Prairie Star District

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PSD People

A recent Skinner House book features a contribution from Praire Star’s Greg Pelley from First Unitarian in Des Moines, IA. Wrestling with Adulthood: Unitarian Universalist Men Talk About Growing Up is edited by Ken Beldon. Eleven men share their personal stories about growing up, honestly exploring the challenges they faced and the choices they made. The book is available at http://www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?SKU=4725

District awards were presented at the recent Annual Conference. We have posted the Citations and the Photos taken at the Awards luncheon.

PSD Congregations

The congregation of First Unitarian Church of Wichita (KS) has moved into their new building. The local newspaper featured the “green” aspects of their building in a nice article with two large photos. Look for photos of the new building on their Web site at http://www.firstuu.net

Shawnee Mission UU Church (Overland Park, KS) is hosting an event called “Julia’s Voice: Moms Speak Out Against the War” on Mother’s Day. The publicity reminds us of the original intent of Mother’s Day, as envisioned by Unitarian Julia Ward Howe. See more about it on their Web site at http://www.smuuchurch.org

UUA President Bill Sinkford will spend the weekend of May 16-18, in Prairie Star District.

• On Friday, May 16, he’ll be at the UU Congregation of Duluth (MN) for their building dedication.
• He’ll be preaching at both Sunday services at All Souls UU Church in Kansas City (MO) on Sunday, May 18.
• Then he’ll do a brief stop at Shawnee Mission UU Church, Overland Park, KS on his way to
• the UU Fellowship of Lawrence (KS), where he’ll address UUs gathered there in the afternoon after the I-70 Choir sings.

The first public worship service for a new UU congregation in Hutchinson (KS) was held in April. Representatives from several nearby UU congregations were present and participated in the service, and Jill Jarvis [currently serving as Southern Cluster OutReach and Extension (SCORE) minister] preached the sermon. In a note of thanks to neighboring UU churches and SCORE for support of the new congregation, organizing member Mike Williamson says, “We have made much progress, and have discovered many new friends. I would like to think that a new hope in one small town leads to hope everywhere.... As centers of compassion, acceptance, thoughtfulness, and action, it is very important that UU fellowships succeed. They need to succeed and grow everywhere. But that they need to emerge in new towns goes without saying. Young growing UU Fellowships are like spring wildflowers bringing new color and hope to the religious landscape.”