by Bob Rockwell

At the Congregational Meeting held after the service Sunday September 16 it was discussed and approved to go ahead with purchasing solar panels for our south facing roof, (see report below). We are very grateful for Harvey Noordsy’s contribution which is a major step toward funding this project. Additional contributions of any size will be helpful.

The Short Range Planning Task Force also proposed finding a renter and making some minor changes in the Religious Education wing of our building. This was discussed and the decision was made and voted on to delay making any changes in the RE wing until there is a potential renter and then work out the required changes and the cost for the congregation to consider at that time.

We recently learned of a program from the UUA and other related organizations with the help of the UU Congregation of Shelter Rock that pays to congregations ten percent of what congregants designate in their wills to their UU church, or another UU entity, on providing proof of this in an application. Any congregants interested in doing this should contact Elayne Leonelli (see article below on Legacy Giving).

The Board and Rev. Barbara Threet met in a daylong retreat on Saturday September 15. We re-examined our needs and plans from last year’s retreat and evaluated our current situation and how to go about meeting some of these needs. My take is that there are three major issues that we face: finding people to take on leadership roles, getting enough money to sustain us, and attracting more people to join in the work of our congregation. Our new website will hopefully attract some people. We are not proselytizers like the evangelicals but as individuals we can encourage friends and neighbors to visit and see what we are selling– not necessarily saving souls from damnation, but perhaps education for our souls.

Soul work brings up my particular interest in the work of Carl Jung, which I think is deeply spiritual, although his work is often couched in dense intellectual terms. We try to avoid intellectual terms and analysis in the Monday Jung group but try to follow our feelings. Jung’s ideas, however, do help provide maps and orientation to the murky world of our minds and are worth exploring. I have started a group called Adirondack Friends of Jung who will be sponsoring a film, “Matter of Heart” about Jung and his work at UUCGF Friday October 12 at 7:00 p.m. Hopefully there will be enough interest to continue meeting on a monthly basis with other films and talks.

Along with soul work we need to do some practical concrete work in cleaning up our grounds and painting the building. In the coming weeks I will be checking the weather for a time to have a work party. I will send out an e-mail to encourage congregants to join in.

On the weekend of October 12 – 14 is the annual retreat at Silver Bay sponsored by Albany UU for members of all UU’s in the area. This is a wonderful opportunity to broaden your UU knowledge and connections. On October 19-20 the NY State Convention of Universalists is meeting in Syracuse. Anyone interested in attending should contact Rev. Barbara Threet.

~ Bob Rockwell