December 2025 - UC Evanston

Sunday, January 4, 2026

Fire Communion: Finding Our Gift

This Sunday, in-person participants will be invited to burn flash paper and online participants will be invited to have 1 to 4 candles ready to use during the Fire Communion. We will set an intention toward finding our gift. A gift that reflects our unique qualities and is able to be shared with the world.

Worship is led by Rev. Susan Frances and worship associates Dr. Emma Farrell, Ellie Feddersen, Lynn Kendall, and Bob Mesle, along with hymn leader Jenn Wisegarver and pianist Gregory Shifrin.

Today’s offering will be shared with C&W Market Foundation, whose mission is to enrich the Evanston community by providing essential grocery access to those facing food insecurity and fostering career skills in the food and culinary industry.

Upcoming Services

January 11th – Love Resists – Revs. Eileen and Susan and the Catalyst Team

January 18th – Shall We Overcome? – Rev. Eileen with Henry Pleas as musical guest

January 25th – Sophia Newman’s spiritual journey with Rev. Eileen as worship associate

February 1st – Resilience Born out of Difference – Rev. Eileen

Sunday, January 4, 2026adminuce2025-12-27T23:08:37+00:00

Sunday, December 28, 2025

Finding Hope when Plans Change

In this all-ages service, we’ll follow a story of setback and adaptation to explore hope…not as certainty or fixed outcomes, but as openness to possibility. Dr. Emma Farrell, Ministerial Intern, leads our service with Worship Associate Annette Wallace. Gregory Shifrin shares his talents on piano.

Today’s offering will be shared with FORA – Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America, whose mission is to ensure that refugee families are provided access to an education sufficient to prepare them to become economically self-sufficient and robustly engaged in American civic life.

Upcoming Services

January 4th – Fire Communion – Rev. Susan

January 11th – Love Resists – Revs. Eileen and Susan and the Catalyst Team

January 18th – Shall We Overcome? – Rev. Eileen with Henry Pleas as musical guest

January 25th – Sophia Newman’s spiritual journey with Rev. Eileen as worship associate

Sunday, December 28, 2025adminuce2025-12-18T21:15:58+00:00

A Prayer for Peace

In the bleak of winter, amidst the night of the soul, when peace feels so far away, we gather to pray for the clarity of a single star guiding us toward a peace we can only create together. Rev. Eileen Wiviott leads our Christmas Eve candlelight service with Worship Associates Shirley Adams, Mary Dudek, Dr. Emma Farrell, and Bob Mesle. Our UCE Choir, directed by Vickie Hellyer and accompanied by Gregory Shifrin on piano, Peter Schifrin on flute, and Nadav Simon on percussion, lead us in song.

A Prayer for Peaceadminuce2025-12-18T15:00:35+00:00

Sunday, December 21, 2025

A Story of Hope

The winter solstice brings the promise of returning light and warmth, and the Christmas story as we enact it, helps us to choose hope even when things are bleak. Join us in celebrating the season with the retelling of Jesus’ birth in an interactive and music-filled worship service. Kathy Underwood leads and Rev. Eileen will be the Worship Associate. Jenn Wisegarver, Kiley Korey, Charles M. Anderson, and Patrick Briody will lead our hymns.

Today’s offering will be shared with FORA, which stands for Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America. I invite Sue Larson up to share with us about her experiences tutoring at FORA.

Upcoming Services

December 24th – Christmas Eve Service (7pm)

December 28th – Living Faithfully – Dr. Emma Farrell

January 4th – Fire Communion – Rev. Susan

January 11th – Love Resists – Revs. Eileen and Susan and the Catalyst Team

January 18th – Shall We Overcome? – Rev. Eileen with Henry Pleas as musical guest

Sunday, December 21, 2025adminuce2025-12-17T21:12:43+00:00

Board of Trustees Update, December 2025

Ugly Crying, with Dignity

by Ally Hunter

Thus begins this month’s Board of Trustees offering:

What a minefield life is.

One day you’re taking a stroll in the sun,

the next your arms and legs are all over the hedge.

There’s no dignity in it.

—Christopher Fry, from A Yard of Sun

We lost our wise and beloved UCE board member Melanie Kitchner to cancer on November 28. Days ago, and rather suddenly. A lost voice, a precious legacy.

You’ll find us working together to attach our limbs, hearts and inspiration to her memory, and to honor the commitment she modeled in so many spheres of our congregational life.

And now, Holidays! Always great timing. One day you’re taking a stroll in the snow, twinkling lights in the hedges, giddy anticipation. Or at least a day or two off from work. And then paralyzing emptiness— longing for what was, or what might be in a broken world. An epic mash-up. With tinsel.

