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JULYMINISTER’S LETTER“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17 Beloved Friends, This month we celebrate the Fourth of July, Independence Day, a day in which we celebrate one of our greatest values – freedom. I went to Webster’s Dictionary for a definition. Freedom – enjoyment of personal liberty, of not being a slave nor a prisoner; liberty in acting or choosing. So often the freedom we enjoy in this country is not thought of until one awakens us to what is happening in other nations around the world. A spiritual warrior once said, “Freedom is not a goal, it is the supreme awareness of who you are…Freedom is found once all concepts are thrown away, and one stands alone in the present moment to find the depth of meaning in their spirit…” Freedom is truly a gift from God. It comes from deep within us. While in the Nazi concentration camps, Victor Frankl, the noted Austrian neurologist and psychologist knew they could never really take his true freedom away, because true freedom lies within us. Joel Goldsmith wrote, Freedom can only come from God, and that can take place as an activity within your own consciousness…” No person…no place…or experience can keep us from knowing God and knowing true freedom. When we can realize this and understand the deeper meaning of true freedom, we will react less to life and its challenges. We will begin to live from a consciousness of true freedom based on our faith and trust in God. Reverend Donald Curtis was the minister of a Unity Church in Dallas for many years. He wrote several books. One of the most profound things he wrote was this, “The more I understand about myself, the more I understand about the world. The more I understand about my world, the freer I become…” Freedom begins within each of us. It is a God-given attribute, a gift that can allow us to be who we really are as God’s beloved children in any circumstance. I believe this is the freedom we celebrate individually and as a nation this month. Free to be me. Free to make my own choices. Freedom also calls us to be responsible for the choices we make and live in integrity with our faith.. Consider these words from Raymond Foss, “Ours is a freedom to, not a freedom from, a freedom to service others, to live according to Christ’s example to act, in commitment, not merely a freedom from sin, or a freedom from the law, the ancient law, the code of the people God’s given grace, the freedom, the sacrifice of the Christ, is a freedom to do, to be, to act in this world, now!” Have a happy, safe and fun-filled Fourth of July! In Spirit and in Truth, Invite a friend to church! MICHAEL’S BLOGHave You Received Your Gift Today? Previously I have shared with you my take on the gifts I receive daily...through a simple call from children and grandchildren wishing me a Happy Father’s Day…from my wife in her ever loving manner supporting me at the end of a difficult day…from my fellow congregants thanking me for stepping out into the leadership position I have assumed…from my clients thanking me for my thirty-seven years of service handling their finance needs. “Wow, time flies!” I thank all who completed our most recent survey. We had a large number completed (another huge gift) and the Board is compiling the results as this article is being prepared. We look forward to sharing these with you and in the planning of our next steps for future growth of Unity Church of the Bay Area. My thoughts are to have a “Town Hall” meeting in the next couple of months. Information will follow as we finalize those arrangements. Next month, Sylvia and I are traveling to the Yucatan coast of Mexico again as we did last summer. I’m looking forward to a week of no phones, no television, no newspaper, only the gentle sounds of calm water of the Caribbean ocean, splashing onto the white, pristine beaches. How’s that for a description? Independence Day is fast approaching. Please be safe and enjoy the gift of that day. Remember that yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift… that’s why it is called the present. Michael GoldreyerInvite a friend to church! TEAM NEWS! We were blessed to have a great turnout at our team training event last month. There is great enthusiasm about rejuvenating our teams and even expanding them. Possibly, you have an idea for a team or ministry that would fit under the “umbrella” of Unity Church of the Bay Area. Several great ideas were presented in the workshop and in the feedback in the surveys. Remember the words of Jesus Christ, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst.” If you have a passion about how our church can serve its members or the community around us, talk it up amongst your friends. Create a group of three or more dedicated people and present the idea to our Board at its annual meeting at 6:30 p.m. the first Monday of each month. Call Michael Goldreyer, our Board president, to get on the agenda. Let’s build on this exciting energy we are creating. Many people serve on different teams. We invite those who do not to take a step forward. It may even feel like a leap of faith. Summer is coming and many will be on vacation. Why not dip your toe in the shallow end of the pool and