November 2021 - Page 2 of 2

REAL Meeting: November 17, 2021

How does it feel when someone raises an uncomfortable issue? Do you ignore it, think the person is rude or just walk away? Fear of Open Conflict holds us back from learning and growing as anti-racists.

Couple that fear with the feeling that we have a Right to Comfort. You know, it’s that feeling where we are physically relaxed and contented. We’re not feeling any pain or other sensations. We’re not really a part of the conversation.

Fear of Conflict and the Right to Comfort disregard the ideas of others, inhibit meaningful discussion and can cause harmful misinformation. It is through valuing discomfort that we become courageous and able to work with others in our beloved community.

Here are two current local examples where the issues of “fear of conflict” and “right to comfort” come into play.

1). The Art Institute of Chicago is revamping its docent program in order to build a more equitable paid program. The mostly white, wealthy volunteers were let go in order to make systemic changes that better reflect the diversity of Chicago. There has been considerable backlash from some folks, claiming that racial justice efforts have gone too far.

2). A part-time teacher in D65 filed a lawsuit recently, claiming racial harassment because she is white, and that the district is forcing anti-racist teachings on her and students. In a statement on the district’s website, Superintendent Devon Horton and the school board members say the lawsuit “takes out of context our District’s curriculum and training to advance the important work of equity in our schools.” The statement adds that the District 65 leaders believe the lawsuit is part of a “concerted national effort” by the conservative Southeastern Legal Foundation “to target racial equity-based initiatives in K-12 schools.”

Join the REAL Team on Wednesday, November 17 at 7 pm on Zoom to discuss how we can resolve conflict, face diversity and side with love. Join the Zoom meeting.

REAL Meeting: November 17, 2021UCE UCE2021-11-12T15:21:43+00:00

UCE Mitten Tree 2021: November 12, 2021

Happy Everything! Mitten Tree is BACK with some “fleece linings” of lessons learned and skills gained courtesy of our mostly contactless efforts last year.

This winter holiday tradition of gift giving is a wonderful way to connect with organizations and neighbors outside the walls of UCE.

Beginning this weekend, you will have the opportunity to sign up (HERE) to fulfill gift requests. This year we are leaning into our SHARED MINISTRY all around. There will be opportunities for everyone to lend a hand and fill a mitten that speaks to them.

This longstanding tradition is an overwhelmingly beautiful snapshot of our community’s shared values and a privilege to help organize. Read on below about where your gifts will go this year, AND MAY WHAT YOU GIVE BRING YOU JOY!

Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, located in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, works to restore human dignity through hospitality, hope, and healing. Their work includes: building relationships among youth and families impacted by violence and/or conflict; creating safe spaces where people can experience radical hospitality, hope, and healing; and promoting a restorative justice approach to resolve conflict and build a sense of community. 

Mitten tree gifts will go to members of the monthly mothers’ circles, which support women healing from trauma and striving to move forward. By coming together in circle, they create a safe space to share stories of loved ones, laugh and cry, and journey together toward healing. This is not a path that should be walked alone; participants find strength being in relationship with one another. UCE will be assembling gift bags with $25 Visa Giftcards, hand lotions and candles for 40 women. To learn more about this amazing work, ask Alice Swan!

The Rice Child & Family Center is located just down Ridge from UCE and is a safe home with wrap around services for children with post-traumatic behavioral dysregulation making traditional foster care inaccessible to them. The facility includes a medical clinic, group therapy classrooms, special education facilities, art therapy and maintains a goal of helping children return to a loving family environment.

This year, we will again be matched with 12 children to fulfill their holiday wish list. UCE has supported residents of the center for a number of years as our own Mitten Tree founder, Carol Nielsen is a long-committed volunteer. We aim to fill 6 gifts per child, balancing needed items such as clothing and shoes with therapeutic toys and games and, of course, something purely and simply for the joy of it.

Connections for the Homeless is an organization near and dear to our UCE community. Whether through shared plate, Mitten Trees past, Our Giving House donations, or supporting affordable housing programs, Connections has and will continue to be a meaningful partnership for us. Connections supports more than 1500 people a year – preventing homelessness, sheltering those in crisis, providing advocacy services, and fostering development of job and educational skills. This year, we are again looking to fulfill requests from 50 of their deserving clients around the $50 price point.

The Ghufran Bakir Family arrived to the Chicagoland area in early September 2021, sponsored as Syrian refugees. As they make a new home, arrange countless appointments, and navigate new systems, Jane Kenamore and Jeanne Kerl have helped them generate a list of comfort items we can provide to make Ryaan, Hatty, Talib, and Ghufran feel welcome and cared for this winter. While our congregational relationship with this family and their extended family has a rich history and will continue beyond the holiday season, we are thrilled that Mitten Tree is an opportunity to infuse a large dose of joy and well-being.

