The Madison Unitarian: September 2021 edition

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SEPTEMBER 2021

M A D I S O N U N I TA R I A N

EMBRACING POSSIBILITY

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mbracing possibility does not mean we stop short of acknowledging our own limitations, challenges, brokenness.

Possibility rises within only when we root ourselves in reality, in our truth as we understand it, and then consciously choose to move to the edges of certainty, the edges of knowing, the edges of risk, the edge of potential failure. Embracing possibility means we might fail. We might step in it. We might get stuff wrong. We might get hurt. We might disappoint people; people we love even, we might disappoint each other. Embracing possibility means enduring a few wounds along the way. But that should not stop us from fully living into possibility; that would be allowing fear to take over.

Quote by the Rev. Sara LaWall

LEAN INTO POSSIBILIT Y Rev. Kelly J. Crocker, Co-Senior Minister

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loria Steinem once said, “Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” As we move into this new year of congregational life with all the planning that entails returning in person as safely as possible, and as we continue to live into this new team as your Co-Senior Ministers, embracing possibility feels like a more than appropriate theme for this moment.

The past three years have been a training ground for us to consider what it means to be a people who embrace possibility. We have examined the stories we tell about who we are as a community. We have called one another into times of dreaming about who we would like to become. We have learned that being a people of possibility is so much more than learning how to believe in things that may seem improbable or even impossible. Being a people who still embrace possibility amidst all the hardship and disappointments means that first, we must become a people of vulnerability and courage.

again in love. Rev. Scott Taylor wrote, “The work isn’t just about believing in possibility. It’s about being willing to endure a few wounds along the way. It can hurt to be hopeful. Especially with all that is going on in our world and society right now, we need to make room for that.”

One of the ways we have made room for that here is in the creation of our Relational Covenant.

That covenant begins in part with these words, “We seek to create a brave space, a space to celebrate each person’s unique abilities, a space to grow and build a bond between our selves and each other; a joyful and compassionate space.”

Wh e n we c ove n a n t i n t e n t i o n a l ly a n d purposefully, we find the courage to live into our intentions. The very act of risk-taking—of acknowledging vulnerability, of entering into a covenant that asks us to choose to stay in relationship even when it is hard, to relinquish the need to be right while maintaining open and generous hearts—makes us brave people. We find courage in the connections between us. It is just too hard to be brave alone, to hold onto dreams Becoming a courageous people willing to show alone. But together, the possibilities are endless. vulnerability requires us to take risks, to risk Covenants such as ours bestow courage on making mistakes, and to learn how to stay a group of vulnerable, risk-taking people of in community. We say to each other, “I am possibility. We look forward to living it out willing to risk disappointment to try and create with you in the days ahead. This month as we something magnificent. I am willing to risk hurt ask, “Are you ready to lean into possibility?” for the possibility of living into the fullness of We also ask you to consider, “Who’s beside you life. I am willing to join my life with yours to see and who are you bringing along? Who have you what we can do and learn and be together.” All of gathered who will pick you up when the path this risking and dreaming is possible because we gets bumpy?” After all, no one makes it down are a community grounded in covenant, aspiring the road of possibility alone. May we remember to be our best selves, holding one another that asking “What is possible?” is something we accountable when we are not, forgiving one all have to say and live into together. another and asking for forgiveness, beginning

“IT IS NEVER TO O LATE TO BE WHAT THE MADISON UNITARIAN

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MEET KELLY AJ Rev. Kelly Asprooth-Jackson, Co-Senior Minister

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bout a year before I was born, my parents decided to visit the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY. My mother, Ellen Asprooth, had been raised Roman Catholic, and my father, Mark Jackson, a Protestant. They had both, by that time, respectfully left behind the theologies of their upbringing. My folks had no prior relationship to Unitarian Universalism, except that in graduate school they had attended some antiwar meetings together at the UU church in Urbana-Champaign and were impressed by the posters they saw on the walls there. They were both drawn by the quality of preaching they found in that place—the clear voice of conscience and the broad theological welcome that had space for two non-theists who wished to do good in the world. But because they were hoping to become parents, the deciding factor for my mother and father was that this seemed like a congregation that would welcome the children they were yearning to raise.

I am one of the children that they sought and found a home for in that particular congregation and in Unitarian Universalism more generally.

