What's Up This Month?

Last month we got the sad news that Taryn had decided to resign from her position as Director of Religious Education at the end of this church year. She has brought so much to our program, and we will miss her presence and energy. But life brings what it brings, and I keep learning that the only constant is change. So even as we prepare to say goodbye to Taryn as DRE, we are also preparing for next year by searching for a new DRE to start August 15. The last two weeks I have been delighted to work with some great folks on this project. The DRE Hiring Committee is led by Cathy Falwell, and includes Sonia Tonelli, Charley Mitchell, Tara Williams, Betsy Parsons, Sue Butler and I. We have received 12 applications so far, and will begin interviews next week. We'll let you know when we have some news.

In the meantime, we are doing something a little different this June, by going to one service at 10 a.m. on June 5, rather than waiting a few more weeks as we have in the past. This means that the whole congregation can participate in our Religious Education Sunday on June 5, being led by Taryn, and also in our Senior Youth Group led Sunday on June 12. So—mark your calendars 10 A.M. This decision involved the Worship Committee and the Religious Education Committee and the Board of Trustees—we are trying it out, and welcome any feedback. (You can send feedback to my email at revmyke@a2u2.org) We thought it would be an opportunity, during a month when attendance begins to wane a bit, for all of us from both services to have time to be together.

And now, I want to introduce you to our new ministry intern:

Israel Buffardi is delighted to be serving as the ministry intern at Allen Avenue starting this coming fall.  Israel was raised in an Italian-American community in Providence, Rhode Island, where community, celebration, and family were centered joyously around the table in his grandmother’s kitchen.  Israel has a diverse background in community outreach and nonprofit work as well as in the specialty food and sustainable agriculture communities in Maine.  He is also passionate about the local arts scene and can be seen writing for and performing in theatre productions throughout the Greater Portland area.  

Israel followed a call to the ministry after realizing that all of his various passions and pursuits were always leading him towards creating community spaces that fostered meaning-making and mutual support while also striving for justice.  Drawn to Unitarian Universalism because of its free and responsible search for truth and meaning as well as its commitment to justice work, Israel is currently pursuing his M.Div. at Meadville Lombard Theological School, one of the affiliate seminaries of the UUA.  Israel is very excited to continue to develop his heart-centered, embodied approach to ministry by serving the community at Allen Avenue. 

And I am excited to welcome Israel to A2U2. I have had a chance to get to know him by being his teaching pastor during this past year, and I look forward to his being a part of our ministry, even as he learns about ministry.

Affectionately, Rev. Myke

Portland Housing Crisis

Perhaps, like me, you have been reading in the news how many people are being evicted from their homes with no cause, and having real difficulty in finding new homes. Perhaps you are one of the people who has been caught in the housing crisis in Portland, or you know someone who has been evicted, or is having trouble finding an apartment to rent. Jan Bindas-Tenney is the Advocacy Coordinator at Preble Street, and she told me about one person, a disabled person who uses a wheelchair, who had been homeless several years ago, but then was in a stable apartment for the past several years. Suddenly they were caught in these evictions, and now they are back at the shelter.

Seeing the shelter numbers go up after some years of going down, Jan and others decided that rather than just “picking up the pieces,” they would organize to address some of the causes, and look for policy solutions that might address the underlying problems. So the Portland Coalition for Housing Justice was formed. At a initial meeting on April 14, more than 100 people showed up, and on April 27^th, the group spoke to the Housing Committee of the Portland City Council. She also told me that they are hoping to form a faith advocacy network for clergy and lay leaders to offer a faith voice on housing.

I invited Jan to come speak to our church about these issues in a worship service on May 15. I am wondering if those in our congregation who are facing housing challenges, or who have recently faced them, might want to share their stories with the congregation as part of this worship service. The stories would need to be rather short—maybe 3 minutes at most, and I could help you with crafting or editing something, if you wish. And, please know that you are always welcome to come have a chat if these or other issues are a burden in your life.

