Nurturing the Human Spirit for a World Made Whole

Sunday Service June 16th at 10:30am

Renewing Our Spirits, Renewing Our Relationships, Renewing Our Commitments

On this Father’s Day, we consider the complicated and challenging job of helping one another to grow. Regardless of our relationship to parenthood or our parents, we are all learning and growing in our relationships to one another. Each of us can learn how to be accountable to one another, make amends, and repair harm. We all have a part to play in renewing ourselves, each other, and our communities. Rev. Eileen leads the service with Worship Associate, Annette Wallace. Tom Beck is our vocalist with Gregory Shifrin on piano.

Children and youth will go to their Faith Formation program

after joys and sorrows.

Shared Offering - FORA

Join the Services Livestream

Faith Formation Hour this Sunday

Childcare (0-3 years) is available in room 11 from 10:15am-11:45am.
BlUUey continues! Our summer program for children (preschool-6th grade in Room 3) is based on the animated show, Bluey. We’ll be exploring our UU values as we see Bluey learning them along the way. This week we’ll be watching the episode, Hammerbarn, and talking about generosity and equity.

Faith Formation Feedback – parents, volunteers, and young people are invited to share their thoughts on our program in this short form.

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.

Parents can register their children/youth for the Faith Formation Program here.

TransParentsy Group

The support group will meet from 12:00 noon until 1pm (note time change), Sunday June 16th in Room 2.

This group is for parents, grandparents, and caregivers of children (of any age) who are trans, non-binary, or gender non-conforming. We offer support and connection in a non-judgmental way.

UUA General Assembly is Sunday, June 23rd UCE's Worship Service at 10:30am will be a pre-recorded showing of the UUA General Assembly service, led by Rev. Molly Housh Gordon, of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia, MO:

https://www.uua.org/ga/off-site/2024/sunday-worship

You can join us at UCE at 10:30am to watch the service in community, OR stream it from home using

the above link at 12:00pm CST.

Greetings from Rev. Susan

Dear Friends,

My summer is off to a wonderful start. On Sunday, May 26, Mickey and I drove to Sheboygan, WI and stayed at a perfect-for-us Airbnb apartment a block from the harbor. On Monday, we drove to Peninsula State Park in Door County, WI, to go camping with my family. The photo is of me and my niece on our way back to shore after triumphantly kayaking through choppy water at Nicolet Bay. By the end of the week, our group camp site had 5 tents and 14 of us from ages 7 to 78. It was a memorable trip.

As with many wonderful experiences, we often have to make a choice to miss something else. My family camping trip meant that I missed Sandra’s Farewell Party. I have seen wonderful photos and am so pleased Sandra was sent off onto the next part of her journey with such joy and love. As was discussed at the Budget Town Hall meetings, Sandra’s role as Executive Operations Director has been divided among several staff members.

Our hats are off to the volunteers who helped make the first Interfaith Family Pride Fest a smashing success. Renée Gatis, Erlene Howard, Grey Wiviott, and Colin (visiting from the UU congregation in Eugene, OR) staffed our UCE table, providing glitter blessings to all who wanted one and fully demonstrating our congregation's warmth and inclusiveness.

Mary Dudek was THE first aid table! She staffed the table for the duration of the festival, treating mostly scraped knees and hands with the limited supplies. Forrest Marie Peters Linsell was not only one of our Marshalls, ensuring a safe and welcoming event, but she also went in the middle of the festival to buy needed supplies for Mary to use at the first aid table. Steve Serikaku also served as a Marshall, fostering emotional, spiritual and physical safety for participants. Steve and Kaz Ayukawa helped fold up tables and chairs and pack away our tent until next year.

We are grateful to the UCE Endowment for the financial contribution to sponsor the event. Finally, thanks to all the UCE folks who attended and enjoyed the afternoon. It was a truly uplifting experience - the performances and activities were fun for all with free ice cream, popcorn, and cotton candy to boot!

Light the Chalice and Bring the Chancel Flowers for our Sunday Morning Worship Service

Would you, your family, or your group enjoy bringing flowers for the chancel and then lighting and extinguishing the chalice during a Sunday morning worship service?

You may now sign up online by clicking on this link, going to the Sunday that you would like to volunteer, and then selecting the Flowers/Chalice role. You may add a Comment indicating that you are bringing the flowers in honor of, in memory of, or in recognition of someone or something. You may also always email Rev. Susan at sfrances@ucevanston.org or Rev. Eileen at ewiviott@ucevanston.org.

This Week's Events & Links

Friday, June 14th

No events scheduled.

Saturday, June 15th:

Worship Planning Meeting, 9:30-11am, via Zoom.

