January 2016

Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a newbeginning.

--Desmond Tutu

In this issue...

Sunday Services

Minister's Notes

Religious Education

Chips from the Board

Sunnyhill Spotlight

Homeward Bound

Social Justice Committee

Caring Committee

News, Events, & Other Stuff

News from the OMD

CNewsletterQuick Links

UUCSH WebsiteMinister and StaffBoard of TrusteesRE CalendarCalendarSunnyhill Resource GuideClick Amazon button toshop and earn $$ forSunnyhill!Submit to The Beat!LifeCraft ScheduleUUAOMDUUSC

Sunday Services in December

Jan. 3, 10:00 a.m. (one svc.) The Heart of Devotion: Serving,Transforming, Being. Rev. Jim Magaw.Drawing on Hindu tradition, this sermon explores such questionsas: How do we find our deepest and truest selves? What is therole of faith and community in this quest? How are we changedby the journey itself? And how do we make the shiftfrom serving others to standing with and among others? Jan. 10, 9:00 a.m. & 11:30 a.m. Because I Said So. Rev. JimMagaw.Parenting offers copious opportunities for growth, whether wewant those opportunities or not. One of the great challenges ofparenting is learning to balance maintaining parental authority withletting your child be themselves. This service will explore thespiritual lessons that might be learned about authority andparenting. Jan. 10, 7:00 p.m. (evening) Dark Moon Ritual. Spiritways.At Dark Moon, we call upon the Dark Goddess, the Crone. In thisritual, we will call upon Hekate, the eldest of the Greek Gods.She sees all things, past, present and future. She is the Keeper ofthe Cauldron of Rebirth. She is the Mother of Magick. She is theGoddess of Transitions, of keys and doorways and crossroads.We will journey to the Cave of Hekate, there to seek herguidance. We will bring offerings. We will write down what weneed to discard and have changed, and cast it into the fire. Thecolor that we wear will be black, the color of protection and of theDark Moon. Our offerings will be cast upon the ground or buried,as appropriate. Think about what you wish to offer and what itmeans to you. If you wish to bring something to share duringCakes & Ale, it's always appreciated. Due to the powerful qualityof rituals, children 12 and older only please, unless otherwisenoted. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.Facebookevent: https://www.facebook.com/events/1028228513878326/ Jan. 17, 9:00 a.m. & 11:30 a.m. How Does Virtue Meet BruteForce? Rev. Jim Magaw.At the 2015 UUA General Assembly, Cornel West challenged usto answer four questions originally posed by W.E.B. DuBois, oneof which was this one. Each of us strives to live a virtuous life.How can we be true to our highest values in the face of systemicoppression and injustice expressed through brute force? Jan. 24, 9:00 a.m. & 11:30 a.m. Partnering with Others in

Interfaith Work. PIIN.This service will highlight ways in which Sunnyhill can partnerwith the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN). PIIN is anetwork of congregations and organizations in SouthwesternPennsylvania committed to drawing together people of faith to actpowerfully on local and regional issues of justice and fairness.Our designated offering will support PIIN. Jan. 31, 9:00 a.m. & 11:30 a.m. Evolution and MoralImprovement. Rev. Jim Magaw.Human beings have made great progress in a number of areas,including, for example, technology and medicine. But are wecapable of improving our moral and ethical lives over time? Arewe better people than we were centuries ago? Will we be moreethically advanced in years to come? This sermon will addresstheses questions and more. Jan. 31, 7:00 p.m. (evening) Imbolc Ritual. Spiritways.Imbolc, also known as Candlemas and St. Brigid's Day, is aGaelic festival marking the Quickening of Spring when the Earthbegins to stir from her winter slumber. It is a "fire festival"acknowledging the changing of the Goddess from Crone toMaiden. It's also the beginning of lambing and when ewes comeinto their milk. At Imbolc we experience that"just noticeable difference" of the days becoming longer. This is atime of unseen potential, purification, and spring­cleaning. It is thetime to consider new goals and plans (planting "seeds" bothliterally and figuratively) for the upcoming year. Honoring what isnot present yet, words yet to be spoken, intentions not yetformed. Candles represent the return of the warmth, and the sun'spower growing from its birth at Yule. Join us as we honor Brigid,come together to consider goals, and celebrate the Earth'sQuickening as the days begin to grow longer. For the ritual,white/ivory, green, or red are all appropriate colors to wear. If youwish to bring something to share during Cakes & Ale, it's alwaysappreciated. Due to the powerful quality of rituals, children 12 andolder only please, unless otherwise noted. Children under 16 mustbe accompanied by an adult.FacebookEvent: https://www.facebook.com/events/686848521415646/