For some good news, you may know that this year I have been mentoring a first-year seminary student who is preparing for UU ministry. Israel Buffardi is now completing his first year, and next year starting in September he will become a half-time Intern Minister at our church. He will be exploring all aspects of ministry and church life, or at least as much as one can do in 20 hours per week. (Last year, our Intern Minister Lyn Marshall was full-time.) One of the commitments of the congregation toward his learning is that we form an Intern Committee with folks who will meet monthly with Israel, giving him support and feedback on his ministry at our church. If you'd like to be a part of that group, please contact me. We will try to have a group that represents various parts of church life. Serving on this committee becomes a chance to get closer to other members of our church, learn more about your own spiritual journey, and offer a great gift to our UU movement as we help to train a future leader.

Reverse Offering

On March 14^th, Stewardship Sunday, I tried an experiment called a Reverse Offering, in which I took money from the Minister's Discretionary Fund, and put it in envelopes, ranging from $1 to $20, and invited people to do some good in the world with this money, and let me know what they did. I am beginning to hear some stories of how people have put this money to use. A few:

...I used my dollar from the pay it forward envelop for a "pending coffee" at the gas station.

...using coupons, rebates etc to buy toiletries,food etc, we turned it into 2 colgate toothpastes, 12 bars of Irish Spring soap and 1 Sure deodorant which we then donate to Preble street or the food pantry.

...First we took it to the bank and traded it in for 100 pennies.  Then we brought the pennies home and affixed a happy-face sticker to each one.  Now we are busy distributing the pennies whenever the bill at a check-out counter calls for a few, or when there is another occasion to slip a few into a donation container. We have been doing this for some time now and occasionally have been asked by a cashier to keep our penny. I guess they believe it has more value than an ordinary penny, and they may be right. I tell them, that’s not the point. One cashier, upon noticing the happy face and with a smile on her face, told me she had been having a bad day but this little act turned it around for her. Anyone who wishes to may create their own happy pennies.

...I received $10.00 in my envelope and I have decided to put it back in the plate and match it to give $20.

 ...I decided to put my dollar in the Ferry Beach scholarship jar.

...I wanted to report that I gave my dollar from the service last week to a donation box at Fanueil Hall for sustaining interpreter services for visitor to the museum. It happened to be on St. Patrick's Day!  * I thought that giving different amounts of $ to members of the congregation was a great idea for modeling how growth and good things can happen through community support. 

Finally, another member added a $25 dollar check and gave $26 back to the Ministers Discretionary Fund.  I look forward to hearing about and sharing more stories about what you did with your reverse offering!

Our Search for Greener Housing

As many of you know, my partner Margy and I started a search for greener housing while I was on sabbatical last summer. Becoming more and more aware of the environmental challenges that we are facing on our planet, we wanted to find a way to take some steps toward using less fossil fuels, and putting less carbon in the air. We decided it would be good to live in a smaller house and move closer to Portland. We started to look for a house that would have a southern exposure for solar panels, as well as meet our other needs and wishes. I started to blog about the process and the lessons learned along the way. (You can find that blog at www.findingourwayhomeblog.wordpress.com )

We will be moving to our new home in Portland on February 26^th. We aren't finished with our journey toward greener housing—that will be an ongoing process. But our new house is small, with a big yard that will hold food gardens of some kind in the future. We've installed lots of insulation in the attic and basement rim joists, and air source heat pumps that are very efficient for heating and cooling. We are exploring the options for solar panels, and hope to be able to have those installed later this spring. It is a lot of work, but I feel very happy at the prospect of moving closer to the deep ecological values I hold dear.

We are still in the process of selling our house in North Yarmouth, and hoping that will go smoothly. We are in negotiations with a promising buyer. I will be taking some unused vacation days and be away from the office from Feb 23 to March 2 as we pack and make our physical move. Our church administrator will check phone messages for me. In case of emergency, you can reach me on my cell phone. You can also contact the Pastoral Care Team via care@a2u2.org. Wish us good weather for our moving day! Thank you for your support and encouragement on this journey.

Sabbatical Exchange and Pastoral Care at A2U2

I had a chance to lead worship at the UU Congregation in Brunswick on January 24^th. This was a part of our sabbatical exchange, in which Maine UU ministers lead worship for other congregations when their ministers are on sabbatical. So just as several area ministers came to preach at A2U2 while I was on sabbatical, this year I was in Brunswick while Rev. Sylvia Stocker in on sabbatical, and later in the spring, I will preach at First Parish in Portland while Rev. Christina Sillari is on sabbatical. Our social action committee also participated by bringing their excellent service on health care to Sanford, while Rev. Sue Gabrielson was on sabbatical in the fall. (Thanks also to the Worship Committee, who took on extra so that it might all work out.) This is just one of the ways we can be in collaboration with our UU neighbors.

