UUFP meets next on...

Sunday, May 13 
Service at 3:00 PM 

"A Few Words for the Soul"

The Rev. John Harley from London

What is the soul? Is it a fossilized religious concept, now out of date, or a possible reality that is ever more relevant in an increasingly secularized society? John will help us to do some soul work, rather than homework, and explore how the concept of the soul can be freeing and healing.

Saturday, May 12 Pledge Dinners

THANK YOU to all who have made their pledge for 2011-2012! The UUFP's annual pledge celebration will be held on Saturday, May 12, with a number of circle pledge dinners. We hope you will come to one of these celebratory potlucks.

Sunday, May 13, 4:15 pm
Annual General Meeting

UUFP members are reminded of the Annual Meeting, which will take place right after the Sunday service. Non-members are welcome to attend but only members may vote. Annual reports from the president and treasurer will be presented and officers for 2012-2013 will be elected. Other business may be proposed for discussion at the meeting.

There will be a babysitter prepared to take care of the youngest children. Older children are also welcome to come, ideally bringing an engaging activity that will allow them to quietly pass the time together during the meeting.

Sunday, June 10, 3pm, Service
the Rev. David Usher
"Too Soon to Tell"

Our lives are always lived within a context larger and longer than we can ever know, and the significance of events is not to be measured only in their immediate impact or according to our limited understanding.

UUFP is looking for a new home from September onward!

If you know of a venue with a room for 100 people one Sunday per month, please click here to let us know.

Where We Meet

Temple de Pentemont
(Eglise réformée de France)
106 rue de Grenelle
Paris 7e

Location: The location of the church
-- 106 rue de Grenelle -- is between Rue du Bac and Rue de Bellechasse, practically on the corner of Rue de Bellechasse. It is situated just a few blocks from the Musée d’Orsay, on the other side of Boulevard St Germain.

Closest Metro stations: “Solférino”, “Rue du Bac”, line 12. (At the Solférino stop, taking Sortie #1 or #3 means you will not have to cross the Boulevard St Germain. However, Sortie #2 has an escalator; if you take it you must then cross Boulevard St Germain to rue de Bellechasse.)
Other Metro stations: For those who are happy to walk a few more blocks: “Musée d’Orsay” (RER C), “Varenne” (line 13), and “Sévres-Babylone” (line 10).

Buses which run on Sundays:
63 (Porte de la Muette — Gare de Lyon), arrêt “Solférino-Bellechasse”,
68 (Place de Clichy — Châtillon-Montrouge), arrêt “Rue de Bac-René Char”,
94 (on Sundays runs only Gare Montparnasse — Gare St Lazare),
arrêt “Rue du Bac-René Char”.

Car: Parking is very difficult in the neighborhood which has many government buildings. It is easy to park temporarily at the front door of the church to drop off passengers. The closest public parking garages are the “Bac-Montalembert” on the corner of Rue du Bac and Rue Montalembert, and the “Musée d’Orsay” on the Quai Anatole France.

Cafés: Two cafés near the church which are open on Sundays: Café Mucha on the corner of rue de Bellechasse and Boulevard St Germain, and Le Florès on the corner of the Rue de Grenelle and the Rue du Bac.

Fellowship's May Letter

Leadership is commonly viewed in exclusive terms -- leaders are exceptional, charismatic people who make change happen. That's a narrow view, of course, and here I'd like expand that view, to talk about leadership for the rest of us. Or, rather, leadership IN the rest of us.

Two qualities in particular seem common and equally useful in both kinds of leadership: taking responsibility and recognizing that our actions can influence others.

Leaders may formally accept responsibility, as when swearing an oath when taking public office. More often -- perhaps more powerfully when seen in the aggregate -- it's situational: a citizen speaks out at a town meeting; a whistleblower, at personal risk, exposes a wrongdoing; a child stands by another being bullied on a playground. These kinds of social responsibility are a prominent part of our UU identity.

Responsibility is also individual. As UUs, we have a lot of latitude in how we construct our spiritual life, but we are charged with actively doing so. This is far from the caricature that UUs just get to believe whatever they want, and complacency is not a virtue. Our freedom entails a responsibility.

In both of these aspects, social and individual, responsibility needs community. The tenth and last of David Rankin's UU beliefs reads: "We believe in the importance of a religious community. Peers confirm and validate experience, and provide a critical platform, as well as a network of mutual support."

I think it's obvious how mutual support is important for social responsibility. But the more interesting part here for me is the critical platform, to confirm and validate our individual experience. In the absence of an ultimate truth provided by a book or a creed, we need the feedback of trusted others who share our values to avoid becoming lost.

Leaders implicitly understand that their actions have consequences; what would leadership otherwise mean? And the consequences aren't only direct. The examples they set can themselves be a powerful form of leadership.

I know someone with a knack for pointing out the good in others. Not incessantly, just at the right moments. In a conversation about someone who is being difficult or needing attention, she will point out that they have a great heart, or have suffered something terrible, or haven't always been this way. I don't know if she does it spontaneously or deliberately, but the effect is the same, and I'm grateful for the reminder, without which I might well carry on in my selfish train of thought. I'm also inspired to follow her example.

Another way we lead by our actions is in sharing our own spiritual journey. One of the gifts of UU that has surprised me is just how much I've learned from others. In sermons and so forth, yes, but more often in our small groups, workshops, and in personal exchanges.

Our seventh UU principle is: "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part"; our interdependent UU community can be a rich example of this web, if we share our experiences and support and nurture those of others.

Perhaps like beauty, leadership is all around us, we merely need to look to see it and recognize how we can contribute.

If one way to lead is to lay big plans and execute them, another is certainly to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions. We step up to that which we can most control, directly influencing those around us. As Mahatma Gandhi taught: "Be the change you want to see in the world."

In fellowship,
Dave Frey, Secretary

(Click here to continue reading past President's letters.)

Website Feedback

In the spirit of growth and renewal that comes with our search for a new home for UUFP, we're launching a revitalization project for the UUFP website. Carolyn Chmielewski is working on a project to help make the website more accurately reflect the spirit of our congregation, but we need your help! Please take a few minutes to answer this quick survey about your use of church websites:

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