Sunday, May 26 "A Day of Remembrance and Resolve" Rev. Bill Graves
Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was originally called, was conceived to honor the Civil War dead. Now this has expanded to honor all war dead and we also honor those in our lives who have gone before us. This particular Memorial Day I will suggest those we honor deserve something more: They deserve that we give our all toward a world where war and violence are no longer part of our culture. Special music will be provided by John Jamison on the lute and Kathryn Strickland on harpsichord.
Religious Exploration Families: RE Teachers request that you pick up your children at 10:40 a.m. for the 9:30 a.m. service, and 12:25 p.m. for the 11:15 a.m. service. We would appreciate this little extra time to do our lessons in a more relaxed manner; also this allows parents a bit of time to chat with each other after church, or enjoy coffee hour Second graders celebrate compleation of the Age of Reason program designed to provide children with an opportunity to consider how each of the seven UU Principles apply to their lives. Switch to Summer Service Schedule Memorial Day weekend is at the end of the month, and so on Sunday, May 26, we begin our Summer Service Schedule of one service at 10:30 a.m. We will resume the two-service schedule after Labor Day.

Monday, May 20

Monday Night Meditation

Monday Night Meditation, TUUC sanctuary, 7 - 8:45 p.m.

If you care to, join us on Monday evenings for meditation in the Vipassana tradition. We typically sit or walk in meditation for 30 minutes, listen to a recorded dharma talk, and then have a short discussion in the spirit of awareness. No previous experience or preparation is necessary. All are welcome.

Next session, Monday, May 20th, Mark S facilitating: Zen Lessons.

For more information, contact Rob Gramenz (rgramenz@harbornet.com) or Mark Backus (backusm@harbornet.com).

Tuesday, May 21

"You gotta eat, so come eat with us!"
TUUC Supper Club

The TUUC Supper Club will return to Dirty Oscar's Annex (2309 6th Avenue, Tacoma) for their May gathering. Join us for some seriously good food and fun conversation. We'll save you a seat.

For more information, contact Susan Dye at susan.dye@gmail.com.

Wednesday, May 22

Adult Religious Exploration

Building Your Own Theology
Facilitators: Rev. Bill Graves and Mark Backus
Date: Final Session, May 22
Time / Location: 6:30 – 8 p.m. / TUUC
Small groups of UUs engage in a systematic, disciplined and communal process to build individual credos, or statements of individual beliefs. Everyone is welcome, including repeat "students"! This classic curriculum designed by Rev. Richard Gilbert discusses all the important questions of religion from a UU perspective, allowing each student to come to their own understanding of what makes sense and works. It's a wonderful way to get to know other TUUC'ers and to begin to explore your own faith.

Goals for Participants:

• To determine their values and beliefs about God or ultimate reality, human nature, ethics, and the
  meaning and purpose of life
• To discover what other UUs believe about the great religious questions
• To articulate their beliefs in credo statements · To meet the challenge of building their own theology

Special Note: For security purposes we are no longer keeping the front door unlocked before or during Wednesday Night Adult Spiritual Development. Please enter through the Sanctuary Doors off the parking lot. If you find yourself at the front door, simply ring the doorbell and we will be happy to let you in.

Saturday, May 26

Drum Circle 6:30-8 p.m.

Coming Events

Next Intrepids Hike

INTREPIDS Saturday June 1 hike, Duckabush River Trail in the Olympic Peninsula. 5 plus miles round trip depending on energy level of the group. Hiking to the Big Hump adds 1,000 ft. elevation gain. Dog friendly.  Mossy wonderland, giant cedars and "chugging" white river water!  All day outing with dinner stop. Rain gear important. Depart TUUC at 8:00 a.m. Sign-up a must, with Felice Davis; cell: (253) 307-8981 or fdavis1944@gmail.com

Special Congregational Meeting Sunday, June 16

A special congregational meeting has been set for Sunday, June 16, 2013 at 11:45 a.m. in the church sanctuary at the request of the Board. The purpose of the meeting is to vote on ordaining Tandi Rogers. (Her ordination service is scheduled for August 3; the vote to ordain needs to be taken before that service.)

