Religious Heritage

WE ARE WAY BEHIND IN WHAT I WANT TO COVER, so I want to change the last few dates of class. We won't meet this coming week on Sunday, you will have Senior high youth group and please come, because you have lots to work on! I want to propose meeting Friday night from 6-9pm with pizza and salad, May 1st and June 5th do the same. We can do a double sessions, get back on track, and be ready for the final Sunday. IF you can't make it let me know.

Homework Due April 26th. To help you with your UU biography that you are supposed to write, here it is again. 1 page typed, about 250 words. You can e-mail it to your mentor or me: amann@a2u2.org, or bring it to church, or even mail it to church if that is easier. I think when we get them all together I can put them in a booklet, including your biographies (which you can get in also if you have not yet) as part of the final ceremony on June 7th. The ones I have so far are really good. If you need some ideas:

Edmund Halley - Astronomer
John Adams - Second president of the United States
Charles Steinmetz - Engineer, Educator, and Research Scientist
Florida Ruffin Ridley - Educator, Writer, and Social Activist
Melvina Reynolds - Singer, Songwriter, and Political Activist

You can look them up on wikpedia, or you can ask me for a short description which I have many of in my office. Please ask if you want one to use as a guide or springboard.

The other assignment was to choose one of the activities on the handout about the history of Allen Ave. If you are missing this handout, I will have them in your classroom for the next few Sundays on the bulletin board. Just take one.


Summary of last class:On March 29th we met and talked about our church's Religous Heritage. As we talked about, churches are like families. They sometimes change locations, change their names, change their theologies, and even gain and lose members. But, like a strong family, strong churches are able to re-group, move forward, and be attentive to the changes in society, so as to meet the needs of the membership. a2u2 is a strong church, with strong leaders and caring people. We continue to move ahead to ensure generations a place to come to and practice liberal religious values. You can be proud to be a part of it.

In summary this is our history.

1821 First Universalist Society of Portland. We had a 1200lb bell in the highest steeple in town and it was on the corner of Congress and Pearl street.

1865 First Universalist Church. We had the largest organ in Maine and could seat 1,100 people and it was on the corner of Congress and High Street. We had outgrown our old church and received help and money to build a really big church.

1964 Messiah-All Souls Universalist Church. This church was on Stevens Avenue. We joined together with this church when we could not sustain ourselves any longer. Membership had declined at the last church and we had to sell it.

1969 Universalist Church of Portland. This was the same building and location and group of people. The name was changed to reflect the joining of the congregations.

1971 Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church. This new building is on our current site, Allen Avenue. The new name reflected the merger of the Unitarians and the Universalists. We more recently refer to the church as a2u2.

Our COA calendar:</strong>
I am having trouble finding a weekend that works for everyone to go to Boston, so I am going to go with our original dates with one change. We are only going to go on the trip for the day on Saturday all day and evening. This will change a little bit of what we see, but that is fine. We will meet at a2u2 at 7am and return around 10-11pm that night at a2u2.

We also need to pick a fundraiser for the trip (car wash on (May 31st?) or soup and bread sale (May 10th?). I will check with Gabe's mom who offered to do the soup sale. I will get back to you on that.

Our closing ceremony will be Sunday, June 7th at the 11am service.

So, the new COA dates:

Friday, May 1st 6-9pm
Saturday, May 30th 7am - 11pm
Friday, June 5th 6-9pm
Sunday, June 7th 10:30am (11am service) ceremony and party afterwards