Emerson Voice

A DAY AT THE LAKE!!

2008-07-18T15:51:00.002-04:00

FUN AT THE WATERPARK!

2008-07-18T15:46:00.002-04:00

Mediation Follow-Up

2008-06-04T20:18:00.003-04:00

June Sermons

2008-06-04T19:54:00.010-04:00

June 8 - Promoting our Church and Ourselves

We Unitarian Universalists have a difficult time speaking about our faith. But in the spirit of P.T. Barnum, that cagy, old Universalist showman, I think we should reconsider our reticence. After all, if we have something good, why not promote it? nd if we are something good, why not acknowledge it? -Rev. Harold Beu

June 15 - Honoring Our Parents and Guardians

Today we recognize the important contribution of our parents and guardians. Without them, there would be no civilization. But also without us and our support, there work would be onerous, to say the least. -Rev. Harold Beu

This is the last service for the month of June.

(No service on June 22 & 29).

There will be no services during the month of July.

Services will begin again on August 3.

May Sermons

2008-05-02T18:54:00.001-04:00

May 4

In Praise of Ordinary People
Given all the troubles that exist in the world, I sometimes wonder how anything works. Well, one reason things do work is because of ordinary people who do their work effectively and without complaint or fanfare. Thus, they are often not honored because their work goes unnoticed. But here I will do just that. Rev. Harold W. Beu

May 11

The Dangers of Religion
Religion can give people sustenance, but it also can create intolerance and even violence, as we painfully know given recent history. I will attempt to separate out the wheat from the chaff in religion, of that which helps us to grow spiritually and emotionally and gives us comfort in times of trouble from that which encourages us to judge harshly others who believe differently and even makes people to want to do them harm. Rev. Harold W. Beu

May 18

On Security
Security is a central human concern. Our government lately has promoted the idea that it has promoted security by the use of military action. That is debatable, but what is not debatable is the idea that we want and need security for ourselves and our families. But security is more than just a protection from a threat from some violent group. It involves our emotional, physical and financial health as well as the well-being of the communities in which we live. Rev. Harold W. Beu

May 25

No Service Today
Emerson Church is closed for the Memorial Day weekend. There will not be a Sunday Service today.
Have a great holiday!

4th Annual National Day of Prayer

2008-04-28T20:17:00.003-04:00

What
A community wide interfaith observance of the National Day of Prayer that will commemorate Yom Hashoa (Holocaust Memorial Day), while expounding on the fact that these kinds of atrocities can only occur when good people choose to not pay attention or get involved. The Troy Interfaith Group is promoting the idea that through learning about one another and communal prayer, we will all be interconnected enough to watch out for and respect each other. Our Interfaith service this year will include a variety of local musicians and will also include prayers and songs from the Hindu, Sikh, Christian and Jewish religions (others may be added as we finalize the program)

When & Where
7:00 PM Thursday, May 1, 2008 at Congregation Shir Tikvah
3900 Northfield Parkway / Troy, MI 48084

RSVP
There is no need to RSVP, please join us if you can. Our events are presented at no charge, however we will gather an offering that will be split between Troy People Concerned and Habitat for Humanity. If you have any questions please email MSilver@comcast.net

April Sermons

2008-04-05T20:22:00.006-04:00

April 6 - What do you serve?

A colleague of mine made a bold assertion once, followed by a tough question. The assertion: We all serve one god or another - ambition, greed, fear perhaps. Having an official God can blind us form gods we really serve. The tough question of course, is what gods do we serve and can we cultivate other loyalties? Rev. Douglas Gallager

April 13 - The Question of Race

Senator Barack Obama recently gave an important speech on the issue of race. Here I will respond to that speech in light of the principles of our liberal religion. Rev. Harold W. Beu

April 20 - A Living Legacy

Too often we remember and appreciate people when it is too late, when they have left or passed away. I believe it is important to remember and appreciate each other while we are still alive - and to live each moment as a living legacy. Rev. Harold Beu

April 27 - How to Navigate Congregatioal Transition

Guest Speaker - Our Acting District Executive - Nancy Combs-Morgan

2008 Spring Sale

2008-03-25T08:38:00.005-04:00

2008 Rummage Sale Announcement

2008-03-18T19:55:00.009-04:00

2008 Annual Rummage & Book Sale

April 10-12

Emerson Church “The Barn Church”

Thursday, April 10

10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Friday, April 11

10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 12

10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Come rain or shine, it's inside!!

