Nurturing the Human Spirit for a World Made Whole |
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Virtual Worship Service
this Sunday, May 2 at 11:15 am
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The Formation of Our Faith
We are at an exciting point in time, as this pandemic has given us an opportunity to breathe – to re-evaluate and re-think things in our lives, with our UCE community being one of those. Our Faith Formation Force has been exploring new ways of “doing church” that better supports the spiritual, educational, and social needs of our community throughout the lifespan. Today, we celebrate the faith formation of our young people and families through pictures, videos, readings, and music. We will recognize our 8th graders as they bridge into high school, and hear from our graduating high school seniors as they bridge into young adulthood, and we will welcome our newest members joining our beloved community.
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From Rev. Karen Gustafson,
Interim Minister
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Dear ones,
There is a large window in our upstairs bathroom that looks out into a patch of woods. Northern Minnesota is fully a month behind Central Illinois relative to the arrival of spring, and so, on this rather dreary day the view outside is all shades of brown and gray – except for the intrepid moss that grows on the north, south, east and west sides of the trees. Whereas I love the dazzling green of spring in your neck of the woods, I oddly treasure this fallow time of year when change comes more slowly and moves me to think about the nature of all things...
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Thank you to the members of Team 8th, Gretchen Brewster, Martha Holman, Lynn Kendall, Jeanne Kerl, Brian Nielsen, Sally Parsons, and Betty Walker, for introducing the 8th Principle to UCE!
Team 8th hosted 6 congregation-wide meetings about the 8th Principle and created a small group discussion guide that was used by about a dozen of our small groups, who made the 8th Principle the topic of one of their monthly meetings. Attending the 8th Principle Learning Community monthly forum, drafting newsletter articles and a webpage, facilitating large group meetings, and talking with members one-on-one, the members of Team 8th have strived to educate themselves about the 8th Principle and create numerous occasions for the congregation to learn about and engage with the 8th Principle.
Thank you, Gretchen Brewster, Martha Holman, Lynn Kendall, Jeanne Kerl, Brian Nielsen, Sally Parsons, and Betty Walker, for loving and supporting our multicultural Beloved Community!
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UCE Named Family Focus Evanston "Make a Difference" Organization Honoree - Join Family Focus virtually on Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 7 pm, for their 45th Annual Family Focus Evanston Benefit! Learn more or purchase tickets.
UCE Building Availability - The UCE building and grounds are available on a limited basis to small gatherings. Please read UCE's Reopening Guidelines before contacting staff about availability.
Chalice Lighters Needed - Looking for chalice lighters for Sunday service! If you would like to light the UCE chalice OR record you and your family lighting a chalice at home to be used in the Sunday service, please send an email to Rev. Eileen.
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Chicago Area UU Council (CAUUC) Spring Conference is May 8. More info below.
REAL Movie Night is Monday, May 10 at 7 pm via Zoom. More info below.
Green Team's annual Harms Woods Outing is Saturday, May 15 at 9 am - Noon. More info below.
Limited Plant Swap on Saturday, May 15 at 2-3:30 pm. More detail coming soon.
UCE's First Pop-Up Parking Lot Sale is Saturday, May 22. Sign up for a table and learn more below!
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This Week's Events & Links |
Saturday, May 1
Sunday, May 2
Monday, May 3
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Deadline to sign up to be a Virtual Singer for the June Pride Service. More info below.
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Addictions and Recovery Group at 7 pm via Zoom. Contact the Office for the link.
Tuesday, May 4
Wednesday, May 5
Thursday, May 6
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Virtual Meditation at 5:30 pm via Zoom. Email Andrea DeMers for the link.
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From the Endowment Task Force |
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The Endowment Task Force is holding our second meeting soon, and would appreciate some help from members by filling out the short survey below. This will help the Task Force define our task.
The content of responses will be shared with the committee, but not names. Please provide as much detail as might be helpful for the committee to understand. If you have any questions, please email Joe Romeo.
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You're Invited to Join the Anti-Oppression Task Force |
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Accomplishing this mission while working within the system of white supremacy that pervades all our institutions has proven much more complicated than anticipated. We decided we needed the assistance of an outside consultant. For that reason, a dedicated group of UCE members interviewed three outside consultants and chose the YWCA Equity Institute to work with us. We chose the YWCA because of their depth of knowledge and experience, their track record in working with Evanston institutions, and their familiarity with our church and its history. The YWCA will be assisting us with creating the task force, training its members, and beginning the work at UCE.
We would like to invite you to contact us about joining the task force. All are welcome who feel called to help build the Beloved Community. We need your voice.
