Circles of Transformation in Beloved Community

In practicing Beloved Community, we form circles of trust that are permeable and ever expanding. We strive to be inclusive and welcoming in all we do, and yet, we are human and often fall short. We close ranks and cut off, misunderstand one another, and unintentionally hurt those we care about. Conflict is an inevitable part of being in covenantal relationships in community. And with intention, communities like ours can transform conflict into growth, healing and wholeness. We explore the transforming power of covenantal community through the service topic selected by Jean Durkin, this year’s auction winner.

Rev. Eileen leads the service and Janelle Brittain is our Worship Associate, with music of the UCE Choir, directed by Music Director, Vickie Hellyer, and accompanied by Gregory Shifrin on piano.

Children & youth will go to their faith formation program after joys and sorrows.

We are less than 10% away from our pledge drive goal of $642,000,

with more than $581,000 in!

Thanks to all who submitted their pledges!

If you did not receive the email with your personalized pledge packet, and it did not land in your spam or junk box, please contact the pledge team by calling 847-864-1330, Ext. 111, or emailing pledgeinfo@ucevanston.org.

Don't forget, there will be two Budget Town Halls in March to answer your questions about the proposed 2024-2025 Operating Budget:



Tuesday, March 12 at 7:00 pm CT via ZOOM (click here for link)

Sunday, March 24 at 12:30 pm CT in the sanctuary after kinship time.

REALM TRAINING!

Join Adam Gough on Sunday, March 10, from 12:00-1:00 pm in Room 12 for a REALM training to increase your capacity to use this communication tool. Learn how to use the Membership Directory, put the Realm app on your phone, email your team, and more. Register here - or just show up.

Beloved Community Equity Impact Assessment - It's Ready!

We are thrilled to announce that the Beloved Community Equity Impact Assessment is now available for use by the entire congregation. This is a powerful tool that will help us become more inclusive and equitable as we plan our events at UCE. The UCE Anti-Oppression Task Force has worked hard to make this document user friendly and comprehensive. It includes questions to consider about how a proposal, program or activity could affect different groups of people, especially those who are marginalized or oppressed. By using this document in your planning, you will be contributing to the UCE vision of dismantling white supremacy and making justice a reality in our community.

The new Equity Impact Assessment will be emailed to all committees and groups so you can review it and share it with your fellow members. You can also access it online by visiting https://ucevanston.org/resources/ and clicking on “Equity Impact Assessment.” You can also access it here.

If you have any questions or feedback, please contact: Reverend Susan Frances, sfrances@ucevanston.org

We hope you will find this document useful and inspiring for your work. Thank you for your commitment to building the beloved community at UCE!

Here at UCE, leaders draw upon our mission and spiritual grounding, two guideposts all of us can call upon as part of our living tradition. In this five-part series, learn more about the components of the UCE Leadership Model and how to assess the skills you have and want to improve. Whether you are in a formally designated leadership role or someone who leads through your participation, the Leadership Model offers something for you. Reach out via Realm to any members of the UCE Leadership Development Team: Carolyn Laughlin (chair), Janelle Brittain, Jim Dibble, Joyce Lofstrom, and Kathy Monk.

3. Stimulate and Facilitate Progress: Driving Momentum

Leadership at UCE is about catalyzing progress and unleashing the collective potential of our community. We encourage curiosity, risk-taking, and collaboration to fuel innovation and drive change. For instance, some leaders initiate projects that address pressing social issues, such as environmental sustainability or racial justice, and invite members to participate in brainstorming sessions to generate creative solutions. By fostering a culture of continuous learning and open dialogue, leaders empower individuals to contribute their talents and ideas. Together, they harness collective energy to achieve shared goals with passion and purpose, inspiring others to take action.

View pages 8-10 of the UCE Leadership Model Resource Guide for resources on driving momentum.

Take the self-assessment to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of your leadership skills based on the Leadership Model. 

The REAL Team Annotated Booklist is now online! 

Volunteers from the Racial Equity Action and Leadership (REAL) Lending Library Team have created an annotated booklist, both fiction and non-fiction, for those of you who want to understand more about race in America. So many books about race a published everyday that it is not possible to have all the books printed on racism and oppression, but we have an array of wonderful books you might explore. The listing categorizes books by author, title, genre, date of publication, and numbers of pages. It also provides a short description to further help you choose what to read.

This resource is available to on the UCE website under Members and Friends, Members & Friends Resources and clicking on "REAL Team Annotated Book List."

Latest Endowment Fund Grants Approved by the Board of Trustees

Correction, from Jean Butzen, Endowment Trustee:

Three UCE teams sponsored a successful grant application to the Endowment Fund, resulting in a gift of $2,000 to underwrite an educational event sponsored by the Evanston Interfaith Clergy and Leaders (EICL) on the origins and history of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict in order to build greater understanding. The three sponsoring teams were: Immigrant Solidarity Team (IST), Racial Equity and Leadership Team (REAL), and Food and Shelter Team (FAST). We inadvertently only mentioned IST in the first edition of this news item and apologize for our error.

The UCE Endowment Fund and Board of Trustees reviewed and approved nine additional grants following the January 31, 2024, deadline, including three Community Partner grants. Community partners are nonprofit organizations that have had a relationship of three years or longer with a UCE and one of our social justice teams and work for the betterment of the wider community. Each Community Partner will receive an unrestricted grant of $1,296.

