Page Title

When August Arrives, Can September

Be Far Behind?

For many years September has been the official kick-off month for WVUU Circle Suppers. And then a couple of years ago, with the establishment of the family campout, that first Circle Supper of the season was re-scheduled to the third Saturday. The next change came about when Rev. LeRoy initiated Ingathering Sunday, when most of our members and friends have returned to the Valley following a long, hot summer. That year the first Circle Supper morphed into a Saturday night potluck dinner in the Sanctuary. The scheduling glitches we experienced last year have been resolved and we've decided to do it again. As Kathy A. said, "It's practically a tradition!"

We know this is a bit early, but we want to make sure it gets on your calendar.

Saturday, September 16,

6 p.m.,: The Third Annual Ingathering Potluck Dinner.

Watch this space for forthcoming information.

Ann Harper

Third Annual Family Camping Trip

Do you recognize the kid in this picture? This was taken two years ago at our first camping trip. We had a lot of fun that year roasting hot dogs in a fire place and collecting stuff in a treasure hunt. Last year, on our second camping trip, we made star charts and found the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia. We took a long hike in the woods - and some people built a stone fortress.

This year, our camping trip to Munds Park will be on September 9th & 10th - and it promises to be better than ever. Please plan to join us. If you don't have kids, don't worry! There will be plenty of children to share!

Email Kathy at Kathy@abramowitzes.com for more information.

Coming in September:

Sunday School!!!

Our first day of Sunday school at the church will be September 17th. We will have three different classes this year:

Grades 4 - 7 will begin a two year program exploring sources of strength and wisdom, with an emphasis, this year, on the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and Buddhist teachings.

Grades 1 - 3 (The Eagles) will be investigating values and UU Principles.

3 - 5 year olds will be following a UU curriculum, Story Time, which uses well-known children's book and stories to begin discussions and activities on what is important in our lives.

For questions about children's RE, email Kathy A

At Kathy@abramowitzes.com.

attend necessary classes at Arizona State University. She has received $500 each semester, for her Spring and Summer coursework. She is also receiving financial aid from the Tuba City Unified School District. In return she will work as a teacher in the Tuba City school system. We congratulate her in her anticipated success.

This church has been supporting Charlette in various ways for four years now, starting when Rev. LeRoy first identified her, while she was a student at the Tuba City tribal college, as someone who could make a meaningful contribution to her family, neighbors, and tribe by procuring the benefits of an education that she would bring back to the reservation to help improve her community. Members of the congregation have kept in touch with her over the years and have helped her out with expenses such as books. She will receive another grant from us for the Fall semester as she balances motherhood with her student teaching requirement and looks forward to her career.

Rev. John LeRoy Sends News of our

Affiliated Community Ministry

On February 27th, the Reverend John LeRoy presided at a wedding ceremony for one of the Native American students who has been the recipient of financial aid from this congregation.

Charlette had taken a year off from school because of a marriage and a baby son. But she is now back at pursuing her credentials to become an elementary school teacher. She and her husband Adam were married in a traditional Navajo wedding ceremony last year, but they felt it would be worthwhile to re-marry according to the rules of the Anglo culture, so that they could receive legal benefits such as health insurance coverage for the whole family.

So Charlette contacted Rev. LeRoy to conduct a ceremony in front of family and friends in Phoenix, the day before Adam needed to leave for Alaska to start work at a job that would benefit the family.

The wedding service was a celebration of love shared between husband and wife. In the words of Rev. LeRoy, "Between the past that is known to us, and the future about which we may only hope and dream, lies the present moment, filled with the awe and mystery of human love."

Charlette expects to complete all of her degree requirements by the end of this calendar year, and the Affiliated Community Ministry Fund has been helping her in 2006 with childcare costs so that she can

Unitarian Universalist Assn. Joins with Others

As Witnesses for Peace in the Middle East

In response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations and President William G. Sinkford have joined several interfaith efforts aimed at stopping the violence and calling religious people to action.

In joining with these efforts, Rev. Sinkford expressed the sense of urgency shared by many Unitarian Universalists. "The widening conflict in the Middle East is a call to all people of conscience to witness for a just and lasting peace," Sinkford said. "As we work to end the violence, may we also find the courage to examine our own role in shaping the conditions that allow violence to flourish."

