1. society
2. racism

volume 40, issue 01
always available online at www.uuccharlotte.org
January 7, 2015
The Mission of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte is to inspire children, youth and adults to discover and articulate deeper
spiritual meaning evidenced in lives of integrity, compassion and stewardship of the earth.
La misión de la iglesia Unitaria Universalista de Charlotte es: inspirar a los niños, jóvenes y adultos para que descubran y articulen un significado espiritual profundo, evidente en una vida de integridad, compasión y en el manejo de los recursos de la tierra.
REV. CLARK OLSEN TO SPEAK
AT THE UUCC ON MLK SUNDAY
Sunday, January 18 at 9:15 and 11:15 a.m.
In March 1965 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. urged clergy
people from throughout the country to come to Selma, Alabama in support of an effort to secure voting rights for the
large African American population there. Dozens of Unitarian Universalist ministers responded to that call including
Rev. Clark Olsen, who was a minister in Berkeley, California at the time.
Once in Selma, Olsen
joined his friends Orloff
Miller and James Reeb for
dinner. It would prove to be
a tragic evening. Leaving
the café and making their
way back to a clergy gathering, white supremacists attacked them. Two days later Jim Reeb died, a Unitarian Universalist martyr in the
march for civil rights.
We’re honored to welcome Rev. Clark Olsen to the UUCC
on Martin Luther King Sunday. As our nation begins to
reflect on the fiftieth anniversary of the march from Selma,
Olsen will share his personal experience with us. This is a
rare opportunity to hear history first hand from an extraordinary man who was a participant in and witness to one of the
most tragic events in the struggle for civil rights in our nation.
Plan now to attend our services at 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. on
Sunday, January 18 and invite friends who may be especially interested in this very special day in the life of our congregation.
WE’RE ALL EARS …
From Your Board of Trustees
Have you taken a breath yet? For many, January means
time for reflection and adjustment.. The UUCC Board does
this by attending a day-long retreat that allows us to explore
questions deeply and with a singular focus. This year we
will meet on January 17 to examine our effectiveness as a
board and the key role of communication in our work.
The Board is charged with understanding the congregation’s hopes, priorities and concerns and sharing those with
the staff. We are also asked to develop a deep understanding of the work of the staff and share our understanding of
that work with the congregation. We connect with members in myriad ways: by attending church activities like
Second Sunday conversations, Credo conversations, movie
nights, game nights, weaving circles and picnics. This year
we also initiated or participated in conversations about our
future including a Financial Summit, a Visioning Team
congregational conversation and the CYRE assessment.
These meetings allow us to listen to your hopes and incorporate them into our governance. We work to represent the
UUCC in the community at large as well by participating in
civic events like the Standing on the Side of Love service,
attending interfaith services in support of marriage equality
(Continued on page 4)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Team Spotlight: Congregational Care
3
Authors’ Series Beginning In March
5
Conversations About Mortality
7
Join the UUCC Contingent for MLK Parade
8
Do You Want to Be a February Friend?
9
Page 1
FROM THE MINISTER
If you have been a part of the UUCC for more than a year
or so, you’ll likely recall our former member and professional staff member Tiffany Glisson. Many of us first met
Tiffany and her son Trenton when they were ushers, offering a warm greeting to those arriving for a Sunday service
here. Tiffany served for a brief time as our Coordinator of
New Member Development before relocating to the Atlanta
area both to care for her mom and to engage in a wonderful
professional opportunity.
I have read with interest occasional Facebook reflections
that Tiffany Glisson has offered in the past few months,
glimpses into her experiences as an African American
woman raising an African American son. I offer—with her
permission—one of Tiffany’s more wrenching recent posts.
She writes:
I am the mother of a young AfricanAmerican boy. I have to have very uncomfortable conversations with him that, at his
age, are beyond his full understanding. I
have to have the same conversations with
my son that parents had to have with their
children during the Civil Rights era; as
good as your White counterparts is not
enough, you have to excel. You have to be
better. I have to determine if I shelter him
from the information of ongoing killings of
Black boys and men or if I expose him to
the new form of lynching that has become
so prevalent. I'm the mother of a Black
child who calmly told his teacher no after
she got in his face and yelled at him to do
something, and calmly said no to the principal and had the resource officer, i.e. the
police, called on him. He wasn't belligerent
or violent. They could have easily called
me. Why the police? Dare this little Black
boy disobey? While people with privilege
get to debate about whether privilege exists
(which in fact is a denial of their privilege),
or how much African Americans should
just "move on" from the indignities and
injustices of slavery and Jim Crow (not to
mention modern day Jim Crow), I'm here
living this existence that the privileged
wish to deny. And that is the existence of a
Black woman with a Black son, trying on a
daily basis not to let the deep, embedded
racism that exists in this country break me
down, or worse, take the life of my son.
This country is not my home, nor was it
ever intended to be.
