Worship & Music
Services are held on Sunday mornings at 10:00 and 11:30.
Sunday, April 7 Youth Sunday Change and Growth as Young Unitarian Universalists
Led by the Youth Through music, readings, ritual and individual reflection, our high school youth will offer the congregation a window into what it means to grow up UU. Join us for this beloved annual worship experience. See p. 4 for comments about Youth Sunday from Karen Lapidus.
Did you love the Zeng Quartet? Well then you’re in for another treat!
Andrea Beltran Landers is a cellist from Peru is currently pursuing a master’s degree in performance at Kent State University. She will be offering a free concert on Sunday, April 21 at 7:00 PM in our Sanctuary. Free will offerings in support of our UUCK Music Committee will be gratefully accepted. Spread the word!
CD Subscription for Sunday Services?
Thanks to volunteer extraordinaire Brad Bolton, much of each Sunday’s service is podcast on our website. Many people who are unable to make it to church use the podcast as a way of catching the services they missed. People who are thinking about checking out the church often listen to services before they come and some folks forward links to friends or family who they think might be interested in a particular sermon. Due to the restrictions of copyright law, only the original parts of each service are included in the podcast. However, Brad records the entirety of the service and is willing to turn those recordings into cds if there are people who might be interested in receiving a weekly subscription. So long as we are mailing cds to people who are members or friends of the church, we can share the whole service without violating copyright law. We are thinking this option might be appealing to folks who do not make it to church regularly and who either do not have a computer or are not comfortable with the technology required to listen to podcasts. We would like to know if such a service would be useful. If you would be interested in being mailed a cd of the Sunday service each week, please call or send a note to the church office.
Lifespan Learning
Please join us for Spiritual Cinema this Friday, April 5 at 7:00 PM. We will watch the motion picture, “The Da Vinci Code” (2006). The movie is 174 minutes and will be followed by a short discussion of some of the topics raised by the movie. This month we will be screening the movie in Dan Flippo’s home, 2650 Easthaven Drive, Hudson OH 44236. Please RSVP to Dan at [email protected].
Comments by Dan –
Since it is Easter, I thought it would be interesting to watch a movie that brings up many controversial questions about Jesus Christ. For two thousand years there has been a debate over whether Jesus Christ was a man, god, or both. Originally, the term “Unitarian” was intended to be an insult of American liberal ministers who questioned the holy trinity concept of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Famously Thomas Jefferson created his own version of the Gospels in that time period eliminating all miracles and ending at the crucifixion While I am aware of the creative license that Dan Brown used while writing the Da Vinci Code, I believe it is very effective at raising questions about how much of the gospels is based on historical events and whether it is possible that there are living descendants of Jesus. Ours is a faith that welcomes these questions and I hope you will join me in a discussion of the historical Jesus after the movie.
On Sunday, April 7 you are invited to join us for TED and pizza after the second service in Fessenden Hall. We will be screening the talk What Makes Life Meaningful by Michael Steger. Steger is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University. He has spent more than a decade researching people’s ability to find meaning in their lives and the benefits of living a meaningful life. In his talk, he asks the question “What Makes Life Meaningful?” and will share what psychological science can tell us about the answer. He is the co-editor of ‘Designing Positive Psychology’ and the forthcoming ‘Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace.’ If you plan to attend and would like pizza, please send a quick email to the church office so that we can be sure to order enough. If you’d rather, you are also welcome to bring your own lunch.
Joel Slater has been the driving force behind our monthly TED talks this year and he is ready to take a break from this role in order to pursue some new ideas he has brewing. Many thanks to Joel for all his good work! If you have enjoyed this series and would like to step up lead it in the future, please let Rev. Melissa know.
Community Within
Electronic Giving Now Live!
We are excited to announce that after many months of research and planning, we are now able to accept financial contributions on our website. We are using PayPal in order to provide this service which will allow you to decide the frequency of your giving and also enable you to direct your gift to a particular program or ministry. Find the yellow Donate Now buttons on left side of each page. Many thanks to Dan Flippo for his help in setting up this service!
Please be aware of the revised time!
“Your Basic Treasure Chest of Humor” presented by Ted Voneida and Cast
Friday, April 5, 2012 7:30 PM
An Afternoon of Card?Making – Saturday, April 6, 2013
Come spend an afternoon making cards with friends, NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. Michelle Bores will lead you in the making of 6 different cards, 2 of each card and a note pad with cover. Michelle will supply all of the cards, envelopes, paper, double sided tape & any other items needed. She will also bring the ideas, patterns, instructions, Stamps, ink pads, paper cutter & Sizzix die cutting machine. If you have scissors, pencil and a ruler, please bring them. If you have any other “tools” and would not mind sharing, please let her know. Some examples of the cards we will make are birthday, anniversary, thank you, blank note cards, etc… This event is family-friendly, for adults and kids in 5th grade or older. This is a service auction event, please call Michelle if you would like to attend.
Date: April 6, 2013
Time: 1 – 4 pm
Location: Fessenden Hall
20 seats offered – 10 left
Surprise — it’s that time of year again!
Want to make a new friend in the church? Looking for a way to celebrate spring? Here is your chance! You are all invited to participate in this fun, intergenerational activity of friendship and caring! We will have a sign up table outside of the sanctuary Sunday, April 7. Participating adults will be matched with children in the congregation on April 14 and encouraged to exchange notes and artwork on Sundays, April 21 through May 12. Adults will remain anonymous until the “big reveal” on May 19. Sign-up forms will be available until April 7.
