March - April 2014 Newsletter

Uni-Vision

Sanctuary Stained Glass Art

In this issue:

Treasurer’s Report

Armstrong’s Walkers

Unity Angels

Lending Library News

2

2

3

3

Ho’oponopono class

Lenten Message

Boomerang Gang

Out to Lunch Bunch

Spring Basket ‘FUN’draiser

Volunteer Appreciation

Unity Basics

Sunday Message

Easter Services

4

4

5

5

6

6

6

7

7

L ETTER FROM YOU R MIN ISTER

Unity of Traverse City A positive path for spiritual living.

Greetings everyone!

It’s hard to believe that March

is already upon us. Soon, the

seasons will begin that

wonderful time of ‘changing of

the guard’ as the snow and cold

give way to the milder

temperatures of spring. Life

that has been at rest will once

again spring forth with renewed

energy and splendor.

At Unity of Traverse City, we welcome the

opportunity for new growth and even more beauty in

our lives. As we look ahead, our themes in March and

April will help us do just that.

I can’t think of a more powerful way to grow and

evolve in life than to move through an experience of

Forgiveness. During the Sundays in March, we’ll speak

to our willingness to forgive, the joy that can be found

in our grief, offering forgiveness to ourselves, and

embracing the strength that comes through the act of

surrender. We’ll also have a very special class on

forgiveness based on the Hawaiian forgiveness practice

of Ho’oponopono.

Then, in April, we turn our attention to our volunteers

– all of YOU! We’ll have a very special Volunteer

Appreciation Day on Sunday, April 6th, that I hope

everyone will attend. We want you to know how

loved and appreciated you are for all you offer in

Service to our spiritual community and beyond. We’ll

then turn our focus and prepare for a wonderful Easter

holiday, including a very special Good Friday

Communion and Candle Lighting service on April 18th.

We have had a fabulous start to 2014 – inspiring

Sunday services, some tailgating fun, and a great annual

membership meeting. In addition, we have stepped out

in service to the greater Traverse City area through

our partnerships with the Father Fred Foundation and

Safe Harbor. And, through our relationship with

Central United Methodist Church and their outreach

program to feed the homeless, we have begun to more

deeply live our core value of being in Service to our

greater community.

We have more exciting times coming soon, so continue

to check your bulletin and weekly e-news, or just log

onto our website. You’ll soon see more information

about our next town hall meeting, Spring Basket FUN-

draiser, Easter holiday services, and the latest on our

possible retreat to Unity Village later this summer.

Yes, spring is in the air. I am ready to burst forth into

whatever God has in store for Its next expression

through me. I hope you’re ready, too. Join me, as we

add more of our beauty, and the beauty that is Unity of

Traverse City, to the world.

Abundant blessings,

Rev. Eileen

Rev. Eileen Stulak

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T R E A S U R E R ’ S R E P O R T by David Ginsberg, Treasurer, Unity Board of Trustees

first weekend in March the Board

will have its Retreat, and will be

discussing the strategic plan and

associated financial priorities as we

look ahead in 2014.

Our January 2014 month-end is

reflected in the report to the right,

along with a comparison to the

January 2013 financials. The net

loss in the first month of the year

was attributable to quarterly

insurance payments being due. In

addition, 100% of the January tithes

received from the current

Prosperity Plus II were not

reflected in January’s income and

will be included in our February

financial reports.

The Annual Membership Meeting was

held February 23rd. We discussed the

financial reports for 2013, and the

2014 operating budget proposal was

introduced to the Unity of Traverse

City congregation for vote and was

passed by unanimous consent. The

The animals at Cherryland Humane Society appreciate your support and animal ministry at Unity.

C O L D W E A T H E R T I P S F R O M A R M S T R O N G ’ S W A L K E R S by Sue Schwartz

David Ginsberg

•Bathe your pets as little as possible

during cold spells. Washing too

often can remove essential oils and

increase the chance of developing

dry, flaky skin.

•Dressing your pet in a sweater or

coat will help to retain body heat

and prevent skin from getting dry.

•Brushing your pet regularly not

only gets rid of dead hair, but also

stimulates blood circulation,

improving the skin’s overall

condition.