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Endowment Fund: Deadline for Grant Applications |
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The final deadline for submitting Endowment Fund grant applications during the current church year will be May 31. There is about $10,000-$15,000 available for disbursement from the 2020-21 distribution amount.
Endowment Funds are a significant resource for our community because they can be used to support special initiatives that further the mission and work of UCE. For additional information, read What Can Endowment Funds be Used for? at UCE Endowment Fund: Frequently Asked Questions.
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Congregational Connections |
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Do you want to learn more about Realm? Join the Basic REALM training on May 2, 2021 at 1:15 pm. All skills levels are welcome to join. We will review the basics of Realm from setting up your account, editing your profile, accessing your giving history and more! If you haven't set up your Realm account, you are encouraged to attend and we'll help you get set up.
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Virtual Singers Volunteer by May 3 for June Pride Service |
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Rainbow Alliance is looking for volunteers to record themselves singing "We Are a Gentle, Angry People" for our June 13 Sunday morning Pride service. Please contact Lizzy Powers (eapowers1019@gmail.com) or Jordan Strueber (jordan.strueber@gmail.com) by May 3, 2021, if you would like to be involved.
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Chicago Area UU Council (CAUUC) Spring Conference - May 8 |
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The Chicago Area UU Council (CAUUC) Spring Conference will be held on Saturday, May 8th 9:30am-11:30am and be conducted via Zoom video conference. There is NO FEE required to participate. The CAUUC annual meeting will be held after the conference. This year's topic is "Re-Opening and Reimagining Church." Our own Rev. Eileen Wiviott and Adam Gough will be panelists!
We are one year into the pandemic and many congregations are in the planning stages of re-opening the doors to in-person gatherings. Our panel discussion will be related to how the lessons learned from the pandemic..
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Mark your calendars for Saturday, May
15 at 2-3:30 pm for a LIMITED Plant Swap in the UCE parking lot.
This will be an outdoor event no rain date. We ask that everyone bring Plants Only, no pots, books, hoses, tools, or garden equipment. We will follow social distancing guidelines. Everyone should stay 6 feet apart, wear a mask, and wait in line outside the parking lot if more spacing is necessary. There will be no food or refreshments. Pre trades/swaps are encouraged. Let us continue the community spirit we have enjoyed so many times.
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8th Principle Adoption Process |
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Learn about the 8th Principle before UCE’s annual meeting on May 16, 2021. At the annual meeting, you will be invited to vote on a resolution inviting UCE to adopt and embrace the 8th Principle. The resolution reads that “we, a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”
Look for more information about the 8th Principle resolution in your packet of documents for the annual meeting.
If you have not yet been part of a group conversation about the 8th Principle and would like to talk with someone from Team 8th one-on-one to understand more about the 8th Principle, please contact Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org.
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UCE's First Ever Pop-Up Parking Lot Sale is Coming Soon!
Join us on Saturday, May 22 for a fun day. Our UCE Parking Lot Pop Up Sale is happening. Bring your wares to the parking lot at 8 am. We will set up and begin the sale at 10 am.
So far, we have individuals as well as Monday Night Women's Group, The Board of Trustees, Staff, Chris Isely Cancer Group, and the Choir. Don't miss this chance to be with fellow congregants of all ages. Nick the balloon guy will entertain the children. We will have covid safe food and drink available.
If you have large items to sell, please try to sell on Member-to-Member or Marketplace for those of you familiar with that local venue. Lynn Kendall was successful in selling a grill to a fellow member, and proceeds benefit our rummage sale budget line item. Help us meet our budget for this year. Every sale counts. The deadline for table sign up is May 14. Once we get your sign up, we will send you an instructions packet.
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Are you contemplating attending the virtual General Assembly (GA) this year? If you are willing (eager?) to be a delegate, let the board know that by using the link below. Delegates must attend all of the plenary sessions, so it is a commitment. The board will choose 8 delegates from the pool of available members.
There are scholarships available from UCE Endowment and from the UUA to cover the registration fee. The dates are June 23 - 27, 2021. More than 20 members attended last year. This year there is a youth track, so families can attend together.
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VirtUUal Faith Formation and Ways to Connect |
Welcome to our new monthly theme, Story! This week we focus on the segments The Welcome Mat, At the Table, and On the Message Board . Check out this week’s video here. You can access the Soulful Home packet here at your own leisure.
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Taking Flight Sex Ed Program for 7th-9th Youth – Sunday at 1 pm. Youth must be registered to attend. See the email with Zoom info.
Pre/K Kids and Families - POP (Parents of Preschoolers) – May’s materials are available here. The password is YouGotThis2020 (case sensitive.) This UU-based program is to be used all month long. Do whatever fits your family’s schedule.
