Worship & Music 

Sunday services are offered at 9:45 and 11:30 AM.

 

October 6  – Go Buckeyes!

Led by the Rev. George Buchanan

In this service, we’ll celebrate the beauty of Ohio trees, including our magnificent Buckeye trees.  We’ll consider how our care for these trees and forests connects us to the call to protect and heal our Beloved Earth.  (And just for fun, we might even connect in the Ohio State Buckeyes!)

Seeking photos for worship service

I am hoping to include a short slide show as part of the worship service that I’ll be leading in October.  The topic is about environmentalist Rachel Carson and her philosophy on the importance of instilling a sense of wonder in children.  You are invited to email several photos to me that illustrate a child’s sense of awe, curiosity or excitement about the natural world.  The photo can be of your children, grandchildren or even yourself as a child.  Email photos to Christie Anderson by Oct. 4.  Thanks!  Christie Anderson

 Sacred Song Circle Returns

The Sacred Song Circle returns to Thursday nights starting Sept. 26 for 30 minutes of community harmony and sacular stimulation beginning at 6:15 PM. Please note that this is a slightly earlier time than we had been meeting.  In addition, I will be available at 6:00 for 15 minutes of teaching time to help people become familiar with the songs, and to explain the framework we use and it’s theoretical underpinnings for anyone who is interested.  In addition, due to popular request, I’m going to try having a Sacred Song Circle every week instead of every two or three weeks.  As always, you don’t have to consider yourself a singer to be able to participate, and in fact you don’t even have to sing.  It’s free and open to all.  The more voices the better!  Bring your friends, and a water bottle if you’ll need it. Please gather in the Sanctuary.  Hope to see you there.

 

Lifespan Learning

The Super Brain group will meet at 3 PM on Sunday, October 6 in the Annex.  The group will be examining developing your greatest gift and how the brain makes reality.  All are welcome to join in the exploration.  Any questions, call Mary Maske.

Compassionate Dialogue

There’s a lot of talk these days about the need for respectful dialogue, and this workshop is geared towards providing participants with a simple and useful template for addressing conflicts and other difficult conversations. The Dialogue is based on the “Couple’s Dialogue” from Harville Hendrix’s book, “Getting the Love You Want”.  We will discuss basic communication and examine how conflicts can be managed constructively using the Dialogue in a variety of situations.  There will be time each session to practice the Dialogue through role-playing.

This class will be facilitated by church member Saunis Parsons.  Saunis learned active listening, conflict resolution and third-party mediation skills as a help-line volunteer with Townhall II’s crisis intervention hotline in Kent.  Since discovering the “Couple’s Dialogue” she has adapted it for use in many situations.  She and her family have used this dialogue successfully for several years, even when her boys were young.  Saunis offered this class as a morning workshop at Summer Institute this past summer and participants expressed really enjoying the experience and getting a lot out of it.  We’re grateful to Saunis for offering this series here in our church this fall.

The class will meet on 6 consecutive Tuesdays, October 8, 15, 22 and 29 and November 5 and 12 from 7-9, which will include a 15 minute break. For more information or to sign up, please call the church office or speak with Saunis.

Idea of the week:  Being Creatively Maladjusted

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said he could never become adjusted to injustice.  He urged us to be “creatively maladjusted” instead.  This means we recognize the fact of the injustice, and work to respond in healthy and creative ways to the injustices in our world.  Of course we never do this perfectly – being creatively maladjusted. I mean.

And still, we can work to become more so.

Rev. George Buchanan

Beloved Community, Beloved Earth Workshop

Saturday, October 19, 2013

9 AM to 1 PM

Breakfast and lunch provided

Free will donation to cover the cost of food

Leader:  Rev. George Buchanan

We face many challenges as we work to sustain ourselves, build stronger communities, and heal our Beloved Earth. Some of these challenges are local, such as hydraulic fracturing; others are more global, including carbon dioxide pollution, drought, and rising sea levels. In this workshop, we consider new and creative ways to sustain our spirits in the face of these challenges. Our focus will be on vision and orientation rather than taking on “one more task.” How do we define our positive vision for our Beloved Earth? How can we be strong and resilient over the long haul?  What are the ideas, tools, and resources we need to sustain us?

All members and friends of Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent are welcome, including high school youth.  Maximum 25 attendees – first come, first served.

Please contact the office to register by Sunday, October 13.  Childcare will be available at no charge, however children must be registered prior to the workshop.  With this we will be able to plan for the food and the necessary childcare workers.

Save the Date!

The annual Halloween Party and Haunted House will take place on Saturday, October 26th starting at 6:00.  This is a both a family and adult friendly event.  Everyone is encouraged to attend!  There will be a finger-food potluck, so bring something to share that doesn’t require the need for silverware.  Donations will be gladly accepted to cover the cost of supplies and prizes.  Wear your costume and come celebrate with us!

 

Community Within

WALDEN UPDATE

The government shutdown DOES NOT affect the open status of any locations managed by Allegheny Site Management.  Walden WILL CONTINUE as planned!

Ed Stolish

In an effort to make as many church activities accessible as possible, we’d like to encourage people to consider using technology to allow those who cannot attend their group, committee or team meetings in person to attend virtually.  The Church Office has a netbook that can be borrowed by committees or groups  to “broadcast” their meetings so that people may attend virtually.   People can join and participate in the meeting using their computers, mobile devices, or with a regular telephone. Technical assistance for using the AnyMeeting videoconferencing technology can be found our website at:  //kentuu.org/membership/technical-support/      If you have questions regarding the use of the netbook, please contact MaryBeth in the Office at: [email protected].

