Calling All Bidders!

Have you signed onto the Serendipity Auction website yet? It has over 250 different donations from over 180 different members, groups and businesses! Easy to use and fun to peruse, please take a look–you only have ONE day left to bid! Click here to go to the UCE auction website! You can register using your email that you use in the church directory. There is something for everyone, including children–and five different raffles, with tickets only $5 each! ALL BIDDING IS ONLINE. YOU MUST BRING YOUR SMARTPHONE OR TABLET TO BID at the Celebration Event TOMORROW from 5:00-8:00 pm. Bidding Buddies will be available to help. Order your dinner NOW. Check out the auction items, socialize and enjoy the entertainment. Childcare will be provided.

Later today, we will send members and registered bidders information about the livestream option, if you cannot attend the Celebration Party in person.

And don’t forget, you need to get your won items. Physical auction items and gift certificates can be picked up at the end of the Celebration Party at 8:00 pm or on Sunday, Nov. 13 after church. Any issues or questions, contact us at auction@ucevanston.org.

The Mitten Tree Starts This Sunday!

Happy Everything! Mitten Tree is BACK in full force! This winter holiday tradition of gift giving is a wonderful way to connect with organizations and neighbors outside the walls of UCE.

Beginning this weekend, you will have the opportunity to sign up HERE to fulfill gift requests. This year we are leaning into our SHARED MINISTRY all around. There will be opportunities for everyone to lend a hand and fill a mitten that speaks to them.

This longstanding tradition is an overwhelmingly beautiful snapshot of our community’s shared values and a privilege to help organize. Read on below about where your gifts will go this year, AND MAY WHAT YOU GIVE BRING YOU JOY!

The North Shore Choral Society will perform this Sunday at 4 pm at UCE. 

The program “To Sit and Dream” will be a concert of all Black composers. Assistant Conductor Tierra Whetstone-Christian curates and conducts the diverse music, including Gospel and non-idiomatic pieces. Composers include Rosephanye Powell, Adrian Dunn, Mark Miller, Florence Price, and more. Powerhouse soprano Felicia Patton, who has sung with North Shore several times before, adds her talents to the program. 

We will celebrate our annual Bread Communion on November 20th.

Please bring a loaf of bread (or two) - pre-sliced, please, and in a basket or bowl if you can - from your family tradition, heritage, or simply a bread you enjoy. If you are participating from home, please have a bit of bread or snack with you for the service. If you'd like to send in a photo of bread from your heritage, as a way of participating in the bread communion, send it to Rev. Eileen by November 15th

Hats Off to the UUtheVote Organizers

Our hats are off to our UUtheVote organizers, Shirley Adams, Carolyn Laughlin, Lee Bannor, and Greg Grabowski. They have been organizing, planning, and supporting our congregation since the UUtheVote Launch on April 10, 2022, and kept at it right through Election Day this past Tuesday.

While each one had a specific organizing role, all of them took turns to make sure that every week someone was available at the Program Table at the back of the sanctuary on Sunday morning and that the newsletter article each Friday provided up-to-date information about the opportunities to get involved in this election cycle. If you participated in some way with this year’s midterm elections, from encouraging loved ones to vote to being a poll watcher, and you haven’t emailed Shirley about it yet, fill out this form by November 16th and we’ll add you into to our total tally for our 40,000 Points of Love initiative.

Shirley Adams was our lead organizer, coordinating our efforts with the national UUA UUtheVote campaign and the regional UUANI UUtheVote campaign. Carolyn Laughlin was the lynchpin in our postcard writing efforts, making sure we never ran out of cards and even delivering them to people’s homes. Lee Bannor was our canvassing expert, from phone and text banking to knocking on doors. Greg Grabowski took the lead on educating folks about how to get involved with voter registration.

Thank you, Shirley, Carolyn, Lee, and Greg, for engaging so significantly with our democracy and encouraging all of us to get involved!

After the service on November 20 an audiologist and Jon Siegel will meet with congregants who use the new hearing loop system to answers any questions they may have. Please look at the front of the sanctuary after service if you are interested in getting more information about "the loop".

Bud Brock Celebration of Life

Saturday, November 19 at 10:30am, we will celebrate the life of our much loved Bud Brock. Two Margarets (Shaklee & Talmage) are organizing hospitality. If it would please you to take on a small role or bring a favorite food to honor Bud (or Zeal), log in here make your selection and click Sign-up! 

If you want to opt out of the technology, email Margaret Shaklee with your offer to help. Many thanks.

Discuss the Draft Revisions of the UU Principles & Sources

The Article II Study Commission of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has issued its first draft of what they hope is a reimagined Article II that will “lead us into the second quarter of the 21st Century, while honoring the historic roots of our liberal, progressive faith.” Article II of the UUA Bylaws is better known as the home of our Principles, Purposes, and Sources. Click here to read the draft of Article II.

There are two ways to engage with this re-visioning of our principles and sources and you are invited to participate in both:

1. Join a Zoom Feedback Session with the UUA to provide direct feedback on the entire Article II revision. There are 8 dates offered from November 5-14, 2022.

2. Join Rev. Susan and Betty Walker with the UCE Denominational Affairs Team to explore what these revisions mean. This is a 6-session class meeting once a month from November 2022 through April 2023 to explore these six topics provided by the Article II Study Commission: Co-Creating Unitarian Universalism, Shared UU Values, Inspirations, Mission and Purpose, Covenant, and Connecting. Join us for our first session on November 16, 2022, from 6:30-8:00 pm, via Zoom to delve into what it means to shake up our UU principles.

