Newsletter of Summit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
6062 Lake Murray Boulevard, #110, La Mesa, CA 91942
Vol. 15 No. 11 November 2005
Sunday Services - 10:00 a.m
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December 4: "Light My Fire" Led by Congregational Members
Often there is a special "Someone" who has lit the fire within us and has made a lasting impact on our view of the world and ourselves. Three Summitarians will share their personal stories of such a person in their lives. Music will be provided by the band, Close Enough, with a solo from Stacey Scott.
December 11: "A New Coat for Anna" Presented by our Children in Summit’s RE program
December 18: "The Birth Stories" Rev. Tom Owen-Towle
The four earliest recorded accounts of Jesus’ birth illustrate our diversity as religious liberals. We, like the four gospel writers, must shape our own Christmas meanings, year after year after year.
December 24: INTERGENERATIONAL CANDLELIGHT SERVICE at 5:00 p.m.
This will be a soulful celebration of readings, song, silence and candles...an hour for our entire church family.
December 31: ALL-CHURCH CELEBRATION: SAYING GOODBYE AND HELLO! at 5:00 p.m.
Connie Henry, Ed Henry, and our interim minister will create a service of stirring music and ritual that enables Summitarians, of every age, to say farewell to 2005 and to greet 2006.
*Note there will be no worship services on Christmas and New Year’s Sundays!
January 8: "Hopeful, Not Optimistic!" Rev. Tom Owen-Towle
Ministerial Musings Rev. Tom Owen-Towle
And when the shepherds found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger, they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. Luke 2:17-19
With the birth of Jesus, B.C. became A.D.–history shifted momentously. The shepherds broadcast the good news far and wide. Then those who heard it were bathed in wonder. Mary kept the marvel to herself.
Amidst the joyous proclamation and amazement of this season, Mary's radical interiority seems out of place. Hanukkah and Christmas seem the season to be bold and public, festive and auspicious, hardly the time to withdraw and ponder matters. But wait a minute; in fact, pause several moments.
Here’s my counsel, Mary’s counsel. During each December day that lies ahead, steal (yes steal, since other folks aren’t geared during the holidays to hand over hunks of peacefulness to you) some quiet time away by yourself. Find a corner within your house and within your heart to be silent and still, to ponder life’s ordinary marvels: the sounds and sights and smells that make existence an unspeakable blessing. Pay attention to the enduring resources beneath the ephemeral enticements. Eternal beauty and joy dwell within your grasp, if your soul is wide-open. Therein will your December days be holy rather than hectic.
Mary's response to Jesus' birth is precisely what most of us frenzied holiday celebrants covet and need to honor. Unless we take, that is, "seize" time to be solitary, silent, and still during December, we’ll be thoroughly tinseled out by the time 2006 arrives.
Keeping means something else as well. To keep is to hold onto what we believe to be precious. It means preserving rather than merely observing. Mary was concerned about storing a spirit that would survive beyond the birthday party. She knew that lots of people could commemorate love for awhile, but a religious few would struggle to keep love for the extended, lonely haul...long after the hoopla dies down.
In his "New Year Letter", celebrated poet W. H. Auden remarks: "We must love one another or die." Auden wrote his line shortly after the beginning of World War II, when the Western world seemed about to enter a new Dark Age. In the first decade of the 2000’s, if anything, we may be closer to a Dark Age than even Auden could have supposed in 1939. The light of hope flickers dimly in too many souls. Greed and narcissism are rampant in others. Warring floods the globe. Truly, we must learn to love one another or die: love the stranger, the neighbor, the intimate. We must keep love–a strong, resilient love–all the remaining days and nights with which we are each graced to walk this earth.
As Unitarian poet e. e. cummings penned: "love is the every only god...who spoke this earth so glad and big." May our holiday love be truly "glad and big," touching everyone and everything we encounter along life's wondrous, mysterious path.
