"Actions Speak…"

Actions Speak in Phoenix, AZ

I have started a group called Faith In Action, a community youth theater

group in Phoenix, Arizona. The idea is important but simple: Youth are not

generally asked to live out their faith. They are asked to go to church, or

be part of community service groups and events, but when it comes to

actually living a life as taught and modeled by Jesus, they are told that it

is more important to focus on school and getting into college. Faith In

Action is designed to use theater training techniques as tools for a

spiritual journey. As we put on a play--for our first effort we have

selected Shakespeare’s As You Like It--we will be translating a text,

wrestling with the issues the author presents, and having to choose how to

act on those issues. There is no room for mere memorization or recitation

in good theater; it is about characters fighting for things that matter to

them. My hope is that in learning to be better actors on stage, we also see

how these tools of discernment and meditation aid our own spiritual

journeys, equipping us to act out our faith throughout our entire lives.

Brian Gruhn

Student at Andover Newton Theological School

Founder of Faith In Action

Actions Speak in Honduras by Liz Miller

Through my Field Education site, Hancock Congregational Church, I organized

and led an international mission trip for 10 adults to Piedras Nedras,

Honduras. We partnered with Sustainable Harvest International, a great

local organization that works throughout Central America to teach

sustainable, organic agriculture practices and combat deforestation. In

Piedras Negras we lived with families in the communities, learned about the

agriculture projects they have been developing, and worked on some new

projects with them. Some of the work we did included planting yucca on a

mountainside, building a chicken coop, and building a drip irrigation system

for a plot of tomatoes.

What spoke to me was the overwhelming hospitality and generosity of the

community that we lived and worked with. They were very limited in terms of

physical resources but they were overflowing in love and kindness for these

strangers who just appeared in their village. I felt more at home and more

welcomed into my host family than I have in many places in the U.S. I

planned this trip thinking I was leading this ministry, but the entire week

it was my group who was ministered too. The people we worked with were

patient with our limited Spanish and eager to teach us the skills we needed

to be successful in our work. They did not laugh at our clumsiness or

attempt to do the work by themselves, even though they were twice as fast as

we were. This experience helped me understand that when we let go of the

idea of who is supposed to be leading and ministering we can open ourselves

to the ways God speaks through all people and through all of creation.

Liz Miller is a graduating MDiv Student

Actions Speak in the military

I am seeking to become the first Unitarian Universalist Chaplain for the Vermont Army National Guard. My intent is to minister to the particular needs of this community of soldiers and their families. This is an especially important cause given that Vermont is sending its men and women to Afghanistan in December 2009.

However, my ministry aims also to build lasting positive relationships between military families and their local communities. I want to narrow the large civil-military gap that has developed in our society since the Vietnam War. As a UU, delicate is the balance between supporting the inherent worth and dignity of military soldiers and upholding a commitment to peacekeeping and justice. I believe, though, that liberal religious institutions and persons can advocate for the ethical use of force in a responsible manner. Likewise, military personnel deserve from liberal religion acknowledgment for their service, respect for their humanity, and attention to their particular knowledge and skills. I have begun engaging in dialogues around this issue through the recent conference at Harvard Divinity School, "Ivies and the Military: Toward Reconciliation" (www.hopetending.org).

Thank you very much to you and the sponsoring alumna for the opportunity to participate in this event.

Regards,

Jesse Dunklee

Actions Speak - Alzheimer's Ministry

Programs of The Healing Moments™ Alzheimer’s Ministry

unite art and spirit by weaving together information about Alzheimer’s

disease, quality of life issues for patients and caregivers,

spirituality as a way to find meaning and healing, and improvisational

theatre exercises. Designed to enhance participant awareness of the

transformative power of being present and accepting what is, these

unique programs are enlightening, inspirational and fun.

Healing Moments ™ was developed by the Rev. Jade Angelica

who was inspired by interactions with her mother, who has Alzheimer's

disease. Encouraged by many dedicated and gifted people, Rev.

Angelica created an experiential program that shows participants how

to combine improvisation and spiritual practice in ways that enhance

their relationships with persons with dementia. Since May 2007,

Healing Moments™ programs have been offered for clergy, seminarians,

families and friends, professional caregivers, nursing home staff, and

nurses.

