December 6, 2020
We will host an online worship service on Sunday, December 6th at 11:15 am.
“Still Waiting” – Karen Gustafson
As affiliates of a faith tradition that holds its Christian roots lightly, Unitarian Universalist often shine the light of reason upon the traditions of our forebears and find new meaning.
“Advent,” Wikipedia tells us, “is a season of the liturgical year observed in most Christian denominations as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming.”
Regardless of your views on the theology and history of Christmas, there is much we might consider about the value and meaning of expectant waiting. This year there is much that holds us in wait. “Stillness” is our monthly theme. How might this time of waiting be informed by stillness?
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 there will only be one service time during the summer 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 Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC).
Endowment 2020-2021
Endowment Grants 2020-2021
VirtUUal RE: November 27, 2020
Pageant Time is Here!
Yes, Virginia, there will be a pageant this year! We will be doing it virtually on Zoom to make it a pageant to remember! Those who sign up will have an opportunity to pick up a costume at UCE, or to be creative and make one from things at home. Sign up here for a part. An email will be sent in early December with further instructions to those who sign up. Feel free to email Kathy at kunderwood@ucevanston.org with any questions.
November Month of Healing
This week in the Soulful Home packet we focus on the segments The Extra Mile. Check out this week’s video for a short synopsis.
If you missed the Welcome and Intro to RE, check it out here, or you can read about it here.
Many Ways to Connect
Solstice Campfire and Carols on the Lawn – December 19 at 4:30-6 pm – sign up here TODAY!
Pre/K Kids and Families – POP (Parents of Preschoolers) – November’s materials are available here. The password is YouGotThis2020 (case sensitive.) This UU-based program is to be used all month long. Do whatever fits your family’s schedule.
1st-5th Grades – Holiday Zoom on Thursday, December 10 at 4 pm – wear your ugly sweater, Santa hats and holiday bling! Look for Zoom info in the RE Weekly Update.
Popcorn Theology Online for 6th-8th Grades – December 13 at 1 pm – Look for Zoom info in the RE Weekly Update.
High School Youth – Sunday at 4-5 pm – Look for an email with details!
For Adults
UCE Forum – Sunday, December 6th at 10 am
Celebrating 100 Years of the Vote for American Women: Multi-media presentation in images and songs
Leader: Kristin Lems
Click here to join the Zoom meeting. Meeting ID: 983 5136 0044 Passcode: 789218
One tap mobile +13126266799,,98351360044#,,,,,,0#,,789218# US (Chicago)
Christ for UU’s
Tuesdays, Dec. 1, 8, 15; 7:30-8:45 PM,
All sessions will be via Zoom.
Facilitated by UCE member Amy Pooley.
- What can we as Unitarian Universalists learn from reading the New Testament?
- Who was Jesus and why does he matter?
- How can getting in touch with our Unitarian and our Universalist roots help us rethink the Christian message and even understand it in a new way?
Join us in discussing these questions and more on five Tuesdays in November and December. The course will be based on readings from the New Testament and the recent Beacon Press release “Christ for Unitarian Universalists.” We welcome you to purchase a copy of the book here to follow the course’s reading schedule, but the discussion will also be accessible for those who have not done the reading and would simply like to show up to share and listen.
Amy Pooley has been a UU for over a decade and a Christian for just a few years. She has a love for our faith’s Unitarian and Universalist roots. She is a graduate student in Counseling and she and her wife Ruth are the moms of a toddler.
If you’re interested in attending, please click here to RSVP.
Contact Amy Pooley at amycpooley@gmail.com if you have questions.
From Rev. Susan Frances: November 27, 2020
Image from the Indian Health Service website.
Dear Friends,
Fall is my favorite time of year. The colors on the trees, the smell in the air, the chill of the water, and the movement of the sun all remind me of my connection with the Earth and with the people in my life. For many of us, the fall brings with it traditions of the Thanksgiving holiday, when many of us typically gather with friends and family and express our gratitude for what is in our lives. Due to the pandemic, I know many of us spent Thanksgiving this week living out our usual traditions virtually or making new traditions. This year, I invite you to dig deeper into the story of Thanksgiving and embrace living with both gratitude and lament.
The Thanksgiving holiday comes as an annual reminder for me to make explicit my overtures of gratitude to the natural world and to my loved ones by sharing the abundance in my life through words and deeds. This year I am embracing my usual traditions of gratitude and combining them with my heart felt laments. This year, when I placed my hand on the bark of the Gingko tree outside my front door and expressed my gratitude for the miracle of being alive, I also expressed my sorrow for the overpopulation of the Earth as well as my deep grief at the deaths of people I know and the countless people I don’t know from COVID-19. This year, when I mailed cards to my family of origin and my chosen family to express my gratitude for them being in my life, I added in words of longing to see them and hug them. This year, when I reviewed my yearly donations to express my gratitude for my material comfort, I also donated the vacation funds that I did not spend to organizations providing vitally needed housing and food for those displaced from employment by the pandemic.
