Story Circle

Story Circle meets at 9:00 AM every Sunday over coffee and sweet rolls. Please join the group for interesting, lively and meaningful discussions every Sunday. This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other in a smaller group and to have the time to discuss a topic of interest in more depth than we have at the end of Sunday services.

The Story Circle this week will be discussing a New Yorker article entitled "VENGEANCE IS OURS." To get a copy, go to website newyorker.com; click on the "archive" button; enter the article's title; limit your search to the date of April 21, 2008 (which should be entered twice -- otherwise you will get a page or two full of related titles). When the description of the piece appears, click on the title and, voila, you will have the article. See you Sunday. -Geri

[To go directly to the article, click here.]

Calendar of Sunday Services

June 29 Sarah Carson and Laurie Parker - Supporting the care partners in our midst

Following the service, Sarah and her colleague, Laurie Parker, invite you to be their guest for lunch and to attend an educational program about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, how to communicate with a person who has a dementia, and ways to work together to care for a family living with this chronic illness. The following people have indicated they plan to stay for lunch and the workshop: Laura Burton, Myra Kibler, Caryl Hanson, Pat Walker, Jim Walker, Kasey Castleberry, Janet Dunsmore, David Hawthorne, Gerry Barker, Robin Lewis-Wild, Peg Griffith, and Geri Zimmermann. If you wish to be added to the list, reply to this email immediately!

July 6 "Another Mother Tongue." As a part of the Welcoming Congregation process Donna Waddell will share some of the work of lesbian poet, Judy Grahn. The subtitle is "Gay Words, Gay Worlds." Judy explores the etymology of words such as dyke, fairy, queer, and gay. Their origins will surprise you.

July 4-6 is the Pride celebration in Atlanta. There will be a contingent of Mountain Light members and friends who plan to march in the Pride parade on Sunday. If you are interested in joining them contact Kasey Castleberry, Danny Elrod, or Trish Turk.

Famous Unitarian Universalists

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857-March 8, 1930) is the only person to have served as both President of the United States and Chief Justice of its Supreme Court. The sole Unitarian President since Millard Fillmore, he remains the only Unitarian Chief Justice. He is remembered for services to his fellow religious liberals and to the American Unitarian Association.

  William's parents, Louise Torrey and Alphonso Taft, were active Unitarians in Cincinnati, Ohio. Alphonso's two sons from a previous marriage and William's three younger siblings all became Episcopalians. William—called Will by friends and close associates—enjoyed the church school of First Congregational Church (Unitarian). By the time he graduated from public high school and entered Yale he was an enthusiastic Unitarian. So much so that, when he returned home in 1878 after graduating second in his Yale class, he was an officer in the church's Unity Club. He produced, and sometimes participated in, important fund-raisers while he attended Cincinnati Law School.

Will had been a large person since birth. As a teenager he was nicknamed "Big Lub." He was athletic, however, and his weight didn't hamper him. In college, at six feet tall and well over 200 pounds, he was invited to join the football team. He preferred rowing on the varsity crew and wrestling. In his prime he weighed about 250 pounds. He was then heavy but not yet obese.

After receiving his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1880, Taft was appointed Assistant Prosecutor of Hamilton County. Two years later he was named Local Collector of Internal Revenue, a position he found not to his liking. He then went into private law practice with one of his older brothers, 1884-86. In 1886, after a long courtship, he married Helen (Nellie) Herron. She brought up their four children in her Episcopalian faith. Will nevertheless continued his active Unitarian affiliation. An ambitious woman, Nellie unceasingly pushed her husband to be President of the United States. In 1887 Taft was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Ohio in Cincinnati. He was already widely known as an amiable and likable man, exceedingly bright and capable.

In 1890, under President Benjamin Harrison, Taft became Solicitor General of the United States. In Washington he joined, and faithfully attended, All Souls Unitarian Church. He and Nellie had hardly settled in when, in late 1891, the President appointed him a judge of the newly created Sixth District of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, headquartered in Cincinnati. He was happy being back in Cincinnati and attending his home church.

