| Secret Santa: What's Planned for 2008?
In 2007, we developed a web-based system for applying for Santa's help and for applying to be a Santa. Each child and each wish receives a unique code to protect anonymity and prevent duplication and confusion. The info from the forms generates a secure data base.
In
2007 CUUPS had an information table at Pagan Pride Days; COG and UMPA both donated as well.
For 2008, we are hoping to expand the number of children served, especially as the economy is not expected to be good.
Plans for our biggest Secret Santa event yet are already underway. Have you been
drafted -- possessed? -- by the spirit of Santa?
We're looking for a few merry elves to make the
magick happen! The first tasks are designing flyers, distributing them in September and creating a display for Pagan Pride
Day inviting folks who need Santa and folks who need to BE Santa to sign
up to be contacted. Contact SANTA if you'd like to help. |
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From a sister chapter
By "Aisling" <aisling@technoharp.com>
Last year for the local Gay Pride Interfaith service, where I represented
CUUPs, I created the following using the 7 Principles and the Charge of
the Goddess:
The Charge of Commitment
Listen to the words of the Great Mother of All
Living, She who is the Mother of Mysteries:
I who am the beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the
stars,
and the mysteries of the waters,
I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me.
For I am the soul of Nature that gives Life unto the Universe.
We affirm our mutual respect for the interdependent
web of all existence of which we are a part.
Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for
behold - all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.
We affirm our mutual acceptance of one
another, and encourage individual spiritual growth in our diverse
congregations. We affirm that all life-affirming paths of Spirit are
useful and valid to those who practice them, and that all seek One Source,
that Highest Good that lies at the end of every search for Truth.
Let there be beauty and strength, power and
compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.
We affirm our determination to work
together for justice, equity, and compassion in human relations, with a
goal of world community and peace, liberty, and justice for all.
And you who seek to know Me, know that your seeking
and yearning will avail you not unless you know the mystery; for if that
which you seek you find not within yourself, you will never find it
without.
We affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and the
universal right to pursue a free and responsible search for truth and
meaning.
For behold, I have been with you from the beginning;
and I am that Wisdom and Love and Peace which is attained at the end of
the Journey.
We affirm that there is Love in the
Universe. We affirm our commitment to expressing and developing ourselves
as representations of that Love.
We affirm to our Deities, and to one another, our Commitments Of The
Heart.
Amen, Ashe, and Blessed Be
Please feel free to use or adapt this as you
wish for your own purposes.
Maureen Duffy-Boose
CRF CUUPs Board, SVUUS
265-0887
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How we record our
hurts:
A Soul Tale
Two friends were on a long journey through the desert together. The
frustrations and fatigue and their own limitations led to a conflict,
which escalated until one friend slapped the other one in the face. The
one who got slapped was hurt, but instead of continuing the argument,
silently wrote in the sand:
"Today my best friend slapped me in the face."
They both reflected silently on what had happened as they kept on
walking. The disagreement faded from prominence in their minds as they
both reflected on how important their relationship continued to be.
Eventually, they found an oasis, where they decided to bathe. The one who
had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started to drown, but his
friend saved him. After recovered from the near drowning, he etched on a
stone:
"Today my best friend saved my life."
The one who had first slapped and then saved his best friend, asked him,
"After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a stone,
why?"
The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down
in sand, where the winds of forgiveness can wear it away, but when someone
does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can
ever erase it.
Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your blessings in
stone.
----- An old soul tale retold by Christa Landon. |
Tao te Ching, chapter #67
Translated by Ted Tollefson
...Three treasures
have been entrusted to our care:
first a nurturing heart (= tzu)*,
second frugality,
third humility.
From a nurturing heart comes courage---
freedom from fear;
from frugality comes generosity---
freedom from want;
from humility comes leaders who serve---
freedom from self-importance...
Kindness and mercy bring victory in battle
and security in times of peace.
Heaven shelters those
who live with an open heart&mind .
____________________________
*tzu= heart below, growing plants above: nurturing heart, motherly love,
loving kindness
Living Peace:
5 Rules of Thumb
1. Say "ouch!" and watch very carefully how your
partner responds.
2. Look for allies, ask for help.
3. Know when to yield.
4. Trust your gut.
5. Refuse to become the Enemy.
Published with the permission of author,
Ted Tollefson, minister
UU Fellowship of Northfield mythos9@earthlink.net
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You've heard it said that "a new broom sweeps clean." You might also know
that,
according to Wiccan tradition, witches concealed their magickal wands in brooms,
and that the
wand embodies the True Will of an individual.