High School Youth - Sunday at 4 pm. Look for an email with details.
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UCE Forum Discussion - Sunday, May 2 at 10 am |
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Please join members of the Denominational Affairs Committee in a discussion about "What’s Happening at General Assembly this Year: Attending GA by Zoom." Come learn "everything you always wanted to know about" our Association's annual gathering.
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Current and Upcoming Adult Religious Education |
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Intersectionality in Speculative Fiction: N. K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season - Tuesdays, May 4, 11, 18 at 7-8:30 pm - Facilitated by UCE member Emily Eckwahl-Sanna. Imagine a world where apocalypses are commonplace. Where frequent seismic activity—whether volcanoes, earthquakes, or other environmental disasters—result in extended winters and the widespread loss of human life.
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Deepening UU Identity - May 26 at 7-8:30 pm via Zoom – Join us for our next session UU Spirituality: what does spirituality mean to us and how can we practice spirituality however we answer ultimate questions. Led by Rev. Eileen and Rev. Susan Frances
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Sealed by Katie Langston: Q&A with the Author – Tuesday, June 1 at 7 pm - Katie Langston’s memoir, Sealed, tells the story of her conversion to mainline Christianity out of Mormonism. Attendance at the 4/27 reading group led by Ruth Orme-Johnson is not required to also attend the Q&A.
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UCE Book Groups - This May |
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The UCE Fiction Book Group meets next on Friday, May 21 at 7-8:30 pm to discuss My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie.
Spanning the tumult of the Revolution and reaching all the way to the eve of the Civil War, through the decades where the nation itself was being invented out of whole cloth, My Dear Hamilton tells of the changes that swept Eliza into the maelstrom that was the birth of a nation, while maintaining its focus on her as the new revolutionary woman who shaped an American legacy in her own right.
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The Nonfiction book group will discuss Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent at 2 pm via Zoom on Sunday, May 23.
In this book, Wilkerson explains how the hierarchy of caste goes far beyond the confines of race, class, or gender and she documents how the caste system in the U.S. parallels two others, in India and in Nazi Germany. She brings the topic alive with real people, as she did in her previous book, The Warmth of Other Suns.
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Volunteers needed for local LGBTQIA+ Survey |
Rada Yovovich (she/hers) is the co-founder of The Darkest Horse, an Evanston-based consulting firm focused on inclusion and equity work, and sits on the Board of Evanston Pride. Rada's consulting firm is seeking to collaborate with UCE LGBTQIA+ members in order to engage and amplify existing LGBTQIA+ communities and efforts in Evanston. If you are a member of any UU LGBTQIA+ communities and are willing, here is their survey in English and Spanish versions.
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Next Rainbow Alliance Meeting
Rainbow Alliance Meets on Wed, May 5 - All are Invited! Rainbow Alliance's next planning meeting will be held on May 5 at 7:00 pm. If you are interested in joining, please email Lizzy at eapowers1019@gmail.com or Jordan at jordan.strueber@gmail.com for the Zoom link.
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REAL Movie Night Continues May 10 |
Join us as REAL Movie Night continues on Monday, May 10 from 7:00-8:15 pm. Emmanuel Acho and his Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man series addresses issues of race in America with this episode featuring an honest discussion with Matthew McConaughey – it’s not what you might think! See for yourself.
We invite you to join the conversation where “Getting uncomfortable is the whole idea. Everything great is birthed through discomfort.” We need you to be part of the conversation!
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Harms Woods Outing with the Green team |
Come celebrate spring with a habitat restoration outing at beautiful Harms Woods in Glenview on Saturday, May 15 at 9 am to Noon! We will be removing invasive plants to allow more space and sunlight for our beautiful native plants. This outing is suitable for anyone 10 and older (youth must be accompanied by a responsible adult) and everyone works at their own pace. The woods are beautiful, the wildflowers will be out and you will be doing extremely important work in restoring vital habitat to support our native plants, insects and birds. Click here to let us know you are coming.
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Now Accepting Nominees for the 2021-2022 Shared Plate Program |
The Social Justice Council invites you to submit nominees for the 2021-2022 Shared Plate Program. Each year, UCE’s Shared Plate Program donates half of the Sunday offering received to 13 organizations in support of their social justice efforts. The deadline for submitting a Nomination Form is June 30, 2021.
Organizations may be nominated by a UCE member or staff. For 2021-2022, in light of the reality of our present crises, in order to be eligible for the Shared Plate Program an organization must address systemic racism and/or the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on people of color and the poor.
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Unitarian Church of Evanston
1330 Ridge Ave. Evanston, IL 60201
847-864-1330
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