Does God or the Universe have a sense of humor? Sometimes it surely seems so. This Sunday we will focus on the Universalist side of our heritage and look closer at one of our own circus people, the famous showman P.T. Barnum. Yes, he was a Universalist. Choir will sing.

Kevin Erdmann is Facilitator as Terry Ward, Bari Bergelin and Janey Marquez discuss their Path to a Personal Belief System
Followed by Talk Back

March 17: Special Guest Music Service:
"The Lucky Green Dress". 
Come hear the Nashville-based UU duo of Steven & Jay Bird.  In their comedic style they will be providing inspiration and music for today's service.  They will also be performing at Fiddler's Dream Coffee House in Phoenix on, Friday evening, March 15.  Don't miss this wonderful duo!

Every generation has to learn anew the meaning of both freedom and oppression or so it seems. For our Passover Service we will honor this ancient story and explore what gives it such enduring power.
Special music: Cellist Carol Mathussen and Pianist Lorraine Rice.

This Sunday we will celebrate Easter and the Rites of Spring. There will be special music and a story for all ages at both services. Both Adult and Children’s choir will sing.

Ministers Dusty Desert Corner.

These days, they tell me, it is spring around here. And if you look hard enough there are signs: an occasional green leafed tree, some yellow flowers on the bushes and soon the wildflowers will appear in the desert. But for this newcomer, I must admit, spring around here is easy to miss if you stay in town. After all the sun shines here almost all the time, the weather is like a warm New England and an incredibly hot Danish summer day and with swimming year round and green trees too and winter flowers and certainly no snow to melt how do you know it is spring?

Maybe our hearts tells us? Maybe our dried out, winter weary souls are ready for a little spring magic and some gentle madness. Mine certainly is.

For despite the warm weather it has been a hard and cold winter for some of us. After the events of the fall that shook our sense of security we had begun to reweave the torn web of our lives and were making good progress. Then we had more than our share of memorial services. This month alone we suffered the loss of two of our members -- Lena Ballester and Hildegaard Larson. Yes, it does seem like we are coming out of a long winter.

But as their memories will remain, in my view the only resurrection we can be sure of, so too our hearts will heal given enough time. We are a caring congregation and we will support each other and help their families, as best we can.

So let us look for signs of spring in the way that really matters this Passover and Easter within our own hearts. And let us once again count our blessings.

One of mine is this congregation that reminds me of the old Broadway tune: Everything’s coming up roses and daffodils! The energy is so high, the exuberance so great right now that we just need to find a way to harness it. We made a very good start with our Consultant Jerri Moulder. After she attended our Sunday service, she exclaimed this is a dynamite congregation!

I agree with her. Sure we need to get better organized and yes, we need more space. But what wonderful problems to have. And soon, in May, all of us will have a chance to be part of our future as we will gather for a vision, mission weekend that will guide our five year plan.

My prayer for this spring is that we may be wise and patient gardeners of the spirit as we sow the seeds for our future.

Have a Memorable Passover, a Happy Easter and a Magical Spring

Board Bits

by Debbie Dinyes, Board President

Director of Religious Education

Flagstaff Visitors

We were delighted to have a group of Coming of Age youth and their advisors visiting from the Flagstaff church the weekend of Feb. 23-24.They got together with our middle school kids and had a good time getting to know each other, along with doing their COA program. They wanted to express their appreciation to the families that put them up Saturday night. They were thrilled by our Sunday service - especially the music -as they have a much smaller church. One of their goals was to see what a larger church is like, and I think they were very impressed (as well they should be!).

Each of the staff has been asked to take turns writing about ourselves and our position for the newsletter. Now it is my turn!

Church work must be in my blood. My parents met in seminary, and my father was a liberal United Methodist Minister in Oregon. He took me to anti-war demonstrations and almost went to jail for not paying taxes that went towards funding the Vietnam war. My mother, who had a master's degree in Christian education, did major volunteer work for the church when not taking care of four children. She always sang in the choir and later directed bell choirs.

