Unitarian Universalist Church of Pittsfield. My thought in beginning this column was

that part of my leadership responsibilities was to stimulate thought and to stretch the

minds of a supportive community whose mission was spiritual and intellectual

exploration. I have attempted to provoke thought on some of the virtues and evils that we

confront in our time. I don’t know to what degree I have succeeded, but I have found the

experience both challenging and satisfying. I think that in our liberal religion all of us

benefit from the free exchange of thought. The give and take of our points of view keeps

our open search for truth more robust and circumspect. Our country and our world are

engaged in a plethora of passionate arguments, debates and even wars over differing

points of view. I admire passion and consider myself passionate about a range of issues

during my younger years concerning peace, civil rights, ethnic identity and other

disputes. It was the most exciting period of the long life span with which I have been

blessed. As I have matured in age and thought, I have gained an increased appreciation

for moderation. I haven’t lost my passion and still have a fire in my belly for a number of

struggles for peace, equality and humanism. Additionally, I have gained a healthy respect

for the imperfection of tunnel vision and uncompromising position taking. I find it useful

to consider the attributes, no matter how small, of opposing points of view. I have looked

upon this transition as not unique to me, but as a natural part of the life force (the

universe is evolving as it should). I have become acutely aware of these passages and

evolutions as I wrestle with the issues I have chosen to write about in this column. I have

witnessed it in the process of my leadership roles within the church. I have observed the

passion and impatience of our newer and younger members. I have experienced the

wisdom of our longer term members as well as their reluctance to change from that

which is more familiar and therefore more comfortable for them. In a perfect world of

moderation these normal impulses and conflicting points of view result in smart choices

for the church community as a whole and embellish our better angels. When we have

been unable to reach a reasonable consensus we disintegrate into self-centered interests

and petty squabbles.

In a liberal religion such as ours, devoted to a robust search for truth, critical thinking and

the circumspective exchange of ideas and thoughts are powerful tools toward attaining

our individual and collective transformations of faith and understanding. I know all

members have not always agreed with my points of view or topics, but I hope in some

small way my columns have stimulated some personal reflection and a broader regard

for an open-minded exchange of ideas. I hope that others will consider writing articles

and share their reality of hopes, values and feelings with the rest of us. The newsletter/

website is a wonderful additional way to communicate and exchange knowledge with

each other. I hope that moderated by patience, we retain our passion for social action

outside of the walls of the church. I trust that those who have been here longer will be

brave enough to take a chance on doing some things differently or at least give new ideas

every consideration while blessing them with your irreplaceable wisdom. It has been a

wonderful experience for me, thank you for listening!

Respectfully submitted,

Gerry Robinson

Berkshire Community Organizing for Action (Co-Act)

Present

Eight Ball Tournament

Fundraiser for the Berkshire Food Net program

Saturday June 2^nd  2012    at   2 PM

Devonshire Estates   329 Pittsfield Road  Lenox

Prizes! Refreshments!

Men’s Singles, Woman’s Singles and Mixed Doubles

$10 per person in advance

Payable at the UU Church of Pittsfield

175 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield

Or     Co-Act

55 Pearl Street, Pittsfield                    For more information call 413-443-7903

It has been an exciting five year ride with the Green Sanctuary and the Social Responsibility/Green sanctuary Committee. Regretfully I will be stepping down as chairperson, but will make every effort to attend meetings. Aside from the fact that it time for new leadership and new ideas, I am pleased to announce that I will be assuming some/all of the responsibilities of Vice President of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Pittsfield. I feel that the challenges of the next two (+ two) years will be very time and energy consuming. I will be seeking your support and participation to help our congregation grow in numbers and in spirit.

Back to Social Responsibility Committee…I have seen both Green Sanctuary and Social Responsibility dwindle in number. Hopefully it wasn’t me. In any event this committee is the life blood of Unitarian Universalism. It is critical that someone with dynamic vision and the time to commit will step forward. There are a number of avenues which have to be traveled, some revisited- all important to our city, region and planet. It would be nice to have a volunteer (s) step forward- If not we’ll see you at Social Hour.

Thank you for the opportunity to do some exciting things over the past few years.

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Giancola

Should we have a minister or not?

I have ruminated on this question for years.   This past year I talked with at least twelve individual members of our congregation about this. What I have learned is that most of those I questioned would like to have a minister but because  the cost of searching for a minister and maintaining a minister’s salary is more than our small congregation can afford, they are not inclined to pursue a search.  At this point it appears that pledge increases to accommodate these items are not something we are prepared to consider.

On March 4, I hosted a luncheon at the church at which time I asked each small group at 4 tables to discuss the possibility of hiring a minister and recording key thoughts on paper.  Again, the concern at all those tables was that we are not able to sustain a search or a minister’s salary on our diminished budget.

Over the past recent years, there has been tremendous work done behind the scenes to keep things going without a person in the minister’s chair.  Much of that work has been done by Terrill Ploss, who has  thought of countless ways to keep us afloat.  She has taken over the newsletter, been president, seen that rooms in the building have been rented, prepared coffee after many services, co-chaired the tag sale, found us a very competent administrator, soothed ruffled feelings, kept someone in the pulpit every Sunday and generally acted as a substitute minister.  She needs a break from this and has announced that she will be handling fewer of these duties in the near future.

Others who have worked hard at maintaining our organization are too numerous to mention; you know who you are and that we are most grateful for your efforts.

Meanwhile, Sunday School has suffered a reduction in attendance, the building is in constant need of repair, and we do not have a consistent spiritual leader who would be there for us in times of pastoral need.   Attendance at services has been lower than we would like on many occasions.

I would love to see more younger people at services and volunteering for committee work.  I suspect that will not happen in the near future for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that most young parents are busy with work and sport obligations on weekends.  Sunday is the only day they have to relax.

It occurs to me that further discussion on this subject will not be particularly productive unless someone has more ideas about what to do next.  Surely we can devise a system for keeping our congregation afloat and perhaps at some point even finding a spiritual leader who will bring a fresh outlook to our situation.  Until that happens, I will remain a member who hopes that we will not disappear as a congregation.

Respectfully,

Laurel Caluori

You may have heard that there will be an attempt to walk over Niagara Falls on a tight rope this summer. Our Church is located almost within sight of this event. We are offering to host UUs for a once in a life time opportunity to witness this happening. There is a new website page explaining what we are planning.

The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Niagara is offering UUs the opportunity to personally see this once in a life time event. Check the web link below to find out more:

www.firstuunf.org/TightRopeWalk.html

We promise to take good care of your members who join us.

If you have any questions or comments do not hesitate to contact:

Peter Diachun, Event Chair

tightropewalk@firstuunf.org

Phone (716) 754-2830

Terrill

We are collecting:

• Backpacks
• Children’s Summer Clothing
• Children’s Shoes
• Band Aids
• Antibacterial Cream
• Crayons and pencils
• Coloring Books
• Children’s books in Spanish
• Tooth Brushes, Toothpaste
• Soap and Shampoo

Used things in good condition are welcome. Our inspiration for this work was Kelly O’Toole’s classroom visit. She had been invited to speak about her experience in Honduras, as a “prophetic”  woman who inspires others to make the world a better place ~ The UU second source.

Please help us make our project a success.

Sue Langman, Re Director

The Interfaith Peace Chant honors the integrity of all faith traditions