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Alternative Christmas Day Services

If you are looking to participate in worship from home on Sunday, Christmas morning, consider joining one of these local on-line services. UCE's service Christmas morning at 10:30 will be in-person only with no livestream:

Unity Temple's service with Rev. Dawn Cooley, "A Blue Christmas" is 10am via YouTube:

Third Unitarian's service is at 11:30am via Zoom with Rev. Colleen Vahey - a service of readings and music. People can request the Zoom link by completing this form:

Please send to Rev. Eileen via email photos (in high resolution jpeg format), names, and dates of birth of babies that have been born into your lives since last Christmas Eve.

These will be shown during the Christmas Eve service. I'll be able to include photos I receive by Thursday, December 22nd. Thank you!

We're gathering photos of you lighting, holding, or extinguishing a candle or chalice in your home for our annual Fire Communion, which will be held on Sunday, January 1st.



Send your photo to Rev. Susan by December 19th.

HOLIDAY HOURS

Church office Holiday break is Monday, December 26 through Monday, January 2. We will reopen Monday January 3 at 10:30 a.m.

UCE Supports Reparations in Evanston and Beyond

In May of 2022 we resolved as a congregation to support reparations locally and nationally, and in June I stood in Fountain Square with clergy and leaders of 16 other Evanston congregations to make that commitment public. Each of us faith leaders signed onto a statement that held us to the promise that we will continue to educate ourselves and our community about the need for reparative justice, to own and begin to redress the enormous harms that have taken place nationally and locally, including the devastation of chattel slavery, the oppression and trauma of Jim Crow laws, the ongoing injustice of mass incarceration, and the insidiousness of redlining and housing discrimination in this city.

The compounded impacts of these and so many other injustices have created a wealth disparity and incalculable harm to Black citizens. Evanston is the first U.S. city to provide reparations since Reconstruction and we are called by our own resolution and the eighth principle of our faith to take an active part in what has been thoughtfully put forth.

Celebrating 2022 as we Ring in 2023!

Our Faith Formation program for our young people has been going so well, and we want to continue that! Helpers are needed for our young people’s faith formation hour on Sundays beginning January 8, from 11am-Noon. Be a part of their lives!

Sign up here or email Kathy.

Sanctuary Chairs - We Want Your Thoughts

The Sanctuary Chairs Team of the Capital Campaign Implementation Committee is inviting congregants to meet with us on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 at 6pm via zoom to share thoughts and ideas as we continue to explore chair options for our beautiful sanctuary.

If you want to attend, please follow this link to the google form to sign up and we will send the link to you. We will also welcome your written comments which can be submitted in the google file. 

Our Hats are Off to...

To everyone who made our Ornament Sunday Potluck the fun event that it was! After being nourished by all of the fabulous foods folks brought, we had 10 ornament crafts to try our hands at: Clothespin reindeer with Carolyn Toporek, beaded snowflakes with Carol Nielsen, painted wooden ornaments with Emily Eckwahl-Sanna, woven paper stars with Amy Grabowski, cardboard gingerbread houses with Gillian Lawrence, candy cane reindeer with Sandy McNabb, foam ornaments with Ann Gadzikowski, Origami cranes and stars with Grey Wiviott, paper chains with Margot Audenaerd, and felt ornaments with Alice Swan.

Thank you to Jay Liddell, Norell Liddell, and Janice Milanovich who helped set up ornament tables and clean them up afterwards. And thank you to the hospitality team members who helped with the set-up and cleanup for our potluck: Chris Yoo, Shawn Iles, Sarah Iles, Meredith Haydon, David Bates-Jeffreys, Mary Beth Roth, Jean McCullough, and Alice Chrostowski.

We’re grateful for the care and creativity all of you brought to make Ornament Sunday such a jolly time!

Yule Ritual on the Winter Solstice,

December 21 at 7pm via Zoom

All are welcome to join the Yule Ritual Honoring the Darkness to Bring in the Light on Zoom at 7:00 pm on December 21, 2022, hosted by Second Unitarian of Chicago's neo-pagan group, Covenant of Earth and Sky (COVES). 

On the Longest Night and Shortest Day of the year, the light will start returning and energies are gathering deep in the earth. Come celebrate in story and song, focusing on the Goddess Lucia and the Oak King's reign. You will need a candle to celebrate the increasing light in your sacred space. You are also invited to have a Winter Solstice libation with you: hot chocolate, Wassail, hot cider, or other.

UCE Parents of Trans Kids Group

to begin meeting on January 22nd at 12:30 pm at UCE

Many of us know the joy and pride of having children (of all ages) who identify as trans, non-binary, or gender non-conforming. Rev. Eileen will host a monthly gathering for parents, grandparents, or caregivers of people in their lives who are transitioning or have transitioned. This will be a space for connection, support, questions, and holding of complexity and questions. Please let Rev. Eileen know if you plan to join us or if you have questions.

Unitarian Men's Retreat Friday, January 27 to Sunday, January 29, 2023.

Join other UU men to explore Turning Points In Our Lives. Cabrini Retreat Center, 9430 Golf Road, DesPlaines 60016.

Cost of $200 includes private room for two nights, three meals Saturday and breakfast Sunday, plus pizza party on Friday night.

