The Religious Society of Bell Street Chapel

Ministerial Search Update

MeredythW — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:18:35 +0000

Your ministerial search committee is off and running! We began to meet in June and have had a few meetings and a retreat since then to gear ourselves up for what will undoubtedly be a busy fall, winter, and spring. We are excited about our mission and also about how well we seem to work together as a group thus far.

We have developed a budget which the Governing Board reviewing in preparation for submission to the Trustees to cover our expenses. We are also working on a Congregational-wide survey about the ministerial search to hand out to members after a service that we as a committee are leading on September 26. If you cannot make this service, there will be an opportunity to fill out the survey the following week.

In addition to the survey, we have scheduled Cottage Meetings on September 26 (after the service). Wednesday September 29 from 7 – 9 PM, and Monday October 4 from 7 – 9 PM. These meetings will give members and friends an opportunity to share your opinions about Bell Street and what we should look for in a settled minister. Please sign up for one of the meetings on the sheets in Eddy Hall.

We cannot stress enough how much we need and value your input! You have invested us with the responsibility of this search, but ultimately, this is a search for your minister and each and every member of this congregation not only deserves, but needs, to be heard!

This is an exciting time in the history of Bell Street. It will be wonderful to have a settled minister for the first time in three years, but a lot of thought will be necessary between now and next summer. As the search committee members, we have volunteered to do the legwork, but this is truly a Bell Street Chapel community-wide effort. Please fill out the survey, and voice your concerns and desires on the survey and to us throughout the year so that we may best serve the membership of this vibrant and warm community which is so important to us. Again, the committee members are Greg Greco, Don Laliberte, Wendy Schwartz, Chad Welch, and Carol Wiseman.

There are some specific questions and issues that we ask that you consider as we launch into the search process:

1. A part-time minister cannot be expected to perform all the tasks of a full-time minister–an obvious statement, but one which may be more difficult to deal with as time goes on once the minister is settled. Please take some time to think about on what aspects of the ministry you think a part-time minister should focus and on what aspects the lay ministry might be best at serving.

2. When can we expect to have a full-time minister at Bell Street again and how would we go about making this feasible once more?

These are big questions to which we will return repeatedly throughout the year in this column. Please take some time to consider them–as well as what you envision as most important in a settled minister for Bell Street. And remember: please try to make it to the service on September 26 and fill out a survey!!

Wendy Schwartz

MARSH CLEANUP – SEPT. 18, 8 A.M.

MeredythW — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:15:29 +0000

Bell Streeters and anyone else interested in helping the earth are invited to take part in the fall cleanup at the salt marsh we’ve adopted on the Providence waterfront. This year’s fall cleanup is scheduled Saturday, Sept. 18. As usual, we will affiliate our fall event with the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) coordinated in Rhode Island by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and internationally by the Ocean Conservancy. However, ours will be held a week earlier than the international event, because local tides will make our beach inaccessible that morning. Nonetheless, since our cleanup will be open to the public and publicized, we are likely to be joined by a number of guests.

We will meet directly at the marsh, which is located off Allens Ave at the end of Oxford Street. Please contact Meredyth Waterman at MeredythW@aol.com or (401) 451-2322 to sign up. Please provide your name, phone number, e-mail address and T-shirt size, since Audubon usually provides volunteers with T-shirts during the fall cleanup.

Thanks to Save the Bay, we have plenty of garbage bags and plastic gloves. We also have some work gloves and a few rakes and shovels, but you are encouraged to bring your own if you want them. Please wear sturdy shoes or boots. Sunblock and hats are also advised. Only if it rains very heavily will this event be rescheduled to Oct. 2 at 8 a.m..

We usually wander across the street after our cleanup for a satisfying breakfast at the Seaplane Diner, so bring a few dollars if you are interested.

