Jan. 6, 2019, 9:15am. Carrie Koehnline, Making Space for New Beginnings

If we want to set intentions and bring something fresh into our lives for the New Year, we need to open up some room. That means taking a fresh look at what has become clutter for us, and refraining from immediately filling the spaces we open up. It means clarifying what we're attempting to bring in, while staying open to the possibilities that may be coming our way. Come join this interactive workshop where we'll explore Making Space for New Beginnings in our homes, heads, hearts, and schedules.

Facilitator and BUF member Carrie Koehnline is a psychotherapist, journal therapist, author, and artist. She is also the creator of Gentle Approach Coaching to support clutter clearing, navigating transitions, and creative endeavors. She has two books: Confronting Your Clutter and The Bear's Gift. Her upcoming book, Clearing Clutter as a Sacred Act will be available in mid-January 2019. http://www.GentleApproachCoaching.com

Bridges of Hope - Dec. 16, 2018 9:15 in the Conference Room.

Kim Sauter, director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Whatcom County, will answer questions about Bridges of Hope, which educates faith communities regarding mental illness. Faith communities can then create stronger safety nets as well as welcoming communities of faith for people affected by mental illness. What is mental illness and what is its impact? What is the role of the community in helping the mentally ill and their families? And what is NAMI and what does it offer?

Dec. 9, 2018, 9:15am. Zen Buddhism & Political Activism

Edie Norton, Zen Buddhist priest at Red Cedar Zen Center in Bellingham, will discuss with us the practice of zazen and three foundational teachings of Buddhism—the Four Noble Truths, the Eight-Fold Path, and the Bodhissatva Vow. Reading from the forthcoming memoir of her 50 years of Zen practice, she will describe how Zen training has helped her in her political work during the past two years of turmoil in our country.

Dec. 2nd, 9:15am: What is Waste Diversion? Conference Room.

Be inspired by WSU Master Composter/Recycler and retired UU minister, Jaco ten Hove, on how and why to avoid sending any more than necessary to the landfill. Waste Diversion usually means reducing consumption and repurposing, recycling or composting everything possible. You’ll see a quick slide show about plastic pollution and recycling. Bring your ideas for creative recycling, your curiosity and your questions!

Check out Jaco's blog at
Trimming Our WasteLine  - http://bellcoho.com/blog

Thanksgiving Holiday. Nov. 25th

There will be no Sunday Forum on November 25th, due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. 

Nov. 18th, 9:15am, Conference Room. Aquaponics and York Community Farm

Food for the Future

Mary Loquvam, founder and Director of the York Community Farm, will share with us how she and the York Community are developing a sustainable symbiotic food-growing system at their urban farm. York Community’s Farm’s vision is to create a living wage, skill-building, and sustainable aquaponics industry in Whatcom County. Aquaponics is system of agriculture wherein fish are grown in tanks, and their nutrient-rich “fishy” water is pumped to vegetables growing near the tanks. The plants then up-take nutrients from the water and return clean water to the fish. 

The mission to date has been to create food security projects in the city, to provide a living-wage, resume-building internship program for our community's underserved (veterans, homeless, and recently incarcerated), and to serve as a model of sustainable urban food production.

Oct. 28, 2018, 9:15am. Food Sovereignty for Every Season & Day of the Dead

Rosalinda Guillen, executive director of Community to Community Development will present our Forum. C2C’s broad mission includes developing crow-cultural awareness and restoring justice to our food, land and cultural practices. Accordingly, Rosalinda will discuss food sovereignty  and how this relates to the cycle/seasons of life and death, touching on the meaning of the Day of the Dead.

My Year in Kuwait, with Zanne Alder. Oct. 21, 2018 @ 9:15am.

Join us in the Conference Room to hear local author Zanne Alder tell of the harrowing experiences in Kuwait that eventually required her to flee under cover of darkness. She had gone abroad broken-spirited, hoping to fulfill her ideals. But the job at Shamiya School did nothing to ease her angst.

Yet, she says, she learned so much. “The extremity of the  circumstances I encountered required me to dig deep for strength, and even flourish. I called upon my spiritual reserves as a long-standing member of the Sufi Order. Opening to guidance, I received realizations I could never have assimilated in the comfort of my own culture. The guidance was calm, centered, certain and loving. I took risks I would not even have entertained were it not for being lost, and then found, in the desert of Kuwait.”

