November 2000
by Jennifer Swan
[Jennifer took a bit of time to get to her first column!]
Boy, this church sure knows how to have fun! In less than two weeks, I've
attended two of the most fun parties Live Oak has ever seen (at least since
I've been here). On Oct. 14 our annual Pledge Dinner was held down at First
Church for the first time (I think). They have a bigger room, and we really
needed it for the unusually large crowd we had. Now, you probably think a
"pledge dinner" sounds more like torture than fun. But no canvassing
is done at the dinner! Then why do we have it? Just to kick off the annual
pledge campaign, and you know we use any excuse for a party!
The organized part of the evening started before we even had a chance to
eat.....Canvass Chair Sarah Swords made everyone get up and go talk to someone
they'd never spoken to. If you've been with Live Oak any time at all, you
probably know that would be quite a challenge. We all stood up and looked
around at familiar faces, and finally several of us spotted the Osborne
family, one of the newer families in the church. We descended upon them with
outstretched hands, introducing ourselves and tossing questions at them faster
than they could answer them!
Bobbie Hamilton and her crew had beautifully decorated the tables with
Indian corn and other autumnal items, and there was an appetizing buffet of
baked potatoes and fixings, a colorful salad bar, and Jim Ford's delicious
orange cake for dessert. Thank goodness the entertainment was next, so most of
us were able to sit back and let our dinner digest (does laughing interfere
with digestion?).
Rebecca Maze and Ed Boissevain organized a hysterically funny skit
featuring some of our most proper members in unusual roles.....picture Chris
Lufkin doing a warped impression of Julia Child, Ricky Maze as the Reverend
Chuck E., and Sue Ann Kendall almost unrecognizable as the infamous Tammy Faye
Bakker, complete with huge blonde wig and 16 layers of eye makeup! These are
only a few of the many talented Live Oakers who entertained us with their
singing and acting (silly, that is)!
That wasn't the end of the entertainment. Something new was in store for
us.....a square dance caller and his partner brought their CD set-up and
taught us square dancing and line dancing. It was a blast! Just about everyone
was brave enough to dance, and we sure found out who's coordinated and who's
not! Even the kids got into the spirit of it, doing their own versions of
square dancing. Preschoolers Mackenzie Ausband and Alyssa Hamilton discovered
that holding hands and spinning around and then falling down in a heap was
great fun, over and over, til they were exhausted. I bet their parents didn't
have any trouble getting them to bed that night!
Just a week later, on Sunday evening October 22, more than 85 people
gathered at the church to celebrate Chuck's preliminary fellowship into the
UUA. The joyous service was followed by a very festive potluck meal, complete
with champagne toasts (and roasts!). There was great music and a great deal of
conversation and socializing (what a surprise...). I think Chuck got the
message that we like him a lot and are really glad he's our minister!
I think Live Oak must be getting really good at this fun stuff. They say
"practice makes perfect" and we sure do a lot of fun practicing!
President's Pulse
by John Iacoletti
June 2000
What A Long Strange Trip It's Been
What? My presidency can't be over yet! I'm still building my legacy! My
presidential library hasn't even been started yet!
This is a bittersweet time for me as I look back over the last two years and
see where we've been and where we've come. In my first President's Pulse I
talked about what an awesome responsibility you entrusted me with. It was
definitely a stretch for me to take on such a visible leadership role,
especially a leadership role in our nonhierarchical community. I flexed
muscles I didn't even know existed, and I appreciate all the encouragement
and help and positive vibes you all have given me along the way. I hope
I've lived up to the trust you placed in me. This has been a very exciting
and change filled time in the short history of Live Oak Unitarian Universalist
church. We have grown and blossomed in so many ways. We have shared joys,
laughter, and wonder as well as pain, sorrow, and tears and have come through
it all as a healthy, meaningful, loving community. I couldn't ask for a
brighter note to end my tenure on.
My counterparts in our sister UU congregations (who I have really enjoyed
working and playing with) asked me what I was going to do now. I told them
I was going to "rest on my laurels". Such as they are! The truth is I'm
not really going anywhere. I join the ranks of the other past presidents
who came before, I hand the baton over to the very capable hands of Jennifer
Swan, and I'll see you in the funny papers!
In Community,
John
May 2000
On two separate occasions this month I received affirmations from people
belonging to other UU congregations whose history and experience leads me to
think of them as wise elders. The first person commented about what a strong
sense of caring and community she feels whenever she visits Live Oak, and the
second person told me that we are a mature church. This sounded a bit odd
considering that our lay leader script still characterizes Live Oak as a
"relatively new congregation" and a "young church". What
he meant was that the people in our church are mature in the way we make
decisions and the way we handle disagreements and conflict. We seem to be able
to work things through in respectful, considerate ways and avoid the
backbiting and divisiveness that can so easily poison some communities. While
there have been a couple of occasions over the years I regret where we didn't
do this perfectly, I think for the most part they are right. We are special.
