| Featured |
 Photo. You
might win a trip to the Philippines in March 2011 to visit UU
sister churches. Read more in today's newsletter under Breaking
News and click on the photo for a larger photo.
Close Up. Deborah Coon
(dcoon@post.harvard.edu) of Chalice
UU Congregation in Escondido.
Early years. Goshen, N.Y.,
at the foot of the Catskill Mountains in rural dairy country
How
long a UU. Nine years. Grew up a
Methodist but abandoned organized religion at 17. Devloped
a curiosity about Unitarianism at Harvard and after her marriage
to Paul Dulany (also of Chalice but raised high church Episcopalian)
attended Unitarian congregations
Education. Bucknell University,
double-majoring in philosophy and psychology. Masters in experimental
psychology from the University of Colorado and a Masters and
Ph.D. in history of science from Harvard.
Career. Postdoctoral fellowship
at the Museum of American History (the Smithsonian) in Washington,
D.C.
Taught at Rensselaer
Polytechnic
Institute and earned a second postdoctoral fellowship at the
Charles Warren Center at Harvard. Worked at the National Endowment
for the Humanities, then taught at the University of New Hampshire
(5 years), University of San Diego, University of California,
San Marcos, and Claremont Graduate School (all part time).
Now in early retirement.
Dinner guests. William James,
Barbara Kingsolver and Mark Twain
Interests. Singing, playing
percussion with
Grunion Run (Chalice band), gardening with native plants
and “going
green,” knitting, beading, spinning and reading.
Key to UU growth in SD County. Services that provide food for
deeper thought, that touch us emotionally, and that inspire us
to look beyond ourselves to help the wider world. Music is important
to services because it can reach us both at the cognitive level,
through moving lyrics, and at a more emotional and visceral level.
It's also important that our communities offer a rich variety
of activities and events. In suburbia many of us lack a centralized
community, and to the extent that our congregations can offer
a broad program of activities, the more they will grow and people
will find something there that meets their needs. I think our
smaller congregations will need to become bigger so that we can
offer that variety without burning out the active members who
try to help with all of it. Also, strong RE programs.
Profiles. If
you know an interesting UU in San Diego County you'd like
to
profile, please e-mail martin@kruming.com.
Join
the List. If you know someone who would enjoy
reading this newsletter every week, please email
Martin Kruming: martin@kruming.com (or
copy and paste: martin@kruming.com). |
|
Breaking News |
Summit
Chooses. Joshua Lunn has
been selected as the new Director of Religious Education
(DRE) at Summit UU Fellowship. The DRE Search Committee's
recommendation was approved by the Board. He'll start June
21; Elinor Weed will remain as Interim Director through June
30. Previously, Joshua was a youth director, school counselor
and international volunteer, and has worked in schools, churches,
summer camps and group homes, both locally and abroad. Joshua
joins a terrific group of DREs throughout the San Diego Cluster,
which includes: Jackie Austin-Singer of Chalice UU Congregation,
Liz Jones of First Church, Lisa Wellens of Palomar and Alison
Crotty of UU Fellowship of San Dieguito.
Philippines. You
might win a trip to visit UU sister churches in the Philippines
in March 2011. Len Pellettieri of First
Church is organizing a drawing that will take place on June
26 at General Assembly in Minneapolis. Tickets are $25.00
apiece and Len will be selling them on the First Church Patio
on June 6, 13 and 20 or you can mail him a check at 706 Kettner
Boulevard, San Diego 92101. Make checks payable to the UUA
with the memo Philippine Drawing. The money will help build
a dormitory and conference center in Dumaguete
Island
that
will help make the 29 UU churches self sustaining. For more
information, contact Len at lenp@cox.net.
Immigration.
UURISE will conduct a free legal immigration
clinic this Saturday (June 5) from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at
Palomar UU Fellowship (PUUF). Volunteer
attorneys will be available to provide private, confidential
consultations
on immigration matters, as well as immigration law updates.
On Thursday, June 10, there will be an open house at PUUF
from 1 to 5 p.m. to celebrate the opening of UURISE's new
staff office. Dan Stracka, former president
of PUUF, is founder and president of UU Refugee and Immigrant Services and Education. Last weekend, he and several UUs from the
San Diego Cluster attended a massive rally against SB 1070
in Phoenix.
Congratulations.
Betty Boone of First Church, who
was profiled in last week's newsletter, received the Icon
Award from Lawyers
Club during its annual awards dinner last week. Betty was
recognized “for her lifelong commitment to improving
the status of women.”
Church
Camp. Space is still available for this weekend's
First Church's All-Church camp at de Benneville Pines. UUs
in the San Diego Cluster are invited to join First Church
for a fantastic weekend of fellowship and fun. Adults are
$125; teens, $95; children, $75 and children under 3 are
free. To register, please contact Lesleigh Helders at allchurchcamp@gmail.com by June 1. If you have questions call Liz Jones at (619)
298-9978 or check out firstuusandiego.org/all-church-camp.
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| Datebook |
Friday/June
4/San Dieguito. Mindfulness
Art Workshop to “draw out the Buddha within.” Noon
to 1 p.m. Contact linda@lindaluisi.com or (760) 944-7809.
Friday/June 11/First Church. Army Veteran Maurice
Martin discusses his life on San Diego streets and in a homeless
shelter beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Bard Hall.
Sunday/June
13/First Church. Ordination of Wendy
Bartel begins at 5:31 p.m. RSVPS to uuwendyrsvp@gmail.com or call
(619) 298-9978, extension 2080.
Saturday/July 17/Hillcrest. Pride Parade.
Saturday-Sunday/July
17-18/Balboa Park. Pride
Festival. (The Pride Parade
and Pride Festival use the same website.)
Friday-Sunday/September 24-26/Camp Stevens in Julian. The
Annual UU Women Together Retreat is open to all women in
the San Diego Cluster. Contact Benita Berkson at 4benita@cox.net or (619) 994- 0993.
Saturday/October 2/First Church. San Diego County
Cluster Workshop on Diversity from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Contact
Joan
Cudhea at (858) 272-4118 or jcudhea@earthlink.net. |
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| Cluster
Buzz |
|
Generosity. Artist Jerry Thiebolt and
all those who made the Memorial Wall possible at UU Fellowship
of San Dieguito.
Quotable. “Thriving congregations spread the word—they
evangelize. Surviving congregations keep it for themselves—they
fossilize." —Rev. Kathleen Green of Summit
UU Fellowship from a UU newsletter. San
Diego County UU Bulletin Board. If you want
to buy, sell, barter or connect, and it's legal
and ethical, e-mail martin@kruming.com (or
copy and paste: martin@kruming.com).
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| Submitting
Newsletter Items |
In
addition to the Feature Story, Breaking
News, Datebook (Event items)
and the Cluster Buzz, the Cluster newsletter
continues to expand. See below. If
you have a good story, let's get it out there.
Bulletin Board. If you want to buy, sell, barter
or connect, and it's legal and ethical, e-mail martin@kruming.com (or
copy and paste: martin@kruming.com).
UU
Profiles: We
are offering a series of periodic profiles of UU churches
around the country. If you would like to contribute, please
e-mail martin@kruming.com (or
copy and paste: martin@kruming.com) with
your story of 150 words or less.
Good Deeds: If
you have a good deed item, please e-mail: martin@kruming.com (or
copy and paste: martin@kruming.com).
Reminder, For All Newsletter Items, please
submit to martin@kruming.com (or
copy and paste: martin@kruming.com) at
least three weeks in advance. |
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