Muusja Mailing List: December 23 Event Update (Key UU meetings start January 2)

[ERALLIS (ERALLIS]

MUUSJA  E-EVENT UPDATE DECEMBER  22, 2005  (Key UU working group meetings) 

Metro UU Social Justice Alliance--Bringing  together 
UUs to work collectively for social  change. 

Peace and Good Will During This  Holiday  Season!  
And  many thanks for all you’ve done--with MUUSJA and beyond--to help create 
a  community that serves the common good. 
**** 
This update includes announcements  about: 
A. UU Events  
B. Community Events  
C. Support MUUSJA’s Work   
D. Holiday Message from UUA President   
**** 
A.  UPCOMING UU EVENTS  
1. 
MONDAY JANUARY 2 
7:00 to 9:00  PM 
UU'S OUT FOR MARRIAGE MONTHLY  MEETING 
UUOFM, a new MUUSJA working group, is  organizing UUs statewide to convince 
legislators to vote against the  anti-marriage constitutional amendment and 
keep it off the ballot in 2006.  Meeting will focus on strategies, progress, 
and 
upcoming trainings (see  below). We warmly invite your ideas and help! 
Minnesota Valley UU Fellowship 
10715 Zenith Avenue  S.  Bloomington 
www.mnvalleyuu.org 
FFI: Ralph  Wyman.612.728.3921.ralph- 
longfellow [at] earthlink.org or Peter/Carole  Lawson. 651.  
340.2694 twolawsons [at] comcast.net.   
** 
1a. 
MONDAY, JANUARY 9 
6:30 to 8:30  PM 
PEOPLE OF FAITH ROUNDTABLE TRAINING   
Faith communities and people of faith are  working together to create a 
powerful and unified movement for GLBT  rights. Your help is needed! Join the 
POF  
Roundable made of up OutFront Minnesota, Faith Family Fairness Alliance,  UUs 
Out for Marriage and others in this special night of training and  skill 
building for religious leaders and others wanting to strengthen  their 
communications skills, shape their message about the Amendment and  work with 
the media. 
Features a panel discussion with Ann DeGroot from  OutFront  MN, Rebecca  
Voelkel from Welcoming Resources Institute and others. 

Sabathani Community  Center 
310 38th Street  East  (3rd floor) Minneapolis 
http://www.sabathani.org 
** 
1b.  
MONDAY, JANUARY  30 
6:30 to 8:30  PM 
PEOPLE OF FAITH (POF) ROUNDTABLE  MEETING 
First Unitarian Society 
900 Mt Curve,  Minneapolis. 
** 
1c. 
JAN 10-FEB 2: OUTSTATE TRAININGS FOR COMMUNITY  ACTIVISTS. Help spread the 
word to friends, family in greater  Minnesota. Training venues  are listed at 
the end of this E Update.  
**** 
2. 
THURSDAY, JAN 19 (not 12),  2006 
7:00 to 9:00  PM 
UU ECOMINDS MEETING 
This quarterly  meeting will focus on upcoming actions related to its key 
campaigns. (1)  Door knocking events to educate, advocate for RES in key 
legislative  areas. (2)Launching a congregation based energy conservation 
effort.  (3) 
How congregations can respond  to the UUA Study Action Issue on Global 
Warming. 
White Bear  Lake UU Church  
328 Maple  Street 
Mahtomedi, MN 
http://www.whitebearunitarian.org/ 
Contact Co-chairs Madalyn Ciocci at  mcioci [at] earthlink.net, 
or Chris Burda at  cburda [at] earthlink.net. 
**** 
3. 
SUNDAY, JANUARY 22 
3:00 to 5:00  PM 
MUUSJA QUARTERLY MEETING. “UUs IN ACTION –  BEING EFFECTIVE AT THE 
LEGISLATURE!” Hear our UU EcoMinds plan to press  for a Renewal Energy 
Standard for 
Minnesota and our UUs Out for Marriage strategy for  heading off a 
constitutional 
ban on same-sex marriage in the ‘06 MN  legislative session! Learn how you 
can be involved and effective. Invited  speakers include lobbyists from 
OutFront 
 Minnesota and the energy lobbyist (a UU) for the  League of Women Voters. We’
ll also honor our amazing UU Affordable Housing  Partnership on their fifth 
anniversary! 
First Universalist Church Chalice  Room 
3400 Dupont Avenue  South,  Minneapolis 
FFI: Betsy Allis at  erallis [at] aol.com 
**** 
4.  
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27 
6:30 PM New  Orleans  Dinner 
8:00 PM Program and Jazz  Concert 
KATRINA FAMILY BENEFIT, co-sponsored by UU  Affordable Housing Partnership 
and Oasis Crisis Intervention Center,  
includes a dinner, program that includes  stories from Katrina families in 
Minnesota, and a jazz concert!  
Your $25 contribution will help pay rent for  Katrina families in Minnesota.  
First Unitarian Society   
900 Mt. Curve Avenue, Minneapolis 
FFI: Carol Koepp at  ckoepp [at] mn.rr.com 
 

