Nurturing the Human Spirit for a World Made Whole | |
Sunday Service August 18th at 10:30am | |
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Movement as Spiritual Practice
Doug Erickson and Renée Gatsis, who have offered yoga and tai chi respectively in our congregation for many years, will help lead this interactive and embodied worship. We are spiritual beings housed in bodies that move, breathe, think, and connect. Join us in an engaging worship service to lift your spirits. Rev. Eileen and Bob Mesle are worship co-associates. Wear comfortable clothing!
Children and youth will go to their Faith Formation program
after joys and sorrows.
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Faith Formation Hour this Sunday | |
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Childcare (0-3 years) is available in room 11 from 10:15am-11:45am.
BlUUey (pre/K-6th) - in Room 3 – We will learn about our value of pluralism by watching the episode Bob Bilby, doing some drawing, and playing games. Parents can meet their child(ren) at noon in room 3.
Picnics in the Park will resume on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of September.
Families can explore our theme, The Gift of Renewal, at home and in their own timeframe with the Soulful Home packet. Send pictures to Kathy of your family as you explore the many ideas here!
See our “living” calendar of programs and events here.
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TONIGHT! Family Friday Nature Hike – August 16 at 6:30pm at
Emily Oaks Nature Center. CLICK HERE for more info!
All ages are invited to meet in front of the nature center at 6:30p for a nature hike and to hang out at the playground. There are picnic tables for those who wish to come early and enjoy a picnic supper before the hike.
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Backpack and Bag Blessing –
August 25th during worship
All ages are invited to bring their school/work/hobby bag for a special blessing to start the new school and church year!
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Orientation For Volunteers and Parents Saturday, September 14th, 10-11:30am
All volunteers in our Faith Formation Program for Children and Youth and those considering it are invited to gather for a continental breakfast to learn more about what we’ll be doing this year, meet others, ask questions, and offer suggestions. Please let Kathy Underwood know by September 8 if you’ll need childcare.
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OWL (Our Whole Lives) for 4th-6th Grades
SAVE THE DATE: We will have an Orientation for parents and young people on October 6, 12-3pm for those interested in learning more about this sex-ed program. Lunch will be provided. If childcare is needed, please let me know by September 30. Email Kathy Underwood for further details.
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Staff Spotlight on Kathy Talmage! | |
Written by Margaret Shaklee | |
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2024 Update: After 6 weeks off for a successful recovery from hip surgery, Kathy is back in the kitchen on Sunday mornings ready to tell you a joke or put you to work!
Margaret Kathleen Talmage, “Kathy,” was invited to UCE 45 years ago by Libby Sohn, whose eldest son, Matt, was first in the family to find the church community. On her first visit, she met Dave Woods, who led the visitors’ table, then just inside the sanctuary doors, and Kathy joined the visitors’ table enclave. Kathy brought children Shannon and Sean with her.
From the visitors’ table, Kathy was attracted to the kitchen, where she found a busy group and a hearty welcome. “The kitchen was a warm and familiar place to be, away from the ‘front of the house.’” And for 45 years, she made the kitchen experience one of the warmest in the community – not to be confused with “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”! When she started her catering business, Kathy left the kitchen to Gini Sayad, who continued the embracing welcome, especially for newcomers. Then, when Kathy retired the catering business, she returned to head up the UCE kitchen experience.
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Our Hats Are Off to Norman Field, who recently joined the Buildings & Grounds Team. While taking a tour of the building with the team, Adam pointed out a few outlets that weren't working and Norm said, "I can take care of that." And he did! He came in a few days later and worked with Adam to replace the broken outlets. The staff so appreciate the work that members do to support the work of our congregation - to maintain our building, beautify our grounds, and to make sure things are running smoothly. Thanks for joining the team, Norm, along with the rest of the B&G team: Robb Geiger, Jeanie McCullough, Topher Carrington, and Roger Young.
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This Week's Events & Links | |
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Friday, August 16th
- Family Friday Nature Hike, 6:30-8pm, Emily Oaks Nature Center
- Fiction Book Group, 7-8:30pm, on Zoom
Saturday, August 17th:
- Virtual Pilates, 9:30-10:30am, via Zoom
- Beginner Tai Chi, 9:45-10:45am, Rm 3
- Intermediate Tai Chi, 11am-12pm, Rm 3
- Immigrant Solidarity Team, 4-5pm, via Zoom
Sunday, August 18th:
- Chris Isely Cancer Support Group, 9am-10:30am, in-person Rm 6 and via Zoom Link.
- TransParentsy Group, 12:30-2pm, Rm 2
Monday, August 19th:
- UCE Addictions & Recovery, 7-9pm, via Zoom.
