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NOVEMBER 2007 “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Beloved Friends, November is a month in which we begin to think about gratitude and thanksgiving. In his letter above, Paul tells us, as Jesus Christ often did, to always give thanks for everything in our lives. Giving thanks in advance for unrealized blessings is even more powerful! Back in the very early thirties, William Stidger was seated with a group of fellow ministers in a restaurant. Everyone was talking about the depression – how it was, the suffering people, rich people committing suicide, the jobless, the whole thing. The conversation got to be quite miserable. One minister in the group suddenly broke in and said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. In two or three weeks I have to preach a sermon on Thanksgiving Day. I want to say something positive. What can I say that’s affirmative in a period of world depression like this?” And as the minister spoke, it was like the Spirit of God spoke then through Stidger: “Why don’t you give thanks to those people who have been a blessing in your life and affirm them during this terrible time?” William began to think and remembered a school teacher, a wonderful teacher of poetry and English literature from years ago who had gone out of her way to excite his love of literature and poetry. It affected all his writings and his preaching. So he sat down and wrote a letter to this woman, now up in years. It was only a matter of days until he got a reply in the feeble scrawl of the aged. “My Dear Willy: I can’t tell you how much your note meant to me. I am in my eighties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely, and like the last leaf of autumn lingering behind.” Listen to this sentence, will you? “You’ll be interested to know that I taught in school for more than fifty years, and yours is the first note of appreciation I ever received. It came on a blue, cold morning, and it cheered me as nothing has done in many years.” Stidger says, “I’m not sentimental, but I found myself weeping over that note.” We all have people who have touched our lives in powerful and glorious ways. I invite you to pray and meditate on this. Pick one, and remind them how grateful you are for the gift they gave you which helped you to be who you are today. And always remember to thank God for every breath of life, and live it to the fullest. Be thankful. Be grateful. Be joyous! And always remember – God is Good ~ all the Time! In Spirit and in Truth, MARK’S MUSINGS This will be my final “Musing” as UCBA Board President. However, rather than say “goodbye”, I’d like to say “Auf Wiedersehen,” since I’ll continue to see you on Sundays. And with it being November, I’d like to present my final “thanks” to everyone. I give thanks for our congregation, and thank you for your continued support of the Board of Trustees and Reverend Steve. We have done it once again! After raising the money to purchase our own church home one year ago, we are now beginning our renovation and close to completing raising the $160,000 for the full renovation. Another example of the “little church that will!” Again, thank you for opening my mind to the power of possibility and prayer, and thank you God! I again acknowledge my fellow trustees, who have continually given of their time, talent, and dedication. Thanks for putting up with my puns and showing me how to lead. You have all been a true blessing for me. It has been my true honor to serve you and serve with you. Thank you, Reverend Steve, for making changes in your approach to the Board and to UCBA. You have been a constant and powerful source of wisdom and vision for the Church’s first year, and a true friend. I will truly miss our “Fireside chats.” May God continue to guide, bless, and empower you as our leader. Thanks to those who serve our teams, and to those who have the divine ideas to start new teams. You are the lifeblood of our church, and it is through your dedication that we grow and prosper. Your willingness to “go the extra mile” is truly inspiring. Thanks to my wife, Amy, and my son, Ryan, for your love and support of me in being on the Board of our church. The Groblewski “dynasty” at President (Amy is a former President) is about to end, but your patience and flexibility with my schedule made it all possible. Finally, thanks to Reverend Dianne for listening to God and starting this church. And thanks to Myrtle and Charles Fillmore for being the initial light-bearers of Truth. There’s really no place quite like Unity for a place to grow and worship. God continues to be good to all of us! In joyful service, Youth & Family Ministry There always seems to be so much going on with me lately, that it seems a challenge to keep up with it all. I feel pretty sure that everyone else feels that way too, on occasion. Some days, I wish I could take words of Truth and affirmations that help to remind me of who I really am, and wrap myself in them like a warm blanket. Or have you ever wanted to wrap someone else in a blanket of positive thoughts? Well, I have great news - we can! Our Y.O.U. (Youth of Unity) and Uniteens are taking orders for “Affirmawraps” which are wonderfully soft, cozy blankets or throws that use the power of affirmations to truly wrap you or a loved one in goodness. Each of these expands on a primary theme of abundance, courage, creativity, gratitude, joy, love, motherhood, peace, serenity, strength, or wholeness. There are fleece or cotton baby wraps in blue or pink, and even one for your pet! These are wonderful gifts and proceeds will benefit the Building Fund. And make sure to order one for yourself! Taize anyone? Our Y.O.U. is attending the South Central Regional Rally November 16 – 18 (the weekend before Thanksgiving) in