Here’s what’s coming up in our congregational life—opportunities to connect, learn, and participate in the weeks ahead

Sunday Service

May 17, 2026 at 10:30 am 

Annual Meeting This Sunday

Our Annual Meeting will be held this Sunday, May 17, at 11:45 am in the sanctuary. We will be voting on our annual budget and our candidates for Board of Trustees, Endowment Trustees, and Nominating Committee Members. We will also be voting on whether or not to change our name to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Evanston.

Voting members, you were sent the materials for the meeting on April 17th.

* If you will be attending in-person, at the end of the service, please check-in at the tables at the back of the sanctuary.

* If you will be attending via zoom, all voting members were sent the zoom link on May 14th. Contact Adam Gough at agough@ucevanston.org if you did not receive the zoom link.

Friends of UCE may click here to view the livestream of the Annual Meeting.

We'll see you on Sunday!

Please save the date of June 13^th from 9:30-10:30 a.m. for a Calendar Visioning meeting. If you are a leader or participant in one of UCE programs or groups, please plan to attend and share your visions and plans for 2026-2027. This meeting will happen on Zoom and a link will be shared later. For now, save the date!!

Children and youth will go to their faith formation programs after joys and sorrows

This Sunday…

 Childcare (0-3 years) is available in room 11 from 8:45a-2:15p. 

Extended hours for the annual meeting!

Chalice Children (pre/k/1) in room 9 – the children will be hearing the story, Downpour, and making clay creations with mini umbrellas.

Heads, Hearts, and Hands (2nd-5th) in room 8 – In What’s In a Name? the young people will explore the importance of our names as it connects to the proposal to change UCE’s name, and have their own vote on the proposal.

Youth Group (6th-9th) in room 10 – In A Rose By Any Other Name? the youth will explore the importance of our names as it connects to the proposal to change UCE’s name, and have their own vote on the proposal.

Faith Formation Registration

Please register your young person, ages 1-18 here.

What a Year!

A year filled with joys and sorrows and changes. The Board focused on strengthening leadership, supporting positive change, and stewarding our resources responsibly. We continued aligning our work with UCE’s mission and values, and gathered input from the congregation to guide our decisions.

Key highlights:

• Hosted successful events like “Hearts and Arts” and Serendipity Auctions

• Advanced anti-oppression efforts and considered a possible name change for UCE

• Supported community safety and maintained financial stability

• Honored the loving memory of trustee Melanie Kitchner

Looking ahead, we’ll begin long-term strategic planning to ensure UCE’s vision remains strong. Please join us for the Annual Meeting on Sunday after the service to vote on the Annual Budget, nominees and name change for UCE. A light lunch will be provided. Thank you for your support and participation as we work together for a vibrant, inclusive community.

Hats off to Norell Liddell, Melissa and Patrick Briody, and the Children’s Choir for your beautiful singing in "I Am a Small Part of This World" on May 10^th!!!  

Norell, Patrick, and Melissa led several rehearsals for the children and encouraged them to perform with enthusiasm and skill. Our love and appreciation to Isabel, Leo, and Maeve Briody, Claire Burda, Frankie and Rocko DiGiovani, Finn and Lyra Francolino, Cort Goodrich, Julianna Liddell, Robert Noncek-Eastman, and Milo Pizarek, for attending rehearsals and singing in the service! It was wonderful having y’all join your voices in song with the Adult Choir.  

The Ordination of Dr. Emma Farrell

You are cordially invited to the ordination of our Ministerial Intern, Dr. Emma Farrell, at Unity Temple on June 13, 2:30pm. We would love to see you there! Please RSVP here. 

