Nurturing the Human Spirit for a World Made Whole |
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In-Person and Virtual Worship Service
this Sunday, October 17 at 10:15 am
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The Power of Covenant
What holds our inclusive community together in the midst of diversity perspectives and theology? Covenant. As with any tool, it requires intentional practice to use it well. We explore the power of our covenant of engagement. Rev. Eileen Wiviott is our worship leader. Joe Romeo is our Worship Associate.
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Please join us for one of these
Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression activities during
this Sunday’s Faith Formation Hour (11:30-12:15):
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- Forum Discussion Group – Rm 6
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Small Groups discussing Widening the Circle of Concern (Chapter 1) – Sanctuary and Rm 12
- Middle/High School Youth Group (7th-12th grades) – ARAO Conversation – outside or Rm 13
- Head, Heart and Hands (1st-6th grades) – outside or Rm 3
- Nursery and Pre/K (ages 0-K) – Rm 11 or Rm 9
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This Sunday's Small Group Discussions |
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Adult congregants are encouraged to participate in small group discussions of the Report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change, Widening the Circle of Concern. This report is a guiding document for UCE’s Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression work. For our discussion in October, it is strongly recommended that you read the chapter on Theology before October 17th so that you are prepared for the conversation. These conversations will be taking place in-person as well as on Zoom.
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Important Info for this Sunday's Service |
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Please plan to arrive for worship at UCE no earlier than 9:45 am so Ministers & Staff can adequately prepare for the worship service in the Sanctuary. |
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From Rev. Susan Frances, Assistant Minister for Congregational Life |
Dear Friends,
It is cliché to say that change is the only constant in life, and yet it feels more true right now than it has for over a decade in my life. While most of us have experienced numerous changes over our lifetimes, this past year has been full of constant changes to the pattern of our daily lives. From the disinfecting of groceries to the lockdown to wearing masks to getting vaccinated, it has been non-stop change that has affected our every day. In addition to those changes to our daily patterns, some of us have had larger life changes. Some of us are now permanently working from home or lost our jobs and have new jobs or moved or experienced long-term changes to our health or became parents or lost a loved one. In the wake of so much change, what grounds us? What buoys us up to ride the waves of change?
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Please send in photos for All Souls Worship Service |
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Please send in a photo of a recently deceased loved one or ancestor you want to honor in the October 31st All Souls worship service. Send those to Rev. Eileen at ewiviott@ucevanston.org by October 27th. If you plan to be inperson for the All Souls service, you may bring a photo with you to place on the alter.
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Let's Talk about our ENDS Statements |
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- What is our most significant collective purpose as a congregation?
- How does UCE help you tell your story of what matters most?
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Reflect on an ‘experience of the holy’ – a time you felt a deep sense of meaning, connection to all, or transcendence.
These questions were posed during the October 10th service as we begin the journey of reflecting on our End Statements. You are asked to join in a small group discussion, which will be open-hearted, spirit-filled conversations to explore our shared values. From these discussions, we will gather insights and begin to draft a new set of ends to be presented to the congregation for feedback and ultimately approved by the congregation next May at our annual meeting.
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Last Call: Building a More Vibrant UCE Community! |
How can we engage in more meaningfully and richly with each other and with our mission? How do we build an even stronger and more vibrant community to “nurture the human spirit for a world made whole”?
Join us to find better ways to help members open the door to more meaningful engagement in the life of the congregation! Share your valuable perspective through this short term, focused work!
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Our hats are off to our faith formation volunteers this week: Steve Courtright, Alicia Hempfling, Johna and Will Van Dyke, Jerry Galich, and Jinny Niemann. Steve and Alicia led a rousing drum circle in the sanctuary and offered meaningful insights about the rhythms they played. The wonderfully musical beats could be heard throughout the building. Johna, Will, Jerry, and Jinny, offered beads and sequins, feathers, and gems to adorn black, disposable facemasks that no one would want to dispose of. You too can decorate a facemask for the Installation. They'll have a table in the lobby this Sunday for anyone who missed the chance. Thank you all for your willingness to jump into our first Music and Art Faith Formation Hour without knowing what to expect. We hope that more people will join us in the coming weeks and months for these All-Ages opportunities to learn and grow together. |
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If you have music to share in worship, we would love to add your to our list. We are looking for either live or recorded performances for Sunday mornings to enhance our worship. Reach out to Rev. Eileen or Vickie Hellyer.
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Wednesday Zoom Gatherings Continue on 2nd & 4th Wednesdays at 5:30 pm via Zoom.