There are three of us. My younger brother, Corey, is a great lover of sports—he’s not too particular about which sport or what level of play. But whether or not you are as engaged about the details of triple-A baseball or the English Premier League as he is, you can be assured of a warm greeting from him and the offer of a hug; he is the most open-hearted person I know. Our youngest brother, Casey, is a filmmaker and world traveler. He is funny,

and insightful, and he loves justice—three traits I deeply admire. Together we are, to the best of my knowledge, the only three AsproothJacksons known to exist on earth.

A name of that length isn’t always easy to carry; I’ve encountered a lot of forms and systems in my life that top out around 15 characters for a surname. I’m proud to exceed that limit, but I also wasn’t inclined to burden my children with it. Which is why they have their mother’s family name, which I added as a middle name despite already testing the patience of teachers and clerks. My daughter, Miriam, is a voracious reader and a natural performer. My son, Mordecai, has an artist’s hand and a musical soul. They both think deeply about a great many things—most especially the well-being of others.

This seemed like the most important way that I could introduce myself to you: with just a little bit about the six most important people in my life, the origin of my name, and the root cause of how I came to be a Unitarian Universalist.

But in the hopes of still meeting some of the basic expectations of biography, here is one extra personal detail: Since long, long before I ever imagined having the privilege of coming to be here, I have described my theological perspective as, “a Western Conference Unitarian and a Patton-ite Universalist.” If that doesn’t seem self-explanatory, I hope that you will take it as an invitation to ask about its meaning.

YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN. ”

- GEORGE ELIOT SEPTEMBER 2021

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FROM THE BOARD Alyssa Ryanjoy, Board of Trustees President

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ast year we embraced the possibility that co-ministry could allow us to more fully live out our values as UUs. Today, our hearts are full as we welcome Kelly AJ to FUS, celebrate Kelly C in her new role, and begin to see these possibilities become reality.

As we step into a new church year, I want to thank all the 2020-2021 board members— Lorna Aaronson, Tom Dulmage, John McGevna, Rebecca Paradiso de Sayu, and Creal Zearing. I especially want to thank our outgoing Board President, Terri Pepper, who rolled off the board at the end of her term in June and will now chair our Nominations Committee to identify individuals to serve on our board and committees in the future.

We are also excited to welcome Emily Cusic Putnam and Ann Schaffer to the board this year.

The FUS Board of Trustees kicked off its year with a retreat where we explored lay leadership as a spiritual practice guided by concepts in Serving With Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice by Erik Walker Wikstrom. We explored the possibility that our work itself may be just

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as meaningful as what it delivers for our community. How we hold meetings with each other, accomplish tasks, manage our budget, and care for each other should reflect our values and deepen our spiritual life.

“Imagine if the practical and administrative work of the church—meetings, planning, teaching, etc.—was understood not as a necessary evil but as an integral part of the mission of the church to spiritually nurture us. What if lay leadership was not a means to an end but an end in itself?”

We identified that lay leaders are board and committee members, ministry team members, CRE teachers, food haulers, greeters, ushers, hospitality volunteers, gardeners, shawl ministry members, and really just about anyone who takes time to care for FUS and its membership. Could we embrace the possibility that, as Wikstrom states, “leadership is a broadly shared ministry that members of the community undertake for the deep joy of it?” As we reopen our doors for worship this fall, how might you find that joy and deepen your ties to this community?

ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY D EG R E ES

by Federico Moramarco

Have you considered the possibility that everything you believe is wrong, not merely off a bit, but totally wrong, nothing like things as they really are?

If you’ve done this, you know how durably fragile those phantoms we hold in our heads are, those wisps of thought that people die and kill for, betray lovers for, give up lifelong friendships for.

If you’ve not done this, you probably don’t understand this poem, or think it’s not even a poem, but a bit of opaque nonsense, occupying too much of your day’s time, so you probably should stop reading it here, now.

But if you’ve arrived at this line, maybe, just maybe, you’re open to that possibility, the possibility of being absolutely completely wrong, about everything that matters.

How different the world seems then: everyone who was your enemy is your friend, everything you hated, you now love, and everything you love slips through your fingers like sand.

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WELCOME BACK CELEBRATI ON Janet Swanson, Director of Membership & Adult Programs & Cheryll Mellenthin, Project Coordinator

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s we joyfully emerge from over a year of being apart, we look forward with great anticipation to our new program year, anchored by co-ministers Rev. Kelly C and Rev. Kelly AJ, fondly known as Team Kelly. And as we embrace with awe and enthusiasm all that is new at FUS, let us remember what has always been true—the promise and possibility inherent in gathering as an intentional community.