Unlike our spring cleanup, at our fall cleanup we document every piece of litter we find as part of a worldwide effort to monitor pollution of our shores and whether it’s improving. It’s often amazing what we find. And along that vein, our cleanup always features the popular Bell Street Biohazard Contest, which arguably makes otherwise unsavory discoveries a treat. Nonetheless, please do not bring young children or pets to this event due to the dangerous nature of the rocks and the items we find.

Please join us for this fun morning of helping the earth.

~Meredyth Waterman

CR OS S R O AD S

MeredythW — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:10:48 +0000

On the first Sunday of every month, members of Bell Street Chapel make bag lunches for the clients of Crossroads Rhode Island, a shelter for our homeless and needy fellow citizens. We gather in Eddy Hall immediately after the service and share fellowship and fun while we make 100 bag lunches, which a member of the Peace and Social Justice Committee delivers. We have been doing this for over a decade. We hear fromthe staff at Crossroads that our reliability and the quality of the lunches we provide are very much appreciated by the clients. We try to make the lunches as nutritious as possible within our budget.Crossroads Rhode Island is the largest provider of services to the homeless in the state. It depends on volunteers to provide lunches on weekends. Anyone who delivers the lunches cannot fail to be saddened by the large number of souls who gather at the facility for lunch. It reminds us to work not only for the immediate needs of the homeless, but also for their long-term needs, which can only be met by policy and legislative changes. Many hardworking and responsible individuals and families become homeless because of the acute shortage of affordable housing in RI. Other homeless individuals are mentally ill or addicted and have not been able to get the help they need.

This is a safe way for children to work for social justice. If at least eight volunteers participate, we are finished within an hour or so. If you are unable to join us in making lunches, you can participate by bringing juice boxes, cookies, or large cans of solid white tuna to church each Sunday. We also need lunch bags, baggies, napkins, and mayonnaise.

Let’s let our homeless and hungry fellow citizens know that we at Bell Street Chapel do care about them. Clara Hardy heads up this project, which is sponsored by the Peace and Social Justice Committee.

Book Through Bars Update

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 02:45:44 +0000

July and August’s recipient of Share the Plate proceeds will be Providence Books Through Bars, whose library is housed in the Bell Street Chapel Parish House. Although BTB is again out of postage money for our national outreach; the good news is that we have finally received permission to donate books to the ACI’s Intake Service Center. A building that houses up to 1500 inmates, the ISC currently has no provisions for getting books to these men. Over the summer, we plan to place at least one bookcase with about 300 paperbacks in each, into the first eight “modules.” The bookcases must be metal, not wood, and we may have a resource to secure these. As usual, thanks to the Big Gray Book Bin, the generosity of our congregation and many local libraries, we have plenty of books! We hope to start answering letters and mailing books again in September.

Ministerial Search Resumes

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 02:40:14 +0000

At the annual meeting on June 6, the congregation voted to resume the search for a settled minister. The goal will be to call a minister in the spring of 2011. The congregation elected a Search Committee, made up of Greg Greco, Don Laliberte, Wendy Schwartz, Carol Wiseman and Chad Welch. The process of searching for a minister includes several phases. The process begins with a period of self-reflection, in which the congregation considers our values and what we need from a settled minister. This process will likely include small group discussions and a congregational survey. The results of this process will help the search committee develop an informational packet that describes our church to potential ministers. Next, the Search Committee interviews potential ministers and selects several precandidates. The Search Committee meets with these potential ministers and hears them preach at a neutral pulpit. Finally, the Search Committee recommends a candidate to the congregation and the congregation votes whether to call the candidate as a settled minister.

The Search Committee will begin our work over the summer. Although the interviewing and candidating processes need to be confidential, we will keep you informed about our work throughout the process. Watch for regular updates.

GLBT Film Festival Aug. 10-15

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 02:35:28 +0000

Once again, Bell Street Chapel is proud to be a venue for the Rhode International Film Festival (RIIFF) Aug. 10 – 15. This year we will be hosting the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Sidebar Wednesday through Saturday nights. We will be screening a variety of GLBT-themed films, including shorts and features, comedies, dramas and documentaries. We are planning an opening reception on Wednesday evening. We are also organizing panel discussions to discuss issues raised in the films including marriage equality and transgender issues.