B.  COMMUNITY EVENTS 
1.   
WEDNESDAY,  DECEMBER 28 
6:30  PM   
ANNUAL  CANDLELIGHT SERVICE FOR THE CHILDREN OF  IRAQ  AND OTHER CHILD 
VICTIMS OF WAR. This  service, we will commemorate the children who have been, 
and  
continue to be victimized by war. By keeping alive in our hearts the  memory 
of these innocent children, we hope to renew and re-energize  our resolve to 
change the conditions that caused their suffering and  death. And, so, in the 
midst of our struggles for peace and justice,  we pause to remember the 
children. 

St. Joan of  Arc  Church   
4537  Third Avenue South,  Minneapolis 
FFI:  Call Twin Cities Peace Campaign-Focus on  Iraq  at 612-522-1861.

****

2.   
TUESDAY,  JANUARY 3 
7:00  PM   
TOWN  MEETING ON IRAQ:  TELL HIM "OUT OF IRAQ  NOW!"
With Congressman Martin Sabo. Exercise  your civil liberties! Actively 
participate in the democratic  process!  Let Congressman Sabo know why we need 
to 
exit  Iraq  now.  
South  High  School 
3131  19th Avenue South,  Minneapolis 
FFI:  See “Three Years Is Enough" online at <www.worldwidewamm.org>   

****

3.   
FRIDAY,  JANUARY 6 
8:00  PM.   
"WELCOME  TO PALESTINE"  Photography Exhibit by K. Flo Razowsky
Viewing Hours January 11  through 29, Wednesdays, Noon  to 6:00  pm.   
Fridays,  Noon  to 4:00  pm.  Saturdays, 1:00  to 6:00 pm.  and Sundays, 1:00 
 to 6:00 pm.   
Art  of This Gallery 
3222  Bloomington Avenue S,  Minneapolis.   
FFI:  <ismtwincities [at] riseup.net>

**** 
4. 
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY  18 
7:00 to 9:00 PM  
FAM TRAINING: FAMILIES ALL MATTER BOOK PROJECT.   
Training for teachers, parents, RE staff/volunteers   
and others  includes ways to implement  the FAM book project,  
a demonstration of a  classroom session, and reader materials.   
FAM is a project of aMaze,  a non-profit group that champions safety   
and belonging for all  children and families. Adaptable for many  settings, 
First Universalist Church  
3400 Dupont Ave  South,  Minneapolis 
FFI: 612.724.4323 or  contact amaze at _info [at] amazeworks.org_ 
(mailto:info [at] amazeworks.org) .   
$25 per person, $100  for groups of 5 or more. Make checks payable to,   
mail to AMAZE,  PO Box 17417, Mpls. MN 55417. Can also pay at the  training. 
**** 
5. 
JANUARY, JANUARY 29,   
2:00 to 4:00 PM 
1:30 PM Orientation   
LEGACY '06 KICKOFF  MEETING 
Find out what's in store  for the Minnesota House in 2006  
and hear how Progressives  have changed the debate.  _Join_ 
(http://mnlegacyproject.org/join.htm)  a team   
of skilled volunteers and  help grow our membership and our  clout!  
The 2006  election will be one of the most important in state history.  Help 
reinstate policies  related to education, health care, and environmental 
protection that  serve the common good. Many volunteer  opportunities! 
Faith Mennonite Church  
2720 East 22nd  Street,  Minneapolis 
FFI: Contact Heather at  612.822.3322 or _mnlegacyproject [at] yahoo.com_ 
(mailto:mnlegacyproject [at] yahoo.com)  
**** 
C.  SUPPORT MUUSJA’s WORK WITH A YEAR END GIFT! 
Please  help us continue our work organizing UUs to work collectively for 
social  change—right here in our community! Your support ensures that our  
spiritually progressive UU voice is brought to the public square and it  sends 
a 
signal to potential funders that local UUs support our faith based  social 
change 
work. We’re a young organization with a strategic vision,  passion, and 
amazing productivity. But we need your help to  continue! 
This  is a good time to make a generous gift to MUUSJA. First, the UU Funding 
 Program will match $3500 of the donations we receive. Second, 100 percent  
of your cash gifts made between August 28 and December  31, 2006  can be 
written off thanks to a temporary change in the tax law in response  to 
Hurricane 
Katrina.  
Make  checks payable to PSD-MUUSJA and mail ASAP to our Treasurer, Wendy 
Jerome,  37  Upton Ave S,  Mpls,  MN  55405.  PSD stands for Prairie Star 
District, our fiscal sponsor.  Thank  you so much for your contribution!  
P.S.   
See  what we’ve done collectively to make an impact in our community. Get a  
copy of MUUSJA’s accomplishments by contacting Betsy Allis at 
_erallis [at] aol.com_ (mailto:erallis [at] aol.com) . 
**** 
D.  HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM THE UUA PRESIDENT

Dear  Friends,

In this holiday season, as we approach the New Year, we  pause to look back 
over the year past. For so many it has been so  hard.

