Letters from the President,
2006
by Jon Porter
December 2006
I’ve never been very good at directions. I get lost more often than I would
like to admit. However, if I can get to a location once, I can always get there
again. I like to know where I am going and having a good copilot is essential
for me. I think it is essential for Live Oak, too. That is why we are going to
attempt two new activities in the next several weeks.
The first is the Calendaring Meeting on December 10 at 12:30 pm in the
Fellowship Hall. At that meeting we are asking committees and groups to come to
the meeting to set our calendar for 2007. In this way we can plan for events
throughout the whole year and attempt to not have multiple big events on the
same day. This will give us a map for the year, mapping out events we want to
plan for and get people excited about, including service projects, parties,
trips, and other activities that affect all of us. It is an opportunity to work
together to set a vision for 2007.
The next event is the Vision Café on February 4, 2007, in Common Ground. This
is an exciting event that we hope will become an annual tradition. The goal of
the Vision Café is to set goals for the community for 2007 and into the future.
We would like to have a map of where we wish to be as a church. What are our
common goals, desires, and dreams for making Live Oak the best possible place
for us and our children.
This is an exciting time. I look forward to scheduling our big events for
2007 and envisioning our hopes and dreams in the Vision Café.
Jon Porter
November 2006
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world.”
Margaret Mead’s words are always being used by social action groups, but I guess
the world famous anthropologist DID know a few things about small groups and
community …
Here at Live Oak, our community is made up of people who may have different
views on faith and spirituality but do have common views about the
world-at-large. Indeed, each one of our Seven Principles touches on community,
whether it is the inherent worth of every person, or justice and compassion, or
the goal of a world community at peace. We are made of friends, neighbors,
acquaintances, but we share this place, this Live Oak, as the tree on which we
perch together.
As the holiday season rolls around, it is easy to remember the community OUTSIDE
of Live Oak. Giving opportunities arise everywhere, including in our own
Fellowship Hall with the Giving Tree, caroling on Christmas Day at a nursing
home, and Hungry Harry. But beyond the holidays, our Community Outreach team
plans outreach activities year-round, such as Hands on Housing, a clean-up trip
to New Orleans, Pick-A-Park, blood drives, and more; we take our words out into
the world, and show that we do work the principles of our tradition with our
hands, with our time, and with our actions.
There is more work to be done, however, and it cannot be done by committee – it
must be action by the individual … check on your neighbor, help a stranger in
the grocery store, say hello to the lonely mail carrier, call your mother, reach
out to someone with different beliefs than yours, thank your child’s teacher,
VOTE … and in this way, change the world, one action at a time.
The Live Oak Community is our small group of thoughtful, committed citizens.
Jon Porter
October 2006
Yesterday I saw one of those old WWJD bumper stickers. Remember that fad from
a few years ago, with bracelets, t-shirts, bumper stickers, and the like,
proclaiming What Would Jesus Do? While I liked the thought behind the sticker, I
would usually see them in conjunction with Bush-Cheney paraphernalia. I don’t
believe that Jesus would support war, lock people away without a trial or public
evidence, cut funding to feed and house the poor, or cut the health care budget
for veterans, children, and the disabled to support tax breaks for millionaires.
I could go on, but you get the picture.
Why do I mention this? Because I wonder what we can do to put OUR faith into
action. We talk the talk, but do we always walk the walk? That’s a question that
each of us needs to ask ourselves. At a minimum, we give money to the church,
which supports good works. We vote. However, such actions are the floor and we
need to shoot for the ceiling. We need to promote actions that speak to our
values: peace, justice, equality, and social responsibility.
Within our church, there are several ways to get involved in these activities.
On October 15, after the service, we are having a Committee Carnival where you
can learn about all the committees and activities with which you can get
involved and put your faith into action. I will make specific calls for the
Community Outreach Committee, which does projects for the community such as
Hands on Housing (taking place on October 21), and for the Social Action
Committee. In January we will have another conversation café to plot the course
we want our church to sail on and make great goals to achieve together.
We have a faith and beliefs that too few people know about, but many people
believe in. We can lead and ask the question WWJD?, and add a few more, too,
like WWAD?, WWBD?, WWGD?, WWMLKD?, etc. And we believe that all would “do” the
same thing. Come along and help us move our church, our country, and our world
forward, one step at a time.
Jon Porter, President
September 2006
It’s almost Stewardship time again at Live Oak. This is the time when we are
asked to make a financial commitment to the church.
I am often disappointed by big churches and all their largess. I have been to
and I see churches with gyms, swimming pools, and even TV studios within the
church. I don’t want that, and my guess is neither do you.
