April 2020 Shared Offering
Faith in Place
UCE’s shared offering recipient for the month of April is Faith In Place. Since 1999, Faith in Place has worked with over 1000 houses of worship throughout Illinois to protect our sacred land, water and air. Each Sunday in April, we are highlighting one example of how Faith In Place lives out their mission, and why we hope you’ll support them through the Sunday shared offering.
Nonprofit Green Lending: Faith In Place is particularly sensitive to churches in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. These churches have a hard enough time covering their operating expenses, let alone investing in energy efficiency projects. Working with Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs and Everence Federal Credit Union, Faith in Place assists these churches in securing low-interest loans.
Winter Farmers’ Markets: Each winter, Faith in Place partners with faith communities in hosting indoor farmers’ markets on Saturdays and Sundays. These markets provide an additional source of income for local vendors during off-season, encourage healthy eating and support the building of vendor-to-customer relationships.
Springfield Lobby Day: Every spring, Faith in Place works closely with the Illinois Environmental Council, Sierra Club, the Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of Illinois and others to send a voluntary delegation to Springfield. This year, on March 4th, over 700 people took buses to Springfield and met with their legislators in support of CEJA, the Clean Energy Jobs Act. Interesting side note: the very first lobby day took place in 2007 when Clare Butterfield, a Unitarian minister and founder of Faith In Place, drove seven adults to Springfield. Seven to seven-hundred – now that’s hope!
Water Audit & Retrofits: Faith In Place considers basement flooding and sewer backup to be a climate justice issue, as most flooding in Chicago takes place in communities of color where water infrastructure has not been properly maintained. Faith in Place works with people of faith in these neighborhoods to build solutions to their most pressing water needs.
Kitchen Renovation Update: April 3, 2020
Here is Something To Look Forward To
Though the Church has been closed, we have been fortunate that the kitchen renovation was coming to an end anyway. The final painting has been completed, a motion light activated, and a thorough cleaning of all cabinets, fixtures, and appliances was done. Building, plumbing and electrical inspections have been done, and we passed! Still to be done are the health and fire inspections, which will be completed once the City of Evanston conducts regular business. The health inspectors need to see how we are planning to use the kitchen, so we will initially need to stock the cabinets with about 50 boxes of old housewares currently being stored under the stairs and the new housewares we have purchased.
There are MANY new features to look forward to in addition to the clean walls, new sinks, and several other changes:
- Thanks to a generous grant from the UCE Endowment, the Church purchased new silverware, plates, soup bowls, side plates, water pitchers, water servers, serving platters, and bowls. New plastic tumblers are on order, which will allow us to stop using the compostable cups and all the other compostable serving items that were costing the Church $5,000 annually.
- New undercounter dishwashers are now in place and have been tested. The Eco-Lab salesman came about two weeks ago and hooked up the two chemicals that are needed. The new high-temperature dishwashers work very fast and very hot. We ran a couple of loads to make sure everything works.
- The coffee maker is installed and ready to use. The new layout will make coffee service much more convenient, with no need to move hot coffeemakers out onto tables for serving that delicious Sunday morning coffee.
- New coat hooks have been installed in the storage closet, giving our kitchen volunteers a safe and clean area for storing coats. There is a cupboard to store purses too!
There are a few minor punch list items that will be completed once we are open. We are waiting on a few orders—a stainless shelf to go over the three-sink combo, locks for a couple of cupboards, and a shelf for the east-side closet.
We are so grateful to Karen Courtright who has made over 15 butcher aprons for the kitchen. We will have a ready and clean supply every time we work. We owe Karen a big thank you for her sewing skills.
Some have taken the Illinois Food Handling Certification Course. It costs $10 and can be done online. If you are interested in doing this, please contact Carol Nielsen. We hope to have 10-15 people who have this food handling certificate. It takes about 2 hours and might be a good way to fill your time and to be available when the church is open to help with food service.
It is exciting to look forward to when are back in our building and enjoying coffee hour in our newly renovated kitchen. Thanks to everyone for their generous donation to the Capital Campaign, that offered us the opportunity to make a welcoming and lovely space both for ourselves and for future soup kitchens, and other social justice projects involving food.
