Page Title

Winter Congregational

Meeting Notice

Sunday, January, 14, 2007

12:15 pm

following the service.

Proxy voting is not allowed !

Prelude : "Imagine"

by John Lennon.

Call for Quorum Count :

Call to Order :

Brian O'Laughlin

Chalice Lighting :

Donnis Deever

Approval of Minutes May 21, 2006 Congregational Meeting :

Kathy Dugan

President's Report :

Pres. Brian O'Laughlin

Celebration of Successes :

Rev. Charles Gaines

Treasurer's Report :

Dan Poland

New Business :

An Election of Nominating Committee Members presented by :

Jim Reay,

Maryke Des Champs,

Kathy Abramowitz.

Building Presentation :

Barry Linden and

Bill Norman.

Arizona Interfaith Affiliation Presentation :

Kathy Abramowitz

Motion to Adjourn :

Postlude : "Wasted on the Way"

by G. Nash.

I don't know why but for most of my adult life, I have made New Year's resolutions. It must be my German genes, the determination to live a more disciplined life. I'm also rather compulsive about making "to-do" lists and actually checking off each item when it is accomplished.

As a young adult, most of my resolutions had to do either with losing weight of quitting smoking. One year I remember losing over 40 lbs from a total weight of 225. I've never reached that mark again, but usually regained some of the loss each year, hence

group leadership, institutional management, programming and finance, pastoral care, counseling, worship arts, religious education, program development, and community and social action.

Terry is required to have weekly, in person, supervision with a minister (Dr. Gaines) and to work with an internship committee of church members. The internship committee will participate in monthly meetings with the intern as well as offer committee representation at functions where the intern has a leadership role--in leading workshops, preaching, leading an adult or children's program, training volunteers, or facilitating a committee meeting. The final requirement is that the church understand the value of Unitarian Universalism's place in the larger interfaith community and be willing to offer the intern the opportunity to explore the theological meaning, relationships, and possibilities for social action that interfaith involvement allows. What an exciting chance to explore these issues as a Congregation!

The Ad Hoc Committee and the Board believes that this is a win-win situation. It will offer our Congregation a chance to experience a full-time minister, something we have never had. It will relieve our Sunday Services Committee of having to find speakers for every Sunday of the month. Most importantly, it will offer our Congregation a chance to grow in different ways--to think more about our religion and our mission as a church and to come together as a caring, supportive group to nurture a minister. Sandra Mahoney

Sondra Mahoney Introduces

Terrance Andrew Robinson BS, MD, MDiv3

Dr. Robinson was born in Canada (baptized Anglican), immigrated with his parents to the USA on October 31, 1946 and grew up in Warren, Michigan (confirmed UCC). He attended Adrian College (United Methodist) graduating Cum Laude with a BS in 1966 with a biology major and chemistry/political science minors. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine in 1970. He became a UU in 1968 just before marrying Barbara Ann Baldwin, RN in 1969. His internship and dermatology residency was at Philadelphia Naval Hospital/University of Pennsylvania 1970-1974. He served as Chief of Dermatology service at Pearl Harbor and was board certified in 1977. He and Barbara have five children, three biological and two adopted.

He was in private practice in Adrian, Michigan until he moved to work in an HMO in Phoenix.

WVUU Plans to Become an

Internship Site and a Teaching

Congregation

We have a wonderful opportunity! By a stroke of good luck we have a chance to have a full time minister before we ever thought that we could have or afford one. We will be having an intern minister for 9 months who is fully trained by the Starr King School of Ministry although not experienced. Terrance Robinson began attending Starr King in 2005 and will be ready to start his internship in September 2007. A brief biographical sketch is below.

Our responsibilities will be to support, nurture, and mentor Terry. We agree as a community to offer him a place to explore the theological meaning, relationships, and possibilities for social action within our church and within the larger community. He, in turn, will offer two services a month, except for months with five Sundays when he will offer three services a month. He will be growing and developing his preaching skills and that will be the first focus of his supervision time with Dr. Gaines. He will help us expand our membership base and will engage in small group discussions regarding the recommendations that Dr. Gaines will make on January 7. Terry has been seeking an internship with a small church as his desire upon fellowship is to work within a small congregation.

The congregation is expected to give the intern direct ministerial responsibilities and engage him in a wide range of ministerial duties, including small-

Christmas Pageant Huge Success

The kids at West Valley and Surprise UU churches pooled their talents to entertain congregations at both churches in December.

They began practicing on Dec 17th during the annual Parents' Night Out. This year, the event was hosted by the Surprise church, where the kids got to use some pretty cool audio equipment.