UCE Mitten Tree 2021: November 12, 2021UCE UCE2023-11-15T20:24:45+00:00

Serendipity Auction is Finally Here!

The hybrid Serendipity Auction opens on Sunday, November 14, 2021 at 11:15 am after the church service.  We are thrilled with the catalog–over 200 items of “Boodle”. Now we just need YOU “Bidding” so that we end up with a lot of “Bonding”!

Here is your “To Do” list:

Complete registration on the Auctria auction website using the email you use for the church directory–it’s very quick. Refer to the two emails (check spam) you got on November 8 and 9 from “Unitarian Church of Evanston” for detailed instructions and the link to register. Do this NOW so we can fix any registration issues early.

If you have any questions or problems with registration or bidding, we will be available after church on Nov. 14 or email us at auction@ucevanston.org.

Have an item to drop off? Bring it to the church on Sunday, November 14th or drop it at the church Tues-Fri from 10:00 am-5:00 pm this coming week. If you need other special arrangements, contact us at auction@ucevanston.org

Come to the church on Saturday, November 20th from 10:00 am-1:00 pm to see the items, socialize, get a balloon sculpture and pick up a pre-ordered dessert box.

Don’t forget to buy raffle tickets–we are running FIVE different raffles this year for a variety of wonderful items.

Mark your calendar for our big closing celebration on Saturday, November 20th (preparties start at 6:40, and the celebration–which we promise will be a lot of fun–is from 7 pm to 8 pm).

Buy a 4- or 8-piece dessert box from the catalog by Nov 19th to have desserts from UCE’s talented bakers during the celebration.

Serendipity Auction is Finally Here!UCE UCE2021-11-11T14:35:35+00:00

From Rev. Susan Frances: November 12, 2021

Dear Friends,

New Times Call for New Plans!

I want to thank everyone who has provided feedback to me, the other staff, and the Faith Formation Force about the worship service and faith formation hour on Sunday mornings. We've been back in-person for Sunday morning worship for 9 Sundays now. We have a sense of how many people are attending, a sense of how our traditional 13 Hospitality Teams schedule is going, and a sense of what people are enjoying.

As with most things in this pandemic, we are making plans with the information we have and then we are adjusting as we gather feedback and experience. With this in mind, we are making two adjustments to our Sunday morning in-person flow.

Kinship Time

The first adjustment is creating time for Kinship, which some of us call Fellowship, after the worship service each Sunday. After the service, please stick around in the sanctuary for 20 minutes to greet visitors, get to know new members, and reconnect with your friends. At 11:35 am, Faith Formation Hour will commence with the same activity pattern that we used in October.

Wander back through the café area next to the kitchen to interact with our committees and teams. There will be three program tables available to our committees and teams each Sunday during Kinship Time. Please contact Jessica Meis at admin@ucevanston.org if you would like to reserve one.

The tables outside the kitchen will have a variety of hard candy treats. Try a new flavor each week! Water will be our only beverage available through February. You are welcome to bring warm beverages from home in your travel mugs. Please practice entering the kitchen along the hallway by the sanctuary doors and exit into the café area. We will continue to wear our masks snuggly over our nose and mouth with breaks to take a sip or pop in a candy.

Reshaping Hospitality Teams

Our faith calls upon each of us to engage in radical hospitality, creating a place of welcome for the stranger and the friend. Our shared ministry calls us to figure out how to do this together. UCE has a long tradition of everyone in the congregation being assigned to one of the Hospitality Teams. This tradition is continuing, but in a new format.

Our new Sunday plan is that we will have 4 dedicated Hospitality Teams:

Hospitality Team for Greeters – If you enjoy making others feel comfortable or appreciate how you were welcomed to UCE and would like to provide that for another, this is the team for you. No training needed; you will receive instructions on the morning you volunteer. Our Team Coordinator for Greeters is Marianne Griebler.
Hospitality Team for Money Counters – If you like ushering during the service or counting the offertory funds after the service or if you prefer a role where you don't have to talk with a lot of people, this team is for you. There is training provided. Our Team Coordinator for Money Counters is Peggy Boccard.
Hospitality Team for Kitchen Ministry – If you enjoy providing food to show you care, this team is for you. We are planning to start serving coffee, tea, and lemonade on March 6, 2022. In the meantime, we are providing water and hard candies during Kinship Time. There is training provided in using our newly renovated kitchen. Our Team Coordinator for Kitchen Ministry volunteers is yet to be determined.
Hospitality Team for Virtual Only – If you are not yet comfortable volunteering in-person, this is the team for you. Training will be provided if you are invited to host something online. Our Team Coordinator for Virtual Only volunteers is Rev. Susan Frances.

