You’re Invited!
Invitation to Celebrate and Re-dedicate UCE’s Mission and the Start of the Annual UCE Pledge Drive
“Nurturing the human spirit for a world made whole.”
On February 23 at 10:30am you are invited to participate in a worship experience celebrating and re-dedicating UCE to its Mission. This service will include the singer/songwriter Peter Mayer and stories from you of how your life is informed by the mission of UCE.
Please take some time to consider what about your connection to UCE nurtures your spirit.
Recall a time when a UCE-associated experience, relationship, enhanced awareness, or intentional practice fed your better self; when you have been inspired or found hope or restored confidence. Think about something that happened at UCE when you knew that you were not alone but part of something greater than yourself; when you experienced or witnessed the the “love that is the spirit of this church.” How has your spirit been nurtured?
Consider then how that nourished spirit has moved you and/or others toward making the world whole.
Recall a time when when you have been engaged at your job or as a volunteer, when you experienced or witnessed the world inching toward wholeness; a time informed by your UU Faith or some invitation from UCE.
What is the story of that recollection? Might that story inspire others? Nurture their spirits? Reinforce hope for wholeness?
If so, please consider sharing your story. Here are some ways to do that:
- Just tell it in coffee hour.
- In February when I am in Evanston, in place of our Brown Bag conversations, we will be having Story Circles, which will be opportunities to hear and tell your experiences of living the UCE mission.
- Write your story and send it to admin@ucevanston.org. These stories will be collected and shared as part of UCE history AND with Ministerial candidates.
- ALSO if you are willing for your story to be shared at the service on February 23, please indicate that on your submission. We will be choosing five or six stories representing a wide demographic of UCE to use with Peter Mayer’s music.
- There will be three additional stories selected to share on Sundays in March.
A mission needs to be more than words. It is a dynamic spirit that nourishes and is nourished by the lived experience of the community that claims it. Whether you are just finding UCE or have made it your home, we welcome your stories!
From EOD, January 31, 2020
Thank you to everyone who attended the two town meetings on Sunday. There were many good questions and comments. It is a joy to see the interest and participation in what is happening with the Capital Campaign and the many improvement opportunities the campaign is making possible. The Capital Campaign Implementation Committee members are Janelle Brittain (chair), Sandy Danforth, Vickie Doebele, John LaPlante and myself. Carol Nielsen (Kitchen) and Greg Grabowski (Parking Lot) have been very active as Project Leaders assisting the CCIC.
As reported by Carol Nielsen in the town hall meetings the renovated kitchen is poised for opening mid-March if all continues to go as well as it has to-date. The parking lot reconstruction will begin late July. Electricity to the parking lot and drain sewers are part of the overall parking lot reconstruction plan. Please take a moment to look at the Capital Campaign timelines posted throughout the church. This timeline was discussed at the town hall meetings. If you have questions or need more information, please contact me at 847-864-1330 or srobinson@ucevanston.org. I can answer your questions or connect you with the appropriate committee member.
There are two Budget Town Hall meetings scheduled for Sunday, February 9 at 10:30 and 12:30 p.m. after each service. These meetings provide an opportunity for you to hear about the proposed budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. The process began with the Budget Working Group of the ISC preparing a draft budget, followed by Integrated Stewardship Council review. The ISC recommended the budget draft for review at the January Board of Trustees meeting where the draft was approved. We invite you to attend to learn more. The final budget will be approved at our May Annual Meeting.
Pledge Drive 2020 will kick off with a Peter Mayer concert on Saturday, February 22 followed by a special day planned for Sunday, February 23. Stay tuned to the newsletter and website for more information to follow for an exciting Pledge Day. Concert details are on the web and tickets are available on Eventbrite. A link is provided in the newsletter and website.
Coming soon to the staff pages on the website are Mission Based Staff Bios. Each staff member is writing their own Bio with background on themselves, their work at UCE, and how their work ties into our mission. We decided to take the time to consider and articulate how we contribute to UCE’s mission as a staff, just as we are asking the congregation to do the same in this period of interim work and re-dedication of our mission.
Also in the works is a thorough examination of the website and changes that will make navigation easier and topics easier to find. If you are a team or committee leader remember to provide information to Jessica so that your section on the web can remain up-to-date with current information and activities. The team members working on the website updates are Jessica Meis, Adam Gough, Marianne Griebler, Michelle Novak, Emily Sanna, and Carla Williams. Thank you all for the professional guidance and input you have provided to make our website even better.
Regards,
Sandra Robinson
February 2, 2020
“The Will to Mutuality” – Rev. Eileen Wiviott
The Will to Mutuality: Reflecting on the book, After the Good News, by Nancy McDonald-Ladd. The liberal protestant view of human perfectibility, the notion of human development onward and upward forever, unchecked and unexamined leads to a myopic, self-satisfied and exclusive entitlement revealed in such things as the doctrine of Manifest Destiny and the many examples of failed utopian societies. What if the salvation of the world and our own souls was found, not in our perfectibility, but in our profound reliance on one another and our ability to share power?