I went to college at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, where I double majored in international studies and music. I spent my sophomore year studying in Taiwan and learning Mandarin Chinese. After college, I worked for US Senator Carl Levin in Washington, DC, but spent most of my free time singing in choirs. So, two years later, I went back to school, getting a master's degree in music therapy at Hahnemann University, a medical school in Philadelphia. After graduation I stayed in Philadelphia to work, and met Russ LoBrutto through a housemate in 1986. We moved together to Franklin, Massachusetts when he got a faculty position at Northeastern University, and were married in Oregon outside by a lake at a Methodist Camp in 1988.

After leaving Oregon, I never found a Methodist church that was liberal enough for me. I had always known about Unitarian Universalists, because my father was always allied with the local UU minister in local politics. In 1988 I started attending a UU church, and soon found myself directing a choir. When we moved here in Aug. 1991 for Russ' job at ASU, I called the minister in advance to find out what kind of UU church this was! He informed me that it was a nice group of folks, but they hadn't had anyone to help lead songs since someone had moved away several years before. When I got here and heard the (infrequent) singing, I told myself "I hope they let me help them, or I will

have to go somewhere else!" Luckily, this gracious group of people made me feel welcome and needed, and they even let me start meddling with song-leading. Lorraine Rice, the music director at the time, soon asked me to help direct the approximately 12-voice choir while she played the piano. For a couple of years I was given the proceeds of our fall Cabaret Show as a small stipend and thank-you for my volunteer work with the choir. But thanks to the efforts of the newly organized Music Committee, a series of long-range plans for the music program, and the generosity of the congregation, my position slowly grew and evolved until as of this January I am now a half-time employee of the church

I must say that I absolutely love my job! Since my eldest son, Ben (now 11 ½) was born I have wanted to mostly be at home raising my children. This job has allowed me the flexibility to do this, doing work I love. Bryan is now 9, and Jolie (adopted from China in April 1998) is 4 ½ and will be going to full-day kindergarten next fall (but who is counting?). I am also fortunate to get tuition waivers due to Russ' job at ASU and have been able to take many classes in music education and conducting. My goal is always to stay at least one step ahead of the choir, and I think I (usually) manage to do this! My music therapy background has helped me see the process of music making as being more important than the final musical product, and also I think helped to hone my people skills.

I believe that everyone has a musical child inside him or her. Over the years this child may have become stifled by being asked to "just mouth the words". But making music is a gift of being human, and a completely different experience than listening to music. The reason that I am now Director of Music Ministries is that I think music has a big role to play in a UU church. It helps connect the heart to the mind, and keep our services full of soul as well as intellect. It also helps us connect to each other, and to the past and the future. It offers comfort and hope, as well as inspires us to go out in the world and do good. It helps us celebrate both life's big and small moments, allows different generations to come together, and even provides ways for the musically untrained to participate with those who have more training.

And I have even bigger dreams for the future. I think music has great potential to help us reach some of our visioning goals, one of which is to be a more active presence in the community. Whether this will be in the form of community concerts, coffee houses, a community family choir, offering music lessons, or performing in various community settings, I don't know. But together I hope our music ministry can be a message of hope, joy, and comfort for our small, and for our larger, community.

$675 month. Unfurnished,
2 bedroom, 1 ¾ baths, citrus trees in yard. Access to community pool, crafts, pantry, five closets and utility room. One year lease, no pets, owner pays water bill.

In Sunland Village, a retirement community, 55+. 5035 E. Edgewood.

The Nominating Committee asks you to submit names for nomination to our Board of Trustees. The President, Vice President and the Treasurer have agreed to serve for the following year; however, we can accept further nominations. We will need to fill at least three positions as Trustees. However, the Committee favors multiple candidates. There are two positions open on the Special Funds Committee. The nominating Committee needs three members.

You may suggest yourself as a nominee. Please speak to or write, Bob Clark, Jim Middleton, Loyd Means, Ralph Imhoff, or Barbara Sorouff.