The UUA has officially endorsed a statement from Dr. William F. Vendley , the Secretary General of Religions for Peace , calling for an end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Israel and Hamas in Palestine. The statement also urges religious leaders to "reject the grotesque misuse of religion in support of violence." Religions for Peace, the largest coalition of international religious communities, is a long-standing partner of the UUA.

Rev. Sinkford, along with senior Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders, including religious leaders from Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, will participate in the Eighth World Assembly of Religions for Peace , a conference to be held in Kyoto, Japan, at the end of August. Religions for Peace supports religious leaders in the Middle East who are working together to end the violence and build a lasting peace.

To help gather domestic support for these peace-making efforts, the UUA has joined a broad interfaith initiative organized by religious leaders from groups including the National Council of Churches USA, Islamic Society of North America, and The Shalom Center. The campaign, called "Season of Prayer for Peace in the Middle East ," will officially be launched later this week, and will include a collection of online worship and advocacy resources.

Rev. Sinkford has signed two letters authored by another US interfaith group, Churches for Middle East Peace , a religious coalition of twenty-one church groups including the UUA. The first letter addresses the recent crisis in Gaza , and the second calls for a broader cease-fire .

The text of the "Peacemaking " Congregational Study/Action Issue can be found online. A resource guide for congregations will be available by November 1st.

The UUA hosts an email list for civil discourse on the Middle East conflict, called UUsMiddleEast. For more information, go to http://www.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/uusmiddleeast

WVUU Hosts Global

Hunger Expo

October 16th is World Food Day. On that day, around the world, a teleconference will be held on college campuses (including ASU West), at churches and city halls to address the issue of world hunger. (http://www.worldfooddayusa.org )

In conjunction with this international event, WVUU, along with WHEAT (World Hunger Education Advocacy and Training) @

http://www.hungerhurts.org ,

will co-sponsor a Global Hunger Expo on October 14th, from 5:00 - 10:00 p.m. at the church.

We are inviting Non-Governmental Organizations (which give aide to people in need and/or work for social change) to set up booths and plan activities that will help people learn how to affect hunger and poverty here at home and around the world. Participants so far include Bread for the World, Doctors without Borders, The One Campaign, and the International Rescue Committee, which facilitates refugee resettlement.

We are also working to have a variety of musicians and musical groups, who support the cause, to entertain the crowd, as well as food and beverages.

This will be an important and exciting event...Stay tuned for more details!

Susan Blum

Sunday, August 6, 2006, Speaker: Larry Lorenzen. "Counting the Fingers of God: The Meaning of Divine Numbers" Larry will discuss the numbers discovered in Nature that have amazing properties, and also the people who have discovered them. He will philosophize about what the numbers mean to him.

Sunday, August 13, 2006, Speaker: Eric Neufer "Finding Religion's Successor" As we face choices that are increasing both in number and complexity, we find ourselves in need of ways of being in the world that do not, by their very nature, limit our vision. This forces us to examine our deepest as sumptions about life. In short, the esoteric has become the practical. And the tools provided by religion to address this challenge are not for everyone. Fortunately, there are alternatives

Sunday, August 20, 2006, Speaker: Terry Sims "A Place to Reach" I once had a non-church-goer ask me, "What is wrong with people who go to church?" After I recovered a little, I decided that was a question worth asking ourselves. If there is something wrong with those of us who attend church, can church really help?"

Sunday, August 27, 2006, Speaker: Mark Adams "From Fundamentalism to Freedom" Award-winning author Marc Adams shares his journey from being a fundamentalist Baptist preacher's son to his time as a student and employee of Jerry Falwell's university. In his presentation he will share his story of coming out and also of coming out of fundamentalism and into Unitarian Universalism. Adams will also share information about HeartStrong, a national non profit organization he founded to help alleviate the suffering of GLBT students in religious schools.

West Valley Unitarian Universalist Church

PO Box 2505

5904 W Cholla Street

Glendale, AZ 85311

Phone: 623-846-6004

Newsletter E-mail: uniquedorothy@cox.net

This Church provides a safe place to celebrate diversity, draw inspiration for our lives, foster

social and environmental justice, and compassionately support each other in our spiritual searches.

We currently have 81 members and many more friends.

Our Sunday Services begin at 10:30 AM followed by a coffee house style social hour and light lunch.