 |
The Windmill |
 |
| Online | ||
| August 1, 2004 |
|
|
The Windmill |
|
| Online | ||
| August 1, 2004 |
|
Rev. Lou is on vacation and study leave for the months of July and August.
He will be out-of-town for certain periods during that time. Pastoral
coverage from June 22—September 4 is being provided by various UU
ministers throughout the Greater Washington DC area. Please contact the
Church Office for further information regarding any pastoral concerns
during this time. Flaming Chalice Adapted from the pamphlet "The Flaming Chalice" by Daniel D. Hotchkiss At the opening of Unitarian Universalist worship services, many congregations light a flame inside a chalice. This flaming chalice has become a well-known symbol of our denomination. It unites our members in worship and symbolizes the spirit of our work. The chalice and the flame were brought together as a Unitarian symbol by an Austrian artist, Hans Deutsch, in 1941. Living in Paris during the 1930s Deutsch drew critical cartoons of Adolf Hitler. When the Nazis invaded Paris in 1940, he abandoned all he had and fled to the South of France, then to Spain, and finally, with an altered passport, into Portugal. There, he met the Reverend Charles Joy, executive director of the Unitarian Service Committee (USC). The Service Committee was new, founded in Boston to assist Eastern Europeans, among them Unitarians as well as Jews, who needed to escape Nazi persecution. From his Lisbon headquarters, Joy oversaw a secret network of couriers and agents. Charles Joy felt that this new, unknown organization needed some visual image to represent Unitarianism to the world, especially when dealing with government agencies abroad. Deutsch was most impressed and soon was working for the USC. He later wrote to Joy: "There is something that urges me to tell you ... how much I admire your utter self denial [and] readiness to serve, to sacrifice all, your time, your health, your well being, to help, help, help. "I am not what you may actually call a believer. But if your kind of life is the profession of your faith—as it is, I feel sure—then religion, ceasing to be magic and mysticism, becomes confession to practical philosophy and—what is more—to active, really useful social work. And this religion—with or without a heading—is one to which even a ‘godless’ fellow like myself can say wholeheartedly, Yes!" The USC was an unknown organization in 1941. This was a special handicap in the cloak-and-dagger world, where establishing trust quickly across barriers of language, nationality, and faith could mean life instead of death. Disguises, signs and countersigns, and midnight runs across guarded borders were the means of freedom in those days. Joy asked Deutsch to create a symbol for their papers "to make them look official, to give dignity and importance to them, and at the same time to symbolize the spirit of our work.... When a document may keep a man out of jail, give him standing with governments and police, it is important that it look important." Thus, Hans Deutsch made his lasting contribution to the USC and, as it turned out, to Unitarian Universalism. With pencil and ink he drew a chalice with a flame. It was, Joy wrote his board in Boston, "a chalice with a flame, the kind of chalice which the Greeks and Romans put on their altars. The holy oil burning in it is a symbol of helpfulness and sacrifice.... This was in the mind of the artist. The fact, however, that it remotely suggests a cross was not in his mind, but to me this also has its merit. We do not limit our work to Christians. Indeed, at the present moment, our work is nine-tenths for the Jews, yet we do stem from the Christian tradition, and the cross does symbolize Christianity and its central theme of sacrificial love." The flaming chalice design was made into a seal for papers and a badge for agents moving refugees to freedom. In time it became a symbol of Unitarian Universalism all around the world. The story of Hans Deutsch reminds us that the symbol of a flaming chalice stood in the beginning for a life of service. When Deutsch designed the flaming chalice, he had never seen a Unitarian or Universalist church or heard a sermon. What he had seen was faith in action—people who were willing to risk all for others in a time of urgent need. Today, the flaming chalice is the official symbol of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and the Unitarian Universalist Association. Officially or unofficially, it functions as a logo for hundreds of congregations. A version of the symbol was adopted by the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches in Britain. It has since been used by Unitarian churches in other parts of the world. Perhaps most importantly, it has become a focal point for worship. No one meaning or interpretation is official. The flaming chalice, like our faith, stands open to receive new truths that pass the tests of reason, justice, and compassion. |
A Month of SundaysSunday Service at 10 AM ONLY A Month of Sundays August 1 August 8 August 15 August 22 August 29 Audio tapes of all services are available upon request. Most sermons are available online in the sermon library. Program Highlights Partner Church Brunch Wisdom Years Ingathering Picnic Water Communion Sunday |
Elaine Bronez and Bev Southerland, coordinators
The Good Companions will not meet in August, but hopes to be back in September. The Wisdom Years will return on Saturday, August 28 with a program on Eye Care. We will meet from 10:30 until Noon in Hollin Hall. All are invited to attend.