To see more winter skin & paws

tips go to the ASPCA article here.

This has been quite a winter for all of

us. In our seven years of dog walking

at the Cherryland Humane Society

we have only cancelled walking one

(1) time, which is pretty

amazing! However, this year, we

have cancelled seven (7) times due

to the severe wind chills and blowing

snow. Walking dogs in extremely

cold weather can be quite

dangerous, so there are precautions

to take during these winter

months. We thought we would

share some tips for your fur family

members.

•Trim long-haired dogs to minimize

the clinging of ice balls, salt crystals

and de-icing chemicals that can dry

on the skin. (Don’t neglect the hair

between the toes!)

January 2014 to 2013

Year to Date Comparison

2014

Total Love Offering $ 8,573.49

Total Income $ 10,060.07

Total Expenses $ 11,522.69

Net Income $ -1,462.62

2013

Total Love Offering $ 11,802.85

Total Income $ 12,052.22

Total Expenses $ 7,342.97

Net Income $ 4,709.25

Your tithes and contributions

are greatly appreciated!

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U N I T Y A N G E L S

This

continues

to be an

active

group that

meets the

third

Tuesday of

each month at the church.

Unfortunately the weather has found

this out and we have had to cancel

and switch a few times.

We certainly proved that every

person at UTC is an Angel at

Christmas time. A lot was

accomplished in a short amount of

time. We worked with the Doula

program through the Women’s

Resource Center. We gave presents

to three families consisting of a total

of 8 people. I believe we gave a total

of 27 presents. A big thank you to all

of you who participated in one way

or another. We have received a

couple of thank you notes which are

homeless. That is a wonderful thing

for UTC to be doing. We need to

work toward having every

congregant in our church be

spiritually fed and cared for as well.

Reverend Eileen has been asked to

speak March 20th as a part of the

Traverse City Church Women

United Lenten series. The Angels

(and everyone is an angel) are going

to be preparing the luncheon for that

day. If you are interested in helping

out please call June at 231-943-9198

or Debra in the office at 231-938-

9587.

We are constantly looking for ways

to support our congregants. We will

do our best to help out. If you

know of someone who has an

immediate or long term need please

turn in the name to Debra in the

church office.

posted on the bulletin board.

The group is working on a couple of

projects. In an attempt to keep

each other informed, we have

developed a sheet which can be

filled out if there is someone who

needs a Chaplain, an Angel or our

Senior Minister. This is to replace

our telling each other something as

we pass in the hallway. It would be

a way of having people identified

and determining needs and

following up. We will put a copy in

one of the bulletins when they are

finished.

The other important item is to

attend to the people who have been

identified as needing something. At

the February meeting each Angel

will take one or two names to call,

visit, send a card or make contact in

some way. We have done this

before but need to expand the list.

Several of us are helping to feed the

by June Neal, Angel Coordinator

by Kay Zins, Library Committee Chair

Our Library shelves are filling up--

that’s a good thing! In April the

Library Committee will conduct an

inventory of these books. From that

inventory we will prepare a spread-

sheet listing our collection by both

we want to keep in circulation. Let’s

make that happen! A box will be

available in front of the library for

book returns. Inventory starts the

week of April 20.

Have you used our library? Let me

know if you have any comments/

questions at: kayzins@charter.net

author and title. This will help you

more easily locate the book you

want. The list will be located on the

shelves and will be available to all

users.

To get this project started, we need

your help. Please scour your home,

office, cars, etc. for any unreturned

books. There are some “much

loved” books out there that are

valuable to our collection and that

L ENDING LIBRA RY N EWS

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HO’OPONOPONO ~ March 19th

Ho’oponopono

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

With Evelyne Verret

So many people are carrying deep

emotional wounds, resentment, guilt,

shame and anger due to choices

made in the past. Ho’oponopono

offers a forgiveness method that is

gentle, loving and compassionate.

of Attraction coach and a workshop

leader. She has been on a personal

spiritual quest since the day she was

born. She has embraced her mission,

which is to create transformational

experiences that help people heal

their wounds in order to say ‘Yes’ to

Joy and to create the life of their

dreams.

