Flowers and bunnies are the easy way out.

Examining the Easter saga and making meaning for religious liberals is more difficult but a "must" so long as saviors continue to be crucified and raising the dead is relentlessly pursued.

If you or your friends are skeptical of the traditions and trappings of organized religion, Easter may be the best day to bring your skepticism with you to church. After all, that is where it belongs.

The choir will sing and the bell choir will ring in the glory of the season. Joining Rev. Stewart on the Chancel will be worship associate Nicolette Toussaint.

What better day to have new members welcomed by our Membership Committee and, of course, you, the Congregation! Join us for this festival of love and light.

from Natalie Freeburg, Acting Director of Religious Education

Come and participate in the Society's unique cooperative egg hunt. An older child (8+) will be paired with a younger one, they will search for eggs (they might be hidden on people!), identify the seeds inside, and plant them in a community planter. It's a great way to celebrate new growth and cooperative games! Coupled with the new member reception in the courtyard, this is a wonderful way to welcome spring!

Sunday School begins at 10 am, and will be held in age-specific classrooms. Children will study the Christian holiday of Easter and how it is a reflection of the Unitarian Universalist belief of enduring love and celebration.

En garde! -- The General Book Club will next discuss Zorro, by Isabel Allende, and compare it with Daughter of Fortune. The conversation will be next Thursday (April 12) at 2 pm, so there's time to read and join in! . Contact Joan Rost at 563-0623 for the club meeting location.

Pieces of Van Gogh offered -- The remaining class sessions of the Spirituality of Vincent Van Gogh course are being offered for $40 ($30 for Society members). The sessions will be Tuesdays, April 10, 17, and 24 from 7-9 pm. Please contact Natalie at 776-4580 for more information and to register.

The April 8 service is special because it is Easter and Buddha's birthday. But it is also special because the most recent new members of the Society will be officially introduced and recognized during the service.

Be sure to attend so you can match the names to faces and read their interesting bios in the order of service.

Please join the new members at a cake reception in the courtyard after the service and introduce yourself to anyone you have not yet met.

The new members will be easy to identify: they will be wearing leis!

Senior Minister Rev. Gregory Stewart has released a public statement sent to Assemblyman Mark Leno supporting Leno's Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act legislation.

"As a Unitarian Universalist minister I am reminded that our branch of the Church has been blessing same-sex unions for over thirty years and that I can serve my church as an openly gay person, " explained Rev. Stewart.

"Equal treatment under the law has both personal and professional ramifications for me and so many others too. Moreover, it is at the heart of the religious impulse."

Growth isn't going to happen. It is already effecting and changing our community.

The community will explore “growth”, what is it? what does “growth” mean? what is the denomination going to do with $260,000 in ad money? do we want growth? can we avoid it? ... at a lunch after the worship service April 22nd.

What questions do you want answered on the 22nd?

This Sunday at coffee tell Growing On task force chair Kristen Kekich what you need to know first. And, plan on dining and dishing together for about an hour after the worship service on the 22nd.