Our Welcome Back celebration is punctuated with a bold exclamation mark! Led by Project Coordinator Cheryll Mellenthin and Director of Membership and Adult Programs Janet Swanson, and supported

by FUS leadership and staff, this event officially kicks off our new program year.

As is true of all our reopening plans, we will provide each of you the opportunity to participate in the way that feels most safe for you and your family. This year’s event will be held outside the Landmark Meeting House— on the lawn, in the parking lot on your chairs, or in your vehicle. We will have live music, ice cream treats, family-friendly activities, and

information from our program areas on how you can join volunteer teams or small group ministry activities. All are welcome.

The beginning of each new program year is full of promise and possibility. As FUS members, friends, and staff, we work and serve together in ways large and small. This work speaks to who we are as individuals and who we are collectively. Our unique identity as a faith community, and our strengths as a welcoming congregation, allow us to support one another in the shared journey to seek that which is possible. In living our Seven Principles and working toward a more just and sustainable world, we build our ties to one another, to this faith community, and to the world beyond. And when we live these values through authentic and genuine effort, we welcome all. It is by being an integral part of community life at FUS and extending ourselves in new and bold ways that all of us contribute to the whole.

This Welcome Back begins with you and all you bring to this faith community. Join us as we come back together at FUS!

JOIN US!

Friday, September 10, 2021 5 pm – 6:30 pm Landmark Meeting House lawn and parking lot

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STOP LINE 3 EXPERIENCE Janice Knapp-Cordes, FUS Member

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long with Tim Cordon and eight other people from Madison, I spent July 29– August 3 at the Shell River Camp in Minnesota—one of several camps supporting Indigenous people working to stop Enbridge’s Line 3, a new pipeline carrying tar sands oil from Canada to Superior, Wisconsin.

gathered in a semi-circle to listen to Winona and three other Indigenous women. They explained to the legislators what Enbridge has been doing, the several frac-outs, and how they have been violating the terms of their agreement. Winona believes there are avenues the legislators could pursue to hold Enbridge accountable. Indigenous lawyers have already filed a cease-and-desist request regarding the several frac-outs but are still waiting for a response. Three of us from the Madison group talked with her. She thought that Wisconsin would have an easier time fighting Enbridge’s Line 5 because of past cases upholding treaty rights in Wisconsin.

On the evening we arrived, we gathered around the campfire when a young woman lawyer involved in that day’s action came to tell us what had happened. An older white woman had slapped an Indigenous teen girl across the face. She was so proud of how the young woman handled the incident. There is great hostility from many locals, fueled by the money Enbridge is funneling to police Although I feel I didn’t do much in the fight departments. against Line 3, I realize that spreading the word is the most valuable help I can give. The The other major incident of that day was a “fracmost effective thing you can do is contacting out” where Enbridge was drilling. The frac-out President Biden and ask him to Stop Line 3 as occurred as they were drilling under a lake he stopped the Keystone XL pipeline. We don’t and ruined a wild rice crop that represented need new fossil fuel infrastructure to add to half the yearly income for families that rice climate change, and it is paramount that we on that lake. I could hear the sadness, despair, protect the life-giving water in Minnesota and controlled anger in the voice of the young and treaty rights. The water sustains the lives woman as she spoke. These are her people, and of Indigenous people and the wild rice—their they will be suffering in the coming year. sustenance and part of their religion.

On Saturday, we drove to Red Lake Camp, One of the Indigenous women told me how which is next to a drilling site. We were able she prays to the water each morning and to see the huge machines on the large tract asks it to protect her grandchildren when of scraped land, surrounded by barbed wire they go swimming or canoeing. This is part fencing. From a hill at the back of the site, we of her religion, and she is there living it. were surveilled by half a dozen sheriffs and My deep thanks to Tim Cordon for making other men in black. A drummer beat out a it possible for me to have this beautiful rhythm while Indigenous women danced and experience, for organizing the cars, and for were joined by a dozen Indigenous men on lending me a tent and thermal mat! motorcycles revving their engines in unison.

On Sunday, a small group of legislators came to meet with Winona LaDuke. After lunch, they

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COMMUNITY INFORMA WHEEL OF LIFE

We send our love and sympathy to Joan Schuette as she mourns the passing of her husband and long-time FUS member, Don Schuette. Don passed away on July 26, surrounded by family. A memorial was held on August 28 to celebrate his long life and the many gifts he brought to us. He will be remembered with much love and gratitude.

