What does AWAKENING mean? Click HERE to find out.
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I’m not a morning person; I’m a night owl, not a morning lark. Left to my own devices, my preference is to stay up until midnight or later, and wake at eight. I’m usually out of bed by seven, though not ready to be out in the world until I’ve had a quantity of coffee. On Sundays my day starts earlier, and I usually set the alarm for five. But occasionally on a weekday I’ll wake at five or even earlier without the alarm, and I’ll enjoy what I think of as “bonus” time. I have a couple of extra hours to do something I haven’t otherwise found time for. I sometimes use that time for cleaning house or writing emails. And sometimes, remembering Rumi’s words, I’ll look for the dawn, and feel the breeze.
Being awake, being aware, and paying attention are practices of the spirit.
In an interview, the poet John O’Donohue noted that “one of the terrible dangers in spirituality and in trying to become aware is to privilege some particular method to take you there—because then… the method becomes the end, not the means. I think that being here is it, and that ten thousand times a day you can slow a little and throw one savoring glimpse at the miracle of being around.”
This is the mantra of my spiritual practice, which I have come to think of as the practice of mindful attention:
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What does it mean to wake up and stay awake to the realities of the world we live in? What does it mean to ask for—and create—what we really want?
In faith and hope,
Connie
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Sunday Service - In-person and Online |
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Sunday, April 3, 2022 @ 10:30am
“Stepping Stones”
This service for all ages will reflect on the effects of war and stepping stones to peace. The war on Ukraine has created millions of refugees. Through the words and art of several refugees we allow their humanity to speak louder than politics.
Led by Steve Cooper, Director of Religious Education, and Rev. Connie Grant
Sunday, April 10, 2022 @ 10:30am
“What were you expecting?”
Founded on anticipation or assumption, expectations can be enlivening or deadly.
Rev. Connie Grant speaking
Sunday, April 17, 2022 @ 10:30am
“Mortality and Resurrection”
The human condition is that we are aware of our own mortality. How do we respond to what UU minister Forrest Church called “the dual reality of being alive and having to die?” How can we understand the possibility of resurrection?
Rev. Connie Grant speaking
Sunday, April 24, 2022 @ 10:30am
T.B.D.
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Come Zoom with Your Board!
Join your Board of Trustees on Zoom the SECOND Sunday of every month at Noon for conversation and connection. We’d love to have you join us!
Every month on the SECOND Sunday at Noon.
Or dial +1 312 626 6799
Meeting ID: 910 2998 3070
Passcode: 272229
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Virtual Social Time
Each Sunday, 11:30-noon by Zoom
Bring your coffee and join us following the service for Social Time with Rev. Connie Grant. You’ll be assigned to an automatically-generated “breakout room” for a half-hour of conversation with a small group of people. A discussion question related to the service will be provided. The Zoom link is: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/bl99323877416.
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April 3, 2022 @ Noon In-person or via YouTube
Science Sunday has a special invitation to parents, grandparents, and all Youth RE leaders to explore brain development of young children.
Mike Winter, with the help of Kerry Freedman from the RE committee will talk about how brain development occurs in children before, and in the months and years after birth. Scientists have a lot of new insight into how children develop, and we will discover what they know. This is especially aimed for those with non-scientific backgrounds and expertise and should be very enlightening!
April 17, 2022 @ Noon In-person or via YouTube
Mike Winter and Scott Thompson will have a free-form discussion about the importance of science communication and relevance and usefulness of scientific knowledge. We all know that it's important to understand issues like climate change and deforestation. But why is it important to learn cosmology, or the theory of evolution by natural selection? Mike and Scott will also explore their personal motivation for learning and sharing science. Join us in person at Noon at the DUUC, or online via YouTube.
For people who decide to visit the church, social distancing guidelines will be respected.
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Adopting new Bylaws: June will be here soon!
The Governance Advisory Committee and the Board of Trustees will offer two more forums leading to the vote to adopt the proposed Bylaws at our June 5 Annual Business Meeting. In April, a general overview of Bylaws, Policy and Procedure with examples of what our new structure means to program teams and governing committees. In May, a focused review of changes to our Constitution that have resulted in the proposed Bylaws. Dates will be announced next week.
In the meantime, Governance and the Board continue to review and approve policy and procedures that have been assigned to and updated by various committees that do the fine work of this church community. We are so grateful for the hours of effort that have produced documents that align with current practices and efficiencies and also align with our new policy-based governance processes.
