THE PIONEER
Unitarian Society of Northampton & Florence 2017 Volume 47 No. 5
WORSHIP FOR JANUARY
All Services are at 10 AM
Sunday, January 1
Hymn Sing
Lynne Marie Wanamaker, Janet Spongberg, and Gregory Hayes
Our beloved service of readings and hymns chosen by members of the
congregation. We will not have religious education activities or childcare.
Sunday, January 8
“What Season Are We In?”
The Reverend Janet C. Bush
A meditation on seasons – in our personal lives and beyond.
Sunday, January 15
Visions of Peace and Justice – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
The Reverend Janet C. Bush and Friends
Join your voices in song with Moonlight Davis, Morning Star Chenven and
Lynne Nicole Smith in a multi-age service of inspirational readings and music, in
honor and celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Sunday, January 22
“Dinosaur Brains?”
The Reverend Janet C. Bush
Why do some people think the way they do, rather than in the sensible ways
sensible people think they should? Are our brains obsolete? Do they need to
be rewired?
Sunday, January 29
“Heroes and Heroines”
The Coming of Age Class
Members of our Coming of Age class will share their insights on Unitarian
Universalist principles by telling us about people whose lives exemplify them.
In this issue:
Notes from the
Minister
Pg 2
Reports & Articles
Pg 3
Featured Climate
Actions
Pg 7
Events &
Workshops
Pg 8
Upcoming Events
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
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Jan 8, Lecture w/ Dr.
Elliot Fratkin,
11:45 AM, Parlor
Jan 13, UU Arts Night
Out, 7 PM Great Hall
Jan 28, Winter Farm
Dinner, 6 PM Social
Rm.
SAVE THE DATE
April 1, 2017
USNF Annual Auction
Like us on facebook!
Notes from the minister
Why do we begin the New Year in January? Why in such a cold, barren, unforgiving time? New Year in the Jewish calendar coincides with harvest. Spring would
also seem an appropriate time, with lengthening days, and the season of planting.
The Roman calendar, on which ours is based, did once begin in March.
During the reign of Julius Caesar, January and February were added to reconcile
lunar and solar accountings, and, for political reasons, the emperor decreed January to be the first month of the year.
It does seem appropriate, however, for 2017 to begin in the harshness of January.
Thomas Hardy wrote “The Darkling Thrush,” my favorite New Year poem, at the
end of the 19th century. In it, Hardy’s internal weather is mirrored by the landscape.
I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
The land's sharp features seemed to be
The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.
So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.
I hope you enjoyed your holiday celebrations in safety and warmth. We need rest, and fun, and time for rejuvenation. But like me, you may be approaching the New Year with some trepidation.
This is a disturbing time. As Unitarian Universalists and people of faith, we are called to hold on to the Hope
in the breast of the thrush that sings to each of us. In the year ahead, we, too, must choose to fling our souls
and sing out our truths into the gloom. The paths forward are not clear. We will not all follow the same ones,
and we will not all agree. We will still tend to our families, our jobs, our pastimes, our spirits, and one another. And we are called, urgently, to join with partners locally, nationally and internationally to work for justice, decency, fairness, the protection of our planet home, and the basic tenets that sustain our democracy.
We will do it together. I am humbled and grateful to be your minister.
TO CONTACT THE MINISTER: Please email or call for an appointment Mondays, Tuesdays, or Thursdays. [email protected]; 584-1390 x202 (office); 727-8497 (home – before 9 pm for non-emergencies)
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Reports & articles
This Is The Time We Have Been Practicing For
Stewardship Committee
At a recent press conference of interfaith leaders, including the UUA’s Peter Morales, Rabbi Jason
Kimelman-Block of Bend the Arc said, “We don’t get to choose the historical moment we live in but
we do get to choose how we respond. We were made for this moment. We must resist.”
How do we, the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, devote ourselves to help organize,
enhance, and sustain our response to this moment? The Trustees recently charged the Stewardship
Committee to conduct a robust stewardship campaign so we may respond with all our power. They
have listened to members of the congregation and believe, with them, that it is critical for us to expand our social justice and environmental impact and to better welcome all of the people who are
seeking inspiration, connection, and meaningful action with us.
Now is the time to step forward and say we can and must do more. Now is the time to ask ourselves what it would take for us to be able to sustain ourselves spiritually, forge greater connections, and respond to this historical moment with fervor and effective action.
With a successful stewardship campaign, the Trustees envision hiring an assistant minister or other
UU religious professional who will focus on supporting and integrating our work for social justice
and member connections, and who will reach out specifically to younger adults.
Your Trustees and members of the Stewardship Committee are excited about this vision. Accordingly, we will be more direct in our stewardship appeal in the New Year. We will be asking all of us
to give substantially more – so that we, as a community of faith, can do substantially more. Members will visit with other members of our congregation in January and February to discover what
most engages and inspires us and to ask for significantly increased pledges. On Stewardship Sunday, March 5th, we will celebrate our collective generosity and increased capacity to make a difference in the world. Let’s make it so.