Taft completed his legal dissertation and, in 1893, was awarded a Doctor of Laws degree by the Yale Law School. In 1896 he was appointed Professor of Law and Dean at the University of Cincinnati Law School. Because he ably managed a heavy load of legal and administrative responsibilities, during this period his reputation as a judge grew rapidly.

In 1900 President William McKinley appointed Taft chairman of a commission to organize a civilian government in the Philippines, ceded to the United States following the Spanish-American War. Taft was disinclined to accept, telling the President that his real ambition was to serve on the Supreme Court. Besides, he had been against annexation of the islands. McKinley promised that he would appoint him to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court following the Philippines mission. The Tafts moved to Manila where the commission's work was completed. Taft was made Civil Governor of the Philippines in 1901.

During his Philippine administration Taft got to know Bishop Gregorio Aglipay, a Roman Catholic priest who had formed the new Philippine Independent Church, which had an increasingly liberal theology. Taft, who was made its Honorary President, interested Aglipay and his associates in Unitarianism. He obtained literature and letters of encouragement for them from the American Unitarian Association (AUA). The Unitarians had departed too far from orthodox Christianity for the Philippine Independent Church, however, and it eventually joined with the Philippine Episcopal Church.

Theodore Roosevelt, who became President when McKinley was assassinated in 1901, admired the job Taft was doing in the Philippines. He nevertheless kept McKinley's promise by twice offering him appointment to vacancies on the Supreme Court. Taft turned them down when groups of Filipinos begged him to continue as Governor in Manila. Roosevelt appointed him Secretary of War in 1904. During the next four years Roosevelt used Taft as his foreign affairs trouble shooter, sending him on a delicate mission to Russia, China and Japan; appointing him temporary Civil Governor of Cuba to restore order following a revolt; and putting him in charge of supervising the initial construction work on the Panama Canal. Not only did Roosevelt admire Taft's administrative skills, but he liked his genial presence.

Having renounced running for reelection in 1908, the immensely popular President Roosevelt was committed to anointing Taft as his successor. Taft was torn between the opportunity Roosevelt offered and holding out for appointment to the Supreme Court, possibly as Chief Justice. Nellie Taft was Roosevelt's most effective ally, continually urging her husband to run for President. Taft disregarded his mother's warning: "The malice of politics would make you miserable," she wrote in a 1907 letter. They only wanted him "because no one more available could be found." He was not devoid of presidential ambitions, but he knew the price of giving in to them. In a private dinner with the Tafts, Roosevelt asked Will to make his choice. Nellie made it for him when she quickly said "President" before he could say "Chief Justice."

With the President's support, Taft was nominated and defeated William Jennings Bryan handily in the election. The campaign was notable for the vicious attacks on Taft's Unitarianism, particularly in the Midwest. Evangelical Protestants, in a flood of letters and newspaper articles, accused him of being an infidel, a Catholic, etc. His religion was no secret. He attended All Souls Church faithfully. Roosevelt and others responded sharply to the attacks. Following his own instincts, as well as the advice of the President, Elihu Root, and other Republican leaders, he said nothing himself in response. Bryan did not attack Taft personally, but he would not criticize those who did, thereby implying that he agreed with them. The anti-Catholicism expressed by many of the attacks convinced urban Catholics to vote overwhelmingly Republican, contributing greatly to Taft's victory.

When Taft took the oath of office in 1909 he had been immersed in politics for four years. Under this stress his weight had ballooned to 355 pounds. It was a constant source of public humor and commentary, both in writing and pictures. He did not enjoy being President, dealing with a reluctant Congress. He turned to Unitarianism for solace. In 1909 Taft was the principal founder of the National League of Unitarian Laymen. He was made honorary President of the organization. Regular attendance at All Soul's Church provided him relief and spiritual support. The Christian Register, a publication that held Taft in high regard, later commented on his presidency: "Mr. Taft is not referred to as one of the great Presidents. Two reasons may be assigned: his election depended too much on the will of his predecessor, President Roosevelt; he was temperamentally and mentally unfitted to fulfill the functions of Chief Executive of the nation. He did not enjoy the office, and could not summon the tremendous energy necessary to push through legislation in the face of powerful opposition. He made himself beloved by the people on account of his readiness to smile through difficulties; but that method did not work with Congress, and things simply did not get done."

