Greetings from your Executive Operations Director 2-4-2024

This weekend at UCE was a special one for me. The feeling of community at Barbara Young’s memorial and at the Sunday service was rich and meaningful. The true essence of what it is like to truly be there for one another was right before us. The memorial captured the story of Barbara J. Young’s life and her connection with friends and to UCE.  

Perhaps that experience deepened my own connection as I make this transition leaving at the end of June after 22 years. The “Reflection” by Lina Hilko touched my heart, as I am sure it did for many in the room. We all come from different places, different spiritual experiences, and some no religious or spiritual background at all.  We have all found a path to UCE. Kathy Underwood’s children’s story “The Water Bearer’s Garden” captured my attention. Of course, a story about ceramic pots is ever so appealing, but the leaky pot which caused such grief and guilt for the water bearer proved to be a beautiful blessing as it created a garden over time. Most often, our brokenness and challenges take on a different meaning when we realize that good can come from them.  

As I milled about after the service, I encountered warm and curious comments about my upcoming retirement. I felt loved and appreciated. Working 30 hours this year has provided a transition period, one that has incorporated rest, creativity, and productivity into one satisfying life. It was a difficult adjustment initially, but all has taken on new meaning over time. I have enjoyed mentoring Adam and feeling his growing care of our building and grounds.  I am beginning to train Suzanne to take on rentals. I am leaving a paper and electronic trail on the many responsibilities I have held. I have created important spreadsheets, documents and information held in our UCE Root File for historical reference. Rev. Eileen Wiviott, Rev. Susan Frances, Vickie Doebele, Adam Gough and Suzanne Lis Daley will each take a part of the responsibilities I have held these past many years. UCE Member Michael Drennan will shadow me in the months ahead to learn the art of watering and nurturing our indoor plants. This makes me happy.   

I have and will continue to share my knowledge over the next five months with a feeling of trust that all will be in good hands and hearts going forward.   

Our first Rummage Sale planning meeting with Co-Leads Gillian Lawrence and Lynn Kendall was held Saturday afternoon. We are so lucky to have these two women with different skills and experiences to lead the way. Each have spent many hours working on the UCE Rummage Sale and will be terrific leaders. Renee Hoff has agreed to do publicity again this year. Her leadership on publicity has been extraordinary and without a doubt increased visibility of the sale within the congregation as well as outside our doors. Thank you to the three of them for stepping up to manage this important UCE fundraiser and important event for recycling, reuse, and connection with the community at large.   

We have found the Integrated Stewardship Council member-at-large we were seeking. Kristin Larsen has stepped up to fill this role and next year will serve on the Budget Working Group. Thank you, Kristin. Your financial knowledge and professional perspective will add to the ISC. C.J. Presto, as many know, will return as UCE Treasurer. Tom Carlton has done a stellar job serving us for the past three years. We are staying with our commitment to Tom to limit his term to three years.  We commend both these fine financial experts in their generosity of time to help UCE continues its healthy trend moving forward. When Tom steps down as Treasurer, Susan Carlton will also step down as ISC Secretary. If you, or someone you know at UCE would be a good fit for this position, please let me or Rev. Eileen Wiviott know.   

If you, your family, friends or acquaintances are seeking a space to hold a meeting, memorial, wedding or event, please let me know. The meeting rooms are excellent for board meetings and group gatherings as there is state of the art multi-platform equipment which enables groups to be in the room and see others on zoom. Our sanctuary is a beautiful space with wonderful acoustics for music performances and even for recordings. Keep us in mind as we try to utilize our space and meet the budget set before us for rentals. We make each experience special.   

In closing, I will continue to “Build a Meaningful Day” each day. Over the next five months I will cherish my time with staff and the congregation.  

Greetings from your Executive Operations Director 11-24-2023

As we enter into this Holiday Season of giving thanks, our hearts are heavy with the grief that pervades our world. May we take moments this Thanksgiving to be grateful for love, health, family, and friends who surround us and give us strength.  May we sustain one another.

As I write this newsletter article, I am thinking of our beloved Barbara Young who left us on November 15. I am grateful to our pastoral care team and caring committee, and most specifically Ann McCallister and Becky Taveirne for the time, care and bonds of friendship that created a sense of family for Barbara this past year. I feel fortunate to have been a part of her life and enjoyed the lilt in her voice as she proudly talked of the hours she spent at UCE preparing the newsletter, filing and other tasks I might assign. I had no idea how much that meant to her. She loved UCE and enjoyed the group of women who surrounded her in these past months. We will miss her. I am grateful for her presence in my own life.