I traveled to New  Orleans  just a few days ago and saw the physical 
devastation left by the  hurricane. Mounds of debris on virtually every street. 
Many 
thousands of  houses destroyed or standing empty, too severely damaged to ever 
be homes  again. I heard stories of the trauma of these last months.

The  people of New  Orleans,  hundreds of thousands of them, had to flee, 
becoming travelers often with  destinations out of their control. A modern day 
diaspora. They had no  choice but to rely on the hospitality of strangers.

But I also saw  our congregations in the city coming together for worship and 
support in a  Presbyterian church which opened its doors to us. Planning has 
begun for a  vital Unitarian Univeralist presence in a rebuilt  New  Orleans.  
I am profoundly grateful for the outpouring of support from Unitarian  
Universalists for our New  Orleans  churches and for the citizens throughout 
the  
Gulf  Coast.  We will use some of those funds to encourage long term change in 
that  region.

In November I went to  Chad  in north-central Africa  with Charlie Clements, 
President of the UUSC. Charlie and I visited the  refugee camps for those who 
had fled the genocidal war in the  Darfur  region of western Sudan.  The 
refugees fled most often with only the clothes on their backs, and it  was 
three 
months before United Nations aid arrived. But the people of the  terribly poor 
villages of eastern  Chad  found it in their hearts to welcome these travelers. 
They opened their  granaries and shared with the refugees all that they had.

In the  Christian story of Christmas, a pregnant woman and her husband are 
forced  to leave their home, becoming travelers in this season, relying upon 
the 
 generosity of others. There is no room at the inn; the only hospitality  
offered was a place in a stable.

As we look back on this last year,  we must hold its tragedies in our hearts. 
But we can also hold the reality  that our response to those tragedies has 
been open-hearted and  generous.

As we end 2005, Unitarian Univeralists will celebrate  Hanukah and Christmas, 
Kwanzaa and the Solstice. These are celebrations of  hope and light in the 
days of long darkness. May we remember that hope can  be found not only in the 
faith that the days will once again lengthen into  light, but also in our 
response to these recent dark days. It is the work  of Christmas.

The Work of Christmas
by Howard  Thurman 
When  the song of angels is stilled, 
When  the star in the sky is gone, 
When  the kings and princes are home, 
When  the shepherds are back with their flock, 
The  work of Christmas begins: 
to  find the lost, 
to  heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to  rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the brothers,
to make  music in the heart.

Blessings of the season.

In faith,  William G. Sinkford
President, Unitarian Universalist  Association 
 

OUTSTATE TRAININGS RE CIVIL MARRIAGE  ADVOCACY.  
Help spread the word about trainings to  friends, family in greater 
Minnesota. Details  at OutFront  Minnesota 
_https://www.outfront.org/events/trainings.html_ 
(https://www.outfront.org/events/trainings.html)   
January 10. Fargo, ND. UU  Church of  Fargo-Moorhead,  121 S 9th  Street.  
6:30-9  pm.  701.235.0394. 
January 11. Bemidji. Bemidji State  University, Crying Wolf Rm, Hobson 
Memorial Union, 1500 Birchmont Drive  NE. 6:30-9 pm. 218.755.-2001. 

January 12. Hibbing. Androy, 502 East  Howard St. 6:30-9 pm.

January 13.  International Falls. North Woods Coffee Roaster,  444  Third 
Street. 6:30-9  pm. 218.283.8316.

January 18. St. Cloud. University Lutheran Church of the Epiphany,  390 4th  
Avenue S. 6:30-9 pm.  320.252.6183.
January 24. Willmar. Willmar Senior Citizen Community Ctr, Sunshine Rm,  624 
NE Hwy 71. 6:30-9 pm. 320.235.0711.   
January  25. Marshall.  Southwest  MN  State  University,  Conference Ctr, 
1501 State St. 6:30-9 pm. 800.642.0684.   
February  1. Winona.  Winona  State  University,  Maxwell Leadership 
Conference Ctr, corner of Sanborn  (8th  Street)  and Johnson Streets. 7-9 pm. 
507.457.2963.   
February  2. Red Wing. St.  Paul's  Lutheran  Church,  320  West Avenue.  
6:30-9  pm.  651.388.7106