Additionally, on Saturday afternoon, we hope to screen documentaries focusing on other social justice issues. At press time, the screening schedule
was still being developed. So mark your calendars for Wednesday August 11 through Saturday August 14, and check the Bell Street Web site
or the RIIFF Web site (www.film-festival.org) for updates.

Thomas Jefferson, The Freedom to Grow

MeredythW — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:42:54 +0000

Sally Gabb

An exploration of Thomas Jefferson, who, when he had a spare moment from music, rebellion, architecture, and invention, liked to garden.

The Seven Principles

admin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:42:30 +0000

The Seven Principles
The Religious Education program
Join us as we take a look at the seven UU
principles from a child’s point of view and
celebrate with the children of our church school.THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES
The Religious Education program
Join us as we take a look at the seven UU
principles from a child’s point of view and
celebrate with the children of our church school.

Mother’s Day Baskets for McAuley Village

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:45:08 +0000

McAuley Village is two-year transitional housing program for homeless single parents and children. The Village has 23 apartments and an on-site child care center. They provide the basic human needs of shelter, child care, supportive services, advocacy and guidance to homeless families seeking help. Village residents have diverse backgrounds and different levels of preparation. Some residents did not graduate from high school. Others are victims of domestic violence and some are immigrant families. Whatever their backgrounds, all are homeless and living in desperate poverty.

This Mother’s Day, May 8^th, Bell Street Chapel will be delivering Mother’s Day Baskets to the 23 mothers of McAuley village. Children in the village receive lots of attention, but mothers are often overwhelmed, overworked and still living in difficult conditions. We hope that these baskets will send a message of love and hope to the single mothers of the Village.

If you would like to help, we will be providing baskets, ribbons and tissue for adornment by the children, and art supplies for cards, but we need the small gifts to fill the baskets. Some ideas are: toiletries (trial sizes?), small flowering plants or flowers, hair accessories, mini sewing kits, or anything else you can think of! (Sister Holly, the administrator, asks that we NOT donate candles). Cash donations will go toward gift cards to CVS. We will need 23 (or 11 or 12) of each item, so they can be distributed evenly. Please see Carol Wiseman about your donation or fill in your idea/donation on the form in Eddy Hall. Thank you!

Daydream Theatre at Bell Street

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:42:28 +0000

Daydream Theatre Company is proud to present its spring 2010 production entitled “Out to Rocky Point”, an original stage play written and directed by Rhode Island playwright Leonard Schwartz. “Out to Rocky Point” will be presented in April and May of this year at the Bell Street Chapel in Providence, RI.

This is the 12th original play by Schwartz and Daydream Theatre Company to be presented in the historic Chapel Street Unitarian Church. “We are forever grateful to the wonderful folks at the Bell Street Chapel for their generosity in allowing us to use their beautiful space,” says playwright Schwartz.

“Out to Rocky Point” is a coming of age story that takes place at Rocky Point Amusement Park in Warwick, RI on the last day it is open. That fateful day was back in 1995. For those of you who were there, memories will be stirred by the production’s use of authentic props and signs from the original park. Schwartz promises some surprises too stating, “fans of the park will not be disappointed”.

Producer Jim Belanger and his team, Lloyd Felix, Caitlin Murphy, Jeni Hayden, Jon Knowles and Mary DeBerry are working hard to replicate for the audience that nostalgic feeling those memories of the park bring to mind. “I love being able to bring things together”, Belanger says with a smile. “This play will touch everyone in some way”.

“Out to Rocky Point” will run for three weekends: April 15, 16, 17; April 22, 23, 24; and April 29, 30 and May 1. All shows begin at 8pm. Ticket prices are General Admission $10, Student/Seniors (with valid ID) $5. Tickets are available at www.Smarttix.com. Please call Daydream Theatre Company at (401) 644-2293 with any questions.