REOPENING UPDATE

On August 18, the Leadership Team sent an email to the congregation regarding Level 1 of our reopening plans. We still anticipate moving to Level 1 on Saturday, September 11, with the start of in-person worship services on Saturdays at 4:30 pm and Sundays at 9 am and 11 am. A virtual-only service will air on Sundays at 11 am, followed by one virtual-only coffee hour. You will temporarily be required to register in advance as we have reduced capacity seating for all three in-person services. More information will be made available via email and on our website. Read more about Level 1 at www.fusmadison.org/coronavirus.

NOTABLE DATES

Important dates for September: • No First Friday Film on September 3 • Office is closed on Monday, September 7 • Welcome Back event on Friday, September 10 • In-person services return on Saturday, September 11, and Sunday, September 12 Please note that there will be several online-only options for those who decide to participate virtually. If you have any questions about virtual or in-person gatherings, please contact a member of the staff. Contact information is located on the back of this publication.

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ATION MEET YOUR BOARD MEMBERS

At the June Parish Meeting, members elected their new representatives to the Board of Trustees. On July 1, we welcomed Emily Cusic Putnam and Ann Schaffer as trustees and welcomed Alyssa Ryanjoy as the new Board President. As always, FUS members are invited to attend monthly board meetings. Meeting notices are placed in the Red Floors and on the FUS calendar.

LORNA AARONSON

JOHN MCGEVNA

EMILY CUSIC PUTNAM

ANN SCHAFFER

TOM DULMAGE

CREAL ZEARING ALYSSA RYANJOY, PRESIDENT

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GUARDIANS OF THE GROUNDS

by Chuck Evenson, FUS Member

Guardians of the Grounds has been conducting sessions during the pandemic except for April and May 2020. Our nine-member team has undertaken two significant enterprises during that time.

One was a large-scale renewal of the conifer bed off the Gaebler Living Room. Cutting back overgrown and dead branches, clearing invasive plants and weeding made up most of the work last summer. Planting perennials and mulching took place this summer.

The second venture was the renovation of the Atrium Garden that began a couple of years ago. Completed in two phases; the smaller side was finished before the pandemic, and work on the larger side started last summer. Clearing weeds, overgrown plants, and runaway spreaders, along with creating a plan, acquiring plants, and replanting made up the bulk of the project.

Retention of major garden features included the paved walkway, large boulders, and benches.

The new design includes coral bells, astilbes and Hostas, Japanese forest grass, and a pencil point juniper and Chamaecyparis—two slow-growing dwarf conifers—plus other plants.

The rendering includes a pathway through the larger side. A major goal was also to preserve and enhance the Zen-garden intimacy of the space and to promote a sense of contemplation, mindfulness, and peace.

As we begin to return to our beloved FUS grounds, we hope you’ll take time to visit the Atrium Garden and enjoy the peace and beauty this space provides. Please be sure to follow the reopening guidelines during your visit.

“WE HAVE MORE POSSIBIL MOMENT THAN WE RE THE MADISON UNITARIAN

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FUS MOSES INVITES YOU!

by the FUS MOSES Team

It has been nearly ten years since the FUS congregation voted to join MOSES (Madison Organizing in Strength, Equality, and Solidarity). MOSES is a grassroots, interfaith, non-profit organization working for criminal justice and racial justice in Dane County. Its membership includes 23 diverse Madison congregations, plus unaffiliated individuals. Members organize collective action using the tools of policy analysis, education, and advocacy. MOSES Madison is one of thirteen affiliates (including MICAH Milwaukee) that make up the statewide social justice organization WISDOM. There are three active task forces working within MOSES. The Justice System Reform task force is focused on the Dane County jail, the county judicial system, and city and county law enforcement practices. The Racial Justice for All Children task force concentrates on the root causes of the school-to-prison pipeline in Dane County. The Public Safety task force aims to increase resources for civilian-based responses to situations not requiring police intervention. MOSES members also participate in statewide WISDOM task forces dealing with various aspects of social justice reform.

Its multiple areas of focus and the racially diverse leadership of MOSES/WISDOM make it an excellent way to act locally on our congregation’s commitment to racial justice. Where is your passion? There is even a new WISDOM Environmental Justice task force.

The FUS MOSES Ministry Team invites you to learn more about the work of MOSES through several upcoming opportunities. Our next FUS MOSES team meeting will be on Wednesday, September 8, at 4 pm. The next monthly MOSES Madison meeting is at 2:30 pm on Sunday, September 12. For a broader and more in-depth understanding, please consider attending a 90-minute MOSES orientation on Saturday morning, October 9. All meetings will be held via Zoom. For more information or links to any of these meetings, please contact FUS MOSES facilitator Kathy Luker at (kathy.luker@gmail.com) or Lisa Munro (lmunro@wisc. edu).