Evelyne has a bachelor’s degree in

business administration and has taken

many transformational courses at

Landmark Education. She maintains

practices in Canada and Traverse

City, MI.

Ho'oponopono is the ancient

healing system that has been around

the Hawaiian culture for centuries.

Ho'oponopono assists you in

establishing a direct connection to

the Divine consciousness that exists

within all of us. It teaches you how

to make that connection deep and

permanent.

During this class, facilitator Evelyne

Verret will share the philosophy and

the history behind the Ho’opono-

pono process. Participants will learn

how to use this process as a tool

for healing any deep wounds that

may exist, and do so through the

practice of forgiveness. It truly will

alter your life experience.

Suggested Love Offering: $10

Evelyne Verret, a member of Unity

of Traverse City, is a certified Law

Each year, the Church Women

United sponsor a weekly luncheon

series during the season of

Lent. Each week, a local church is

highlighted. Their pastor or minister

offers a Lenten message, the

ministry’s music team is invited to

share their talents, and the

congregation is invited to prepare

and serve a light lunch/dessert. This

year, Unity of Traverse City has been

invited to participate on Thursday,

Please plan on attending this very

special luncheon. Your help with any

of the preparation is also most

appreciated!

The Presbyterian Church is located at

701 Westminster off Airport Access

Road. Their website:

http://www.tcpresby.org/

March 20th at the Presbyterian

Church. Rev. Eileen Stulak will offer

the message, the Angel team will be

coordinating the luncheon details

with the congregation, and Carol

Purcell will provide the music. The

schedule for the event is:

Luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m.

Music is offered from Noon

until 12:30 p.m.

Message from 12:30 – 1:00 p.m.

L ENTEN MESSAGE ~ Ma rch 20 th

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BOO MERANG GANG ~ March 22nd

Are you the kind of person who

sometimes sees Unity Principle

messages in "Peanuts" cartoons and

who keeps looking in vain for one in

"Calvin and Hobbes" or "The

Farside"? Do you sometimes discover

insights in bizarre and unexpected

places?

How often have you had the

opportunity to sit and chat with

friends over sometimes practical,

sometimes esoteric questions such as

the one posed by the 14th century

poet, Hafiz, when he asked, "What

would happen if God leaned down

and gave you a full wet kiss?" Have

you considered ways of experiencing

time, not as quantity but as intensity

and quality?

The Boomerang-Gang doesn't

pretend to have any answers but

enjoy poking at questions like these --

- realizing that the answers may not

be as important as asking the right

or email the Ginsberg’s at:

lginsberg@charter.net to say you are

coming and what you will be bringing

to the potluck. Potluck starts at 6:00

p.m. with discussion to follow dinner.

Topic for discussion:

The Fifth Agreement by

Don Miguel Ruiz and

Don Jose Ruiz. We will

be looking at how to

put the five agreements

into our everyday life.

The agreements are:

1. Be impeccable with your word

2. Don’t take anything personally

3. Don’t make assumptions,

4. Always do your best

5. Be skeptical but learn to listen

Everyone is welcome!!!!

question. If you find conversation of

this sort intriguing you might just

find an evening with the Boomerang

-Gang enjoyable. To say that this

group is unstructured is probably an

understatement. The only

semblance of structure we have is

at the end of each meeting we

decide the place, date, and

sometimes a subject for the next

month's meeting. Regular

attendance is not required. In fact

there are no requirements. The

only desirable prerequisite is to be

curious and to bring along your

imagination. Just sitting and listening

is perfectly acceptable since there

are a number amongst us who like

to have an audience.

This month we will meet on

Saturday, March 22, at 6:00 p.m. at

Unity of Traverse City, 3600 Five

Mile Road, Traverse City. Leslie and

David Ginsberg will host. Be sure

to give them a call at 231-943-3509,

Please join us after the Sunday service

on March 23rd for some fun, friends

and excellent food!

This month we will head downtown

Traverse City to Minervas located on

the lobby level of the historic Park

Place Hotel.

Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner

daily, Minervas offers a full menu

featuring steaks, chops, pasta,

seafood, salads and more.

See their menu here.

Please RSVP to the church office at

231-938-9587 or sign-up on

Sundays.