Announcing and singing about love during December, while gratifying, are insufficient, reminds Mary. We must keep love, then share love...near and far, today, tomorrow, and into seasons beyond imagining.
Lunch Bunch Locations
If you hunger for food and thirst for fellowship after church service on Sundays, why not join the lunch bunch for a noon meal? ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and the Lunch Bunch will be celebrating by getting together after church on December 4 at the Lake Murray Cafe, 5465 Lake Murray Boulevard, phone 433-0180, and on the 11th at Baker’s Square, 5270 Baltimore Drive (corner of Parkway Drive), phone 464-7833. Everyone is welcome, but if you notify Carol or Wendell Rawlins during the coffee hour, it will help to get a table the right size.
On the 18th, we will enjoy our monthly after-service potluck at the Lodge.
Since Christmas happens on Sunday, the church service will be on Christmas Eve, so no Lunch Bunch is planned for that Sunday. However, if you have no family plans and would like to get together with a few other Summitarians for a potluck or a restaurant meal, call Lois Davies at 448-0522 or e-mail lodavie@aol.com to make plans.
Within the Congregation
? As we enter this holiday season and the days get shorter, let's remember to look a little closer at strangers as we pass, as well as friends, and warm the moments with the sunshine of our smiles. Happy Holidays to All!
WHAT WE’RE UP TO IN CHILDREN’S R.E.:
Sunday, December 4:
Preparations continue for the annual children’s program, which we’ll present next week. All groups are involved – as actors, stage hands, costumers, and/or prop creators.
Sunday, December 11: Intergenerational service featuring our children in a dramatic telling of Harriet Ziefert’s story "A New Coat for Anna." Immediately following will be Summit’s Fine Arts Festival which will carry into the afternoon.
Sunday, December 18: Simple Gifts Workshop – crafts and games (followed by potluck lunch).
Saturday, December 24: Intergenerational Christmas Eve service, 5 p.m.
Saturday, December 31: Intergenerational New Year’s Eve service, 5 p.m.
Looking ahead: Before resuming our exploration of world religions, we’ll spend four weeks of the new year learning about the practice of stewardship. Stewardship is taking care of what we value (self, family, community, congregation, UU faith…) and helping it grow. We will use lessons from a UUA curriculum called Stewardship: The Joy of Giving, which was given to us by Larry Wheeler. The goal is for all of us, from the youngest to the eldest, to be caretakers of that which matters to us and to have a vision for the future. If you’d like to help out with one of the lessons, please contact me.
AND SERVICE BE OUR PRAYER:
Pennies from Heaven: Thanks to all who contributed to the many pounds of coins! We’re waiting for word to take them to a Pacific Trust Bank where they will be counted. Checks will be sent to Palomar UU Fellowship for the Hurricane Katrina-displaced family they are sponsoring as well as to a partner church in La Combe, Louisiana. Special thanks to Leslie Robard and Mallory Orr,.
Afghan rectangles: We’re still cranking out the 49 (7 by 9 inches in any knit or crochet stitch) to be joined into an afghan for Warm Up America, a project that supplies afghans to people who really need them. You’ll find our yarn group in the lodge lobby on Sundays at coffee time, where supplies, instructions and good company are available.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Invite young friends and relatives to Summit.
Consider working with our kids one Sunday, either as a leader (lesson plan provided ahead of time) or assistant.
Remember the Guest at Your Table and help with your donations to support this 30-year-old UU Service Committee program. If you haven’t picked up a box, they’re available at coffee time. We’ll return the boxes on Sunday, January 8. Thanks to the covenant group led by Harriet Nissenbaum for coordinating Guest at Your Table this year.
THANKS VERY MUCH to our recent R.E. volunteers: Judi Bonilla, Suzanne McQuaide, Teresa Palombo, Frank Placone-Willey, Kathy Radinovsky, Mary Ellen Shu and Barbara Sorenson.