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Tuesday, August 20th:
- Peg Heads, 6:30-9:30pm, Rm 3
- Caregiver Support Group, 7-8:30pm, via Zoom
- First Women's Circle, 7-8pm, via Zoom
Wednesday, August 21st:
- Pastoral Care Mtg, 7-9pm, via Zoom
- Social Justice Council Mtg, 7-8:30pm, via Zoom
Thursday August 22nd:
- OFFICE CLOSED - Staff Offsite Retreat
- Meditation Group, 5:30-7pm, via Zoom
- FREE Event: Donald Davis Storyteller, 7-9pm, Sanctuary All are welcome!
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Congregational Connections | |
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All Congregation
Potluck & Program
Friday, August 23rd 6-8:30pm
at UCE
All UCE Members, Friends, Children, Youth and Adults are invited to attend a tasty potluck meal with your favorite summertime fare followed by generative conversations about what the Unitarian Church of Evanston means to you. What are your hopes for our shared future?
Children will engage in games and artistic activities and youth and adults will gather in small and large groups to listen and engage in shared conversations. Individuals and families are welcome to come and go as your schedule allows.
Reverend Sharon K. Dittmar, our primary contact with the UUA will facilitate the conversations and Kathy Underwood will host our children’s activities. Reverend Dittmar will be available during dinner to answer any questions you have about congregations, the UUA, or MidAmerica Region. To help us plan, please RSVP by August 18th using the button below:
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2024-2025 Choir Season Welcome Party/Rehearsal
August 29th, 7-8:30pm
Whether you are presently singing with the choir or you are interested in the possibility of singing with the UCE choir, you are invited to attend!
On Thursday, August 29, from 7-8:30 pm in Room 3, we’ll be celebrating the start of this year’s choir year! Whoo-hoo! There’ll be info about this upcoming choir season, answers to any choir-related questions you may have, choir schedules, choir info sheets, a chance to get to know UCE Choristers and prospective choristers, some snacks to take home with you, a bit o’ singing, and a lot o’ FUN!
Any questions? Contact Vickie Hellyer – vhellyer@ucevanston.org
Also contact Vickie if you’d like to join off-site and need the Zoom info.
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Help Needed to Plan Samhain Spiral Dance
Save the date on October 27, 2024 at 6:00 pm to celebrate Samhain. This year, our Samhain ritual will again include a Spiral Dance to connect us with our deceased loved ones and to build energy to sustain us as the winter begins. We will follow the Spiral Dance with a potluck to honor the time of year that traditionally marks the last harvest of the season.
The UCE Pagan Collective is looking for volunteers to help plan the Samhain ritual and the potluck that follows. Please contact Taryn Seawright (tarynnelsonseawright at gmail dot com) or Peter Silverman (ptiferet at mac dot com) to get engaged!
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Curious about Beloved Conversations?
Register Today!
It's time to register for the fall session of Beloved Conversations, which is 12-week deep dive into the personal, transformative, spirit-growing work each of us needs to do around issues of race, identity, and justice, in relationship with other folks who share some similar experiences!
This spiritual formation program that mixes multi-media learning and reflection at your own pace, processing in small groups, and worshipping together in community! You can access it entirely online and the materials are accessible for up to a year after the start of the program. Check out our Beloved Conversations website for lots of information about Within and all of our exciting programs!
Fall Term Within Begins: September 10th, 2024
Fall Term Within Ends: December 3rd, 2024
Register here through August 31, 2024.
UCE has scholarships available for the Beloved Conversations: Within registration fee. Please complete an application here or contact Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org.
Have you already taken Beloved Conversations? If so, please complete these three questions. We are still trying to get an accurate count of UCE alums. If you have questions, please contact Rev. Susan at sfrances@ucevanston.org.
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Focus on Wisconsin!
ACTIVE and Face-to Face: Milwaukee Voter Registration Project (MVP)
Wisconsin is critical, and UCE members and friends can make a real difference in Milwaukee! Engage with folks face-to-face, to check registration status, register folks who have changed their address, and share enthusiasm for participating this fall.
TheTeutonia DMV location has the IDEAL demographics for this work!
Teutonia - 6073 N Teutonia Ave, Milwaukee, WI (Monday - Friday, 3 shifts per day)
Trained and seeking a shift? Use SignUp here:
Not done the one hour Zoom training? Email LauraKushner2x at gmail dot com and share the best date and time for your 1 hour Zoom training:
- Monday, August 19 at 1:30 PM
- Wednesday, September 4 at 7:00 PM
- Tuesday, September 17 at 1:30 PM
Post Carding
Postcard distribution is robust - every week in the back of the sanctuary. Come by for your packet of 20 or 40 cards, and reach out to Greg Grabowski (GregwGrabowski at gmail dot com), who is working hard to keep up with demand, for special orders.
Georgia postcard mail dates: Sept 15-30th.
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Interfaith Action of Evanston SNAPGap – September 2024 Please assist with the collection of items to bridge the gap for individuals and families. Your participation and generosity is greatly appreciated. In August we distributed items to 279 families. For September we are collecting: • Shampoo • Soap These items will be distributed at the Tues., Sept. 10th Producemobile.