The MVUC Partner Church Committee will have their final brunch of the year on August 15 at 11:15 am in Hollin Hall. Plan to attend to hear all about the recent two-week trip to Romania and Szentháromság/Troita completed by a group of 32 MVUCers. Proceeds from the brunches support the Partner Church Program.
On Friday, September 10, please celebrate ingathering with us at a picnic sponsored by the Board of Trustees. There will be hors d’oeuvres at 5:30 pm, with dinner following about 6 pm. A donation of $5 per person is requested to cover your choice of grilled chicken breasts, hot dogs or veggie burgers, drinks, and paper products. Please bring a salad or dessert to share potluck. And please sign up in the Commons to let us know how much to buy.
Don’t forget that MVUC’s annual Water Communion services will be on September 12. Collect a sample of water from your summer travels and bring it to the Water Communion.
The Annual Meeting of the Memorial Society of Northern Virginia, of which we are a member, will be held on Sunday, October 10, at 2 pm in the downstairs chapel of the Arlington UU Church. Speakers will be Dr. Rivercomb, the Chief Medical Examiner for Northern Virginia, and Richard DeCosta, Funeral Director at Old Town Funeral Choices. The subject will be What Does A Medical Examiner Do? Members and potential members of the MVUC Memorial Society are invited to carpool, meeting at 1 pm in the church parking lot. Mark your calendars now.
The Kick-off for the Capital Campaign approved at the June 13 special congregational meeting will be a complimentary dinner at a restaurant in Old Town on Saturday, October 23 at 5:00 pm. (Child care, food, and a program for children will be provided at the church.) All your MVUC friends will be at the dinner and the very special Sunday service the next day, October 24, so put the dates on your calendar now. —Georgia Pourchot, Ron Brandt, Joanne Masterson
Have you thought about making a difference in your community? Something meaningful you can do in your home? The Fairfax Victim Assistance Network (VAN), a program of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, may be just what you’ve been looking for. VAN will train caring individuals to volunteer on its sexual assault and domestic abuse crisis hotline. Training will run from October 2 to December 1, Wednesday evenings and two Saturdays. This volunteer opportunity can be done from home. Bilingual and bicultural volunteers are welcomed. For more information, application, or services, you can call the VAN hotline at 703-360-7273 (24 hours) or TTY 703-799-8253. This is a great way to make a difference in your community!
Events at Abu Ghraib prison, Guantánamo Bay and in Afghanistan have shone a disturbing light on U.S. use of torture as an interrogation technique. At UUSC we are committed to bringing an immediate halt to such activities and ensuring they never happen again. That is why we have established our STOP (Stop Torture Permanently) Campaign to work to bring an end to U.S.-sanctioned torture anywhere in the world. Please take a stand to end torture. For an action alert on urging Congress to oppose U.S.-sanctioned torture, visit
www.uusc.org/programs/STOP/alert040701.html
To learn more about UUSC’s STOP Campaign, visit
www.uusc.org/programs/STOP/index.html
A 215-year-old federal law that allows victims of human rights abuses to hold U.S.-based multinational corporations accountable was endorsed by the annual General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association. In response to an appeal by UUSC, the delegates to the annual convention voted overwhelmingly to express support for the Alien Tort Claims Act. The ATCA is under attack by the U.S. business lobby as well as the administration of President George W. Bush, which wants to dismantle or repeal the statute. To learn more, visit www.uusc.org/info/article070104.html
The signs of Burundian refugees returning home after years of exile are vitally positive and signify an end to war. However, there are concerns as to whether Burundi is ready to receive a large influx of refugees at such a fast pace given the country’s instability, continued violence in rural areas, its inadequate infrastructure, and lack of resources.