Life at UCE is ever-evolving as I head toward my final months there.  I am enjoying mentoring Adam Gough as he learns the many details of caring for our building. So much love has gone into taking care of UCE’s buildings and grounds over the years. I experienced such joy and satisfaction working with Bud Brock, Dick Whitaker, Alex Sproul, and Bill Fischer. There were others as well in recent years, Robb Geiger, Greg Grabowski and Michael Drennen. I spent many years learning about the building, and I am now passing on that love and care to Adam as he takes on these responsibilities.

It has become a place of beauty, warmth and welcoming. On December 10 we will dedicate the lower level accessible and inclusive bathrooms, as well as the renovation of the nursery. Please join us after the service in the lower level to experience some of these projects that contribute to the accessibility and comfort for all who enter.

I am incredibly proud of Chris Allender and her amazing team. I know that Cathy Deamant was a key team member and there were many others. What a wonderful night of celebration. It seems that the dancing was a release of the many months we could not be together, and now could finally truly be together in joy and comradery. I can say for sure that I have not seen that many UCErs dancing in our sanctuary. Chris and team created a new auction format and did so very successfully, exceeding our financial goal and providing a fair and equitable format for all to feel welcome. Thank you team!

As crowds return to UCE, we are also experiencing an uptick in rentals. Many months of marketing and hard work have gone into restoring our successful rental program. It appears we may be turning a corner as we had Shorefront Legacy in October, Infant Welfare Society is signing on. These are two of the first not-for-profits who ventured out into the world of fundraising once more. Shorefront’s event hosted 275 people and it was a wonderful event with many of us from UCE in attendance. Evanston Symphony Orchestra rehearses at UCE on Tuesday evenings, North Shore Choral had a concert in our sanctuary last week. Let’s keep our fingers crossed as we continue to sign on rentals which are an important part of our UCE budget.

On an important financial note, please remember to open your pledge statements when they arrive in your email. This is the way we check our records against yours and inform congregants of their open balances. If members and friends continue to pay pledges, fundraisers continue to be successful and rentals continue to grow, we will end our fiscal year in the black. Thank you for your time, talent and treasures as we seek to accomplish our work in the world. Lastly, please provide me with names of individual who would be interested in taking on the UCE Treasurer role to succeed Tom Carlton. The ISC is also looking for one to two new members-at-large to serve on our council. Email me at srobinson@ucevanston.org if you are interested or have suggestions.

Greetings from your Executive Operations Director 10-20-2023

 Staff has been busy preparing for Shorefront Legacy’s Gala honoring Dino Robinson in our sanctuary Saturday evening. This is an important night for many of our UCE members attending. We have 18 congregants as well as staff including Rev. Eileen Wiviott, Liz Kennedy, Steven Eason and myself attending. We are grateful to the efforts of Dino Robinson for providing the history to support the case for Reparations in Evanston, the history of Redlining and other important racial equity initiatives, as well as creating a black history archive in Evanston through the formation of Shorefront Legacy several years ago.  

In our last newsletter and in member-to-member Facebook, we requested leads for a lobby monitor substitute. We are seeing an uptick in building usage and are preparing to have events and meetings covered so that the entire responsibility does not fall to Dan Baer and Kathy Talmage. Dan covers Sunday mornings and Kathy covers weeknights and some Sunday afternoons. Jeannie McCullough has agreed to be our substitute. Starting next Sunday Jeannie will be in the lobby for two Sundays. Please stop by and say hello.

 Serendipity Auction is also right around the corner. Chris Allender has done a super job of coordinating leaders and discovering new and different ways to run our annual fundraising event. Please go to our website and explore the auction page. There are three extraordinary raffle prizes this year and you can start buying tickets now at uce@ucevanston.org UCE t-shirts can also be ordered or you can make a cash donation if you know you can’t attend or feel you want to help support our fundraising efforts. Chris says she still needs volunteers and items from congregants. There is a terrific guide in the same website page that gives ideas for events you could put together for our congregation to bid on. Please plan to attend the preview party on Saturday, November 11 from 4-5:30 and the Serendipity Auction on Saturday, November 18. Purchase your auction meal today and join us for a spectacular evening of fun/fundraising. For questions or more information email  auction@ucevanston.org .

Our rental program feels as if it is expanding. Evanston Symphony Orchestra is committed to several weeks of rehearsals between now and the spring. We are so pleased to welcome them to our sanctuary space on Tuesday evenings. Skunkwerks, who you may recall, held a dance competition last year featuring youth from the south and west sides who performed an extraordinary dance performance on a Saturday in our sanctuary. Skunkwerks has signed on again this year for several rehearsals and workshops and has committed to return in 2024 for their next season of dance performances. Weavers Guild of the North Shore has returned once a month on Thursdays throughout the 2023-24 season. And, of course, we are always grateful for Udumbara, our regular monthly renter for many years now. Several memorial services have been held and are scheduled this year. Not only is rental income a significant part of our budgeted income, but thousands of guests enter our doors who discover who we are.  