Emerson Church Unitarian Universalist

4230 Livernois Road, Troy, Michigan 48085
On the east side of Livernois between Wattles (17 Mile) & Long Lake (18 Mile).

This Sunday - Feb. 10, 2008

2008-02-06T23:20:00.000-05:00

For Love or Money

Who knows what love truly is? We have a lot of romantic and idealistic notions about it, such as in the Beatles song, “Money Can’t Buy You Love.” For this Valentine’s sermon, I will attempt to sort the fantasy and practicality of love and its importance to us. ~ Rev. Harold W. Beu

This Sunday - Feb. 3, 2008

2008-01-29T20:05:00.000-05:00

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

Join us this Sunday as your Worship Committee leads the service in a thought provoking sermon on love. Fellow members will share the pulpit as they share their thoughts on our most wonderful human emotion, Love. We will also be distributing bags to all the members that will be used over the month of February to collect notes and other expressions of love that you choose to share with your fellow members.

Walking Together - Feb. 2007

2008-01-29T19:59:00.000-05:00

I grew up in the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, Ohio, which was originally a Unitarian church and was so humanistic that there was rarely any mention of God on Sunday morning, let alone Jesus Christ. Indeed, when I gave my valedictory sermon before going off to seminary, I had intended to close with something to the effect “Dear friends, we are going our separate journeys and God knows when we will meet again.” But I looked at my friends of the First Church, and sensed that would be inappropriate. And so I said inanely, “Who knows when we will meet again?”

Now, I carry with me a strong sense of myself as a Unitarian. It is expressed in our fourth principle of a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. It values the intellect and believes that we can all learn and grow intellectually psychologically and spiritually. As William Ellery Channing (The Founder of American Unitarianism) might have said, we believe in the perfectibility of all human beings. But there was something missing in this Unitarian rational way of thinking and believing for me.

Later, I discovered something of the Universalist spirit in my ministry in a little country church called the East Liberty Church in Clarklake, Michigan not far from Jackson. I came to that church at a time of transition in my life — having left a previous church under pressure, lost my mother, and ended a marriage.

I found in the religion of Universalism our first principle, that is, we affirm the worth and dignity of every person. It was expressed on a wood plaque over the altar of the church, “God is Love.” I came to that church in pain and found people who were kind, reached out and supported me. It was an important time in my life.

We are blessed with both the spirits of Universalism and Unitarianism. We are a religion of the heart and mind. At this time of our transition, I hope that we can avail ourselves of both. If we can do that, if we can value all people and seek to comfort them in their pain as in the spirit of Universalism and seek to identify problems and solve them with a clear mind as in the spirit of Unitarianism, then we will grow strong. But more importantly, Emerson will still be our special home of our faith. - Rev. Harold Beu

Letter From Rev. Beu

2008-01-23T20:37:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

The Board has decided to end Laura’s services as DRE. I agreed with that decision, but none of us are happy about it. Indeed, we feel compassion and concern for Laura and her family as well as for her friends here at Emerson. Laura has done good work over the years. I hope that we can keep hold of that fact.

This is a sad time for our community but there were good reasons for the board to take this action. We did so with the good of Emerson in our minds. I hope that you accept that was our motivation and try to understand our reasons for this action. I believe that we tried to understand Laura and her supporters. We knew that it was not easy to make some of the changes that were asked of Laura. But from our point of view they were important.