Page 2
As I continue to consider many widely varying assumptions
and assertions during these difficult days, I find myself reflecting frequently on Tiffany’s observations about race and
“privilege” and about how the “privileged” are often either
in denial or oblivious to their condition. I am increasingly
aware that one source of this combined denial/obliviousness
is, ironically, what people of privilege often identify as
“progressive.”
You too may have seen the Annie E. Casey national study
(http://www.aecf.org/resources/race-for-results/) that assesses, among other things, the worst states for people of
color. How many people of privilege would guess that this
study determined that the two worst states are ones often
thought of as “progressive”—Wisconsin and Minnesota?
Wisconsin has the highest rate of incarcerated black men in
the country. More than half of the black men in their 30s
and 40s in Milwaukee have been incarcerated at some
point, a city also reflecting one of the most dramatic gaps in
income between blacks and whites. In Minneapolis, black
students are suspended at a rate ten times that of white students. Officials at the Minnesota Department of Health recently admitted that the dramatic health disparities between
whites and people are color in their state can be attributed to
“structural racism.”
Read through this lens of concern about the dynamics of
race and privilege, I find myself reassessing supposedly
“progressive” sources of information like NPR and the New
York Times. As I listen and read with this in mind, I realize
how much of what gets presented reflects the privileged
audience for these outlets. So many of the stories and features along with so many of the assumptions about what is
“normative” trade on an assumption that those reading and
listening are privileged. And, as social media has dramatically expanded the sources of information I consider, I am
struck by how many stories of significance to people of color simply don’t get covered by these “progressive” sources.
What then of our “progressive” religion? Consider, for example, how often we have acclaimed our ties to people of
privilege and power, among them presidents who identified
as Unitarians. But, how might that message sound to people of color when, for example, we tout President William
H. Taft as one of us, acclaimed in one Unitarian Universalist source for his “services to his fellow religious liberals.”
Taft, in the PBS documentary The Rise and Fall of Jim
Crow, is noted as a man who “publicly endorsed the idea
that blacks should not participate in politics.” Addressing
African American college graduates in North Carolina, he
declared: “Your race is meant to be a race of farmers, first,
last and for all times.”
I’m currently reading Patricia Sullivan’s Lift Every Voice:
The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement
in which Taft is remembered for having “approvingly noted
that ‘the Negro . . . is coming more and more under the
guardianship of the South’ ” and for the fact that he
“consistently refused to speak out against lynching.”
Where some might tout service to “religious liberals,” others just might hear in a proud identification with a man like
Taft a clear message that this “progressive” religion is for
people of privilege.
I’m also reading Claudia Rankine’s National Book Award
Finalist collection Citizen: An American Lyric. It is a
quirky, searing book relating racist experiences both subtle
and intentional. Rankine writes:
And yes, the inaudible spreads across states lines.
Its call backing away from the face of America.
Bloodshot eyes calling on America
that can’t look forward for being called back.
Peace, Jay
CONGREGATIONAL CARE NEWS
If you know about a need in our
congregation—an illness or injury, a
hospitalization or surgery, a death—
what can you do? Please inform a
member of our professional staff.
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
Who is the Congregational Care Team?
The Congregational Care Team of the
UUCC has the honor of supporting our
members who have suffered a major
loss, undergone major surgery, are
homebound and/or have significant life
changes. This past year we began to
include the joyous celebrations of members who have experienced births. The Team’s responsibilities include providing memorial service receptions, delivering meals, sending
cards, and coordinating hospital visits, as well as visits to
those recovering from surgery or homebound and making
and delivering baby blankets to our parents of newborns.
We also work with the Children & Youth Religious Education (CYRE) program to plan, assemble and deliver the annual Holiday baskets. Kathleen Moloney-Tarr and Joy
Bruce oversee Healing Threads, a prayer shawl ministry
group which offers handcrafted shawls to UUCC members
who experience life-altering health conditions or loss of a
partner or child and to the two Levine Dickson Hospice
Houses in Huntersville and at Southminster. Since May
2012 we have distributed about 60 shawls a year.
The Core Team members meet once a month to discuss
congregational needs and plan accordingly. This Core
Team consists of Barbara Whitt, Mary Lou Freund, Karen
York, Judy Calabrese, Cindy Thomson, Sage Brook (shortterm visits), Carol Rousey (long-term visits), Jane Kusterer
(meals), Mary Wilburn (cards), and Nancy Greene
(memorial receptions). Martha Kniseley is our staff member.
We could not function without the support of our invaluable
Auxiliary Team members who are dedicated to serving our
congregation in times of need. Many thanks to our wonderful volunteers for memorial services, meals, visits, and
handcrafted items: Phyllis Bertke, Dale Brook, Barbara
Conrad, Betsy Decker, Melba Evans, Don Faires, Annie
Flint, Ann Forcinito, Judy Ghoneim, Laura Hamilton, Rita
Heath Singer, Justin Hunt, Lib Jones, Marsha Kelly, Joyce
Kelly-Kramer, Ron Kramer, Sheila Lay, Felicia Lee, Jane
McLaughlin, Kimberly Melton, Pete and Pat Parks, Marsha
Pepper, Liz Pratt, Janan Richrath, Carolyn Sax, Rebekah
Visco, Shirley Wagner, Becky Whittington, Mary Wilburn
as well as others.
