Prairie Fire Bulletin August 6, 2009 In this issue: -calendar -programs The Prairie Fire Bulletin is a calendar- only newsletter that is published by Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society on the 6th of every month. The full featured Prairie Fire is published on the 21st of every month. View past issues at www.uuprairie.org Contact Us: Minister Rev. Ralph Tyksinski minister@uuprairie.org 873-6041 Youth Coordinator Rebecca Malke-Eliganti youthcoordinator@ uuprairie.org 695-3435 Editor/Administrator Kate Liu admin@uuprairie.org 271-8218 President Rachel Long 608-328-4899 Prairie Web Sites: Home Page www.uuprairie.org News Group http://groups.yahoo. com/group/prairie news/ Views http://groups.yahoo. com/group/prairie views/ Social Action http://socialaction. madisonwi.us Humanist Union http://humanist. madisonwi.us Input Deadlines: Calendar items and program descriptions are due on the 1st and 15th of each month. Feature articles for the full Prairie Fire are due on the 15th of each month. Please send to Kate Liu at admin@uuprairie.org or call 271-8218. Calendar Saturday, August 8, 2009 5:00 pm - Prairie UU Potluck and Farewell Party for the Herr-Hoymann Family, Wingra Park. (Rain location is Prairie UU Society.) Sunday, August 9, 2009 10:00 am - service - "A Passage to India," presented by Madeline and Reuben Arnold. 11:30 am - Board Meeting. Potluck at 11:30, meeting begins at noon. Thursday, August 13, 2009 6:30 pm - Adult Ed Committee meets. Sunday, August 16, 2009 9:00 am - RE Committee meets. 10:00 am - service - "UU General Assembly 2009," presented by Rachel Long and Ingrid West. Wednesday, August 19, 2009 7:00 pm - Caring committee meets. Thursday, August 20, 2009 7:00 pm - Movie Group meets to view "The Cats of Mirikatani." Sunday, August 23, 2009 10:00 am - "Elements of Nature,"an intergenerational service with Rev. Selena Fox. 11:45 am - Prairie Book Club meets to discuss Harbor Lights by Sheryl Woods. Tuesday, August 25, 2009 2:00 pm - Prairie Elders meet at Oakwood. Wednesday, August 26, 2009 7:00 pm - Program Committee meets at Prairie. Sunday, August 30, 2009 10:00 am - service - "Ingathering and Water Ceremony," presented by Rev. Ralph Tyksinski. Sunday, September 6, 2009 11:45 am - Humanist Union meets for potluck and a presentation. Upcoming Programs Sunday, August 9, 2009, 10:00 am: "A Passage to India," presented by Madeline and Reuben Arnold. Madeline and Reuben Arnold will be sharing their experiences volunteering for the month of July at the Don Bosco Mission School in Ravulapalem, Andhra Pradesh, India. Their experience includes teaching children at the school and being with the boarding children. The school is run by Salesian priests along with catholic brothers and sisters. They also worked at the Peoples Action for Rural Awakening (PARA), a non-profitable organization which came into existence in 1994 due to the need of greater help in the community. PARA helps educate and advocate for rural Dalit people and their kids, who have been oppressed by the larger society for many generations. PARA welcomes volunteers and contributions to assist them in their work. Reuben and Madeline also will share their experiences visiting the various Hindu temples. They were inspired to make the trip by our own Rebecca Malke and John Eliganti, both of whom have worked with the school. Sunday, August 16, 2009, 10:00 am: "General Assembly 2009," presented by Rachel Long and Ingrid West. Our delegates to this year's GA, the annual meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Association, both found the many offerings, including workshops, courses, business meetings and worship services enriching and inspiring. They returned recharged with many ideas about how to make our wonderful Prairie UU Society even better. They will try to give us a feel for the experience of gathering with more than 3000 UU's, and share some of the insights they gained. Sunday, August 23, 2009, 10:00 am: "Elements of Nature ," presented by Selena Fox. In this intergenerational service, learn about wisdom, lore, and traditions of communing with Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit and their relationship with dimensions of life, Body, Mind, Vitality, Emotions, and Soul. Explore ways of working with the Elements for personal and planetary well-being and to deepen rapport with the greater Circle of Nature. Rev. Selena Fox is Senior Minister of Circle Sanctuary which serves Nature religion practitioners worldwide and which is headquartered at Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve near Barneveld, Wisconsin. Selena travels internationally in connection with her work, which includes teaching, writing, and facilitating Nature spirituality experiences. She also is a counselor and spiritual psychotherapist, with an MS in counseling from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Sunday, August 30, 2009, 10:00 am: "Ingathering and Water Ceremony," presented by Rev. Ralph Tyksinski. On this Sunday we begin our new program year. We’ll have a kickoff parade with our Religious Education teachers and children. Our worship program will also include a ritual of ingathering: the Water Ceremony. Please bring to the service a small container of water (small because we’ll be blending each individual collection into a common vessel) which might represent or symbolize a meaningful story, event or place from your summer weeks. The source of the water might be almost anything--let your imagination have wings. The blending of our offerings of water is symbolic of our joining ourselves in beloved community to begin a new program year at Prairie UU Society. Come and let us celebrate together. Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society 2010 Whenona Dr. Madison, WI 53711