Items can be purchased online for delivery or drop them off at:
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church,
1509 Ridge, Evanston, IL 60201
Drop-off Hours start Tues. September 3rd
• Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• Sun. Sept. 8th, 12 pm - 2 pm.
• Mon., Sept. 9th, 4 pm - 6 pm
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UCE Non-Fiction Book Group
The nonfiction book group will meet remotely on Zoom at 2 p.m. on Sunday, August 25th using our recurring link. At that meeting we will vote on the books we will read in the coming months. Anyone who has books to recommend is asked to contact Jackie Seaman on REALM. Members of the group will receive a list of books under consideration within a week of August 25, 2024.
We will not be discussing a book in August.
Book discussions will resume on Sunday, September 29, 2024 and continue on Zoom at 2pm on the fourth Sunday of subsequent months.
Zoom discussion on Sunday, August 25th at 2pm, using our recurring ZOOM link.
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UCE Fiction Book Group
The UCE Fiction Book Group is reading Eastbound, by Maylis de Kerangal, translated by Jessica Moore (2023) A young Russian conscript and a French woman come together in a crowded compartment of the Trans-Siberian railroad, each of them fleeing to the east for their own reasons.
Friday, September 20th by ZOOM, 7-8pm using our recurring ZOOM link.
Future reads:
October 18: All Aunt Hagar’s Children, by Edward P. Jones (2007) Folks in the everyday Black community of Washington, D.C., thought the values of the South would sustain them in the North and find "that the cohesion born and nurtured in the south would be but memory in less than two generations.” E.P. Jones is the author of the 2004 Pulitzer-prize-winning The Known World.
November 15: Erasure, by Percival Everett (2011) Everett’s blistering, rollicking satire of the plight of the Black writer in the world of American publishing. Rejected by seventeen publishers for his latest manuscript, Thelonious “Monk” Ellison spins off a parody of “what the public wants,” My Pafology, which is, of course, a wild success.
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Service of Remembrance
Sunday August 25th at 9:00am
The Chris Isely Cancer Support Group will host the annual Service of Remembrance on Sunday, 8/25/24, at 9:00 a.m. This service honors the loved ones we’ve lost for any reason, whether within our church family or in our personal lives. Rev. Eileen and members of the group will lead the brief ceremony.
At this service, we will read aloud the names of those who we've lost over the last 12 months. In addition, anyone who wishes to honor the memory of a loved one, regardless of when they died, is invited to attend. The service will take place outside on the south lawn of the church. (In the event of rain, the service will move inside, to the rear of the sanctuary.) The community is invited to join us.
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UU MEN'S RETREAT
Virtual Retreat Event on Saturday, September 14, 2024.
10:00AM until 12:00PM (CDT), On-Line via Zoom.
"The Invisible Partners: How the Male and Female in each of us affects our relationships."
Facilitated by: Illuman-Men Transforming Men, a global non-profit committed to helping men become healthier, more authentic men. Their presenters through a combination of ritual, story, image, and council will introduce the four stages of the Anima archetype in a Man's life: Eve, Helen, Mary, and Sophia.
OPEN TO ALL PEOPLE WHO IDENTIFY AS MALE.
REGISTRATION COST: Suggested donation of $20 is asked with a minimum set at $5. Donation instructions will be sent with link.
TO REGISTER, GET LINK, OR ANY OTHER QUESTIONS: e-mail to mensretreat@unitytemple.org
Sponsored by the Men's Retreat committee: Mark Johansen, Rich Pokorny, Allan Lindrup, Bob Innocenzi, Alan Johnson, Nai Owens, John Meade, Johnathan Hand, Doug Erickson & Ron Dubreuil.
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ENVIRONMENT & SPIRITUALITY SUMMITS | |
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Annual Environment and Spirituality Summit
September 22-24, 2024
UCE is a Wild Indigo Sponsor of the Faith in Place 2024 Annual Environment and Spirituality Summit. Thank you to the Endowment Fund for the Community Partner grant that allowed us to become a sponsor.
Register below to join
Faith in Place for the hybrid 2024 Annual Environment and Spirituality Summit.
If you are interested in joining an in-person watch party for the Keynote Session with Lama Rod Owens, there is an option to indicate that and you will receive details closer to the event.
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UCE is a Bee Balm Sponsor of the UU Climate Justice Revival. Thank you to the collaboration of our Social Justice Council teams for each contributing a portion of their budgeted funds that allowed us to become a sponsor.
UU Climate Justice Revival September 28-29, 2024
Check out the map of all the UU congregations who are participating! We have registered as a congregation, so you do not need to register individually.
On Sat. September 28th UCE will host an event including a presentation by ACLU of IL Director of Communication and Public Policy, Ed Yonka. Watch the newsletter for an RSVP link.
On Sun. September 29th our Worship Service will embody the spirit of the Climate Justice Revival and our Engagement Fair following the service will give you a chance to answer the call to action.
We'll see you then!
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Unitarian Church of Evanston
1330 Ridge Ave. Evanston, IL 60201
847-864-1330
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