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Friday, May 15th:

• Young Adult Group, 7-10pm, Rooms 3 and 12

Saturday, May 16th:

• Plant Swap, 9-3pm, Parking Lot
• Worship Planning Team, 9:30-11am, Room 6 and Zoom
• Virtual Pilates, 9:30am, via Zoom
• Beginner Tai Chi, 9:45-10:45am, Sanctuary
• Intermediate Tai Chi, 11-12pm, Sanctuary
• Rummage Sale Wrap-Up, 11-12:30pm, Room 3
• Spring Garden Day, 10am-2pm, South Lawn

Sunday, May 17th:

• UCE Choir Rehearsal, 9-10:10am, Sanctuary
• Chris Isley Cancer Support Group, 9-10:15am, Room 6 & Zoom
• Worship Service, 10:30am, Sanctuary
• Annual Congregational Meeting, 11:30am-2:30pm, Sanctuary, Kitchen, Cafe and Zoom

Monday, May 18th:

• UCE Addictions and Recovery, 6:45-7:45am, via Zoom
• Durkin Covenant Group, 7-9pm, via Zoom

Tuesday, May 19th:

• Legislative Action Team, 4:30-5:30pm, via Zoom
• Caregiver Support Group, 7-8:30pm, via Zoom
• First Women's Circle, 7-8pm, via Zoom
• Responding to the Anti-Trans Movement, 7-8:30pm, Room 3 and Zoom

Wednesday, May 20th:

• Yoga, 9:30-10:30am, via Google Meet
• Staff Meeting, 11:00am, Room 2
• Integrated Stewardship Council, 5-6:30pm, via Zoom
• Pastoral Care Meeting, 7-9pm, via Zoom

Thursday, May 21st:

• Beacons of Light, 5-5:30pm, Dempster and Ridge
• Meditation Group, 5:30-6:30pm, via Zoom
• Choir Rehearsal, 7-9pm, Room 6
• Board Meeting, 7-9pm, via Zoom

Are you working on a Community Project that could use Financial Support?

Your UCE Endowment has funds available to support Social Justice Community Projects. The next deadlines for grant application submissions are May 31 and October 31, 2026. The application forms are on our website here.

On this page, you can also see previous grants funded by your UCE Endowment. If you have questions or want advice or information, contact an Endowment trustee and we will help make the process as simple as possible.

Changes to UCE Website

As we continue on our journey of refreshing the website, we have reached the moment in the refresh project when we are revising the drop down menus. When we are finished with this part of the refresh project, we will let you know and ask for feedback.

In the meantime, you may need to look around to find something you previously had bookmarked. If you cannot find something on the website that was there before:

1. First, please try using the search bar across the top of the website to look for it.

2. Second, if needed, contact Adam Gough at agough@ucevanston.org and ask him to let you know where it is.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to improve the user's experience of our website.

Annual Picnic June 7

Our Annual Picnic will be Sunday, June 7th, following our Flower Communion service. Please plan to bring a flower and a dish to share.

We are looking for three volunteers to help with set-up immediate following the worship service and three volunteers to help with clean-up from 12:30-2:00 pm. If you are available to help, please click here into SignUp.com, go to Sun Jun 7, and select the Annual Picnic Set-up or Annual Picnic Clean-up spot. It's going to be a fun day!

Child Dedication June 7



If you are a member of UCE and would like to participate in our child dedication ceremony, please contact Kathy or Rev. Eileen. This ceremony is for children and youth of any age and will be held during the worship service.

The UCE Fiction Book Group is reading "The Antidote," by Karen Russell and meeting on Friday, May 15, 7-8pm, by ZOOM.

Folks in the Nebraska dustbowl of 1929 realize they have all played a part in this violent national project. “I hadn’t known — no one had ever told me — that I was a soldier in a war. We newcomers to the Great Plains were invited out here by the U.S. government to hold ground. The Homestead Act, the Dawes Act, all part of a battle plan,” to wrest the land from Native hands. Ignorant of how to steward the soil, our national colonialism devastated the land within two generations. 

Next read: "Vigil," by George Saunders, June 19.

