September 4, 2022
We will host an in-person and virtual worship service on Sunday, September 4th at 10:30 am.
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 the Interfaith Action of Evanston.
Endowment Task Force Update
As you are probably aware, the Endowment Task Force has been meeting for well over a year. The Endowment Task Force consists of Susan Comstock, Margaret Schatz, Jane Kenamore, Alice Swann, Tom Ticknor, Rob Wingader, Eileen Wiviott, and Joe Romeo. We sought input from the Endowment Committee and the congregation at the beginning of our work to determine what concerns people had. We were able to use those concerns to develop proposals which fit into eight categories: Communication, Distribution, Endowment Committee Processes, Investments, Bylaws, Endowment Committee Structure, Processing of Grant Applications, and Board/Endowment Relationships.
We have a couple steps before we are ready to present our recommendations to the congregation. Currently, we are working to finalize the language for each proposal. Once we believe the language is clear, we will get feedback from the Endowment Committee and the Board of Trustees. At that point, we will hold townhall meetings to explain the recommendations and to get feedback from the congregation. We plan to have these steps completed this autumn.
Finally, it will be up to the Endowment Committee and the Board of Trustees to put the recommendations into practice. It is most important, we believe, that we continue to work deliberately to be sure that all the proposals are clear, understood and supported by the congregation.
Joe Romeo
UCE UUtheVote 2022: The Time is Now, the Outcome is Critical
How about a trip up to Racine with Friends?
Help ‘Get Out The Vote’ by distributing information to voters in Racine. Training, snacks and drinks will be provided, no prior experience needed! Coordinated by Racine Interfaith Coalition. (Thanks to our friends at Olympia Brown UU for this connection!) A special opportunity this Saturday, August 27 but many more days available!
Use this link to get on their volunteer list and see dates when volunteers are needed each week. Then gather a couple of friends and help Wisconsin vote!
Reclaim Our Vote writes only to people of color who are generally not contacted by Democratic party operatives. They are traditionally the forgotten voters, particularly in rural communities.
ROV gets results!
In Petersburg Va in 2021 CFCG contacted black voters without phones with handwritten postcards, emphasizing issues in the community and encouraging them to vote. Voter turnout was 43% – great numbers for folks who don’t usually vote! In Onslow, NC in 2019, 23% of purged voters who received a postcard letting them know they were no longer on the voting rolls re-registered. Once folks re-register they likely vote! Pick up your post card pack at the back of the sanctuary Sunday, or contact Carolyn Laughlin (REALM or admin@ucevanston.org)
Support Democracy With a Trip to Milwaukee: Wisconsin voters will make critical decisions, impacting the entire country, this November. Folks sharing our UU values are working hard to register every voter aligned with us. Several DMV offices in Milwaukee are fabulous places to support these voters. Contact Greg Grabowski (REALM or admin@ucevanston.org) for simple, quick training and more info.
Keep Your Eye on the Illinois Supreme Court: Our Supreme Court has a direct impact on our criminal justice system. Help ensure these judges share our UU values. Sign up to write postcards to voters about the IL Supreme Court elections, https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScy1jg_4NHg6zCdiKYti0RLsT8zwryv80ZYjd_pVoY3YDpvcg/viewform
Finally, Share YOUR Work With Us!
All UCE member and friend work to get out the vote counts towards our our 40,000 Points of Love goal! Share your update with Greg Grabowski (REALM or admin@ucevanston.org)
Greetings from Executive Operations Director Sandra Robinson
David Carling, our new Office Administrator began his work at UCE on August 15. He delved right into this work and is making great progress. Staff has been eager and helpful in making him feel at home and learn the job. He experienced his first staff meeting yesterday. Welcome David. We are so glad you are with us. Office Hours are now M-F 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
As you enter the UCE parking lot you will see many flowers in bloom and new plantings. Last week our Sanctuary Cooling Project Landscaping Plan came into fruition. Nature’s Perspective provided a creative solution to hiding our air conditioning condensers and bringing color and new life to the northwest side of our building. Today I ordered a new bench that will sit on the stones on the west side of the garden facing the parking lot. John LaPlante had envisioned a place where people could sit and wait for their ride. We have made that happen and will place a bench there in memory of him. Thank you to all who contributed to the Capital Campaign for making the cooling and landscaping project possible.
