Sunday August 15, 2010 10:00 AM	Sunday August 22, 2010 10:00 AM
Sermon	"Grace in Gravity" Tim House, Summer Student Minister	“A Treasure Along The Way”  Tim House, Summer Student Minister
Children	Faith Development Services and Sunday childcare are not available during the summer.  These services will resume on Sunday, September 12, 2010.	Faith Development Services and Sunday childcare are not available during the summer.  These services will resume on Sunday, September 12, 2010.
Ushers/Greeters	Needed	Needed
Lemonade	Robbie and Brian Kohn	Needed
Altar Flowers	Robbie and Brian Kohn	Needed

	Sunday August 29, 2010 10:00 AM	Sunday September 5 , 2010 10:00 AM
Sermon	Coyote Says: "Make Up Your Own Story"  Rob Craig-Comin	“We Need More Than Labor Day” Rev. Tim Kutzmark – Return to Pulpit
Children	Faith Development Services and Sunday childcare are not available during the summer.  These services will resume on Sunday, September 12, 2010.	Faith Development Services and Sunday childcare are not available during the summer.  These services will resume on Sunday, September 12, 2010.
Ushers/Greeters	Needed	Needed
Lemonade	Needed	Lori Renn Parker
Altar Flowers	Needed	Needed

Please welcome our new Church Organist and Pianist Alex

Dear members and friends of UUCR,

It is with great pleasure that the Pianist/Organist Search Committee announces that we have hired Alexander Gordon as our new pianist and organist.  Alex was chosen from a strong field of applicants and from three very qualified finalists for the job.

Raised in the UU Church of Norwell, MA from infancy, Alex has also served as a substitute organist there since 2006. Other engagements have been at the Marshfield Christian Science church as organist; teacher of music theory and composition at Harvard; and as a piano teacher. He is currently working on his Master's degree in Musical Performance at the Longy School of Music. When not at the piano or organ, he is likely to be found on the tennis court or at the chessboard.  He once spent a year at a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia, practicing meditation, carpentry, and the radong, which is kind of like a Tibetan tuba.

Alex will be at the All-Church Barbecue this coming Sunday, July 25th, so you will have an opportunity to meet him then.  He will begin playing for UUCR on Opening Sunday, September 12th.

Welcome, Alex! 

THE UUCR PIANIST/ORGANIST SEARCH COMMITTEE
Ron Cavicchio, co-chair Sharyn Taitz, co-chair Barbara Bennett Mark Bennett Radonna Crandlemire Marcia Dresser Alan Riley

SUMMMER WORSHIP NOTES

Save some water from any place you visit this summer (far or near or backyard or kitchen sink) for our Annual Water Communion and Mingling of the Waters on September 12.  A few drops in a bottle or vial will allow you to participate in this meaningful and ongoing ritual of connection and community.

Rev. Tim will begin his summer vacation on June 28 (four weeks), followed by four weeks of study leave.  Rev Tim will return to the office August 23.

Pastoral Coverage over the summer

In case of a pastoral emergency this summer, Rev. Tim can be reached by contacting our Shared Ministry Team.  From June 28 through August 1st, please call Iris Hardin at 781-942-2324.  From August 1-23rd, please call John Perry at 781-944-2796.  They will know how to reach Rev. Tim.  Rev. Tim will be out of the country from July 11-July 22, but an ordained minister will be on stand-by in case his services are needed.

Office Open for the Summer

The Church Office will be open for the summer.  Look for a newsblast and a Sunday News confirmation weekly to remind you to come into visit!  For the week of Monday July 13 through Friday July 16 the office will be open 10 AM to 3 PM.

Good-bye Reception for Aileen Dashurova on Sunday, Aug. 15

Please join us after church on Sunday, August 15, as we say good-bye to Aileen Dashurova, Director of Faith Development.  Everyone is invited to bring an entrée or side-dish to share as we gather in Fellowship Hall.  For those who cannot attend the reception, we encourage you to write a card or note to Aileen and mail it or drop it off to Rosemary in the church office.  We will have a basket of cards to share with Aileen that Sunday.  If you have any questions or would like to help with the reception, please contact either Martha Oesch or Junelle Barras .

