CUUPS Bulletin - March 2010

Dear Unitarian Fellowship,

Halfway Between Imbolc and Ostara

Here at the very tag end of February, I'm considering how the Wheel of the Year and CUUPS current situation seem perfectly aligned.

Imbolc is often translated as in the belly and as you'd expect, is all about gestating plans that will be borne out in the coming year. This accurately describes the present state of CUUPS plans for General Assembly. We know pretty much what we want to do, and are in the process of lining up venues and writing up drafts of descriptions. We've even got a due date - as we've have to have advertising text in by March 9th. So our next Bulletin should have all sorts of GA information.
Our website plans also fall under this category, the board has selected Heidi Snelgrove from Sacred Journey Fellowship to do the website conversion to Dreamweaver. She should be getting access to the website next week, but it will take a few weeks to get our rather large website converted (plus the Fates have decreed her family will move to a new apartment in March.) Thus, it will probably be April before the website is visibly different.

Which again fits, for that's after Ostara when the whole world is visibly different. Also, under this category we can put our membership drive.  Renewals and the green shoots of new memberships have been coming in over the past few weeks and that should continue as we reach out to more of our membership.

Two weeks ago, CUUPS released the second issue of it's monthly podcast on iTunes and Libsyn.com In just six weeks of release the Podcast has received over 700 downloads and a 5 star rating on iTunes. If you have an mp3 player, or your computer accepts audio files, please feel free to download and listen. This issue runs just over 45 minutes and is free!
Download from iTunes
Download from LibSyn

Welcome to issue number 13 of the CUUPS Bulletin where we feature Rev. Mary Wellemeyer's wonder ful poem about Kali, muse a bit about future plans and have a guest column from Peggy Thompson who is part of the National Pagan Leadership Conference, announce the release of the second CUUPS Podcast, Rev. Bob Murphy discusses some ways to heighten enviromental activism within our UU Societies and the UUA at large, then..

This JUST In....

JUST BEFORE I was going to sent this out, I was notified about two interesting items, that while I don't have enough at the moment for full articles on each of them - you will want to know about them.

The Interdependent Web: Respect It, or Revere It?

Over at the Tikkun Daily Blog, Nancy Vedder-Shultz has started a fascinating discussion about changing the wording of our Seventh Principle. While it might seem obvious to us that Revering the Interdependent Web is better wording than Respecting it - this is a difficult and sometimes painful concept for the Secular Humanists, Atheists and Come-outers who we sit with on Sunday mornings. So, help Nancy and friends brainstorm better wording that we all can live with over at the Tikkun Daily Blog.

Amarillo Under Seige

Last week an article in the Texas Observer covered a group called Repent Amarillo. They are a militaristic, Christian organization dedicated to wiping out everything they determine to be "anti-Christian" through intercessory prayer (aka "spiritual warfare") and witnessing "soldier groups". So far, they've successfully harrassed a local private married-couples-only swingers club out of existence.

So who will they pick on next? They have an online "warfare map", you'll see a whole category dedicated to "Occult Witchcraft", which includes a local nature center, a UU church, palm readers, and metaphysical shops.  

When this info was posted to the SW District's email discussion list, David Green, the consulting minister for the Amarillo UU Fellowship responsded with:

"Thanks for your interest in Repent Amarillo. They have protested at Pagan events at the Fellowship.

Repent Amarillo is apparently a very small organization whose members also use the name "Raven Ministries." Their respective websites are fairly clear on their agenda, but their efforts have had the unintended effect of drawing positive attention to our Fellowship; many of our newer members and guests learned of the Amarillo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship due to Repent Amarillo's well-publicized activities and website.

While we might keep a wary eye on Repent Amarillo, they have not prevented us in the least from growing and moving forward into an exciting future. We've discovered that plenty of folks in the Amarillo area are seeking a place to share a progressive, tolerant, and welcoming religious experience.."
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If you would like to send something to the CUUPS Bulletin, just email bulletin@cuups.org

Avatar Meets the Unitarian Universalists

"All energy is borrowed" is one of the great lines in the movie "Avatar."
 