According to UUA polity, the ordination to the ministry is an act performed by a local society, usually by congregational vote. The Rev. Peter Raible, in the Manual for Ordination and Installation in Unitarian Universalist Churches, explains, “Rather often, a theological school graduate feels a particular tie to some congregation due to family reasons, former association with the church as a member of the laity, or student work in the parish … accepted practice today is that an ordination may take place in this ‘special’ congregation, even if there is no intent for the minister to serve that particular parish.” Tandi is a long time member of TUUC. She will continue her work as the UUA Growth Strategies Specialist after her ordination.

Please plan to stay for this meeting after the church service. We do need a quorum.Thank you.

Sincerely yours,
Susan L. Tusa
Board of Trustees President

Save the Date: TUUC Picnic

Sunday, June 16, after the service to 4 p.m.
You don't want to miss the annual TUUC Father's Day picnic sponsored by the Kauffman family! Tap it into your iPhone; mark it on the fridge calendar; or tattoo it on the back of your hand. This is a family-friendly, activity-oriented event with something for everyone Contact person: Bruce Rowan (253) 230-9264

Join the TUUC Father’s Day Picnic Crew
The Kauffman family hosts this wonderful annual celebration, which is on June 16 this year. Our only planning meeting will be on Sunday, May 19, at 10:30 a.m. (following the first service). We'll meet in the social hall for about 30 minutes. The time commitment is small, and the reward is large. Please contact Bruce Rowan (253-230-9264) if you would like to be part of the team. We'd love to have you!

TUUC's Annual Dosewallips Camping Trip, August 23-25.

If you'd like to join your TUUC friends enjoying the wonder of nature and the fun of fellowship in the great outdoors reserve a camping spot at Dosewallips State Park in the circle #41-50 for the weekend of August 23-25. A handful of people have already reserved spots.

Register for Chalice Camp by July 1!
Camp is July 23-26, 2013

TUUC hosts its 5th Annual Chalice Camp: a summer day camp for young UUs. In the mornings we will have songs, games, and activities based on stories that support our unique view on faith and each afternoon will have these special activities.

Building popsicle stick houses, building props from the story we did in the morning to use for a skit that we will perform later in the week.

Art Day where we paint big pictures, create posters about ourselves, perhaps create broken pottery art, and tie-dye.

Music and Storytelling with a special guest. Also poetry writing.

Water-play on Friday (a tradition for us!) We will have a potluck dinner at Wapato Park and a sleep-over at TUUC on Friday night too!

Lead teachers: Anne Tumbusch, Erin Eramia, and Lori Fernholz-Hartman. Ask Lori for a registration form today. Chalice Camp is for children ages 5-11.

Congregational News

56th Street Real Estate News

Members of one church congregation have looked at our church building twice, now that it is on the market. They have expressed interest, but have not made an offer to date. Our real estate broker has told us that the church building shows very well because there is no deferred maintenance. (This one interested congregation does not own a church building that would be suitable for our current needs.) Our congregation voted to sell our church building last October. As Bob Lane said at the February Program Council meeting, "We need to think about a plan B if the building sells quickly." We will keep you posted and notify the congregation as soon as there is something firm to report.

(Submitted by Susan L. Tusa)

Ministerial Search Update

We were not successful in getting a match from the group of three ministerial pre-candidates we considered. We are not giving up, and will continue to use the UUA process to find a match for our congregation. We remain strongly hopeful that we will have this wrapped up by the end of summer.
--Ministerial Search Team

We at Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation are a liberal religious congregation of about 200 members, plus friends, who share our lives, our values and principles, our questions, and our faith and spirituality with one another. We have Sunday services, and we have other activities and programs all week. We are one of over a thousand independent congregations that voluntarily belong to the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

TUUC's Online calendar
Please look here and send a message to your adminIstrative staff members with corrections and additions a soon as possible. Thank you! Mike Field