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Endowment Grants
Thanks to you, we can give back!
Because of the generosity of many of our members, the Endowment Committee was able to give to the Board of this church a sum of $8,000. The Board is accepting applications for grants for qualifying projects. The Deadline for applications is April 22. We will announce the projects that will receive the money after the May board meeting. The applications for the grants can be found on our website or by clicking here. If you have questions, please contact Linda Zetterberg at sblz210@gmail.com, Kelley Trombly-Freytag at kelleytf@gmail.com, or Diane Gelder at dianekaygelder@gmail.com.
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Special Offering During April
The April 2022 special offering recipient is the We Grow Dreams Greenhouse & Garden Center, a not-for-profit corporation in West Chicago, IL. We Grow Dreams has been providing job training and employment to young adults with disabilities for over fifteen years. We Grow Dreams was founded in 2004 when the founders purchased the greenhouse, formerly called WeGo Greenhouse. Since 2004 the greenhouse has provided countless hours of job training and development. The We Grow Dreams job-training program provides opportunities for Team Members to learn a variety of tasks in the day-to-day operation of a wholesale and retail greenhouse business. Over 45 specific jobs have been identified for the job-training program including deadheading plants, filling pots with soil for seeds/seedlings, transplanting, spacing plant materials, watering, stocking plants/supplies, greeting & assisting customers, running the cash register, folding cartons, clerical tasks and maintenance tasks. In addition to these jobs, the Craft Program produces greeting cards, hypertufa pots, personalized garden bricks, and bird feeders for sale to the public. Team Members develop valuable work, communication, and social skills that will facilitate their employment in the future. For more information visit https://wegrowdreams.org. To make a donation, please click here.
During February $1901.50 was given for the Tom Galloway Scholarship Fund at College of DuPage. Thank you for your generosity.
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Each year, the Special Offerings Team asks the congregation to nominate local, non-profit organizations to be a part of our special collection effort. We are now beginning the process for 2022-2023! Nominations open March 1st and close April 30th.
Please think about organizations that you know and love in our community and consider nominating one today.
We look forward to learning about the organizations you think deserve our support!
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In Celebration
The Board of the DuPage UU Church will be making a presentation at the Annual Meeting including celebrations of special events of our members throughout 2021-2022.
If a baby has been born this year, a landmark anniversary and a special birthday (75 plus) celebrated and you would like to acknowledge the event, contact Pat Lichtman boston7419@aol.com.
Please send photos too! We will also include memorials of our members of the DuPage UU Church. Deadline April 30th.
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Closed Captioning Now Available!
The Accessibility and Inclusion Ministry Team would like to thank the Media Services Team for making closed captioning available during live-streamed Sunday Services. Closed captioning is now accessible in real time, as well as on archived videos. Simply bring up the You Tube tool bar by clicking or tapping anywhere on the video, and click or tap on CC. A red line will appear under CC when closed captioning is on. Click or tap on CC again if you want to turn off the closed captioning.
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Show Love to Your
Community & Building
Participate in Our All-Church Cleanup!
Saturday, April 16, 2022
9 am - Noon
Window Cleaning, Dusting, and Other Tasks…
Rain and snow continue to dirty our windows, dust settles inside, and the resident spiders spin their mighty webs inside and outside.
RAIN or SHINE. Choose your favorite tasks like cleaning windows, dusting surfaces and corners, and many other cleaning tasks. Children are welcome to help in the company of a parent or caregiver. Church policy on masks and social distancing on that date will be followed.
Hands on deck for individuals handy with tools! Please help George complete a list of tasks. Contact George at 630-854-7172 for more information and to volunteer to assist him.
We can always use a few long-handled dusters, kitchen stools, and a few extra short ladders (less than 6 feet tall). We provide ample supplies of cleaning solutions and tools. If you have questions about something, just ask!
Please add your name to the volunteer signup sheet at church or contact Jo Linsley or Roy Gelder to let us know you'll be here at cleanup@dupageuuchurch.org
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From the Green Sanctuary Team |
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April is Earth Month
Use less, waste less, drive less. Reuse and repurpose more, and recycle what you can! Check out this website for reuse/recycling events around our county:
Earth Day celebrations are at the end of this month. Here’s a local one:
EARTH DAY FAIR
Sunday, April 24, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Fort Hill Activity Center, 20 Fort Hill Dr, Naperville
Visit with over 30 local businesses and organizations to learn about their sustainable initiatives and how you can join the cause.
