From the minister

GA Musings: Why Am I a UU?

During my weeklong odyssey that is the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly (GA), I wear many hats. During my first day and a half, I am there for my professional development during Ministry Days. This year, I spent my time with the Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzburg, whose presentations nurtured, inspired, and challenged me. Next, I put on my district president hat, participating in our District President's Association meeting and then welcoming members of our district to GA at our ingathering meeting. As I picked my workshops for the remaining sessions, I chose those that would strengthen my ministry at the Fellowship or would support the district programs. I also took great joy in touching base with those of our congregation in attendance. Sometimes, this meant going out to dinner, and sometimes it meant lending a supportive ear or providing advice from the perspective of a seasoned GA veteran.

Throughout the week, those roles shifted back and forth, but there were also moments when I was a member of the congregation-not minister, not district president, but reminded of the reasons why I became a UU in the first place. One such moment occurred during the plenary session during the report of our UUA president, the Rev. William Sinkford. His presentation was framed with this statement, "We've come a long way together, and together we have a lot of work to do."

Within that framework, President Sinkford detailed the progress our association has made in witnessing our faith in this country and around the world. He described his travels to Spain for the International Council of Unitarians, to the refugee camps in Darfur, and to the Garden of the Righteous in Jerusalem, where UUSC founders Martha and Waitstill Sharp were honored posthumously for their heroic rescue of Jews from Nazi persecution. Representing the UUA, President Sinkford looked on as Martha Sharp Joukowsky, daughter of these two founders of our service committee, received a medal of honor from the leaders of Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Memorial. Back in this country, the Rev. Sinkford represented us in Washington, D.C., encouraging an increase in the minimum wage, keeping hate out of our Constitution, and promoting peace. He concluded this litany of travel by saying, "So it was pretty much an average year."

While listening to this report, I remembered one of the reasons I became a Unitarian Universalist. In this faith, I found a theology that emphasized our ability to make a difference in the world. In this faith, I found the inspiration to live a life that would not be limited by theologies but enlivened by my beliefs. In this faith, I discovered a place that provided a refuge from the storm and a beacon guiding the way to a better harbor.

The Rev. Sinkford's representation of us is the light in that beacon. Like the Sharps before him and like so many others in our rich tradition, he is lighting the way for us to follow and encouraging us to be part of the process that can continue to improve our world and stop those who would choose to roll back the progress our society has achieved in the past generations. Two programs, Standing on the Side of Love (promoting marriage equality) and Let Justice Roll (seeking to re-establish an equitable minimum wage), both show us how we can continue the work our tradition calls us to be about. We have come a long way together, and together we have a lot of work to do.

– Brian

Prairie Flower Preschool Returns to the Fellowship Space this Fall

by Susan Jasper

It is with joyful hearts that the staff and board of the Ames Waldorf Association and Prairie Flower Preschool return to the UUFA RE space this fall. Lead teacher Delphine Douglass is happy to be back because of the support of the Fellowship's RE Committee and DYCM Benette Sherman, because of the marvelous play opportunities the hilly woods provide, and because of the larger children's space since the Fellowship's remodel. Prairie Flower rented from the UUFA from 1998 to 2001 before moving. (However, the Ames Waldorf Association's Parent-Child Playgroup has met at the UUFA for eight years and gives moms/dads and infants through 3-year-olds a playgroup with Waldorf guidance.)

Waldorf education is the fastest growing nonsectarian school movement in the world. Austrian philosopher and mystic Rudolf Steiner founded the first Waldorf school in 1919 as a means to educate the children of a German cigarette manufacturer's employees in a post-war, co-educational setting. This holistic and artistic approach to education has captured the imagination of families and teachers all over the world. Rudolf Steiner also applied his philosophy to virtually every area of human inquiry and activity-the arts, education, medicine, science, history, religion, agriculture (the Biodynamic method), and architecture.

Waldorf education strives to educate children through their heads, hands, and hearts with a different emphasis as the child passes through various stages of development. (Much of Steiner's basic perceptions of child development are now being validated by contemporary brain/mind research.) The earliest stage, addressed at Prairie Flower and in the Parent-Child Playgroup, is a time when each child's brain and body goes through huge physical changes and when the child lives in his/her will. Waldorf teachers at this stage emphasize doing and hands-on work, laying the groundwork for later, abstract learning. They offer children examples of "work" that are worthy of imitation and present many opportunities to be actively imitating.

Within the context of seasonal, weekly, and daily rhythms, the Waldorf preschool teacher bakes bread, sweeps, paints, and sews-gently weaving the child into and between activities through rhythm, routine, and song.

CARING MINISTRY COUNCIL: MEALS

Early in 2006, the UUFA Caring Ministry restructuring created a sub-committee to provide meals for members of our congregation who are experiencing health or grieving struggles. The committee was named the UUFA Cooks Who Care! by Peggy Earnshaw, current point-person for the group. When a need becomes known, an email is sent out to the 11 members of Cooks Who Care!, and a meal schedule is arranged with the people in need. The subcommittee has provided help to five families since January. Please think about whether this is a "small bite" of ministry that you could provide for your fellow UUs. Join our group and help when you can. To join, email Peggy Earnshaw, and you will be added to the growing list of Fellowship members who show their love and concern for others through meal preparation.

- Lynne Van Valin

DAYTIME CIRCLE

The Daytime Circle meets in the Tower Room at 1:30 p.m. every other Monday. This month, we meet on July 10 and 24. We are an open circle, including new members as they come, but we maintain confidentiality to encourage people to share what is of deepest concern to them. If you have questions, please call Tom Janicki or Lotus Miller for more information.