For decades, I have leaned into the Thanksgiving holiday as a complex combination of gratitude and lament. Growing up in an area that was predominately white and middle class, my childhood Thanksgiving story was a simple tale involving sharing food and expressing gratitude, and I continue to embrace the gathering of community and sharing of food over the Thanksgiving holiday. As I have learned that the Thanksgiving story is a story of settler colonialism that has been used over the years to advance the erasure of Native lives and history, I have made time to learn about and find ways to support the Wampanoag tribe, who inhabited the land where the Pilgrim ships landed in 1620, and other Native people who are still struggling to survive. This year, I invite you to learn about these additional holidays that encompass both gratitude and lament:
As we celebrate our personal traditions of gratitude and express our personal grief and sorrow this fall, let us practice reaching out beyond our comfort zone to learn about and find ways to support the gratitude and laments expressed by the Native people within our UU community and disbursed across the large continent we call home.
Grateful to be with you,
Rev. Susan
COVID-19 Update: November 20, 2020
Dear Congregation,
With Covid cases spiking and increased restrictions in Illinois beginning today, we continue with our strict building use guidelines. Unnecessary in-door gatherings are no longer advisable. We will be finishing our emergency overnight shelter on November 28th, as that is an essential service, but we ask all groups to avoid indoor gatherings at this time. It is difficult to be apart during the holidays but we urge you to care for one another by staying connected over the phone, Zoom, through cards, letters, and emails. Join us for our Sunday services and Wednesday evening gatherings. Please reach out to me or Rev. Susan if you have a need for support.
I share with you this message from our UUA President, Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray.
With gratitude, I am wishing you peace and well-being,
Eileen
November 29, 2020
We will host an online worship service on Sunday, November 29th at 11:15 am.
“It Takes Practice” – Matt Meyer
Our favorite songs, whoever the artist or whatever the style, were created in a strange alchemy of study and inspiration, of strict practice and of letting go. Spiritual Practice is a similar combination of dedication, muscle memory, and perhaps a little divine inspiration. Join us for a musical exploration of learning to risk, building the muscle memory of courage, and the spiritual practice of relationship when things around us are changing fast.
Matt Meyer is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist with a long background as a musician and worship leader for UU congregations. Matt lives in Boston but travels as an itinerant worship leader, bringing the good news of Unitarian Universalism to hundreds congregations all over the country. He serves as the Director of Operations for Sanctuary Boston, a contemporary UU worship community that meets on Wednesday nights. Matt is also a founding organizer of the UU Songleaders Convergence, a gathering for all UUs who love community singing to share skills, best practices, and songs, in order to build a more musical movement together. You can follow Matt and get his email updates on Music and Worship here.
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 there will only be one service time during the summer 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 Deborah’s Place.
Reflections of the Board: November 20, 2020
It is our goal as the Board of Trustees to maintain connections with you. To that end, we are beginning a new program entitled, “Reflections with the Board.” We will host these sessions via zoom once a month at 10am before the service. The purpose of these sessions is twofold: One, we will often have information that we would like to share and two, these sessions are a time for us to listen to you. We want to hear how you are, as well as your ideas, suggestions, and concerns.
Our next session will be held on November 22 at 10am. For this session, the Board would like to spend some time talking with you about Widening the Circle of Concern. The Board has had two sessions devoted to WTC. In our conversations we have focused on the following questions from the UUA Study Guide that are recommended for discussing the the Governance chapter:
- An organization’s informal structures privilege the status quo. What informal structures do we have in our community that might be functioning in this way?
- Are any of our community’s structures duplicative or unnecessarily complex?
- How do we educate our community members on congregational policy instead of assuming that they are informed?
There is much to discuss. Here are some additional questions from the UUA Study Guide for this chapter:
- How do we encourage practices towards diversity, equity, and inclusion in the work of our groups and governance?
- How is our community participating in regional work? How are we influencing the direction of our region of the UUA and holding it accountable to these goals?
- One of the recommendations is for more support across congregations for youth and young adult leaders. How are we tapping into the resources available, regionally and beyond, especially for youth and young adults of color?
- How do we reach out to leaders from other congregations around building our skills to provide greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in our community? How might we partner with other congregations or communities and if we did, what would be a good first task?
- When does our community make the opportunity to discuss this?
- How do we discuss it with those new to our community?
Which of these questions would you like to discuss? What have you been learning as you have been reading Widening the Circle? Please join us on Sunday. And, please also put on your calendar next month’s “Reflections with the Board” on December 13th.
Thank you.
Zoom Information – Topic: Reflections with the Board
Click here to join the Zoom Meeting.
Meeting ID: 862 4288 7134
Passcode: 220807
One tap mobile: +13126266799,,86242887134#,,,,,,0#,,220807# US (Chicago)