Sunday Service

October 19, 2025 at 10:30 am 

Evacuation Drill 10/19

UCE's annual evacuation drill will be on October 19th after the service. Please be prepared to spend some time outside!

 Volunteer to Bring Flowers for a Sunday Worship Service

The flowers on the chancel during our Sunday morning worship services are provided by you, the members of our community. Every few months, we invite folks to sign up to bring the chancel flowers and also light and extinguish the chalice during the worship service. It is time to sign up for the rest of October, November, and December.

To sign up, click on this link to SignUp.com, go to the Sunday you would like to volunteer, and select the Flowers/Chalice spot.

If you want to learn more about this worship service role before volunteering, please contact Rev. Susan at sfrances@ucevanston.org. 

Serendipity 2025 is Coming!



The countdown is on—only 19 days until the Serendipity Online Auction officially opens for bidding! Now’s the time to get involved and help make this cherished UCE tradition a success. Here’s how you can join in the fun right now:

💛 Buy a Raffle Ticket – Take a chance on winning something special while supporting our beloved community.

💛 Donate an Auction Item – Big or small, experiences and treasures of all kinds make our auction shine.

💛 Give a Financial Gift – Every contribution helps make Serendipity a meaningful and successful fundraiser.

💛 Sign Up to Volunteer – Many hands make light work! Join the team that keeps the Serendipity Fundraiser running smoothly and joyfully. This annual event isn’t just about raising funds—it’s about celebrating the generosity, creativity, and spirit of our UCE community. Let’s make this year’s Serendipity the best one yet!

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

This Sunday…

Childcare (0-3 years) is available in room 11 from 10:15a-12:15p. 

Due to the Evacuation Drill after worship, parents are asked to meet their child(ren) outside at the end of the drill. Please sign them out with their Faith Formation leaders before you leave near the Black Lives Matter sign along Ridge Ave. 

Chalice Children (Pre/K/1st) in room 9 – Our children will be exploring our theme of compassion and how Listening to others is one way to show it.

Heads, Hearts, and Hands (2nd-5th) in room 8 – Our young people will play a game until the Evacuation Drill.

Youth Group (6th-9th) in room 10 – Our youth will play a game until the Evacuation Drill.

Faith Formation Registration

Please register your young person, ages 1-18 here.

Family Feedback with Rev. Eileen

October 22, 8-9p on Zoom

Join Eileen and Kathy Underwood for a brief conversation to hear your input about faith formation, Sunday mornings, and other family activities at UCE.

We want to know how you are feeling about our congregation and

how we can make things more meaningful and accessible for you and your kids.

Join us on Zoom November 10 at 7p!

   We’ll share ideas on ways to build connections and community.

Two impressions for you of the SOLARbration this past Sunday from Board Member, Michael Drennan 

1. Folk music matters: As a longtime advocate of sustainability and environmental justice in Evanston, working for big companies and small houses of worship I find it easy to get "lost in the weeds" of multivariate data streams and conflicting technology assessments. To see the country walk away from united action on a general interest item like their kids' future makes it hard to want to raise my head. However something in Kristin Lem's tone, a freshness, an enthusiasm in her original composition titled "solartopia" based on Harvey Wasserman's book brought hope that we can live within our (planetary) means. The lyrics of Pete Seeger's 2010 composition titled "SolarTopia" suggested we would power our houses and cars "with the might that is made up in the stars." We knew we could go solar and recognized that we should leave fossil fuels in the ground, and now we have. 

Hats Off to Solarbration volunteers

Our hats are off to the many volunteers who made our SOLARbration on Sunday afternoon such a grand event!

Thank you to Shirley Adams and Michael Drennan for assisting the staff with planning and hosting the event! Thank you to Carlos Waldron, who arrived early to help set-up our outside space, and to Toni Rey and Robb Geiger for being greeters. Thank you to our bakers, Greg Grabowski who baked the gluten-free star cake, Cathy Deamant who created a unique and yummy solar panel cake, and Hòa Voscott who baked a beautiful sun themed fruit torte. Thank you to Karen Courtright and Barbara Butz who ordered the sheet cake with the solar panel image and Steve Courtright who picked it up and delivered it Sunday morning. Thank you to our kitchen crew, Steve Serikaku, Dale Griffin, and Tom Carlton. Thank you to Kristin Lems, composer of the original song "Solartopia” with a chorus that allowed us to sing along; to Elizabeth Kennedy, Lynn Kendall, Tory Bassani, Jane Kenamore, and Jo Lynn Cotton from the choir who committed to being there and then were joined by another dozen choristers; and to Julianna Liddell for accompanying the choristers on her ukulele. Thank you to Finn Liddell and Taylor Hobart for holding the ends of the ribbon during our green ribbon cutting to celebrate our solar panel installation. Over 80 people attended and it was a wonderful celebration of our congregation’s ongoing commitment to being carbon neutral by 2050!