Nurturing Mother Earth

2026 Annual Community Plant Swap 

Saturday - May 16, 1-3 pm

Unitarian Church of Evanston

Parking Lot enter on Greenwood

1330 Ridge Avenue, Evanston

Plants, Seedlings, Divisions

Come with something you have,

Leave with something you want to grow

Please stop by the info table and get a name tag

Online preswaps at Garden.org click here

Spring Planting Time!

Inviting all gardeners on Saturday May 16th from 10:00 - 2:00 to help pick out a few weeds, then put new plants into our South Rain Garden. This project has been funded by the Endowment Fund and we are very excited to finish planting this South garden. Soon there'll be beautiful flowers blooming for you to see from our Kinship windows.

Movie Night at UCE!

Consider relaxing and enjoying some snacks while watching this weeks movie night at UCE in room 6 on Friday 5/22 at 7:30 pm! This month Carlos will be presenting Monty Python's Holy Grail for your viewing pleasure. The run time is 1 Hour 30 minutes, rated PG, is a silly movie depicting Knights of the round table. Bring your friends!

The Nonfiction Book Group will resume its normal schedule of discussions beginning in May, 2026.



We will meet on Sunday, May 24, 2026 at 2 p.m. using our recurring Zoom link to discuss Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. The authors define abundance as the state in which there is enough of what we need to create lives better than what we have had. They focus on the institutions and the people that must build and invent that future using the building blocks of housing transportation, energy and health. 

On June 28th we will discuss Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church by Hahrie Han.

UCE is Going Camping!

UCE is going camping May 29-31! Please click on this link to reserve a campsite. The top of the form includes links to reserve a site directly with ExploreMore IL, as well as a link to a table where you can see where other UCE campsites will be. If you have any questions or need help with reserving your site, email Grey Wiviott (greyleewivs at gmail dot com). Happy Camping!

It’s Time to Meet the Moment

UUA General Assembly (GA)

June 14-21, 2026



• It supports our Justice work through connection and sharing with the broader UU community.
• We learn from other UUs about challenges and solutions relevant to UCE.
• It helps us plan for the future by broadening our vision and providing resources for action.
• UCE delegates co-create statements or positions that are aligned with our UCE values and mission.
• It is an invitation to all of us to meet this moment as we collectively work for justice, liberation, and a world made whole

UUA’s study of Abolition, Transformation, Faith Formation will help us address how to replace theologies of retributive justice and violence; connect the many threads of our UCE social justice work in support of abolition; and transform ourselves and society through learning and action. 

Join the conversation! Read more about GA, Abolition, and Serving as a UCE Delegate

Picnics in the Park May 17!

Family Friday – June 5 at 6:30p

Beach cleanup - Details coming soon!

June 8 at 6:30p – Join us at Sketchbook in Skokie

A great place to meet up with games for kids

You can see what’s coming up on our evolving calendar here.

Summer Children's Faith Formation Program Begins June 14

Adult and youth helpers are welcomed and needed – email Kathy for details.

UCE Young Adult Group

Third Friday Faith Formation & Game Nights



The Young Adult Group at UCE is a group for young adults (18-35) interested in exploring spiritual deepening in community. We meet on every 3rd Friday from 7-9pm in Room 3 to discuss monthly Soul Matters themes, check in with each other, eat snacks, and play games.

Contact Kiley Korey (kileyekorey at gmail dot com), Kevin Barrow (kbarrow13 at gmail dot com), or Kathy Underwood (kunderwood@ucevanston.org) with any questions.

Responding to the Anti-Trans Movement

Series continues - May 19 at 7p and on Zoom

For our last session, we will explore how to create 

safety and belonging for trans people at UCE and beyond in this moment.

Register here.

Childcare Pool

Do you love to hold babies or watch the imagination of a toddler unfold? If yes, then we want to add you to our childcare pool for occasional help in the nursery when staff need time off.

Email Kathy Underwood if interested.

Breaking the Chain: Transforming the Legacy of Enslavement to Justice and Liberation for All

How did we get here—and what is ours to do now?