As we begin the next phase of CUUPS-TwinCities life, we will be engaging
in revisiting
all the activities, structures, and processes which shape our lives
together,
reconstructing wherever we can find better ways, discarding what doesn't
work for us,
reaffirming what we value, and prioritizing our projects.
To do this, we plan to focus our 2007-2008 membership events on
articulating our Mission and Covenant.
A MISSION is the group's articulation and lived commitment of:
who we are;
why we exist
as a group;
whom
our group exists to serve.
Our mission statement will help us to do four things:
1. to be conscious of ourselves and make intentional
choices;
2. to evoke deeper commitment among members;
3. to unites us; and
4. to invite others who share similar aspirations.
Our mission statement will clarify our shared identity and purpose. It is
our Covenant which will address HOW we will be together.
A COVENANT
is a sacred promise articulating the commitment of individuals
to one another. Like the magickal circle, the covenant is the sacred
boundary which defines the community, holds us, focuses our energy on our
highest aspirations, and protects us.
A covenant is not merely a two party contract, which may be voided if one
party fails. Rather, a covenant has a Transcendent partner, which may be
seen as the Divine, the World Soul, or the larger community which is also
affected by our relationship. A covenant is a commitment to shared
aspirations, and when the promise is broken, it invites recommitment
because caring and those shared aspirations endure.
COVENANTING
As Rebecca Parker put it, a covenant "is not a verbal agreement but a
practice."
As we consider the elements of the covenant which we want to share with
each other, we begin to live it. Over time, we will return again and
again to our covenant and ourselves what the words imply in specific
situations.
As the group grows wiser with experience, we will revisit our Covenant,
perhaps changing it.
This is why we call ourselves "COVENANT of UU Pagans."
If you are interested in participating in our Mission and Covenant
process, please check out the discussion on the Message Board
In hope and service,
Kate Madson, Treasurer
Shanna Schultz, Secretary
Tom Landon, Webmaster
Christa Landon, Adult Education,
Communications |
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Ritual Committee Developments
The Ritual Committee
is looking for folks who can attend a rehearsal to help create each seasonal festival. Drummers and musicians can practice on their own,
but are expected to attend the rehearsal.
We're looking for more members to help make the magick happen.
No experience? We all start out that way! If you're a new ritualist, we
welcome you to start by helping to produce our new moon rituals,
allowing the main ritual team to focus on Full Moons and Festivals.
If you have
good speaking or singing voice, a flair for the dramatic, or neither of
those, but just a reverent heart and a desire to serve in helping to
create beautiful, meaningful, and participatory worship, we can find a
role for you!
If meetings aren't your thing, but you are "a
hostest with the mostest," and would like to make our Feasts memorable
by creating the atmosphere for the meal and directing the set-up,
there's an apron, crown, and sceptor awaiting you! Tear-down/clean-up folks
are also welcome.
Sheet music and training CDs are being
distributed to those folks preparing the next festival. The ritual team has a
new "secret clubhouse" on line for
ritual planning, as well as our ritual team listserv.
All that's missing is YOU!
Come and play -- just send a note to the Webmaster and Tom can add you to the ritual team section
of the membership message board. |
Camp
Report
In 2007 our Labor Day Weekend camp was a moving experience. We shared our
longings for a deeper mysticism and interpersonal bonds as companions
on a sacred quest. More details will be uploaded onto the CUUPS members' Message Board.
We plan to have more discussions to develop our mission and covenant over the coming months, primarily at Full Moons. At the same time, we will be overhauling our training for newcomers, so that they will be more fully equiped to be active members, ready to share our mission and covenant when they welcomed into membership. This means that during the dark half of the 2007-2008 year, we will teach those who come to us but not admit new people to membership. In late spring, we will hold a two day membering retreat, during which new members will be welcomed into our covenant.
We are now looking to
put together a team to plan the Spring 2008 membership retreat and Summer festival. If you are interested
in planning for CUUPS Camp 2008, or have
suggestions, please write to CUUPS |
Expansion
of New Member Orientation Classes
After some discussion at the retreat, we decided to expand the new member process and not accept new members until Spring 2008 during a retreat.
We are now offering a free one session introduction to Paganism course, "The Pagan Path."
This will be open to anyone.
Persons who are interested in additional classes will be offered training in Ritual, "Covens and Covenant," and Sacred Scriptures/BOS. A course on UU Principles and the UU/Pagan connection will also be offered.
Membership will require attendance at 2 or more festivals, contribution of labor/services, paying dues, and attending basic classes and the retreat.
Once the New Broom Members Retreat has
developed our Mission/Covenant, we'll need to add an additional two
training sessions to share what we will have learned and decided.
See
CUUPS' Calendar for dates.
