De cember , 2010
Channing Channel
Channing Unitarian Universalist Church 405-340-1213
President’s Corner
President: Dana Spears
President-elect: Kathleen Joslin
Secretary: Linda Gray
Treasurer: Liz Duncan
Trustees: Lucy Almitra, Val Zemke,
Katherine Williams, Pam Dizikes
Newsletter Editor: Kathleen Joslin
Greetings Friends of Channing!
December’s theme is Transcendence.
Just what is transcendence? We UUs may recognize this
term with respect to religious philosophy, but otherwise
may not know what it means. One of God’s attributes is
that of being transcendent, being above or beyond physical
existence. This attribute establishes God outside of the
universe. But yet, God is also within the universe, being
every where and every when. Whether God exists, or has existed, is not an issue that will be addressed here. Each
of us seeks an answer to that in our own way and through our own spiritual path. Transcendence with respect to the
Divine provides little information, so the application of Transcendence to human thought must be explored.
Transcendence is one of those subjects that does not lend itself to simple sound bites, or bumper sticker comments.
Even as virtually everyone recognizes that the religious form of it has had a profound effect on world-wide religion,
few understand it. Transcendentalism is how one aspect of religious philosophy is labeled.
Transcendentalism, some identify as American Transcendentalism, had its birth in the Age of Enlightenment and
flowered in the mid-19th century. The Age of Enlightenment was an era in Western philosophy and intellectual,
scientific and cultural life, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority. Simply
stated, those that attempted to follow the Transcendent approach to religion believed that man was endowed by his
creator with the ability to reason and discern the mysteries of the universe.
One core belief of Transcendentalists was that of an ideal spiritual state that transcends the physical and can only be
realized through an individual’s intuition. This belief skews religious doctrines for individual revelation. Because of
this distain for church dogma, many mainstream churches disavow this approach to the Divine, even to establishing
yet more church doctrine condemning it.
But even as many churches attempt to persuade people that they, the church, have the answers, or rather the
approach to the answers, the many appear to know without knowing. Kant stated: “I call all knowledge
transcendental if it is occupied, not with objects, but with the way that we can possible know objects even before
we experience them.” This, even as they may not know Kant’s philosophical school of thought, gives many an
unease, a discomfort within the church’s doctrine themselves.
Some of those that developed and advanced Transcendentalism are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau,
Margaret Fuller, William Ellery Channing, William Henry Channing, James Freeman Clarke and many more who would
be familiar names to us UU’s.
Transcendentalism, transcendence, is a deep subject well worth the study. But like many issues within religious
thought is almost beyond being able to be presented to others. Perhaps it is the mere attempt to understand, rather
than the understanding itself, that permits those following the transcendental path to spiritually advance toward the
Divine.
Come worship with us this month as our cadre of speakers will attempt to provide other doors through which a
glimpse of Transcendence can be seen.
Dana Spears, President
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Channing Channel
Children’s Religious Education (RE) Schedule
December 5th: The Girl Who Loved Animals
Doorkeeper: Linda Gray
Storyteller: Liz Duncan
December 12th: Small Fry
Doorkeeper: Lucy Almitra
.
Storyteller: TBA
December 19th: Hanukkah Story
Doorkeeper: TBA
Storyteller: Lucy Almitra
No RE on December 26th or January 2nd!
Items Needed for Story Baskets
Plastic fish and frog, large plastic eagle, plastic goat, bear, butterfly, and rabbit
Hanukkah gelt, dreidle, Menorah
MEMBER OR FRIEND
What does it mean to become a Member of Channing versus just being a Friend and what does one do to become
a member?
Technically all one has to do to become a Member of Channing is to sign the Book, the Book of Membership of
Channing UU Church. But the simple act of signing your name in the membership book can be a deeply
significant decision. Becoming a member not only enables you to participate in congregational votes but can also
express a personal commitment to participate in sharing your talents, your resources, and your energy with
others in a quest that is spiritual as well as practical, personal as well as social, individual as well as institutional.
Unitarian Universalism challenges you to consider how your beliefs about human nature, evolution and divine
revelation affect your attitude toward yourself and others and how those beliefs influence what you do.
Joining a church such as ours means essentially three things:
1. You are in fundamental sympathy with the principles of freedom and reason in religion and life. This is
the basis for our creed-less church.
2. You commit yourself to the importance of an organized religious fellowship. Ideas and ideals must have a
vehicle and embodiment in the world. People who think and work together for the values in which they
believe have a better chance of achieving them than people who do not.
