Dear DUUC Members and Friends,
One of the many lessons that I learned during the pandemic shut down, maybe you did too, was to pivot. This is a skill I have some experience with. One cannot work in a congregation and not have this skill. After all, most Sunday mornings are a lesson in flexibility and last-minute fixes, despite how smoothly everything looks to people attending worship.
My pivoting skills, however, were put to a whole new test during the pandemic. At that time, I used the image of a ballerina to talk about this ability to turn and twist, hopefully gracefully. Funny enough, I did not have to go far to envision this, after all Dawn French, the British comedian and actor, has a marvelously hilarious clip from her show “The Vicar of Dibley” which shows her parodying a real, experienced ballerina from the British Ballet for a fundraiser for the church. (If you have never watched “The Vicar of Dibley”, I highly recommend it. It's set in a rural country parish in England with its first ever woman vicar.)
Anyway, a ballerina can only pivot so gracefully with a lot of practice. I will never physically be as graceful as a ballet dancer - I am literally one of the most clumsy people you will ever meet. But I do have a lot of practice pivoting in congregational life. A skill that came in particularly handy this summer as some of the ideas that I had planned for the coming year have changed. In a manner of just a few days, with new conversations and information, many of my best laid plans for programming and sermon topics flew out the window to be replaced by some unknowns and many new ideas.
This feels to me like a bit of a theme this year as we begin new programming, a new Sunday morning schedule, welcome new staff, explore a capital campaign, consider the ask I mentioned in my July email, from the UU Service Committee, and more. Pivoting, flexibility, and grace: lifelong skills.
While the isolating part of the pandemic may be over, the skills of pivoting are far from gone. In fact, I suspect we may be pivoting in the years to come as we fully embrace the effects of the pandemic, as we learn new ways of being in the world - especially with our generational differences, as we continue to be confronted with conservative ideology that assaults our liberal values.
For many of us, we long to “get back to normal”; a state that I am not sure ever existed, at least for many of us. Whatever this “normal” was, it is not likely to return anytime soon. So what can we do in the face of uncertainty, as we learn this skill of pivoting?
If we are to learn graceful pivoting, we need practice and maybe we need to give ourselves grace in another way too…through laughter. For what better way to address our clumsy accidents and bumpy pirouettes as we twist and turn than to be able to laugh at ourselves. The gifts of joy and mirth provide us grace to get through our clumsy pivots, our learning to be flexible, and our reluctance to try new things. May we, like Dawn French, need to learn to gracefully laugh at ourselves.
|
|
In grace-filled love,
rev. mandi
|
|
Off to a Good Start
I would like to express sincere gratitude for the warm welcome this congregation has extended to me over the past several weeks. It has been a pleasure listening to your stories and learning all about what you are most enthusiastic about in the future of your church. It is becoming clear that our work together is going to be meaningful this year! I am still available for 1:1 meetings and hope to talk with more of you over the weeks to come. If you are able to set up a time, please add yourself to my schedule here. You may also reach me at tlewis@dupageuuchurch.org or at 630-505-9418. I look forward to hearing from you soon!
|
|
|
Sunday Services
In-person and Online
|
|
August 6, 2023 @ 10:30am
Disability Pride
Join DUUC’s Director of Religious Education Steve Cooper and members of DUUC’s Accessibility and Inclusion Ministry Team as we celebrate an extra week of Disability Pride Month. Through the words of disabled writers, artists, and activists, we will explore the history, meaning, and importance of Disability Pride. This service will reference the mistreatment of and injustices done to people with disabilities in the past and present.
|
|
August 13, 2023 @ 10:30am
The Only Constant
Kat Gelder, DuPage UU Church member
The past three years have been full of change, both pleasant and unpleasant, for our church, our nation, and our world. As we embark on a church year that includes more changes, let us take a moment to reflect on the meaning and purpose of change in our lives—and how we might actually become more flexible by focusing on things that remain the same!
|
|
August 20, 2023 @ 10:00am
Belonging Together: Ingathering Sunday & Water Communion
rev. mandi huizenga
With school beginning, we too come together as a faith community to begin our new year of programming. Please bring some clean water from a place that has meaning for you for our water communion and all our students - of any age! - are welcome to bring their backpacks for a new school year blessing!
