Nurturing the Human Spirit for a World Made Whole | |
Sunday Service August 11th at 10:30am | |
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Sounds to Heal the Soul
Guest Preston Klik, sound healer and musician, shares his artistry with crystal bowls, monochord, Native American flute, and the ocean drum. Join us for this service, not to be missed. Rev. Eileen will serve as the Worship Associate and guest pianist, Ken Smith, will provide accompaniment.
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 generosity by watching the episode Pass the Parcel and playing some 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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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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Our August 18th Sunday Service Will Celebrate Tai Chi and Yoga as Spiritual Practices
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.
Wear comfortable clothing!
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Greetings from Kathy Underwood | |
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In my last newsletter article, I shared my thoughts on how we can begin to embrace and live out our new UU Values that were voted on at General Assembly in June. I thought about doing this in three steps:
Step 1: Get to know them. Take the time to really read and look at them.
Step 2: Fully Embrace Them. This means absorbing what they say and mean – not memorizing them but reflecting on them.
Step 3: Use them. As I go about my day, where do these values pop up? Are my words and actions guided by these values? Am I open to change and adapting the way I approach things and my relationships?
In considering these steps, I am planning out the curricula that we will use for our young people during the year to guide them in Step 1: Get to know them. We are fortunate to have religious educators in our UU faith who are creative curriculum writers and are willing to share their talents – often at no cost to others. While our youngest continue with their story-based curriculum that Ann Gadzikowski has created, our elementary ages will begin the year with a JETPIG Cooperative Challenge program written by Sara Krakauer. You may recall that “JETPIG” is an acronym to help remember the new Values.
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 |  | Our hats are off to Betty Walker who we are preparing to bid farewell to as she moves to Florida in September. Betty has brought so much to UCE over the more than 20 years of her membership that it's hard to know where to begin. She has been a devoted choir member, including organizing the treats for many years. She has been a Worship Associate, a founding member of the REAL team, including being instrumental in helping UCE pass the 8th Principle. She has been on the Anti-Oppression Task Force, organized the Giving House for many years, and works the Fair-Trade Cart on Sundays. She has served as a General Assembly delegate and been a member of the Denominational Affairs Team, including her vital engagement creating a Covenant Group Discussion Guide and teaching the congregation about the Article II revision process and our newly articulated values. Betty, it's impossible to express how much you will be missed. We are so grateful for all you've done for UCE, but even more, we're grateful for who you are and that you've been a part of our lives.
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This Week's Events & Links | |
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Friday, August 9th
- Play Reading, 6:30-9pm, Room 3
Saturday, August 10th:
- Virtual Pilates, 9:30-10:30am, via Zoom
- Tai Chi offsite this week, North Park Village.
- 2:30pm, Wedding of Adam Gough & Zoey Groh, Congratulations!
Sunday, August 11th:
- Chris Isely Cancer Support Group, 9am-10:30am, in-person Rm 6 and via Zoom Link.
- Baby Shower for Naheya & Erichis, 12:15pm Rm 3
Monday, August 12th:
- UCE Addictions & Recovery, 7-9pm, via Zoom.
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Tuesday, August 13th:
- Denominational Affairs, 12:30-1:30pm, Zoom
- Women's Circle of Friends, 1-2:30pm, via Zoom
- Emissions Reduction Task Force, 2:30-3:30pm, via Zoom
- Legislative Action Team, 5:30-6:30pm, via Zoom
Wednesday, August 14th:
- All Staff Meeting, 11am-12:30pm
- REAL Team Picnic, 7-8:30pm, on South lawn
- Integrated Stewardship Council Mtg, 6-7:30pm, via Zoom
Thursday August 15th:
- Meditation Group, 5:30-7pm, via Zoom
- Board of Trustees, 7-9pm, via Zoom
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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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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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Your Contributions to BLUU are Increasing Black and Indigenous Homeownership in North Minneapolis!
In December 2023 the UCE Shared Plate offering went to Black Lives of Unitarian Universalists (BLUU). The Northside Housing Cooperative Housing Initiative is an innovative, community-centered effort resulting in affordable housing for Black and Indigenous families in Minneapolis. There is an extensive article in the June UU World Magazine about this BLUU initiative. Check it out!
The Real Planning Group
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Two UU Churches attacked - Update
Last week, we shared the news about two of our UU congregations who have been recent targets of arson and vandalism. First Parish UU Church in Kingston, Massachusetts and the UU Church of Lawton in Oklahoma both had their buildings broken into, fires started, and property damaged which will need thousands of dollars in repairs. These are both small congregations and we are glad that they reached out to sibling UU's through Faithify, for help in covering the cost of repairs and continuing their mission.
We are thrilled to share that they have both reached their fundraising goals! Thank you to everyone who donated.
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UCE Postcarding Continues to Upswing!
ALERT: Mail Your Georgia postcards
September 15 to 30th
UCE partners with Reclaim Our Vote, a non-partisan voter engagement organization ensuring eligible voters, likely aligned with UU values, at risk of disenfranchisement, have access to their ballots. UCE does not partner with parties nor candidates, because of our tax status.
While many UCE friends and members are working with partisan groups, we will distribute the Reclaim Our Vote postcards each week through September. Thank you! We fill special orders! Host a post carding gathering, and order ahead!
Milwaukee Voter Registration Project
Engage with folks face-to-face at Chase (Monday-Friday) and Mill Rd (Saturday only) DMV offices. A portion of the Chase population is Hispanic, not citizens, and unable to register. Speaking a bit of Spanish is helpful.
Trained and seeking a shift? SignUp here.
If you have not done the one hour Zoom training, reach out to Carolyn Laughlin for new training dates.
Join the UUtheVote Team
Join us as the election heats up! Distribute postcards at our program table, strategize with us to keep up the momentum! Email Carolyn Laughlin (carolynblaughlin at gmail dot com).
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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 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. The 2008 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Oscar made the top ten on the New York Times’ list of the 100 best books of the 21st century. Oscar tells some of the history of the contemporary Dominican-American experience as one thread of the immigrant fabric of being American.
Friday, August 16 by ZOOM, 7-8pm using our recurring ZOOM link.
Future reads:
September 20: 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.
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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Let's welcome Naheya and Eric's soon to be born baby at our Baby Shower on August 11th after Sunday service, in Room 6 at 12:30. Please sign up by Saturday and we'll contact you to share what items they will need to welcome their new baby girl. And, if you can bring an appetizer or dessert, please check that on the sign-up sheet. Let's welcome this new child to our church. Contact Janelle Brittain know if you have any questions.
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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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