“Conquer the angry one by not getting angry, conquer the wicked by goodness, conquer the stingy by
generosity, and the liar by speaking truth.” Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada
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Reports & articles
Partner Church News
Thank-you to all our members and friends who wrote cards to send to our Partner church in Transylvania. The cards should arrive this week in time for Christmas. Last year each member of the church was
able to get a card and then the congregants fashioned a mural after the holidays to hang in the church
with all our cards. Our small gestures of hospitality are one of the ways we foster communication with
our partners.
The Partner Church committee’s Bake and Jewelry sale was a huge success. We made $1,125 for our
travel fund to bring a youth from our village and a chaperone to visit in 2017. Everyone had a great
time, shopping local and getting unique gifts.
Coordinating Council
I'd like to invite those of you who are chairs, co-chairs or representatives of committees, who haven't
been to the Council in a while, to attend our monthly meetings. We have new people of all ages attending the Society, and we've been having robust discussions about connections, and integrating newcomers, among other topics. Hope to see you at our next meeting, Monday, January 16 at 7 PM.
Carmen Junno, CC facilitator
Youth Group Cot Shelter
The Youth Group appreciates your generous donations of $25 gift cards to Big Y and Stop & Shop for
cooking supplies for meal we prepare and serve at the Interfaith Shelter. We have served two generous
meals so far and will be cooking January – April of 2017. If you would like to donate a gift card you can
purchase one at coffee hour and put it in Adrian Ballou’s (youth director) mail box in the office.
Bebe Leistyna is our youth coordinator for this and other social justice projects that the youth engage in.
Your donations make this possible.
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Reports & articles
Tiffany Windows: Where did those quotes come from?
This summer a new brochure appeared on our literature rack describing the stained glass windows
in our Great Hall. It was created and designed by me and Bethany Wozniak. We had a great time
finding out who commissioned the windows and who designed them and other obscure facts. It
was nice to finally get confirmation that the two middle windows are actual Tiffany windows, designed by Agnes Northrop of Tiffany Studios. You can still find the brochure in the literature racks
in the back of the Great Hall or in the parlor, or at https://goo.gl/o4wVDF.
Recently Gail Gaustad gave me another little piece of the puzzle.
One Sunday morning she handed me a photocopy of a page from
an old book of poems. It turns out that in the poem The Pillar of
God by John Henry Newman (1801-1890) we find the words:
“And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.”
Exactly the quotation from the eastern Bannister Memorial Tiffany window! John Henry Newman
was an English clergyman who converted to Catholicism and became a cardinal. He published
many influential theological books and was canonized in 2010. The ubiquitous Newman Centers
on college campuses were inspired by his advocacy for societies for Catholic students on secular
campuses.
This led to the question of where the quote on the western Lyman Memorial Tiffany window came
from. With the internet, it is easy to find. There are several books in the Bible, called the Apochrypha, which were included with the 1611 publication of the King James Version of the Bible. One of
these books is The Wisdom of Solomon. And Chapter 4, verse 1 reads: “Better it is to have no children, and to have virtue: for the memorial therof is immortal: because it is known with God, and
with men.” When this is abridged slightly we have the exact quote on the Lyman window.
It makes one wonder. Whose favorite quotes were these?
Who chose them? If any history buffs out there have any further clues, I would be glad to hear about them. Certainly this
new information will be included in the next publication of
our brochure.
Cathy Lilly
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Reports & articles
COMING SOON - OUR ANNUAL AUCTION, aka THE ‘SPRING FLING’
Fun, and Good Food for All
Saturday, April 1 is April Fools Day; it’s also the day when we will encourage fools to rush in where angels
fear to tread; to be fools with wings, angels with jester caps. In short: on the evening of April 1st USNF will
launch us into Spring with its annual auction at the Society, an event that makes a significant contribution to
the income side of our budget. All can take part, as donors, bidders, helpers or a combination of all three.
There will be free food – thank you Web Weavers - and music and raffle prizes and auctions, both silent and
live.
It’s not too early to think what your contribution might be. Following are the kinds of donation the organizers
will be looking for:
- Gift cards from local stores, restaurants…
- Gifts of your time for specific services, events or outings.
- Lunch or dinner parties and/or entertainment in private homes
- Home-mades, from soup to scones, socks to scarves…
- Craft items, art pieces, jewelry
- New: Fixed price dinner parties or special events in the UU social room.
To set one up: Just team up with friends to prepare and serve a meal or run a special event in the UU social
room for a set number of people at a set price per person. This is a good solution for those happy to cook
for, or entertain, a crowd but who don’t have the space at home.
If you already know what you would like to donate, here’s a link to our new, easy-to-use online donation
form: www.uunorthampton.org/spring-fling-auction
The Spring Fling organizing team
Donor coordination and communications :
Margaret Humbert-Droz, [email protected],
Claire Day, [email protected],
Mike Brooks, [email protected].