Join us following the worship service for an all church picnic. See the newsletter or weekly email for details from Tina Lewis, Director of Membership and Engagement.
|
|
August 27, 2023 @ 9 AM and 11:30 AM - Worship Services,
10:15 AM - All-Ages Religious Education
Belonging in the Resistance
rev. mandi huizenga
For decades, a conservative agenda has been pushing forward values that directly target the inherent worth and dignity of all people and threaten the flourishing of all peoples and our planet. How can we resist this authoritarian and Fascist ideology as a faith community rooted in love?
10:15 AM Adult Learning Offering
Launching the first of our Sunday morning Adult Learning opportunities, join rev. mandi in listening to an excerpt of the 2023 UUMA (UU Ministers Association) Berry Street Essay by Rev. Dr. Cecilia Kingman entitled, “My Little Pony Was Right: Reflections of Fascisms Without and Within”, followed by a brief conversation and more information on an ask of resistance from the UU Service Committee.
|
|
Chalice Circle Sign Ups for 2023-24
Your staff is delighted to offer the small group ministry opportunity of Chalice Circles for the coming program year (September-May)! These are once per month discussion gatherings with a small group of no more than eight other participants. The discussion centers around our monthly Worship and programming themes. A small amount of reading or listening preparation is expected.
Chalice Circles are a great opportunity to meet other members and to share meaningful conversations to help everyone grow and deepen as Unitarian Universalists.
Our current sign ups reflect what we have volunteers for. We would love to be able to offer a group on Zoom, an affinity-based group for young adults, and one for parents of young children. If this is something you would be willing to facilitate, please reach out to rev. mandi (revmandi@dupageuuchurch.org) for more information.
Additionally, if none of the days or times work for you, please also reach out. It may be that we find enough people who are looking for other times to offer an additional group.
We look forward to an exciting new year
rev. mandi huizenga, Minister
Steve Cooper, Director of Religious Education
Tina Lewis, Director of Membership & Engagement
|
|
Your Community Needs YOU!
Our new program year is right around the corner and with the start of two services comes the need for many more Sunday morning volunteers. Volunteering builds community, provides meaningful and fun experiences, and feels really darn good! So don't hesitate to sign up. You will be very happy you did. In-person sign up will be available following the service on Sunday. Additional contact information is included below.
|
|
Celebration Potluck, Sunday, August 20 (one service only)
Ingathering Sunday will be a joyful celebration as we return from summer adventures and kick-off the new program year. Following Ingathering and Water Communion, we will enjoy fellowship and food in Kreves Hall and on the patio. Many helping hands of all ages are needed. If you enjoy making sidewalk art with chalk, decorating, setting up and breaking down Kreves Hall and the patio, managing food and beverages, and/or enthusiastically welcoming people as they arrive please sign up to help. DUUC will provide beverages. Everyone else is invited to bring food to share. Those with the last name beginning with A-L are asked to bring side dishes, M-S main dishes, and T-Z desserts. If you are unable to provide a dish to share, that’s okay too. There will no doubt be plenty for all! Sign-up here, stop by the sign-up table after service on Sunday August 6, or contact Tina Lewis at tlewis@dupageuuchurch.org.
|
|
Serve on the Sunday Service Usher Team. In addition to welcoming participants into the sanctuary, this essential team completes a variety of service set-up tasks and manages the offertory. To learn more contact Chris Walton cwalton3655@hotmail.com.
|
|
|
|
COFFEE IS BACK!
Or will be on September 10th!
The DUUC Coffee Crew is pleased to bring back our much-missed coffee hour between the services.