Don't forget: FD Registration!

Registration for the Faith Development programming for the fall is now up and running, and we now ask that you take the few minutes that it takes to sign your kids up and let us know which service they will be attending.   To register, please use our on-line form: http://www.uureading.org/fdregistration2010.htm

Next fall, the early service will begin at 9:15 instead of 9:00.  Again, FD will offer class-based FD programming, taught by parents fulfilling their volunteer requirements for FD.   These classes will use the same curriculum from this past year, the Tapestry of Faith, developed by the UUA.

At the later 11:00 service, FD will offer a nursery and playschool for infants, toddlers, and young children up to the age of 6, or first grade. These will be managed by our current nursery school staff with help from parent volunteers.   During playschool, 4-6 year olds will be offered an activity based upon the kindergarten Tapestry of Faith curriculum. There will be no FD offered for older children at this service, but they are welcome to sit with their parents in the sanctuary. 

Young children will be welcome at the 11:00 playschool, even if they are not pre-registered for it.  The same will be true for the 9:15 FD classes, although we encourage regular attendance because it increases the cohesiveness of the classes for all children.  Our hope is that with this flexibility you and your children can still attend church when there are conflicts with your usual time.  However, in order to plan effectively, we would like to know which service you plan to attend most Sundays, and we will be asking that you register your children. 

Faith Development at UUCR is based upon a cooperative teaching model from pre-K through grade 7. This means that parents volunteer in order to provide the program.  Not only does the program’s success rely upon a volunteer teaching force, this shared responsibility is the foundation for how we exist as a congregation. Together we can create the kind of community that our children can thrive in, helping them to become curious, intelligent, and self-aware adults.  Therefore, it is our expectation that all parents who have attended UUCR for at least one year fulfill their FD volunteer requirements, regardless of which service they choose to attend.

If you have any questions, you may contact any member of the FD committee, listed below.  We are looking forward to next year!

Sincerely,     
Junelle Barras, Melissa Gresh, Steve Belt, Nancy Howell, Sherry Cook, Tricia Schwartz, Deb Gilburg

OUR 2010/2011 Governing Board

President: Clyde Hardin (781-942-2324)
Vice-President for Programs:  Ann Fisher (781-942-1634)
Vice President for Finance: Armando Villarroel (781-944-7979)
Vice President for Planning: Jay Schwartz (978-474-0208)
Treasurer: Fran Sansalone (781-944-2444)
Clerk: Iris Hardin (781-942-2324)
At Large Member:  David Oakes (781-942-2559)
At Large Member:  Ruth Urell (781-944-5950)
At Large Member: Tracy Sopchak (781-944-5264)
At Large Member:  Matt Wilson (781-942-7544)
Minister, Rev. Tim Kutzmark (781-044-0494)

THE FIVE WISHES: Living Wills, Health Care Directives, and Planning In Case of Serious Illness

Evening Session: Wednesday, September 29 at 7:00-9:00 PM
Morning Session: Thursday, September 30 at 10:00 AM-Noon
Rev. Tim Kutzmark, Facilitator - Room 103, Loring House

No matter what your age, please Join Rev. Tim for this one session workshop to help you think about pre-planning in case of serious illness. It brings tremendous peace of mind to know that your health care wishes will be respected in the event you can’t speak for yourself. Not expressing your wishes could lead to family disagreements. So why have only one in five Americans completed an advance directive or living will?  Many say it’s because the subject of illness and dying is a difficult one, and others say it’s because many advance care planning documents are written in often confusing medical and legal language.  Five Wishes is America’s most popular living will because it’s written in everyday language and helps people express their wishes in areas that matter most—the personal and spiritual in addition to the medical and legal. It’s also a blueprint for describing what good care means to you, whether you are seriously ill or not. It helps your caregiver know exactly what you want.  Registration is required, please call or email the church office (781-944-0494; uucr@uureading.org) or sign up on Sunday at coffee hour.  NOTE: $5.00 materials fee.

