About Prairie UU Society
Prairie UU Society is a freethinking religious community. We aspire to be both open-hearted and open-minded. We welcome those who enter our doors with any combination of strengths and weaknesses, beliefs and doubts. Our children receive liberal religious eduction as we model values in our search for truth and meaning.
Prairie is a small, lay-lead liberal congregation. The congregation is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. We members hold differing religious beliefs, but our shared principles affirm the worth and dignity of all persons, the need for justice and compassion, a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and a respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. We choose to be in a community for the development and values education of our children. As UU's, we believe that personal experience, conscience and reason should be the final authorities in religion.
We are a Welcoming Congregation that opens each Sunday morning service with words similar to the following:
"Prairie is a lay-led congregation and our doors are open to people of various
religious and ethnic backgrounds and diverse sexual orientations."
Prairie Bond of Union
We, the members of Prairie, wish to associate ourselves together in a
religious community which affirms that we share a common humanity,
that we need one another, and that our futures are inescapably bound
together. Together we would expand our intellectual horizons, enrich
our sensory experiences, and deepen our emotional sensitivities. We
would sharpen our ethical awareness and broaden our sense of social
responsibility. We would stand tall in our quest for integrity of
life, yet not at others' expense. As the prairie stretches out until
it becomes one with the sky, let us reach out to touch and be one
with the natural world, and with one another.
Prairie Smoke by Lois Hagstrom
Prairie UU Society Mission Statement
Adopted November 21, 1999
Prairie is a diverse, lay-led congregation. We aspire to be both open-hearted and open-minded. We welcome all who enter our doors with any combination of strengths and weaknesses, beliefs and doubts.
Our small size allows us to be like an extended family: we aspire to support one another and nurture the growth of each of our members. By sharing joys and sorrows, we keep each other company on the journey through life.
We seek to learn with and from each other in an atmosphere that respects diverse ideas, lifestyles, cultures, and wisdom traditions. Our shared values include respect for all forms of life and stewardship of the environment. Helping our youth to understand and appreciate these values is part of our mission.
We seek to promote dignity, worth, and justice for people worldwide by supporting individual and collective social action.
Officers and Committees
Prairie Society is unique among Madison UU congregations because it has no paid clergy. Our only paid staff are our Religious Education director and our office administrator, both part time. Prairie is a true voluntary organization—it functions because volunteers plan and present programs and services, help with child care, teach children, wash dishes, shovel sidewalks, and more! There's no better way to get to know us than to work with us. It's easy to get involved in any of these activities.
2004-2005 Officers:
- President—Mike
Briggs
- Vice-President—K.
K. Anderson
- Secretary—Dean
Schroeder
- Treasurer—Dirk Herr-Hoyman
2004-2005 Committees and Their Responsibilities:
- Denominational Affairs
Committee (Chair, Mary Somers)
- Congregation's main link to Unitarian Universalist national and regional offices
- Orders books and pamphlets from the UUA Bookstore
- Makes available catalogs of the Beacon Press
- Conducts periodic orientation meetings for new members in conjunction with Membership committee
- Conducts annual parish poll to determine Society positions on UU General Assembly resolutions
Finance Committee (Chair, Kathy Converse)
- Prepares annual budget proposal
- Canvasses members and friends for pledges to meet the adopted budget
- Conduct other fund raising activities such as service auctions
Housing & Property Committee (Chair, Larry Nahlik)
- Responsible for building and grounds maintenance.
- Does most minor repairs and improvements to meeting house using volunteer labor *
- Contracts for major repairs and
improvements when necessary
* Workers of all skill levels are welcome
Long Range Planning Committee (Chair, Ken Skog)
- Makes recommendations related to Society's long-range objectives
- Gathers information to enable the congregation to make decisions on proposals for fundamental change, such as a proposal to move to a new Meeting House or to hire a permanent minister
- Periodically surveys members/friends to determine how the Society could better provide services
Membership Committee (Chair, Rick Ruecking)
- Greets visitors
- Maintains Society membership list
- Prepares biennial parish directory
- Provides coffee at services and arrange for cleanup
- Organizes Circle Dinners and other social events
- Hosts orientation programs in conjunction with Denominational Affairs Committee
Program Committee (Co-Chairs, Doleta Chapru & Warren Hagstrom)
- Plans Sunday morning adult services with lay ministers and other presenters
- Plans various evening meetings and special events
Religious Education Committee (Co-Chairs, Rachel Long and Paula Pachciarz)
- Works with RE director to design a curriculum for our children's programs
- Acquires equipment
- Recruits teachers
- Members and friends may volunteer to teach a class or assist with special arts and crafts projects or field trips
Social Action Committee (Chair, Bob Park)
- Takes public stands on issues without having to get consent of the Society and maintains an independent Social Action presence on the Internet
- Informs Prairie members about key social action issues and events
- Provides opportunities for Prairie members to contribute services, money, and goods to worthy causes
- Fills an Allied Partners Board position on behalf of Prairie
- Participates in local projects, including providing breakfast at a local drop-in shelter one morning per month, collecting food for a neighborhood food pantry, and facilitating Prairie's part in Madison's Interfaith Hospitality Network
- For more information, see the independent Social Action Committee Web site
Staff
Administrator: Dan Proud - email: prairieu@execpc.com
| Office hours: | Mondays 8 - 10 pm |
| Saturdays 10 am - 12 noon | |
| Meeting House phone: | 608-271-8218 |
Director of Religious Education: Melissa Gjestvang-Lucky - email: m_a_gl@att.net
A Brief History of Our Congregation
The Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society was established in 1967 as an offshoot of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, WI, in an effort to relieve overcrowding in First Unitarian's religious education program. In 1966 First Society had purchased a portion of a "prairie" area on Madison's far west side as a potential location for a second Unitarian Universalist congregation, and it is from that piece of land that Prairie Society takes its name. That building site, however, was never used, and it is now split between the Madison park system and the University of Wisconsin Arboretum.
In September 1967, 30 adults and 78 children began meeting for religious education classes and adult services at a Catholic seminary on Madison's far west side--the first of a series of rented locations. By-laws were drawn up in the spring of 1968 and Prairie was organized with 38 charter members -- some of whom remain with the congregation even today. By September 1969 membership had grown and the meeting site was moved to the YWCA building across from the Wisconsin State Capitol. By spring of 1972 Prairie had moved again to a former church building about 1/2 mile west of Camp Randall, the UW-Madison football stadium. For two years during this period the Society had the half-time services of a ministerial student from the Meadville-Lombard Seminary in Chicago. In 1978 Prairie began renting space at the Woodland Montessori School (another former church building) on Colby Street on Madison's near south side.
Finally, in 1980, Prairie Society purchased its current quarters at 2010 Whenona Drive, Madison. In July 1988 the parish voted to remodel the meeting house. The remodeling took place in the fall of 1988 and a re-dedication ceremony was held in February 1989.
Prairie Web Sites
| Prairie UU Society: prairie.madison.uua.org |
| Prairie News Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/prairienews/ |
| Prairie Views Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/prairieviews/ |
| Social Action: socialaction.homestead.com |
| Humanist Union: humanist.madisonwi.us |
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