Our Capital Campaign is winding down. Only two projects are left to complete. One is our sanctuary chairs which are scheduled for delivery later this year, and two remaining tasks in our Intergenerational Playscape Garden. Please join us on November 18 after the service for a dedication of the renovated lower level washrooms. Both are inclusive and the west bathroom is accessible with a new large stall, taller toilet, and automatic doors for easy entrance and exit.  

I continue to train Adam Gough as he has taken on Buildings & Grounds responsibilities as of July 1, 2023.  Adam and I enjoy our work together and have accomplished several important tasks so far. I will continue to advise and share knowledge with Adam until June 30, 2024 when I retire from UCE. I am available 30 hours per week and can be reached at srobinson@ucevanston.org  My hours vary based on the projects I am handling, but basically, I am here Tues/Wed/Thurs and Sunday mornings. If I do not immediately answer your email it is because I am not checking work email on the days I am not working.  

One other note: UCE pledge statements were just sent. Please check your spam or promotional mailboxes to make sure you receive an email from UCE by October 20th. Thank you.

Greetings from your Executive Operations Director 9-14-23

Ingathering provided a meaningful and wonderful way to reconnect with one another as we enter a new season. I delighted in seeing new families and many children and babies in our midst. Our future depends on the presence, time, treasure and talents the next generation brings to our community. It was a pleasure to be there to begin our new season, and the last ingathering I will be with all of you. There is much work ahead to prepare for the future of UCE.  

On Saturday of September 9, from 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. fifteen UCE congregants and staff received CPR and First Aid by two Evanston paramedics. This was an empowering experience, and yet fun to learn these skills together. The training was funded by our UCE Endowment Fund. More details from a participant will be included in a future newsletter.  

Life has been interesting and rewarding as I adjust to my 30-hour schedule. I am enjoying my time with Adam Gough, mentoring him and sharing my years of experience and information as he assumes the Buildings and Grounds responsibilities.  

I continue as Staff Lead of the Integrated Stewardship Council and am involved in the same activities that relate to finance – approval of invoices, expense management, and supervision of accounting and financial procedures. I am continuing as a member of the Capital Campaign Implementation Committee, following up on the many projects I have been involved in over the past five years. We are nearing completion of our tasks as a committee with only a few details here and there to be done. The final project will be complete upon installation of the sanctuary chairs later this year.  This fall we will celebrate the lower-level bathroom renovations. For those of you who have not yet seen them, please do wander downstairs and take a look. The west bathroom is fully accessible now with an automatic button for entrance and exit. One of the stalls was removed to make room for one large stall with a higher toilet and pull up bars alongside. A wheelchair can now easily traverse this bathroom. The east bathroom received a facelift with new sinks, paint, flooring and stalls that go down to a few inches off the floor for greater privacy. Our goal is to provide accessibility and inclusion for everyone.  

Please bear with us over the next two weeks as staff moves through logistical challenges of floor restoration in the wing. For two weeks starting Monday, September 18 through Friday, September 29, the lobby and wing floors will be cleaned, stripped, and waxed.  This process will ensure greater wear and longevity as the surface of our floors will be sealed and protected. Suzanne, Liz and Vickie will be working in other offices in the building on some days during that period as furniture will be moved out to work on the office floor. If you call the office or have difficulty reaching someone or you cannot enter the west entrance on any particular day we apologize for the inconvenience.  

Rentals are keeping me busy as I continue to build the program after the dramatic drop off during closure.  We are just beginning to see new interest in having weddings, and larger special events. Memorials and music programs have been our strongest area of growth. The Evanston Symphony Orchestra now rehearses in our UCE sanctuary, Udumbara Buddhist Sangha is with us still, as well as Weavers of the North Shore. We will host a new renter, Modern Quilters and welcome the return of Skunkwerks when they sponsor dance competitions in November and December.  

On October 21, Shorefront Legacy will hold their 25th Anniversary Celebration (Our History, Our Future) honoring the work of Dino Robinson founder of Shorefront Legacy Center and an important leader in our community, including a strong leadership role in Reparations.  Tickets are still available. See more information in the article below. Martha Holman is coordinating table and individual ticket sales at UCE. We want to show our support of Dino, this organization, and to be part of this wonderful community event and meaningful event.  Please read the article in this newsletter and respond to Martha Holman. Her information is included in that piece.