Also check out other events in cooperation with the Naperville Park District
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Oral Care Product Recycling Event
According to some estimates, “the average American will throw away 300 toothbrushes in their lifetime!” Yes, we reuse our old toothbrushes to clean those hard-to-reach corners in the house, but then what? And what about those toothpaste tubes, floss containers, and floss picks? The plastic waste from toothbrushes, and other oral care products, cannot be processed through our curbside recycling programs. What can we do? Reduce-reuse-recycle. We can reduce by choosing zero-waste tooth care products, like bamboo toothbrushes, floss packaged in cardboard containers, and many other newly available products (see links below). And, now, we can recycle! The Green Sanctuary Team will be collecting plastic waste from oral care products on the Styrofoam collection day in July (TBD). Oral-B sponsors a “RECYCLE ON US” program for consumers to “send in used oral care products including toothbrushes, brush heads, toothpaste tubes, mouthwash containers, floss containers, floss string, and floss picks.”
Here are the guidelines for our collection:
1. for collection purposes, package the items from your household in a sealed plastic
bag
2. remove any leftover toothpaste or mouthwash from tubes and bottles
3. items do not need to be cleaned, but must be dry for UPS shipping
4. bring used oral care products from any brand, including:
- toothbrushes and toothbrush heads
- toothpaste tubes
- mouthwash containers
- floss containers, floss string, and floss picks
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electric toothbrushes are not accepted through this program!
5. drop off your items for recycling on the Styrofoam collection day in JULY (TBD).
zero-waste links:
~Peace and love from your Green Sanctuary Friends
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Greetings from your SMILE team!
Thanks again for your generous support for SMILE with the Special Collection during January 2022, and also for your generosity since 2018, our first attempt to fund this powerful program.
During April through June of this year, we invite you once again to donate what you can for the high school students who will participate as interns in local businesses during July, 2022. We are working toward a goal of 25 - 30 students, which will certainly be exciting to the community, since we had only 13 in 2021 and none at all in 2020.
With two exceptions ALL of our former business people have volunteered again to mentor our students, which exhibits their enthusiasm for the experience.
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Book Enthusiasts! Come join the DUUC Book Club!
When: April 8 from 7:00-9:00 pm
Where: In the DUUC Sanctuary and Online via Zoom
Zoom Link:
Please join us on the Second Friday of the month in the DUUC Sanctuary or via Zoom for the DUUC Book Club.
Consider purchasing from a Diverse Owned Bookstore, or support your local bookstore like Anderson's or Harvey's Tales, or the UUA inSpirit bookstore. You can also find this book at the Naperville Public Library, and other local libraries, it's available as a physical book, audiobook and e-book. There are multiple copies available. If you would like to participate but the cost of the book is difficult for you, or it's difficult to otherwise obtain, please reach out to Rev Connie.
Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is a genre-defying book of essays—some as short as a paragraph; some as long as five pages—that record the small joys that occurred in one year, from birthday to birthday, and that we often overlook in our busy lives. His is a meditation on delight that takes a clear-eyed view of the complexities, even the terrors, in his life, including living in America as a black man; the ecological and psychic violence of our consumer culture; the loss of those he loves. Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophical delights: the way Botan Rice Candy wrappers melt in your mouth, the volunteer crossing guard with a pronounced tremor whom he imagines as a kind of boat-woman escorting pedestrians across the River Styx, a friend’s unabashed use of air quotes, pickup basketball games, the silent nod of acknowledgment between black people. And more than any other subject, Gay celebrates the beauty of the natural world—his garden, the flowers in the sidewalk, the birds, the bees, the mushrooms, the trees.
This is not a book of how-to or inspiration, though it could be read that way. Fans of Roxane Gay, Maggie Nelson, and Kiese Laymon will revel in Gay’s voice, and his insights. The Book of Delights is about our connection to the world, to each other, and the rewards that come from a life closely observed. Gay’s pieces serve as a powerful and necessary reminder that we can, and should, stake out a space in our lives for delight.