Nongovernmental organizations such as UUSC program partner, the Burundian Association of Women Heads of Households, are doing their part to help refugees through this difficult transition. To learn more about the challenges facing Burundian refugees returning to their homes, visit:
www.uusc.org/info/article062204.html
Become a UUSC member today for only $25. Especially in these critical times, the Service Committee depends on your support to continue to protect human rights here in the United States and around the world. Your unrestricted gift of $60 or more will be matched dollar for dollar by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock in Manhasset, NY. To learn more about UUSC membership or to make a donation today, visit:
www.uusc.org/info/support.html
We’re setting up the new Usher schedule for the coming church year and need a few Sunday services covered. If you or a partner can serve for a specific service on a specific schedule, Bev Southerland would like to hear from you.
The newly formed Playreaders group, chaired by Vannessa Anderson, has been meeting after services in Hollin Hall’s "Morning Room" (2nd floor). If you’re interested, stop by on Sunday or call.
Supervisor Hyland would like you to know that the Mount Vernon District website, http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/gov/bos/mvd/mvd.htm, has been revamped and updated with current information. The site will be used to relay information on events happening around the County, and especially things that affect Mount Vernon District residents. Please check it often as frequent updates will be made.
A new service is available from the Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs. News to Use, is an e-newsletter that provides useful information about recreation, public safety, press releases, upcoming meetings and more. The June issue is available at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/opa/n2u0604.htm. To receive the publication on the first Monday of each month, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/opa/n2u.htm and subscribe. This newsletter is for everyone, so please spread the word!
What follows is the obituary for my mother, Wilma Boag Mortensen, that ran in the local paper in Sandpoint, Idaho. My parents, Charles and Wilma Mortensen, were members of MVUC starting in the early 70s. My husband, Bruce, and I were members until we moved in 2000. Our daughters, Sera and Julia, were members of the church and the youth group and both of them taught in the RE program. Bruce ran the greenhouse for years. My father died in 1995. Sue Vogeslinger
Wilma Mortensen, 91, died July 17 after a two-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was a resident of Sandpoint, Idaho for the past four years. She relocated to Idaho from Alexandria, Virginia, with her daughter and son-in-law, Sue and Bruce Vogelsinger, who followed their twin daughters and the first of Wilma’s great-grandchildren to the beautiful community of Sandpoint.
Born in Milton, Iowa, Wilma graduated from Iowa State University in 1934. The following year she married her college sweetheart, Charles Mortensen, an architecture graduate from Omaha, Nebraska. In 1941 the Mortensens moved to the Washington, D.C. area where they resided, with the exception of two years in California during World War II, until Wilma moved to Sandpoint in 2000. Mr. Mortensen, a former trade association executive, died in 1995.
Wilma worked her way through college during the Depression and taught for a year following college to pay off college loans. She majored in home economics and was a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority. An avid golfer, Wilma was a charter member of the Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria, Virginia. She won many golfing awards and continued to play regularly well into her 80s. She and her husband enjoyed traveling and took part in many Elder Hostel tours in this country and abroad. Trips on their own were frequently planned to include both golf and historical sites. Wilma and Charles entertained frequently and she was an accomplished seamstress who made most of her own clothes.
Wilma lived in her own house in Sandpoint, next door to one of her granddaughters, and managed her own affairs until the last few months of her life. In fact with her indomitable spirit, and thrifty Depression-era mentality, she recently refinanced the 3-year mortgage on her house to obtain a lower interest rate.
In addition to her daughter, she is survived by her son Charles Robert Mortensen of Martinsburg, West Virginia; granddaughters Julia Vogelsinger Andrick and Sera Vogelsinger Johnson both of Sandpoint; Scotia Mortensen and Solveig Mortensen of Frederick, Maryland; and five great-grandchildren, all in Sandpoint. Her daughter, Maren Mortensen, preceded her in death.
RE Youth Birthdays!August 3 Madalena McNeil 5 Matt Bair 8 Kelly Jemison 12 Maggie Farley 16 Jessica Romine 17 Hannah Howe 30 Sarah Watson |
A memorial service for Ernest Simpson will be held August 1 at 2 pm in the Remington Chapel. The Reverend Louis Schwebius will officiate. A reception will be provided by the Arlington Methodist Women’s group.
