Tucsonitarian
The monthly newsletter of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, 4831 E. 22nd Street, Tucson, AZ 85711,
520-748-1551, www.uuctucson.org. To view previous editions of the newsletter, click here.
Newsletter editor: Craig Rock at newsletter@uuctucson.org. Send us your UU stories, poems and photos.
Navigating this 4-page newsletter: Link onto the desired page at the top and bottom of each page.
Volunteer and Support Opportunities Abound
at Church and in the Community
This edition of the Tucsonitarian coincides with the excitement brought about by the end of a hot summer, the revitalization of UUC Tucson, and a myriad of activities connected to the very roots of our church and community. In addition to church news and information about social justice events, there is a special request from Amnesty International to participate in a letter writing campaign to secure the safety of workers at the Kino migrant aid station in Nogales, Sonora in Mexico. There is also a request from UUA's president to help the indigenous community threatened by the Dakota Access Pipeline. Lots of work at church as well. UUCT groups here need help, including the Stewardship and Religious Education committees. And we need help preparing for the spring UU district assembly, which is being organized by the four UU churches in southern Arizona ("the Baja Four") and the statewide group, UU Justice Arizona (UUJAZ). The assembly's focus is justice in the borderlands region. Coincidentally, activists from many religious, humanitarian, and political groups will be here in early October to protest the continued militarization of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands as well as the intelligence training of foreign military personnel at Fort Benning, GA. Photo Credit: Close-up of art by an unknown protester at the Dakota Access Pipeline rally earlier this month at the downtown Tucson Bank of America.
President's Column
by Frank Valdes
Expectations, everyone has them. We have expectations when we come to church, meet new people, and select our leaders. I think the subject of realistic expectations is as important to us as respect and acceptance of each other in our 1st and 3rd UU principles.
This month our new interim minister, Rev. Lyn Oglesby, arrives. We all have hopes and expectations about her and what it means for UUCT. I believe ministers, above most other professions (especially for us UUs), are burdened with over-sized expectations. They are expected to be filled with caring and compassion for everyone, but also to be professional, to be social justice and community leaders, to be good church and staff managers, to bring people in the doors and keep them coming back, to tell us the right thing to do but never make mistakes themselves and, of course, to preach well.
We have never had such a minister and never will. In my experience, with the selection of ministers I've been acquainted with at UUCT, they have all been different, with different strengths and weaknesses. I have recently been involved in discussions with our "settlement coach" from the Pacific Western region, Rev. Anne Hines, and our leadership where we examined our past and present as we saw it. It was recognized that we put unfair expectations on our beloved Rev. Diane, to which we contributed by giving her incorrect expectations about our ministry together. These same sentiments came up at the Governance Forum and in a staff meeting. This is clearly an important lesson for us.
Steve Kraynak nicely described, in the September 18th service, his and my experience on the Interim Search Committee. We really looked carefully at seven candidates for an interim minister. They all had strengths and weaknesses. We chose who we felt was the best interim minister for UUCT. You may think that this column has a hidden message about Rev. Lyn. That is not the case. I and others have had nothing but positive experiences with her and know she will do a great job with UUCT.
So let's welcome Rev. Lyn as a person, as a dedicated UU and minister, and as a person who has a lot to offer us - but not as someone with all the answers. We have to do the interim work together. These same thoughts on expectations will apply as well to our future settled minister.
On other topics, I appreciated the discussion at the well-attended Governance Forum and see challenges in deciding on directions with the three models that were raised: a policy delegation board with separate management team, a portfolio board, and a board with a program council. As announced in various forums, the Board elected J.D. Garcia to fill a Board vacancy and hired Samantha Meyers and courtney boyden to temporarily lead our LFD/RE program in a part-time capacity. We are pleased to have them join us as volunteers and leaders. As always, you can find many details about Board and Executive Team actions in the Minutes section of our website as well as in Church emails.
Lists of Stories
Page 1. President's Column, Finance Committee Report, Sunday Services, and the Mata Ortiz Pottery Sale.
Page 2. Lifespan Faith Development, Stewardship Report, No More Deaths Newsletter, Updates on UUJAZ Issues Action Day and UUCT Share the Plate.
Page 3. Urgent Action for Safety of Relief Center Workers in Nogales, Sonora. UUA Suggestions for Dakota Access Pipeline.
Page 4. Hundreds of Groups Join Protest against School of the Americas and Militarization of U.S.- Mexico Border. Volunteer Announcements. Speaker on Women Kidnapped by Guatemalan Military.
From the Finance Committee
by Margot Garcia
Hurrah for us! We more than matched the $5,000 gift, so we have an additional nearly $11,000 in donations. That was programmed into the budget, so we are on track.