The members of this team have been touched in many ways
by the lives of the people we have served; we receive much
more than we give. Check out sign-up opportunities at the
Adult Programming table and consider joining us!
Nancy Greene, Chair
Page 3
(“We Are All Ears . . .” continued from page 1)
Unitarian
Universalist
Church of
Charlotte ENDS
Statements
As a congregation, we
courageously name these
ends to which we aspire:
 We are a joyful, dynamic
community of people who care
about and are connected to each
other. Here people are welcomed,
heard, included and respected.
 We are a sanctuary for those
on a liberal religious path and a
beacon of progressive thought and
action in the larger Charlotte
community.
 We cultivate lives of generosity
and responsibility, sharing our
personal abundance.
 We are intentionally growing in
our diversity as a congregation,
each of us working with others to
overcome the barriers that divide
the human family.
 We strive for peace, justice and
equity in our hearts, our
interpersonal relationships, our
community and our world.
and in celebration of Thanksgiving and by traveling to Raleigh to participate in
Moral Monday protests.
The Board listens to the congregation but we also
aim to share what we know with you. We do this in
a few key ways. At the end of the fiscal year we
host a Congregational Conversation and report back
to you what we have learned over the prior year.
We survey the members and collate and include
those responses in our assessment. We also post the
minutes from our meetings on the bulletin board in
the office. The Coordinating Team report is also
posted and I would urge you to take a look at one if
you have never done so. The staff works hard to
create them and they provide both inspiration and
information. For example, I have long heard that
we shouldn’t park in the lot at the UUCC but it wasn’t until I read – repeatedly – about visitors leaving
when they were unable to find parking that I got
militant and serious about it. I used to occasionally park in the lot because it was
raining or because I was tired and cranky but since I joined the Board you will always find my family parked elsewhere and taking the (not really) long way around.
What do you wish you knew and how do you wish you knew it? We have a chance
to revisit and improve the way we work. Please take some time before January 17
to share your thoughts. Stop us before or after services (we have ribbons attached
to our name tags so we are easy to identify), leave a note in our box in the office or
email us and let us know where the holes are and what we are doing well. We are
here to serve you.
Debbie Rubenstein
UUCC Board of Trustees
NEWS FROM VISION STEERING TEAM
More than 80 members of our congregation gathered November 23 for an initial
congregational conversation to discuss our future. The Vision Steering Team organized the meeting. This group has been charged by the Board of Trustees to create
a process whereby the congregation can develop a shared vision that looks far into
our future. Ultimately this vision will be captured in a plan to be adopted by the
congregation in 2016.
We are taking our time with this important process and we want to ask for your
assistance and we want to hear from you. Many of you were not able to attend the
November meeting so we want to share the presentation developed for that meeting. At the end of the presentation is an opportunity to provide additional feedback.
We ask all members to complete the brief survey so that your voice will be heard.
We will have multiple smaller gatherings in the coming months to collect additional information. We plan to share the feedback we have received this February. We
look forward to hearing from you. Presentation link:
https://www.slideshare.net/secret/4oF4G1IME58FDQ
Your Vision Steering Team
Page 4
MUSIC NEWS
COMMUNITY BUILDING
A Debt of Gratitude
Tables for Eight
It’s hard to know where to being
to thank all of our wonderful
musicians for their contributions
to our community over the past
two months. From the blessing of the crafts service before
Thanksgiving to our Christmas Eve Services and first service of the New Year. There was a lot of music-making in
this place, and even more effort that went into preparation
and rehearsals. Heartfelt thanks to our ensembles – the
Adult Choir, Chamber Choir, Chime Ensemble and Children’s Choir – and to their leaders and accompanists, especially Donna Fisher, our wonderful Children’s Choir director, and Kaarin Record Leach, our substitute accompanist
while Scott Whitesell is on medical leave.
Tables for Eight is a wonderful, fun way to get to know
members in an informal setting. Dinners take place on
fourth Saturdays of the month: January 24, February 28,
March 28 and April 25. We’re making a slight change for
this next round—the participants will share the responsibility for the meal so that the host is more able to enjoy the
evening along with the guests. Sign-ups will continue in
Freeman Hall through December or by contacting Althea
Clark (altheaclark@verizon.net). Please know that anyone
over 18 can participate—singles, couples, visitors, friends,
and members.
Congratulations and deep thanks to our many vocal and instrumental soloists, youth and adults alike, who took special
effort to prepare their individual contributions. We would
be remiss not to mention our sound technicians, specifically
Ben Schomp for his contributions at our holiday carol concert and winter solstice service and Doug Swaim, our Interim Director of Administration, for coordinating the sound.
Lastly, a big “shout out” goes to Alesia Hutto, our Office
Administrator, for her enthusiastic and professional support.
We owe you all a huge debt of gratitude!
John Herrick
Director of Music
Please Join Us!