3. You accept the responsibilities that go with membership in any human community. Within the limits of
your ability and in line with your personal choices, you are ready to give energy, time, money and best
thought to the furthering of the ideas you prize.
We present “NEW TO UU OR A PATH TO MEMBERSHIP” classes about twice a year. You do not have to attend a
class to become a member, but it is intended to provide you with the information about the UU denomination
and about Channing Church that you may need to decide if you are ready to join us as a member of Channing.
Have questions? See Katherine Williams, Harriette Porter or Kathleen Joslin.
Channing Channel
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Groups
Channing Women’s Luncheon: Will meet Tuesday, December 14th, at 11:30 AM at Nunu’s
Mediterranean Café, Memorial Road, West of May Ave. All women welcome. Please contact Lucy
Almitra, [email protected] 216-5888.
Stitchers: Will meet Saturday, December 11th, 2010 at 11:30 AM for our Christmas Party at the
home of Dee Welch. Contact Kathleen Joslin at 826-4337 for more information.
Choir: Meets every Thursday from 7:30 PM-8:30 PM at Channing
Channing Writers Group: Has been suspended for the time being.
Labyrinth Walk: Will meet at the First Methodist Church, 305 E. Hurd, Edmond on the third
Monday, December 20th, from 6-8 PM. Come and enjoy this ancient form of walking meditation.
Someone is always there to explain if you have never experienced a labyrinth walk before.
Spiral Circle CUUPS: Will meet at 6:00 PM, Sunday, December 19th at the church for potluck
supper and the celebration of Yule, (winter solstice) Do join us.
Book Group: Contact Liz Duncan, 348-2713 for information.
FIRST FRIDAY MOVIE
There will be no First Friday Movie in December.
PLEASE REMEMBER!
Hanging of the GREENS will be December 5th
after the service.
Potluck will be December 12th followed by the
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING!
Wrapping of the gifts for Hope Center
(4:30) will be December 18th . DIRTY
SANTA PARTY follows at 6 p.m. Bring
finger food and a gift worth $5-10 that
you would like to receive yourself.
May the Blessings of Peace, Serenity,
Tranquility and Security be Yours this Holiday
Season and All Through the Year!
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Channing Channel
December Sermon Topic—Transcendence
December 5th: Anna Holloway:
Sermon Title: Defining Transcendence: Why it’s hard to talk about.
Most religious, spiritual, or faith traditions deal with transcendence in some way. Transcendence is
the central reality, whether embodied in a God-concept or in an intellectual process that makes us
reach for more. It’s also really hard to talk about!
December 12th: Scot Harvey:
Sermon Title: The Imaginitive Spirit
To what extent should religion be focused inward? Is self-expression to be encouraged or do
“creeds, confessions, and expressions of doctrine” still have value for religious liberals?
December 19th: Angie Brown:
Sermon Title: Yule: The Winter Solstice
We will here a Spirit Play story about Yule and the Holly King. We will talk about how pagans
celebrate this sabbat and why it is important to remember that light always returns, even on the
longest night.
December 26th: Donna Compton:
Sermon Title:
The word “transcendent” has a specific meaning in the language of philosophy—ancient as the
Greeks and as current as Kant, Hume, and their philosophical descendents. However, in ordinary
language, “transcendence” means “going beyond”, and “self-transcendence” means going beyond a
prior form or state of oneself. As culture becomes more and more materialistic, are we losing our
sense of the transcendent? Is it something we want to nurture or better to ‘let go’? In the darkest
part of the winter, thinking about what is beyond the dark and beyond ourselves seems like
important work.
Forum
December 5 : We will have a guest from RAIN, an organization which coordinates testing,
care, counseling and support for people living with HIV/AIDS.
th
We have invited two speakers from the OU Speaker’s Bureau for December forum and are
awaiting confirmation of dates.
December 12th: Julie Miller-Cribbs, from the Social Work Department talking about
“Poverty and the Family”
December 19th: Susan Sharp, from the Sociology Department talking about “Incarcerated
Women and their Children”
December 26th and January 2nd: We will not have Forum because of the Holiday weekends.
HOPE CENTER
Please remember to bring your non-perishable food items, baby care items, and
household products for the BASKET OF HOPE in the foyer. Elouise Bell and
Nancy Jefferis are our delivering angels who take these items each month to
the Hope Center here in Edmond.
Channing Channel
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COMMUNITY ACTON
GUEST AT YOUR TABLE: Think of setting an extra place at dinner and inviting a guest to join you.
That’s the idea behind the annual fundraiser for the UU Service Committee.
