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Inside This Issue

Travel Plans?
- Rev. Dr. Daniel Ó Connell, Lead Minister

Some folks have decided that watching "extreme" TV shows is not enough. Those are the shows that have people bungee jumping off bridges, eating disgusting compounds, having rats crawl all over them - that kind of thing.

Now comes the extreme vacation. Think of it! You could go biking in Baghdad, eat kebabs in Kabul, or picnic in Pyongyang. Most of us wouldn't be up for traveling to a place where the hotel concierge carries an automatic weapon. Too dangerous! Right?

Robert Pelton, author of The World's Most Dangerous Places, claims danger is relative. In fact, he thinks that traveling to a place like Tikrit or the jungle may be safer than sitting at home watching a TV report about it.

He says the real discomfort most people will face when traveling comes from internal, rather than external, terrorism -- bad water or food that doesn't agree with us.

As a rule, we UUs have mixed feelings about "holy" places. For one thing, we make up our own mind about whether a particular place has a special significance for us -- whether it's a lakeside vacation spot, a hiking trail, or deep in a foreign country. For another thing, we tend to believe that what gives a place spiritual significance is our own state of mind about the place.

This means it is the combination of how we perceive a place and the place itself that evokes spiritual significance. We can find the spiritual significance in jumping around the back yard with our kids with the sprinkler spraying water, or deep in the cool woods on a hot afternoon, or flat on our backs on a blanket looking at the summer stars.

One good thing about travel - whether physical or spiritual - is that it sets us up to expect new experiences, it sets us up to anticipate being caught off guard, and thus more open to the spiritually significant.

My hope for you this summer is that you take some travels -- whether geographic or more of an internal pilgrimage -- and that you seek and find yourself there. And if we've been successful in our summer journeys -- it won't necessarily mean we come home with more tee shirts or trinkets -- but it will mean we return both the same as and a little different than the person we were before.

And at summer's end, we may recall T.S. Eliot's Little Gidding:

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Father's Day
- Joan Casey, RE Director,

For the intergenerational Father's Day service on Jun. 20, we invite everyone young, old, and in between, to bring something that represents your father to you (a picture, a medal, a baseball - whatever. The item will be returned at the end of the service). There will be a special time to honor our fathers or other significant male influence in our lives during the service. (Please plan on speaking for less than a minute so that everyone may have a turn). We hope to see you there!

Welcome!

Each Sunday, a member of the Eliot community delivers the Sunday Morning Welcome. They share a personal story about how they came to be at Eliot Chapel. Here is Lee Brower's from May 29, 2005:

My name is Lee Brower. I've been visiting Eliot Chapel for only six months and am still discovering areas where I can best contribute. I've had a Unitarian Universalist mentality since I was old enough put ideas together. When it was "time" to baptize my children in my Protestant church, I just couldn't do it…well, entire books have been written about human rituals.

I was delighted to discover Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church in Ft. Collins, Colorado. It was a huge group of friends, growing, and growing, and growing - outdoing the growth statistics for Ft. Collins city, which were a whopping 17% per year.

When I returned to Wyoming, I participated in the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Laramie, Wyoming. The Laramie plateau, where the deer and antelope play and yes, there are still some cowboys out there.

One of my best experiences was a week of Unitarian summer camp at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. The landscape is spectacular, inspirational, and soothing. This landscape was our backdrop for classes, hiking, day trips, discussions, and services.

I never imagined that I would abandon my sagebrush and lodge pole pines. I never imagined I would find myself in Missouri. I was anxious about the existence of a familiar congregation in this alien city. A kind person directed me to Eliot Chapel. Before the end of the first service, I knew this was my new church home.

If you are visiting, you may, like me, be searching for particular patterns of thought, creative and analytical. You are welcome to seek here.

Meal-A-Month for June & July
- Alicia Boelhauf

In the last few months the members of Eliot Chapel have done a great job responding to the call to help feed needy St. Louis families. All donations are taken to Hosea House, a food pantry in south St. Louis city. Hosea House is part of the Guardian Angel Settlement Association (GASA), an organization with a mission to "assist, educate and empower. Providing a Meal-A-Month is an excellent way for Eliot members to participate in community outreach.