Minister's NotesRev. Jim Magaw

A number of years ago, a UU minister wrote that, if you want to put together a congregational surveythat will measure the overall health of the congregation, you really need to include only two questions: Did you pledge more money and support the efforts of the congregation more this year than last year?Did you attend worship more this year than last year, and invite non­members to attend with youmore this year than last year? Judging from our recent financial commitments and rising attendance numbers, Sunnyhill is doingvery well. Our average pledge increased significantly over the past two years, with only a few peopledecreasing their pledges. We added a number of new members, most of whom pledged generously.And our attendance numbers continue to rise. As most of you are aware, our congregation is counting on staying healthy and growing as we moveinto our expanded facility next year. Moreover, our community and our world need our congregation to

remain strong.

Thank you so much for your continued generous support of Sunnyhill. Everything we're able to do is aresult of the effort of so many people. Let's make 2016 the best year yet for our church!

­­Rev. Jim Magaw

Religious EducationJennifer McGlothin, Director of Religious Education

Happy New Year! Now that we are officially in 2016 it is time to start thinking about our "future plans"for RE! Once our new space is complete we will have a beautiful new nursery for babies andtoddlers, a new crying room that connects parents of little ones to the sanctuary, and RE space thatis modern and fresh. The next couple of months will be full of planning and packing to ease ourtransition into the new space. We will have a lot of little things to work through while we are in ourtemporary space, but I know that the Sunnyhill can­do spirit will carry us through to when we canmove back to our corner of Washington Rd. Our temporary space will bring opportunities to thinkabout RE classes a little differently and give us a chance to really be creative­ what an exciting timeto be a part UUCSH! In peace and light,

­­Jennifer McGlothin, Director of Religious Education Update on RE Social Justice Projects: Foster Love ProjectBethany and Jen delivered 16 Placement Bags for the Foster Love Project, which will be distributedamong students throughout Pennsylvania. THANK YOU for all of your donations for this project!

Children's HospitalThe 3­5 Grade RE students donated $230 to the Free Care Fund at Children's Hospital from buskingbefore and after services in November! Guest at your TableThe 6­8 RE class would like to give a friendly reminder about the guest at your table jars that youreceived last month. Thank you for keeping on donating to the UUSC. We will be collecting the jarson the 27th during service. Have a happy holiday season. Thanks, 6­8 Grade RE Class 7­9 Grade OWL!OWL Sexuality Education Classes for grades 7­9 have been scheduled! Please visit the UUA's

website for more information about the OWL program: http://www.uua.org/re/owl What is OWL?"OWL" is a UUA curriculum that encompasses all aspects of sexuality that are of concern to youngpeople. Besides providing facts and necessary information, the course attempts to help youthunderstand and then communicate their own feelings about sexuality and its expressions withincontext of Unitarian Universalist values. It is the development of these communication skills, whichsets this curriculum above the sexuality education programs provided by schools and hospitals. 7­9 Grade

This class will typically meet from 12:45­4:00 pm on Sunday afternoons.The mandatory parent orientation meeting will take place on January 17, 2016 at 11:30.The class will begin the following week!Cost: $50 for Sunnyhill Families/$75 for individuals from the community.

Chips from the Board The Board of Trustees met on December 8, 2015.

The Board spent much of the December meeting focused on financial matters and logisticsassociated with the building expansion.The capital campaign collections are on track. The congregation will need to borrow to fund thedifference between the capital campaign and the construction budget. One of the options tominimize this borrowing is to create a trust fund ­ Sunnyhill Trust III. Plans for the SunnyhillTrust III were discussed along with the loan application status and getting more legal help ondebt agreements and opportunities.The board also discussed options for leasing temporary space and coordination of logisticsrelated to moving to this temporary space.The Safe Congregation Policy was reviewed again and the Jan board meeting was set as adeadline for review and approval of this policy.

­­Kavita Lyengar

Treasurer's Report

I hope I am not speaking too soon (I have to do a final balancing of the books for the year in acouple weeks) but it looks like the 2015 annual budget will close out the year several thousanddollars ahead! Yippee!Thanks to everyone for keeping up with your pledges, to all who worked on fundraisers, and toeveryone who made donations large and small.Happy holidays!