Rehearsals for the winter and spring seasons began this
week, so if you’ve been contemplating participation in the
UUCC music program through the Adult Choir, Chime Ensemble or Children’s Choir, please join us. The Adult Choir
meets on Wednesday evenings, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in
the sanctuary and provides music leadership in services at
least two Sundays per month and for special services. High
school youth and adults are welcome in this non-audition
ensemble. For our first through fifth grade singers, we offer
the Children’s Choir, directed by Donna Fisher. Please contact Donna at donnfish@bellsouth.net for more information.
If you’re looking for a non-singing musical opportunity, we
offer the Chime Ensemble for those who have had some
music reading experience. The Chime Ensemble performs
roughly once a month in services through June. This group
meets on Wednesday evenings in the sanctuary from 6:00 to
7:00 p.m. For information on these ensembles or for any
other musical interests, please contact Director of Music,
John Herrick at john@uuccharlotte.org.
Open Mind Book Club
Monday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Room
The Open Mind Book Club will meet at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, February 2 in the Conference Room. We will be discussing My Salinger Year by Joanna Rackoff. Please RSVP
to Gwynne Movius at (704) 366-9409 if you plan to attend.
UUCC Authors’ Series beginning in
March
We have so much talent
among us that we couldn’t
resist offering three evenings with published authors in our congregation.
You’ll have an opportunity
to hear members talk about
their personal writing journeys in fiction, poetry, and academic genres. Mark your calendars for Thursday evenings
at 7:00—March 12, April 9, and May 14.
Many many thanks to and from the
Community Building Team!
December is always a very busy month
and the success of our events depends on
our many volunteers. Thanks to all who
provided cookies for the Solstice and
Christmas Eve Receptions. A very special
thanks to the Hagen Family for coordinating the well-attended Christmas Day dinner in Freeman Hall. Thanks to all who
helped with set-up and clean-up for all of these events. We
couldn’t do it without you!
Page 5
ADULT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
2nd Sunday Topic Discussion
Sunday, January 11 at 10:30 a.m. in the Bernstein Room
This is an opportunity to meet with the Minister to share
your thoughts, ask questions, and hear others’ views relative
to the sermon topic for that day. Begins promptly at 10:30
a.m. in the Bernstein Room. January Topic: Pluralism
DiscoverGroups 2015
My DiscoverGroup is all about loving not judging.
Because of that, the growing bond of acceptance
among group members enabled me to share some of
my deepest thoughts regarding my own spiritual
journey. I am so glad we were able to move from
surface headiness to sacred, soulful reflection.
--DiscoverGroup participant, Dec. 2015.
In the midst of our diverse membership, we need smaller
relational groups to build centers of trust and friendship.
We also strive to deepen our own spiritual development as
we continue on our “journey toward wholeness.”
DiscoverGroups meet once a month for a year. The 12member groups are led by two co-facilitators. Each session
is based on the Second Sunday topic, and includes Chalice
Lighting, Check-in, Readings, and Sharing Questions. In
this smaller setting, you are invited to “share your concerns
and focus through attentive listening to what matters most
to the human soul.”
If you choose to join a DiscoverGroup, what will it require
of you?
 To commit to your group for one year.
 To attend one meeting a month.
 To join your group for a one-day service project at
church or in the community, and a FUN social event..
 To listen to your own soul and discern your own truth.
After signing up, you will receive an email from Martha
Kniseley, Adult Programming Coordinator. She will then
request that you respond with your availability for given
times, and a commitment to the year-long program beginning in March 2015.
We hope you’ll join us as this experience can be TRANSFORMATIONAL and make a real difference in your life at
the UUCC. For more information contact Martha Kniseley
at martha@uuccharlotte.org.
Page 6
Third Friday Film Night
January 16 at 7:00 in the Sanctuary and Bernstein Room
Bob Gorman has chosen a film that will address our Second
Sunday Topic for January: Pluralism.
(Adults) The Band’s Visit (Israel, 2007)
Starring Sasson Gabai. An Egyptian police
band gets lost on its way to play at the opening
of an Arab arts center in Israel, being forced to
spend the night in a remote kibbutz instead. A
gentle comedy about recognizing the humanity
in all of us, no matter our differences. Rated
PG-13 for brief strong language. 87 minutes.
(Children) The Adventures of Milo and Otis
(US, 1986) Starring Milo, Otis, and Dudley
Moore. Lifelong friends Milo, the cat, and
Otis, the dog, are separated and begin a journey to find each other. Rated G. 76 minutes.
Mystics & Metaphysics:
Exploring the Akashic Records
Tuesday, January 20, 7:00-8:30 p.m. in the Schweitzer Room
The Akashic records is a term
used to describe a compendium
of all knowledge of human experience and the history of the cosmos encoded in a non-physical
plane of existence. While this
term (derived from the Sanskrit
“akasha” meaning “sky”, “space”
or “ether”) was coined by theosophists in the 1800’s, this
metaphorical concept of a library, Book of Life, universal
memory or Mind of God has its underpinnings in many ancient spiritual traditions around the world. Join us for an
exploration of this fascinating realm. Guest speaker Nancy
Ring will discuss how accessing the Akashic records can
help us in our everyday lives and connect us to the energy
and information of our souls for deeper healing. Mystics &
Metaphysics is an open group and all are welcome!