From the DLRE: April 3, 2020
As we move into the month of April, it has become obvious for the need to continue our virtual connections. I heard a new term yesterday: physical distancing. The idea of using this in place of “social distancing” is to emphasize the need for social interactions while keeping safe distances from others. We still need human contact and socialization, perhaps now more than ever.
In the spirit of physical distancing, I am trying some new ways to connect kids, youth, and parents. If you haven’t yet completed my short survey, you can do so by clicking the button below. This will help me prioritize events that will help keep us connected.
Next Tuesday at 3:30 pm, we will have a virtual Chalice Circle and Haiku writing challenge. You can join by going to 8×8.vc/REchalicecircle. If you need more help, check out Adam’s awesome guidelines at https://ucevanston.org/stayconnected/ All you need for the haiku challenge is paper, pen, and your imagination!
High school youth can connect on Sunday evenings at 7 pm on zoom. Click here to join the meeting. (Meeting ID: 331 373 067 Password: 093877). Look for an email from the advisors too later in the week.
For parents, we will have a time to check-in with each other on Sunday evening at 7 pm to see how everyone is doing, share ideas for kids to do as well as things to do as a family, and offer support as needed. You can join in at anytime during the hour – and leave when you need to. To join, go to 8×8.vc/REParentCheckin.
Of course, we also have our virtual worship service on Sunday mornings at 11:15 am. Look for this week’s VirtUUal RE session on the homepage of UCE’s website, www.ucevanston.org. Your family can do this together at your own convenience any time this week. I am also posting ideas on the UCE Children and Youth Facebook page, along with some interactive things to share, so look for that as well.
Hope to see you then!
Kathy
April 5, 2020
We will host an online worship service on Sunday, April 5th at 11:15 am.
“A truth so real it has lasted centuries” – Rev. Karen Mooney
In this time of ambiguity and anxiety what do we put our faith in? How do we hold onto hope for ourselves and others? Is there a message in the Palm Sunday story that holds some truth about how to live in these times? Let us explore together where we are and how the ancient stories hold open hope for this time.
We invite you to send us your concerns and gratitudes by 11:00 a.m. that morning to be read aloud by the ministers. Please submit them by clicking here. Note the 9:30 and 11:15 services are being rolled into one service time so that we can gather together as a whole community of faith. You can still give to the shared offering through “text to give,” mail a check to the office with shared offering in the memo line, or go to our website and hit “give” on the upper right or click here. This Sunday’s shared offering recipient is Faith in place (click here to learn more).
VirtUUal RE March 29, 2020
Dear Parents,
I hope you are hanging in there this week and that you and your family are finding a new “norm”. If you’re not already connected to our Children and Youth Facebook page, please do! You’ll find suggestions on things to do at home and other ideas shared there. Of course, if you have something your family is doing that you’d like to share, I’d love to see it!
This week’s VirtUUal RE session is on the Wisdom of Simplicity. Click here to watch the video. During this video, feel free to pause when suggested, or whenever you need to, and come back to it. For the activities I mention, here are the links:
Story: Henry Builds a Cabin – https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=henry+builds+a+cabin#id=2&vid=046b6126cccef1ced81889fbed33ff39&action=click or check it out as an electronic book from your library.