However, it does take money to keep our doors open and our amazing staff paid.
It is time to re-pledge our commitment to Chuck, Kathleen, Nathan, Audrey,
Diane, and Rebecca. Not one of them is full-time and none have any benefits. Now
is the time to make our commitment to keeping our doors open and in good repair.
Now is the time to focus on what our principles are and on putting them to work.
All of this takes money.
Our Stewardship to Live Oak is an investment in ourselves. We are pledging to a
community of like-minded people to seek a spiritual path for ourselves and our
children. The sad thing is that we are short-changing ourselves.
We don’t speak of amounts of money often in our church. There is a culture of
silence on this, and I know why. It’s uncomfortable. Not everyone is equal in
this department. Some of us are blessed with more than many. Some of us just get
by.
But now is not time to be silent, because I believe leadership is about action
more than it is about words. Therefore, I will be the first to make a pledge to
this year’s Live Oak Stewardship Drive by increasing our pledge 25% to $250 per
month. I am doing this publicly not to show off, but as a show of commitment.
My family will continue to invest in Live Oak as the returns have been great for
us – a spiritual home, friends, a place to express art, and a place to teach our
children the values of peace, love, cooperation, justice, and understanding.
Live Oak is not perfect; few things in life are. But Live Oak is our home.
Invest wisely.
Jon Porter
August 2006
“We need you!”
You hear it all the time and often it’s really true. As summer winds down and
September begins, I really want to see more activities and options for our Live
Oak community. But the only way that can occur is for you (yes, YOU) to get
involved.
What is your interest?
Do you like planning parties? Join the Fellowship Committee!
Would you like to take a class on Enlightenment? Join the Adult Programming
Committee!
We have boundless ideas, but we need people power to execute them; that is where
you come in. I’m not asking you to spend all your time and energy here, but I
would like for you to commit to give just one hour a month to a Live Oak
Committee – just an hour! How many of you watch a mindless hour of TV each
month? Why not take that one hour and use it each month to build and widen the
Live Oak Community?
What, you don’t know how to get involved?
Well, this newsletter has a list of committees and contact information. Or you
can always contact me and I’ll be happy to steer you in the right direction. We
will be having a Volunteer Fair in September, where the committees will have
information about what they do and how you can get involved. If you’re bored at
Live Oak, you’re not looking for something to do! There are 77 committees and
groups here at Live Oak. Surely one has got your name on it! Join and donate
your talents.
What, you want to do more?
If you wish to chair or co-chair a committee, please do not hesitate to contact
me. As of this writing, there are leadership openings in the Community Outreach,
Stewardship, and Music Committees. We welcome your commitment to help with these
key committees.
And don’t forget. We need you!
Jon Porter
President of Live Oak UU Church Congregation
July 2006
Humans are complex animals. We communicate on a number of different levels.
We organize in both small and large groups. We build. We destroy. But something
as simple as a “thank you” can both mean a lot and carry gratitude that has
often gone unspoken. To that end, I want to say a big and heartfelt thank you to
the officers and trustees who served our little community this past year. Thank
you to Daniel, Mary, Tere, Teresa, Craig, Karen, Greg, Carrie, and John Phelps.
I want to make a very special thank you and acknowledgement to John Iacoletti,
who has served in elected leadership positions in our church for 10 of the past
12 years. I thank you for your commitment to Live Oak.
I also want to thank all of you who serve on committees. That is how we run the
church. This is also a personal goal of mine for the next year. I strongly urge
and encourage each member of Live Oak to find just one committee to serve on.
There are approximately 23 committees that serve our church. If you are not
sharing your voice on at least one of these committees, you are not being
adequately heard. We want to hear you. If you are interested in joining a
committee, talk with me and I will be happy to help you find a committee that
fits your interests. Working together, we can continue to grow our Live Oak.
There are three items I will be focusing my attention on for the next few
months, and I want you to know about them. First, we will soon be announcing a
few Town Meetings to discuss the formation of our Endowment Plan. We want
comments on the formation and implementation of this plan. I want to thank Ravi
Chandran, Jon Durbin, and Mark Bishop for spending a vast amount of time working
on this. Next, we are committed to having education and training on the
consensus process. We hope to have a class ready to be offered early this fall.
Lastly, we are going to have a Religious Education assessment in October. I urge
as many people as possible to participate.
I am truly excited about what we can accomplish together to continue to build a
community that matches our vision and mission statements. Please join us. I look
forward to working with everyone this next year. Please feel free to contact me
with your questions, your ideas, and your concerns.