Sometimes it's nice to take a pause from focusing on the things we're trying
to improve and step back just for a moment and recognize what we are doing
really well.
In Community,
John
April 2000
Milestones
I wanted to take a moment this month to recognize and celebrate a major
milestone in our shared journey that we call Live Oak Unitarian Universalist
Church. A couple of weeks ago I sat and had a cup of tea with Gayle Borst, the
lead architect for Stewardship Inc., and I signed my name on behalf of the
church at the bottom of a contract to get the ball rolling on the plans for
our new church home on Hatch Road. Signing my name was the easy part, but it
was the culmination of months and months of hard work by the Building
Committee to get us to that point. So, I want to thank all of the past,
present, and future members of the Building Committee for all you have done --
and continue to do -- to make this dream a reality. And for the rest of us the
fun is just beginning, because we will soon have the opportunity to decide
just what we want this dream to become, and watch it take shape before our
eyes! Exciting times ahead!
And while I'm talking about milestones, I expect that we will be hitting
another major milestone very soon. We are closer to the 100 member mark than
we have ever been in the church's history. I'm not going to tell you exactly
how close because that would spoil the mystery, but don't be too surprised if
this is the month for extra fanfares and celebrations. Who knows: if you've
been thinking of becoming a member, you just might end up being number 100!
In Community,
John
March 2000
Covenant Groups
One of the things that Glenn McIntosh said at Caitlin's funeral was particularly
profound. He was thanking everybody for the love and support and the real human
connections that have been happening. He said (and I'm paraphrasing) that there's no
reason we can't come together like this for each other even without a tragic event as a
catalyst. He's right. What can we do to foster real and meaningful connections between
people in our community? I think that is one of the things that has made Live Oak so
special, but as we grow it becomes harder to hold on to that intimacy, and to make time
for it In our busy lives. There is a real hunger for these kinds of connections though-
something more than chatting over coffee, doing committee work, and worshiping together on
Sunday. Circle Suppers and the Women's and Men's groups are some of our most popular
activities I think, because they help to meet this need.
Many of the really vibrant and healthy churches (UU and elsewhere) are doing something
like covenant groups to give their members an opportunity to make "small
group"-like connections within a larger church community: a group of people with
shared interests or life situations or some other common bond, where you can share your
soul in meaningful and uplifting ways in a place where everybody knows your name. I think
this is worth looking into -- not to replace any of the great things we have been doing to
build community, but to help enhance and reinforce them.
Jon and Donna Durbin recently attended a workshop to learn more about covenant groups,
and they will soon be sharing what they learned. If this is Something that you'd like to
know more about, I invite your comments and feedback.
In Community,
John
Febuary 2000
For Caitlin
Caitlin McIntosh had a deep soul. She was thoughtful and mature beyond her years. She
had beautiful, expressive eyes and an infectious smile that lit up her face and the entire
room as well. She was wonderfully creative and loved to write. She also loved animals and
wanted to be a veterinarian someday. She rescued a frightened little dog out of the street
one night and brought it home. Hers was a pure and gentle heart. I am grateful that my
last memory of Caitlin was her smiling and laughing with her friends on New Year's Eve.
Caitlin had so many people who loved her. She had wonderful, loving parents who were
doing everything they possibly could to help her through a very difficult time. I just
don't understand this, and probably never will.
I was very moved by this poem by Flavia Weedn:
Some people come into our lives
and quickly go.
Some people move our souls to dance.
They awaken us
to new understanding
with the passing whisper of their wisdom.
Some people make
the sky more beautiful to gaze upon.
They stay in our lives for awhile,
leave footprints on our hearts
And we are never, ever the same.
Caitlin, you left footprints on my heart. I will miss you dearly, and I grieve for the
lifetime you will never see and the people who will never know you. You most certainly
would have touched their lives as you have touched mine.
January 2000
Millennium Madness
Well Y2K (or as they say in New Mexico "Y Tú
Qué") is upon us, and we will soon see if the event lives up to the hype. In this
high tech town, Live Oak has a healthy supply of people who work in the computer industry,
and most of us agree that the only Y2K problems we're likely to see are problems caused by
people expecting there to be problems. Notwithstanding, many of us are being asked to
cancel our vacations, or be on call between now and January 1st "just in case".
I have a good friend in Albuquerque who isn't much of a computer guy -- he designs and
builds custom furniture. He has a lot of common sense though, and he summed up the whole
issue this way: "So what if my computer thinks it's 1900? What's going to happen? Is
it going to say to itself 'hey wait a minute, computers didn't exist in 1900!' and
self-destruct?". Which reminds me of the old story about the time René Descartes was
having a drink in a bar. The bartender says "another round?". Descartes says
"I think not", and promptly vanishes. If you don't get that, ask a member of the
now defunct philosophical discussion group. In the meantime, don't worry about any Y2K
bugs. Celebrate the arrival of 2000 with friends, family, food, and festivities. Oh, if
you need me I'll be in my underground shelter with my canned goods and my shotgun.
In community,
John
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