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Creatures of African Myth and Folklore
Sun Apr 24, 3 PM (Zoom)
The vast African continent has long had an air of mystique that has both benefitted and harmed those who dwell there. The deep forests, tall mountains, and hidden rivers are said to be inhabited by all manner of magnificent and terrifying creatures. Impish vampire apes, chimeras, and river serpents lurk in the tales of African peoples. Join us as we investigate some of these strange faunae.
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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.
For more information, go to our website:
Please join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 879 0920 0423
Passcode: 401647
Or dial 1 312 626 6799 and use the appropriate Meeting ID and Passcode.
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Would you like to be notified by email when there is an upcoming Meal Train for a church member? Would you like to add your name to a list of volunteers that may be interested in sending or bringing meals or giving transportation in the future? Please click here to fill out a google form expressing your interest. Meal Trains will also be broadcasted on Facebook Joys and Concerns as before. Thanks for taking the time to help us make the Meal Train process more inclusive and effective!
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Sunday Flowers Needed
Celebrate a person or event by providing flowers for a Sunday service. Flowers are still needed for a few dates in May and throughout the summer. 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 a contactless pick-up during office hours. Remember, masks are required to enter the church. 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!
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Church open for groups
The church building is open for group gatherings. Church meetings will be multi-platform if meeting in-person, meaning that individuals can choose to join via Zoom or in person. Room capacity is based on room size and ability to safely distance. These rooms currently have multi-platform capability:
Sanctuary: 25
Learning Center: 28
Founders Room: 14
Whitney Young: 4
Group Expectations and Guidelines:
- Wear a facemask while in the building.
- For the safety of your group, other groups and church staff please enforce our safety measures within your groups.
- Please ask members of your group to refrain from attending if they show signs of illness (coughing, fever, sore throat).
- Arrive no sooner than five minutes early and leave no later than five minutes after scheduled ending time.
- Individual impromptu meetings can take place on benches in the front or backyard.
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Please consider making a donation to support
DuPage UU Church and all of its programs ~ thank you!
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In the Wider Unitarian Universalist World
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Multi-Platform General Assembly: Choose Your Platform
In-person Registration is required for all live GA events and programming taking place in Portland, Oregon. In-person registration includes access to virtual content available on the GA app, powered by Whova. In-person registration is the same process for delegates and non-delegates; delegates may register before or after determining their delegate status. General Assembly registration is required for all in-person participants, including in-person delegates. Register now!
Full Virtual Registration is required for access to virtual GA programming, including workshops, worship services, the Ware Lecture, featured speakers, Opening and Closing celebrations, exhibits, entertainment, and networking. Virtual GA programming will be streamed on the GA app, powered by Whova. Delegates will use the GA Delegate Platform for discussion and voting during General Sessions. Virtual registration is the same process for delegates and non-delegates; delegates may register before or after determining their delegate status. Register now!
Business-only Virtual Registration provides access to the GA Delegate Platform for discussion and voting during General Sessions. Payment is not required but a donation to offset production and platform costs is suggested. Business-only registrants will access to delegate chat rooms but will not have access to GA programming, the GA app, networking opportunities, or the exhibit hall. GA delegates are strongly encouraged to register as Full Virtual Registrants. Register now!
If you are interested in serving as a delegate from DUUC to GA, in-person or virtually, please email Katie Hay, Board Clerk, at Clerk@DupageUUChurch.org.
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RA 2022 Registration Now Open! |
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Registration is now open for virtual MidAmerica Regional Assembly (Saturday, April 30, 2022, 10AM – 2PM ET / 9AM – 1PM CT). There is a sliding fee scale between 25.00 to $50.00 and scholarships are available. Please register on our RA registration page!
Our keynote speaker, UU educator, consultant, and facilitator CB Beal, will present “The Glass is Refillable: Pandemic Exhaustion, Lifelong Faith Formation, and Preemptive Radical Inclusion.” The day will feature worship, keynote presentation and conversation, lunch break, business meeting, and time for social connection. This year we will be using the Whova platform, which improves security, accessibility, and ease of use. Upon registration, all participants will receive information on how to access Whova and learn how to get the most out of it.
If you are interested in serving as a delegate from DUUC to Regional Assembly, please email Katie Hay, Board Clerk, at Clerk@DupageUUChurch.org.
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DuPage UU Church
630-505-9408
Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 8am-4pm
office@dupageuuchurch.org
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See what's happening on our social sites: |
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