A Unitarian Universalist Congregation
The UCE building will be closed until further notice.
We will continue to offer ways to connect virtually.
A virtual service will be held at 11:15 am this Sunday
"Tradition, Transition, and Transformation" - led by Revs. Karen Gustafson and Eileen Wiviott. The end of May has traditionally marked for many of us, a shift in the course of the year. School out. Gardens in. Coats off. Lawn mowers on. Predictable changes, these. Traditions that are holding their places, albeit in ways vastly changed from last year to this. Transition, the psychological response to change, unsettles and creates new pathways. In ways we are both aware and unaware, for better and for worse transformation is happening to individuals, institutions, and whole cultures. What are the questions being asked of us by our Unitarian Universalist faith? What are the traditions that hold us? How is transition challenging our best selves? What transformations are we prepared for?

From now on, we encourage you to submit your joys and sorrows ahead of time to this online form . We will read aloud in the service, those that are submitted by 11 a.m. on Sunday. If you are unable to access the google form for some reason, you may send an email to Rev. Eileen Wiviott or Rev. Karen Mooney , however, it is easier for us to keep track through the google form. We continue to celebrate and mourn together through this important ritual and appreciate your understanding as we explore the various ways to hold what is on your hearts. 

This Sunday's shared offering recipient is The Brennan Center ( Click here to learn more ). Your offering can be given through Text-to-Give, online , or mailed to the office with "Shared Offering" in the memo line.
Other Virtual Gatherings this Sunday
Chris Isely Cancer Support Group at 9:30 am via Zoom
Email Renee Hoff at  rdhoff99@yahoo.com  for details.
Virtual Coffee Hour after the service
To join the virtual coffee hour by phone dial +13126266799,,770904305#

High School Youth Gathering at 7 pm via Zoom
Look for an email from the advisors with info on how to join. 
Important News and Upcoming Events
All Church Zoom gatherings continue on Wednesday at 5:30 pm.
Look out for the link in our Wednesday e-mails. If you need online Zoom support before the All Church gathering begins, join us at 5:20 pm.
From Rev. Karen Gustafson, Interim Minister
Interim Minister 2019-2020
Dear ones,  
 
In August of 2019, I was invited by the UCE Board to serve as Interim Minister, completing the second of an anticipated two year interim period between the departure of Bret Lortie and a new Settled Minister. In October, after many conversations and retreats and meetings of many kinds, the UCE Leadership presented to you, the Congregation, a compelling assessment of the desirability of an additional year of Interim.

This assessment included an invitation to all of you to engage in a process of looking at the systems and programs, expectations, hopes, vision and ultimately the Mission of UCE so that your Search process could provide a clear and compelling picture of who you are and who you want to be as a Unitarian Universalist congregation. In the months following this difficult decision, many of you responded with candor and diligence and generosity and love. The rededication to your Mission of “Nurturing the human spirit for a world made whole” at the Sunday service on February 23 was inspiring...
Virtual Flower Communion Request for Flowers
This year, our annual ritual of bringing flowers and sharing in their beauty will need to be virtual. Over the next several weeks, look for flowers around your home or neighborhood. Take some photos and send us your favorite one or two.


Or email your photos to the office at admin@ucevanston.org .
From the Ministerial Search Committee
Over this past year, the Ministerial Search Committee took a step back from the search process in order to present a candidate for settled minister to the congregation in the spring of 2021. By doing so, our goal was to allow space for the congregation to engage in the interim tasks, which are critical to preparing for a new settled ministry. In 2019–2020, we focused on supporting the interim work; someone from the Search Committee attended every activity planned by Rev. Karen G. We will be using the information obtained from these workshops and discussions to inform our discernment process during this coming church year...
John LaPlante Virtual Memorial Service
A Virtual Memorial Service for John LaPlante will be held on Saturday, June 20th at 2pm . The service will be YouTube Livestreamed as our Sunday services are, and we will have a Zoom reception following with a link provided during the service. Save this link for easy access to the service on June 20.
Your financial support is so appreciated!
Please help us ensure your contribution is credited appropriately by indicating on the memo line of your check if it is for 19/20 Pledge, 20/21 Pledge, Shared Offering or a Donation. 
If you are texting to give, s end a text message to  312-584-9160  with the amount you would like to contribute and  the code  for where you would like it to go (e.g., 50 OFFERING ). Valid codes are OFFERING (Shared Offering),   PLEDGE  (Pledge Payment),  CAP  (Capital Campaign), or MUSIC (music fund). If you do not include a code before your donation amount, the system will automatically select PLEDGE. To learn more,  click here . If you experience any issues, contact Adam at  agough@ucevanston.org .