Join UCE REAL, the Prison Ministry and Reparations Teams, Living Legacy Pilgrimage participants, and local advocates for a four-part, multi-platform learning and conversation series exploring the systems that connect enslavement, incarceration, and reparative justice.

Together, we will examine:

• the historical roots linking slavery and mass incarceration
• the economic forces that sustain systems of injustice
• the role faith communities can play in accountability, repair, and transformation
• how reparations work is unfolding in Evanston and beyond

Dates:

• June 24 – How Faith Communities Can Help Break the Chain
• August 26 – Reparations: In Evanston and Beyond

Our Shared Offering Program

Our Shared Offering Program is one of the ways that we live into our mission statement "for a world made whole." Each Sunday, the funds collected during our worship service either via text donations or in the collection bowls (and not otherwise designated for something else) are shared equally between our operating budget and the current Shared Offering Program recipient.

This Sunday's offering will be shared with Children's Best Interest Project. The Children’s Best Interest Project educates Illinois families, organizations, and lawyers about the Children’s Best Interest Act, which requires Illinois courts to consider children’s needs in decisions about their parents. They help win dismissal or reduction of charges for parents to maintain family stability and enhance community safety. Parent-child separation causes lasting harm to children’s health and development, yet thousands of parents are unnecessarily removed from their families each year based on minor criminal charges. 

We are looking for volunteers for the Evanston Interfaith Family Pride Fest on June 14th. Click here to volunteer at the UCE table at the Fest. Click here to volunteer with the organizers of the Fest.

TO VOLUNTEER SIGN UP HERE

Join the UCE Race Against Hate Team



Be a part of the Race Against Hate by joining the UCE Team on June 21, 2026. Every Father’s Day, the YWCA hosts a race to honor Ricky Byrdsong, who was murdered by a white supremacist in front of his children while walking near their Skokie home. You can run or walk 5k or 10k, and there are Kids Fun Runs. Proceeds from the event support the Evanston/North Shore YWCA racial equity programming. More information about the Race and Ricky Byrdsong is here.

Register by April 20 to receive early bird pricing. Register for the Race here.

If you can’t be with us in the Race, but want to join in spirit, support the Team through your donation. Be sure to apply your donation to the UCE Team.

Dana Deane is coordinating the UCE Team 2026. Please let her know if you have any questions. Dddeane847 at gmail dot com or 847-682-1045.

LOVE RESISTS

Springfield Lobby Days 

May 2026

You are invited to participate in this opportunity this May to lobby with our community partners in Springfield. 

* Saturday, May 30 *

Join Faith in Place (FIP) and the Illinois Environmental Council for the IL Environmental Advocacy Day in Springfield! A coalition of environmental organizations will be lobbying to protect Illinois' air, water, and communities. Illinois, like many states, is seeing rapid growth of data centers. How Illinois manages this growth will shape the health of our environment and communities for decades to come.

Register now to join FIP in Springfield on May 30th. UCE is a bus pick up and drop off location for this lobby day.

Wisconsin Voter Registration Training

Get trained to register voters in Wisconsin. Once trained, you will be invited to go to one of several Milwaukee DMVs to register voters as they wait for services.

All trainings are held via zoom and you only need to attend one training date:



• Tuesday, June 2 - 7:00 PM
• Thursday, June 11 - 3:00 PM

The training is one hour and presented by the Milwaukee Voter Project. For more information, please contact Laura Kushner with the Milwaukee Voter Project at laurakushnerx2@gmail.com or Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org. 

ONGOING UU CONNECTIONS

Reparations in a Community Context Recording

On April 30th, Rev. Eileen spoke along with Rev. Dr. Michael Nabors, on a panel moderated by UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt about the work of Reparations in communities, especially communities of faith. If you were unable to attend, here is the recording of the conversation.

Unitarian Church of Evanston

1330 Ridge Ave. Evanston, IL 60201

847-864-1330