You will also see a new bench donated in memory of Raissa and Eleanor Landor. In 1993, Eleanor Landor and her daughter Raissa joined UCE. When Eleanor passed in 1999 her family planted a tree in the UCE garden and a bench was placed in Eleanor’s name. The bench has weathered over the years and the family has purchased a new one that will honor both Eleanor and Raissa, who passed in 2020. The new bench will be placed under the same tree. The Landor family hopes that this bench will be a place for calm, reflection and a spot to enjoy a great book. Becca and Sarah Landor express their deepest gratitude for the UCE community. We are proud and appreciative of this beautiful donation.
Please pass the word along to friends and colleagues in the area who may be interested in holding workshops or meetings at UCE. We have space available during the day and in the evening. Rooms 3 and 6 have state of the art dual platform equipment perfect for presentations and meetings of not-for-profit boards and agencies. Our sanctuary space is perfect for music performances, memorials and weddings. Contact me at srobinson@ucevanston.org or 847-864-1330 for more information. I am about to update our website with photos and testimonials so that everyone can see the many types of spaces and opportunities available at UCE. In September we welcome the return of Mothers of Multiples (MOMS) and in November, North Shore Choral Society.
Mark your calendars and plan to attend a Howard Levy Concert on Sunday, October 24 in our Sanctuary. Howard is beloved by our UCE community, and well known throughout Evanston, the City of Chicago and, in fact, the country. Tickets will go on sale late September for this music event not to be missed. Watch our newsletters and website for more information as the date nears.
August 28, 2022
We will host an in-person and virtual worship service on Sunday, August 28th at 10:15 am.
Social Transformation Through Dance and Poetry
We conclude our August series on the Arts with dance and poetry, which are both connected and empowered by rhythmic breath. Worship contributors for this Sunday are Nehanda Julot, Ann McCallister, and Rev. Eileen Wiviott.
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 the Interfaith Action of Evanston.
The Nest – From Kathy Underwood, Director of Lifespan Faith Formation
In my column last month, I posed the question, which came first – the chicken or the egg? I used this as an analogy for my primary focus at this time of the year – determining whether to find volunteers first and form a program for our young people based on that, or to form the program and then find the volunteers.
And so now we get to work building our nest for this year. There’s so much to do to get ready for the arrival of our young people, and so much to look forward to! Let’s start with the people…
We have had some fun this summer due to the generosity of several people. Our Wednesdays on the Lawn gave us the joy of connecting with each other and having fun. We started with a Summer Solstice ritual, and in July had a scavenger hunt in the rain garden led by Northwestern University grad student, Haley Lewis, followed by a game night. So far this month, we had a dance party where Ellie Federson and Shirley Adams taught us some dance moves. This past week, Rev. Eileen gave a backpack blessing, and we celebrated the beginning of the school year with a bonfire and s’mores. Our last gathering will be on the 31st – movie night on the lawn!
The Family Ministry Team has been busy this summer too. We recently had a “spruce-up” party, where we checked the supplies in the lower-level rooms and got things ready for opening day on September 18. It was an all-ages event: the Lawrences, Liddells, Drakes, and Milanoviches helped sharpen pencils and test markers among other tasks. Our biggest endeavor is a special project that we’re initially calling The Nest to be unveiled at our Ingathering on September 11. I don’t want to spoil it too much, so for now let me just say that it is a family and kid-friendly area we are creating in the sanctuary. We will be giving you an opportunity to follow our 5th Principle and vote on a name to call this special area, so please do so!
As we create The Nest, so too are we building a larger, figurative, nest – the faith formation program. While we have quite a few “chickens” (volunteers), we need a few more. Before you think to yourself, “I’m not qualified to do that!”, let me put you at ease. We are not in need of experts on UUism, world religions, spirituality, social justice, or any topic in particular. We DO need people who are good listeners, are compassionate, and are eager to learn and have fun. We NEED folks who genuinely care about the next generation and forming relationships so that our young people can grow into our UU faith as young adults and beyond. If this is something you can embrace and would like to consider, you can read more details elsewhere in this newsletter.