volunteer as a replacement on a team? The benefits are you will get to know more people in the church, serve God, and also expand your own consciousness of the gift of serving in love! Sign up at the Information Table in the Sanctuary or see any Team Leader or Board member. The reward of serving will open your heart beyond measure! Invite a friend to church! UCBA WELCOMES HOME DOLORES EVERARD! UCBA is pleased to welcome home Dolores Everard, Ph.D., Licensed Unity Teacher, on July 26, 2009 as our guest speaker. Dolores returns to Unity Church of the Bay Area where she first started her Unity spiritual journey under the guidance of Reverend Diane Plamondon. While at UCBA, she assisted the minister with the children’s program and attended a training of trainers for chaplains in Phoenix with the minister and others. They returned to start a chaplaincy program and train interested members as chaplains. Dolores has been known to “clown around” a bit, having had a clown ministry which she greatly enjoyed. Dolores’ title of her message is Oh, Pooh, Tao Art Thou?” Her message will mix and match the books The Tao of Pooh and How God Changes the Brain. Today, the image of Pooh as “a bear of little brain” won’t hold water when we learn and understand that God can change our brain. Her wisdom and sense of humor will make this one Sunday you will want to attend! On this Sunday, there will be one service at 10:30 a.m. Upon receiving her certification as a Licensed Unity Teacher, Dolores was asked by Unity Circle of Light in The Woodlands to become their spiritual leader which she did for two years until a minister was hired. During that time, she became a candidate for Interim Ministry with the Association of Unity Churches and received interim training. Following UCL’s hire of Reverend Jerry Roberts, she became the interim spiritual leader for the Unity church in Nacogdoches. She assisted them in hiring their minister. Besides being a chaplain at UCL, she is on the Prayer Team, sings with Spirits of Joy, and delivers messages there and at area Unity churches. She is an adjunct professor at Lone Star College with the Human Service Department. Invite a friend to church! JULY OUTREACH! During the summer, local food pantries have increased requests for food. To honor the freedom and prosperity we each know, why not consider donating food to those in need? We will be having a food drive the full month of July. Each week we will distribute collected items to the food pantries in our area according to their need. You may also contribute a gift card, (Walmart, Kroger, etc.) and those will be given to the pantries to purchase any additional food items. Bring your donations to the Gathering Room Table. And remember, as you give lovingly, you receive abundantly! Salt and salt/pepper combo shakers Cooking oil Flour Corn meal Sugar Bisquix (biscuit mix) Pancake mix Any canned meat Tuna, spam, potted meat Canned Beef, chili, Ravioli One Dish Meal in the box Peanut butter ad jelly Instant mashed potatoes Macaroni and cheese Crackers Dry cereal-oatmeal Dry bean and rice Spaghetti sauce and any dry pasta Canned vegetables Canned fruit Juice packs Cake mixes Invite a friend to church! TREASURER’S REPORT for MAY 2009 General Fund Income $ 22,151.52 Expenses - 19,714.32 Net General Fund Income + 2,437.20 Total Income $ + 2.437.20 Unity Church of the Bay Area's tithe for May was $2,208.94. It was blessed and $552..24 was sent to the Association of Unity Churches and $552..23 was sent to Unity School of Christianity. $1,104.72 was sent to the Fellowship of Seekers Church, Pastor Robert Hudspeth’s New Thought church. Our tithe helped them after the fire and flood in in their church to continue operating The Seekers Village Homeschool. Your continued financial support allows our church to flourish and carry the message of positive, practical Christianity in the Bay area. Thank you, and thank you God! Invite a friend to church! ACTIVITIES FOR THE SUMMER!JUNE June’s activity was soooo successful! We thank Geneva Strain for starting the day off right with a breakfast of champions at Joe’s Banquet Center in Alvin. What followed was nothing short of amazing! More than twenty five people met at the Church and cleaned, vacuumed, painted, weeded and did other chores. By noon the group was headed for home, another good day’s work completed! JULY July’s activity will be lots of fun, as a group of theatre goers get together and carpool into Houston. They will be going to see Steel Magnolias presented by the A.D. Players on July 11th. Tickets have already been purchased. Thank you to Nikkie Saunders for putting this activity together for our church! AUGUST Baseball! On Sunday, August 9th we will have the opportunity to attend a 1:05 p.m. Astro’s game. We will carpool to the stadium and enjoy watching the Astros as they play against the Milwaukee Brewers. Ann Rasch will be coordinating the event soon, so make your plans now! We will leave straight from church and have a ball! Invite a friend to church! TREASURER’S UPDATEThe question has been asked about our monthly reports in the newsletter. UCBA is our spiritual home, but there is a business side to it also. We have reported losses in some months in this fiscal year. We