More info: Susan Orrell, susaneorrell@gmail.com or Carol
Smith, smithcarolc@gmail.com
Credo: A Spiritual Journey
Conversations About Our Mortality
Sunday, January 25 at 10:30 a.m. in the Bernstein Room
Speaker: Marsha Kelly
What Do You Want for the End of Your Life?
Marsha Kelly, a member of UUCC since
1977, began her spiritual journey in the
First Methodist Church of dusty Lubbock, Texas. A lifelong path of questioning and questing has led her through
what now seems like ever widening and
overlapping circles of meaning and
love. Family, communion with women,
birth, Mexico, writing and travel all have brought spiritual
depth and meaning to her life, and keep teaching her over
and over again. She will share this journey and the varied
and re-visited experiences that have made her heart sing
throughout her life.
Looking Forward
This course will focus on the decisions that we and our
family members will inevitably face as we approach the end
of our lives. The six sessions will include:
 Hospice and Palliative Care (Carol Anne Lawler,
M.Div., Hospice Faith Community Educator)
 Advanced Care: Considering Your Documents
(Marilyn Morenz, BSN, Advanced Health Care Planning Consultant),
 End-of-Life Choices (two sessions with Dan Carrigan,
Compassion and Choices Charlotte Friends),
 Dying a Good Death (Janet Frederick, LCSW, Hospice
Social Worker)
 Some Practicalities: Planning Your Own Memorial
Service and Other Matters (Jay Leach, UUCC Senior
Minister)
Please join us for an evening OR daytime version:
Our current adult religious education offerings beginning in
January—Spirit in Practice, UU History, and Writing Your
Spiritual Journey—are now closed with waiting lists. We’re
happy for the enthusiasm for the winter series!
Exploring Humanism
Thursday, February 5 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary
Marshall Brain, founder of How Stuff Works, has tackled a
new subject in his book How God Works: A Logical Inquiry
in Faith.
"Does God exist? Using an intellectually rigorous, scientific approach, Marshall Brain sets out to
resolve the eternal debate once
and for all. With a compelling
sense of curiosity, he breaks down
mankind's search for a higher
power, tackling such quandaries
as: Who is God? What are his attributes? What is God doing and
why? How does God interact with
humanity? And ultimately, how
can humans know with certainty whether God is real or imaginary? How God Works is an enlightening journey in critical thinking that challenges readers to boldly approach the
subject of personal faith and put aside intuition in favor of
objectivity and logic."
Join us on Thursday, February 5, 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the
Sanctuary.
Evenings: Mondays, February 9 & 23, March 9 & 23,
April 6 and May 4 at 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Days: Tuesdays, February 10 & 24, March 10 & 24, April 7
and May 5 at 1:00-2:30 p.m.
Sign-up at the Adult Programming Table or email
martha@uuccharlotte.org. Please indicate which version
you will be attending.
Podcasts of Jay’s Sunday Sermons
Available on UUCC Website
If you have missed a recent Sunday service or you would
like would like to hear a podcast of just Jay’s Sunday sermons, please visit our website at
http://www.uuccharlotte.org/all_podcasts.asp. Sermons are
also available on iTunes, our RSS feed and via our Facebook page.
Audio Copies of Sunday Services
If you have missed a service and would like to hear it, there
is a loaner copy available in the Library that can be checked
out If you would like to purchase a CD copy of any of our
Sunday services you may do so for only $5. Stop by our
bookstore in Freeman Hall after Sunday services to request
a copy or contact Bill Cooke at (704) 364-2107. If you
currently have copies of the Sunday Services checked out,
please return them as soon as possible.
Page 7
JOIN THE UUCC CONTINGENT IN
CHARLOTTE’S MLK PARADE
LUNA RISING 2015 –
IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE!
Saturday, January 17
Saturday, January 31
UUCC participants of all ages are invited to join Margie
Storch in carrying the UUCC banner in this year’s City of
Charlotte MLK Holiday Parade. The parade will begin at
11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 17 at 11th and N. Tryon
and ends at Stonewall and S. Tryon. Our UUCC contingent
will meet Margie Storch in the UUCC parking lot at 10:00
a.m. and will carpool together uptown. You can also plan
to be a spectator and cheer us along from somewhere on the
route. If you are planning on participating in this great intergenerational opportunity, please RSVP to Margie by
email at margiestorch@gmail.com.
This year marks the sixth year for
Luna Rising – and it looks like it
will be bigger and better than ever!
This event is a wonderful multigenerational celebration, with many
workshops and both the beginning
and ending ceremonies open to all
ages. Part of the mission of the annual event is to help
young girls learn about their personal power in a safe, empowering setting. Expect a warm, friendly environment,
charged with female energy and plenty of opportunities for
spiritual exploration.