I can tell you from my own personal experience that when I was asked to resign from my church in New Hampshire by a majority vote of the Board, I felt compassion for them because I could see that they agonized over that decision. And while at first, I felt a desire to fight it, I knew that in the long run, that would only serve to divide the church. I knew that I did not want that. And I also knew that for the sake of my career it would be best to leave with a blessing. And so, I worked my last four months doing the best I could to serve them as their minister. Indeed, I think I gave my best sermons in that time.

Therefore, my friends, I ask that we help Laura leave with a blessing. Without a blessing, there is coldness and bitterness, but with a blessing there is warmth and compassion. To this day, I have many friends still at that church in Keene and I was proud of how I acted in the last 4 months of my ministry there. I truly hope that we can do the same for Laura and our community.

Faithfully yours
Harold

Congregational Meeting - 2/10/2008

2008-01-23T20:33:00.000-05:00

What the Board of Directors of Emerson Church has been doing over the last year and a half or so is to move the Church toward a way of operating that is aligned with our existing by-laws and organizational manual. The changes made to accomplish this have resulted in some resistance and conflict in many forms that have involved the Board, past Board members, the Minister, the DRE, The Committee on Ministry, current and past Committee Chairs and current and past Friends and Members of Emerson.

We are moving away from a system where only a few people controlled most of the aspects of church life to a system where we allow the Minister to minister to the Church and encourage people to give their input into how things are done, allowing more people to join in and to work together.

Your Board has been trying to get through the changes, deal with the fallout, put out the fires, protect the congregation from the conflicts and keep things going at the same time. This caused confusion, stress, hurt feelings and more conflict.

We need to work through these problems which can be a great opportunity to move up to a more inclusive Church with more to offer its people and its community. But to do this we must get through this period of hurt feelings and conflict relatively intact.

We, the congregation of Emerson Church, need to make informed decisions on the future of the Church. To that end, you are urged to attend an informational meeting of the congregation on Sunday, February 10, 2007, at 12:15 pm in the sanctuary of the church. Let’s talk together to work out our problems in the Love and Dignity that we have for each other. ~ Rob LaPonsa, Board President

This Sunday - Jan. 27, 2008

2008-01-23T20:31:00.000-05:00

On Being a Good Minister

Barzillai Frost was Ralph Waldo Emerson’s minister in Concord, Massachusetts and the subject of derision in Emerson’s Harvard Divinity School Address in 1838. In that address, Emerson chided the preacher who “had not learned the capital secret of his profession, namely to convert life into truth.” In other words, Frost’s sermons left Emerson cold because they tended to be intellectual and non-personal. But Frost had other good qualities as minister. And I think it is important for us to ask ourselves — are sermons the only or even the best mark of a good minister? Or, more importantly, how good are we as a community of ministers and promoters of the principles of our liberal religion? Join me as I try to answer these questions. - Rev. Harold W. Beu

Walking Together - Jan. 2008

2008-01-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

My father was a nuclear physicist. We did not talk much about his work. He couldn’t because it was classified. But we did have one discussion about it in which I questioned his work that helped to enriched Uranium238 to Uranium235, which meant that it was fissionable material that could be used for either energy or for weapons.

My father began working in 1956 on a program called “Atoms for Peace” created by the Eisenhower Administration. I believe my father had a lot of idealism about that kind of work, since the thinking then was that nuclear power would provide clean and yes, cheap energy. He even wrote a monograph supporting that notion.

However, it was clear that the government [naturally] was not totally candid about this program and that indeed, most of what he did was to help in the process of making weapons. Our discussion was not satisfying for me since I was concerned about the creation of the hundreds, now tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. He said something like, “Well, if we did not do this, then the Soviets will.”

Ah yes, that is the problem. Nations are tempted into creating nuclear weapons because their enemies might, can or will do the same. But each nuclear weapon created is a sign of human failure to make this world a livable place. That means we are committing suicide as a species.