During these times when we are working from home we are trying to make trips to the church and our accounting tasks manageable for our Staff Accountant, Vickie Doebele. We respectfully request when you make a shared offering donation please do not ask for 100% to go to the organization. This truly would be helpful. We appreciate your understanding. 
Hats Off to Mary Beth Napier!
Hats off to you Mary Beth Napier. Your can-do spirit radiates into the work that you have taken on within the Unitarian Church of Evanston. Work that involves offering mutual aide for immigrants living on the margins and work around caring for our democracy. Under your leadership the VoteLove team, including Donna Schiller and Shirley Adams, has flourished and has even built capacity toward tending our democracy. We cheer the creative spark that allowed the team to move through the limitations of COVID to deliver postcard writing as a concrete way to encourage people to get out and vote. Parking lots as an area of commitment and promise - YES. Thanks for all you do and all that we do not even know about.   
Grief and Loss Support
What can you do to ease the pain of the losses you feel? Shakespeare wrote: “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break.” The “over wrought heart” – the heart that feels too much pain to bear, breaks. So Shakespeare would recommend that we talk about our sorrow, talk about our loss. When we let ourselves really feel how much the loss hurts and talk about that loss and pain to other people, it can ease our hearts. You are welcome to join Ellen Rieger LCPC CADC and Rev. Karen Mooney for 4 sessions on Tuesdays @ 5:30 - 7 pm: 5/12, 5/26, 6/9, 6/23.


Meeting ID: 858 8718 3997
Password: 262644
One tap mobile  +13126266799,,85887183997# US (Chicago) 
What's Happening in Lifespan Religious Education
This Sunday in Religious Education
This Sunday in Religious Education
With the end of May coming up, we are finishing our monthly theme of  Thresholds  this week.  Our metaphor this week in VirtUUal RE is a door of imagination.  You can find the VirtUUal RE session on the homepage of UCE’s website, ucevanston.org . Your family can do this together at your own convenience any time during the week. You can read the session here  or  watch the video here .
 
For middle school youth , take a virtual tour of the Baha’i Temple in Wilmette  here in this “Summit” Sunday session . The building’s architect, Louis Bourgeois, was a French Canadian who joined the Bahá’í faith more than a decade before working on the temple. Bourgeois felt the design of the temple needed to reflect the Bahá’í belief of oneness for humanity, as well as the unity of all religions. In describing his design, he said, “There are combinations of mathematical lines, symbolizing those of the universe, and in their intricate merging of circle into circle, and circle within circle, we visualize the merging of all religions into one.” If architecture interests you, then read more here . 

High school youth can connect Sunday evening at 7 pm on Zoom. Look for an email from the advisors later in the week with info on how to join. 
 
Of course, we also have our virtual worship service on Sunday mornings at 11:15 am. I continue to post ideas on the UCE Children and Youth Facebook page, along with some interactive things to share, so look for that as well.  

We traditionally have a short break in RE between the church year and the start of the summer program. The Children and Youth Team is planning things now, so look for more info next week in the newsletter and on the website.    

In Faith,
Kathy
Upcoming Events
T he nonfiction book group will meet virtually using Zoom on Sunday, May 31 at 2 pm . Join us to discuss Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration by Emily Bazelon. The author points out in Charged that prosecutors can fix some of what’s broken about our criminal justice system because they, more than anyone else, decide who goes to prison and who goes free, and even who lives and who dies. Bazelon follows the story of two young people caught up in the criminal justice system and shows how some reform-minded prosecutors make a difference, providing a second chance to those accused.  Click here to join the meeting. Dial in at +13126266799,,89075451518#,,1#,027289# US (Chicago)
Family Fun and Resources for May's Theme, Thresholds
Click here for ways to connect as a family to our faith!
"Rooted, Inspired, Ready" General Assembly Goes Virtual!
General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). This year it will be 100% virtual! Attendees worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through the democratic process. Naomi Klein is this year’s WARE Lecturer. She is a climate activist, an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author of On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal.

See full details on GA here and a video here . Anyone may attend. Check out the UCE scholarships below!
Calling all Youth!
Have you ever wanted to experience General Assembly? Every June, UUs from all over gather to vote on issues that matter, learn new things at a variety of workshops, enjoy inspiring and rocking worship services, and hang out with other UU youth.
UU Summer Camp Opportunities for all ages
Midwest Unitarian Universalist Summer Assembly (MUUSA) has been cancelled this year due to COVID-19. Members looks forward to attending in 2021.

