What is SNAPGap?: April 2, 2021
SNAP is the government program that helps provide people living under the poverty line with groceries. SNAP does not help with essential toiletries, so there is a GAP in needs.
Interfaith Action of Evanston operates a monthly Produce Mobile, year-round, providing free groceries. To fill the SNAPGap, they are requesting donations of specific items to be distributed to 250 families through the Produce Mobile.
We did not have a Soup Kitchen obligation this year due to the timing of Beth Emet’s Passover holidays. (We normally fill in for them during their holidays). So, there may be UCE folks looking for a similar service opportunity in Evanston. This one can be done entirely contact-free.
Here is the information if you would like to help:
DROP-OFF LOCATION
- 1st United Methodist Church of Evanston – 516 Church St.
DROP-OFF DATES
- Saturdays April 3 and 9 – 10:30am to 1:30pm
- Sundays April 4 and 10 – Noon to 2pm
ITEMS NEEDED – Please limit your generosity to the items requested.
- Family size (not travel size) SHAMPOO, BODY WASH, DISINFECTANT WIPES
- If you want to order from Amazon, there is an online wish list available here.
The wish list includes 22oz. Pantene ProV Daily Moisturizing Shampoo, 22 oz., Dove Body Wash, and Lysol disinfectant Wipes, 80 count.
Sue Murphy, our friend at Interfaith Action, says you can buy one kind of product or mix and match. They are grateful for donations both small and large. You can order online or buy from your favorite store – their brands, or your favorites.
Thank you to all UCERs for your generous responses to our pandemic-time projects to help alleviate the suffering of our neighbors.
Food and Shelter Team
Co-chairs Maggie Weiss and Sheila Holder
From Rev. Susan Frances: April 2, 2021
Proximity Partners Refreshed
Approximately one year ago UCE launched its Proximity Partners initiative. This initiative was created partly in response to the fact that the COVID-19 isolation protocols kept us from meeting together at UCE. Proximity Partners groups were formed based on geographical location of members. Some of the groups organized and started gathering virtually and in-person with masks. Other groups have had less activity. In an effort to make sure everyone has an opportunity to participate in an active group, we are consolidating membership and reshaping the geographical distribution of the Proximity Partners groups.
Soon you will receive an email about your Proximity Partners group. Members who currently have an active group will remain in that group. Members in less active groups have been reallocated to one of the active groups. We will end up with seven Proximity Partners groups. Since the geographic areas have expanded, most groups will be larger.
The Proximity Partners initiative is designed to provide connection with other members of UCE who live in your geographic area. The initiative was created to be one way to get together virtually and occasionally outside with masks for social connection, including walks in the neighborhood and along natural trails or virtual games and sing-a-longs. You are invited to explore connections within your Proximity Partners group when you receive the next invitation.
These photos are from Proximity Partners gatherings over the past year:
- Nancy Morris, Nancy Katz, Matt Snowdon, and Diane Markel with the Southwest Proximity Partners at North Park Village, Chicago, for a snowshoe walk in February 2021 and collecting 3 garbage bags full of trash on a walk in March 2021.
- Julia Takarada, Bruce and Jane Kenamore, Tim Feddersen, and Ben, Luealla, Teddy, and Kirby Kornfeld with the Light House Proximity Partners at a kid-friendly happy hour gathering at the light house beach park, Evanston, in July 2020.
Even with more and more of us receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, it is uncertain when we will be able to gather together in-person in a large group. Proximity Partners is one way to continue to stay connected in smaller virtual and in-person gatherings. We are a community that values relationships, caring for each other, supporting each other, and having fun together! Your Proximity Partners group is one way to continue deepening your relationships with each other.
If your Proximity Partners want to start meeting in-person at UCE, here are the guidelines to follow. You will need to make arrangements with Jessica Meis for lobby staff to be present. A maximum of 10 people with masks on may arrange to meet inside and a maximum of 25 people with masks on may arrange to meet outside.
If you have a question about which Proximity Partners group you are a part of, who are the other members of your group, or who are the leaders of your group, please email Adam Gough at agough@ucevanston.org and he will provide you this information and help you learn how to look up this information in REALM. If you do not want to receive emails from your Proximity Partners group, please let Adam know. If you move, please let Adam know so he can connect you with your Proximity Partners in your new geographical area.