Programs in development include: Specific training for

pastoral care teams so they can offer respite care to families of

Alzheimer’s patients with confidence; support groups for family

caregivers offered through their church communities; a play

highlighting the Healing Moments methods for learning to communicate

with persons with Alzheimer’s and exploring the value of their lives.

Rev. Jade Angelica, Doctor of Ministry student

Actions Speak in Jamaica

I would like to serve the poor in Jamaica. I will likely volunteer at the Mustard Seed Communities which is set up to minister to orphans and people living off the garbage dumps. The program is already well under well. I'd like to bring some ANTS innovation to it- such as starting prayer and Bible study groups as well as reconciliation work.

There is a lot of trouble with gangs there, creating some space for young adults to dramatize their situations, and express themselves would be a huge help. Seed money for a community space supplies would be terrific. I would like to help people to enter into dialogue so that communities and individuals can heal. I would like to apply some techniques I learned at a recent workshop entitled S.O.B.E.R. which encourages people to be honest about how they are experiencing situations. This will help people be more themselves. I believe this is a core of Jesus' ministry to the world.

Bill Gural

Actions Speak - Bread for the Journey

“Bread for the Journey” is a fundraiser I initiated with the Refugee Immigration Ministry cluster group from Topsfield.  Under the direction of Reverend Ruth Bersin, R.I.M. sets up church group clusters in northeast Massachusetts to help settle undocumented people who have fled their homelands in fear of their lives.  The cluster groups work together to support and house people who would otherwise be deported or imprisoned while they wait for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement judge to grant them legal residence in the United States. Undocumented people cannot legally work, so all financial need must be met by the supporting cluster.

Compassionate volunteers from three area churches were involved. Members of my own congregation in Manchester, NH and others in my home community, hearing of the opportunity, also got involved.  For several weeks individuals carried on a cottage industry, hand baking and freezing bread to be sold at the Topsfield Strawberry Festival.  The night before the event we wrapped each loaf and added a hand designed label which included a table grace.  Final touch was a sprig of rosemary tied with a ribbon. We sold out of bread, and raised a good amount of rent money.  Leaflets handed out and conversation served to inform fairgoers of this very special outreach ministry.  

The hope was for the Topsfield cluster to spread the word, recruiting bread bakers in an ongoing effort to continue using this idea at fund raising events throughout the year.   The title “Bread for the Journey” could become a source of identity for their work on behalf of those who are very much on an important journey for their lives.

Celeste McQuarrie

Actions Speak - Recovering the Promise Ministries

Darkness covered the face of the earth…. and then God said “Let there be light.” I believe those who proclaim to be people of faith are that light, illuminating whenever and wherever we see darkness. Darkness surrounds the employment opportunities for a transgender person recently released from incarceration. In some cities up to seventy-five percent of transgender people are without full-time employment and sixty-five percent of male-to-female (MtF) transgender people have spent time in prison or jail, as well as twenty-nine percent of people who identify as female-to-male (FtM) [1]—these rates are far above that of the general population. Recovering the Promise Ministries (RPM) is developing ways to illuminate God’s love into this darkness with the Transitioning to Employment program (TE). The program will assist the transgender person in securing and maintaining viable employment. TE testing will help identify strengths and skills each person has. The team will then provide help with preparing resumes, offer training in how to use the Internet and other media for job searches and offer training in successful job interviews. TE will also provide weekly group meeting to discuss the joys, issues or concerns that being transgender and employed may create. Let there be light!

---

[1]. Lewis Wallace, “Transgendered Behind Bars,” October, 2007, In These Times, http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3372/transgendered_behind_bars/.

Insight courtesy of First Unitarian Society of Newton, West Newton MA

It's not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change. - Charles Darwin

This just in from the UNH campus...

Received in a note today from an Open House guest:

"I'm still discovering right up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith..I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities.  In doing so we through ourselves completely into the arms of God."

- Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945, German Lutheran pastor executed shortly before the end of WWII)

Thank you K.S.!

A shared inspiration: dancing speaks

Submitted today by Frank Novo, Director of Housing here at Andover Newton:

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost."  - Martha Graham (1894 – 1991, American dancer/choreographer)