Sister Mary Ann of Hosea House extends her gratitude to Eliot on behalf of the families that she serves. She reports that the need for food donations actually increases in the summer, and indeed, I've noticed that the shelves have become barer in my last two deliveries. With soaring utility bills and children at home from school, the need for food and hygiene items increases.

Meal-A-Month for June and July calls for kid-friendly foods: peanut butter and jelly, canned soups and pastas, boxed cereal, and macaroni and cheese

When you are filling your cart at the grocery store, please think about the under-resourced children and families in your community! -

Welcome to Visitors' Corner!

To greet and welcome visitors to Eliot Chapel -- two people following each service every Sunday--184 greeters are needed each year. Or, of course, two people could show up 92 times. If you'd consider being one of the two, or one of the 184, please notify the Chapel office or the Membership Committee. You have choice of dates and it's a very enjoyable experience for a few minutes after service. Relatively new members do very well greeting, and it's a good way to assimilate with a small commitment of time. If you have any questions, contact Rich Vaughn.

Thanks ...
- Bill and Joan Clarke

For responding to our request for volunteers for the summer. We have one or two spots open for laundry, cooks, and hosts; and we could use some more volunteers for September. But other than that we are covered for the next three months.

While we are busy traveling on our vacations, mothers are still trying to find shelter for themselves and their children. In St. Louis County, there is a waiting list of about 15,000 families for Section 8 and Public Housing. The County presently manages 6,239 vouchers but will lose about 200 because of funding cuts. The opportunities we offer on Thursday nights mean a few more people will have a safe, clean shelter for the night.

While we couldn't staff the Room At The Inn program without you, the coordinators make sure everything runs smoothly. Jane Larson works with the cooks and is at the church every Thursday to let everyone in. Jim Robinson and Gary Miller make sure we have enough drivers on Thursday and Friday for the fluctuating number of guests. Kathie Price organizes the laundry brigade to wash the sheets and towels our guests use. Now Margie Maclin, formerly Tim Nicholson, makes certain we have hosts to spend the night and provides training for new volunteers. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this another successful year for the Room At The Inn program.

Eliot Early Risers

For those of you who will be up anyway, please join us for an informal breakfast gathering before summer services on the playground at 9:15-ish. No agenda or entry fee...you don't even need to bring children! Just BYOB (Bring Your Own Breakfast) and yourselves. See you there! (Sponsored by the Family Support and Outreach Committee.)

Summer Fun
- Lydia Hopkins

Brought to you by the FUN Committee:

Sat., Jul. 23 - join us for overnight camping. We'll have s'mores around a bonfire and stargaze.

Sun., Jul. 24 - Noon - join us floating on a beautiful Missouri stream. Mark Nissen and I are looking for a new outfitter and campground about 1 1/2 hours away from St. Louis. The campground will also have cabins to rent for those with more refined tastes. Call us for more details and to sign up.

Sat., Aug. 6 - Join us at the musical "Free to be You and Me" performed in Kirkwood at the Reim Theatre (Stages) at 11:00 a.m. Who remembers these great songs?!! Share the fun with your children; Join a group of Eliot families! Tickets are $10 and can be purchased after most services or by contacting Ted Berger.

Start rehearsing! The Music Committee is planning one Coffee House this year that will be held on Sat., Nov. 19!

Bridge, Anyone?

The open bridge game at Eliot for June is Sat., the 25th. Call right away if you are interested in playing. There are now two summer dates reserved: Sat., Jul. 23 and Sat., Aug. 27. We will begin at 7:00 p.m. Contact Sue Webster if you plan to play. Try to sign up the Sunday before the game. Singles and couples welcome.

Women's Alliance

We meet on the first, third, and fourth Tuesdays of the month from 9:30 to 11:45 a.m. in Adams Hall, unless otherwise noted.
Tue., Jun. 21 - Lunch at St. Louis Art Museum restaurant, Pucks. Meet at Eliot to carpool at 10:30 a.m., or be at the restaurant at 11:00 a.m.. Call Marilyn Fallert for reservations by Thu., Jun. 16.
Tue., Jul. 5 - The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Leader - Doris Yohe.
Tue.. Jul 12 - Proposed book list for 2005-06 discussion from 10:00 a.m. until noon. All are invited. Bring a sandwich for lunch.
Tue., Jul. 26 - (Replaces August book discussion) Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. Leader - Fran Ritzinger.

