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 Issue 48: May, 2009We always appreciate your comments and suggestions for the newsletter. Click on the “email the editor” link in the menu on the left to send us a message. This issue of the PSD Newsletter, and previous issues, can be read online. Audio and Video Recordings Available Online This year for the first time the highlight presentations of the Annual Conference were available to view live on the Internet during the conference. Now those presentations can be viewed whenever you desire from our web site, or downloaded as MP3 files. The Keynote Address on sustainable farming given by Linda Barnes, steward of high hopes gardens, near Ames, Iowa, and the Judy Memorial Lecture given by singer and songwriter Peter Mayer, the author of the well known and much loved song “Blue Boat Home” are available online. The Presidential Forum featuring spokespersons for each of the candidates for the UUA Presidency is also online. UU Summer Camp for All Ages You can still register for a week of fun and fellowship with Unitarian Universalists of all ages at Camp StarTrail, our new UU camp set for August 2–7, 2009. If you’d like to attend for a day or two instead of the whole week, partial week registration is also available. Camp StarTrail is located at a Lutheran facility we’re renting in the Platte River Valley between Omaha and Lincoln. The Camp offers Morning Celebration, workshops, swimming, campfires, Vespers, intellectual stimulation, and relaxation. To learn about Camp StarTrail and other UU camps in our region, visit our Camps page. The Prairie Star Board has adopted three goals for 2009–10: Growth, GRACE (Growing Racial and Cultural Equity), and Governance. For information on what the Board is doing in each of those areas see the President’s column, which also includes photos of the April Board meeting. The PSD Annual Report is available online. If you wonder how your congregation’s Fair Share contributions to the District are used, check out the Annual Report for reports from staff members and District committees about the work that has been done on behalf of congregations in the last year. The Report also includes the District financial report and the names of the generous individual donors who have contributed to the District. The 2009 PSD Awards presented at the Annual Conference went to nine recipients. See their citations and photos online. Other news of PSD People and Congregations is online. There is news of doctoral degrees, other awards, final fellowship, ministerial transitions, and ordinations. In news of congregations there is an anniversary, building dedications, response to legalization of marriage for same sex couples, and “green” congregation activities. Thanks to individual contributions from members of congregations all over the District, 16 people were awarded scholarships of $75 each this year to help offset the cost of attending the Prairie Star District Annual Conference. One recipient said, “I would never have been able to attend the PSD Conference without those who contributed to the scholarship fund. ... I know what I learned at this conference will allow me to be the best leader I can. I learn from you and from my mentors, and I will share and teach it to others.” This year’s recipients were selected to encourage first time attendees, seminary students, youth and young adults, congregational delegates and leaders, and to promote diversity. Many thanks to all the donors who made this possible. UUA Trustee Reports John Blevins, the UUA Trustee for Prairie Star District, reports the UUA has officially adopted the Policy Governance model of operation. He reviews the ENDS statements, Sources of Authority, and other policies. John also comments on UU University and the Presidential Election at GA. See his complete report. |