­­Nina Balsamo

Members are welcome to attend UUCSH board meetings. If you have an issue you want to bring tothe board's attention at the monthly meeting, please contact Denny McCracken atpresident@sunnyhill.org to be added to the agenda. Request the board agenda and minutes fromthe church administrator at admin@sunnyhill.org or contact Nanette Miller, Secretary, atboard@sunnyhill.org. Board Meetings for the 2015­16 church year will be the second Tuesday ofthe month. The next board meeting will be on Jan. 12, 2016, at 7 p.m. in Room 15.

Sunnyhill Spotlight

Betta Risa gave Sunnyhill a great shout­out on LIVE TV! Check out the cliphere: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/show/pittsburgh­today­live/video­3335383­pittsburgh­has­heart­socks­for­seniors/Thank you to all the helpers and One World in December! What a magical night!

Homeward Bound ­ Status Report

Capital Campaign Update In addition to approving the proposed 2016 Operating Budget at the December 6th CongregationalMeeting, authority was also granted to move ahead with the building expansion project and relatedefforts. Specifically, motions were approved for 1) final design of the building, 2) liquidation of theexisting Sunnyhill Endowment Fund with the proceeds directed toward the Capital Campaign, and 3)authority to secure financing of up to $1.4MM to complete the project. Additional Commitments to the Capital Campaign since last month have totaled about $10,000, sowe're now at almost $275,000 for Phase 2! A huge "thank you" to all for your amazing generosity andsupport. And a special thank you to Donna Kaufman and Sarah Yourd for the brunch on December6th to celebrate our Capital Campaign work and the sharing of our resources. Most certainly we will continue taking contributions. Also, George Williams and John Hemington areworking on Sunnyhill Trust III, which is a process through which you can loan money for the buildingproject in return for a negotiated rate of interest. Contact either George or John if you are interested.The UUCSH has utilized the trust concept a couple of times in the past with great success. Inaddition, Denny McCracken and our Board are currently engaged in the process of evaluating loan­related opportunities that are available through the UUA, and are also working with a number of localbanks in an effort to secure the remaining funds that will be required to complete the project. Our next step is to ensure that we can cover the cost of debt service on the amount financed for thenext five years. At this point 32 members and friends have committed a total of almost $15,000 peryear; we're more than halfway to our goal of $28,000. As difficult as it is to ask again for money, thisis how close we are to turning our project into reality...just $13,000! If each of us will commit to somemonthly incremental amount of money that we add to our pledges, we can do this without seriouspain. Many of us have committed to $10 more per week or $500 per year for the next five years, butany amount will help. Please contact Denny McCracken (dennymccracken@yahoo.com) to lend yoursupport, or click here for a link to the pledge form. Completed forms can be mailed to Denny orplaced in the mailbox in Roy's office. This last small effort required in our Capital Campaign brings us to a place in time where we give toourselves, to each other and to generations that will follow. Let's build a church....

­­Denny McCracken

From the Social Justice CommitteeCori Vipperman and Pat Murray, Co­Chairs

The Social Justice Committee has been very busy the last couple of months! Here are somehighlights:

In October, the Committee hosted a "Practicing out FaithForum", facilitated with the help of PIIN's Irene Habermann.In this meeting, we brainstormed an action based on thethree issues the congregation identified during the listeningcampaign as ones we should focus on in the comingmonths. We decided to have a small get­out­the­votecampaign with the goal being to get 75 people from thecongregation to pledge to vote and to ask them toencourage two other in their circle to do the same. For suchshort notice, it was definitely a success in that we gotmany more than 75 signatures. Thank you to all thatpledged to vote and all those who voted this pastNovember!

In November, a number of members attended a Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in AmericaMeeting in the South Side to learn about what they do and how we can get involved. Moms DemandAction is a non­partisan grassroots movement to mobilize moms and families to advocate for strongergun laws. We look forward to working more with them in the future. Also in November, Pat Murray, Joe Shaughnessy and Cori and Jeff Vipperman attended theUUPLAN Annual Meeting in Harrisburg PA. UUPLAN serves more than 6,000 Unitarian Universalistsworking together in common cause to embrace, articulate, and advocate for all goals of social andenvironmental justice. They offer existing opportunities to get involved in causes that are important toour congregation and we are excited to take advantage of what they have to offer.

On November 18th, members of the Social Justice Committeecarried the Sunnyhill banner for the PIIN Public Action Meeting(moving toward a beloved community). PIIN continues to be amajor community organizing force in our key areas of focus:education, public transit, jobs, economy, clean rivers, gunviolence and the meeting highlighted what they haveaccomplished and where they are going. It was a very inspiringevening! Stay tuned for updates as we become more involvedwith this wonderful organization. As always we have all kinds of ongoing activities with Habitat forHumanity, Family Promise, SHIM and others. Contact either CoriVipperman (coriv1@verizon.net) or Pat Murray(pamurray505@gmail.com) if you're interested in participating inthese ongoing opportunities for service and they can refer you tothe right coordinators. If you would like to be on the Social JusticeCommittee email list to receive periodic updates and opportunitiesto practice our faith, you can sign up in the church dining room or

contact Cori or Pat.