The Patricia Pownall UU Book Group will be meeting on Tuesday, April 9 at 7 pm in the home of Kathie Slater. Please bring a non-dessert snack to share. This month we are reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (young adult fiction, 2006). It is 1939 Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier and it will become busier still. By her brother’s graveside, Liesel Meminger’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden by the snow. It is The Grave Digger’s Handbook, left there by accident and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library; wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel’s world is both opened up and closed down. In May we will be reading Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo. If you have any questions you may contact Bonnie Harper. All are welcome.
UU & Interfaith Connections
The award-winning documentary, “The House I Live In,” (pbs.org/independentlens/house-i-live-in/), directed by Eugene Jarecki, will air on PBS April 8, 2013. Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”, appears in the documentary. Her book was selected as the current Common Read by the UUA.
The April Kent Community Dinner will be held on April 20 at 5:30 pm at the Islamic Community Center at 152 East Steels Corners Road in Cuyahoga Falls. The Islamic Society of Akron and Kent invites the people of Kent over to get to know them. Reservations are required. Call 330-922-9991. Speakers will include Mr. Haleem Najeeullah of the Board of Directors of the Islamic Society with a keynote address by Dr. Kara Ellis Skora of the Department of Religious Studies of the College of Wooster.
It is a dress affair. Modest attire is a must in this group. Bring a dessert (no gelatin, lard or pork). Transportation is available. Meet at 4:45 pm behind the United Church of Christ. Questions? Call 330-678-8760.
District Assembly convening in Niagara Falls April 26-27
This year our Ohio-Meadville District, in a historic move, is having a joint District Assembly with St Lawrence District. And the Rev Peter Morales, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, is the keynote speaker! This promises to be an energizing event not to be missed! Deadlines are fast upon us. Some partial scholarships are available, and must be applied for by March 29. If you would like more information about workshops and timelines, please go to https://www.uua.org/central-east/events . You may also contact Marion Yeagler, Ohio-Meadville District Board of Trustees.
Outreach and Social Justice
UUs to Consider Fracking
If you haven’t registered yet, be sure to do so for the Ohio Meadville-Saint Lawrence Joint District Assembly to be held in Niagara Falls, NY on April 26-27. www.ohiomeadville.org/districtassembly/deregistration
Annual Garlic Mustard Pull
Join us on Saturday, April 20th from 9am-11am pull invasive Garlic Mustard from the parks along the river. This weed chokes out native species and must be pulled before the prolific seed heads open. Afterward, saunter downtown for the Who’s Your Mama? Earth Day festival, knowing you’ve done your part. Meet in the church parking lot across the street and ask Andrew Rome for more information.
April Showers Service Project
The Campus Ministers’ Organization at Kent State University hopes to make showering a little bit easier for the homeless and transient populations in Portage County with the April Showers Service Project. As a congregational member of the Campus Minister’s Organization, we will collect new, unopened travel size hygiene items for the people at Family and Community Services. These items will be assembled into personal hygiene kits by students and anyone else who passes through the main lobby of the Kent Student Center on Tuesday, April 16 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. These kits will be given to Family and Community Services, who will distribute them to persons in need.
All new, unopened, travel size personal hygiene items will be accepted, but we are particularly encouraging donations of toothpaste, toothbrushes, disposable razors, deodorant, shampoo, bar soap (can be regular sized), and wash cloths. Please drop your items in the box located in the Founders Lounge by April 7.
Income Generation
It’s not too late to make your pledge of financial commitment
The PIE may be all gone, but we’re still waiting for a few of the faithful to make their annual pledges of financial commitment for fiscal year 2013-14, which begins on July 1, 2013 and ends on June 30, 2014. We are still working toward our goal, so if, for one reason or another, you haven’t turned in your pledge, this is the week to do it. There are many ways to accomplish this: email the church office with the information, put your pledge card in the offering basket, or give the information to your canvasser when he or she calls.
Please help us to be able to plan a realistic year of church programming by making your pledge now.
Wanna buy a bunch of cards? OK!
We sell gift cards for Giant Eagle and Acme stores every Sunday at coffee hour. This helps the church since we receive 5% of the value of the cards sold, and is convenient for the buyers, since they pay for the face value of the card and use it like a debit card. We rarely run out, but some people occasionally are disappointed when they want buy several hundred dollars’ worth of cards and we only have a few hundred available left to sell. In order to address this issue, we now will guarantee that we have any amount $500 or more available for you on a given Sunday if you email me the previous Sunday or earlier (please allow a minimum of 7 days). Sometimes we have them available in any case–if we have them, we’ll sell them to you. But if you want to be sure, email me and we will arrange to have them reserved for you the following Sunday.
Thanks for buying gift cards through the church rather than using cash at Acme and Giant Eagle stores.
Bob Erdman, Grocery Card Coordinator.
Spring Forth With the Giving of Books.
The time of year has come once more when Robins sing in the rain, the flowers poke their heads up from the warming earth and books appear as if by magic in Fessenden Hall. Yea, the Annual UUCK Book Sale is nigh, riding in on the southern winds, returning with the geese who had flown south but two short seasons ago. As you perform the ancient ritual of Spring cleaning, please set aside all your gently used books, DVDs, and CDs to donate to the Annual UUCK Book Sale. Just leave them in the designated space in Fessenden Hall between the dates of April 14 and 30 and the book sprites will whisk them away, only to be returned on that foretold day, May 4, where they will take their honored place in supporting the growth and well being of the UUCK. In addition we will be hosting a bake sale table as well. Please consider contributing your favorite home baked cookies, brownies, muffins and other goodies. You may drop them off in the kitchen on Friday May 3rd or Saturday May 4th. Please label them “Book Sale” so we know they are intended for that purpose. Thank you in advance for your generous, heartfelt donations.
Spring—an experience in immortality. -Henry D. Thoreau
Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. –Author Unknown