LITIES AVAIL ABLE IN EACH EALIZE.” -THICH NHAT HANH SEPTEMBER 2021

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A MONTH OF SERVICES In-person Services on Saturdays @ 4:30 pm & Sundays @ 9 am & 11 am Online Service on Sundays @ 11 am • www.fusmadison.org

SEPTEMBER 5*

WHAT LABOR CREATES & WHAT IT DEMANDS

with Rebecca Meier-Rao, Executive Director, Worker Justice Wisconsin

Labor Day weekend is a time to celebrate and reflect on the contributions of working people and the circumstances under which they labor and live. Rebecca Meier-Rao will bring us her reflection on the moral imperatives of a society that truly values work and the people who do it.

*Online-only service on Sunday, September 5, at 10 am.

SEPTEMBER 11 &12 RETURNING TO THE WATER

Revs. Kelly J. Crocker & Kelly Asprooth-Jackson Water Communion is our annual ingathering and welcoming one another back to community in a new congregational year. This year’s welcome back feels especially poignant as we welcome one another back to in-person services. We invite you to bring water to share from your summer, or from the place where you have spent our time apart. We would love to know where your water is coming from this year. Please send its origin and why it is meaningful to you to Rev. Kelly AJ at kellyaj@fusmadison.org.

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S SEPTEMBER 18 & 19

LIVING ON THE GROWING EDGE

Rev. Kelly J. Crocker, Co-Senior Minister

Theologian Howard Thurman told us to “Look well to the growing edge! For it is here we find the basis of hope in moments of despair, the incentive to carry on...” Growing edges may be places of hope, and they are often places and times that frighten and challenge us. Yet, no matter how difficult these edges might be, they are often places of deep possibility. What does it take for us to face and lean into our growing edges?

SEPTEMBER 25 & 26

LIVING IN CLIP

Rev. Kelly Asprooth-Jackson, Co-Senior Minister We all have ideals to which we aspire: the people we would hope to be under optimal conditions. But life rarely offers us optimal conditions. Instead, we largely navigate the unpredictable, the jumbled intersections between things we prepared for and things we did not, and sometimes the stresses and strains of hard realities we would rather have avoided entirely. Yet, it is in the imperfections of the world and of ourselves that life’s richest possibilities are on offer.

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CONTACT US STAFF LEADERSHIP TEAM

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Rev. Kelly J. Crocker, Co-Senior Minister kellyc@fusmadison.org x.112

Alyssa Ryanjoy, President

Rev. Kelly Asprooth-Jackson, Co-Senior Minister kellyaj@fusmadison.org x. 113

Emily Cusic Putnam

Monica Nolan, Executive Director monican@fusmadison.org x. 115

John McGevna, Secretary

PROGRAM STAFF

Creal Zearing

Janet Swanson, Director of Membership & Adult Programs janets@fusmadison.org x. 124 Leslie Ross, Director of Children’s Religious Exploration leslier@fusmadison.org x. 119 Karen Anderson, Religious Exploration Program Staff karena@fusmadison.org x. 129 Sophia Granger, Youth & Campus Ministry Coordinator

sophiag@fusmadison.org Tim Cordon, Social Justice Coordinator timc@fusmadison.org x. 125

Lorna Aaronson Tom Dulmage Ann Schaffer

LAY MINISTERS

Our lay ministers provide a confidential, caring presence to congregants undergoing stressful life challenges or joyous occasions.

Under the guidance of our called ministers, they promote the spirit of community through direct service in visiting the ill and healing, facilitating support groups, and more.

Contact a lay minister at 608.233.9774 x. 126

MUSIC STAFF

Dr. Drew Collins, Music Director drewc@fusmadison.org x. 121 Heather Thorpe, Children & Youth Choir Director

thorpeh2@gmail.com Linda Warren, Assistant Music Director

linda.warren@tds.net

OPERATIONAL STAFF

Cheryll Mellenthin, Project Coordinator cheryllm@fusmadison.org x. 130

FUS MADISON 900 University Bay Drive Madison, WI 53705 608.233.9774 www.fusmadison.org

Tom Miskelly, Facilities Manager tomm@fusmadison.org x. 120 Dan Carnes, A/V & Event Specialist

danc@fusmadison.org Steven Gregorius, Event Specialist

@fusmadison

Brittany Crawford, Communications Director brittanyc@fusmadison.org x. 117

ALL OF WHO YOU ARE IS CELEBRATED HERE