From Kathy Underwood, DLRE – January 2020
We have reached an interesting period here at UCE as well as in our country and in time. 2020 is the start of a new decade with its promises and hopes. If you believe in numerology, when adding the digits in the year 2020, you get 4, which represents order, responsibility, stability, family, home, manifestation, conservation, peace, physical reality, and practical solutions. It is the number of work — of getting it done. You are being asked in 2020 to be fully invested in creating a foundation for long-lasting success, security, and grounding by building something of value that stands the test of time, according to Numerology.com. And if you’re into astrology, it marks the ending of three major planetary cycles of Saturn, Pluto & Jupiter.
Is it a coincidence then that here at UCE we are in a transition that is calling us to “work and getting it done”? To do the work of building a strong foundation – both in our physical structure and infrastructure – that will carry the load of the work we want to do in the community and the greater world of which we are a part? Whether or not you believe in coincidences, the fact is that we are at an important junction. And beyond our walls, we are at a critical junction: equality for all, the environment, and democracy itself are all facing challenges.
As we move into this unique and exciting period, we need to continue sharing our stories of our experiences at UCE and our dreams for UCE. How has our history formed our identity? What do we need to create our future with a new minister? What resources, tangible and intangible, do we have? Does our foundation and infrastructure support the work we feel called to do?
And so you are encouraged and invited to participate in the conversation as it relates to our lifespan religious education program on February 15 with Rev. Karen, Rev. Eileen, and I. We will explore questions such as, “How might we create more opportunities to grow our young people’s UU identity? How might we include our youngest in UCE life?” We will gather for a continental breakfast at 8:30 and begin at 9 am. Lunch and a children’s program will be provided. Our hope is that all parents and other interested adults participate in this important conversation. A special invite will be sent out separately where you can sign up so we can plan for food and childcare accordingly.
Let 2020 be a year full of good work and building the foundation needed to make our vision come to fruition!
In Faith,
Kathy
January 26, 2020
“Patience: Is it always a virtue?” – Rev. Eileen Wiviott
Patience is a virtue, except when it’s not. As the world moves ever faster and we, its inhabitants, are more instantly gratified, it seems increasingly challenging to ask for and practice patience. We will explore the virtue and vice of patience and how we might practice it with one another, while navigating and responding to the urgency of our times. Bridget Wild and Ben Kornfeld are the recipients of this auction sermon.
Beware Email Scams – January 2020
Attention!
Do not fall for email scams asking for a favor using the minister’s name with a made up email. A creative but ill-intentioned person or network is using clergy names to send emails from created email addresses to ask for gift cards. You may get an email that sounds something like this:
Good morning,
I need a favor from you
Email me as soon as you get this
God Bless
Rev. Karen Gustafson
When you respond, they give you a story about someone they need you to send gift cards to. This is a scam. Do not fall for it. You can report these through your email:
Mark them as phishing or report them as Spam or block the Sender based on their content. If the sender is using another Gmail address (please confirm before reporting), use this form to report abuse – I would like to report a Gmail user who has sent messages that violate the Gmail Program Policies and/or Terms of Use.
You can’t prevent spoofing. So, recipients must remain alert, particularly for messages supposedly from people they trust which they may find under Spam or vice versa.
As a rule of thumb, if ever suspicious about any email, check whether the email was authenticated by the sending domain. Click on the drop-down arrow underneath the sender’s name (next to the receiver’s name), and make sure the domain seen next to the ‘mailed-by’ or ‘signed-by’ lines matches the sender’s email address. e.g: If you see messages claiming to be from google.com, but are not properly authenticated as coming from google.com, then they are phishing messages and you must report them. For additional details, click on this link: Email authentication
- You can also report the gift card scam to the Federal Trade Commission in DC. Many of these crimes are under-reported and discounted as not traceable or not worth pursuing by most organizations and people who experience this type of crime. FTC has a hot line to call about these types of scams and they appreciate getting as much information as possible from concerned citizens and since they used your e-mail information you should contact them and give them all the information you have available to you.Federal Trade CommissionWashington, DCEastern Regional Center(202) 326-2222
We appreciate you letting us know that this is happening and are grateful that so many are recognizing this as a scam. However, it is difficult to respond to the flood of emails and texts asking about this. Please know we regret that this is happening and there is little we can do to prevent it. If you can report or mark the email as phishing, that is helpful. If you’d like to report the incident to us, you can use the contact form on the website at https://ucevanston.org/contact/
January 19, 2020
Claiming a Mission: Can “We” be “One”? – Rev. Karen Gustafson
There is an old sentiment, often expressed, that Unitarian Universalist Congregations are like “Herds of cats” (or maybe squirrels!). This implies that it is hard to get a group of UUs headed or organized around a common idea or purpose in ways that could make actually make a difference. Yet, UCE has a Mission Statement which is, “Nurturing the human spirit for a world made whole.” How does the common energy fuel the work of the many? Could common understanding lead to shared action? As you move toward the calling of your next minister this bears consideration.