It is my hope that everyone in the congregation will continue to be on one of the hospitality teams. Hospitality is one of the foundations of creating community, of building relationships, and of engaging in something larger than ourselves. For some it is a spiritual practice, for some it is a social connection, and for some it is an act of service. For all of us, it is vital to our congregation's ability to flourish.

You may sign up for a team in two ways. The first is to log into REALM, go to Groups/Find Groups/Hospitality Teams, click on the Hospitality Team you are interested in, and then click "Join". The second is to respond to the email from the team coordinators or me (sfrances@ucevanston.org) and we'll get you added to the Hospitality Team of your choice.

The new Sunday morning volunteer schedule for our 4 dedicated Hospitality Teams will commence on January 2, 2022. The Team Coordinators have committed to this plan through 2022. We'll see how we, and the world, are doing then and either continue on with this plan or shift again. Our traditional 13 Hospitality Teams will be deactivated after each has completed its scheduled Sunday between now and the end of December.

If you have any ideas, questions, input, or concerns, please let me know. As with all things right now: We will try it and see how it goes. We will embrace patience and flexibility. We will do it together.

In faith,
Rev. Susan

From Rev. Susan Frances: November 12, 2021UCE UCE2021-11-09T23:23:35+00:00

November 14, 2021

We will host an in-person and virtual worship service on Sunday, November 14th at 10:15 am.

Stories of the Land, Stories of the People
UCE is a sacred space where we gather together to share our celebrations and our sorrows. We lovingly care for and tend to the building and the land upon which it resides. Our Principles call upon us to live accountably with the land and the people who have, do, and will inhabit the land. This accountability calls on us to address the narrative many of us learned growing up of the founding of the United States which leaves out the voices of the Indigenous peoples of North America. This Sunday, we will explore ways to expose this disconnection from reality through supporting Native American communities, scholars, and environmentalists. We will share some of the stories of the land upon which UCE resides, stories of the Indigenous communities who were the first to care for this land, and stories of how it became a commodity for sale under settler colonialism.

A few important notes about participating in-person:

Everyone over 2 in and around the UCE building will need to be masked.
We will maintain physical distance, which means, chairs will be spaced apart and seating is limited in the sanctuary to 150. We will have overflow seating in room 3 (30) and room 6 (25), to participate in the service through the livestream.
Please review our UCE Guidelines for Building Use before Sunday.

Please submit your Joys and Sorrows through this online form. If you submit a message by 9 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 Renaissance Social Services.

November 14, 2021UCE UCE2021-11-09T17:08:41+00:00

Seeking Future Leaders: November 5, 2021

The Nominating and Recruitment Committee (N&R) is beginning to identify potential candidates for future positions, such as the Board of Trustees, Endowment Committee, and our own N&R Committee.

Please help us! We may not know what skills and experience you have that would make you a perfect fit for one of the positions. You may know someone who would step up if asked. We especially want to encourage folks who have not previously served on these committees to consider this opportunity to support the church.

Please fill out this Google form if you would like to nominate someone or volunteer yourself. Also feel free to reach out to Janice Milanovich (through Realm). See the website for more information.

Seeking Future Leaders: November 5, 2021UCE UCE2021-11-05T16:30:52+00:00

From EOD: November 5, 2021

These past several weeks have been challenging as I navigated my brother Dan’s open-heart surgery, hopeful recovery, and unfortunate death. We buried him Saturday, and I return today after time with my broken-hearted family. Thank you to all of you who have reached out during his illness to send loving thoughts, prayers, and care. Your loving words and support have helped ease the pain and provide peace.

I have been staying connected to my work, staff, leadership, and our community whose work in this world is so incredibly important. The good work goes on from day to day.

While I was away Sandy Danforth and Gillian Lawrence kept our lobby project moving forward. We will be completing the bulletin boards, children’s area, furniture, and welcome center in the weeks ahead. Thank you for Gillian, Rev. Susan Frances and Jessica Meis for the work on the attractive and informative bulletin boards. Our lovely new monitors and the boards provide a visual explanation of who we are, what are about and the many programs and activities that support the work of UCE.

Our Intergenerational Playscape is looking beautiful. The Japanese maple near the ramp is not well and was recently treated and wrapped. The landscapers believe it will recover. The mosaic tiles were created by families with the help of Artist Indira Johnson and Kathy Underwood. Even I made one that lives next to the accessibility ramp, a fitting place, as I learned so much about addressing accessibility needs by our dear Alma Woods whose family funded the ramp. The littles are truly enjoying the berm and they will have fun helping us install fairy houses sometime soon.