OUT TO LUNCH BUN CH ~ Ma rch 23 rd

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SPRING BASKET ‘FUN’ D RAISER beg ins March 23rd !

Spring WILL come! And, we are

inviting everyone to help welcome it

with open arms . . . and full baskets.

Yes, our spiritual community will

once again join together this year in

creating a fun and creative Spring

Basket Silent Auction FUN-draiser.

We have such a wonderful volunteer

like to place your items in something

other than a basket, anything that

holds the prize will do.

Please bring your auction items to

the church starting Sunday, March

23rd. Bidding will begin that day and

will continue until Palm Sunday, April

13th.

Information and forms for the Spring

Basket Auction and Fun-draiser can

be found on the table in the church

lobby. If you have any questions,

please feel free to speak to the

auction co-chairs, Kay Zins or June

Neal.

spirit and commitment throughout

the ministry, with so many of you

serving on one or more of our

volunteer teams. This year, we’re

inviting you to consider putting your

collective heads together as a team

and creating a basket for everyone

to place their bids. It can have a

theme that speaks to the service

your particular volunteer team

offers to the ministry, or it can be a

completely unrelated theme.

You can also form groups based on

classes taken together, our Fall

program small groups you enjoyed,

Uni-Trekkers, and more. Or, if you

would rather create an individual

basket, you can certainly do that as

well.

The only requirement for everyone

is that you have FUN!

Now, ‘basket’ is only a term to get

the creative juices flowing. But,

don’t let that restrict you. If you’d

April is Volunteer Appreciation

Month! We will be celebrating all of

our volunteers with a special service

and time of fellowship on Sunday,

many, many ways you support your

church and spiritual family. April 6th. Please plan on joining us

so that we can acknowledge you

and offer our gratitude for the

VOLUNTEER A PPRECI ATION DAY ~ Ap r i l 6 th

This class has been designed for those

who desire a basic understanding of

Unity’s teachings and principles. Each

of the five basic teachings will be

reviewed, along with a listing of

‘identity statements’ that further

which they are taught and utilized by

Unity. All are welcome! Class is

April 27th from 12 -2 p.m. Please

register at the table in the hallway.

expound upon what is meant by the

teachings and how they are

expressed by Unity as a spiritual

movement. Focused attention will

be given to Prayer and Meditation,

and the positive, affirming ways in

UNITY BASICS ~ Ap r i l 27 th

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2014: ‘Inspired & Unstoppable!’

March – Forgiveness: I release all judgment and bring forth the healing power of

forgiveness.

2nd ‘I Am Willing’

9th ‘Good Grief’

16th ‘Forgive Me’

23rd ‘Strength Through Surrender’

30th Guest Speaker, Kim Morse

April – Service: I step into committed service, offering my unique gifts to the world.

6th ‘Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant’

13th ‘Hosanna!’ (Palm Sunday)

18th ‘Remembrance’ (Good Friday Communion and Candle Lighting Service, 7:00 p.m.)

20th ‘A New Way of Living’ (Easter Sunday)

27th ‘What Did Jesus Do on Monday?’

SUNDAY LESSONS ~ MA R CH & APRIL 2014

Join us for our 2014 Easter services:

Sunday, April 13 ~ Palm Sunday, 10:30 a.m.

Friday, April 18 ~ Good Friday Communion and

Candle Light Service, 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 20 ~ Easter Sunday, 10:30 a.m.

3600 Five Mile Road

Traverse City, MI 49686

Tel: 231-938-9587

Fax: 231-938-9593

E-mail: info@unity-traverse.org

Web: www.unitytraversecity.org

Blessings To:

Connect with Unity!

www.unitytraversecity.org

231.938.9587

In 2014 we are Inspired and Unstoppable!

In 2014 at Unity of Traverse City, we are all about

claiming and bringing forth our unlimited potential

and expressing it into the world. Each month, we

will focus on a divine quality that inspires us into all

that is possible in our lives : Potential, Abundance,

Forgiveness, Service, Nurture, Yes!, Freedom,

Strength, Prayer, Commitment, Gratitude, and

Faith. Join us for a year of being all we are meant to

be!