The Brunswick church was burned down in a fire several years ago, but they've built a lovely new sanctuary with solar panels on the roof. You might be interested to know that they have three video screens in their sanctuary, and a tech team that works the audio-video system each Sunday. On the screens they post all the words to the hymns, and before the service starts, they post their announcements on a repeating loop. (New possibilities for A2U2?) Our IT folks might wonder, but even with a new system, they still have glitches that turn up every so often. All of the people were quite welcoming and friendly.

Several weeks ago, a newer person at A2U2 asked me about our Pastoral Care Team. Who are they and what do they do? That question leads into our congregation's philosophy of shared ministry, so this month, I thought it would be nice to devote a worship service to pastoral care at our church. The Pastoral Care Team is one part of that. There are currently six active members. A brief definition of pastoral care is “compassionate listening,” and the role of the Team is to be a listening ear when our A2U2 members might be needing to talk. For example, a PCT member listens during Joys and Concerns, and makes a note of what is shared, and collects the written joys and concerns, and then another team member reaches out to those who have shared with a phone call or email. We are interested in a few new members who might want to be a part of the team.

But Pastoral Care and compassionate listening at A2U2 also include our Caring Connection, our Pastoral Visitors, Spiritual Enrichment groups, Member Connections, Religious Education, the minister, and every member. This month I will be leading our “basic training” for shared ministry, LAMP 101, on February 20-21, Saturday and Sunday, from 1 to 5 each day. If you think you might be interested in taking a more active role in compassionate listening at our church, or just want to learn better listening skills in your personal life, please join us for LAMP 101.        All the best to you, Rev. Myke

NAACP Portland

Warmest wishes to everyone for the new year! Despite the troubles that have beset the Portland Branch of the NAACP this autumn, the indefatigable Rachel Talbot Ross and many allies and friends have come together to create a series of events to celebrate the birthday and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now more than ever, we can support the work of racial justice and the dignity and worth of all people, by supporting this organization that has been on the front lines for so long. One of the issues faced by the branch was declining membership. Margy and I just renewed our memberships. This is one simple way to support the national and local work for justice. It costs $30 for a regular membership and you can join or renew online at http://www.naacp.org/pages/membership. When you are prompted, indicate that your local branch is #2038, the Portland Branch. Thank you!

Rev. Myke

The theme of this years activities is the Global Struggle for Freedom. You can find out about the events at http://naacp.me/2016/#MLK.

Projections from the Shadow of History

I am writing on the day Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday that always fills me with mixed feelings. Gratitude is wonderful, and getting together with family and friends can be a blessing. But I know that the stories we celebrate are white-washed versions of a history that has brought devastation to so many. I always remember that many Indigenous people call this the Day of Mourning.

The only time that foreign immigrants actually brought disease and destruction to this continent was when the English, Spanish, and French came to settle on its shores. Millions of Indigenous peoples died from diseases to which they had no resistance, or were killed in ongoing campaigns by the newcomers to destroy them and their way of life.

So while I give many thanks for my life, it feels sacrilegious to give thanks for prosperity that was built on the suffering and death of so many others. But it does illuminate for me, in a social psychological way, the possible roots of our American fear and hatred of foreign immigrants. I wonder if perhaps these feelings are a form of projection from this unacknowledged shadow side of American history. People imagine that new immigrants will bring destruction because the first settlers were the immigrants who did bring destruction.
This fear of the foreigner never proved realistic with later immigrants—with the Irish, the Italian, the Chinese, the German, the Jewish, the Puerto Rican, and so many others. Despite being hated and derided, they eventually became a part of the fabric of American life. Perhaps there is a link between facing more honestly our own shadowed and genocidal history, and letting go of our fear of the other.

Hard thoughts for a quiet holiday at home. But so many are cold and hungry and desperately seeking a safe harbor. And the tide of xenophobia and racism in our country seems to be rising out of control. Let's help our friends and neighbors to keep their heads about them. I believe that when we are lucky enough to have shelter and food and clothing and safety, we are responsible for sharing what we can with those who are in need. To me, that is what thanksgiving should be all about. Rev. Myke