UUSC has numerous programs around the world working to raise people out of poverty, support the
rights of women and other oppressed groups, protect water rights, and bring justice and equality in
countries around the globe. Each family will receive a box or envelope in which to put a small
donation at each meal. We’ll collect them the last Sunday in December to send them to the UUSC.
Listen to stories of the projects of the UUSC each Sunday at church, and give generously to support
work in Haiti, Indonesia and other areas in crisis.
CHRISTMAS PROJECT: Each year we participate in the Hope Center’s project to support families. We
provide clothing, toys and Christmas dinner for two families. Part of this is provided through the
funds we have collected on Soup Sundays, and church members sign up to provide individual gift
items or to bring part of the family’s dinner. We’ll wrap the gifts at our annual Christmas Party which
is on December 18th. Look for the sign-up lists in the foyer. We also deliver everything to the families
if you would be able to help with that.
Thanks to Jody Wiechmann, Betty Rasmussen, and Pat Hervey who helped me staff the Channing table
at the annual Peace Festival at the Civic Center. If you did not get to the festival this year, plan to go
next year. It’s a good place to buy unusual gifts from around the world and to learn about other
groups working for peace and justice.
Harriette Porter
MINISTER’S DISCRETIONARY FUND (MDF)
Sunday, December 19th is our annual day for collecting funds for our Minister’s Discretionary Fund.
This fund helps friends, members, and community persons with financial aid for meeting bills or
other expenses. We have helped others this year with funds for utility payments, medical bills,
housing, grocery and other needs. All cash in the collection plate that Sunday will go to the MDF.
You are also invited to write checks to Channing Church, memo line: MDF. Any help you are able
to give will be greatly appreciated!
Betty Rasmussen
DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS
Eve Atkinson
December 4th
Christopher Spears
December 4th
Nicholas Spears
December 10th
Mary Jo Yocum
December 12th
Jeff Simpson
December 17th
Christy C. Williams December 21st
Kim Heiselbetz
December 27th
Member Profile
Liz Duncan joined Channing in 2005. She had been visiting different churches around Edmond, but didn’t
find one that she wanted to visit again. Her oldest sister had once said that she would like the Unitarian
church; that coupled with the Edmond church being located in a house she had always admired led her to
visit. She felt comfortable immediately.
Liz is one of our most active members of Channing. She belongs to the Board of Trustees, Book Group,
Theater Group and Stitchers. She serves on the Finance Committee and the Committee on Ministry. She
also helps out on the Care and Concern committee and lately she’s been the chairperson on the
congregation’s Ad Hoc Committee on RE.
She moved to Edmond in 1991 to be near her youngest sister who helped her with her toddler son. Liz’s son
is now twenty one years old and a junior at OU studying engineering. She is close to her brother and sisters
and hangs out with them quite a bit.
She was the office manager for a urologic group of physicians until 2006. Liz now tutors twice a week in
math for the Oklahoma City Public Schools.
Her favorite pastimes include working with her dog Baxter, hanging out with her sisters, reading, crossword
puzzles, and movies. She was going to teach biology and chemistry in high school, but after doing her
student teaching she decided against that. She gets great joy out of tutoring math—a one-on-one
relationship.
One of her most memorable moments was hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with two of her older
sisters and her brother. They camped out at the Indian Gardens campground. She was thirteen years old,
1967, and it was the first time she had smelled marijuana.
The thing Liz is most proud of is her son. There was a time when she thought he was headed for an orange
jumpsuit with “JAIL” stenciled on the back, but now is nearly a 4.0 student in a demanding curriculum.
Asked how she would like to be remembered, Liz says, “I was a good mom, a trusted sister and a fun and
loyal friend.”
CARE AND CONCERN
At this time, it seems that our members and friends are relatively free of cares and concerns.
Perhaps we could turn our energy toward helping those in our community who are not so blessed.
Channing Channel
Channing UU Church
2800 W. 15th Street
Edmond, OK
Church of the Open Mind
and Open Heart
We’re on the Web!
Visit us at:
www.channinguuc.org
Channing UU Church
P.O. Box 2382
Edmond, OK 73093-2382
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Calendar Lady
The Board has asked Pat Hervey to serve as
Calendar Lady. That means she will be
available to post events for you on our online
calendar. She can also edit events in case you
make a mistake. If you are having a church
related event, whether at our church or in
some other location, it should be posted so that
we don’t have any scheduling conflicts.
If you have been posting events yourself on our
calendar, you may continue doing so. Pat
requests that you post your event as soon as
possible, so that we will all know about it.
Contact her at [email protected].