That was where they held their first performance of the pageant, too. The congregation of the Surprise Church was delighted and showed their appreciation by donating $520.53 to Heifer International. The kids got to vote on how to spend the money and decided on a goat, a water buffalo, honey bees, two flocks of chicks, three rabbits and a flock of ducks and geese. This livestock will all be sent to families around the world who will certainly appreciate these gifts.

The performance was repeated Christmas Eve night at the West Valley church, where the congregation donated $301.25 to the West Side Food Bank.

Sunday school resumes

January 7.

Children will be presenting the church service on January 21st.

First annual WVUU

Zoo Day -

Saturday afternoon,

Jan 27th

If you have any questions about

Zoo Day or Sunday school and children's programs, call Kathy at

623-915-2678.

In 1985 he served on active duty as Chief of Dermatology during the first Gulf War at Landstuhl (Germany) Army (General Hospital and then at Fort Knox, KY with retirement in 1993. He oversaw (paid for) 5 children through college and did extensive traveling alone and with his wife until he began at the Starr King School of Ministry in August, 2005.

He leans toward the Universalist side of Unitarian Universalism. Once he receives fellowship, he hopes to yoke 2-3 small congregations together as a "circuit riding" parish minister. He became an instant convert to UU upon hearing his first sermon on UUSC in an Oklahoma City church in 1968.

Website Lets You

Help the Hungry for Free!

You can logon to www.TheHungerSite.com, (add it to your "favorites") and click daily to give free food for the hungry. This is paid for by the sponsors of the site and provided to people in need around the world through the efforts of Mercy Corps and America's Second Harvest.

While there, you will notice that across the top of the Home page, there are other sites that you can click on: the Breast Cancer Site, the Child Health Site, the Literacy Site, the Rainforest Site, the Animal Rescue Site.

Ann Harper

The UU Church in Sun City Invites friends to their GLBT group

Dear Friends,

A home in the West Valley! Now that you are here, how about meeting some fun folk with a similar history?

We are Interweave, a non-profit organization for the advancement of GLBT (Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender) concerns and social exchange. Our meetings are open to all who are in sympathy with this perspective. You and your friends are invited to attend a pot luck Movie evening on January 6th at 4:30 p.m. We typically have 15 to 20 women and men at our events; we are ready to welcome 24 or 48. Do join us.

Please contact me if you would like more information or just drop by at 4:30 with rolls, pie, salad, chicken, fish, potatoes, whatever you like and join in for the evening.

Finding friends in the West,

Sincerely, Tom

Tom and Mary Anne

623-583-5473

Our building is just north of the West Valley Art Museum at about 115th Ave. and Bell. See you.

Annual Silent Auction

Date: Saturday, February 24, 2007

Time: 5:00-8:00 pm

Theme: Dancing for the Bottom Line

The evening will include a silent auction to benefit the church. Please donate your items as soon as possible! Please see Mia or Larry after church to get a form.

(Extra forms will also be available near the

WVUU Sanctuary Calendar.)

The evening will include a pot-luck supper and line dancing for all who are interested!

Some ideas for donations could be:

*a special item that you have and want to donate

*a service that you could provide: a music

lesson, cooking lesson, horseback riding,

*a weekend get-away at your cabin or beach house

*a gift certificate to a local store/restaurant.

*a gift basket...this could be done as a family

or friends together.

*a gift certificate to a local spa.

So...come out and support your church! Have fun and lots of laughs!!

Maybe you'll come home with something special, too!

See you all in February!!

Mia and Larry

Unitarian Universalist Annual

General Assembly Meets in Portland, Oregon

The Ware Lecture is among approximately one hundred UU activities available to those who attend the UUA's annual General Assembly on Wednesday, June 20--Sunday, June 24, 2007. www.uua.org/General Assembly. Portland, Oregon, a great place to be in June!

The Ware Lecture will be delivered on Saturday, June 23, at 9:00 p.m. in Portland, at the Oregon Convention Center. Registration is required to attend this event. For information on General Assembly, please see registration information on the UUA website (http://www.uua.org/ga/reg.html). Previous Ware Lecturers have included the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Kurt Vonnegut, and poet Mary Oliver.

Dr. Rashid Khalidi's selection for this prestigious Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly lecture is the author of two highly acclaimed Beacon Press books on the Middle East, "The Iron Cage:The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood", named an outstanding title of 2006 by Publishers Weekly, and "Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America's Perilous Path in the Middle East"

Rev. Sinkford, President of the UUA, says, "Rashid Khalidi offers us a focused and much-needed perspective on the worsening situation in the Middle East. As we search for guidance on how to address this region's turmoil, Dr. Khalidi's well-researched and engrossing analysis of both the roots of the conflicts as well as the current context is crucial to restoring a sense of hope for the future. Khalidi is the author of three previous books about the Middle East: "Origins of Arab Nationalism," "Under Siege," and the award-winning "Palestinian Identity." He holds the Edward Said Chair in Arab Studies at Columbia University, where he heads the Middle East Institute. He has written more than eighty articles on Middle Eastern history and politics, as well as op-ed pieces in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and The Nation. Khalidi has received fellowships and grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the American Research Center in Egypt, and the Rockefeller Foundation; he was also the recipient of a Fulbright research award. Professor Khalidi has been a regular guest on numerous radio and TV shows, including All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, Morning Edition, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and Nightline. He lives in New York.