Thank you,
Nominating Committee

For all you newcomers, Shoe Box Ministry always welcomes donations of personal care products for the poor. You can find literature and the donation chest in the church entryway. At this time we need deodorant, disposable razors, toothpaste, and toothbrushes to complete boxes.

It is amazing what we can do together. Thanks for the help!

-Karen McBeath,
Coordinator. Shoe Box

As a greater number of children use our preschool classroom, we are finding we need more toys and books. During March, we would greatly appreciate donations of new or gently used toys and books.

Alison Means will accept donations between church services in the preschool classroom, which is directly behind the kitchen. (If your toy is bigger than a breadbox, please ask Alison before bringing it in.)
Thank you for helping us to keep our little ones happily occupied!

We were happy to see new faces at the February meeting of the Women’s Circle.

The Circle meets once a month,

sometimes in a member’s home, sometimes in the church Cottage (UU Building #3). The regular meeting day is the second Thursday — 1:00 PM. This month we will share challenges we have faced and how they were met.

The MARCH meeting will be held in Building 3 – The Cottage .

"Your Greatest Challenge".

Remember, all women of the church are welcome.

Longtime member Millie O’Malley, who moved to Ohio a couple years ago, has relocated to Florida. For her many friends at VUU her new address is

Millie O’Malley

c/o Maxine Thurston

1071 Donegan Rd. Lot 819

Largo, FL 33771-2910

She would love to hear from you.

We are having an organizational meeting (serving pizza) at 6-7:00PM, on Friday, March 15, in the Cottage Building. Come share ideas on how best to support each other. Call Coleen Dribble to RSVP.

The Family Games Night will follow our meeting at 7:00PM. Come play games, share snacks and get to know your fellow VUU members for this intergenerational event in the Cottage Building.

On Super—Souper—Bowl Sunday, our congregation fed the "soup bowl" in the
amount of $194.00 all of which will
benefit Paz de Cristo.

Paz de Cristo is Valley UU’s own special outreach, fighting hunger. Remember to sign sign up to reserve your special day to volunteer.

This a great family activity—preparing and serving food to hungry people.

A gentle form of Hatha Yoga is now being offered at VUU. Each Monday evening from 7 - 8 PM in Classroom B (downstairs), Linda Martin, registered and certified yoga instructor, is teaching the classes. All are welcome--it is beginning level class.

Please bring a pillow, small blanket, and/or any form of mat that you might have.

Classes are $10/class or $32/month.

If you have any questions or comments, please call Linda.

Membership News

On Sunday, February 10^th, we welcomed 34 new members into our church! Welcome aboard! Old members – you’ve got some mingling to do!

For those of you interested in joining our church, the next four-week New U.U. class will begin in early April. This is a wonderful chance to meet others who are new to the church, learn about Unitarian Universalism, and find out the pathway to membership. The Thursday night option will begin 4/4/02 and the Sunday afternoon option will begin 4/7/02. Both classes will have an evening reception on Friday, 5/3/02. Then new members will be recognized during the second church service on 5/5/02 followed by a potluck luncheon. Call Lauree Perry for details. Childcare can be arranged when you register for the classes.

The VUU Cookbook Committee would like to include the recipes you love to cook and your family and friends love to eat. Soups and muffins, salads of all types, easy casseroles, pan seared fish and steaks, cookies and cakes from your great-grandmothers—we want them all! Recipes can be your own creations or from other sources.

You can submit your recipes in two ways: (a) e-mail them to cynthiagrant@hotmail.com or (b) put them in the bright yellow Recipe Collection Folder that will be located next to the hospitality table during Sunday services.

Pat Linder and Dave Merrill have joined the VUU Cookbook Committee. If you would enjoy serving on this committee, please call Cynthia Grant. We welcome your questions and suggestions.

VUU would like to recognize the people who celebrated their 10 Year (or more!) anniversary of being a Member of this Church. We appreciate everything they have contributed over the years to help make this a welcoming and growing community. When you see them, tell them "Congratulations!"