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In-Person & Virtual Worship Service

this Sunday, August 6th at 10:30 am

Faith Formation Hour this Sunday!

Faith Formation Hour this Sunday:

Childcare (0-3 years) is available in room 11 from 10a-11:45a

Wisdom Tales & Wild Games – will return on August 6 when we’ll be “visiting” South Korea.

Families can explore our summer theme, Delight, at home at their own pace with the Soulful Home packet.

Summertime is Beach time!

Folks from UCE met at Lighthouse Beach last Sunday for an afternoon full of sunshine, waves, and friendship. We had so much fun that we’re doing it again on September 3! Hope you join us then!

From Rev. Susan Frances

Assistant Minister for Congregational Life

Dear Friends,

I am back from my summer vacations. Mickey and I spent the last week of June staying in a yurt in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, where I was introduced to the wolf spider! These nonvenomous spiders may grow to have bodies 1 inch long with a leg span of 2 or more inches. The bath house up the hill from our yurt had a huge poster about the venomous black widow spiders and brown recluse spiders showing their actual size. And next to it was a photo of the wolf spider with a note that read: “Wolf spiders eat black widows and brown recluse, please do not kill the wolf spider!”

Our second night in the yurt, we walked in after having dinner with friends living in Burlington, NC, turned on the light, and a little spider was running toward us. In my own home, I am typically someone who catches a spider and releases it outside, but this spider, running toward me and being the same size as the brown recluse and black widow spiders in the bath house poster, did not receive this kind of treatment. After stomping on it and thinking it was odd that it was running toward me, I saw what it was running from – a fully mature wolf spider! It is literally the largest spider I have ever seen outside of a caged tarantula in a pet store. And there it was, 3 feet from the base of the bed I was about to sleep in.

After what seemed like a long conversation, but was probably only a few seconds, ranging from “it is huge” to “we can’t kill it, it eats the deadly spiders” back to “wow, it’s so big”, Mickey had the presence of mind to get the broom from the wonderfully large back deck we had spent the morning enjoying and to encourage that amazingly large spider out the front door. Only it went under the bookcase instead. Nature!

Hats off to Sandy Dansforth

This week we tip our hats to Sandy Danforth. Sandy has been an important team member of the Capital Campaign Implementation Committee (CCIC) serving on the Intergenerational Playscape, Lobby & Wing Refurbishment, and Northwest Garden planning teams. Thank you, Sandy, for taking minutes at each of the monthly meetings for these three CCIC planning teams over the past three years. 



Sandy is also a vital part of our congregation’s Native Communities Solidarity Team. She wrote the Endowment Fund application that was granted and allowed us to collaborate with Reba Place Church and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary to host the play We Own This Now, which is about how the Doctrine of Discovery decimated Indigenous communities across North America.

And, as part of our Money Counters Hospitality Team, Sandy is a regular Sunday morning volunteer and reliable substitute for managing our collections on Sunday mornings. Thank you, Sandy, for all that you do to care for our community and build our community partnerships!

Parliament of the World's Religions (PoWR)

The 2023 Parliament of the World's Religions (PoWR) is 2 weeks away, convening thousands of faith, spiritual, and civic organizers addressing the threat of autocracy, the backsliding of democracies, the rise of nationalism, the climate emergency, and the humanitarian crises and wars around the world.

This year PoWR is being held in Chicago at McCormick Place from August 14-18! If you are registered to attend and want to connect with other UCE folks who are also attending, email Rev. Susan at sfrances@ucevanston.org.

A concert to honor Gay Menges, Jon's mom, on August 20th. This is a free concert but if you're able to make a contribution of $10-$20, it would be greatly appreciated.

Faith Formation Hour this Sunday:

Childcare (0-3 years) is available in Room 11 from 10am-11:45am

The nonfiction book group will meet at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 27th via Zoom to select the books we will discuss in the coming months. Everyone is welcome to join us. Contact Jackie Seaman through the Realm Membership Directory or Rev. Susan at sfrances@ucevanston.org for the Zoom link.