The Unitarian Universalist congregations have decided to have a significant conversation about energy and the environment at the 2010 General Assembly in Minneapolis.    A proposed statement called "Energy, Peace, and Justice" has been approved for discussion.     www.uua.org/csw
 
The General Assembly delegates will be asked,   "Do you want to develop a significant Unitarian Universalist program to address energy concerns?"    If the delegates give their approval, a 3-4  year program will develop with significant support from the national Unitarian Universalist Association.   Unitarian Universalists will have the opportunity to express some of their environmental concerns.
 
So what can CUUPS members do in order to support "Energy, Peace, and Justice"?
 
FIRST: Ask your congregation's leaders for a copy of the "call to discussion" that has been approved by the recent Congregational Poll.

Every congregation was invited to participate in the voting and most (77%) responded.  How did your local leaders vote?
 
SECOND:  If you plan to go to General Assembly, ask for delegate status....  

Ask your congregation for its support.....   Delegates are the only ones who can vote on GA business. (Being a delegate doesn't cost you any extra.   It does have some benefits.)
 
THIRD:  Start the discussion about energy!  

What energy issues should Unitarian Universalists address?  How should energy matters be addressed?  What do you want to say and do?
 
Thank you!     It's time for some enlightenment in the UUA and CUUPS can light the lamps.
 
Blessed be,
 
Rev. Bob Murphy
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Falmouth, Massachusetts

 Leading Today

One big "hot button" topic in today's world is leadership. Leadership itself is a fairly new concept, early research used the question "what makes a great leader" to create concepts like the Trait Theory which is really no more than a list of traits and the concept of "you are either born a leader or you are not". This evolved over time into a plethora of other theories. Today, the focus has shifted from "what makes a great leader" to "what makes great leadership". The study of Leadership is focused on the relationships between people and how the leaders of the group work to fulfill the group's declared goals.

Leadership itself is an art and a science. It's the art of listening to what the group is saying, translating it back to them and creating a shared vision that all can work toward. Leadership then becomes the science of deadlines, being organized and knowledge. Throw in the ability to motivate, increase morale and the energy to do more than any two people, and you have created positive leadership.

Leadership is a learned skill. Few people are born with the ability to be effective leaders; most of us have had to learn from trial and error...and training. The majority of effective leaders didn't seek out a position of leadership for the power of the position. In fact, I think many would agree there is no inherent power in leadership, the power comes from those who have placed their trust in our leadership abilities- and we will do whatever is necessary to become worthy of the faith and trust these people have given us. Having stated this, I am amazed by how many people do not realize there is training available to them to help them develop the skills they already possess and gain new ones. Most colleges and universities offer courses on leadership, including topics such as "Leading for Social Justice" (offering from Kent State University Spring 2010). I believe the most effective training for Pagan Leaders is the National Pagan Leadership Skills Conference held in Richmond Virginia each summer. This conference allows a leader to become immersed in one leadership topic throughout the weekend. It's also very practical, from event coordination to group facilitation, this conference will work with each participant to not only learn the skills, but leave the conference with a viable action plan to take back to their home groups. I have never attended or taught at a conference that is as focused on meeting the needs of the participant as this conference.

Organizations will benefit from your desire to hone your leadership skills. How many times have you been in an organization that has wondered why an event didn't work the way it was "supposed to"? Or become frustrated at meetings that last "forever"? Leadership training helps you to address these issues- or whatever challenges your organization is facing. The skills you learn also help in your career, and even personal relationships. Learning these skill is not just about how an organization functions, you also learn about yourself and your attitudes and beliefs at the same time. If you're a current leader, or aspire to one day assume the mantle of leadership, learning the skills necessary for effective leadership is a necessity.

For further information regarding the National Pagan Leadership Conference go to:

www.paganleadership.org

Peggy Thompson has been teaching leadership for 10 years in a variety of venues from college campuses to the NPSLC. She holds a bachelor's in Anthropology and Criminology from Cleveland State University where she helped to found Cleveland State Pagans- a pagan student union. Currently she is earning her Master's from Kent State University; her program is Higher Education and Student Support.