YWCA Ricky Byrdsong Race Against Hate 2020
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 at https://www.ywca-ens.org/rah/. For the UCE REAL team, I suggest 2 ways to help support the YWCA in honor of Ricky Byrdsong:
- Although the large gathering and race won’t happen on June 21, the YWCA has asked that, on June 1, those who have them, put on our Race Against Hate shirts and run or walk inside or outside in memory of our neighbor Ricky Byrdsong, who was killed by a white supremacist in 1999.
- The Church has included in our budget a $500 contribution to the Evanston YWCA in honor of Ricky Byrdsong and the Race Against Hate, which will support the YWCA’s amazing work for racial justice and violence prevention. We know many are struggling financially, so this ask is not for you. But for those who would have paid the registration fee, or sponsored someone who did, if you still could, perhaps you could contribute to an effort to match the UCE contribution. Then UCE could contribute $1,000 in honor of this deserving cause. If you can, please contribute directly to the YWCA online (https://p2p.onecause.com/rah2020 ) or mail a check to YWCA (1215 Church St Evanston 60201). Then email Dana Deane (dddeane@yahoo.com) and let me know how much you donated. I’ll keep track and report on how well we did as a UCE Team!
Recent events demonstrate the continued need to to support racial justice.
From Rev. Karen Gustafson: May 29, 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.
Kathy Underwood and others were in the midst of beginning to take on the tasks of revisioning your Religious Education for Children. The Board had taken up providing a more accessible understanding of Policy Governance and I was focused on a more sustainable approach to organization and volunteer leadership. The process resulting in hiring of the Rev Karen Mooney as Director of Membership and Social Justice was well underway. Anticipation of the all music Sunday lead by Vicki Hellyer was being felt by all.
And then, so it seemed, COVID 19 changed everything. Yes. And No.
It is June and, though some things have been put on hold, many have continued in a different form, thanks to the great efforts of the UCE Staff.
All that we set out to do in preparation for the settlement of the next Senior Minister remains possible. I will be with you for another year. I am grateful for all of the ways that any of you have engaged in this process and promise that there will be more opportunities beginning in July. The interim work will recede a bit in late August, September and October as the Search Committee will be ramping up its work. Throughout this time, I remain committed to nurturing the seeds that we have planted together and supporting the healthy growth that is deep in the DNA of UCE.
I look forward to another year with you all beginning July 1.
In love and gratitude,
Karen
(she, her, hers)
VirtUUal RE: May 31, 2020
With the end of May coming up, we are finishing our monthly theme of Thresholds this week. Many of you have completed e-learning and have crossed the threshold into summertime and freedom from schoolwork. And some of you have crossed the threshold of graduation, whether it be from one grade to another, from high school or from college. And we are collectively beginning to cross the threshold from social distancing and isolation to being able to see family and friends and eventually gather for worship.
Our metaphor this week in VirtUUal RE is the door of imagination. You can find the VirtUUal RE session on the homepage. 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.
The Non-Fiction Book Group will meet Sunday to discuss Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration by Emily Bazelon. More information is in this week’s newsletter.
In Faith,
Kathy
From MSC: May 29, 2020
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.
Beginning in August 2020, the Ministerial Search Committee will engage you in a series of activities to better understand what the congregation needs to fully live our mission during the next settled ministry. These activities include a congregational survey, which will be distributed in late August; cottage meetings, which will be held in late September and October; and focus groups with church leadership. Based on these events, we will then write what is called the “Congregational Record,” a document that lays out who the congregation is, our goals, and what we need from a minister going forward.
We urge you to participate in this discernment process at the start of the church year. Complete the congregational survey when you receive it; attend a cottage meeting; participate in a focus group, if applicable; and reach out to the Search Committee to share your thoughts and ask questions. This is your opportunity to make your views known and to share what you think the congregation needs in its next settled ministry—what will best help us realize our hopes and dreams.
May 31, 2020
We will host an online worship service on Sunday, May 31st at 11:15 am.
“Tradition, Transition, and Transformation” – led by Rev. Karen Gustafson and Rev. 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?
Please submit your Joys and Sorrows through this online form. If you submit a message by 11 am, we will try to read it that Sunday. Thank you for your patience as we are adapting to best serve you all! 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 (click here to learn more).
Our New Kitchen: The Big Reveal
Over the past four weeks we have unveiled photographs of the new UCE kitchen. Now, you can experience a virtual tour narrated by Carol Nielsen, filmed by your Executive Operations Director and novice videographer. Enjoy….
This has been such an experience from start to finish and here are the many people involved in the creation of our new kitchen space.
- Carol Nielsen and Sandra Robinson, Project Management
- Janelle Brittain, Chair, Capital Capaign Implementation Committee
- CCIC Team Members Sandy Danforth, Vickie Doebele, John LaPlante and Ann Peterson
- Alice Crostowski and Brian Nielsen for restocking kitchen
- Robb Geiger for assembling our beautiful serving tables
- Karen Courtright for sharing ideas and for sewing lovely aprons
- Liz Kennedy and Steven Eason for cleaning up after each restocking
The talented people we hired and had the pleasure of working with:
- Architect Thomas Ahleman, Talo Studio
- General Contractor, Scott Perstangen, Parallel Design Build
- All the subcontractors—plumbing, mechanical, electrical, painting, carpentry, flooring
We look forward to when we’ll be able to use this beautiful kitchen for our Sunday coffee time, social events, rentals and feeding the homeless. Serving food warms the heart and the soul, thus helping us meet our mission of Nurturing the Human Spirit for a World Made Whole.
From Sandra Robinson, Executive Operations Director