But we can’t do it without your help!
We ask every member and friend to sign up over the course of the year – we need 4 people/week to make this happen. Can’t do it without you! And don’t worry if you’re a coffee novice – there will always be a coffee pro on hand.
We’ll have sign-ups at church during the month of August, but just in case you miss them, please sign up to help here.
|
|
Pathway to Membership
The new Pathway to Membership classes are being developed. Participants will learn about each other’s religious/spiritual histories and about the congregation history in a small group setting. We will also talk about what being part of DUUC is all about today, and explore ways to be part of each other's futures moving forward. Stay tuned for dates and details! If you would like to be added to the waitlist now contact Tina Lewis at tlewis@dupageuuchurch.org or 630-505-9418
|
|
Calling all DUUC members and friends who are US military veterans
We would like to have a complete list of all our members and friends who have served in the US Military prior to Veterans Day. To achieve this, we are creating a Masterlist of all Members and Friends of DUUC who have served in the US Military Active and/or Reserve.
If you are a Veteran or know of one of us who is a Veteran, please email the name to
|
|
During August the special offering will benefit Working Bikes nominated by David
Gorman. Working Bikes collects 11,000 used bikes annually for reuse locally and
internationally. Volunteers and employees repair 2,000 of these bikes for donation in the
Chicagoland region through charitable partners for homeless individuals, immigrants,
veterans, and children of low-income families. Working Bikes is an incredibly efficient
and effective grass-roots organization that makes great use of hundreds of volunteers
and the free resource of used bikes to empower people with free/affordable
transportation throughout the Chicagoland region, including DuPage County. For more
During the month of June $1738.79 was collected for Youth Outlook. Thank you for your
continuing generosity and support.
|
|
PARDON OUR POLLEN (er....DUST)!
Background and Update (Part One of four)
Last fall the Board assigned a Grounds and Landscape Task Force (a sub-team of the Facilities Advisory Committee) to characterize the condition of two acres of grass, tall grass, flowers, shrubs, bushes and trees on our property. The Task Force delivered a report to the Board in December 2022. As a follow up, a Congregational Survey was then sent to members in February to solicit comments about specific concerns as well as suggestions on how best to maintain the wonderful property we have.
Our property is a huge area of land that – despite best intentions for natural plantings after the new Sanctuary was built – did not have a vision for an ongoing plan. We were advised in survey responses that whatever “look” we go for, it should appear as if there is a plan and someone is paying attention to the aesthetics so that the property does not seem uncared for or abandoned. The Facilities Committee has come to more clearly understand that the general desire of the congregation to have some of our property populated with native, natural plants does not mean “no thought/no maintenance”; we are a church community, not a forest preserve - and even the forest preserves have plans for maintenance, aesthetics and use.
The Facilities Committee has “heard” you through the many survey responses and believes it has made significant progress to improve the visual and natural appearance of the property. We are trying to respect the interests of all members by striking a balance between a tidy, organized appearance and a natural “unorganized” environment.
To make improvements, we had wonderful support on our Volunteer Day in May. Thank you!! We still need, however, ongoing support because those darn weeds keep growing. We have directed our landscape and prairie contractors to work on sections of our property, but we do not have unlimited funds. We could use a few more volunteers, and will assess the level of professional work necessary.
We hope you have noticed all the changes. If you have not, we will highlight some of them in upcoming newsletters.
This is going to be a multi-year effort so, in the meantime, Pardon our Pollen (er…Dust).
Stay tuned in coming weeks for Parts Two, Three, and Four.
|
|
August! - the DUUC Haiku Walk project
Again in August, we celebrate our unique property at DuPage UU Church. Three more haikuists’ poems are posted along the DUUC garden paths. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to experience nature and poetry in a whole new way!