Rev. Eileen Wiviott's installation is on Saturday, October 23 at 3 pm in the UCE Sanctuary or Zoom. More info below.
Deadline for Serendipity Auction Donations is November 7! More info below!
ENDS Statements Conversations:
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November 7th (Sunday) from 1-2pm on Zoom
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November 10th (Wednesday) from 7-8pm in person at UCE
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November 13th (Saturday) from 9:30-10:30 am in person at UCE
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December 4th (Saturday) from 12-1pm on Zoom
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January 2nd (Sunday) as part of Faith Formation Hour, 11:30-12:30 in person
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January 5th (Wednesday) from 5:30 – 6:30 on Zoom
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This Week's Events & Links |
Friday, October 15
Saturday, October 16
- Worship Planning Playdate at 9 am-Noon in the UCE Sanctuary.
Sunday, October 17
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Chris Isely Cancer Support Group at 8:45 am in Room 6 and via Zoom. Contact Renee Hoff for the Zoom link.
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Worship Service at 10:15 am IN-PERSON or via Youtube. Click here to join.
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Faith Formation Hour at 11:30-12:30 at UCE. More details above.
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Small Group Discussion on Widening the Circle of Concern during Faith Formation Hour. Click here to join.
- Kinship on the Lawn at 12:30 pm.
- Harms Woods Outing at 1-4 pm at Harms Woods.
Monday, October 18
Tuesday, October 19
Wednesday, October 20
Thursday, October 14
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Virtual Meditation at 5:30 pm via Zoom. Email Lisa Solomon for the link.
- Choir Rehearsal at 7 pm in Room 3 or via Zoom.
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If you're viewing the newsletter in your email inbox, click on "View entire message" at the bottom of the email to read the full newsletter!
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Congregational Connections |
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UCE Endowment Fund: Distributions and Deadlines |
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We get to give away money; awesome. This is going to be fun! remarked a new Endowment Fund Trustee. An oversimplified statement, he knew, but essentially true.
But, UCE members may ask, where does the money come from that is given away?
First, it should be made clear that the money is not given away. Instead, it is used to fund grant applications which are submitted to the Endowment Committee for review and then recommended to the Board of Trustees for final approval. These proposals may support UCE directly or the larger community. The five purposes for use of the distribution money are stated in the UCE Endowment Fund Bylaws...
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BLUU Havens Chicago October Gathering -
This Saturday, October 16 1-2:30 pm on Zoom
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NEW: Join at 12:30 for Socializing or Just Hanging Out & Listening to Music!
We welcome you to join us for our October Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism Havens Chicago Gathering.
Our guests will be Clarence Smith, Founder of One Family Farms and Windy City Harvest Apprenticeship Alum (class of’20) alongside Kate Gannon, Windy City Harvest Youth Farm Manager, will be presenting a question and answer session.
Windy City Harvest Apprenticeship, a Chicagoland-based program, enrolls students in a nine-month classroom and hands-on certification course in sustainable urban agriculture that is accredited by the Illinois Community College Board for 31 continuing education credits...
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Next Worship Planning Playdate - October 16 |
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Our next Worship Planning Playdate is coming up October 16th from 9am – noon. All are welcome if you are interested in helping to shape the December – February worship services.
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Save the Date: Unite Against Hate Rally |
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Location: Lunt Park, Corner of Sheridan Road and Church Street, Evanston Il
Date: Saturday, October 16
Time: 1-2 pm
Sponsored by Sherman United Methodist Church and First United Methodist Church. For more information contact: pastor@shermanmethodist.net All are welcome!
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2021 Minns Lecture Series on October 21 |
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The Minns Lectures Committee sponsors a semi-annual series of free lectures by UU ministers on religious topics. The Minns Lecturer this fall is the Rev. Dr. William F. Schulz, who served as president of the Unitarian Universalist Association before becoming executive director of Amnesty International USA in 1994 and then president of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee from 2010–16. He is co-author with Sushma Raman of The Coming Good Society: Why New Realities Demand New Rights (Harvard University Press).
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You're Invited! Rev. Eileen Wiviott's Installation - Oct 23 |
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If you did not receive a Paperless Post Invitation, know that all members and friends are invited. Please RSVP by emailing the office at admin@ucevanston.org if you would like to attend and note whether you will be joining in-person or virtually.
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Rainbow Alliance Virtual Movie Party |
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Rainbow Alliance is hosting a Virtual Movie Party! We will be having a Zoom movie night on Sunday, Oct 24 and watching Hocus Pocus! All witches, warlocks, and cats are welcome. The movie will start at 7 pm.
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Join the Serendipity Auction Fun:
Volunteer! Volunteer! Volunteer!
