuary.

The workshop will take place from 11:15 to 12:45 in the Sanctuary. Light snacks will be available for those who don’t want to delay lunch. If you need childcare in order to participate, please contact Tom Miller (tommiller1945@gmail.com)

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR

This year’s Celebration Sunday, "Rising to the Peak Together,"

will be March 12

"Finding your center" with Faith Formation activities

“Find your center and stay there. It will allow you to live your life to its maximum.”

-Barbara Ann Kipfer, author of 1001 Ways to Live Wild: a Little Book of Every Day Adventures.

The holidays are over, and we’re entering the most intense part of winter. As holiday decorations are taken down, our homes may seem a little barren, but there’s also relief in the change. The hustle and bustle of December slows to a more manageable pace. This may be a process of becoming more centered, which is the Soul Matters Sharing Circle theme for January.

Children and Youth

Thanks to everyone who made December’s activities work so well. “Peace, Joy, and Ho, Ho, Ho!” on December 11 was a hit, made possible by the enthusiasm of the kids and your support. This is equally true of the Holiday Market on December 18. Kids went home with gifts provided by your generosity. The items left after the sale were donated to the Methodist Thrift Shop.

Harrison and Nikki will be leading the kids into centeredness in January with expanded activities:

January 1, no faith formation circle for the kids.
January 8, New Year, New Me Spiritual Ceremony
January 15, a Center that Evolves
January 22, Keeping Your Balance To Find Your Center
January 29, Putting Racial Justice at the Center

Adult Faith Development Opportunities

Trusting Change Book Study Begins January 4

A book study is coming on January 4 for three weeks (January 4, 11, and 18) to read and discuss Trusting Change, written by UU minister Karen Hering.

The book offers ten “thresholding” skills to give readers practical tools for living on the threshold and through change. This is not a typical “how-to” guide. Its beautifully written, evocative language will connect readers with their own deeper consciousness. Hering notes change is inevitable and provides readers with tools that allow them to trust it, whether personal, within a close community like UUFD, or in the larger world.

Participants are responsible for providing their own books. The book is available in print from In Spirit Bookstore or as a Kindle from Amazon. Click here to register.

Geography of Grace (Circles of Trust) Coming February 4

“Geography of Grace” draws upon places and objects in nature as sources of inspiration for spiritual growth and transformation. This class will meet every other Saturday for six sessions beginning on February 4 and ending on April 15. Click here to register

Each session of this workshop explores a different place in geography such as the Desert, Mountains, and the Night Sky.

The “Circles of Trust” process includes reading of wisdom texts, group conversations, story-telling, experiencing nature, and application of “Courage” guidelines. Applying core principles and practices identified by the Center for Courage and Renewal, we move toward aligning our inner life—our soul—with our outer work in the world—our role. Our interactions with others set the stage for transformation in our families, workplaces, communities, and especially for this workshop, in this congregation of UUFD.

Rev. Barbara Coeyman is a credentialed facilitator with the Center for Courage and Renewal. Her formation as a facilitator included direct mentoring from Parker Palmer.

Attendance at all six sessions is encouraged. If you have questions, Contact Rev. Barbara. All study materials will be provided.

Personal Faith Development Opportunities

If you are looking for a faith development to do on your own schedule and via online, Soul Matters Sharing Circle has two different opportunities with registrations opening in January: UU Writers and Creativity Matters. The links will take you to web pages with more information and sample packets.

Are you interested in joining a Zoom covenant group? If so, please send an email to Sharon Mignerey.

Personal Faith Development

Being centered requires we know what our core values are and to take time to absorb the activities of daily life. These are a pathway to being more at peace, no matter how busy we may be. Two practices may be helpful.

With a trusted friend, take a look at this list of values. Pick out 5 that you would identify as your core values. Share the whole blank list with your trusted friend and ask them to pick out the 5 they believe are your core values. Compare and discuss the differences without being judgmental or defensive. The insight gained by seeing how others see us compared to how we see ourselves can be useful, especially to identify what helps us feel centered and peaceful. Do you find behaviors or habitual ways of thinking that fall outside these core values? This is something to take into reflection or journaling.
Engage in a purposeful pause, which is simply taking note of a routine activity and being fully present with it. For example, imagine loading the dishwasher. Notice the shape of the dishes, their color, and texture, remember how you picked out this item with some sense of the pleasure it would bring, listen to the water as it slushes off the dish, notice your preference for how you place it for optimal cleaning or maybe to simply fit. Notice the scent of the meal you just had or of the cleaner you use. Notice how things sound from the running water to the items as they are put into place. And finally, how does this noticing make you feel? Noticing … the basis for this purposeful pause … and being more fully present doesn’t take any more time than doing a task by rote. It does create an environment to become more aware of what you prefer so you can make changes as needed.

In closing, the beloved Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us the most important reason to embrace becoming more centered and more mindful involves our relationship with ourselves and others: “The most previous gift we can offer each other is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”

Sharon Mignerey, Coordinator of Faith Formation

Harrison Wendt, Coordinator of Youth Faith Formation

Nikki Bauer, Faith Formation Teacher

Humanitarian Crisis at the Border

Social Responsibility and Justice special feature

The news carries ongoing stories of the crisis at the border. It is, frankly, a mess - begging for the national government to take the lead and develop an immigration policy that addresses the explosion of human suffering by those at the border. While we urge our legislative leaders to take action, there are compassionate efforts to provide direct help to migrants at the border in Juarez, Mexico.

Members of our social justice team are in contact with members of the Las Placitas Presbyterian Church in New Mexico. The church works with Dr. Eva Moya, professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, to get supplies to refugees at the border. Dr. Moya has dedicated her 35 year career to advancing health and social justice along the U.S.-Mexico border. She works with a large network of people to get donations quickly to people in need, both in shelters and outside the formal shelter network. Already Las Placitas Church has transported over 200 cases of food and water, and boxes of sheets, blankets, pillows, towels, clothing, shoes and sandals, toiletries, school supplies, toys and puzzles. El Paso, one of the poorest major cities in the U.S., cannot begin to cope with 2,100 desperate and destitute people a day coming over the border. Migrant shelters in El Paso and Juarez are housing up to three time their “normal” capacity.

If you would like to help Las Placitas Church volunteers in their work to care for migrants, some options are listed below. Dignity Mission is the name of this church project.

Ship any of the following critically needed items directly to Dr. Moya: diapers, NIDO Fortificado dry milk, infant and children’s clothing, underwear for all ages, knit caps, gloves, sweatshirts, backpacks, sleeping mats. (Amazon source for these items is listed at the end of this article.)

Address: Dignity Mission

c/o Dr. Eva Moya

6520 La Cadena Drive

El Paso, TX 79912

Monetary donations can be made by writing a check to Las Placitas Presbyterian Church with Dignity Mission noted on the memo line and mailed to Las Placitas Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 768, Placitas, NM 87043.

Items requested (click item for link):