Scholarships available. We welcome all who identify as male. Our goal is to encourage each other to share, learn and support each other in looking into the meaning of our lives. Men from Unity Temple, Unitarian Church of Evanston, and Countryside UU are already participating.

For the flyer, signup sheet and more information,

Contact Mark Johansen - markeric-j@hotmail.com

2023 UUA General Assembly

The 2023 UUA General Assembly will be held in Pittsburgh, PA from June 21 – 25 online or in-person. 

Registration is now open. Click here for details.

The Denominational Affairs Committee is asking you to think being a Delegate to this General Assembly. Delegates will be considering changes to the UUA Bylaws, Article 2, which includes the Principles and Purposes. This is our opportunity to address racism, non-human life, and the inclusivity of the democratic process. Delegates can attend in-person and virtually.

If you are interested please contact a member of Denominational Affairs via REALM.

We will continue to provide information via the Newsletter. 

Starting in January, Adult Faith Formation will be running two classes on Caregiving, in-person and on Zoom.



Advanced Directives - January 10th

If something happened to you and you weren’t able to speak and make your own medical decisions, do you have a plan in place? Attend this session and learn why it’s so important to have an advance directive for healthcare. You will leave the session with the tools and document to create your own.

Care for Caregivers - January 24th

Taking care of a friend or family member is definitely a labor of love. However, caregiving can also be extremely stressful. This presentation will discuss the physical, emotional, and financial stressors that caregivers may face. We will also explore tips and strategies for self-care. Caregivers need to take care of their own well-being in order to be able to care for another person.

UCE Fiction Book Group: My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

Join us on TONIGHT at 7 pm via Zoom to discuss My Name is Lucy Barton.

Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken for many years, comes to see her. Gentle gossip about people from Lucy’s childhood in Amgash, Illinois, seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of Lucy’s life: her escape from her troubled family, her desire to become a writer, her marriage, her love for her two daughters. Knitting this powerful narrative together is the brilliant storytelling voice of Lucy herself: keenly observant, deeply human, and truly unforgettable.

UCE Non-Fiction Book Group: How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

Join us this Saturday, December 17th at 2 p.m. via Zoom to discuss Odell's ideas about how we can and must actively and continuously choose how we use our attention, the most precious and overdrawn resource we have.

In a world where addictive technology is designed to buy and sell our attention, and our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity, it can seem impossible to escape. But in this inspiring field guide to dropping out of the attention economy, artist and critic Jenny Odell shows us how we can undertake bolder forms of political action, re-imagine our role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress.

Wanted: Interfaith Action Evanston (IAE) Needs Volunteers for Hospitality Center and for the Overnight Shelter.

• Hospitality Center - Door Greeter Needed - Monday-Friday: 7:00 am - 11:00 am ( two-hour shifts) at St. Mark’s, 1509 Ridge, Evanston. Click HERE to sign up!

• Overnight Shelter - this shelter moves to a different faith community every three weeks. Three shifts: Setup 8:30pm - 10 pm, Overnight 9:30pm - 7am, Clean up 6am-7am. Beth Emet - 12/5-12/25/22. Click HERE to sign up!



Questions contact Sue Murphy Berube, ia@interfaithactionofevanston.org.

Walk for Warmth

Mark your calendars! Please join us for Interfaith Action of Evanston’s Walk for Warmth on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday January 16th. Walking together, we are a physical embodiment of Dr. King’s vision of the beloved community. His commitment to service is reflected in the route we take past the many faith communities that house Interfaith Action’s overnight shelter. Whether in person or in spirit through a donation, you can help raise awareness and provide a warm, safe, and welcoming place for our unhoused neighbors to sleep on cold winter nights. For more information, to register to walk and donate, go to the Walk for Warmth 2023 website. There is no charge to register.

Save the Date: January 21, 2023

9am - 12pm - Sanctuary and Online

12-1pm, lunch to follow in Sanctuary

Anti-Oppression Task Force All-Congregation Workshop: 

Daring to Hope, Risking to Love

Sponsored by the Anti-Oppression Task Force,

the Board of Trustees, and

our Consultants with the YWCA Equity Institute



Join us to hear the results of the Anti-Oppression Congregational Survey which many of you completed in August, leading into an exploration of where we’ve been, where we are now, and where we’re going on the journey of building Beloved Community.

Giving House Continues... December is PASTA month

We are accepting donations of PASTA - Dry Pasta and Mac 'n' Cheese Mix - in the giving house for the month of December.

The Giving house is a small wooden "house" that is located in the front lobby. We are partnering with a new free food supplier for the food insecure.

Clarence Weaver and his wife Wendy in March 2020 responded to the covid crisis by setting up a nonprofit organization and using 

their storefront (C&W Market & Ice Cream) to distribute free foods to those in need.

They provide fresh meat, vegetables and fruit along with nonperishable food items to seniors, District 65 families and those experiencing homelessness and food insecurity. They serve almost 50 people every other Saturday morning. They are continuing this service to our community

Since they have plenty of storage, we can support their generous work by providing nonperishable items. We will be collecting one type of non-perishable food each month. December is Pasta month.

 C&W Market & Ice Cream is a Black owned business on the corner of Dodge and Church. This is a prime location for food distribution.  You can also support this business by buying Ice Cream and/or other sundries there. Thanks for your donation.