Virtual Pilates, 9:30-10:30am, via Zoom

Calendar Planning Event, 11:30am-1pm, via Zoom

Beginner Tai Chi, 9:45-10:45am, Rm 3

Intermediate Tai Chi, 11am-12pm, Rm 3

Rogers Park Singers Concert, FREE! 1-2:30pm, Rm 3

Immigrant Solidarity Team Meeting, 4-5pm, via Zoom

Sunday, June 16th:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Chris Isely Cancer Support Group, 9am-10:30am, in-person Rm 6 and via Zoom Link.

Worship Service, 10:30am-11:30am, Sanctuary & on YouTube. Kinship 11:30am-12:30pm.

Download UCE Zoom Backgrounds

Sunday, June 16th (continued)

TransParentsy Group, 12:00-1pm, Rm 2

Sine Nomine Covenant Group, 12:15-2pm, Rm 3

Monday, June 17th:

Food with Spirit group, 5:30-6:30pm, via Zoom

Addictions and Recovery, 7-9pm, via Zoom

Tuesday, June 18th:

Caregiver Support Group, 7-8:30pm, via Zoom

First Women's Group, 7-8pm, via Zoom

Peg Heads 6:30pm-9:30pm, Rm 3

Wednesday, June 19th:

Yoga, 9:30-10:30am, via NEW ONLINE LINK

UCE OFFICE IS CLOSED, in observance of Juneteenth.

Thursday June 20th:

Meditation Group, 5:30-7pm, via Zoom

Board of Trustees Meet, 7-9pm, via Zoom

Check out the UCE Calendar for more events!

Congregational News

If you're viewing the newsletter in your email inbox, click on "View entire message" at the bottom of the email to read the full newsletter!

Room Request Form

PLEASE NOTE: Newsletter submissions should be sent to Newsletter@ucevanston.org by noon on Wednesday.

Congregational Connections

This Saturday, June 15th @Ingraham Park 12-4p

Click the image to enlarge.

From Alicia and Tom Hempfling:

Join us for an afternoon of song and friendship as the Rogers Park Singers serenade you with a collection of

our favorite choral pieces. Special guest Will Crutcher will also lead Planet Love in a few numbers.

Saturday, June 15th, 1:00 PM in Room 3.

This will be a free family-friendly concert.

The RPS is a program of the New Rhythm Arts Collaborative, a 501(c)(3)

charitable organization.

The Fair Trade Cart Will Be Closed

during the months of July and August, so only three more Sundays to stock up. An ordering error brought us too many boxes of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix, so we’re cutting the price. Try a sample this Sunday and take home a box or two for $5 each; that’s $2 off the regular price!

When we get back in September, we’ll need more help. We have two teams of two people working on alternate Sundays, and with one of us leaving, we need at least one more person, and preferably two or more, to keep going. It’s not a big time commitment for a big annual donation to struggling neighbors. Contact Marcy Hicks, or admin@ucevanston.org for more information about volunteering.

Shared Offering Program Nominations Due June 30, 2024

Each year the Social Justice Council selects 13 organizations to receive half of our collection from our Sunday worship service. The time is now to nominate a non-profit organization to be part of the 2024-25 Shared Offering Program. Contact Rev. Susan at sfrances@ucevanston.org if you have any questions.

Click Here to Submit Nomination.

Young Adult Gathering

June 30th at 12:30

Bagel Art in Evanston

Join UCE young adults and Rev. Eileen at Bagel Art in Evanston after the worship service Sunday, June 30th. We will talk about a plan for spiritual deepening for young adults within our faith community and how we can shape that together.

Please let Kiley Korey [kileyekorey at gmail dot com] know if you plan to attend or have any questions.

HARMS WOODS WORKDAY UPDATE

An intrepid group of eight UCE and Evanston Bahai members had a beautiful workday in Harms Woods last Sunday pulling an invasive plant called butterweed. Native to southern Illinois, it has shown up here in the last five years and can completely take over a riverbank, crowding out local species. And as always, we saw lots of nature, including beaver activity and cicadas!

Lifespan Faith Formation

Lighthouse Beach Day

BLUEY FUN!

We had a small turnout for our annual beach day, but those who were there had a nice, relaxing afternoon! The weather was perfect too!

Last Sunday we had 13 young people participate in our summer program. We watched the episode “Obstacle Course.”

And then went outside to do our own obstacle course!

Family Friday Nature Hike – August 16 at 6:30p

at Emily Oaks Nature Center

Save the date! More details to come…

Staying Engaged With Israel and Gaza

Now that the UCE resolution calling for an end to the violence has passed, how will we stay engaged?

As we strive to stay in covenantal conversation and engagement with each other and our interfaith partners about the violence in Israel and Gaza, you are invited to send Rev. Susan (sfrances@ucevanston.org) information for this section of the newsletter. Please send details or flyers about local events, opportunities for learning, or statements from the wider UU movement. We hope to continue to illuminate the many nuances of this situation and form coalitions across a variety of perspectives, while upholding the humanity of all.

