November 3, 2024
Promises Made, Promises Kept, Promises Broken, Promises Remade
The world is in disrepair. Any hope for making the world more whole rests in repairing the soul, each soul, one at a time, moment by moment. Weaving the promises of our ancestors to the promises we want to make to our descendants. As we look to an uncertain future, how do we cherish the promise of every soul to choose the transforming power of liberating love and help heal the world?
Rev. Eileen leads this service with Ministerial Intern, Dr. Emma Farrell as worship associate. Kevin Barrow will be our hymn leader and provide clarinet accompaniment with Gregory Shifrin on piano.
Throughout the month of November, our Shared Offering Program partner is the Chicago Abortion Fund who will receive half of all donations designated for the Shared Offering or undesignated.
Here are the worship service topics for the next 4 weeks:
November 10th – What’s Next? Knowing what we know now, where do we go from here? – Rev. Eileen Wiviott
November 17th – Karen Courtright shares her Spiritual Journey
November 24th – Bread Communion – In gratitude we share – Rev. Eileen Wiviott
December 1st – Being Present in Anxious Times – Rev. Eileen Wiviott
From Rev. Susan Frances 10-25-2024
Dear Friends,
I, along with so many of you, am holding anxiety about the November 5th election in my body, my mind, and my spirit. Three practices that are helping me reduce my anxiety are:
- Spend time with family and friends. I am making time to talk and laugh with folks I know hold values similar to my own about our vision for the future of our country, our state, and our local communities.
- Be active in get-out-the-vote initiatives and values based conversations. I am also making time to do what I can to talk with folks who may not hold values similar to mine about the value of voting and about the importance of our democracy. Even with the flaws of our political system, this year it is important to talk with folks who you may usually never discuss politics with about the importance of voting for candidates who will support the foundations of our democracy and work to improve upon them.
- Prayer or Quiet Reflection. Prayer, for me, is often about working through my thoughts, recognizing my concerns, and making time to acknowledge that for which I am grateful. You don’t have to call it prayer in order to make time to sit or walk quietly by yourself and reflect on your life and what is happening around you.
As the election approaches, we need to continue supporting each other. I will be holding space at UCE on November 5th and 6th for us to gather together as we wait. Wait for votes to be cast, wait for votes to be counted, and wait for the threatened challenges to our legitimate election processes to be addressed. I invite you to join me at one or all of these times:
Nov. 5, 8-9 am, sanctuary
Nov. 5, 1-2 pm, sanctuary
Nov. 6, 1-2 pm, room 3 and zoom
Nov. 6, 6-7 pm, room 3 and zoom
In this moment in our country’s history, it is time to participate to the fullest extent you are able in our electoral process. As you do this, it is also important to be getting enough sleep, staying connected with others, and noticing if you are not doing well and need some additional support. Please reach out to me, Rev. Eileen, or Rev. Elizabeth if you are overwhelmed and need a pastoral conversation. We are all in this together!
Yours,
Rev. Susan
Updates From Kathy Underwood 10-17-2024
With the much-anticipated start to the new church year behind us, things are settling down a bit, but not the energy of it all! And while everything we do at UCE is faith formation, let me lift up all that is happening in my area of our community.
Our new adult program, Meeting Our Interfaith Neighbors, began with a 3-session introduction to the program. Each session was recorded so that anyone can watch them before participating in exploring any of the six faith traditions we’ll be learning about during the year. You can watch the first session here using Passcode: .w6N$k$U, session 2 here with Passcode: W7.v4yRH, and session 3 here with Passcode: &nQscB22.
You can register here to be included on future emails.
On November 5, we will begin our exploration of Judaism with Rabbi Andrea London as our guest speaker. We will follow this by attending Shabbat services on November 8 at 6:30p. Then on the 19th, we will gather again at UCE for a time of reflection and sharing.
Our Young Adult group has started up again with Kiley Korey and Kevin Barrow taking the lead. Although Eileen and I are no longer considered young adults (gasp!), we have been invited to participate in their gatherings on the third Friday evening of the month. Speaking for myself, I still feel young at heart and being with the group keeps it that way.
For our youth, the high school youth group has resumed and will continue to meet on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. They are looking into the topic of environmentalism for their Youth Sunday worship service this spring. They are also using the Crossing Paths curriculum from Soul Matters this year that will lead into the Bridging Ceremony for the seniors.
Our new middle school group if off to an awesome start. They are making their new space in room 10 feel a bit more their own. Last Sunday, they painted the orange walls a dark teal. They hope to do a mural on a bulletin board too. Using a design concept presented by Gillian Lawrence, they’ll add some new pillows, a rug, and floor lamps. The adults will want to use the room more often now!
Many of our young people in grades 4-6 will be participating in the Our Whole Lives Sex Ed (OWL) program on Sunday afternoons for five weeks beginning on October 27. This year, we have partnered with Lake Street Church to run this program. We have 16 young people participating, and four facilitators, two of whom are from UCE: Kendall (Lake) Matias and Christine Peters.
For all ages, plans are underway to finish the playscape area on the south lawn with input from interested parents and young people. For phase one of our plan, we ordered some chairs, benches, and a climbing structure for toddlers. We are also blessed to have an aspiring Eagle Scout, Enzo Wallin, who will be building some wooden pieces to add to the space. We plan to have a mulching party next spring to lay the foundation for this new equipment. Phase two will be a bit later on and includes a tetherball pole that can also be used as a maypole in the spring.
As you can see, we have a lot of awesome things happening here to help people of all ages connect with each other and create a caring and thriving community. Feel free to join in whenever and wherever you can!
In Faith,
Kathy