In Faith,
Kathy
Endowment News
Endowment News
The Endowment Committee is happy to announce that grants to six applicants for the church year 2022-2023 were approved by the Board of Trustees at the June meeting. Here is the LINK to our Endowment webpage with the list of new grants.
- Building & Grounds: $15,000 for repairs and improvements expenses expected over the course of this year
- Worship Arts: $7,000 for Choir Section Leaders expense (with the remaining cost of that program coming from the Music Fund)
- Garden Team: $1,380 for plants, tools and mulch to support various UCE gardens and the Cahill vegetable garden (which supports food pantries)
- Immigrant Solidarity (Refugee Support Team): $5,950 for rent and other expenses for 4 months for an Afghan refugee family in great need of support
- REAL/Prison Ministry: $7,500 for READI For Re-Entry, a program to support Chicago-area incarcerated men reentering society. Our grant will be used to pay interns serving as peer-to-peer mentors.
- Food and Shelter Team: $1,450 to cover cost of purchased meals for the two fall Soup Kitchens held at UCE
The next application deadline is October 31. If your team would like to submit an application, be sure to be in touch with Endowment early for guidance.
As of the new church year effective July 1, your elected Endowment Trustees are Bill Hartgering and Susan Comstock (co-chairs), and Jessica Wingader. Additional Committee members are Jane Kenamore, Margaret Schatz and Bob Seyfried. We expect to have a very busy year working with the Board of Trustees and the congregation on the suggestions expected from the Endowment Task Force.
Many thanks to Jim Clark, who is stepping down from the Committee in September after 10 years of service. We’d also like to acknowledge the service of Will Van Dyke, Barbara Butz and Tom Hempfling who all stepped down from the Committee in June. They all contributed wise counsel and tremendous energy as they helped guide the Endowment Committee from its modest beginnings to the much larger fund and more structured approach we have today.
For more information on Endowment, go to our webpage under the Giving tab on the UCE website, or email us at endowment@ucevanston.org
Support our Young People!
Thank you for considering this volunteer opportunity! Here are a few details to consider:
· The young people will be in the first half of the worship service and will go to their groups after joys and sorrows, around 11a, and end by noon.
· Preschool/Kindergarten – led by Ann Gadzikowski
· Elementary Ages – grades 1-6 – led by Kathy Underwood and Sue Larson
· Youth Group – grades 7-12 – led by Linda Herried and Ann McCallister
· All materials are prepared for you ahead of time – you only need to read through the lesson plan and be ready to help and have fun!
· You are guaranteed to learn more about UUism, the world, and yourself. Bonus: you’ll get to form relationships with our awesome kids and youth!
· You can volunteer for one of the “blocks” of time, or you can spread out your commitment over the year.
· All volunteers will have a background screening done confidentially.
If this still interests you, contact Kathy Underwood today!
This Sunday…
· All ages are invited to remain in the worship service. Nursery care (ages 0-3) is available during worship in room 11 from 10:15-11:30a
And looking ahead…
· Wednesdays on the Lawn – our last one!
o August 31 – Movie on the Lawn – 6:30 for picnicking, 7:15-ish showtime. If you have a suggestion for a movie, email Kathy with your ideas!
Families can explore our theme of Celebrating Blessings in their own timeframe in the Soulful Home Packet
August 21, 2022
We will host an in-person and virtual worship service on Sunday, August 21th at 10:15 am.
Social Transformation Through the Visual Arts
We continue our series exploring the power of the arts to transform us personally, spiritually, and to empower social movements for change. We focus on street art, graffiti, art of the marginalized and the reclaiming and beautifying of things cast aside. Betty Walker and Rev. Eileen Wiviott are the worship leaders and our guest musician is cellist, Eric Powers.
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 the Interfaith Action of Evanston.