Need temporary help with a ride to an appointment, shopping, picking up prescriptions, delivery of meals due to an emergency? Caring Associate members wear green name tags during Sunday services and there is always a member on call to respond to your needs, as noted in the Order of Service. Call Jo if interested in joining us.
Karen Tyson, Chair, MVUC Board of Trustees
Who Am I? Why Am I Here?
Admiral James Stockdale, Ross Perot’s 1992 running mate, was greeted with both derisive laughter and applause when he introduced himself this way at the vice presidential debate. These opening words went down in history, but few remember what followed—a sincere and passionate statement about his character and his desire to serve.
Admiral Stockdale meant his questions rhetorically—he had the answers already. As a thriving and dynamic community, we at MVUC need to ask ourselves these fundamental questions intentionally and often.
During the Board of Trustees’ retreat in June, we did just that, focusing on MVUC’s purpose: Why do we exist? Whom do we serve? The answers were fascinating. Here are a few of them:
Our purpose is to help members of the congregation become better people and to help make the community a better place to live, thus making a positive difference in the world.
The purpose of MVUC is to be a UU worship and religious community that demonstrates and promotes the practice of UU principles within MVUC and the larger world.
MVUC exists to build a loving community that is constantly expanding to encompass the whole world.
We serve members of the Congregation and the larger community.
MVUC serves seekers as a voice for tolerance, education and social justice.
MVUC serves and honors every human being and the interdependent web of all existence.
At General Assembly, a workshop on mission-centered ministry continued this theme. The Harvard, Massachusetts congregation charged their committee on ministry to be the focal point for the church’s mission. Newly dubbed the Mission-Centered Ministry Committee, the group’s responsibilities include educating itself about ministry, educating the congregation about its functions and responsibilities, and coordinating periodic assessments of the shared mission of the congregation.
Being clear about our common purpose and creating a vision of the future will strengthen us as a community. After the retreat, Board members felt that shared contemplation of these issues was a great experience. Along with Reverend Lou, we invite you to join in the reflection.
Your work is to discover your work, and then, with all your heart, to give yourself to it. —Buddha
At the recently concluded UUA General Assembly in Long Beach, delegates passed a new Statement of Conscience on Civil Liberties, a study action issue on Global Warming, and six actions of immediate witness. Go to www.uua.org to read about the issues passed at GA in chronological order. The full text of the Statement of Conscience on Civil Liberties says, in part, "Unitarian Universalists are gravely concerned with the current erosion of American civil liberties. Our criminal justice system has seen increases in police brutality, harsher sentencing, racial profiling, and a call by our leaders for quicker resort to the death penalty. The "War on Drugs" has given the United States the dubious distinction of having the highest incarceration rate among economically advanced nations. Federal funding for faith-based initiatives has threatened religious liberty by compromising the independence and equality of different religious groups.
Later, the statement says, "As people of faith, and as Americans, we are called to action. We are called to reclaim our heritage as Unitarian Universalists and become vigilant stewards of our democracy. We are called as individuals, as congregations, and as an association of congregations to let our leaders know that some current policies are unacceptable." To find out more about how you can take action to defend our civil liberties, go to the UUA's Washington Office for Advocacy site, www.uua.org/uuawo and click on "Civil Liberties."
Edited by Forrest Church
This concise primer is the first collection of original documents from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and other founders on the separation of church and state. Edited by UU minister Forrest Church, The Separation of Church and State is an essential resource for this election year.
Forrest Church is senior minister of All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City. He received his Ph.D. in church history from Harvard and has written or edited more than twenty books.
Praise for THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
"This volume is an indispensable guide to the proper role of religion in the American democracy." —Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
"The Separation of Church and State is an invaluable handbook of primary sources for the perplexed—and the concerned—in today’s whirlpool of contrary opinions and strident voices." —Edwin S. Gaustad, author of Proclaim Liberty throughout All the Land: a History of Church and State in America.
Order this book from Beacon Press at http://beacon.org/election/index.html
Stirrings is on hiatus until September. The deadline for the mid-month newsletter, Stirrings from Windmill Hill, is the 5th of each month. Material should be submitted to Mimi Stevens by email (mimis (at) erols.com) or left in the Newsletter box by the Church Office.