UCE Green Team nominated Faith in Action. Faith in Action operates with an overarching goal to help NorthShore communities of all faiths build their Green Teams and create healthy, just, and sustainable communities for all.

UCE Racial Equity Action and Leadership (REAL) Team nominated Evanston Family Focus. This grant will provide additional financial support for after-school and summer camp programming, which aims to make students proud of who they are and inspire them to be their best selves. The after-school program operates from 3-6 p.m. weekdays. The 8-week summer camp provides full-day programming, with some sessions conducted in partnership with other Evanston organizations.

UCE Immigrant Solidarity Team nominated Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). Their efforts to promote the rights and opportunities of all immigrants for full and equal participation in our diverse country's economic, civic, cultural, social, and political life. ICIRR now supports migrants and refugees from Ukraine and arrivals from the southern border.



Refer to last week’s newsletter (March 1) for more information on the Community Projects Grants.

Chicago Faces Not Forgotten Quilts Exhibit

On Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 1:00 pm, you are invited to attend the opening reception of the Chicago Faces Not Forgotten Quilt Exhibition. Snacks and refreshments will be offered in the lobby. Then attendees will move into the sanctuary for a vigil with parents and family members. We will ring a bell to honor each child when we call their name.



The Legislative Action Team is hosting the exhibit by the Faces Not Forgotten Nonprofit Organization (FNF) in an effort to shift perception of the causes of gun violence, ignite change within our community, and garner support for gun control legislation. The FNF program started to give comfort to the families of young gun violence victims, age 20 and under, with a hand painted professional portrait created by Faces Not Forgotten artists. Each child we lose has a story. Each child has a face that won’t be forgotten. To learn more about Faces Not Forgotten, contact Sarah Kaiser-Amaral, sarah at studio215 dot org.

The exhibit will remain in the lobby through April 26, 2024.

MARCH MEMBERSHIP CLASS SERIES

Our Journey of Belonging Series is a 3-part class for visitors and members. Get to know folks in our UCE community as we delve into our UU history, sources, and values. Attend one class or all three.

March 12th = A Journey Through UU History

March 26th = Spiritual Journeys and Inspirations



This series is great for all members and highly recommended for visitors and new members. To join Rev. Susan and the Membership Team from 7:00-8:00 pm via Zoom, REGISTER HERE.

1^st Annual PEEPS Art Show!

All ages are invited to transform Peeps marshmallow treats into a small diorama using miscellaneous objects to be displayed Easter Sunday, March 31. You can pick up some materials March 17 and 24 at the program table in the café area to take home to create your diorama or use items from your household. You can watch a tour of last year’s International Peeps Art Show at the Racine Art Museum (RAM) here to give you some inspiration! You can also take a quick road-trip and see this year’s exhibit at RAM March 21-April 13th.

Family Friday – March 15 at 6-7:30pm



Families are invited to gather for some Day-After-Pi-Day Potluck fun! Bring a dish to share that is shaped in a circle or a family favorite food. Those who wish to eat together will gather at 6p, and the program will begin around 6:30p. 

Calling All Adults! As we consider future faith formation programs, please take 3-5 minutes to complete this short survey to help guide us in our choices. Thanks for helping us!

Be Transformed! To celebrate our new monthly theme, all are invited to create a paper butterfly to add to our Soul Matters bulletin board. You’ll find folders with tissue paper, pipe cleaners, and markers to create and transform your butterfly. And to help save Monarch butterflies, there will be some milkweed plants available May 12 to plant in your garden!

Grant Applications for Community Partners Due March 31

Applications for the Endowment Fund Community Partners are due March 31, 2024. Submissions must be made by a team or group within UCE, so if you are engaged with an organization that has at least a three-year relationship with UCE, please talk with your social justice team about applying. If you have questions, please contact Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org. 

Abortion Access Team Update

The Abortion Action Team wants to remind you that Sunday, March 10th is National Abortion Providers Appreciation Day! To celebrate, here are two volunteer opportunities for you to help strengthen reproductive rights:

• The Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF) is holding their annual “Fund-a-Thon” during the month of March. CAF is looking for volunteers to help raise money through their Fund-a-Thon. Their goal is to raise $300,000 this month through peer-to-peer fundraising. The money raised will go to help provide abortion care for people from all over the country. For more information about how to volunteer or donate, please go to this link. If you’d like to donate to CAF, please go here.

• Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) has several volunteer opportunities they are marketing. If you are interested in learning more, go to here. You can also donate to PPIL, as well.

Thanks for your support!

As we move into an election year, the Abortion Access Team cannot stress enough the importance of the intersection between preserving our democracy and regaining widespread abortion access. It is vital that all of us do what we can to encourage folks in Illinois and other states to vote for candidates who support bodily autonomy.

Postcarding is back! Sunday, March 10th,

UCE launches our 2024 UU the Vote campaign to protect democracy and champion our UU values! This enthusiastic celebration during Kinship Time, complete with treats, will include introducing how to get involved in our two major 2024 election related projects:

 We are continuing our partnership with Reclaim Our Vote (program of Center for Common Ground) to send thousands of postcards to disenfranchised voters in southern states. We’ll encourage them to get to the polls and provide essential information to enable them to vote their values in this year's primary and general elections. Postcarding! Greg Grabowski is our postcard coordinator. Wisconsin Voter Registration! Shirley Adams is our WI voter registration coordinator.

Read on to learn more or stop by the UUtheVote Program Table after the service on March 10th!