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Looking for a way to stay connected to UCE? Volunteer to help with the Serendipity Auction, one of our largest fundraisers. Last year we netted over $26,000.
This year, our auction will kick-off on Sunday, November 14, 2021 at 12:30 pm and online bidding begins through UCE auction website and ends with a chance to see the auction items on Celebration Day, Saturday November 20, 2021 from 10:00 am-1:00 pm and with a virtual Celebration Party on Saturday, November 20, 2021 from 7:00-8:00 pm.
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Get Involved with UCE's Mitten Tree |
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Believe it or not, it's time to get organized for Mitten Tree again! Mitten Tree is a longstanding UCE tradition, spanning parts of 4 decades, and a practice of our 7th principle, weaving our interconnected existence. This year, we are looking for a few volunteers to help along the way. If you feel compelled to be the primary contact and coordinator for fulfilling requests from one of our organizations, please contact Bridget Wild.
We do have the ability to partner with one new organization this year, as well, so please reach out if an organization or community near and dear to you could benefit. Gift requests are needed by the first week of November. If the coordinating phase isn't for you, you can join us in giving, shopping, wrapping or transporting in the coming months!
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Our Giving House is changing this year, as are so many things we have been used to at UCE, and different needs are uppermost in the minds of our friends at Connections For the Homeless. There are three Sundays remaining in this unusually wet October, and Connections is asking for rain ponchos for their participants. You can find them at the supermarket or at dollar stores and bring them to the little Giving House just inside the UCE entrance. Thank you so much for your generosity.
We'll post a complete Giving House schedule for the year next week in this space.
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Harms Woods Outing - Sunday, October 17, 1-4 pm |
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Come celebrate fall with a habitat restoration outing at beautiful Harms Woods in Glenview! We will be either gathering seeds or removing invasive plants to allow more space and sunlight for our beautiful native plants. This outing is suitable for anyone 10 and older (youth must be accompanied by a responsible adult) and everyone works at their own pace. The woods are beautiful and you will be doing extremely important work in restoring vital habitat to support our native plants, insects and birds. Click here for more information as this time we will need you to preregister as our group is limited to 12.
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La Bestia Screening and Discussion - October 27 |
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The Immigrant Solidarity Team will be showing the Movie La Bestia (2010) about the freight trains from southern Mexico to the US that refugees use to come north, at great peril to themselves. The film will be followed by a discussion with panelists Oscar Chacon and Charlotte Carol-Jones to give an update to the migrant situation currently unfolding in 2021... |
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In communities all over the world, fair trade is dramatically raising the standard of living for farmers and artisans. Here’s one story:
Yadira Orozco is a banana grower and one of a growing number of women who have taken leadership roles in their fair trade cooperatives. Thanks to the Fairtrade Premium, Yadira’s cooperative has been able to finance a new warehouse, sanitary facilities, irrigation system and floors in the packaging area. Women workers have now also been able to get a business education and create a group of female entrepreneurs with it. Their children are able to go to school, instead of working in the fields with their parents. Yadira’s own two children have completed their education. Her daughter is a medical beautician and her son is an engineer. Her cousin is studying agronomy, so she hopes he will come back to work on the farm.
On Sunday, October 24, during the Faith Formation Hour we’ll learn more, through stories, videos, and games, about how fair trade makes a difference. See you then!
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Update: Syrian Refugee Family |
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Thank you UCE! We have raised $4,945 so far of our $5000 goal.
Over the past month we’ve told you about the Syrian refugee family—the Bakirs, who we are trying to help. They arrived in the U.S. in early September and are living in Skokie. The kids are very excited to start school in October. The family includes: Ghufran Bakir and her three children Ryaan, 13; Hatty, 12; and Talib, 8. Ghufran was widowed in the war. They have spent the last eight years in a refugee camp/temporary housing in Turkey. They are delighted to be reunited with their relatives from the Haj Khalaf family (a refugee family that UCE sponsored in 2016).
The Immigrant Solidarity Team asks you to contribute to our fund for the family’s rent and school clothes. We want to pay their rent for 3 months ($1300/month) and we are buying some school clothes now...
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Keeping in Touch with Springfield Reps |
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Are you interested in state politics? Have you followed the state’s budget, prison reform and environmental bills? You might want to join the legislative action teams we’re forming to meet periodically with our state representatives and state senators.
We’ll be encouraging our local reps to follow a progressive agenda as they vote in Springfield. Separate teams are being formed in each legislative district. We’ll be letting our representatives know our concerns and highlighting the bills endorsed by UU Action Network of Illinois (UUANI) and Community Renewal Society (CRS)...