Chalice Sparx Family Camp & Retreat for Unitarian Universalist Families will be held virtually July 10 to July 13. "Camp" in your backyard in a room in your house. Activities include multigenerational worship, workshops for all ages, Minecraft for kids, covenant groups, a scavenger hunt, a dance party, and more fun. Learn more about the virtual camp here.
Social Justice & Volunteer Opportunities
Way to go Democracy Defenders!
What happens when a UCE member stands in the parking lot for a few hours last Sunday and Wednesday? She gives out to other UCE members  5220  postcards to get out the vote in Wisconsin!!! To all who stopped by to pick up 60 to 520 postcards, I am grateful and uplifted as we work together to live out our UU values. Look for more parking lot postcard times in the future. Way to go!! From Mary Beth "Postcard Parking Lot Person" Napier
YWCA Ricky Byrdsong Race Against Hate 2020 goes Viral
June 21 is Father's Day. Many of us would have gathered to walk or run the 21st annual Ricky Byrdsong Race Against Hate, and many would have sponsored those who did. Like so many of our shared gatherings, this one will have to be virtual. How can you help make this happen? The YWCA has posted some opportunities and you can check those out here. For the UCE REAL team, follow the link below for ways to help support the YWCA in honor of Ricky Byrdsong!
Looking for ways to take action from home?
Even though we are living through a pandemic, UCE social action work continues. Here are some ways to act in this time of COVID-19:

  • From the Color of Change #JusticeforFloyd: Demand the officers who killed George Floyd are charged with murder. Please sign on.
  • From Change.org - George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. George was handcuffed and restrained and being completely cooperative when this all went down. We are trying to reach the attention of Mayor Jacob Frey and DA Mike Freeman to beg to have the officers involved in this disgusting situation fired and for charges to be filed immediately. Please help us get justice for George and his family!
  • Interfaith Action Keep the Doors Open 2020: Online Soup Kitchen Social. Join this exciting fundraising events including a program, social hour, and a meal pickup. Tickets are $50 and, of course, it's online. Click here for our tickets.
  • IL Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR)  “In response to economic hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, ICIRR has joined a number of other non-profits, policy experts and business groups to partner in the #GiveTogetherNow Chicago fund. Led and administered by Family Independence Initiative, Chicago (FII), this fund will offer impacted hospitality workers, seniors, and those with underlying medical conditions, all regardless of immigration status, access to a one-time $500 cash transfer to offset financial burdens caused by the efforts to contain COVID-19. Click here to help support.
  • Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race against hate. Whether you race every year or have never stepped foot on our lakefront course, we need you this year more than ever. Be a Race Hero. Click here to donate.
  • From Love Resists: Data from the Prison Policy Initiative demonstrates that more than 55% of people in federal prison are there for drug- or immigration-related offenses, and only 8% of crimes were categorized as “violent.” Under no circumstances were any BOP prisoners intended to receive a death sentence, and yet deaths are beginning to mount with the rapid spread of COVID-19 in prisons. Please send a letter below to urge your U.S. Members of Congress to pressure the BOP to follow its own policies and adopt better ones. Click here to sign on.
  • Stay in Place! Stay Alive! Organize! The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is calling for people across the country to Stay in Place! Stay Alive! Organize! And Don’t Believe the Lies! Right now, states are beginning to reopen against the best recommendations of doctors, public health officials and other experts. State legislatures, governors, and the federal government are putting millions of people, especially the poor, at great risk by reopening too soon. Click here to take action.
  • Community Renewal Society (CRS): Individuals who could return to the community are still being incarcerated because they do not have housing. Because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 in prisons, it is critical that people be released as swiftly as possible. Take action to support HB 206, the Public Housing Access Bill, by contacting your legislators.  
Please contact these organizations to ensure you know current guidelines for dropping off any donations. Respectfully we do not have the expertise to make such recommendations and we realize that these are likely changing continually in response to new understandings around the novel coronavirus.   

If you know of ways fellow UUs can continue to participate in social action that are not included in this list, please reach out to Rev. Karen Mooney at  kmooney@ucevanston.org . Thank you all for continuing to live UCE's mission! Let us know how you are showing up in the world .
Interfaith Action of Evanston Needs Your Help!

Interfaith Action of Evanston has been considering ways to collect and distribute necessary household items that are not covered by federal benefits, such as soap, toilet paper and toothpaste. If you would like to help, please visit the Amazon Wish List  to see the items they are in need of most. They appreciate your help. 
Chalice House Seeking Volunteers
UCE has joined a coalition headed by Countryside Church Unitarian Universalist to convert a residence owned by that congregation, Chalice House, into transitional housing for immigrant families and individuals seeking asylum. The Immigration Solidarity Team greatly appreciates the Endowment Committee’s generous allocation or $1,800 to support this effort. 