Event logistics and volunteer coordination:
Kate Collins, [email protected]
You will be hearing more from us in the weeks to come. But contact us any time with offers, questions or suggestions.
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F e at u r e d C l i m at e A c t i o n s
As we work together to make Northampton a Blue Community, we urge you to take this bottled water pledge (adapted from the Blue Communities Project). Thanks! Brit Albritton, Bill Diamond and
the awesome USNF Climate Action Group.
Bottled Water Pledge
I pledge to support publicly owned and delivered water by drinking tap water instead of bottled water because:
• Water is a human right and a public resource.
• Municipal tap water is safer, healthier, less expensive and more regulated than bottled water.
• Northampton has excellent drinking water, primarily sourced from pristine reservoirs in West
Whately, Williamsburg, and Hatfield. Since 2009, the City has spent well over a million dollars to
protect these reservoirs by purchasing more than 200 acres in surrounding watersheds.1
• It takes three to five liters of water to produce a one-liter plastic bottle of water.
• Bottling water wastes massive amounts of fossil fuel. The energy costs associated with the manufacture, filling, refrigeration, disposal and transportation of each disposable bottle are roughly
equivalent to filling a quarter of it with petroleum.
• We throw away about 1,500 single-use disposable water bottles every second in the United
States. If lined up, these bottles would circle the earth 190 times annually.
• Fewer than a quarter of these bottles are recycled. The rest never fully biodegrade. Plankton, fish
and birds ingest the resulting tiny pieces of plastic, which then end up in the food chain.
-----------------------1Cain, Chad, “City Council approves purchase of 51.4 acres of watershed land at Mountain Street Reservoir in Hatfield,” Daily Hampshire Gazette, November 11, 2014 (http://www.gazettenet.com/
Archives/2014/11/watershedlandbuy-111114)
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Events & Workshops
January 8, Hawkins Majumder Lecture Series:
Climate Change and the Developing World
All are invited to join Dr. Elliot Fratkin, Gwendolen Carter Professor of Anthropology at Smith
College, for the January Hawkins Majumder lecture and discussion, Sunday, January 8 at 11:45
AM, in the Parlor.
Despite generating far less carbon pollution than western nations, developing countries are
disproportionately suffering the effects of climate change. Geography, poverty and sustainable
farming practices leave many people vulnerable to severe weather and rising sea levels. Since
the 1980s, Dr. Fratkin, a cultural anthropologist, has focused on issues of development and
change, particularly the impact of drought and famine. He currently serves as the chair of the
Commission on Nomadic Peoples of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences and in that capacilty has visited pastoral populations in Mongolia, Botswana, Ethiopia and Mali. Dr. Fratkin also serves on the steering committee of Smith's Environmental Science and Policy Program, African Studies Program and the Global South Development Program.
Rich West
January 28, Partner Church Committee’s
Winter Farm Dinner
Join us on Saturday, January 28th in the Society’s social room for a Winter Farm Dinner. Tickets will
be on sale during social hours in January. We have a small committee and would appreciate any help
you could give. If you are able to help cook or serve, please contact Joan O’Brien or Cathie Brown.
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Events & Workshops
JANUARY 13, UU ARTS NIGHT OUT, 7 PM, GREAT HALL.
Bobby D (our own Bob Demers) presents a night of folk music. Jim Eagan opens at 7 pm with Lisa
Martin following at 7:45 pm. Free to all. FMI: Rich West at [email protected]. Highlights from
November's concert can be viewed on Youtube at the following links:
-----[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej50CAVNsAA
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53a1kV0fL3g
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahdYyrz4nhA
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnNI4PvdA6I
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Events & Workshops
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Events & Workshops
Some pictures from Jewelry Sale and Tree Decoration
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Unitarian Society of
Northampton & Florence
220 Main St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Tel: 413 584-1390
E-mail: [email protected]
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
THE PIONEER
THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF
THE UNITARIAN SOCIETY OF NORTHAMPTON AND FLORENCE
THE PIONEER STAFF
USNF STAFF
MINISTER
The Rev. Janet Bush
MANAGING EDITOR
Jeff Dahlberg
DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Lynne Nicole Smith
WEB MANAGER
Julie Kurose
CONGREGATIONAL ADMINISTRATOR
Lisa Britland
COORDINATOR
Lisa Britland
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Gregory Hayes
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Ellen Dickinson
YOUTH DIRECTOR
Adrian Ballou
CUSTODIAN
Frank Taillon
PIONEER DATES
DEADLINE
January 26
PUBLICATION
January 31
Articles should be 350 words or less. Send submissions to
[email protected]. Include the word
“PIONEER” in the subject line.
Office hours: Tuesday through Thursday 9:00-3:00
Contact the Society at 584-1390. Visit us online at www.uunorthampton.org.