Oct. 14, 2018. 9:15. The Way to the North, with Escarleth De Leon

Do you know that there are 56.5 million of Latinos/Hispanics living in the United States? Have you ever asked yourself: Is it possible to stop the immigration from Latin America? Do you feel overwhelmed trying to understand the complexities surrounding the crisis of human beings risking everything to leave their home country, in hopes of a better life in this country? Well, come join me as I share my own journey to this country. My hope is to leave you with more knowledge about the challenges that families face as they make their way to the North. 

Escarleth De Leon is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) working in private practice. Before becoming an LMFT she worked in hotels, in greenhouses, pruning and processing berries, picking apples, and more. Then she entered the field of social services in community medical/mental health centers, before going into private practice. 

Oct. 7, 9:15: “Rising Tide and Smoky Haze: The Lowdown on Climate Change”

Our presenter Warren Sheay, a former teacher/educator,

recently attended the climate change training in Pittsburgh, PA offered by Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. He conceived of and provided the commentary for a climate change photo exhibit that was displayed at Mindport Museum and the Western Washington University Library and will show slides from this photo exhibit climate change and impacts on local landmarks.

Sept. 30, 2018 Humanitas Team Forum at 9:15am

Humanitas Team Forum

Conference Room, 9:15

Our Humanitas Team provides support to local people in need by listening to their stories and offering limited, emergency financial assistance, such as a car breakdown on the way to work, in a safe and non-judgmental atmosphere. Nine volunteer members of the Team participate at a time. In addition, currently a tenth member of the Team oversees the "Laundry Love" program. Every Wednesday morning they give vouchers to individuals to wash a load of laundry. Up to 28 people per week have availed themselves this of this opportunity. 

Our Humanitas Team provides support to local people in need by listening to their stories and offering limited, emergency financial assistance, such as a car breakdown on the way to work,in a sage and non-judgmental atmosphere.

Interacting with people in need can be very difficult some days due to their emotional turmoil. But our patient Team members are there to listen and offer relief.

Please read the Team's stories of distress and relief, one in every week of BUF's Midweek Update.

The Humanitas Team follows BUF's covenant, "Love is the spirit of this Fellowship and Service gives it life. "You'll surely be moved to support this Team's noble work. -Sita Amba-Rao

Sept. 23 - Where There's Smoke There's Fire: Wildfire in the American West

Presenter: Ronald D. Quinn, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Ecology

I have been interested in wildfires all my life, having grown up in southern California. Over the course of my childhood, I watched all the vegetation on the surrounding mountains burn off, piece by piece. While studying biology I researched how plants and animals recover after fire on blackened hillsides, and for the past half century have written about these and other questions concerning fire ecology.

Why are the wildfires becoming larger, more frequent and more destructive in the Pacific Northwest? I will review with you the causes of today’s growing loss of lives and property from wildland fires. We will talk about how better public and private planning practices can reduce these mounting losses, and I will describe ways that individuals and communities can improve safety from wildland fires, and will include sources for more detailed information.

Building Connections: Chalice Circles & Healthy Relationships

Sunday Forum on Sept 16th

The BUF Chalice Circles Coordinating Team will introduce the ways Chalice Circles help connect Bufsters, through small groups meeting regularly throughout the year, to explore themes for spiritual deepening. BUF’s Healthy Relationships Team will also share the communication practices that support BUF’s covenant of Healthy Relationships. As part of the Forum, an abbreviated Chalice Circle meeting will offer a sample of a Chalice Circle meeting, for those considering joining a Chalice Circle.

Helping the Brain Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time: An Update on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Sunday May 9, 2018, in the BUF Conference Room

Research has completely changed our conception of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and expanded our treatment options. In the past this condition was called “Minimal Brain Dysfunction” and kids were zombied out on Ritalin to prevent them from misbehaving. Now we have better answers for these questions: Who gets ADHD and why? Where do you find ADHD in the brain? What are the short and long-term outcomes of this condition? What medical and psychological treatments are effective for ADHD?

Beth Nyblade, a Clinical, School and Forensic Psychologist, will discuss the questions above. She’ll also bring a Macarena tape to see if anyone present at the forum has ADHD (LOL).