Connecting with each other is one way we continue to feed our spirits, sustain our community, and build a caring world.
In faith,
Rev. Susan
Facing Climate Change: April 2021
Tuesdays, April 6, 13 at 7 pm | All sessions will be via Zoom | Facilitated by UCE members Andy Fisher and Dan Solomon
On April 6th, Andy Fisher will lead a PowerPoint presentation based on Al Gore’s “Climate Reality Project.” He’ll begin by sharing some of his own experiences with climate change, followed by three questions that Al Gore poses:
- Must we change? This part shows the reality of how fast CO2 has been building up recently. It includes views of the increasingly terrible floods, hurricanes, droughts and wildfires worldwide, as well as graphical illustrations of the trends.
- Can we change? This presents evidence for the great increases in clean renewable energy recently and its dramatic reduction in cost.
- Will we change? This lists the MANY countries, states, and private industries who have already committed to zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
There will be time for Q & A after the PowerPoint presentation
On April 13th, Dan Solomon will present some ideas by “Evolutionary Evangelist” Michael Dowd, providing a religious framework for facing our environmental crisis. Michael Dowd summarizes his Credo as: “Reality is my God. Evidence is my scripture. The Epic of Evolution is my creation story. Ecology is my theology. Integrity is my spiritual path. Fostering a just and healthy future is my mission.”
There will be a brief film presentation, followed by discussion.
April 4, 2021
We will host an online worship service on Sunday, April 4th at 11:15 am.
The Transformation of the Tomb
After such a period of hardship, entombed in isolation, loss, and darkness, what resources will be needed to emerge? Finding hope, healing and resilience after the trauma of the tomb.
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 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 Restore Justice.
From Rev. Karen Gustafson: March 26, 2021
Dear ones,
The snow is nearly gone from my part of northern Minnesota. Last night there was a little dusting from Mother Nature who remains decisively in charge of this nameless season between winter and spring. It seems likely that I will end my tenure as your Interim Minister without appearing again in person, but I am honored to think that my name will appear, for better, for worse, among the array of colleagues who have helped to shape the unfolding story of UCE. In my remaining newsletter offerings, I intend to reflect a bit on what I humbly hope might be a legacy.
This time, I am thinking about the challenging balance between the personal particular and the mission of the many.
My observation early in my time with UCE is that this was a congregation founded and sustained by kind, caring, competent, generous individuals, many of whom had formed solid and meaningful interpersonal connections. The motivation to participate had grown for many over decades as friendships, working on common projects that sprang up through the need to raise money, to support emerging social causes, to support members in times of crisis. And to supporting professional ministry- for better, for worse.
All of that is important beyond measure. And with all great pools of assets come liabilities. Untended, liabilities threaten assets. Some of the liabilities faced by UCE have resulted in lay leader burn-out, a perception among folks new to the congregation that getting involved is more complicated than it looks, unmanaged personal expectations that lead to disappointment and conflict. All of this is deeply human and certainly not confined to UCE.
There is a lot of good news here. Over the past 18 months, through good times and hard times, many of you have been willing to engage in conversations and meetings and Sunday services where these issues have been aired and considered. What has emerged is the beginning of a shared understanding that beyond the particular relationships and tasks and even the particular minister, you all are serving a common mission, “To nurture the human spirit for a world made whole.”
This is answer to the larger “Why?” in the question, “Why do I hang in when things get hard?” “Why does this conflict need to be resolved instead of being swept under the carpet?” “Why do I need to raise my pledge?” Why do I need to stay on a committee with people who bug me?””Why do I need to provide loving feedback to the minister or the staff when I am concerned about the direction that something is headed”.
It’s because, in addition to having friends and personal fulfillment, each of you is part of something that has a life of its own that is shaped by all of its parts.
I am confident that this unnamed season between winter and spring will resolve itself as the cycles that nature ordains. I am also confident that the you at UCE will sustain your growing momentum to the Shared Ministry that will make your shared Mission live in the world through many more seasons.
Blessings, all!
Karen
VirtUUal Faith Formation: March 26, 2021
What’s Happening in Lifespan Faith Formation?
Welcome as we continue our theme of Commitment! This week we focus on the segments At The Bedside, The Extra Mile, and Blessing. Check out this week’s video here. You can access the Soulful Home packet here at your own leisure.