GREEN SANCTUARY
INTEREST GROUP MEETING
Sunday, January 11, 1:00 p.m.
Join a group of like-minded environmentally focused UUCC members who are interested in the
UUA Green Sanctuary Accreditation program. This democratically approved program is a multi-year effort that involves introspection and action both at an individual and
congregational level that is focused on the 7th UU principle
of respect for the interdependent web of all existence of
which we are part. Please join a spirited group of individuals interested to learn what this program might bring to the
UUCC at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, January 11 in the Bernstein
Room. Contact jonathan.harding@gmail.com.
YOUNG ADULT GROUP (YAG)
Twice Monthly Gatherings!
Join other young adults ages 1835 for one or both of their
monthly gatherings: a social
night of games and a potluck on
the first Sunday of each month at
6:00 p.m. and a sharing / discussion group on the third Sunday at
12:30 p.m.
Questions about these gatherings or the Young Adult Group
in general? Contact a member of the leadership group (“the
Party”): Lincoln Baxter III at lincolnbaxter@gmail.com,
Corey Terral at corey.terral@gmail.com; Cate Stroud at
catestroud@gmail.com; Jedediah Keck at
jedediah.keck@gmail.com; Andrew Herman
andrew.scott.herman@gmail.com. Childcare is provided
for the social event if requested.
Page 8
2015 workshops titles include: Drumming with the Goddess; Mothering our Relationships Through Conflict; Finding Balance with Reiki; Gentle Yoga; Memory Boxes; the
Adult Mother-Daughter Relationship; Creating Sacred
Space and Altars; Prayer Beads; Knit a Square and Get
Health Benefits; Mindfulness and the Art of Self Compassion... and many more!
Registration for the day-long celebration is on-line at
http://goo.gl/lNFaHn or you can visit the link on the CYRE
page of the uuccharlotte.org website. There is a fee of $30/
Adult and $10 / Under 14, with a family maximum of $45.
Scholarships are available by contacting Kathleen Carpenter. More details can be obtained by stopping by the table
after one of our January services or by contacting Kathleen
at kathleen@uuccharlotte.org.
SUNDAY MORNING VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITIES
Now Hear This!
Your Sound Booth Crew is in a recruiting mode. We need
two or three technologically-unafraid individuals to join the
monthly rotation for Sunday morning sound booth duty. We
will train you. Please be prepared to commit to take a spot
at the controls one service per month. Contact
doug@uuccharlotte.org if interested.
Am I Getting Warmer Yet?
Got a hankering to control the thermostat in the Sanctuary?
Or be Jay’s right-hand gal or guy if other facility-related
issues arise? Live out those fantasies by volunteering for
Sunday morning Building & Grounds duty. The time
commitment is just one service per month! Easy peezy!
Contact doug@uuccharlotte.org if interested.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION FOR
CHILDREN AND YOUTH (CYRE)
Spring Mountain Conferences (CONS)
Registration is Open
All parents with children interested in attending one of the
spring Mountain Cons, please note both the con dates and
OUR deadlines. As a reminder, although you register for
the cons on-line with the Mountain, you are not officially
registered with our church until you ALSO bring your $30
transportation fee to the CYRE office by the stated deadline. We (the CYRE staff) must know in advance how
many youth are registered so we can recruit advisors and
line up transportation.
As a further reminder, parents who want to be advisors
should write that request on the envelope containing their
child’s transportation fee.
 March 13-15: Elementary, Grades 3-5 (deadline
February 22)
 March 20-22: Middle School, Grades 6-8 (deadline
March 1)
 April 10-12: High School, Grades 9-12 (deadline
March 22)
All this information will be sent directly to parents in midJanuary. Consider this a heads-up.
Operation Sandwich - One hour,
500 Sandwiches!
Join friends old and new for
Operation Sandwich this
Sunday, January 11 in Freeman Hall. All sandwiches
made in the one hour gathering will be delivered to
the Urban Ministry Center
to feed some of our homeless neighbors. If you can help
with set up/prep work, plan to arrive at 12:45 p.m. Otherwise, just show up at 1:15 p.m. ALL ages are welcome!
UU Kids Living Out Their Values
Let us hear about YOUR kids!
Has your child demonstrated his or her commitment to our
values through personal achievement/leadership? If so,
send a few lines to Kathleen@uuccharlotte.org.
It’s Time to Sign Up for our
February Friends Program
Non-Parents and Folks with Grown Children Especially Welcome!
Are you a newcomer to UUCC or are you looking to make a
new friend—from another generation? Join our February
Friends Adventure, and you will be treated to some intrigue,
multigenerational mixing, fab food, fun and community
outreach!
This annual program
secretly pairs children
ages four years to
fourth grade with
youth sixth grade and
older OR adults. All
teens must be active in
our CYRE Program
and all adults must be
UUCC members and
approved by Kathleen,
our Director of RE for
Children and Youth.