FORUMS TO RETURN IN SEPTEMBER

Sunday Forums have finished for the 2017-18 year. We'll start up again in early September. Have wonderful summers, all!

Ecuadorian Arm Chair Travels

May 27th, 9:15am, upstairs in the Flex Room 

Travel vicariously with BUF members Beth Brownfield and daughter Jenny Bowefield as they share their 16 days in Ecuador. Meet a prostitute and a pickpocket in Quito, the capitol, experience 4 nights in the Amazon, and a week of wonder in the Galapagos Islands.  With the help of Overseas Adventure Travel, we’ll climb through a giant kapok tree up into the canopy of the rainforest to see a few of the billions of specimens of Amazonian flora and fauna. On a night walk in the jungle we’ll meet tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes and spiders, then awaken to the screeches of monkeys passing nearby. Our Ecuadorian lunch includes a local delicacy of live grubs. Then on to the Galapagos to swim with sea lions, sea turtles, manta rays, and tropical fish, and to walk beside a freeway of sea iguanas leaving the beach to catch the sun. Prepare to be amazed.

A Year of Black Lives Matter at BUF: Looking Back, Feedback, Looking Forward, May 20, 2018

9:15 am.  Presenters will be members of BUF: 

• Lauralee Carbone
• Cat McIntyre
• Karen Nuckles-Flinn 

Discussion moderator will be David Curley.  

This forum invites members and friends of BUF to hear a brief report from the Black Lives Matter Action Team about what we have done in 2017-18.  We then will invite you to share your feedback about Eracism moments in the service and anything else you would like to discuss to help us evaluate our work and plan for next year. Finally we will have a chance to hear about plans for next year that are being developed by Religious Education, Healthy Relations, and the Black Lives Matter teams. These plans are both in the beginning stages and exciting. Please come!

Palliative Care: Creating a Healing and Caring Community, 9:15am, May 13, 2018, Conference Room

Marie Eaton, Director of the Palliative Care Institute at WWU and professor emerita of Fairhaven College, will talk about our community’s need for expanded palliative care services and programs. According to the PEW Research Center, roughly 10,000 Baby Boomers will turn 65 today, and about 10,000 more will cross that threshold every day for the next 19 years. As our population ages, the complexity of patients seeking care in the emergency department also increases dramatically. In addition to treatment for chronic and terminal diseases, patients increasingly need to negotiate challenges like functional and cognitive decline. Yet for both these patient groups our current medical model often prioritizes treatment over a patient’s quality of life goals. Bring your questions and thoughts about this relatively new modality that helps those who experience a decreased quality of life because of symptoms related to a serious illness or a current treatment plan.

During her more than 40 years of teaching, Prof. Eaton explored themes of Death and Dying, Childhood in America, Food Pathways, Memoir and Memory, and Music with her students. 

A Unique Childcare and Learning Center, May 6, 2018 at 9:15am. Conference Room

Karen Ekdahl, Director of the Bellingham Childcare and Learning Center will share with us why the Center is unique, in demand and impactful for local families.

BCLC was established 30 years ago to provide affordable childcare for families in need throughout Whatcom County. As an aid to the escalating need for affordable childcare, BCLC offers the only program in Whatcom County with a sliding scale available to all. In partnership with the community, $99,744.00 went towards assisting 64 children last year. Affordable, high quality early childhood education enables children and families to hold onto hope—and their belief in themselves.

No forum on April 29th

There will be no Sunday Forum on April 29th. Next Forum will be May 6th.

Sharing Cultures, Building Peace in your Own Home, April 22, 2018

9:15 a.m. Learn something new when BUF member Carol Sheppard speaks about how we can take advantage of a little known cultural exchange visa program that’s sponsored by the U.S. State Department.  Hosting a cultural exchange student is a great way to learn about another cultures, while allowing students from other countries to overcome the many misperceptions that abound about Americans.  In addition, Sheppard will talk about a single opportunity—right here in Bellingham—to host students from 30 different countries in your home for a semester or school year.  Help live the message of peace while building rewarding international friendships. Your attendance is valuable in this educational Forum; attendees will appreciate hearing about your own experiences hosting cultural exchange students.