The election of 1912 was a political disaster for the Republicans. Woodrow Wilson easily defeated both Taft and his former supporter Roosevelt (now running for the Bull Moose Party). Taft moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where he became Dean and Professor of Law at Yale Law School. A supporter of President Wilson's war policies, he served as co-chair of the National War Labor Board and spoke widely in support of the League of Nations.

Taft also became active in AUA governance. In 1915 he was named president of the National Conference of Unitarian and Other Liberal Christian Churches. He chaired their biennial conferences until 1925. He served as a vice-president of the AUA, 1916-22. In 1919 he helped reorganize the National League of Unitarian Laymen into the Unitarian Laymen's League. He served on its Council, later called the Executive Committee, for five years.

At the 1917 meeting of the National Conference in Montreal, Taft delivered a speech, The Religion Convictions of An American Citizen. It was the speech so many of his backers wished he had made in 1908. The AUA gave it wide distribution. "A Unitarian believes," he said, "that Jesus Christ founded a new religion and a new religious philosophy on the love of God for man, and of men for one another, and for God, and taught it by his life and practice, with such Heaven-given sincerity, sweetness, simplicity, and all-compelling force that it lived after him in the souls of men, and became the basis for a civilization struggling toward the highest ideals. . . . [Unitarians] feel the life of Jesus as a man to be more helpful to them, as a religious inspiration, than if he is to be regarded as God in human form." And also, "The creeds and dogmas that attached themselves to the religion of Jesus, needed perhaps in securing its spread among the nations and its triumphal march to a better civilization, have encountered the searching freedom of scientific intellectual inquiry and have shaken, in the minds of many, not the essentials of Christian faith as we Unitarians believe them to be, but the incidental tenets of a rigid theology. . . . Unitarianism offers a broad Christian religious faith that can be reconciled with scientific freedom of thought and inquiry into the truth . . ."

At the 1917 conference John Haynes Holmes proposed a resolution in favor of reconciliation, peace, and social justice. Taft denounced Holmes's proposal and introduced a pro-war resolution which passed nearly unanimously. The AUA having taken this stand, many pacifist ministers were eventually dismissed by Unitarian churches throughout the country. One of these, ironically, was the First Congregational Unitarian Church of Cincinnati. Its minister, Alson H. Robinson, was a victim of the Unitarian pro-war tidal wave initiated by Taft, the congregation's most famous son. In 1921 President Warren G. Harding fulfilled Taft's major ambition by appointing him Chief Justice of the United States. The Tafts gladly returned to Washington where Will resumed his regular attendance at All Souls and his active role in its governance. At a 1927 meeting of the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Prague, Taft was elected its president by acclamation. He held this job until his death. His separation after 1913 from the world of politics, his successful legal work, first in teaching and then leading the Supreme Court, and his participation in both local and national Unitarian organizations restored his congenial disposition and sense of purpose and reduced his weight substantially. Illness forced him to resign from the Supreme Court in 1930. He died soon after. His funeral was held in All Souls Unitarian Church. He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

The Tafts had three distinguished children. Robert Alphonso (1889-1953), "Mr. Republican," was a United States senator from Ohio. Helen (1891-1987) was the dean of Bryn Mawr College. Charles Phelps II (1897-1983) was a reform mayor of Cincinnati and, as an Episcopalian layman, head of the Federal Council of Churches.

source: UUA: William Howard Taft

Universalism: 200 years and growing

The spirit of Universalism and the future of Unitarian Universalism. By John Lovell July/August 1993 7.1.93 [note date. published 15 years ago in UU World]

Standing proudly since 1805 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, a symbol of dedication and adversity conquered is the mother church of American Universalism. Recently refurbished, it is an impressive building, this Independent Christian Church, with its four-story spire and electrified whale-oil chandelier. "When I'm alone there, sometimes," says the Rev. Wendy Fitting, "I hear ghosts"—a statement that is less surprising when you consider the church's history.

  Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935) Oil on canvas; 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)

This is, after all, the church of John Murray, the ex-Calvinist Englishman who founded the Universalist Church in America 200 years ago and preached the doctrine of universal salvation, the belief that "every individual shall in due time be separated from sin." But the Independent Christian Church's two centuries' worth of ghosts could not prevent a slide into decay and decline. By the late 1980s, it was down to about 40 members and had no full-time minister.

Lately, though, things have been changing. Although the voices of history whisper in her ear, the spirit Fitting now sees is the spirit of renewal. Today [1993], the church has more than 100 members and a revitalized sense of its "independent Christian" heritage—growth she attributes to "the message of Universalism as expressed in a lot of involvement in community concerns."

Fitting and the ministers of three other churches of Universalist heritage who recently talked to UU World say that on its 200th birthday, this heritage, this spirit, is resurgent. They suggest that as Unitarian Universalism pursues denominational growth, it is the movement's Universalist side that may best attract new members.

The country's largest church of Universalist heritage, the 900-member First Universalist Church in Minneapolis, has grown from a few dozen, says one of its co-ministers, by "trying to touch the broader Unitarian Universalist stroke of combining the head with the heart."

And in West Hartford, Connecticut, a 500-member church of Universalist heritage is "growing week by week, a rising membership that," its minister says, "speaks volumes to me that the Universalist message is not dead." Even the struggling congregation of a Pasadena church once dubbed Universalism's cathedral church in southern California is reaching out for new members.

The ministers at all four of these churches, both the growing and the struggling, believe that Unitarian Universalism's theological pendulum is swinging back from intellectualism toward spirituality. And they suggest that across the continent, the time is right for this shift, as increasing numbers of unchurched baby boomers with young children search for a comfortable faith attuned to their generally liberal religious views. "It's heresy to say this," asserts the Rev. Stephen Kendrick, minister of the Universalist Church of West Hartford, "but having served both humanist churches and this one, I fervently believe that there are more liberal Christians waiting to become Unitarian Universalists than there are humanists ever willing to come to church."

Mountain Light Unitarian Universalist Church Mission Statement:

The mission of Mountain Light Unitarian Universalist Church is to be an accepting community of diverse people, who, with open hearts and minds, nurture one another in spiritual and intellectual growth expressing personal values through service to all people and our planet.

Mountain Light's Big Adventure.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR TODAY! The dates are the weekend of August 1-3, 2008.

During this weekend of vision, fun, dreaming, and planning, we want to address some questions, such as Why do people come to visit our church, why do they stay, and why do they leave? What are the challenges we face in the environment and within ourselves that prevent us from achieving our vision and dreams?

Here's your assignment: What questions do you think we should be addressing or answering? What is important to know if we are going to be a successful church? Email your suggestions to Gerry Barker.

Here's the plan:
8/1 Friday evening 6-9 PM dinner and (re)visioning of our future
8/2 Saturday 9 AM-12 PM Create a 5-10 year vision
8/2 Saturday Lunch 12-1:00 Discuss the realities and possible challenges
8/2 Saturday 1:00-4:00 PM Establish strategies and big actions for the next 3 years, including setting priorities
8/3 Sunday (after the Sunday Service) Create a written plan for the next year with outcomes, deadlines, and assigned responsibilities. Also, establish a mechanism for monitoring progress.