Our rental program is growing once again now that our building is open. Of course, we are following guidance from our COVID 19 Task Force. This is an important budget piece and expands the connections we have with the community outside our doors. Recently we had North Shore Choral Society and North Shore Chamber Orchestra concerts on a Sunday afternoon, as well as the Junior Mance Celebration of Life, among other events and memorials.

Shirley Adams and I have applied for a grant to help us fund an “information station” where our rain gardens and the study of our rain gardens will be explained with words and photos, much like you might see at Morton Arboretum. Thank you Shirley and Andrew Fisher for bringing this funding opportunity forward.

Last evening we convened our first Pledge Drive Team meeting for the 2022/23 Pledge Drive. Jim Strickler and Raphael Hernandez agree to co-chair this important team. Tom Carlton will provide data services as Treasurer. Rev. Eileen and I met with them to discuss an overview of the process and steps to follow as we move forward to the Feb/March campaign. A full team will be organized once Jim and Raphael have met and developed their thoughts and plans.

Meanwhile, the Budget Working Group has met and will meet again in two weeks to begin the budgeting process. The BWG is Treasurer Tom Carlton, Board Chair Joe Romeo, Rev. Eileen Wiviott, Susan Comstock, ISC member at large, and myself as EOD and ISC lead. This work is done in tandem with the pledge drive as we based on our pledge income on the results of the drive. A preliminary draft will be approved by ISC and the Board of Trustees in January with a revised draft with final pledge income will be submitted at their April meetings for approval at the Annual Meeting in May.

From EOD: November 5, 2021UCE UCE2021-11-05T15:57:32+00:00

Board Snap Lines: November 5, 2021

WITHIN. AMONG. BEYOND.

These words aren’t marching orders, though if chanted in succession might be a nice metric for chipping ice off the porch stairs in coming months. Courage!

The three words are containers for our shared identities and goals at UCE. The edges are porous. And flexible. They overlap. They bristle and jab. They harmonize. They have a pulse, and attitude, and history. Now, the future:

In the coming weeks we’re asking you to join the quest to find our beloved and hard-working W.A.B. in gatherings hosted by board members in person or on Zoom. They’re full of story-telling and reflection on meaning within us as individuals, and how that becomes a vision for UCE—among ourselves, and beyond our walls to community and national healing. Despite the portentous aim, they’re a heap o’ fun! No lie. The following dates are open, and eager for your energy:

NOVEMBER 7 (Sunday) from 1- 2 on Zoom
NOVEMBER 10 (Wednesday) from 7- 8 pm on Zoom
NOVEMBER 13 (Saturday) from 9:30 -10:30 in person at UCE
DECEMBER 4 (Saturday) from 12 -1 pm on Zoom
JANUARY 2 (Sunday) as part of Faith Formation Hour, 11:30 -12:30 at UCE
JANUARY 5 (Wednesday) from 5:30 – 6:30 pm on Zoom

Sign up on the UCE website. You can review our goals online under the tab ABOUT / WHO WE ARE / MISSION & ENDS STATEMENTS

Author Carson McCullers nailed it in A Member of the Wedding. The young character Frankie says this: “the trouble with me is that for a long time I was an I person. All people belong to a We…Not to belong to a We is too lonesome.” Frankie refers to her quest as THE WE OF ME. And so too for us, this discovery.

Here are three other important words: That. Was. Amazing.

Reverend Eileen’s installation service was a powerful reminder of the importance of ritual, celebration, and humor in our congregation. Thanks to all nearby and across the country who created this beautiful day. And to Reverend Eileen Wiviott. As a somewhat bewildered, ol’ Unitarian who quakes and rationalizes far too often, I was wholly inspired. I felt joy and strength, and recommitted to whatever comes our way. Like ice on the porch.

We got this.

In love and service,
Ally Hunter

* SNAP LINE, carpentry: a tool to draw a line between (within among beyond) two points, a guide

Board Snap Lines: November 5, 2021UCE UCE2021-11-04T14:55:21+00:00

November 7, 2021

We will host an in-person and virtual worship service on Sunday, November 7th at 10:15 am.

Creating peace within, among, and beyond: healing from trauma
Trauma, in its many forms, takes its toll on our bodies and wreaks havoc in our lives. Together we look for ways to move through it, release its hold, and find hope for healing. Rev. Eileen leads the service with Worship Associate, Annette Wallace.

A few important notes about participating in-person:

Everyone over 2 in and around the UCE building will need to be masked.
We will maintain physical distance, which means, chairs will be spaced apart and seating is limited in the sanctuary to 150. We will have overflow seating in room 3 (30) and room 6 (25), to participate in the service through the livestream.
Please review our UCE Guidelines for Building Use before Sunday.

November 7, 2021UCE UCE2021-11-02T03:47:40+00:00

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