Jon Porter, President
by Daniel
Kaulfus
March 2006
An amazing event is coming to our church on April 8 and 9. Our …
First Annual Live Oak UU Spring Renewal Festival!
It will be the pinnacle of our spring events calendar!
We have had some great events at Live Oak over the last two months: the holiday
party and Christmas Eve reception, caroling at nursing homes on Christmas Day, a
great turn-out for the Covenant Café (over 50 members provided input for our
Covenant of Right Relations), a very successful Services Auction (over 70
attendees and $6,000 raised for various committees), Community Outreach SoUUper
Sunday, and the start of FRED. Thanks to all the event coordinators and
volunteers for their time and talents in making each of these a success! Now on
to the next great event …
What is the Spring Renewal Festival? A fun, energetic and exciting church-wide
event covering Saturday evening and Sunday morning that will pull together all
of Live Oak’s resources to work together to renew our dedication as a
congregational family to grow the church in a positive way and to have fun!
To give you an idea of what we are planning, picture an old-time county fair on
a cool spring evening. You are with good friends chatting and laughing. Lawn
chairs are spread around the lawn. There are a variety of your favorite yummy
foods cooking on the grill with cold watermelon in the ice chests and hot pies
ready for a scoop of cold ice cream. Lights are strung between the trees and
there’s live music coming from a stage set up in the corner with plenty of
laughter, dancing, and a festive good time for all. That’s the type of
environment that we want to create because that’s the type of church we are at
Live Oak.
What about Sunday? More of the same for Sunday with the pinnacle being the
official dedication of our Covenant of Right Relations, complete with a toast
and reception.
Put the dates on your calendars and plan to get involved! To pull something like
this off, we will need the help of all our committees as well as the multiple
talents that we have in our congregational family (cooks, musicians, organizers,
and even cleaner-uppers). We hope to see you there and look forward to your help
and support! Look for the meeting announcements to get organized coming soon!
In peace,
Daniel Kaulfus
February 2006
Each morning prior to doing yoga, I read a quote of the day from my Zen
calendar. The quote on January 20 resonated with my connection to Live Oak UU
and Unitarian Universalism.
“Western laziness consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so
that there is no time at all to ‘consider the important things’.” – Sogyal
Rinpoche*
Since joining Live Oak UU five years ago, Unitarian Universalism has provided me
an avenue to expand my perspective on life’s priorities as I travel my own
personal spiritual path. One of the conscious decisions I have made over the
last five years has been to slow down and make time with my family a priority in
my life. As I watch my neighbors rush from activity to activity, I am grateful
that I have been able to grow my view of life to a point of increasing clarity,
love, and compassion, instead of worrying about whether I’m getting enough
activities crammed into each day.
On Sunday, January 22, an amazing event happened at Live Oak. Over 50 members of
our church joined together to begin developing a Covenant of Right Relations for
our congregation. As we refine, discuss, and develop this covenant at Live Oak,
I hope that it will embody the “important things” that we can focus in on our
growing community and that it might help us enjoy and truly appreciate our
church family instead of just rushing from activity to activity. We have so much
to give to each other and the greater community, and this includes developing an
understanding of how to move from the “compulsive activities” to the “important
things”. I look forward to developing our church’s covenant and continuing along
this journey with each of you.
In peace,
Daniel Kaulfus
* Sogyal Rinpoche is recognized as the incarnation of Lerab Lingpa Tertön Sogyal,
a teacher to the thirteenth Dalai Lama, one of the most outstanding masters of
the twentieth century. He is also the author of the highly-acclaimed and
groundbreaking book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.
January 2006
What an incredible group of people we have at Live Oak!
Over the last two months we have had a dedicated team of six people (our
Stewardship Committee) working in conjunction with each individual in our
congregation to put together personal monetary pledges to support our
operating budget in 2006. In summary, we have raised over $138,000 in member
pledges to ensure that our church continues to move forward toward
fulfilling our vision statement: “where people of all ages … demonstrate
[our] shared values, perspectives, and concerns with the larger community”.
A key piece of demonstrating our “shared values” (and a
keystone of our canvass campaign this year) is providing fair compensation for
our paid staff members. As a result of everyone’s considerate contributions, we
will increase most paid staff wages from 5% to 27%. We have a long way to go in
compensation, but we are taking key first steps on this journey.
Please join me in thanking the canvassers that conducted
the canvass, as well as those that led us in our 2006 Stewardship Campaign:
Copyright
©2006, Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church.