Further Reading:
Henry Hikes to Fitchburg: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrJ7JhtNXleRdsA1ExXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyNW1hOXZiBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDQjk3NjZfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Henry+Hikes+to+Fitchburg&fr=mcafee#action=view&id=3&vid=4a2377ff3e20e202e3da96d3c94da3ef
The Biggest House in the World by Leonni: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDg9GxETmXQ
A Squash and a Squeeze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkdX73Onf04
The Gift of Nothing by Patrick Mcdonnell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH6Btqh2fus
Stuff by Margerite Palantini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uoBh1cW7Go
Kite Flying – here’s a simple kite you can make using a garbage bag, two dowels/sticks, string, and tape:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u5Aa3BkCQg
Neighborhood Love Notes Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1111215548947191/
Send pictures of any of the things you did to me too! kunderwood@ucevanston.org
For middle school youth, you can learn about and teach your family about Hinduism here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZXZLKclKfUSHKyrd5VeUloAcheK7F0FsG2oBdz3aY8A/edit?usp=sharing
Another resource for families from Soul Matters, Soulful Home: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ja5oAHPu9-PBGtG6x08l9eEOK78dJAfXDKeXukYaJr8/edit?usp=sharing
In Faith,
Kathy Underwood
Pandemic Breeds Greater Need for Justice
Due to the harsh environment, fear, and very real health risks, most of us are settled into staying at home except for essential needs. We are staying connected to the light of our UCE faith virtually, and staying connected to relatives and friends the same way. AND, we are still doing what we can to be kind and thoughtful, to continue to actively help those who live on the margins, and to reach out to those who are most vulnerable right now.
Even though we are living through a pandemic, UCE social action work continues. Here are some of the ways to offer support:
- Tell Congress: Include Immigrant Families in COVID-19 Stimulus Package NOW!
Click here for a Google form. - If you are medical professional: contact ICE representatives about equitable health and financial support. Ask medical representatives to sign on to this Open Letter.
- Join Illinois Prison Project and Restore Justice Illinois to ask Cook County States Attorney Kimberly Foxx for decarceration for Cook County. Click here for a Google form.
- Support Paid Sick Leave for All– Illinois has no state paid leave policy and 1.5 million workers in Illinois have no right to a single paid sick day. Click here for an online form.
- Volunteer at Connections for the Homeless sites. Learn more here.
What Is UCE Doing These Days to Make the World Whole?
Here are just some of the ongoing efforts in which you all are involved.
- UCE Endowment funds the Immigration Team request to send more than $6,700 to Team Brownsville to aid in the water purification project that provides daily drinking water to over 3,000 people at our border.
- UCE Endowment funds the Immigration Team request for $1,800 as a partner with Countryside UU Church and others in creating Chalice House, a home for a family or three individuals while they await determination of their application for refugee status. http://ccuu.org/chalice-house
- UCE folks have worked in West Rogers Park to assist Communities United in finding free food sources for people unable to leave home due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus).
- Action e-mails to congregants and others to send messages to Jan Schakowsky, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth encouraging them to be sure the aid package sends money to those most impacted by the current crisis.
- Messages to the same lawmakers to support healthy voting rights actions throughout this important election year.
- Social justice teams at UCE continue to meet and plan and act – virtually now for the most part .
- UCE people are helping each other as needed, calling people, seeing who needs assistance, making masks at home for healthcare workers and those who are caring for the elderly and sick.
- Trying to support Black small business owners in the area, like Yo-Fresh Café which uses GrubHub for delivery.
- REAL Team is making plans for virtual movie discussions and more.
- UUPMI pen pal program and solidarity circles are ongoing.
- UCE’s Soup Kitchens Managers are hard at work planning creative alternate ways of serving the hungry – offering doorstep take-out!
I’m sure there are more ongoing efforts that we have missed – let us know! And if you want to connect with one of these groups please feel free to contact Martha Holman (holman.martha@gmail.com) or Rev. Karen Mooney (kmooney@ucevanston.org) or the team involved for more information.
From Rev. Karen Mooney: March 27, 2020
There is an old saying that has been floating through my conversations of late – “may you live in interesting times.” Oft ascribed to Chinese origin, this innocuous saying is offered as a curse. A curse, because interesting times are those when we find ourselves devoid of peace and embattled by a calamity which demands some change. It can feel accursed to experience the change that has claimed the lives of beloved friends and family; to know the fierce accounting of how we show compassion and care as we struggle to keep everyone safe. This change has asked communities to be still. We do live in interesting times but we know that calamity can be also a source of transformative opportunity. A positive amidst this change is the the space that has been bought for our earth to breath, with the carbon emissions down world wide.