have monthly overhead expenses we meet to keep the church open and functioning smoothly, regardless of attendance numbers. Monthly reports are also affected by the number of weeks in each month, as the majority of our contributions come from Sunday collections. Communication and the sharing of information is important, so we are updating you on the financial position of UCBA. We have been working with our accountants to accurately report expenses each month, even those paid in a lump sum, like most of our insurance policies, which totaled $10,328 this fiscal year. We anticipate an increase in insurance costs due to the Hurricane at renewal this fall. At our Annual Meeting, we approved a Growth Budget, intended to increase our Prudent Reserve. Presently, we have a Prudent Reserve equal to one month’s expenses. The suggested Prudent Reserve is at least three months of operating expenses. The Good News is that we are meeting our monthly expenses and have not gone into the Prudent Reserve as we did last fiscal year and the beginning of this fiscal year. When comparing the Financial Statement for the current fiscal YTD (10/1/08-5/31/09) with the same period in our prior fiscal year, the figures are quite similar. Contributions this year are higher, but overhead expenses have increased. The net to date is a “profit” of $20,000. A trend we have noticed is that the General Fund, out of which our operating expense are paid has decreased significantly over the last few months, from $14,564 at the end of January (after increasing Prudent Reserve to $25,000) to $5,155.00 at the end of May. So, we continue on an Operating Budget and are not increasing our Prudent Reserve as a Growth Budget might. As we attract more members who choose to make our church their spiritual home, we believe the offerings will increase. On average, a donation of $70 per person per week is needed to operate. We know that some can give more, some less. Conscious giving in support of where you are spiritually fed is an important part of the spiritual law of giving and receiving. We are a tithing church, tithing on all donations to the church monthly to our Association of Unity Churches, Unity School, and others churches and organizations that teach Truth. We give thanks for all financial contributions to our church, open to even greater avenues of prosperity! Our Building Fund has a balance of $10,845. Many have expressed a “facelift” to the outside of our church, to make it look more like a church. It might be time to set that as a goal and begin another BF drive towards that goal! We also compared attendance figures for the same two periods. In our previous fiscal YTD through May, average attendance was 73. In our present fiscal YTD through May, our average attendance is 70. Our goal is fulfill our mission and vision and vision. Our mission: Unity Church of the Bay Area is a loving spiritual community embracing the teachings of Jesus Christ. We inspire minds, awaken hearts and empower lives. Our vision: We envision a magnificent spiritual center of Love, beholding a world in which all people honor each other and live together in peace and harmony. Invite a friend to church! YOUTH & FAMILY MINISTRYThank you to our creative and thoughtful volunteers in Youth and Family Ministry! Two moms have joined us as teacher assistants. Another mom brought us delicious strawberries for our snack! We had an early teachers’ meeting in June (since our regular time, the 3rd Sunday of the month was on Father’s Day.) As usual, we had a warm and lively meeting, polishing up the draft mission statement that we began at the recent Leadership Training We shared some lunch and ideas. Another of our mothers, who is an artist, has volunteered to help us decorate the preschool room. God is truly blessing us through not only our children, but through the creative and loving volunteers who serve them. From teaching to helping to bringing snacks to helping us assemble furniture and beautify our space, all help to create a loving and inviting space for our children. Recently a very special volunteer reminded me of what a blessing our Youth and Family Ministry is to our families – even years later. My 18-year-old son Ryan was helping me with a preschool class. I started trying to sing a song I thought I could remember, “Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere...” He smiled and said gently “Mom, you’re singing out of tune. Here are the words…” Then he helped me sing it. I laughed, delighted that this young man, who now towers over me, remembered the song he learned at our church when he was in one of our earliest elementary classes. And when he recently made his list of people to send high school graduation announcements to, there were several people on that list who have been his Sunday school teachers and loving elders in this warm and loving church family where he has grown up. Thank you to all of you who have been there for our children. Your contributions mean more we can ever measure and continues to bless others, even years later. And the joy you will receive will warm your heart! Amy Hart Groblewski Youth and Family Ministry Director AND…Invite a friend to church!
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