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Carceral Systems and Siding with Love - Oct 21, Nov 4 |
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UU Prison Ministry of Illinois, REAL, and the UCE Prison Ministry team invite you to join us for the last two sessions of Carceral Systems and Siding with Love.
How do we actively side with Love in the face of harmful carceral systems that especially target black and brown people? We will welcome nationally known advocate Joyce MacMillan on Family Separation and Surveillance on October 21. On November 4 we will discuss the Basics of Restorative Justice. Registration is required, and a short reading or video will be emailed to you one week before each session. These 90-minute Zoom workshops are each two weeks apart and our next one is October 21.
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Rainbow Alliance Meets on Nov 9 - All are Invited! |
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Donate to Evanston's Reparations Fund! |
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At last Sunday’s Interfaith Reparations workshop we learned about an exciting opportunity to support Evanston’s Reparations program. A group of UCE members has pledged up to $11,000 to match any contributions made to the Evanston Community Foundation’s Reparations Fund. Contributions to the fund will be doubled.
Donations are tax-deductible and will be used to “directly benefit Evanston’s Black community and to heal racism and address harm caused by discriminatory practices.” Plans are underway for funds to be used to improve health care, pay for education, and help expand housing and business opportunities for Evanston’s black community. To find out more, you can visit the group’s website at Evanstonforever.org...
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Call to Action - Accountability and the Evanston Public Library |
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Please consider taking action on this message from our friend Anya Tanyavutti.
Trigger warning: dehumanizing exposure of children and adults to racism at the Evanston Public Library
If you have the bandwidth, humor me a story and a call to action:
My children love to read and generally love to go to the library, they have considered it a safe space. On their last library trip, per usual, they each excitedly brought a stack of books home. As we turned in for bed, Aden eagerly handed me a book to read to them "PopularMMOs: a hole new world."
As I began to read it the tone and vocabulary were sending me red flags- the...
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What's Happening in Faith Formation this Fall? |
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Faith Formation Hour is Here!
- Nursery care (0-3) is available in Room 11 from 10 am-12:30 pm.
- At the beginning of the sermon, Heads, Hearts, and Hands (preK-6th) will meet at the back of the sanctuary and go to room 3. Parents can meet younger children after worship at 11:15 am in room 3.
- All ages are encouraged to participate Faith Formation Hour from 11:30 am - 12:30 pm:
- Pre/K in Room 9 with Ann Gadzikowski
- 1st-6th grades in Room 3
- 7th-12th grades in Room 12
- Kinship on the lawn begins at 12:30 pm, weather permitting.
Please give us your feedback on your experiences in Faith Formation Hour here. And if you want a way to connect with the next generation, be a volunteer! Contact Kathy if interested.
Registration for Faith Formation is here! This year more than ever, it is important that parents register their young people, so that we can plan according to current guidelines. Please complete the form here for all young people, 0-18 years old.
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October’s New Soul Matters Theme – Cultivating Relationships! Check out the new Soulful Home packet here! The packet is designed for families to explore the monthly theme at their own pace and interest.
Looking Ahead…Wednesday on the Lawn returns! October 27 at 5:30 pm – 7 pm. More details soon!
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Politics and the Making of Religious Diversity in the US - Tuesdays November 2, 9, 16 at 7-8:45 pm Session at UCE, conditions permitting | Facilitated by Jason Seawright, Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University
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Towards an Understanding of Toni Morrison's A Mercy - Tuesdays, November 23, 30 at 7-8:45 pm | All sessions will be via Zoom | Facilitated by UCE member Barbara Mesle
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UCE Fiction Book Group meets on Today, Friday, October 15 at 7-8:30 pm to discuss Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
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The nonfiction book group will meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 24th via Zoom to discuss Bill Bryson's book The Body: A Guide for Occupants.
The book is described by various reviewers as informative, witty, delightful, and full of extraordinary facts and irresistible anecdotes. Everyone is welcome to join us. The book is available in public libraries in various formats.
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Forum Discussion - October 17 |
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Compassionate Communication: Wouldn't it be great if we could all talk about just about any topic Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be the world we live in. Topics like vaccines and politics reveal that we all have room to improve our discourse by improving our communication skills.
In our Forum Discussion on October 17th we will discuss the practice of nonviolent communication (NVC) as developed by Marshall Rosenberg. We will revisit our covenant and we will engage in some practice sessions getting to know each other using the NVC framework. Please attend both if possible because the sessions will build on each other.
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Unitarian Church of Evanston
1330 Ridge Ave. Evanston, IL 60201
847-864-1330
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