- Lotus Miller and Tom Janicki

DENOMINATIONAL CONNECTIONS

Nine UUFA members attended GA in St. Louis June 21-25, along with 4,389 other UUs from around the nation and the world. It was an exciting, stimulating, thought-provoking, and exhausting time, but it is always worth the effort and expense. Those of us who went will share experiences during a future program. However, any of the following people would love to talk to you about their experiences at GA right now: Joanne Barnes, Brian Eslinger, Kitty Fisher, Jo Ann Masterson, Tom McGiverin, Molly Nesbitt, Benette Sherman, Dena Sidmore, and Dallas Thies. The 2007 GA will be in Portland, Oregon.

- Kitty Fisher

DUSTIN BERGER MEMORIAL LIBRARY

We have a new poster in the library! It displays the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification System. Religion occupies the 200-299 region.

Unitarianism must have been pretty obscure to the people who designed this system because it did not get its own category; however, 289 is "Other Denominations." So we adopted 289 for UUs as follows:

• 289 - UU generalities
• 289.1 - UU history, guides, introductions
• 289.2 - UU heroes (more than one in same book. If it was just one hero, it would be a biography, and that's in the 900-999 region.)
• 289.3 - UU essays, sermons, play scripts (long pieces)
• 289.4 - UU meditations, poems (short pieces)
• 289.5 - UU music

This gives you a little flavor of how we fit into the Dewy System. We have put Dewey call numbers on more than 1000 books. They aren't all properly sorted and fully computer-indexed yet, but we are getting closer every week!

-Roger Berger

PEACE GROUP

Please participate in peace vigils on Wednesday evenings: 4:45 to 5:15 p.m. at the intersection of Fifth Street and Grand Ave. and then from 5:30 to 6 p.m. at Lincoln Way and Welch Ave.

- Marcia Brink

PRAIRIE SAGE CIRCLE: EARTH-BASED SPIRITUALITY

Summer is a wonderful time to consider your spiritual path and its level of maintenance during the warm summer months. Just as any garden needs upkeep, so does our spirituality. While it can be ignored and allowed to become overgrown, weeding out the unnecessary can provide us with an opportunity to see our paths more clearly. We are using Earth Spirit Warrior by John Stowe as our guide book. Consider joining us on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Tower Room.

- Tammi Hartmann

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY & ACTION: COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

In September, the UUFA will participate in the first house meeting campaign of the new regional (Ames/Des Moines) AMOS. The goal is to identify and prioritize local and regional social justice issues to address during the coming year. We will kick off our new agenda in October. We'll also ask the candidates for governor to respond to our agenda before the November election. Please plan to share your stories and passions at just one, small (eight to 10 people), one-hour house meeting in September. Signup sheets for meetings at a variety of dates, times, and locations will be available in the Fireside Room during August. Tammi Martin is coordinating hosts, facilitators, and participants. Thank you to everyone who is helping with this campaign. For more information, contact Marcia Brink or Benette Sherman.

- Marcia Brink and Benette Sherman

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY & ACTION: ENVIRONMENTAL

As a result of our new membership in the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth (UUMFE), we received their spring newsletter. It is packed full of useful, interesting articles. To whet your appetite, read The Ethical Challenges of Global Warming by Claudia Kern, chair of UUMFE, and reprinted with permission below. The newsletter itself will be available in the library.

- Erv Klaas

Are UUs in any way prepared to address the ethical quandaries that global warming has set before us? In a world in which we must stabilize and then reduce greenhouse gas emissions to less than half their current levels, on what basis will we make the choices that have to be made? How will we respond to the metaphysical challenge inherent in our UU Principles of reconciling the one with the many? Can we make the choices that need to be made while honoring the worth and dignity of the individual and the right of personal conscience? Can we move toward global justice and equity for humans while at the same time preserving and protecting the all-inclusive web of life of which we are all a part?

It is within this tension between the universal and the individual, that we Unitarian Universalists are called to respond. As we transition from educating ourselves to the science of global warming toward defining and implementing solutions, a serious ethical examination of the possibilities is critical. We as a religious community have a fundamental role to play in insuring that deep reflection on the ethical dimensions of climate change will take place.

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From the president

Let Me Start by Saying "Thanks!"

It's appropriate that my first official act as the UUFA board president is to say "thank you!" to the people I've worked closely with this year:

• To Brenda Witherspoon, a nearly impossible act to follow into the president's position. Her friendly, even-tempered, marvelously organized competence has been invaluable to the Fellowship for the last two years. I am grateful and relieved that she will remain on the board as past president during the coming year.
• To Peggy Earnshaw, Leslie Hanft, Ken Lane, and Rich Van Valin, leaders who gave time and energy to serve on the board this year and have completed their terms, or, in Ken's case, moved from our community.
• To Joan Mathews, who with good humor and dedication just completed a two-year stint as co-treasurer with me.

And thank you to the folks who continue to serve the Fellowship as board members or officers and to those who have "signed on" for the first time this year in one of those capacities. I'm looking forward to working with you all to advance the vision and purposes of our group.

Much gratitude goes to our terrific staff. Brian, Benette, and Becca together are the "glue" (the "duct tape"?) that holds us together by providing direction and communication and inspiration for the volunteer efforts that power our Fellowship.

And that leads directly to heartfelt kudos to all of you who in 2005-2006 have given your "time, talents and treasure" and creativity, skills, energy, and just plain elbow grease to weed the gardens, water the plants, educate our children, plan programs, make music, welcome newcomers, beautify the building, support our partner church, provide our presence in social action projects, and do the myriad other tasks that make the UUFA a vibrant, nurturing, and intellectually challenging place.

I'm counting on you to help me with new ideas for direction and organization in the coming year. Is there some change you'd like to see in the way things are organized? Some area where you'd especially like to be involved? Something that we used to do that you would like to see revived? Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions, and join me in looking forward to a rewarding fellowship experience in 2006-2007.

— Mary

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