If you would like to
become a member, we'll help you to learn more about Paganism, CUUPS, and yourself. |
Tech Team
Are you
an initiate in the Mysteries of virtual reality? Would you like to
apply your skills in the service of the Pagan community? Tom the
Webmaster is seeking collaborators! In
addition to managing the technical side of publishing CUUPS TwinCities
Pagan News and generating interactive pages for Camp registration, the Tech Team folks
maintain the Message Board and are also invited to work on helping our
sister organization, PAGAN INSTITUTE to develop distance education
capacity.
We're especially looking for folks who know Dreamweaver, php, or Moodle.
Telephone Coaching in advanced Moodle skills is available from PI's Tech advisor,
R.D. Flowers.
Suggestions to improve the look and feel anywhere at PaganInstitute.org
are also welcomed. In the next year we want to make the site more
interactive and easier to navigate. We're also looking for suggestions
on changing the look and feel of our massive links directory. If you're
a techie interested in using your skills to serve the Pagan community, contact the Webmaster. |
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Spread
the word!
CUUPS-TwinCities
brochures are accessible online for distribution to UU congregations, Pagan stores, and
anywhere else appropriate. Copies will be available at all events,
but you can also print them up yourself on paper of your choice, because
they are yours here in .pdf format. PLEASE SPREAD THESE AROUND:
"What
is Paganism?" "Merry Meet! We are
CUUPS-TwinCities"
Additional brochures developed by CUUPS, Inc.
are also available for distribution. Please ask for them at any
meeting, or download them yourself at www.cuups.org |
And...
if
you REALLY want to be a player,
Membership
Business
CUUPS Twin Cities belongs to
its members,
its resources and vision are what we share.
Together, we are becoming
"dreamers whose dreams come true."
But such Magick requires that we
"apply
the proper kind and degree of force
in the proper manner,
through the proper medium,
to the proper object."
Below, you'll find what we're
doing now.
We invite you to join us. |
| Leadership
training
for folks too smart to re-invent the wheel:
UU
Resources for Shared Leadership
Just click on the image:
|
CUUPS Board Meeting Minutes
are published on our Message Board, and accessible to all members. If you are
NOT yet a member, you can receive a copy on request from any Board member.
Remember, members can suggest agenda items and attend board
meetings. Board meetings MAY be held at homes or in restaurants, so
be sure to RSVP.
See CUUPS Calendar for dates. |
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Chartering
Our Chapter: Progress Report
Chapter Sponsorship:
The last requirement for
our CUUPS chapter being chartered is to be sponsored by a UU congregation. Because we
serve members of many UU congregations in the Metro, we could apply
for sponsorship at any congregation which has several of us in its membership. There
are presently 3 members of CUUPS-TC who are members at FUS: Kate, Tom and Christa.
Because UU congregations are democratically run, our request for
sponsorship would be considered by the board of the congregation involved.
The key to sustainable relationship is, as always, reciprocity and shared
purposes.
First
Unitarian Society has asked CUUPS to help tear down and set up between
some weekend events, when they do not have a custodian on duty. If
you are available to stay 15 minutes after an event, please check with
Tom or Christa Landon about whether we are needed for that.
PLEASE,
if you value the vision and programs CUUPS Twin Cities offers, visit a UU
congregation. If you
have been attending a UU congregation, please consider joining them and
becoming a member of the chapter as well. If you aren't familiar
with the different cultures of the dozen UU congregations in the Metro, pick up a map brochure with a brief description of each congregation
at any CUUPS event or visit the website www.unitarian.org and check out each
congregation's page.
As you know, we have been
especially blessed with the generosity and trust shown to us by First
Unitarian Society which has been donating the space we have used for the
past year. We had hoped to be ready to request sponsorship from
First Unitarian Society by now. However, before we can make such a
request, we need to have a few more MEMBERS OF CUUPS TWIN CITIES
who are also members of First Unitarian Society (FUS). The next FUS membership program is scheduled for May 2005, but
members can join at anytime. If you are serious about
building bridges between these communities, this is a great way to do
it. Questions? Ask Christa at 763-493-3634.
And if
you're a non-joiner, there are other ways to "give back" to
the congregation which shelters us.
A
donation -- clearly marked as coming from a CUUPSter -- can only
help. They are deferring maintenance on the building we also
meet in because they didn't quite raise their budget funds last
year.
Pitching
in at one of their events -- again please let them know CUUPS sent
you -- is another way to "give back" and make our
relationship more sustainable.
ELF
DAYS
You'll recall how in fairy tales, friendly elves and such sometimes
took on tasks in a home, usually working overnight or otherwise
behind the scenes. FUS provides CUUPS with a roof over our
heads; it's only fair for us to help maintain the premises. |