Summer Scrip Sales

During the summer, scrip will only be sold on Jul. 10 and Aug. 14. Regular weekly scrip sales will resume Sep. 11. Make sure to stock up -- don't be caught short when grocery shopping for summer festivities!

Join the UU Coaching Network

UUCN is growing and invites you to join! This non-profit association is a community of professionally trained life coaches anchored in the UU principles of compassion, integrity and inclusion.

For more information, visit www.uucoachingnetwork.org.

RE News
-- Joan Casey, RE Director,

Don't forget to register your children for Summer Religious Education classes if you plan to attend any of the summer services. We also hope to see a lot of our friends entering Kindergarten through 5th grade at Summer Camp (August 1 - 5). Registration forms for both camp and RE are available outside of 's office [and online at 2005 Summer Registration form and 2005 Summer Camp Registration form]. For those of you taking the summer off, we look forward to seeing you all again in the fall.

Have a wonderful, safe summer.

Music Notes
-- Jan Chamberlin, Music Director,

Choirs will resume in September.

Please complete the Music Survey included in this issue and mail it to the Music Committee c/o Eliot Chapel, or drop it off in the office. Leon Burke and I will both be singing at the GA in Fort Worth and attending the UU Musician's Network conference in Denver this summer. We hope to bring back lots of fresh ideas for music at Eliot next year.

If you or your children have any musical skills, please think seriously about sharing them with the congregation on Sundays or at coffee houses.

Thanks to all who made music this year! Have a happy and safe summer!

Directory Update

We will be preparing a new Member/Friend directory this summer. Please make sure that the office has your current address and phone number. Information change slips are available in Visitors' Corner, or email changes to .

This is a reminder that, per Chapel policy, the Eliot Directory is not to be used by or given to persons outside the Chapel community, and its use by anyone as a mailing list, or as a sales, marketing, political, or promotional tool is prohibited.

Program Guide

In addition to preparing a new member/friend directory this summer, we will be updating the Program Guide.

If you are a committee chair, please make sure that the office knows you will be chair for the coming year. Also, please take a minute to look over the description of your committee that appears in the guide and send any changes to Nancy at . Copies of the Program Guide are available in Visitors' Corner.

Summer Office Hours

Beginning Jun. 17, and continuing through Sep. 2, the office will close at noon on Friday. Other days will remain unchanged with the office open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Reverends' Summer Calendar

Both ministers will be attending GA from Jun 20 - Jun. 28.

Rev. Dr. Daniel Ó Connell will be out of the office, on vacation, from Fri., Jul.1 through Tue., Aug. 2. He will be on study leave Aug. 20 - Sep. 3 and will resume regular office hours on Tues., Sep.6, 2005.

Rev. Bonnie Vegiard will be on vacation from Fri. Jul. 1 through Tue., Aug. 2, back at Eliot for Summer Camp from Aug. 1 through Aug. 5, then on study leave from Sat., Aug. 13 through Sat., Aug. 27.

Time to Reserve Your Space

Don't forget to complete room requests to make reservations for next year's meetings and events. Please check with your chair, facilitator, or leader about next year's meetings and events. Please reserve space even if you "always" have had meetings or events at a particular time. We will accept reservations from outside groups beginning July 1. Make sure you're able to reserve the time and space you want ... do it now!

If your committee or group will continue to meet throughout the summer, please indicate on the room request form that your meetings are "starting" in July or August.

Committee Expenses

As we get ready to end the fiscal year, please ensure that any requests for reimbursment are submitted for any outstanding expenses. As a reminder, check request forms are in the black boxes on Joy's or JoAnn's doors. Receipts must be attached and the request must be signed by an authorized signer (usually the chair of the committee for which the expense was incurred.)

Parking

Now that the Farmers' Market is open for the summer, please do not use their parking spaces for church services or events during their business hours.

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