There is something basically wrong with our religions and philosophies that allow such self-destruction. I know that this is not the most pleasant of topics, but I believe that as people of good will and good faith and for the sake of our children and future generations, we need to dedicate ourselves to the abolition of these weapons.

Faithfully yours,
Rev. Harold W. Beu

This Sunday - Jan. 20, 2008

2008-01-16T21:17:00.000-05:00

On Hope

Hope can be seen as a desperate mechanism, such that one can hope against all odds for the desired outcome. But without hope, there is no chance of any desired outcome. Those who are hopeless are truly the most unfortunate ones. I hope that you will join me this Sunday to consider this conundrum. - Rev. Harold W. Beu

This Sunday - Music Sunday, Take II

2007-12-17T11:56:00.000-05:00

If you were disappointed that Music Sunday was snowed out yesterday, fear not! Our brave musicians will get another shot at the spotlight this Sunday, Dec. 23.

Also, don't forget the annual Christmas Eve service will be held on Monday at 5:30 p.m. and that there is no service on the 30th.

This Sunday - Nov. 25, 2007

2007-11-23T11:23:00.000-05:00

Fall Afternoon

2007-11-13T17:56:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, November 13th was one of those beautiful autumn afternoons that make Michigan special. Check out a Flickr set that shows how good Emerson looks in the fall.

A big thank you to the Buildings & Grounds Committee for getting the dead trees and underbrush cleaned out. You'll be amazed at the difference!

This Sunday - Nov. 18, 2007

2007-11-13T17:50:00.000-05:00

Guest at Your Table

Our Director of Religious Education, Laura Ross, and I will lead this
intergenerational service that will honor the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. We will involve the congregation in a special ceremony that we think will be enlightening. And even though the meaning of this service is serious, we believe that you and the children will also have fun. — Rev. Harold W. Beu

After the service, we will going to Lighthouse Sanctuary in Pontiac to pack food for Thanksgiving dinners that go to people who would otherwise go hungry.

This Sunday - Nov. 11, 2007

2007-11-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

Taking a Risk for Peace

So much of our government’s foreign policy is based on the notion that we live in a dangerous world. Thus, we must strike hard at those who have the potential of hurting us. This preemptive strike policy is new and disturbing both morally and practically. Here I will present a different, though not new, view that I believe has a better chance of promoting peace for our government and ourselves. — Rev. Harold W. Beu

Happy Belated Anniversary to Us!

2007-11-04T13:19:00.000-05:00

On October 4, the new Emerson website celebrated its one-year anniversary, and I thought I would share some statistics from our first 12 months:

The site was visited 2,663 times by 1,803 different people.

The United States provided 98% of the visitors, with Canada (18) a very distant second. In all, people from 25 countries have come to the site.

Michigan provided 90% of the American visitors, with California, Illinois and Ohio trailing behind. Forty-two states have had visitors.

Almost half (42%) of our traffic has come from search engines, with a vast majority via Google. Another 17% has come from the UUA website.

The wedding page has been seen 665 times by over 500 different people, helping Emerson greatly exceed its projections for rental income.

In the month since the anniversary, we've had another 253 visits from 213 people, both of which show that traffic is increasing. The new sermons archive has been looked at 22 times in the 10 days since going live, with 11 people going on to view Rev. Beu's Oct. 21 sermon.

Photo Gallery

2007-10-31T21:20:00.001-04:00

Light Show

Day of the Dead Altar

UU Pumpkin

You should also check out Lisa Dubay's set of pictures from the Haunted Corn Maze and the Emerson Halloween Party!

This Sunday - Nov. 4, 2007

2007-10-31T21:16:00.000-04:00

The Worth of a Person

Money? What does it mean to us anyway? Power? Prestige? The easy life? We have a hard time separating the idea of all people have worth spiritually and people’s worth financially. That confusion has lead us to some disastrous public policies as well as some irrational thinking about ourselves and others. — Rev. Harold W. Beu