Social Justice

Support UUPMI Faithify Campaign

The UU Prison Ministry of Illinois is wrapping up its Faithify campaign to raise funds for our inside members' commissary accounts. This allows members to buy food, toiletries, clothing, and other necessities that make life in prison more tolerable. The campaign ends next week and we don't get any money unless our goal is met. Please pledge if you can.

Donate HERE

The Negotiator: Billy Caldwell Documentary Private Screening, June 20th from 7-9pm, will be held at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, IL 60077.

As one of the treaty signers in 1829 and 1833, Billy Caldwell and others negotiated the sale of 5,000,000 acres of land in northwest Illinois, resulting in the removal of all Native American tribes in the state of Illinois. Billy Caldwell, son of a Mohawk woman, Rising Sun and British Army Captain, William Caldwell was a leader in early Chicago. Although he was not a blood relative of the Great Lakes tribes in the area in 1833, Caldwell worked to negotiate the safe passage of the United Nations of Chippawa, Ottawa and Potawatomi out of the state of Illinois and west to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Today, Caldwell’s Band of Prairie People now live in Mayetta, Kansas as the federally-recognized tribe of Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. This documentary explores these actions through research and interviews with local subject experts.

This private screening will be a fundraiser for Mitchell Museum of the American Indian and a portion of the ticket price will be tax deductible.

Buy Tickets Here

For more information, call the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian (847) 475-0911.

Volunteer with the Welcoming Congregation Renewal Working Group

A Unitarian Universalist Welcoming Congregation is a congregation that has intentionally spent time engaging in programming, worship services, and education to make their congregation a safe place for the LGBTQIA+ communities. UCE was certified as a Welcoming Congregation in 1997. The original Welcoming Congregation process focused on addressing homophobia in ourselves and our congregation. The UUA has updated this process with its Welcoming Congregation Renewal program to include addressing transphobia as well as homophobia. Members of our Rainbow Alliance have formed a working group to complete this Welcoming Congregation Renewal process.

This process involves the entire congregation and members with LGBTQIA+ identities and all allies are invited to join the Working Group. If you would like to be engaged with this process, please contact Rev. Susan at sfrances@ucevanston.org by July 7, 2024.

To learn more about Welcoming Congregations, please check out the UUA website - or our UCE Rainbow Alliance webpage.

Postcarding Continues!

We’re racing to finish our current cards and hit our JULY 1 mail deadline. Almost there!

Your UUtheVote core team (Shirley Adams, Greg Grabowski, Lee and Jane Bannor, Carol Mergl and Carolyn Laughlin) is evaluating states for our next wave, beginning in early July. Watch for our summer blast!

Want to join us as the election heats up? We’re fun, energetic, and we’d love to have you! Email or call Carolyn (carolynblaughlin at gmail.com or through the REALM Membership Directory).

NOTE: Stamp price increase is coming! Up to $.56 from current $.53 as of JULY 14. Stock up now!

Milwaukee Voter Registration Project is currently on hold. We’ll be back, and we appreciate the 50 UCE members and friends who are trained up and ready to go!

Join the UCE Team in the YWCA Race Against Hate

Some of us run, some walk, some roll! How ever you roll, please be a part of our Race Against Hate by joining the UCE REAL Team on June 16, 2024. If you can’t be with us in the Race, but want to join in spirit, support the team through your donation.

Be sure to apply your donation to the UCE REAL Team. DONATE HERE.

More information on the race can be found at: Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate. Questions? Contact Dana Deane.

SAVE THESE DATES!

Queer Market - July 11. get some shopping in and support queer makers!
Pride Community Picnic - July 27th. Ridgeville Park, 11am - 3pm.

We will update you with more information as the dates approach!

UCE Book Clubs

UCE Non-Fiction Book Group

The nonfiction book group will meet virtually on Zoom at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 30th using our recurring link to discuss Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under Color of Law by Richard Rothstein and Leah Rothstein.

Our group previously read Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. In their book Just Action, the authors offer programs that activists and their supporters can undertake in their communities to address historic inequities. They show how community groups can press firms that imposed segregation to take responsibility for reversing the harm.

Zoom discussion on Sunday, June 30th at 2pm, using our recurring ZOOM link.

UCE Fiction Book Group

The UCE Fiction Book Group is reading a classic this month:

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo.

We will meet virtually on Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, June 21st using our recurring link to discuss. Short-listed for the Booker Prize is Bulawayo’s tale of Zimbabwe under siege by its citizens. A satire told in the vein of Animal Farm: We follow a nation of animals as they try to define true liberation when their oppressive leader Old Horse is pulled down.

Friday, June 21, at 7-8pm, using our recurring ZOOM link.

Friday, July 19, at 7-8pm:

James, by Percival Everett.

The story of Huck’s slave companion Jim that was never told in Huckleberry Finn. Perhaps the story of slavery in America that Mark Twain would have told if his publishers had let him.