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Women say label is a sign of empowerment

By MEG HECKMAN

Concord Monitor staff

April 30. 2007 9:30AM 

Call Natalie Smith a crone and she'll thank you. To Smith, "crone" isn't a nasty barb but a title bestowed upon her 20 years ago by a group of younger women wishing to honor her wisdom and experience.

Now at 88, Smith is among the elders at the Concord Unitarian Universalist Church. With horned staff in hand, she leads the closing blessing at the annual winter solstice service and, as a retired federal budget officer, critiques the church's books. In between, she serves as a role model for younger women in a world that often values their beauty over their other skills.

Benjamin wrote on RF:

I'd also be interested in having a section for hymns, since that's something that I'm particularly interested in. I'd be happy to make a significant contribution to such a section.

The Boson Globe By Rich Barlow | April 21, 2007 It's not easy being green, unless, that is, you're a spiritual person who lives on Cape Cod. A sturdy environmentalism can be born from the marriage of religion, with its reverence for creation, and a seacoast dweller's appreciation of nature's might. John Schlee belongs to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth, and his denomination's foundational principles include "respect for the interdependent web of all existence." He is also a scientist who retired from the US Geological Survey, and he has a long memory. Falmouth is barely 10 feet above sea level, he says, and often loses power during hurricanes and strong northeasters. Just a generation ago, few religious leaders worried about the state of the environment, said the Rev. Robert F.