Please plan to join us for our annual Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil on Sunday, November 20^th at 5:30pm.

In person or livestream here

INTERFAITH ACTION OF EVANSTON & FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF EVANSTON'S CHANCEL CHOIR 

INVITE YOU TO JOIN TOGETHER WITH US IN SONGS OF THANKSGIVING! 

If you would like to join the Interfaith Choir for this event, e-mail Hannah at hmcconnell@firstpresevanston.org for choir music and recordings in advance, or just join us that evening!  Choir Rehearsal is at 5:30 pm at First Presbyterian. 

How Are We Living Our Values?

Supporting spiritual growth and well-being

The Committee on Shared Ministry (COSM) and the Senior Ministry greatly appreciate your feedback concerning our shared Value Statements and how we can deepen their impact in our lives within and beyond the congregation. 



In September we sought your input on our first value statement about Beloved Community and that conversation is ongoing. See the notice below about a discussion hosted by COSM and Rev. Eileen on November 29th.

This month, we are looking for your input on our second value statement:

We support the spiritual growth and well-being of our congregational community, cultivating gratitude, joy, curiosity, wonder, and an openness to personal and relational transformation as we strive to build a better world. 

Please take a few minutes to complete this questionnaire on-line. If you prefer to submit your responses on paper, we'll be passing out paper questionnaires this Sunday to be collected after the service. We're looking for your feedback by December 2nd.

Thanks for your participation!

What does it mean to Practice Beloved Community?

an open Zoom conversation

With Rev. Eileen and the Committee on Shared Ministry

November 29 at 7pm

As mentioned in the worship service on October 23, our first value statement needs some unpacking. 

Let's gather to discuss what it means to practice Beloved Community. 

What does it look like? Who does it include? How do we know when we've arrived? 

*That last one is a trick question, to see if you've been paying attention 😉

Blue Holiday Service - December 7th at 5:30 pm 

December is not a joyful time of year for everyone. For many, the holidays are difficult, made even more so by the heightened expectation that everyone BE HAPPY. If you are looking for a space of comfort during the holiday season, please join our ‘blue’ holiday service. Together we will help hold, with tenderness, the sorrows that remain with us.  

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, UU Church of Evanston, and Countryside UU are already participating.

For the flyer, signup sheet and more information,

Contact Mark Johansen - markeric-j@hotmail.com

UCE builds Beloved Community and offers care to one another in several ways.

The Congregational Care and Support Team, or CCST, is the umbrella for the following teams:

· Caring Team - Meals: Members who bring meals to your home in difficult times 

· Pastoral Care Team: Works with the Ministers to provide spiritual and emotional support for the congregation

· Memorial Reception Team: Coordinates receptions following member memorial services

· Caring Team - Rides: Coordinates rides for members to church and for medical appointments 

The CCST is led by an Intake Coordinator, currently Ellie Feddersen. She forwards requests for care to the appropriate sub-team.

You can access support or offer support through the google form on the website: https://ucevanston.org/care-support-committee

You may also contact Ellie Feddersen at: elliefeddersen@gmail.com

We are a caring community. If you or a fellow member needs support with meals, rides or emotional/spiritual issues, please don’t hesitate to contact Ellie by filling in the form (preferrable) or emailing her.

To volunteer on one of the CCST teams, click here to Offer Care.

UCE Fiction Book Group: Martyrs' Crossing, by Amy Wilentz

Amy Wilentz has a deep, firsthand understanding of the impossible snarl of politics and daily life that is Israel and the West Bank. 

Into that landscape she places a young Israeli soldier who must deny a young Palestinian mother and her sick son passage through a Jerusalem checkpoint toward crisis medical attention. 

The story spins out the ensuing tapestry of relationships, as each tries to assess loyalty, friendship, and personal sacrifice, reflecting the tragedy that is Palestine and Israel.

Meeting November 18, at 7pm by ZOOM

UCE Non-Fiction Book Group: Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World by Jane Hirshfield

Join us on Sunday November, 20th as we explore this dazzling collection of ten essays by the master poet and essayist Jane Hirshfield on how the best poems work.

“Poetry,” Jane Hirshfield has said, “is language that foments revolutions of being.” In ten eloquent and highly original explorations, she unfolds some of the ways this is done–by the inclusion of hiddenness, paradox, and surprise; by a perennial awareness of the place of uncertainty in our lives; by language’s own acts of discovery; by the powers of image, statement, music, and feeling to enlarge in every direction.



Join the Zoom here!

Ornament Sunday Returns on December 11!

Join us after worship for this fun tradition at UCE! We need people to staff a table of a simple ornament craft. Sign up here to help with the fun!

Christmas Pageant – December 18

Another annual tradition you can participate in! Choose to be an angel, a star, a shepherd, or an animal. We have a few speaking parts too. Sign up here to claim your spot!

Photo by Rick Oldland on Unsplash

Giving House Continues... November is FISH month

We are accepting donations of CANNED  FISH  (not just Tuna, but sardines, salmon, clams, crab etc.) in the giving house for the month of October.

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 Beverly 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. November is FISH month (Canned tuna, salmon, sardines etc.) 

 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. 

Save the Date: January 21st 

(Specific time TBD)

for an All-Congregation Workshop

sponsored by the Anti-Oppression Task Force,

the Board of Trustees, and

our Consultants with the YWCA Equity Institute

Come hear the results of the Anti-Oppression survey so many of you took part in this August. We will be exploring together where we’ve been, where we are now, and where we’re going on the journey of building Beloved Community. 

We'd like to make this as accessible to as many in our congregation as possible, so please let us know what times would work best for you here.