Many Ways to Connect
Taking Flight Sex Ed Program for 7th-9th Youth – Sunday at 1 pm. Youth must be registered to attend. See the email with Zoom info.
Pre/K Kids and Families – POP (Parents of Preschoolers) – March’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.
High School Youth – Outdoor gathering this weekend. Look for an email with details.
Looking Ahead
Easter Sunday – April 4 – once again this year we will be participating in a virtual egg hunt with over 70 UU congregations around the country and Canada! Details in next week’s newsletter and on Facebook!
Popcorn Theology Online for 6th-8th Grade Youth – Sunday, April 11 at 1 pm.
Current & Upcoming Adult Faith Formation Programs
Neo-Paganism History, Theology, and Ritual – Tuesdays, March 30 at 7-8:30 pm via Zoom. Facilitated by Rev. Susan Frances and Taryn Seawright. In this three-part series, Taryn and Rev. Susan will explore the history, theology, and ritual of Neo-Paganism.
Join us for Forum on April 4 at 10 am to discuss the Imagining the 8th Principle!
Come join us to hear about how the 8th Principle is being discussed within our congregation and to get an update on its adoption by other congregations and the UUA process for adoption. Bring your ideas to add to the list of suggestions about how the adoption this new principle could shape UCE.
Tickets Now Available – Peter Mayer Virtual Concert: March 26, 2021
Peter Mayer, celebrated singer and songwriter, will perform on Saturday, April 24 at 7 pm. Peter’s work is known throughout the Unitarian Universalists Congregations and one of his best known and beloved songs Blue Boat Home is included in the UU Hymnal.
Our congregation was honored to see Peter perform in our sanctuary last year and are very excited to welcome him back, this time on Zoom. The concert is hosted by the UCE Green Team with proceeds benefitting The Talking Farm. Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased through Eventbrite here starting Monday, March 29.
The Talking Farm is an initiative that helps people learn to farm and grow, harvest and eat their own food. It works closely with the students of Evanston Township High School, who work the Edible Acre, a garden across from the high school. Its harvest is used in the ETHS cafeteria and students learn about local climate, local farming, and developing a relationship with the land. Students from the Edible Acre will be participating in our April 22 Earth Day celebration!
For more information contact Sandra Robinson at srobinson@ucevanston.org.
VirtUUal Faith Formation: March 19, 2021
What’s Happening in Lifespan Faith Formation?
Welcome as we continue our theme of Commitment! This week we focus on the segments At Play, and From the Mailbox. Check out this week’s video here. You can access the Soulful Home packet here at your own leisure.
Many Ways to Connect
Family Fun Outdoors – This Sunday, March 21 at 11 am – 12:30 pm – we will meet at North Park Village Nature Center (5801 N Pulaski Rd. Chicago) for a short hike. Families are welcome to stay longer. There is a nature center there, but it might not be open.
Popcorn Theology Online for 6th-8th Grade Youth – Sunday, March 21 at 1 pm after the nature hike!
Taking Flight Sex Ed Program for 7th-9th Youth – Sunday at 1 pm. Youth must be registered to attend. See the email with Zoom info.
Pre/K Kids and Families – POP (Parents of Preschoolers) – March’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.
High School Youth – Outdoor gathering either Saturday or Sunday. Look for an email with details. And feel free to join the gathering at 11 am Sunday too!
Current & Upcoming Adult Faith Formation Programs
Neo-Paganism History, Theology, and Ritual – Tuesdays, March 16, 23, 30 at 7-8:30 pm via Zoom. Facilitated by Rev. Susan Frances and Taryn Seawright. In this three-part series, Taryn and Rev. Susan will explore the history, theology, and ritual of Neo-Paganism.
UCE Forum Discussion – Join us for Forum on March 21 at 10 am. We will host UCE member, Shawn Iles who is the new Assistant Director at Interfaith Action. Sean has responsibility for the Overnight Emergency Shelter, the Producemobile, and the newly opened afternoon warming shelter. UCE has been a long-time partner with Interfaith Action of Evanston, and many have helped with the Overnight Shelter and the Walk for Warmth. UCE has also been also been one of four churches sponsoring the “Let My People Go” port-a-potties sites. You can read up about Interfaith Action here.