[Uucf-bible] It's Going to be a Great Event: UUCF at St. Louis GA this year

Wed Apr 26 12:35:50 EDT 2006

UUCF Presence at St. Louis GA, June 22-25.

We will have more events and presence at this year's General Assembly than  
ever before. Please come and celebrate with us, and if you can't make it to St. 
 Louis please pass this information on to others in your church who will be  
attending. All are invited. We will surely be 'the leaven" at GA this year. 

The new Skinner House book, Christian Voices in Unitarian Universalism, an  
anthology of contemporary writings by UU Christians edited by Rev. Kathleen  
Rolenz, our Good News editor (see fuller bio below), will be unveiled at this  
year's GA, and will be celebrated at two workshops, Friday, June 23, 4-5:15 
p.m.  in America's Center Room 226, and Sunday June 25, 1:45 to 3 p.m. in AC Room 
 260. Meet the authors, hear readings from the anthology, and more. 

You can order the book online at 
_http://www.uua.org/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=1608_ 
(http://www.uua.org/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=1608)  or  search for it at _www.uua.org/skinner_ 
(http://www.uua.org/skinner) . Or call  1-800-215-9076. The book is $14. 

This book is a major opportunity for UUs and others to hear about  the 
personal stories of how Jesus and the Christian tradition has touched  the lives of 
UUs in the 21st century. Help us spread this good news. 

We will offer two communion services at GA this year in AC Room 274:  Friday, 
June 23rd from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and Saturday, June 24, 8:30 to 9:45  
a.m. Friday Preacher will be the Rev. Derek Parker. Saturday preacher will be  
the Rev. Naomi King. See their bios below.  

As exciting as our public programs this year, likewise will be our  
interactive booth and service projects. First, we will be creating a prayer  chapel 
with our booth space this year, an opportunity for everyone at General  Assembly 
to come and receive prayer and blessings not only for their lives, joys  and 
sorrows, but also for their varied ministries and missions and plans and  
dreams for the UUA itself. Second, we will offer two healing ministries for  
GA-goers: foot-washing at the booth, and a repeat of last year's successful  
distribution of free bottles of water out on the hot city streets outside the  
convention center. We will also have free back issues of the UU Christian  Journal 
and Good News and pamphlets, as well as for sale items. If you can  volunteer 
an hour or two at the booth or help with our service projects in  particular, 
please let us know at the UUCF office. [Side Note from Ron: If  Jesus' life, 
ministry, and resurrection went "against the grain of the universe"  then and 
now, and the church is to keep doing so in that spirit, then I think  our UUCF 
presence at GA continues to grow against the "GA grain" :) in  these ways].   

Finally, our Annual Catered Banquet, Hymn Sing, Meeting, and Speaker  will be 
held Saturday, June 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the beautiful Episcopal  Christ 
Church Cathedral in downtown St. Louis just a few blocks from the  convention 
center and hotels at 1210 Locust St. The cathedral is the oldest  Episcopal 
church west of the Mississippi River and the building is on the  National 
Registry of Historical Places. Our speaker is the  exciting minister Rev. Thom 
Belote. See bio below. The catered dinner will  again be a great opportunity for 
people to have a wonderful meal at an  affordable price ($20 range) without 
having to wait in long lines for Saturday  night in local restaurants. Please RSVP 
as soon as possible by notifying Rev.  Ron Robinson at 
_RevRonRobinson at aol.com_ (mailto:RevRonRobinson at aol.com)  or by calling  the UUCF office at 
918-691-3223, and supply any special dining requests such as  vegetarian or vegan. 
Please invite others as well. The meeting and hymn sing is  also open free to UUCF 
members regardless of whether you eat with us or not. 

Come meet us in St. Louis. Don't miss out on this watershed event. 

Bios:

The Rev. Kathleen Rolenz has served on the Unitarian  Universalist Christian 
Fellowship (UUCF) Board of Trustees since 2004. She is  the editor of Good 
News, a newsletter of the UUCF organization and has  been an active member of 
UUCF groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, and  Cleveland, Ohio. Rolenz is parish 
co-minister of West Shore Unitarian  Universalist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, 
with her husband, Wayne Arnason. 

The Rev. Derek Lee Parker is a graduate of the University  of Chicago (BA 
Geophysics) and the Earlham School of Religion (MDiv).   He was ordained by 
Epiphany Community Church (UUA) in Fenton,  Michigan.  After a brief career 
as a paleontologist studying evolution  and climate change, he has gone on to 
serve campus ministries, churches, and  non-profit organizations affiliated 
with the UUA, the United Church of  Christ, the Society of Friends (Quakers), 
and the Episcopal Church.  He  presently lives with his partner in 
Greenfield, Indiana; serves as Minister  for Youth and Children at the 
Friends Meeting of Irvington, Indiana; and as  Program Administrator for 
National Episcopal Health Ministries.

The Rev. Naomi King serves the Unitarian Universalist  Church of Utica, in 
the rolling hills of central New York. Naomi also serves on  the Board of 
Project Harvest Hope, is the liaison between the Unitarian  Universalist Ministers 
Association and the Annual Program Fund of the UUA, and  the publications 
taskforce of the UU Historical Society. She was granted  preliminary fellowship in 
2004, graduated with her M.Div. from Meadville Lombard  Theological School in 
2005, and was ordained by her home congregation First  Universalist Church of 
Yarmouth, Maine in 2005. She won the UUMA-APF-LREDA  Stewardship Sermon Award 
in 2005, for a sermon preached at her internship site,  Horizon Unitarian 
Universalist Church of Carrollton, Texas. She lives in  Kirkland, New York, with 
her partner, the Rev. Dr. Thandeka, where they can  enjoy the creek and woods 
by their home and the terrific cultural,  environmental, and personal blessings 
of the area.

The Rev. Thom Belote has served the Shawnee Mission  UU Church in Overland 
Park, Kansas since 2003.  He prepared for the  ministry at Harvard Divinity 
School and earned an undergraduate degree in  religion from Reed College.  Thom 
grew up attending First Parish in  Wayland, MA and is a life-long Unitarian 
Universalist. Thom is 28 years old. 