All of these activities will be held at GAHA. This weekend will be highly participatory, FUN, and lively. This will be an opportunity to dream and have our aspirations become a reality. We will listen to each other and learn from each other. This is for old-timers and new comers. It's for people who are interested in Mountain Light, but have never attended a service. It's for those who have dropped out and are looking for an opportunity to re-connect. We can realize our heart's desire. It will be worth it to carve the time for this weekend from our busy schedules.

Welcoming Congregation

All Georgia UU Congregations Invited to Participate in 2008 Pride Festival

The Unitarian Universalist Congregations of Georgia join together each year to actively participate in the Atlanta Pride Festival. The main purpose of the Atlanta Pride Festival is to promote unity, visibility and self-esteem among lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) persons and to promote a positive image in the Atlanta area and throughout the Southeastern United States through community activities and services. This year's festival will take place July 4 – 6 at the Atlanta Civic Center. For additional information about Atlanta Pride, go to AtlantaPride.org.

Participating in the Pride Festival is a wonderful way to put into action the UU principle of promoting the inherent worth and dignity of every person. UU congregations collaborate to staff a booth at the Festival in order to share information about our liberal religious community and invite festival attendees to local UU congregations. In addition, UU folks will be walking with a float in the parade. We're ordering t-shirts and making banners and hope to have a big group of walkers! This year we plan to purchase 'give-away' items such as bracelets that include the website address to encourage Festival attendees to explore UU and get involved with local UU congregations. We will also be distributing brochures that include the name, address and website for each of the 20 UU congregations in Georgia and we'll email the brochure to you as a resource you can keep on hand.

Each year the festival is attended by LGBT persons and our allies from all over the state. For those who live in small communities in the South, the Pride Festival represents a once-a-year opportunity to celebrate being a part of the larger LGBT community. It also offers a chance to learn about resources that support them in their daily lives. Our UU outreach at the Pride Festival conveys a message of inclusivity to thousands who stop by our booth and see us in the parade. It gives us a chance to tell the LGBT community that Unitarian Universalist congregations throughout Georgia are truly "welcoming" to all.

To make all of this happen, those organizing the 2008 UU Pride activities need your help:

• We want people to buy (and wear) UU Pride t-shirts that we are selling for $10 each.
• We need volunteers from each UU congregation to walk in the parade on Sunday July 6 (wearing those t-shirts, of course). We hope to have all 20 congregations represented and will have signs with the congregation names/locations! Please come join us!
• We are seeking volunteers to work the booth (which is open Friday evening, Saturday all day and evening, and Sunday all day – you can select the day & time you wish to work).
• We need contributions from individuals and from congregations to help pay for these activities – to buy the bracelets, create the float, and pay the fees associated with participating in the Pride Festival.
• Most importantly: we need you to publicize these Festival-related activities on your websites and in your newsletters, so that your congregation knows how they can get involved!

Here is the contact information that you may publicize so folks will know how to volunteer:

Booth: Contact Valerie West

Parade: Contact Gia Maddry

T-Shirts: To order shirts, ask for the order form.

Contributions: Checks should be made out to UUCA - Deposit Code 8024 and mailed to Laura Reagin at 8097B Roswell Rd, Sandy Springs, GA 30350.

See below for information about other events of interest to MLUUC members and friends.

Narcotics Anonymous

Meets in Ellijay at 39 West Ave, East Ellijay, across from the Appalachian Animal hospital. Monday and Thursday nights at 8 pm.

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Consider replacing your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) available locally from Lowe’s or Wal-Mart. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a CFL, we would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars. source: EnergyStar.gov

Fair Trade Coffee at Mountain Light UUC

Mountain Light UUC joins 500+ other UU congregations in serving fair trade coffee. It's delicious and organically grown. We are serving it on Sundays. You can have a cup, pick up a bag on Sunday or order your own by going to our website at www.mluuc.org .

Our Principles:

We the congregation of Mountain Light Unitarian Universalist Church, covenant to affirm and promote:
* The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
* Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
* Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
* A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
* The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
* The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; and
* Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter or to include an announcement in it, please contact Donna Waddell.