Chalice House is seeking volunteers to rip up carpeting, paint, arrange window treatments, and make repairs. If you would like to contribute your skills, teams of up to 3 from a single household, working in intervals with three-day separations, will be scheduled through ChaliceHouse@CCUU.org . 

If you would like to donate to the household (mostly materials, such as detergent or sheets), you may sign up below.
Welcome to Our Community
Interested in knowing more about UCE? Scroll down for info on ongoing programs and useful information. Can't find your answers here? Click the button below to learn more on our website.
How to get in touch with UCE's Ministers
UCE ministers are available throughout the week by appointment. If you are in need of pastoral care or someone to talk to, please reach out to them by email.
We are here for you.
Rev. Eileen Wiviott - ewiviott@ucevanston.org
Rev. Karen Gustafson - kgustafson@ucevanston.org
Rev. Karen Mooney - kmooney@ucevanston.org
Pathways to Membership
Our next set of membership classes will be coming soon. If you would like to take part in a future class, p lease email Adam Gough at   agough@ucevanston.org. We're excited to welcome our new members that have recently joined! Click here for more information about membership classes .
Offer to Provide Technical Support
Physical separation is leading many of us to find new ways of forming and maintaining virtual connections through the internet. The UCE staff and Board of Trustees wants to make sure that no one is isolated because they lack access to technology or technical skills.

So if you would like assistance please reach out to: 

We will be happy to work with you to make sure that you get the most out of your membership experience using the latest tools.
Opportunities For Virtual Connection
Learn Spanish Group
Mondays at 7 pm
For more information, click here.

UCE Men's Group
1st & 3rd Mondays at 7 pm via conference call.
For more information, click here.

Caregiver Support Group
Tuesdays at 7 pm via Zoom.
E-mail Renee Hoff at  rdhoff99@yahoo.com  or Joyce Lofstrom at  joycelofstrom@gmail.com  for details.

Grief and Loss Support
Tuesdays @ 5:30 - 7 pm via Zoom: 5/12, 5/26, 6/9, 6/23.
See more information above.

Udumbara Zen Sangha
Tuesday Evenings and Saturday Mornings
For more information email udumbara@udumbarazen.org .

Wednesdays at 9:30 am   (Virtual 8x8 Meeting)
For more information, click here.

Buddhist Meditation 
E-mail Andrea DeMers at ademers99@gmail.com for the link.

UCE Addictions and Recovery
Form more information about the group, click here.

Virtual Art and Spirituality
Every other Saturday at 2:30 pm (next meeting is June 6)
For more information, click here.

Chris Isely Cancer Support Group
Sundays at 9:30 am via Zoom
E-mail Renee Hoff at  rdhoff99@yahoo.com  for details.

Staff are available to help with setting up virtual meetings and getting the word out to the congregation. For more information on how to set up a digital meeting, click the button below. Email Jessica Meis at admin@ucevanston.org to add your event to UCE's calendar and to submit an article about your virtual meeting to the newsletter.
Beware scam e-mails and texts from those posing as UCE ministers
Please do not respond to the e-mails or text scams that are going out with Rev. Eileen's name. The subject line may say MANY BLESSINGS or some other greeting and they ask for a favor or gift cards. If you respond to the message they will ask you to buy gift cards for someone in need. UCE ministers will never ask you for money in an e-mail or for you to send gift cards to anyone. Check the e-mail address and phone number it is coming from. If it is not Eileen's or another minister's, it is a scam. Most of you have gotten wise to these scams. They will keep coming nonetheless. Thank you to those who let us know they received this scam.

This is someone who is using Eileen's name with a generated email address and phone number. They haven't hacked her personal accounts. The e-mail addresses she will send from will be either  ewiviott@hotmail.com  or  ewiviott@ucevanston.org . If you are unsure about the number texting you, please call the office.
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees meets the third Thursday of every month.
The next virtual meeting is on June 18 at 7:00 pm.

Questions for the board? Email BOT@ucevanston.org.
UCE Facebook Groups
Did you know that, in addition to the  UCE Facebook Page , there are three UCE groups that members can join - the  UCE Member to Member Group , the  UCE Children and Youth Religious Education Group, and the  UCE Social Action Group ?  

These are closed groups that allow members to post directly to each other. If you have an event you want members to know about, or have a cause you hope to bring attention to, in addition to the newsletter and order of service, you can post to the Facebook Group. Click the links below or search for the groups by name when you are on Facebook and ask to join.
Quick Links