Beginning Sunday,
January 4, you can sign up on the CYRE page of the
UUCC’s website or complete a hardcopy of the registration
form, available at the table in Freeman Hall or on the table
in the CYRE wing.
All program participants must plan to attend “The Big Reveal” Party & Potluck on February 28 from 5:00-7:00
p.m. in Freeman Hall. More details will be provided in
the next issue of Voices and in CYRE E-blasts. Please contact CYRE staff with any questions.
Your 2014-2015 Board of Trustees
board@uuccharlotte.org
Pete Moore, Chair
Megan Van Fleet, Clerk
Susan Cox
Tommy George
Ellen Holliday
Marsha Kelly
Rob Marcy
Tom Nunnenkamp
Debbie Rubenstein
Page 9
SOCIAL JUSTICE NEWS
Ah-hA! SOCIAL JUSTICE AUCTION
Scheduled for Saturday, May 2, 2015
We know UUs have a strong history rooted in social justice.
And we know our congregation demonstrates its commitment to justice, equity and compassion in human relations
through ongoing efforts centered on Homelessness and Affordable Housing, a focus chosen by a vote of the congregation in 2008.
But did you know?...The UUCC Social Justice Team
makes significant grants to Charlotte-based agencies working to address the root causes of homelessness in our community. And did you know?...The funds for these grants
come exclusively from monies raised at the UUCC Auction!
This year’s Social Justice Auction will be a fun opportunity
for both fundraising and friendraising as we unite to devote
our time, energy and resources to this important work.
So much goes into the planning and implementation of a
successful auction. Please consider volunteering for an organizing committee and/or making a donation. Contact
Craig Miller (craigmmiller@hotmail.com) or Trish Hevey
(trishhevey@yahoo.com), auction co-chairs, for more information or to get involved in our Affordable housing and
homelessness Auction – Ah-hA!
Room in the Inn
Where will you be sleeping tonight?
Room in the Inn, an interfaith program sponsored by
Urban Ministry, provides a
warm bed and 3 meals each
day from December through
March for folks who would
otherwise be out in the cold.
We provide shelter for 9
adults each Sunday night. The simple goal of Urban Ministry’s Room in the Inn program is to keep homeless people
from freezing on cold winter nights. A greater goal is to
provide a more personal relationship to homeless people, at
least for a night, and a deeper understanding of the depth
and complexity of this issue.
If you would like to consider being one of the approximately 20 volunteers who make this shelter happen each
week by setting up, driving, cooking, hosting, and/or
cleaning, please email Rocky Hendrick at
rockyhendrick@mindspring.com.
Page 10
Habitat for Humanity
Book Drive
Please don’t forget to continue to bring
in your donations for the book drive.
Please keep in mind that not only are
books acceptable donations, but DVDs,
VHS tapes, and CDs are as well. The
bin for donations can be found in Freeman Hall just inside
the doors to the left. If you would like to sign up to
transport the books for any week, contact Grace Clements
grace.clements@providenceday.org.
OPEN DOOR SCHOOL (ODS)
ODS Second Annual Clothing Swap
Consignment sales are one way to save
money on children's clothes, but wouldn’t
you rather swap those gently used outgrown items for a larger size or an older
child's clothes to accommodate a younger
sibling? Well, now you can! Our Swap Sale
will be held on Saturday, January 24 from 11:30 2:30 p.m. in Freeman Hall. Please consider participating or
donating clothing for this wonderful cause. Proceeds go
towards ODS fundraising and remaining clothes will be donated to Second Chance Boutique by Turning Point. Their
mission is to end domestic violence in our community. The
cost to participate in the swap is $5 and sizes from newborn
to six years will receive credits to swap. You can drop items
off the day of the swap from 10:30-11:30 a.m. or any time
before then at the ODS office. If you have any questions,
please contact Diana Zeni at dianazeni@yahoo.com.
Link Your Harris Teeter VIC Card
to Support ODS
Link up your H-T VIC card to the Open Door School Account, code #2752, for this school year. Even if you are
linked to another school, you can link up to as many as five
schools. Simply present your VIC card to the cashier along
with the school code, and the school will receive cash for all
H-T products you purchase through May 31. This is something you only have to do once a year. It does not cost you
anything, but it could really benefit the school if our entire
church community participated in the program rather than
only the school parents and staff. The school's fundraising
efforts make it possible for us to grant scholarships to needy
families and to improve the building, equipment, and playground areas.
The UUCC Welcomes the Following
New Members
VISITOR’S CORNER
“Getting to Know Us”
Sunday, February 1
Andrew Herman
Carl “Jay” and Ginny Johnson
Irene Miller
Every 1st Sunday after each service, visitors are invited to
an informal Q&A with a long-standing UU Church of Charlotte member. Grab a cup of coffee from Freeman Hall and
meet downstairs in the Bernstein Room immediately following either 1st or 2nd service. Hear about another person’s
journey to finding her/his spiritual home here at the
UUCC.
