The Stops at Fielden's

After the hundredth exhortation to see the play The Stops, I finally made it. WOW!

Richmond Triangle Players, who did a very nice job with Southern Baptist Sissies, have really scored a hit with this production. The general idea is that three members of a Lady Organists' Guild have gone on a concert tour in support of their favorite composer and organist, Dale Meadows. But the general idea could have been most anything and I would have paid money to see this cast do it.

First of all, the lady organists are all men in drag. It seems disrespectful to say that, however, because the actors are so talented and engage so fully with the audience. My guess is some therapy might be in order to unravel the characters from the actors at the end of the run.

Then there's the attraction that one of the characters is a Unitarian. She was so great that I almost slipped her my card so she would join our church.

But the best part of all is the often light-hearted, always on the mark skewering of modern American organized religion. I laughed until my face hurt and I will never look at a church potluck the same way again.

Our Performing Arts Circles will be going to see two Richmond Triangle Players productions this year. We can only hope that they will bring Stops level entertainment out again.

Vespers August 22

Our Vespers this past week was on hospitality. We combined prayers, silence, and hymns to meditate on the idea of opening ourselves up to others.

Next week's Vespers will be one of our mostly silent Vespers. We will have a few words and one piece of music, but will spend the rest of the time in silent meditation. We observe silent Vespers a few times during the year.

Rites of Passage

In two weeks my son starts pre-K at the elementary school. Yesterday was Little Man's last day of daycare and he repeatedly announced to all within hearing distance, "Today is Celebration Day!" The way he sees it, this is the last vestige of childhood before he moves into adult living. He's 4.

Minister Mama almost forgot that a day such as this needs a rite of some sort, an acknowledgement that our Little Man is growing up. I didn't have time to get him a tattoo. (Stop your fussin'. TEMPORARY tattoo.) Taking photographs wasn't enough. Luckily, we drove past the answer on the way home.

The Shankerosa.

The Shankerosa is the dwelling place of handyman, bartender, part-time guru, full-time cool guy, and my good buddy Shank. Yep, that's really his name. And yep, his house really is called the Shankerosa. It's got a sign and everything. Shank has been known to come to my rescue on many an occasion. He's also a reliable friend to the under 5 set. Once Shank heard of Little Man's big news, they made a date for soda in 30 minutes. At our local watering hole. Well, I believe bar is the term, but people are so stuck on terms these days, don't you think?

So at 5:00 yesterday I delivered my 4 year old to a bar wearing a clean shirt and his hat that is shaped like a giant hot dog for a drink with a guy named Shank.

That's the kind of sentence for which blogs were invented.

Circle Schedule is Out

The schedule of Community Circle activities and events is ready for pickup at the church. We've tripled the number of offerings this year and they are already filling up. Check them out and sign up soon!

This year we have 2 performing arts groups who go out for dinner and a show once a month. One is a Friday group and the other is a Saturday group.

The Adventure group is back, meeting on Saturdays and engaging in a variety of sporty challenges. (Sport-like? Sport-esque?) In addition there is a cycling group which meets usually on Sundays, with some Saturdays and will be doing rides of various levels of difficulty. (Although I prefer to think of them as various levels of ease.)

We have 4 book discussion groups with different themes. They are filling lightning fast.

We also have 3 UU Seekers groups which are ideal for those who are new to UU, looking to deepen their commitment, or hoping to learn more about the tradition.

We have had sign-up for one week and already have almost one third of the slots filled. Don't miss out.

Hope this makes sense. I'm violating a cardinal blogging rule - don't blog with a fever. Is it just me or is it hot in here?

Go, Pupke, Go!!!

As I am writing this and preparing to invent tonight's bedtime story for my pre-schooler, my buddy and colleague, The Reverend Jeanne Pupke, is perched on the eve of her preaching life at our shared congregation, First Unitarian Universalist, Richmond. Unlike yours truly, Jeanne actually enjoys preaching, so she's probably pretty mellow tonight.

Not me. I'm so excited. Not only is she bright, talented, fun, and kind... she is going to be amazing at this church. She is going to help lead us to our best selves. She is going to ride whatever waves may come, and help us ride them. And we will be better for having known her.

Best of all, she preaches three times a month and I only have to do once. God, I love this woman!

Come on out tomorrow. There's a new sheriff in town. Go, Pupke, GO!!!