Celebrations Committee
Welcome!
The Celebrations Committee assists the Minister in planning, coordinating and facilitating our Sunday morning Celebrations.
Meeting Times
The Celebrations Committee meets on the first Tuesday of each month, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm in room 122 of the Parish House.
Contact Information
You may send an email to all people interested in the celebrations committee at celebcom@unitarian.ithaca.ny.us. To have yourself be included on that list, please contact the facilitator flosmith42@aol.com.
Facilitator
Flo Smith (697-273-6147; flosmith42@aol.com) is the Celebrations Committee facilitator. Please check with her for possible meeting time/date changes, or for any other information about the committee.
Vision Statement
To provide services that reflect the wide-ranging interests and beliefs brought to our church by its members. We strive to examine and present a range of celebration structures, beliefs, and points of view.
Our goals include:
- Presenting a meaningful service
- Involving many members of the congregation in the Sunday services
- Interacting with each Sunday’s congregation
- Developing services synchronized by flow and focus, using a unified theme
- Building community through the sharing of personal beliefs
- Gaining closer knowledge of the members of our community
We seek to accomplish those goals by:
- Inviting individual members, friends, and groups to invent, create, and produce Sunday celebrations. Committee members provide assistance to them throughout the process;
- Seeking out, interviewing, and inviting guest speakers and ministers from outside the congregation to join us and add to our growth and understanding; and
- Assisting the minister in any way we can to develop Sunday celebrations and set up pulpit exchanges.
There are many ways that you may participate! Any member, friend, committee, or group affiliated with the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca is welcome. If you think that you have a good idea for a Sunday celebration, the committee will help you find a place for it on the calendar, work with you to flesh it out (see our Service Structure page), and get you the resources you need to make it work. Occasionally the Celebrations Committee will request that the topic or idea be adjusted to more closely follow the mission of the Committee and needs of the church. You decide how much of the service you want to "manage" (e.g., do you stand up for 15 minutes and sermonize? Or do you have interest just in choosing the hymns, readings, stories, a musician or two, participatory activities, a special song, and call to celebration? ) and the committee will help with the rest. Please read the service-planning checklist to get an idea of the timetable required.
We welcome and appreciate creative ideas. Please bring yours to us soon.
You may also read a summary of our most recent annual report.