The Patricia Pownall UU Book Group will be meeting on Tuesday, October 8 at 7 pm. We are again meeting in the home of Trish Johnson-Kwartler, 2937 Overlook Rd. in Silver Lake. Please bring a snack to share. Beverages will be provided. This month we are reading The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.   A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past. In November we will be reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. If you have any questions you may contact Bonnie Harper.  All are welcome.

Family Movie Night Returns…

October 11th, in Fessenden Hall from 7:30 pm to 10 pm. This will be our second annual tribute to science fiction. Galaxy Quest will be shown!!! We will also have a selection of science fiction cartoons, serials, sitcoms and other delights. We might even have an episode of Star Trek this time, or maybe not… So come to our second pot-luck sci-fi movie night for Galaxy Quest, Futurama, and many surprises! If you have any questions, contact Cheryl Spoehr..

FROM THE LIBRARY

Symposium #2  All the Fun of a Book Club with Nothing to Prepare!

       Wednesday, October 9th, 7:30 P.M. Fessenden Hall

In his PBS series, “Faith and Reason”, Bill Moyers ask the question, “In a world where religion is poison to some and salvation to others, how do we live together?”

October’s video is an interview with Colin McGinn, a British born professor of philosophy and an atheist who finds this “a better world without God.”  It is a companion to last month’s talk with Mary Gordon, a free-thinking and devout Catholic. They agree only in their dislike of fundamentalism. McGinn, a fascinating and controversial figure, writes not only about philosophy and ethics but also about sports, politics, and films.

Please join us. We’ll view the 23-minute video, fill our plates with yummy finger food provided by the Library Committee, and then have plenty of time to discuss the ideas McGinn offers. Carolyn Schlemmer will be the Moderator.

The Library Committee would like to thank those who heeded our call for over-due books and returned them.  We are still searching/tracking the rest. If you have any questions about books you may have, please speak to the committee member in Founders Lounge between 1st and 2nd Sunday services. A committee member is always there to assist you.

Parents and guardians of our older (age 9 and above) children,

On behalf of KentHogwarts I would like to cordially invite you participate in our upcoming Forbidden Forest night hike. Prepare to face down Dementors, Death Eaters and Acromantulas in an after dark adventure!

We are hosting this event on Saturday, October 12th 2013 at the Tallmadge Meadows Metropark in Munroe Falls. This is an open event so please feel free to invite other friends but due to the scary nature of the program we do ask that all participants be 9 years old or older.

We do require that parents/guardians be present during the event, you don’t have to go on the hike as we have a hangout spot by the shelter, but we will need to have a signed permission slip for the event.

Please do RSVP for this event at http://tinyurl.com/forbiddenforest and feel free to pass along this information and invitation to any others you think may be interested. For updated information please visit our website at www.kenthogwarts.org or email [email protected].

Yours in magical fraternity,
Professor Chroniculus FizzBOOM!
Headmaster, KentHogwarts

Be the first to see the artwork for the 2013 auction! Hear the artists talk about their creations while you enjoy appetizers and beverages. Artists this year are Brad Bolton, Don Easterling, Heidrun Hultgren, Wendy Jenks, John Kluth, Claudia Miller, Georgia Quinn, Rhonda Mitchell, and Jan Noden.

Date: Friday, Oct. 18

Time: 7-9 pm

Place: Fessenden Hall

Donation: $15

ODNR and conservation partners offer four Portage County hikes on Oct 5

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Portage Park District and the Northeast Ohio Chapter of The Nature Conservancy will be co-hosting a series of hikes on Saturday, October 5. at Kent and Triangle Lake Bog state nature preserves, Morgan Preserve, which is managed by the Portage Park District, and The Nature Conservancy’s Herrick Fen State Nature Preserve. These hikes are designed to educate visitors on the uniqueness and importance of Ohio’s vanishing wetlands.

Participants can choose to participate in one or several Portage County hikes:

• 10 am – Kent Bog State Nature Preserve located at 1028 Meloy Rd. in Kent
• 11:30 am – Triangle Lake Bog State Nature Preserve located at 3612 Sandy Lake Rd. in Ravenna
• 1 pm – Morgan Preserve located on Nicodemus Rd, .4 miles east of State Route 44 in Shalersville Township
• 2:30 pm – Herrick Fen State Nature Preserve located on Seasons Rd. 2.2 miles west of State Route 43 in Streetsboro. lost more than 90 percent of its original wetlands since European settlement. By visiting some of Ohio’s most fragile wetlands, visitors will be able to gain a valuable understanding of the benefits and beauty of these rare natural features.

The walk at the Kent Bog will be from 10-11 am and will be led by Adam Wohlever, DIstrict Preserve Manager of the Northeast District.  Friends of the Kent Bog will provide an informational table and refreshments after the walk.–Martha Kluth

 

Outreach and Social Justice

Social Justice Human Rights Committee Meeting – Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 6:30 PM in the Annex.  All are welcome!   

 

Income Generation

Acme Community Cash Back Program

Please remember to save your Acme receipts for the annual Acme Community Cash Back fundraiser.  Receipts must be dated from Sept. 2, 2013 – Feb. 3, 2014.   A donation box will soon be placed on the grocery card table in Fessenden Hall for you to submit your receipts.  Thank you!

Karnival of Kent on Saturday, November 2

Have you made plans to attend the annual Thanks4Giving auction of the UU Church of Kent?  It is an evening of fun, frivolity and fundraising not to be missed!  Bring your inner court jester, or king or queen.  Dress up and be prepared for a great time!

Visit the Auction table at coffee hour every Sunday in October.  Tickets are on sale.  Donations are coming in.  Donation forms are available.  Need ideas for donations?  You’ll find them at the table.  Make your plans now!