Service Project Suggestions
If you have any burning ideas for covenant group service projects, please send them to Harriet Nissenbaum: phone 463-9437 or email HTBaum@cox.net.
Sunday Morning Meditation Offered at 8:00 a.m.
The Rev. Frank Placone-Willey continues to lead a meditation session from 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. each Sunday morning at the Masonic Lodge before the service begins. The group focuses on mindfulness practices and receives training on topics related to these practices. Those who choose to may also assist in setting up for our 10 a.m. worship. If you have questions about this new group, please contact Frank at work at (619) 889-0312.
Editor’s Corner
Now that we are going to send out the Scene at Summit once a month, the January edition’s deadline will be:
Jan. 1 Deadline/ Mailing Jan. 4
And, thanks to all for your support!
UUSUMMIT.SEARCHING COMMITTEE
The following list contains the names of former Summit members whose current addresses are not available in our directory or mailing list. Any information regarding their where-abouts would be much appreciated. We want to keep them informed about Summit’s search for a new home. Please contact Rod Orth at (619) 583-3405 or Linda Peck at our office (619) 463-4676 or admin.summit1@netzero.net. - Rod Orth
Elizabeth & Larry D’Agostino Gary Button & Linda Tennyson
Christel Chase Sara & Corey Couron
Pete & Claudia Dabbieri Joan Heidel
Geoff Levin Renee Levin
Tom Downer Melknie Davis
"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." - Albert Einstein
Anne Hall
New member Anne Hall needs little introduction to most of us; she has attended regularly for years, plays the piano to accompany Summit Singers, and often to accompany congregational hymns. But she had led an interesting life even before we knew her.
Anne was born in La Mesa, on the second floor of an historic old house on Porter Hill Road. She lived there until June 1945, when she married 2nd Lieutenant Hall, US Marine Corps. Their honeymoon was brief, for he set off for the Far East, to take part in the invasion of Japan and to rescue Anne’s uncle, a PW in Japan. Japan surrendered before he saw combat, and he returned to get an education under the GI Bill of Rights. An MA at Pomona, another at Stanford, and a PhD at University of Arizona, and he was ready for a career in psychology. But then a massive stroke kept him incapacitated until his death as few years later.
Anne has two children: Stephen, a zoologist for the State of North Carolina, and Christie Trigeiro, who lives in San Diego. There are three grandchildren, Alicia and Julia Trigeiro, and Savannah Hall.
Her professional career includes a variety of jobs as she followed her husband around, but her longest stint was 25 years at the San Diego Zoo, during which she served as secretary to the Director and as a personnel trainer.
Her family religion was Congregationalist (now United Church of Christ), and her first encounter with UUism occurred when daughter Christine came home from the University of Kansas as a UU convert. They started at nearby Summit Fellowship together, and Anne stayed on after Christie moved elsewhere.
Anne’s favorite recreations include attending plays and concerts and doing embroidery, a craft she learned from Lois Davies (She bought the lessons at an Auction.) She also loves camping and traveling with Elderhostel.
Usually even-tempered, Anne is annoyed by mail asking for donations, especially since if she makes a donation, the same people keep coming back and asking for more.
Connie Henry
, Acting D.R.E.
(619) 460-4794 / conniehenry@cox.net
Welcome to
The Bulletin Board!
For important tid-bits we don’t want to miss.
Fine Arts and Crafts Faire
Sunday, December 11
12-4 PM at the Masonic Lodge
7849 Tommy Drive, San Diego
All original hand-made items such as ceramics, pottery, paintings, jewelry, handcrafts will be offered for sale.
More information may be obtained from Alix Hart at (619) 286 9278 or Joan Chan at (619) 466- 4760.
Ecumenical Communion
These services are held monthly at First Church in San Diego. For information regarding UU Christian Fellowship activities please contact Michelle McCarter at 619-275-2844.
"All Fellowship"
Potluck...
