This Sunday - Nov. 25, 2007

Fall Afternoon

Tuesday, November 13th was one of those beautiful autumn afternoons that make Michigan special. Check out a Flickr set that shows how good Emerson looks in the fall.

A big thank you to the Buildings & Grounds Committee for getting the dead trees and underbrush cleaned out. You'll be amazed at the difference!

This Sunday - Nov. 18, 2007

Guest at Your Table

Our Director of Religious Education, Laura Ross, and I will lead this
intergenerational service that will honor the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. We will involve the congregation in a special ceremony that we think will be enlightening. And even though the meaning of this service is serious, we believe that you and the children will also have fun. — Rev. Harold W. Beu

After the service, we will going to Lighthouse Sanctuary in Pontiac to pack food for Thanksgiving dinners that go to people who would otherwise go hungry.

This Sunday - Nov. 11, 2007

Taking a Risk for Peace

So much of our government’s foreign policy is based on the notion that we live in a dangerous world. Thus, we must strike hard at those who have the potential of hurting us. This preemptive strike policy is new and disturbing both morally and practically. Here I will present a different, though not new, view that I believe has a better chance of promoting peace for our government and ourselves. — Rev. Harold W. Beu

Happy Belated Anniversary to Us!

On October 4, the new Emerson website celebrated its one-year anniversary, and I thought I would share some statistics from our first 12 months:

The site was visited 2,663 times by 1,803 different people.

The United States provided 98% of the visitors, with Canada (18) a very distant second. In all, people from 25 countries have come to the site.

Michigan provided 90% of the American visitors, with California, Illinois and Ohio trailing behind. Forty-two states have had visitors.

Almost half (42%) of our traffic has come from search engines, with a vast majority via Google. Another 17% has come from the UUA website.

The wedding page has been seen 665 times by over 500 different people, helping Emerson greatly exceed its projections for rental income.

In the month since the anniversary, we've had another 253 visits from 213 people, both of which show that traffic is increasing. The new sermons archive has been looked at 22 times in the 10 days since going live, with 11 people going on to view Rev. Beu's Oct. 21 sermon.