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Friday, October 17th:

• Young Adult Group, 7-10pm, Rooms 3 and 12
• Fiction Book Group, 7-8:30pm, via Zoom

Saturday, October 18th:

• Virtual Pilates, 9:30am, via Zoom
• Worship Planning Team, 9-10:30am, Room 6 and Zoom
• Beginner Tai Chi, 9:45-10:45am, Room 3
• UCE Prison Ministry, 10:30-11:30am, via Zoom
• Intermediate Tai Chi, 11-12pm, Room 3
• Immigrant Solidarity Team, 4-5pm, via Zoom

Sunday, October 19th:

• Chris Isley Cancer Support Group, 9-10:15am, Room 6 & Zoom
• Worship Service, 10:30-11:30am, Sanctuary
• Kinship Time, 11:30-12:30, back of Sanctuary
• Young Adult Group Soulful Sunday, 12:15-1pm, Room 12
• TransParentsy Group, 12:30-2pm, Room 2
• UCE Pagan Collective Monthly Meeting, 12-1:00pm, Room 13
• Crafty Prep for Spiral Dance, 1-3pm, Room 5
• Harms Woods Seed Gathering, 1-4pm, Harms Woods

Monday, October 20th:

• UCE Addictions and Recovery, 6:45-7:45pm, via Zoom
• Durkin Covenant Group, 7-9pm, via Zoom

Tuesday, October 21st:

• UU Network Team, 11-12pm, via Zoom
• Peg Heads, 6:30-9:30pm, Room 3
• Caregiver Support Group, 7-8:30pm, via Zoom
• Deepening the Spiritual Journey, 7-8:30pm, Room 3
• First Women's Circle, 7-8pm, Online

Wednesday, October 22nd:

• Yoga Online, 9:30-10:30am, via Zoom
• Catalyst Team Meeting, 5:30-7pm, Room 3
• Hope Covenant Group Meeting, 7-9pm, Room 2

Thursday, October 23rd:

• Meditation Group, 5:30-6:30pm, via Zoom
• Beacons of Light Gathering, 6-6:30pm, corner of Dempster and Ridge
• Choir Rehearsal, 7-8:45pm, Sanctuary
• Anti-Oppression Task Force Meeting, 7-8:30pm, via Zoom

 Invitation to Attend UCE New Member Class

Are you a new or long-time visitor? Are you interested in committing to our UCE community as a member? Are you not sure, but would like some more information? Our Journey Toward Membership class covers UU history and values, what is means to be part of a covenantal faith tradition, and the rewards and responsibilities of being a member of UCE.

Join Rev. Susan and the Membership Team at one of our Journey Toward Membership classes. The class is 90-minutes and you only need to attend it once before joining. Next class dates are:

• Sunday, October 26, 2025, 9:00-10:20 am, Room 12, child care provided. Click here to register.
• Saturday, November 15, 2025, 1:00-2:30 pm, Room 12, no child care available. Click here to register. 

If you have any questions, please contact Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org.

The next meeting of the UCE Fiction Book Group

is Friday, October 17th using our Recurring Zoom link

The UCE Fiction Book Group is reading "Olga Dies Dreaming," the book chosen by One Book, One Chicago for September. Olga and her brother were left with their grandmother by their activist mother who returns into their life with her radical ideas, played out in gentrifying Brooklyn and post-Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico.

Future reads: November: Kiran Dusai, "The Inheritance of Loss"

December: Philip Roth, "American Pastoral"

Seed Gathering in Harms Woods on October 19

Please join the Evanston Interreligious Sustainability Circle on Sunday, October 19 from 1-4 pm to collect wildflower seeds to use in the North Branch of the Chicago River woodland restoration. Led by the long-time Harms Woods stewards, John and Jane Balaban, it's an easy, interesting and very important activity. Expect that we will walk about 2 miles total over uneven ground as we collect seeds from valuable wild plants. Kids 13 and over welcome with a parent or guardian. Dress for the weather, with sturdy footwear that might get muddy. Meet at the Glenview Woods parking lot on Harms Road, just south of Glenview Road, and please let Dale Griffin know if you plan to attend.