… has been scheduled for December 18th. Foods can be kept warm in the ovens at the lodge or cool in the refrigerators. Janet Dixon would appreciate volunteers for set up and clean up. You can call her at 619-465-1160.
Women’s Hiking Group
Come hike to the SUMMIT of Cowles Mountain each Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m. with the Summit Women’s Weekly Hiking Group. For info, contact Toni Rogers at tonir@cox.net.
Christmas
Sing-a-long
The 3rd annual Christmas Sing-a-long will be at 7:00 p.m. on December 9th, at Janet Dixon’s house. Mulled wine and apple cider will be served along with coffee and juice. Snack contributions will be appreciated. Bring your voices and musical instruments!
Please contact me with any questions, concerns or ideas:
Mentors needed! -
from Membership
The Membership Committee is in the process of compiling lists of Mentors for our new members. As a mentor, you will be introducing the new member to the congregation during the Ceremony to Welcome New Members and acquaint him/her to our members and friends. It would also be your responsibility to keep in touch on an ongoing basis with the new member to help find his/her particular place in our Fellowship.
The membership committee seeks your support in fulfilling this vital role. Please let co-chairpersons of the committee, Elaine Harper or Joan Chan know of your commitment.
"Widening Our Circle"
News from Summit UU Fellowship's
Combined Campaign Committee December 2005
"I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not ever complete the last one, but I give myself to it." - Rainer Maria Rilke
FEASIBILITY STUDY
We are excited to announce we have taken the next step in the Capital Campaign process by hiring UUA Fundraising Consultant Larry Wheeler to conduct our Financial Feasibility Study. Larry visited Summit in mid-November to guide us through the process of setting up the study. He will return Jan. 12-14, 2006 to do the actual interviewing of 25 donor units who have been carefully selected to give a very representative sample of our congregation. Upon completion of the study he will furnish us with a detailed report that will indicate our degree of readiness for a Capital Campaign -- and suggest the amount of money we might raise from such an effort. In the coming weeks we will get a chance to know Larry better via this newsletter. In the meantime, here is a brief introduction: Larry has been a Unitarian Universalist for 38 years, in three different congregations. He is a former member of the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association) Board where he served as Chair of the Finance Committee. Larry has been a UUA Fundraising Consultant for the past 12 years. He lives in the mountains of North Georgia.
AUTO(MATIC) CONTRIBUTION OPTION NOW AVAILABLE
Now there is an easy, convenient and painless option for making your Summit pledge payments. Auto Contributions allow your payments to be deducted automatically on a schedule of your choice -- monthly, quarterly, etc. Beginning with the Dec. 4 service this weekend, our Treasurer John McQuaide will introduce the new Auto Contribution forms together with a cover letter explaining this program. The forms will also be available for pickup at the Summit office. Or you can call Linda Peck, 463-4676, and request that a form be sent to you which you can fill out and then mail back to the office.
MEET YOUR COMBINED ANNUAL & CAPITAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE
A big THANK YOU to all of these dedicated people!
Chair: Debbie Wingard
Honorary Co-Chairs: Bob and Dolores Moore
Alumni Chair: Rod Orth
Alumni Team: Ed Henry, Dolores Moore, Carol Rawlins
Communications Chair: Deena Tuttle
Communications Team: Teresa Palombo, Mary Ellen Shu, Diane Slagle,
Pierre Vaughn
Events Chair: Toni Rogers
Events Team: Joan Chan, Connie Henry, Suzanne McQuaide
Feasibility Chair: Pat Bryning
Feasibility Team: Janet Dixon, Jack Shu
Financial Commitment Card Handling: Mark Wheeler
Follow-Up Chair: Rex Graham
Follow-Up Team: Pat Summers
Gifts Chair: Sandy Bernstein
Gifts Team Leaders: Gwen Baldwin, Suzanne Ghorpade, Katy Orr, Harriet Wright
Maps: Lisa Garvey
Organizational Charts: Brian Scherrer ("Widening Our Circle" continues to page 10)
SAVE THESE DATES
Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006 - Congregational Meeting
Saturday, Apr. 1, 2006 - Orientation Workshop
Saturday, Apr. 29, 2006 - Campaign Kickoff
Sunday, Apr. 30, 2006 - Commitment Sunday
Sunday, Jun. 11, 2006 - Celebration Sunday
www.uusc.org
Please don’t forget the earthquake in October that devastated Himalayan regions of Pakistan and India. UUSC with the UUA have created a joint fund to respond to the disaster, UUSC-UUA South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund.
