A Beautiful January day to you, Church!
Well, winter has finally decided to stick around. Are you enjoying the beauty of the snow on the pines? This morning I was mesmerized, watching the snow fall like powder from the trees in a small gust of wind.
Here’s the news for the week:
Jazz Night at the UU Church Tonight
Last year a few musicians at the UU church joined together to play jazz for folks during the dreary winter months. This year, they’re at it again! 4 All You Know will be offering a free jazz night and coffee bar tonight from 6:30-8:30pm. Drop in, have a coffee and enjoy their swing, bebop, cool jazz, Latin, and fusion sound!
Celebrating Cynthia Coleman’s Retirement
This Sunday we will be recognizing Cynthia for her decades of service as our church treasurer with a cake during coffee hour.
MLK Day Celebrations
If you’d like to be intentional about celebrating the advancements of the civil rights movement and the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King, here are two opportunities:
Clarkson is sponsoring a leadership workshop called “So, You Want to be a Leader?” with Bakari Smith (’17), from 4:30-6pm in the Clarkson Student Center on Monday, Jan. 15th.
Also that day, from 7-8:30 at the Methodist Church, the Poor People’s Campaign will be discussing his legacy.
Clarkson Prof to Discuss How to Motivate People to Care about the Earth, Jan. 25th
Clarkson University Professor of Psychology Dr. Lisa Legault will present the 2024 Institute for a Sustainable Environment (ISE) Keynote Lecture on Thursday, January 25 at 3 p.m. in the Student Center Multipurpose Rooms on Clarkson’s Collins Hill Campus and via Zoom. A reception will follow.
The title of her talk is “Using Motivation Science to Help the Environment, Promote Health, and Foster Diversity.” In this keynote lecture, Legault will explore strategies to motivate and persuade people to adopt healthier, more prosocial, and more environmentally sustainable decisions and behaviors.
All-Church Potluck Feb. 4th
Make sure to mark your calendar for the best Sunday of the month! I hope someone will bring mac ‘n cheese again! 🙂
Annual Congregational Meeting set for Feb. 11th
If you are able to attend, your presence will be much appreciated at our upcoming congregational meeting. Session has been working on creating a budget for 2024, which we will present.
The Annual Budget
I’m hearing about some confusion and frustration with how our budgets look– because they involve some rather concerning, eye-brow raising numbers. The short story is that our budgets (and our profit and loss statements) reflect the flow of money in and out of our accounts, but don’t necessarily convey the bigger picture of our financial situation. Consequently, the week prior to our meeting, I will devote a large portion of our newsletter to explaining how and why the budget is set up as it is. We’re actually doing well (enough) financially– in the big picture– even though specific details might make us wonder otherwise.
Dale Hobson’s Latest Poem
Last Sunday was a particularly meaningful one for some of us, including Dale, who went home and whirrled and twirled, and whipped up our entire worship service– from a momentary celebration of the first real snowfall of the season, to the content of the sermon (about the nature of new beginnings)– into a beautiful poem. I thought you might enjoy reading it.
Epiphany Snow
The first real snow falls on Epiphany, late,
after a dry fall and cool December. Six inches,
no big deal, but an epiphany nonetheless.
Snow boots are still in the closet, the shovel
and salt tucked behind stuff on the back porch.
The inevitable finds me unprepared as usual.
I purged from memory the scraping of the plow,
forgot the way snow shines on sagging cedars,
how all things dull and dim can now be shining.
Out of the old year’s ending, this new beginning,
when what could be wrestles with what will be. Who
can say what may befall once the snow begins to fall?
Happy Winter, friends!
Pastor Katrina