Finding Spiritual Meaning in Everyday Life
A Unitarian Universalist Perspective

Tuesday Evening Class: October 5, 12, 19, and 26: 7:00-9:00 PM
Wednesday Morning Class: October 6, 13, 20, and 27: 10:00 AM-Noon
Rev. Tim Kutzmark, Facilitator - Loring 101

How can we discover meaning in the shapes our lives have taken? How does our Unitarian Universalist faith inform the way we understand our life journey?  Join us as we explore the skill and the art of making meaning in our daily lives.  You’ll also explore new modes of meaning making, establish new priorities for the next chapter of your life, and have fun in the process!  Required text: the short and engaging Lifecraft: The Art of Meaning in the Everyday by Forrest Church ($13.00 paperback), available through the UUA bookstore (www.uuabookstore.org) and Amazon.com.  You may also place an order for the book through our church office (by September 21st).  Please note: the first class reading assignment will be the Preface, Introduction, and Chapter One, please come to the first class having read this short section of the book.  Registration is required, please call 781-944-0494 or email the Church Office or sign up on Sunday at coffee hour.  Limit 12 people. 

Unitarian Universalist Basics: An Introduction To Our Faith

Saturday, October 16: 8:45 AM-12:30 PM
(special condensed class)
Rev. Tim Kutzmark and Guest Facilitators

Are you new to the church?  Would you like to meet other folks who are new as well?  Would like to learn more about Unitarian Universalism?  Do you have questions about what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist?  Are you thinking about becoming a member of UUCR?  Then UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST BASICS is just the thing for you.  Join Rev. Tim and members of the Teaching Team for this engaging introduction to our faith.  Registration is required, please call 781-944-0494 or email the Church Office or sign up on Sunday at coffee hour.  Note: This condensed one-day Saturday class will include kid-friendly breakfast, bagels and coffee for adults, and CHILD CARE to make it easier for parents with young children to attend the UU Basics class.  This condensed class is also perfect for those who cannot make four evening classes but would like a basic introduction to our faith and this church)

A New Chance to Volunteer at the Boston Food Bank: Sat., Sept. 25

“To help end hunger in eastern Massachusetts.” That’s the Greater Boston Food Bank’s mission—simple and complex.

On Saturday, September 24, from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., we have the chance to help—loading boxes onto conveyor belts at the Food Bank, inspecting and sorting products, checking and labeling boxes.

We’ll be some of the year’s 10,000 volunteers who help the Food Bank “feed more than 394,000 people annually in nine counties in eastern Massachusetts…distribut[ing] more than 31 million pounds of food and grocery products to a network of nearly 600 member hunger-relief agencies” (www.gbfb.org).

UUCR teens and adults who volunteered at the Food Bank last year found their orientation and work shift educational, fast-paced, rewarding, and fun. If you’re 16 or older and would like to go on Sept. 25, contact Kathleen Sheehan or Ann Mark .

Food Needed for Reading Food Pantry Clients over Summer

Our church community’s neighbors in need rely on the Reading Food Pantry year-round, yet donations tend to drop in the summer. Please help out if you can, by continuing to place paper goods and nonperishable food items on Sunday mornings in the basket in the Woburn St. foyer (under the coatrack). Donations of money are also most welcome, so food pantry clients can buy fresh items such as milk, fruits, and vegetables. Checks can be made out to the Reading Food Pantry and mailed to Reading Food Pantry, c/o Old South Methodist Church, 6 Salem St., Reading, MA 01867.

Green Sanctuary:  metal recycling

Just a reminder not to toss anything metal that you no longer want, can't sell and can't give away.  We'll be collecting it again during the whole month of September.

In the spring, the assortment of all the metal we collected and recycled netted us a total of $224, which will be used towards paying for improvements that will "green" the church.

The scrap metal yard just took everything that was made of metal, including old power tools and small appliances - I couldn't believe what they paid us $$ for!!  They do NOT take old electronics, so please do not put them into the metal recycling.

If you are unsure that what you have is suitable for recycling, just email Linda King or call Linda at 781-944-3617.

Thanks, Linda King, Green Sanctuary Committee