The Entertainment Book—
It’s Just Not Restaurants!
To Benefit Camp de Benneville Pines
Even if you don’t eat out much, you can save the purchase price of the Entertainment Book many times over.
Enjoy museums, movies, valet, sports, "Stars On Ice" and more!
Save on hotels, car rental, tourist attractions and other travel expenses!
Save at Ralph’s, Longs, Anna’s Linens, Foot Locker, and other retail stores on things you buy every day.
Order clothing, flowers, wine and more on line at a discount!
Auto service, car washes, video rental, the list goes on!
Books are available until early December (unless we sell out sooner!). Buy yours at church or call Jan Crosby (469-6059) or Barbara Orth (583-3405).
Proceeds benefit our church camp, de Benneville Pines.
Circle Dinners
It’s Circle Dinner sign-up time again. Sign-up sheets will be available in the Coffee Room after Sunday Services for the next four Sundays. Circle Dinners are occasions when we dine together at each other’s homes (6-8 people per home). It’s a chance to meet new people and to learn more about those we already know. The dates are Saturdays: January 28, March 11 and May 20, 2006.
Ideally, if you sign up to participate in a circle dinner, it would be especially helpful if you’d also agree to host one of the three dinners (this is not always possible and that’s okay). As a host you would cook the main dish and your guests would bring whatever else you request (salad, dessert, etc.)
A week or two prior to the dinner date, we will sort through who will dine where and pass out that information to each of you. Hope you can be part of these community-building events. Toni Rogers (tonir@cox.net or 619 713-2730).
Save the Dates!
January 28, March 11 and May 20
UU Holiday Christmas Cards
The UUSC offers Christmas cards created by Unitarian Universlists. The flyer can be seen at the Summit office or order online at: www.uusc.org/holidaycards
Freethinkers
On Tuesday, Dec 6, the program will be video and discussion of Pres. Bill Clinton's Nov, 2005 Keynote Address at the Texas Book Festival. The President speaks on a variety of subjects including changes in the current political scene, political discourse and how to win an election, effect of Wal-mart on the US, health care, how to get out of the nation's debt, and the economy in general. Please join us for an interesting evening.
And on Tuesday, Dec 20, the program will be video and discussion of Tom Brokaw's NBC program on the Evangelical branch of the Christian church. Brokaw follows two families who attend New Life, the mega church in Colorado Springs which has influenced many cadets at the Air Force Academy. Interviews include several with Rev Ted Haggard, pastor of the church, who converses with the White House daily.
Freethinkers begins at 7 PM in meeting room in the center of Wendell and Carol Rawlins apt. complex, La Mesa Villa, 5757 Lake Murray Blvd.
Birthdays, Anyone?
December is a festive month: Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, St. Nicholas Day, and of course, Christmas. It’s also a banner birthday month for Summitarians: Here’s a list of those due for a Happy Birthday:
December 1- Janet Dixon; 6 -Joel Tuttle; 11- Eleanor Simmonds; 12- Joan Chan, Chris Smith; 14- Sandra Hochenedel; 15- Deena Tuttle, Diane Slagle; 16- Patti Robison-Heyer; 17- Dorothy Greene; 19- Jai Ghorpade; 21- Teresa Palombo; 23- Jo Lindstrom; 24- Karen Cleland (getting close, there); 25 -An Honorary Summitarian; 26- Nancy Brown; 27- Leslie Robard, Albert Hunsaker; 31- Tara Hands (just in time). Happy Birthday! Glad you were born; glad that you’re one of us!
