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.

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.

Hello fellow seekers,  

I am honored to serve this vibrant community and to continue growing in formation with you all. First and foremost, I look forward to getting to know you! I welcome opportunities to talk about what you love most about the congregation and hear about hopes you have for it. I also hope to get to know each of you as individuals and learn about what's important to you. 

A little bit about me: My ministerial calling is to nurture accountable beloved community, and I look forward to joining with you in your efforts of "anti-racism and anti-oppression with honesty, humility, and accountability" in mutually transformative ways. As part of this call, I am committed to dismantling white supremacy culture and its legacy burdens within myself and in our shared spaces to make space for nurturance, interdependence, and alterity.  

Before heeding the call to ministry, I worked in academia as a biochemistry researcher, taught at several universities, and worked in the private sector as an analytical chemist. I've published professionally in several related fields, including metabolomics, enzymology, and education, but the most meaningful parts of all my jobs were the relationships with colleagues and students. I've practiced building community in the six major metropolitan areas where I've lived (though none in any official ministerial capacity). In my personal life, I identify as a queer, neurodivergent solo polyamorist currently with one non-nesting partner. I have two young children who are also neurodivergent, one of whom loves to come to church, and the other of whom prefers more solo time. I enjoy dancing most partner dances, especially blues dancing, and I am an avid consumer of books. 

I'm so excited to get to know you, to foster mutual support, to navigate complexity and conflict, and to deepen trust so we can do the important work together.  

Yours,  

Emma  

Wednesday, September 18th, 7-8:30pm in the Sanctuary

Join us for an inspiring evening of song and community, featuring the talented volunteer church members. Enjoy a night of beautiful music and fellowship. There will be wine, tea, water, and snacks available.

Admission: FREE (Donations welcome, proceeds support our music program)

We are also looking for volunteers to bring snacks, as well as to help work the event. If you're interested in volunteering, please Sign Up Here

Praise in the Park!

As part of our ongoing effort to get to know our neighboring faith communities, UCE will have a table at the Evanston Own It & City of Evanston’s Praise in the Park event on

August 31, 2024, from 12:00-5:00 pm. 

Full details at: https://www.evanstonownit.org/praisepark.

It’ll be a fun day at Twiggs Park, so we hope you can attend for a little bit and stop by the UCE table to say hi to Rev. Susan, Rev. Eileen, and the UCE table volunteers. 

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!

 Sunday Morning Hospitality Team Training

Every member is invited to get engaged in one of our Sunday morning hospitality teams. If you are interested in joining or reengaging with creating a welcoming space on Sunday mornings, please join Rev. Susan on Sunday, September 8th after the Ingathering Potluck for a training from 12:30-2:00 pm.

RSVP by clicking here, going to Sun Sep 8th, and selecting the Greeters Hospitality Team Training, Kitchen Hospitality Team training, or Money Counters Hospitality Team training. If you aren't sure, select one and then you can confer with Rev. Susan at the training. It'll be fun!

Shared Offering 2024-2025

The September 2024 Shared Offering Program recipient is the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). Please join Fred Tsao, Senior Policy Counsel with ICIRR at a program table after the worship service on Sunday, September 1, 2024, to get more engaged with this organization.



ICIRR is a coalition of over 100 member organizations committed to the full and equal inclusion of immigrants and refugees in our diverse society. Along with our member organizations, we engage in organizing, policy advocacy, leadership development and other activities to pressure Congress and state and local authorities to meet the needs of immigrants and other vulnerable communities. We advocate for legislation and policies that respect the human dignity of all people, regardless of their immigration status, and we fight to eliminate structural barriers caused by social and economic inequality, systemic racism, and discrimination. We don't accept rhetoric that makes immigrants more or less worthy based on their contributions or background. And while other organizations provide policy and programmatic support, we bring these aspects together around organizing and power building. Our vision is a world where ALL people are free to live, work, and thrive.

Thank You Letters from Shared Offering Recipients

Each year we received lovely thank you letters and cards from the organizations we support. The hard copies live for a year on the bulletin board in the lobby - check them out! 

A scanned copy lives permanently in this Google folder. Check out the 2023-24 folder to read letters from Deborah's Place, The Night Ministry, Evanston Community Reparations Fund, Middle East Children's Alliance, Doctors Without Borders, and UUANI.

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. 

Energy and Action On Display !

UCE members and friends clamored for over 1,100 postcards Sunday!  Vital information and voter participation encouragement will be on the way to GA and NC - mail dates are: Sep 15-30th.

Distribution continues every week in the back of the sanctuary. Come by for your packet of 20 or 40 cards. Need a “special order” of over 100 cards? Reach out to Carolyn Laughlin (CarolynBLaughlin at gmail dot com) who will bundle and deliver to you!                              

Milwaukee Voter Registration Project (MVP)

Meet folks face-to-face to check registration status, register folks who have changed their address, and share enthusiasm for participating this fall.

The Teutonia DMV location has the IDEAL demographics for this work!

Teutonia - 6073 N Teutonia Ave, Milwaukee, WI (M-F, 3 shifts per day)

Trained and seeking a shift? Use SignUp here: 

Need one hour Zoom training? Email LauraKushner2x at gmail dot com and share the best date and time for your 1 hour Zoom training:

- Wednesday, September 4 at 7:00 PM

- Tuesday, September 17 at 1:30 PM

SAVE THE DATE: 

Sunday, October 6th -UCE UUtheVote Grand Finale Celebration!

We will recognize and celebrate ALL of the UCE election work. 

Accolades, cake, and prizes!

LAST DAY to pick up postcards to hit our final October 15th mail deadline!

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

MEDICAL AID IN DYING (MAID)

End-of-Life Options SB3499

Have you ever wondered if you would want to determine your own time of death if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness? In 10 states plus D.C., you have that option. All eyes are now on Illinois where SB3499 has a strong chance of passing into law in the veto session of the state General Assembly this November. It creates the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act.

Here is how you can help. If you would like to have the choice of how you would die, or if you have someone in your family, or a friend, that you believe would like that opportunity, support passage of the bill. UCE’s Legislative Action Team supports this bill and will have representatives at a table in back of the sanctuary on September 15 following the service. Talk to them and write postcards to your state Senator and House representative. Postcards provided.

The Legislative Action Team is working in conjunction with Compassion & Choices and the local ACLU branch to bolster passage of the bill. Come to the medical aid in dying (MAID) program table on September 15th to learn about the bill specifics and other opportunities you can join. 

Celebration of the Life of Lorna Galich

Saturday, September 21, at 1 pm, we will gather to celebrate the life of our beloved Lorna Galich. Two Margarets (Shaklee and Talmage) are organizing hospitality. If it would please you to take on a small role or bring a favorite food for the reception buffet, please sign up HERE.  

To opt out of the technology, email either Margaret with your offering.

We Are Raising Funds for a Healing Space

for Liz Kennedy Eason -

Click here for more info!

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.