From the Caring CommitteeJean Furlan and Jeanie McQuillin, Co­Chairs

We mourn the loss of our friends and loved ones this month.

Bill Giles, uncle of Cindy Mentzer.Dorothy Vesta, aunt of Leslie Smith.

If there is news about a life change in your family that you would like included in The Drummer, pleasecontact a co­chair from the Caring Committee or e­mail the information to drummer@sunnyhill.org. Baby andgrandkid pictures always welcome!

News, Events, and Other Stuff

Second Saturday at Sunnyhill: January 9"Second Saturday at Sunnyhill" is a family­friendly program that takes place on the second Saturdayof each month. This program is designed as a way to build closer relationships with other membersand friends while doing some deep sharing and listening around a particular topic each month. Theseevents are both fun and engaging. At each of these events, we gather at 4:00 for some informalsocializing and begin at 4:15 with a story and some singing. At 4:30, we split into small groups (withseparate related activities for children) to do some chalice circle­style sharing based our monthlytopic. At about 5:30 we share a potluck supper and more informal conversation. Our next SecondSaturday program will take place January 9. All are welcome! For more information, please contactRev. Jim (minister@sunnyhill.org) or Bethany Thornton (membership@sunnyhill.org). Sunnyhill Book GroupOn Jan 18th at 7:30pm the Sunnyhill Book Group will meet to discuss the book The Quiet Girl byPeter Hoeg. Everyone is welcome! 18th Summit Against RacismWhen: Saturday, January, 23 2016, 8am­5pm. Where: PittsburghTheological Seminary, 616 N Highland Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Thegathering will provide a forum for discussion about the current state ofrace relations in the U.S., what we have learned so far, and pathwaysto deeper understanding, healing, and social action. There will bespeakers, workshops, and social time. And lunch! Hosted by the Metro­Urban Institute and the Black and White Reunion. There is a group rateof $10/person for UUs of Greater Pittsburgh attendees. Register onlineby Jan 20. More info: https://summitagainstracism.wordpress.com/ Sacred Chanting at Sunnyhill: No Chanting in January"Sacred Chanting at Sunnyhill" takes place on the first Friday of eachmonth at 7:00 p.m. and lasts about one hour. We will not meet onJanuary 1, but will resume our regular schedule on Friday, February 5.This is a relaxed and informal event, and all who are interested areinvited to attend­­no background in music or chanting is required, only an interest and a willingness totry something new. For more information, contact Rev. Jim (minister@sunnyhill.org).

http://www.cerguua.org/cergevents-1875/777-capacity16.html

News from the OMDBeth Casebolt, District AdministratorDetails about upcoming events are available at the OMD website.

CERGing Forward Blog: Together, Our Vision WidensOver the last few weeks, a number of our staff and district board members, including me, have beentraveling around all of the various parts of our Central East Region to meet with different constituencygroups and congregational clusters to talk about regionalization. And we have many more of thesemeetings scheduled for the upcoming months. Read the full text and comments of the post Ohio­Meadville District AssemblyApril 1, 2016 ~ Akron, OH. Theme speaker is Rev. Susan Ritchie. UUA Moderator Jim Key will alsobe in attendance. Theme is Better Together. General AssemblyThis year's General Assembly on June 22­26, 2016 will be held at the Columbus Convention Centerin Columbus, OH. The theme for GA 2016 will be Heart Land: Where Faiths Connect. Learn moreabout General Assembly in Columbus in 2016. New publications from the UUAListening Hearts is a new addition to the Deep Connections series; Assembled is an ebook oflectures and sermons from GA 2015; and more pamphlets including A Home for Multifaith People andFamilies, UU Views of Jesus, and Welcome to Our Community. Visit the Publications Page fordetails.

The Drummer is published monthly. Submit copy and photos to the editor, Michael Farb, via email todrummer@sunnyhill.org by the 15th of each month. If you don't have email, please call the office at412­561­6277. We will be happy to have copies mailed to you. To be removed from the e­maildistribution list or to submit an e­mail address change, please send request to admin@sunnyhill.org.

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Unitarian Universalist Church of S. Hills | 1240 Washington Road | Pittsburgh | PA | 15228