The UUA's weekly online magazine,

uuworld.org: liberal religion and life, is taking UU voices and values beyond the readership of UU World, the UUA's quarterly magazine.

With online-only articles, weekly news, links to resources from the UUA and other organizations, and much more, uuworld.org is also an enhanced and expanded magazine for Unitarian Universalists.

The online magazine has also been named the Best Faith-Based Online Campaign in the 2006 Internet Advertising Competition sponsored by the Web Marketing Association.

Sunday, January 7, 2007, Rev. Charles Gaines, "A Report to the Congregation" Last October, I was engaged to study the West Valley UU Church, with special attention given to membership growth and vitality. Since then, I have met with many committees, studied church records, distributed surveys, and listened to a number of leaders. My report will offer my reflections on what I learned and some recommendations for you to consider. The service will include a short period for questions.

Sunday, January 14, 2007, Rev. Charles Gaines,"The Power of an Idea," We often think we are powerless, but there is within each of us opportunities to effect the lives of others and even our world. Mr. Gaines will be in the Boston area from Jan. 19-29. He will deliver sermons at the First Parish in Framingham, MA, where he is Minister Emeritus, and the First Parish in Groton, MA and present a paper at the Fraters of the Wayside Inn, held at the inn made famous by Longfellow's tales. Universalist ministers began the annual retreat, restricted to 21 colleagues, in 1904.

Sunday, January 21, 2007, Exodus and the Struggle for Civil Rights - Religious Education Director says that in this week when we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., WVUU Kids will present an intergenerational service for your enjoyment and participation.

Sunday, January 28, 2007, Wendy Williams, "Hope: A Spiritual Practice for Challenging Times." It is easy to respond to public events with criticism. However, the result is often despair and a feeling of powerlessness. How might hope offer us a perspective that invites thoughtful critique and responsible action? How can hope become a spiritual discipline important to Unitarian Universalists?

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 84 members and many more friends.

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

another resolution to lose weight. It was not until I retired from active ministry, with its stress, that I got down to 180 lbs, only to see a modest gain since October (now, why is that?)

Most of my resolutions have had to do with quitting smoking. Cigarettes were especially helpful when I wrote sermons. Whether it was a "one-or-two-pack" sermon didn't make any difference in the quality of any of them, I realize now. My last cigarette was in 1984 after years of burning through cartons of them. I once figured I could buy a new car (a small Ford) with all I spent on cigarettes."

When the first George Bush was in the White House and he talked about the pinpoints of light in the darkness, I resolved one year to become one of them. You know, an example for others in the way I behaved; always loving, modest, kind, charitable, whatever. Well, that lasted about eight days, going the way of most of my resolutions.

I don't make New Year's Resolutions any longer. Perhaps, I should. But life seems more natural without them, without that internal guilt mechanism driving me toward that more perfect life. And at my age, self-improvement seems a bit transitory, anyway.

The ice cream is delicious, as is the feeling of "at ease" over enjoying life for all the moments left to me.

Rev. Charles Gaines

Augmenting Membership

Initiatives Meeting,

Sunday, Jan. 7, 12:15 p.m.

On Dec. 6 th, five people attended a meeting for organizing a Membership Committee, which, previously, only Cindy Nowell served. From that meeting came the intention to double the number of members and assign specific responsibilities that would expand the church's outreach to visitors and follow their process into becoming active members.

Darryl Bailey is currently serving as acting chair, but this month he becomes President of the board. A new chair is "in-the-works" so it is hoped that some in the congregation will support her/him and the desire to experience membership growth in the church by attending the meeting and helping out.

The meeting will select volunteers for such activities as greeting visitors before and after services, tracking what happens to them after their visit to when they join the church, telephoning them to learn of their interests, hosting newcomers' get-togethers, etc.

Please join us in order to achieve a membership of 100 by January 2008, which will be the first time in our history that it has occurred.

How Is West Valley Doing Financially?

Our Treasurer, Dan Poland, says that people pledged to give $23,548 to the Church between June 1, and December 31st 2006. People gave $20,125 in pledges during that time. In other words, almost 90% of the amount pledged was given. A great record !

In order for the Church to pay its bills, it is most important that everyone give all the amount that he/she or they pledged. Thank you all for your help.