I invite us all to reflect on how, what we do and how we respond, will impact the transformation occurring around us. If things are going to change, let’s embrace that change and make the losses bend toward being worthy of what we can gain. What if we take this calamity to reach out and rebuild relationships that were soured? What if we grasp hold of this change and demand the web include those on the margins within our sights for care? What if we see the bonds built by our grief and anxiety as an opportunity to build a resilient community within our midst. While not replacing beloved people or familiar patterns of behavior, we can hold onto those things which do not serve us.
What will come of this time of silent calamity? Maybe generosity, compassion, a greater sense of the whole that has been we can now see and observe clearly? Looking outside my window the world appears so, well, normal(ish). But it is different. Though the flowers are finding their way to the sun, we each have a choice in how we respond. Let us respond with the generosity of spirit that will change this world and bend the arc toward justice. In this newsletter you will find an article by Susan Carlton talking about a new grouping of folks based on location (proximity partners). Click here for ways UCE has responded with compassion and how you can respond in turn during this time. Join me, won’t you, join me in bringing a new world into being?
Rev. Karen Mooney, Congregational Life Director
Proximity Partners
In this bewildering and anxious time we are witnessing and experiencing an amazing pulling together and reaching out to connect and sustain one another. Going forward we can use the lessons we are learning about how to stay connected to inform our future planning and to strengthen our web of connection and caring.
In this bewildering and anxious time we are witnessing and experiencing an amazing pulling together and reaching out to connect and sustain one another. Going forward we can use the lessons we are learning about how to stay connected to inform our future planning and to strengthen our web of connection and caring.
One idea our ministers and church leadership have been exploring for some time is the formation of neighborhood groups – proximity partners. These groups would be composed of members who live close to one another geographically and would be an ongoing source of support, connection and mutual care for one another. A few “test” groups had already been formed well before the spread of COVID-19 (novel Coronavirus).
Please click on the button below and take a few minutes to complete a brief survey designed to gauge the interest of the congregation in forming neighborhood groups.
From the Board President: March 27, 2020
Dear Friends,
One thing I know is true is that we are all in this together. I am listening to Yo Yo Ma right now and our home feels peaceful. But it wasn’t peaceful when we found out about the death of our dear friend and fellow congregant John. And it wasn’t peaceful when our nephew Tyler called to say he had been exposed and had been tested for the corona virus. It became more level and calm at our place when Tyler called back this morning to say his test was negative – great gratitude for that! And this roller coaster way of life may continue for quite some time. We are all adjusting, making different plans, working harder at staying grounded, centered.
The Board of Trustees has been making some changes also. We had to quickly change to meeting virtually for our March meeting. It worked fairly well. So we will meet virtually in April, and for as many times as needed. We wanted all of you to know, because any member may attend a board meeting. If you want to attend, you can join us on Zoom. Just email Sandra Robinson at srobinson@ucevanston.org for the April meeting link. The link will be available during the week of April 13th. The board meeting is always on the third Thursday of the month and the new link will be available that week.
Meanwhile, I can tell you that the board and Integrated Stewardship Council (finance committee) members are looking at actual and potential changes to UCE finances as we all navigate this extraordinary pandemic. Thank you to all for your thoughtfulness and generosity during this messy but loving time.
We bring our hearts to each other through phone calls, emails, grocery drop-off, mask-sewing, text, Zoom, 8×8, and online YouTube Sunday services.
Blessings to all and stay home, stay safe!!
Martha Holman, UCE Board President
Prayer by Dr. Rita Capezzi
Spirit of Life and Love, we realize that our particular vulnerability in this time is new for all of us, though vulnerability has always been the norm for too many of us. Our hands may not touch, so may our hearts vibrate with the clarity of reason and the vitality of compassion, sensing our interdependence now and in all times.
March 29, 2020
We will host an online worship service on Sunday, March 29nd at 11:15 am.
We invite you to send us your concerns and gratitudes by 11:00 a.m. that morning to be read aloud by the ministers. Please submit them by clicking here. Note the 9:30 and 11:15 services are being rolled into one service time so that we can gather together as a whole community of faith. You can still give to the shared offering through “text to give,” mail a check to the office with shared offering in the memo line, or go to our website and hit “give” on the upper right or click here. This Sunday’s shared offering recipient is The Brennan Center.