For the month of August, we had an income of $7,196.27 higher than expenses. However, for the year to date (July and August) we had spent $1,812.97 more than our income. We are doing well with pledges and rentals, our two big income sources. Hopefully with continued good pledging and rental income we can erase that small deficit.
We had hoped to refinance all three loans from the Bank of the West, but the bank decided only to lend us the money to consolidate the first two loans for two additional years at a much better interest rate of 3.99%. That brings down the monthly payments to $545 instead of the $967.41 we are paying now on the two loans. Come to the Congregational Forum on Church Debt on Sunday, October 2, 20 minutes after the service is over for more details.
We have hired two part-time RE coordinators, courtney boyden and Samantha Meyer, for 10 hours each at $15 per hour until December 31. That gives us time to work with the Rev. Lyn Ogelsby on how to structure the Religious Education program. Hiring the two part-time coordinators saves this current budget about $13,342, which can be used for repaying funds. pensions, and putting some aside for more LFD hours in the Spring 2017 budget. We have paid off what we owed for Kathleen Hogue’s pension for last year.
We are starting an internal audit guided by a list of policies and procedures that the Unitarian Universalist Association has developed to guide churches in their financial matters. A subcommittee of Jim Hannley, Beth Britton, Byron Skinner and Liz Ravenwood will go through the list and identify areas where we have work to do.
We need one more member on the Finance Committee. If you are interested, please contact Margot Garcia at mgarcia@vcu.edu. We will start work on the Spring 2017 budget in October. Our meeting will be Tuesday, October 4 at 7 pm in Servetus Room. You are all welcome.
Sunday Services 10:30 am
October 2: Invisible Women: Homelessness in Tucson. Debbie W. is smart, personable, and has no permanent home. She first came to Sister Jose Women's Center (SJWC) back in August after living on the street for one week. Her message to you is this: "Everybody's story is different, not all of us are [homeless] because we are lazy or we are a drug addict or have severe mental illness or anything like that. Sometimes it is just the choices that other people make that has an impact on you, that puts you on the street..."
Speaker: Penny Buckley, Worship Associate: Betsy & Preston McMillanMusic: Leeza Beriyeva
October 9: At the UUA General Assembly in 2013 support for Move to Amend "We the People Amendment" was chosen as an Action of Immediate Witness. This amendment would eliminate the legal fictions that corporations are people and should have all the legal rights of humans, and that money is equal to speech. Let's look at why UUA supports this effort, what is being done to move toward passage of the amendment, and how it fits in with our UU principles. Speaker: Margo Newhouse, Worship Associate: Betsy McMillan, Music: Desert Chorale
October 16: Interim minister, Rev. Lyn Oglesby preaches in our pulpit.
Mata Ortiz Potters to Hold Sale at UUCT on October 23rd
Are you familiar with the economic miracle of Mata Ortiz? Have you heard of Mata Ortiz pottery and wondered what the big deal was? Did you know there has been a sale of Mata Ortiz pottery here at UUCT for the past four years? And, of course, the sale prices here at the church are much better than the mark-ups in the stores, with all the proceeds going directly back to the potters of Mata Ortiz.
Yes, Mata Ortiz is a place, not just a type of pottery. The village of Mata Ortiz is in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, not far from the fairly larger city of Nuevo Casas Grandes and Paquimé, one of the most important archeological sites in the northwest Mexico/southwest U.S. region and center of the Mogollon culture. It is only about 100 miles from the New Mexico border, south and east of Deming, NM.
Years ago its now most famous resident, Juan Quezada, found ancient pots and shards and became fascinated with trying to make similar pottery. Soon his craft moved well beyond old style pottery, and his innovative designs brought him international fame. He was able to build a thriving business for himself and shared his knowledge of pottery-making with his family and eventually most of the village. It produced an economic miracle that saved this small, poor and struggling town.
Other potters from the area, such as our regular visitors from Mata Ortiz, Ana Trillo and Julio Mora, are highly regarded and skilled craftsmen. Ana and Julia have brought pottery from a number of other potters to our annual sales since the drug wars in Mexico discouraged the large number of visitors from the U.S. who once traveled to Mata Ortiz. This year they will be bringing pottery from 45 different potters. They carefully keep track of whose pots are sold so they can return the proceeds to the individual potters. Because they appreciate UUCT’s support, Ana and Julio have contributed beautiful pots for us to sell at the church auction.
UUCT’s support over the years of these amazing artisans are part of our economic justice ministry. Mark October 23rd on your calendar. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to purchase some unique and beautiful art for yourself or for gifts and to do your part to contribute to the miracle of Mata Ortiz.