Social Action Corner
Crisis House
Christmas Adopt-A-Family
For the fifth consecutive year, Summit is helping to make a difference by participating in the Crisis House, Christmas Adopt-A-Family program. Our gifts and food will assist in lightening the burden of a needy family during this special time, while we all join together in living the spirit of Christmas by sharing our good fortune with others.
Summit’s adopted family this Christmas includes 35 year old Nina, mother to 14 year old Stephanie, 13 year old Chelsey, and little brother, Aaron, 9 years old.
To participate, all one has to do, is pluck a "ornament" bearing a name and gift from our Adopt-A-Family Christmas tree at the December 4th or 11th Sunday Service.
Please wrap and label your gift and bring it to the December 18 Service. Gifts can also be dropped off at the office. Please attach your "ornament" from the Christmas tree to your gift so the Social Action Committee can keep track of what gifts have been purchased. Thank you!
Esperanza Collection
Don’t forget to put in an extra dollar or two in the plate this Sunday, December 4 to sponsor our student at the Esperanza Elementary School. This school provides an enriching education to students in a very poor area of Tijuana.
Join Us at Our Next Meeting
We would love to see you at our next Social Action Committee meeting. The more the merrier! Our next meeting is on Sunday, December 18, 8:30am, in the office. Our current committee consists of Dorothy Greene, Liz McHugh, Laurel Bernstein, Kathy Radinovsky, Rene Schad, Lynn Slaughter, Pat Bryning, Deena Tuttle, Gwen and Gary Baldwin.
Summit’s New Vision Statement
As approved at the Congregational Meeting, Oct. 16
Summit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is a growing, caring, intergenerational congregation of diverse backgrounds, embracing the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We are committed to promoting spiritual and personal growth, social justice, environmental awareness and participation in the greater community.
Patti Robison-Heyer
Our new member Patti Robison-Heyer was brought up in the Pacific Northwest, mostly in Portland and Seattle. In 1955, after she married, she and her husband moved to San Diego, where he could play golf all year around..
She taught in Franklin Elementary School and became interested in the problems of students who had trouble learning. She returned to college and got a degree in Special Education and returned to teach study skills. Then she joined the faculty at San Diego Community College, where she stayed for eleven years.
Meanwhile she found time to raise a son (married and living in San Diego) and a daughter, who is living in Oakland.
As she was growing up, Patti attended Episcopalian churches with her parents, who were as liberal in religious thinking as they were conservative in politics, so she found little difficulty in shifting to Unitarian Universalism. She attended First Church of San Diego for some time, singing in the choir. However her attendance became irregular, due partly to transportation problems, and she finally dropped out.
Patti first learned of Summit from Barbara Sorensen, and when she visited us, she liked the intimacy of a small congregation and stayed to join officially.
Now retired from teaching, she finds herself occupied in working in polymer clay, and in international folk dancing—traveling to foreign countries to attend dance festivals—in hiking and gardening. She has returned to her earlier days, now as a volunteer, to tutor third graders in reading. Perhaps most of all, she likes to sing, and her solo quality voice has been an asset to Summit Singers.
Of all her activities, she best likes to be among friends—including Summitarians. Her least favorite are driving and filling out forms that come in the mail. And she loathes junk mail and e-mail spam.
Welcome, Patti!
— Notice– On Dec. 4 —
The 3rd Thursday Covenant Group is going to "weed" out the area that is Summit’s in the lodge attic. If anyone knows of things that shouldn’t be pitched, please remove them.
The Money Tree
The fruit of the money tree on the piano in Summit's office will go this month to aid Pakistani earthquake victims. If you want to join in that effort, stop by the office and add your contribution. Just pin on your bills with the tiny clothes pins provided. Gratitude to you from The Gardener.