“Meet the Minister”
Sunday, January 18
You’ve seen him behind the pulpit…now here’s an opportunity for visitors to get to know Jay Leach on a more personal level. Stop by the Conference Room for an informal
chat on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 10:30 a.m.
Audio Copies of Past Sunday Services
Available at Visitor Table
HELP US HAVE FRESH
FLOWERS IN THE NICHE
Stop by our bookstore in Freeman Hall after Sunday services to request a copy or contact Bill Cooke at (704) 3642107 (cost $5). Visitors can also check out audio copies of
past services at the visitors table on Sunday after services.
Commemorate a birthday, an anniversary or acknowledge a
special person or event by donating fresh flowers for the
niche. Call Alesia in the office (704) 366-8623 to reserve
the Sunday you want. Then send a check for $55 to the office, and we’ll handle the rest.
ONGOING GROUP MEETINGS
Newcomers and drop-ins are welcome! For more information about
these groups please visit www.uuccharlotte.org and select “Programs/
Get Involved.”
Meeting
Location/
Room
Time
Contact
All Things Considered
Schweitzer
Ron Maccaroni maccaronir@gmail.com
Exploring Humanism
Healing Threads: A Prayer
Shawl Ministry
Jabberwocks
Sanctuary
Home of Joy
Bruce
Conference
7:00 p.m. 1st Wednesday
(February 4 )
7:00 p.m. 1st Thursday (February 5)
7:00 p.m. 2nd Monday (January 12)
Steve Bivens wsbivens@aol.com
Kathleen Moloney-Tarr (704) 661-5409
10:00 a.m. 3rd Friday (January 16)
Doris Thomas Browder
Lotus Path
Schweitzer
8:00 a.m. Sundays
Mystics and Metaphysics
Sunday Morning Meditation
Schweitzer
Schweitzer
7:00 p.m. 3rd Tuesday (January 20)
8:30 a.m. Sundays
Richard Kushmaul
rkushmaul@carolina.rr.com
Carol Smith smithcarolc@gmail.com
Debbie George (704) 763-2193
Straight Spouse Support Group
“T.E.D for the Soul” (Day)
Conference
Bernstein
“T.E.D for the Soul” (Evening)
Bernstein
7:00 p.m. 1st Tuesday (February 3)
12:00 p.m. 3rd Monday
(January 19)
7:00 p.m. 1st Tuesday (February 3)
Women’s Circle
Schweitzer
7:00 p.m. 2nd Tuesday (January 13)
Young Adult Group (YAG)
Schweitzer
12:45 p.m. 3rd Sunday
(January 18)
Sage Brook (704) 366-7983
Melissa Mummert
mummertville@yahoo.com
Susan Cox scox44@earthlink.net
Trish Hevey trishhevey@yahoo.com
Sandy Vermillion svl13@carolina.rr.com
Please RSVP to Sandy to attend.
Lincoln Baxter III
Page 11
lincolnbaxter@gmail.com
Periodical
Non-Profit Organization
Postage Paid
Charlotte, NC
Volume 40, Issue 01
USPS 346-850
Published biweekly by the
Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte
234 N Sharon Amity Rd
Charlotte NC 28211-3004
Postmaster: Please send address corrections to above.
The deadline for the next
is:
Sunday, January 25, 2015 for the next issue which will be
published on Wednesday, January 28, 2015. Please include your name and phone number on your submissions in
case there are questions. The Voices editor reserves the
right to edit all submissions to the newsletter for brevity,
grammar, clarity and consistency as space will allow. The
preferred submission is by email to: uucc@uuccharlotte.org
Address Label
Church Office hours:
Monday – Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Phone: (704) 366-8623 / Fax: (704) 366-8812
E-mail: uucc@uuccharlotte.org; Website: http://www.uuccharlotte.org
Staff Member
Professional Responsibilities
Kathleen Carpenter
Director of Religious Education
for Children & Youth
kathleen@uuccharlotte.org ext. 225
Children and Youth Religious Education
Denominational Connections
Young Adult Group
Donna Fisher
Children’s Choir Director
donnfish@bellsouth.net
John Herrick
Director of Music
john@uuccharlotte.org ext. 230
Alesia Hutto
Office Administrator
alesia@uuccharlotte.org ext. 221
Martha Kniseley
Adult Programming Coordinator
martha@uuccharlotte.org ext. 229
Kelly Greene
Membership Coordinator
kelly@uuccharlotte.org
Jay Leach
Senior Minister
jay@uuccharlotte.org ext. 223
Belinda Parry
Administrative Assistant
belinda@uuccharlotte.org ext. 224
Page 12
Doug Swaim
Interim Director of Administration
doug@uuccharlotte.org ext. 222
Children’s Choir
Music
Worship Team
Administrative Support
Communications
Adult Religious Education and Spiritual Development
Community Building
Congregational Care
New Members
Visitors
Volunteer Coordination
Chief of Staff
Coordinating Team
Social Justice Team
Worship Team
Part Time Administrative/CYRE Support
Building & Grounds
Coordinating Team
Memorial Endowment Trust
Stewardship
Communications
Finance
Open Door School