The Nonfiction book group will meet online at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 26th, using our recurring Zoom link.

Join us to discuss One Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. Award-winning novelist and journalist El Akkad writes of what it means to live in a West that betrays its fundamental values of freedom and justice for all by being complicit in the genocide of Palestinians.

For our November 23, 2025 meeting we will discuss The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoe Schlanger.

Our Shared Offering Program

Our Shared Offering Program is one of the ways that we live into our mission statement "for a world made whole." Each Sunday, the funds collected during our worship service either via text donations or in the collection bowls (and not otherwise designated for a pledge or something else) are shared equally between our operating budget and the current Shared Offering Recipient.

This Sunday's offering will be shared with Run On Climate Education Fund, whose mission is to strengthen the climate movement by empowering local changemakers with the skills and resources they need to move their community off of fossil fuels as quickly as possible.

Next Endowment Grant Deadline is Oct 31

Upcoming Endowment Grant Deadline

Up to 5% of the Endowment Fund is distributed annually in grants requested by the Congregation or Staff. Once that amount has been determined by the Endowment Trustees, grants may be made in specified proportion for:

– 35% in Congregational Support for special projects, care of the building and property, and education and training;

– 25 % (up to $3,000 per organization) to UCE Community Partners to deepen relationships with organizations that have long-term relationships with UCE volunteers and the Congregation; or

– 40% for Community Projects of nonprofit organizations that support the wider mission of Unitarian Universalism.

The next deadline for applying for an Endowment grant for Congregational Support or Community Projects is October 31. If your team would like to apply for a grant, please submit an application HERE by October 31.

Come be a Beacon of Light!

The gatherings at the corner of Dempster & Ridge every Thursday from 6-6:30pm.

Inspired by Beacons of Light, bring a colorful sign with a positive message visioning a future shaped by love and justice (sign inspiration here)or include The Beacon’s QR code to spread the light even further. You may join the Beacons of Light WhatsApp group by filling out their form.

Whether we’re three people or 100, we continue to provide a source of hope and solidarity for the participants, those driving by, and our neighbors. All are welcome!

UCE Young Adult Group

Third Friday Faith Formation & Game Nights

Our next gathering is Friday, October 17th



The Young Adult Group at UCE is a group for young adults (18-35) interested in exploring spiritual deepening in community. We meet on every 3rd Friday from 7-9pm in Room 3 to discuss monthly Soul Matters themes, check in with each other, eat snacks, and play games.

Contact Kiley Korey (kileyekorey at gmail dot com), Kevin Barrow (kbarrow13 at gmail dot com) or Kathy Underwood (kunderwood@ucevanston.org) with any questions.

Calling All Campers!

Our UCE Campout was a huge success last summer, so we're doing it again! Anyone interested in planning for 2026 is invited to meet October 26, 12:15-1p in room 6.

Family Friday Game Night – November 7, 6-8pm



Always a good time!

All ages are invited for a game night.

Bring a snack or beverage to

share and a favorite game.

We are Marching this Weekend!

UCE's Catalyst for Democracy team invites the congregation to join in the national day of protest and our demand for the protection of our rights! Folks are encouraged to wear their yellow Side with Love or the older Standing on the Side of Love t-shirts.

No Kings Rallies at

• Fountain Square, Evanston, IL. Rev. Eileen and UCE folks will meet at 10:30 am on the southwest corner of Fountain Square.
• Village Hall, Wilmette, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
• Butler Field in Grant Park, Chicago, IL. Noon. Rev. Susan and UCE folks will meet at 11:45am on Michigan Avenue in front of the lion on the south side of the stairs to the Art Institute and walk over to Butler Field together.

Interfaith Action of Evanston SNAPGap – October 2025

After a brief hiatus, SNAPGap is up and running again! Please assist with the collection of household items to bridge the gap for individuals and families. Throughout October we are collecting: Laundry Sheets (any brand with 60 sheets).  These items will be distributed on Wednesday, October 29, at the Vineyard Food Pantry. Your generosity is greatly appreciated by the more than 150 households who benefit.

Items can be purchased online. 

If you buy these items locally, you can drop them off at: The Hospitality Center for the Homeless, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1509 Ridge Ave., Evanston, IL, open Monday through Friday, 7 AM to 11 AM.

ONGOING UU CONNECTIONS

Unitarian Church of Evanston

1330 Ridge Ave. Evanston, IL 60201

847-864-1330