Rev. David Hutchinson, Minister, 446-6858 Rev. Donald Hinkley, Minister Emeritus Rev. Martha Newman, Minister Emerita Bill White, Moderator, 521-0015 Susan & Bruce Glick, Co-Treasurers, 538-9264 Fred Griffith, Clerk, 532-2455 Karen Klahr, Newsletter, 532-4051 Church Phone, 532-9269 Committee on Ministry, Debra Frazier, Bruce Glick, Philip Crowley Newsletter - September 2007

First Church of Houlton Unitarian Universalist 61 Military St. Houlton, ME 04730

As Houlton celebrates its 200th anniversary, we've spent some time digging through our archives. (Our history at First Church is "almost" as long as the town.) We found this photograph taken from the corner of Court Street and Military heading east which shows the court house, the town jail and the Unitarian Church. If you are wondering what our building is doing on that side of the street, the great fire of 1902 will answer your question. After the fire, Monument Park was established along with the addition of Broadway Street approximately where our former structure was located. We purchased the lot on our current location and the rest is, as they say, history. It may seem like we've been in our church building for a long time, but even one hundred years is only a turning. Nothing is static. All is transition.

A theme we are exploring this year is called "The Great Turning." It is a phrase credited to eco-philosopher and deep ecologist Joanna Macy as well as Dr. David Korten whose latest book is titled, "The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community." We will be looking at the inner turnings and the outer turnings of human experience. Spiritual practices are especially crucial to a grounded and constantly expanding approach to life. In religious community we seek to support each other in these endeavors. Inner turnings and outer turnings are inseparably linked as we live in our contemporary world.

One of the notable highlights of Houlton's Bicentennial celebration was a local production of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town." The script is as applicable today as it was when Wilder first wrote it. One of the questions the play raises is, "What does it mean to live a realized life?" As we know, it's all too easy to get caught up in the everyday demands of paying the bills, maintaining relationships and keeping up with our schedules. Yet, living a realized life now is not that different than living a realized life a hundred years ago. There may be more speed and complexity to contend with these days, but the basic challenges remain the same. It's all a part of the great turning in which we find ourselves inevitably and intimately involved.

Live well. This is it.   Dave

Our church ingathering will be a time of renewal and transition into new themes and ideas for church services. It is an opportunity for our church community to encourage growth in our personal lives and thinking. Spiritual growth is a natural outcome as we journey together during this next year and at times we may transition from one set of ideas to another. The thought of this may strike you at times as confusing, frightening, and even exhilarating. Above all, as we practice the Seven Principles and Four Agreements, our church community offers "safe space" and "safe place" to explore any and all ideas you may have. Dare we promise you the opportunity to also explore ideas that make a wider circle and even include earth-related issues?

Our individual spiritual quests or our search to understand the sense of mystery and wonder is an important outcome during the church year. We all get caught up in tasks of everyday existence (grocery shopping, tedious meetings, materialistic yearnings, periods of depression, etc.) and tend to be unaware that ecstasy and bliss are available for us as well. Sunday mornings specifically offer an opportunity (to some it is available constantly!) to be reminded we live in a world of incredible beauty, wonder and the mystery of life everywhere. My hope is that our church community will share this quest for mystery and wonder during our church's annual cycle called the "calendar year."

Now the word from the mundane chorus: church activities over the next three-months and year show a packed calendar. Our church depends upon volunteers to help in whatever capacity they can, and any help you may give is welcome. If you see any activity that can benefit from your skills-don't be afraid to assert yourself!

Martha Newman first came to Houlton on the invitation of Moderator David Dietrich who was seeking a "supply minister" to cover a couple Sundays per month as the congregation clarified where it was going as active members dwindled and resources tightened. Rev. Martha was never a "settled" minister here and served us on a per-service basis, available by phone for personal and Board consultation. Rev. Newman did provide services to other churches in Maine, but never connected with them in the way that she did with far-away Houlton.

Martha had retired to Maine following her years of service to the Alton, Illinois Unitarian-Universalist church. Her true home in retirement has been with her daughter Amy Rouse and her husband Gene in Skowhegan, where Bruce and I visited her for tea on a number of occasions. There she was surrounded by her books and newspapers and enjoyed a backyard full of wildflowers and cultivated garden vegetables in containers on her lovely deck. During the years Martha served in Houlton, she lived during her stays here initially with Karen Klahr, then in an apartment of her own, and for a while in a house owned by Tor Smith. One winter, Martha "toughed it out" walking on icy sidewalks with failing eyesight and difficult physical problems as well. She had the heart and will of a lioness in serving her congregations, as one would expect from a woman who found her calling as a minister in middle age, worked her way through seminary in her fifties, and took her first church at age sixty.

I suspect that we will all remember Rev. Martha in our own ways, but for me she brought the Houlton church to an acceptance and appreciation for the church's new role in the community and in the lives of its members. She taught us to value our past and our traditions but not to be limited or bound by them. I learned from her how to love the members of our small congregation, how to respect their many talents, how to support others as I am able with my compassion and service, and how to risk who I am in helping us all grow together. I don't think anyone else could have done for me what Martha did. And I know that each of us who knew her has a Martha story. Please come share your memories of Martha at the upcoming memorial service. We were all better for having known and cherished her. - Sincerely, Susan Glick

Critically acclaimed pianist/composer Darrell Grant describes his 6th CD as his "dream project." The 2-disc set joins Grant with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade, and features guest appearances by Grammy-winning guitarist Bill Frisell, vibraphonist Joe Locke, saxophonist Steve Wilson, and guitarist Adam Rogers.

It's been ten years now since I first met Darrell. He was visiting his girlfriend (currently his wife) who was working as a farm apprentice in the Houlton area. I never heard Darrell play while he was here, but we did drink a lot of unfiltered coffee and talked about life and the arts. He was on his way to play at the Halifax Jazz Festival and then head to Portland, Oregon where he had just taken his first day job; professor of music at the University of Portland. I just happened to be in Portland earlier this summer for a convention and guess who was booked as evening entertainment?!

I call this Darrell's "Sergeant Pepper" album. Everything comes together in this offering; the right players, a blend of varied jazz styles, original compositions, vocals and (unexpected) covers of such artists as Sting and Cheryl Crow. You don't see many jazz concept albums out there, but I think this one fits the bill. Darrell builds a strong case for Truth and Reconciliation influenced by the works of Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and the TR Commission set up in South Africa after Apartheid. The album also includes other archival speeches from Ghandi, FDR, JFK, and Martin Luther King, Jr., interspersed between tracks. This is an ambitious project and potentially difficult to sustain over the length of two discs, but the music is solid and the theme cohesive. I was ready to play it again when the second disc ended!! Here are some liner notes from the CD booklet.

"I choose to believe in the power of humans to change the world. Art is the substance of our dreams and the medium through which resonates our most fervent hopes, highest aspirations, deepest truths, and most profound experiences. Those who create art possess a consequent extraordinary power to communicate, inspire, provoke, inform and to move others to transform society and themselves, and we bear the responsibility to use this power to affect positive change in our communities and the world."

Darrell is a musician and humanitarian who sees room for hope and improvement in the world. This latest album is a generous contribution to the cause.

Darrell and his wife Ann are members of the UU Church in Portland, Oregon. Their two-year-old son Malcolm is one of the most beautiful children in the world. For more information please visit www.darrellgrant.com