LITURGY PLANNING MEETING
10:00 Thursday, November 21st
Riverwalk Community Room
806 Riverwalk Drive Waukesha 53188
All are welcome!
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LOOKING AHEAD TO CHRISTMAS!
Our traditional ‘Christmas Eve’ service will be moving to Sunday morning!
Because many people have other events on Christmas Eve there have been
relatively few people attending our CLS service in recent years.
Someone had suggested last year that we hold our Christmas service
on Sunday morning at our usual time, and the liturgy
committee thought that was a great idea.
So, this year our Christmas liturgy will be held on
Sunday, December 22, at 10:00!
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See the ‘Running for Water’ page for news about this year’s Run/Walk!
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POTLUCK FUNDRAISER!
For the DAVE HELLING MEMORIAL FUND
The money raised – over $1000 so far – will benefit the HOPE Center
The potluck lunch on September 29
at Laraine and Mike O’Brien’s home was
a great event in a lovely setting on a beautiful day!
Many thanks to Laraine and Mike!
Donations for this can be sent to CLS Treasurer Laraine O’Brien
with ‘Dave’ in the Memo line.
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Plowshare Peacebuilder Award 2024
A video was produced on 4-21-24 of CLS and Carmen de la Paz receiving the 2024 Plowshare Kate Delaney Jolin Peacebuilder Award. Pictured are Faye, Bonnie, Dawn, Therese, Carmen, and Diane
Access the Plowshare website to view the video.
Plowshare Article In Freeman 5-8-24
Link to the above article:
Carmen De La Paz and the Community of the Living Spirit receive Peacebuilder Awards
https://waukeshafreeman-wi.newsmemory.com/?publink=039b565f5_134d2a0
Plowshare Freeman Article 3-26-24
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An Informative Article Featuring Laraine O’Brien
On The Festival Of Books In the Waukesha Freeman
10/03/2024
Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books seeks new major sponsor
Event’s 15th anniversary to feature four keynote events beginning Oct. 10
By Isabella Kostolni
ikostolni@conleynet.com 262-513-2651
WAUKESHA — The Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books will look a little different this year, and Laraine O’Brien, one of the event’s founders, says it’s because they’re on a hunt for a new major sponsor.
“We are just a committee of the nonprofit called the UWM-Waukesha Foundation, and that’s going to go out of existence,” she said.
In March, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee announced that the Waukesha satellite campus will close after the spring 2025 semester. The decision was made due to declining enrollment at UWM-Waukesha — upwards of 65% in the past decade.
Beyond being a devastating blow for students and faculty, UWM-Waukesha’s closing poses a problem for the book festival too. O’Brien says the school served as the event’s primary sponsor, providing it with funds and a facility to host the yearly literary celebration. So, for the past several months, the founder has been working with 20 longtime festival supporters to determine a path forward. After a series of meetings, they decided to scale back this year’s event — the 15th anniversary — in order to put more effort into securing a new major sponsor.
“We just could not do everything. …It’s a project that requires a lot of work, and in order for us to do a good job finding a new home for the festival, we had to have some time to do that,” O’Brien said.
This year’s Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books features four keynote events, kicking off with local author (and festival program chair) Kathie Giorgio’s novel launch for “Don’t Let Me Keep You,” her 15th book, on Oct. 10.
The other three events include the awards ceremony for the student writing contest along with the Lillian Boese (another festival founder) memorial evening, a discussion with Pulitzer Prize winner Darrin Bell about his book “The Talk,” and a presentation from former U.S. education secretaries.
Having four events stretching from October to April is a big change from festivals past. The Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books historically took place in early November with a full weekend of programming ranging from keynote events to author panels to a live performance to a writers’ marketplace. But once the festival secures a new major sponsor, O’Brien says the event will be back in its entirety.
“We hope to have another sponsor announced by the end of this year, so that next year we could have a full festival again,” she said.
The founder noted that without a new sponsor, the festival can’t go on. Luckily, she said there’s “definitely interest” coming from the community about taking on that role. O’Brien added that whenever a prospective major sponsor comes forward, the festival committee makes sure to give them an idea of what it entails — everything from contributing funds to providing a facility large enough to host their typical programming.
Those meetings have been fruitful, and O’Brien said the committee feels “that we’re going to come away with a really good sponsor.” And they want the new sponsor to have “their purposes and their strengths” reflected in the event too, O’Brien noted, so there might be a couple changes to next year’s festival as well.
“We hope that people will understand our process,” O’Brien said. “We do hope that the festival still has a place in the community next year and that the people will remember and come back.”
© Conley Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. Powered by TECNAVIA
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A SOPHIA OPINION
In ‘Letters To the Editor’ Waukesha Freeman, February 11, 2023:
SOPHIA supports affordable housing, Brookfield project
To the editor:
As an interfaith coalition representing diverse religious communities across Waukesha County, SOPHIA stands in support of the proposed Flats at Bishop Woods housing development. We envision a city of Brookfield, and a Waukesha County, which welcome people of all races, creeds, and income levels. We boldly speak against the discrimination of working families and seniors who simply wish to call our Brookfield home.
We were deeply troubled by comments made at the January 17 Common Council meeting when an alderman suggested that living in Brookfield should be a privilege afforded only to those of a certain income bracket, saying “We don’t step down to allow the people who can’t afford to live in Brookfield to come in, because then we become West Allis, then we become Wauwatosa.” Others on the council indicated that their initial vote to approve the development came only in fear that the city may face litigation if it turned down the proposal.
Not only is it illegal to discriminate against housing developments for working-class families, it is morally wrong. It does not represent the basic goodness and welcoming spirit that makes our community great. While there are many differences of belief among our diverse congregations, each of our faith traditions teach us to serve those on the margins and advocate on their behalf. Those who fall within the income range that the Flats at Bishop Woods would serve include essential workers like firefighters and police officers. This new development could be home to the very people we entrust to teach our children or care for our elderly parents. Those who fall into this income range are not separate from our community, they are a vital part of it!
It is simply wrong to assume that more workforce housing opportunities would only bring in new working families, and not also serve those who already live here. According to the city’s own Comprehensive Plan adopted in 2020, there are more than 1,500 households in Brookfield who are paying over half of their income on housing alone. These are working families and seniors, many of whom are routinely forced to decide between paying rent and buying essentials like groceries or prescription drugs.
Sadly, the discriminatory attitude on display at the last Common Council meeting is not unique to Brookfield. Just over 10 years ago, our organization spoke out in support of a proposed development which would have added 180 units of workforce housing in New Berlin. Politicians there chose to block the project in a way that the U.S. Justice Department determined to be illegal.
There are many reasons why we choose to call Waukesha County home. Among them is the people. The people of this county are hardworking and kind. SOPHIA calls upon the leaders in Brookfield to reflect their goodness and humanity. We call upon city and county leaders to work with developers who wish to create housing opportunities for working families and seniors, not against them.
SOPHIA Religious Leaders Caucus:
Audrey Hebert First United Methodist Church of Waukesha
Rev. Julie Stoneberg Unitarian Universalist Church West, Brookfield
Rev. David Kraemer United Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Rev. Carin Bringelson, Lake Country Unitarian Universalist Church, Hartland
Sandra Peters Community of the Living Spirit, Waukesha
Rev. Ralph Schultz First Congregational United Church of Christ, Waukesha
Rev. James Holmberg SOPHIA Religious Leaders Caucus
Kate Delaney Jolin Community of the Living Spirit, Waukesha
Betty Groenewold SOPHIA Housing Justice Task Force, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church