Summer Concert Meetup August 8 for South Boulevard Band at Harbert Park, Evanston – 7p. From Australia to St. Lucia, they’ve played Broadway musicals, chorale pieces, television scores, theatrical productions, gigs with Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Charo (coochie coochie!) —oh, and of course, rock, jazz and blues. Marcie Hicks is our point person, so look for her there! Our last concert meetup will be August 16 in Skokie, so only two more gatherings

The 2023 Virginia elections will take place on November 7, 2023. All 40 seats of the Virginia Senate and 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates will be up for election, as are many local offices.

So, what? Why does this matter?

This is a pivotal election for legislative control in the State of Virginia, as the Governor seeks to oust progressives from their remaining toehold: the state Senate. If successful, a sharply conservative policy agenda is sure to emerge in a state that has become more aligned with UU values over the last two decades.

Working with our valued partner, Reclaim Our Vote, UCE will direct postcards to registered voters who share our values and are facing voter access challenges. Our information and inspiration could make a difference to the state, and in the 2024 Presidential election.



Pick-up your postcards in the back of the sanctuary after service August 6,13 and 20. Mailing dates are Sept 8-October 23. Reach out to Greg Grabowski through the REALM Membership Directory or at admin@ucevanston.org with questions or to get more information.

Support Refugee One Back to School Drive

The UCE Immigrant Solidarity Team encourages members to support the Refugee One Back to School Drive through their Amazon wishlist this year. Last year we supplied them with 13 backpacks full of school supplies! This year it is even easier!

From the Refugee One website:

Summer just started, but we're thinking ahead! Help us equip refugee youth with backpacks and school supplies. There are 400+ students in our Youth Program, and dozens more arriving in the coming months.

Order items direct to RefugeeOne's office via their Amazon Wishlist (Back to School)

Interested in donating other items?

Check here

Thank you to everyone at UCE who worked with the Legislative Action Team and UU Prison Ministry Team to encourage our state legislators to pass the Pretrial Fairness Act, also known as the SAFE-T Act!

After the law’s constitutionality was upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court on July 18, 2023, in a 5-2 ruling, the portion of the Pretrial Fairness Act ending cash bail will take effect on September 18, 2023.

The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice [insert link under IL network for pretrial justice - https://endmoneybond.org/illinois-network-for-pretrial-justice/ has put out a call for community court watching across the state to monitor the implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act during pretrial hearings in September and October.

Volunteers must be able to attend one training virtually and take at least two in-person shifts (each lasting between 2-5 hours) observing pretrial hearings in the county where they were trained.

Beloved Conversations Registration Open

Through August 31st

The REAL Team highly recommends that anyone who has not taken the online version of Beloved Conversations [insert link under “Beloved Conversations” - https://www.meadville.edu/fahs-collaborative/beloved-conversations/within-phase/ sign up for a “Beloved Conversations: Within Course for BIPOC+” or a “Beloved Conversations: Within Course for White People."

Register Here

The Beloved Conversations in-person curriculum has evolved to be a three-part online curriculum divided into the Within Phase, the Among Phase, and the Beyond Phase. If you took the original in-person curriculum, the new online Beloved Conversations: Within is a restyled individual curriculum that will bring you something new and connect you with individuals across the country.

If Beloved Conversations is new to you, it is a program that “focuses on the internal work that each of us needs to do as we engage in deeper personal understanding, explorations of race and racism, extracting our souls and spirits from white supremacy culture, and work for racial justice.”

UCE has scholarships available for the Beloved Conversations: Within registration fee. Please complete an application here.

or contact or contact Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org.

The Giving House food donations are simplified! 

You can bring any of the following: pasta, rice, beans, cereal, soups, and/or canned fish or meat.

Now you don’t have to remember which item to bring for which month. We will accept any of these items any month any time. The Giving house is the wooden box/house in the lobby. It opens from the roof. Please place items in here any time during the week or on Sunday.

We are partnering with C&W Market & Ice Cream to distribute free foods to those in need.