The Official Summer Institute Real Information Service
Central East Region Summer Institute
Thursday, July 11, 2019
QUICK LINKS
Lights for Liberty/Friday Vespers & Vigil
Fundraising Ideas
Climate Hope: Citizen’s Climate Lobby
Restorative Practices Morsel from SICoM
S.I.S.T. News & Notes
Pampered Chef Scholarship Fundraiser
Afternoon Workshops (Permaculture, Going Solar, Art, Mixology and More)
Slideshow Photos Wanted
Church Photos (CLF, 1st Columbus, First Pittsburgh)
FRIDAY VESPERS/VIGIL: LIGHTS FOR LIBERTY
VESPERS 8:30pm
Please join us for vespers on Friday at 8:30pm inside First Church as we explore the theme of Welcoming the Stranger. Announcements and explanations will be FIRST, so get there early. We have invited the congregations of the UU Fellowship of Oberlin and First Church to join us.
VIGIL 9pm
We will move from the service out into the front lawn of First Church as the drummers welcome us. We will stand in a semi-circle facing the streets with our candles (provided), chanting, and silence.
We are very grateful to Vivian Sandlund from the Kent Congregation for inspiring us to this action.
Learn more about this nationwide event at: https://www.lightsforliberty.org/
FUNDRAISING IDEAS
Do you have some great fundraising activities in your congregation? Could your congregation use some new ideas? Maybe you do a service auction or yard sale. Maybe you have had trivia nights or concerts or a music or themed festival. Bring your ideas to lunch on Friday to brainstorm. You could help another congregation with their fundraising or get some new great idea. Look for the marked tables at the desert end of the dining hall. Coincidence? Not really. Noon on Friday. Look for Nancy Lorei, or reach out to her at: Nanci.lorei@marshamarsh.com.
CLIMATE HOPE: CITIZEN’S CLIMATE LOBBY
The Living Our 7th Principle Workshop had the pleasure of talking with John Sabin, the Great Lakes Regional Coordinator of Citizen’s Climate Lobby (CCL). CCL is a non-profit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to address climate change. Their consistently respectful, nonpartisan approach builds upon shared values rather than partisan divides.
This extremely effective organization has chapters on every continent except Antarctica! Even in the US, they are building the political will to take real action. CCL helped to create the bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus, and their legislative proposals have gained the support of Republicans as well as Democrats. They successfully recruited co-sponsors to the Republican Climate Resolution, a Republican-led resolution that recognizes the impact of climate change and calls for action. In June, they met with 529 (out of 535) senators and representatives.
Our individual actions matter, but they are not enough to fight climate change. CCL provides both big and small ways to play a role in the international effort to safe our climate and our lives. Check them out at https://citizensclimatelobby.org/.
RESTORATIVE PRACTICES MORSEL FROM SICoM
We are in the swing of beloved community here at SI now, and as is common in all communities, along with all the hugging and tie-dying and drumming and worshiping and eating of soft-serve and singing and game-playing, etc., a few minor moments of tension and conflict have arisen. It’s alright! We are a beloved community, and we know how to be together. We also know how to come back together after a rift.
Restorative practices offer us a set of questions we can deploy, when we seek to restoratively repair a rift. There are various versions of these questions, but I offer you this set today to think about when you approach a situation that could use restoration:
If you might have done something that caused a conflict, ask the following questions:
- What happened?
- What was going through your mind and how were you feeling at the time?
- Who else has been affected and how?
- What do you need so that things can be put right and everyone can move on?
- How can you (all) address these various needs together?
If you feel harmed by the actions of another, using a restorative approach, you can explore the following questions:
- What did you think when you realized what had happened?
- What have your thoughts been since?
- How has this affected you and others?
- What has been the hardest thing for you?
- What do you think needs to happen to make things right?
SICoM is always available to talk about and help with your restoration needs. Using restorative practices to address conflict can keep SI Magic strong!
S.I.S.T. NEWS & NOTES
And now, more voices from this year’s SI scholarship recipients.
He said, “I would not have been able to come (to SI) for this deeply enriching experience without this assistance.”
On behalf of her daughter and herself, she said, “The support and renewal we experience in the midst of this community heals our wounds, replenishes our energy and carries us through the next year. We are so grateful.”
Your donations this week and in the months to come will help bring SI magic to our new home at California U. of PA. The S.I.S.T. thanks you for your generosity.
PAMPERED CHEF SCHOLARSHIP FUNDRAISER
Pampered Chef, founded in 1980, and a part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of businesses, is a direct seller of high-quality kitchen tools. As an Independent Pampered Chef consultant, Melanie Christiansen (Toledo) has offered to sponsor a fundraiser for the CERSI Scholarship Fund this week. 15% of any sales between now and July 15 will go to support the scholarship fund if you order directly from the designated website: https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/cersischolarship2019
AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS
Mixology Workshop, M-F 3:15- 4:45pm in Zechiel (Zeke) hall
- Thursday: Bitters; Cocktails: Negroni & Boulevardier
- Friday: Tiki/Polynesian; Cocktail: Painkiller
Participants must be 21 or older and be wearing the appropriately-colored wristband. We look forward to sharing a cocktail with you!
We’ve gone Solar! M-F, 3:15 – 4:45pm, Science Center Room 154
Thursday: Hear from Carl McDaniel from Oberlin, Ohio as he shares the story of his home known as Trail Magic, a positive energy home.
Friday: Hear from Tom Smith of the West Shore UU Church in Rocky River, Ohio who helped bring solar to his church.
Art in the Afternoon , M-F 1:30-3pm, Join us daily in front of Burton Hall (or in the 1st floor lounge of Burton if it’s raining) for an upcycling craft – using stuff that might otherwise end up in a landfill. Supplies will be provided to decorate your name tag, make mini journals and quote/inspiration spools. There will also be a daily craft:
- Thursday: Wine cork boards and decorative signs
- Friday: Free create – we’ll play with the supplies and goodies used during the week
What is Permaculture?
This year we have both a morning and afternoon workshop featuring Permaculture! The term is a shortening of “Permanent Agriculture,” the practice of copying nature and indigenous practices to grow food in a mutually beneficial way. This international and decentralized movement is a complex, systems-based way of looking at how we can be interconnected with nature and each other rather than continuing the current unsustainable practices of extraction, exploitation, and growth as if there were no limits to the earth’s capacity. Permaculture practices include rainwater harvesting, no-till gardening, companion planting using guilds of mutually-beneficial plants (e.g. the 3 sisters of corn, beans and squash), hügelkultur (intentional nurse logs) and food forests.
The Promise of Permaculture: 10:30am in Science Center A155
Permaculture Primer: 1:30-3pm in Science Center A154
Find many more afternoon workshop opportunities in our Programming section >>
LOOKING FOR SLIDE SHOW PHOTOS
The Saturday morning slide show could use any good photos of kids, youth, or even young adults you have taken while at SI. Photos should be at least 1 Megabyte in size. Please email only your best pics by Friday at 9:00 am to Brad Bolton at proftalon@gmail.com.
CHURCH PHOTOS
- Church of the Larger Fellowship will take a group photo Thursday at 8pm in front of First Church.
- First Unitarian Pittsburgh church photo will be outside the Cafeteria at 1:00 on Friday.
- 1st Church Columbus church photo will be Friday, 1:15pm on the steps of outside First Church.