Look for them!
|
|
hiking through bright dandelions
up the path of life
reflecting on inner peace
Tiffany Brownlie
breezy calming stroll
thoughts flow no agenda
labyrinth center
Kay Richards
misty memory garden
too early for blooms
today you are missed
Jill Spealman
|
|
DUUC Library Monthly Book Recommendations – August
Throughout the year, the DUUC Library will have monthly book recommendations based upon a monthly holiday, historical significance, etc. Information about these featured DUUC Library books will be available on a book list flyer in the Library Alcove area in Kreves Hall. For August 2023, books on church leadership will be featured.
|
|
|
|
Join us in the great outdoors! This month, DUUC’s AIM Team is putting a spotlight on accessible trails and outdoor recreation in the area. Trails accessible to wheelchairs and walkers are loosely defined as having a wide, hard surface, and having little to no gradient. Wheelchair accessible trails are often made of asphalt or concrete, but some crushed stone trails are also labeled wheelchair friendly, so be sure to look up the trail description before you go. For a comprehensive listing, description, and maps of wheelchair accessible trails throughout Illinois, check out TrailLink. On the website AllTrails, you can also search for wheelchair friendly trails in your area. The Morton Arboretum in Lisle lists and describes wheelchair, walker, and stroller friendly paths in their Roll Out Into Nature blog.
Silver Lake at Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville has a kayak and canoe launch which meets ADA requirements for recreational boating facilities. According to the DuPage Forest Preserve website, the boat launch allows individuals of all ages and abilities to launch a kayak without assistance, and includes a boat slip surrounded on three sides and a transfer platform with handrails.
If birding is your thing, check out the Birdability Map. According to the National Audubon website, the Birdability Map is a crowdsourced map that describes in detail the accessibility features of birding locations all over the world. Happy trails to all!
The DUUC Accessibility and Inclusion Ministry Team strives to increase awareness of issues surrounding disability and disability rights and to help make all church programs and spaces as accessible and inclusive as possible. If you have questions about AIM at DUUC, have accessibility or inclusion questions, suggestions, or concerns at church, and/or would like to join the DUUC AIM Team, please email us at aim@dupageuuchurch.org.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Newsletter Deadline
The deadline for the
September newsletter is
Monday, Aug. 28
@ 9am.
|
|
|
|
Find out what's happening at DuPage UU Church! |
|
|
|
Mindfulness Meditation
Mondays 7:00pm - 8:45pm
This mindfulness meditation group is open to anyone who has interest in meditation from beginners to more advanced. Our time together consists of sitting meditation, walking meditation (when we meet in person), a short teaching and responsive group sharing.
We are meeting Hybrid in the DUUC Learning Center and on Zoom.
Meeting ID: 885 7102 1238
Passcode: 512058
|
|
Sunday Flowers Needed
Celebrate a person or event by providing flowers for a Sunday service. Flowers are still needed throughout the 2023-24 church year. You may request to have Sunday Flowers order a $35 standard arrangement for you from Phillip’s Flowers. Or, if you are planning to attend the service in person, you may choose to bring in your own arrangement from your garden or favorite flower shop. The arrangement should be brought to the sanctuary by 10:20 a.m. Your dedication will be printed in the email with the link to the on-line version of the Order of Service as well as in the printed Order of Service. The flowers are yours to take home after the service. If you are not attending service, you may pick up your flowers either on Sunday 11:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m., or contact Sheri, office@dupageuuchurch.org or (630) 505-9408, to make arrangements for pick-up during office hours. Payment may be made by sending a check made out to DUUC for $35 to the church office (write “flowers” on the memo line), through the DUUC Payment Portal (select “other” under donation, and write in “flowers”), or VANCO (select “flowers fund”). Contact Kristen Tang at flowers@dupageuuchurch.org or (630) 305-7771 for more information and/or to request a date. Thank you!
|
|
Room reservation requests
can be made by filling out this form.
|
|
|
Please consider making a donation to support
DuPage UU Church and all of its programs.
Thank you!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