Glen Rose, Texas. It will be a weekend of joy songs, spiritual dancing, Taize, and meditation. Don’t know what Taize is? Well, you can look it up on the web by going to http://www.taize.fr/en or ask a YOUer. Better yet, talk to them about their trip when you order your Affirmawraps! I am so very grateful to all of our youth, from babies to toddlers to teens and those cleverly disguised as adults! All of you continue to teach and remind me of what is important – to embrace the present moment of life with love and kindness to all. And I am especially grateful to all of our volunteers in the Youth & Family Ministry that give of their time, energy and love to nurture and support our youth (and me!). Together with God’s grace, we are planting the seeds of our vision of tomorrow through our youth of today. Youthful Blessings! ANNUAL MEETING REPORT Our Annual Meeting was held October 14, 2007 in the church sanctuary, beginning approximately at 12:15 p.m. Thirty-two members were present with one guest attendee. Nine absentee ballots were included in the voting from members not present. Our nominees for the two three-year terms on the Board of Trustees were: Michael Goldreyer, Jo McPherson and Joe Skinner. Michael Goldreyer and Joe Skinner were elected to the Board. A special thank you to Jo McPherson for following Spirit’s guidance to be a candidate! Board officers will be elected within the Board at the November meeting. Elections were held for Nominating Committee Chairperson for the Nomination Committee for next year’s traditional cycling off of two Board members. By unanimous vote, Amy Groblewski is the N.C.C. and Jackie Pratt is the alternate in case Amy cannot serve. There was discussion and review of the bid by Herring Construction to remodel the inside of the church. Mr. Herring is willing to work with us to complete the package, adding or deleting whatever we wish. Discussion revolved around what remodeling duties the church members could complete to lessen the bid package cost of $160,000. The church body unanimously approved the spending of $160,000 to remodel the church. After reviewing the package, certain items, if deleted, would bring the cost down to around $138,000. The church would then be responsible for painting, replacing the sanctuary carpeting, tiling the foyer and building special seating/storage for the Gathering Room. We have $30,000 left to raise in our goal to do the complete package. The options are unlimited for us. No matter how much money we raise, we can do some of the work ourselves! As of the meeting date, we have $130,000 in the Building Fund. We discussed the idea of holding off on remodeling until after Christmas, as demolition is the first order of business and that includes the wall we are moving in the Sanctuary. Mr. Herring is checking with his sub-contractors and we will have all the information before we proceed with a contract. It was an excellent, orderly meeting, with good news for all. God is Good ~ All the Time! TREASURER’S REPORT for SEPTEMBER 2007 General Fund Income $ 19,491.26 Expenses - 24,544.21 Net General Fund Income - 5,052.95 Building Fund Income + 6,550.00 Total Income $ - 1,497.05 Building Fund $ 127,700.00 Unity Church of the Bay Area's tithe for June was $2,591.00. It was blessed and $647.75 each was sent to the Association of Unity Churches and Unity School of Christianity. $647.75 each was sent to Silent Unity and Positive Christianity.org (the internet prayer ministry of Rev. Chris Chenoweth), for their loving service in prayer and daily, uplifting affirmations. Your continued financial support allows our church to grow and flourish and carry the message of positive, practical Christianity in the Bay area. Thank you, and thank you God! ***Our annual expenses for insurance flood/wind/liability all are paid during the month of September for the coming fiscal year. These are prepaid expenses that will automatically adjust each month in our accounting system. Even though it looks like we are behind financially, we are sound! Our September report reflects these expenses. REMEMBER, we now post the financials for the previous month on the bulletin board in the Gathering Room for everyone to review. NEW CHAPLAINS! We had our yearly training in September and added new chaplains. We are pleased to add Mary Cole, Carol Curtiss, Jackie Pratt and Pat Whitlow. Our Chaplain Team now is Amy Groblewski and Linda Carol Lawson, Team Leaders; Mary Cole, Carol Curtiss, Bruce Landry, Bob Lawson, Janie Neill, Jackie Pratt and Pat Whitlow. We extend Chaplain Emeritus status to Kimberly Cormier and Ron Blakemore. Thank you for your loving, prayerful service this past year. Our chaplains pray with you after services and make monthly wellness calls. If you wish to receive a monthly wellness call, contact the church office and we will have a chaplain call, hold sacred space with you and pray. Our New Board of Trustees We elected two new members to our Board of Trustees at our Annual Meeting October 14, 2007. We welcome Michael Goldreyer and Joe Skinner to the Board! A special thank you to our other candidate, Jo McPherson, for following her guidance in prayer and agreeing to be a candidate. Our “retiring” members of the Board of Trustees are Mark Groblewski and Mary Pat Gunn. Thank you for your tireless efforts in serving our church spiritually, emotionally and wisely during your terms. You helped guide our church in a time when as a church we made quantum leaps in moving forward to grow in consciousness and to purchase our own church home! Our new Board of Trustees, in alphabetical order, is: Rick Flynn, Michael Goldreyer, Sylvia Hicks, Bob Lawson, Joe Skinner and Sarah Thompson. At our Board meeting in November, new officers will be elected for the coming year.
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