It’s a sacred time of reflection and repair. Ugly crying or silent grief. Yet there’s dignity in being present in the world’s sorrow, and our own. Then just as forcefully the noise of a gathering congregation in unapologetically cumbersome winter gear rumbles through our doors. Our reclaimed arms circle for a healing hug, or link to face injustice. And, oh, the music!

In the coming days you’ll hear about upcoming events for creative and happy connection. There’s a lot of winter left, and a lot of care needed for ourselves and our neighbors. A new year approaches, minefields and all.

I stick up for the holidays—through crunchy headaches or sadness. So what if I play the Charlie Brown Christmas album A LOT, and dance like Frieda (near Pigpen and his upright bass). Hot!

You can ugly cry in joy and gratitude as well. I’ve got photos.

May you have peace and as much joy as you can muster. In addition to the Ministers and Pastoral Care Team, the Board of Trustees is within reach for any support you need.

Dear Melanie, good journey to you. Love lights the way.

Board of Trustees Update, December 2025adminuce2025-12-10T20:48:51+00:00

Sunday, December 14, 2025

Lighting Our Way

In these times of growing darkness, we search together for sources of light to guide us on our collective journey toward hope. Our annual music service lifts our spirits and fortifies our hearts. The UCE choir and soloists led by Music Director, Vickie Hellyer, accompanied by Gregory Shifrin on piano, Kevin Barrow on clarinet, and Nadav Simon on percussion. Kristee Boehm, Ellie Feddersen, Sarah Vanderwicken, Andy Fisher, and Rev. Eileen will be our Worship Associates.

Today’s offering will be shared with FORA, which works to ensure that refugee families are provided access to an education sufficient to prepare them to become economically self sufficient and robustly engaged in American civic life.

Upcoming Services

December 21st – Pageant Sunday – Kathy Underwood

December 24th – Christmas Eve Service (7pm)

December 28th – Living Faithfully – Dr. Emma Farrell

January 4th – Fire Communion – Rev. Susan

January 11th – Love Resists – Revs. Eileen and Susan and the Catalyst Team

Sunday, December 14, 2025adminuce2025-12-08T17:27:36+00:00

Update from Rev. Susan – 12/5/2025

Hi Friends,

One of my new spiritual practices is finding local outdoor places to explore. This summer I randomly received in a mailing solicitation a map of “100 Spots to Explore the Chicago Lakefront” from Openlands, an organization doing good work “conserving nature for life.” I love the snow, so I’ve continued to be out for snowy walks and the photo is of me recently exploring the Rogers Park Beach, one of the spots on the Openlands’ map.

During this holiday season, one of my renewed spiritual practices is being purposely present wherever I am. With the political and geopolitical worlds weighing heavy on my heart and my mind, I am intentionally making time to tend to my body and my spirit this winter. I’m seeking to find the balance of nurturing my whole being so that I may have the capacity to continue to engage in the world. I’m seeking to find the balance of holding the grief of death and the challenges of preserving our democracy alongside embracing the joy of celebrating my personal holidays and the holidays of those I cherish.

Our large congregation has members with many theological traditions and religious backgrounds and as we move through this winter holiday season, we celebrate different traditions. On December 8, we celebrate Bodhi Day, which commemorates the day Siddhartha Gautama achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, becoming the Buddha.

December 14-22, we celebrate Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, which commemorates the struggle for religious freedom through the Maccabean Revolt and celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the miraculous relighting of the temple’s menorah for eight days with a single jar of oil.

For decades I have spent the winter holidays celebrating with various Pagan communities. The winter solstice on December 21 marks the longest night of the year. It is a time of rest and renewal, when animals hibernate and plants decompose to replenish the soil. As humans in modern society, we have to make the choice to rest and renew. It is in this spirit of caring for yourself that I invite you to figure out how you might make time for rest and renewal in the weeks ahead.

I am trying to have daily spiritual practices of mindfulness, prayer, and planning. As I travel to and from UCE during the week, I set an intention to appreciate the beauty of the brilliant snow during the day and the twinkling holiday lights at night. As I end each day, I make time for prayer that includes lament for the day’s events and gratitude for the day’s gifts. As I make plans for the holidays, I set an intention to be fully present with family and friends. Mickey and I planned a weeklong Thanksgiving celebration, being with my parents on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, spending time with a dear friend on Monday, being at home just the two of us for most of Thanksgiving Day, and spending the Saturday after Thanksgiving with Mickey’s family.

As fresh grief and the grief of marking the anniversaries of missed loved ones is upon us this holiday season, I invite you to join us for a Blue Holiday Service in the sanctuary from 5:30-6:30 pm on Wednesday, December 10. If the weight of what is happening with our country or around the world is weighing on you, please join us for this service when we honor the challenges that do not go away, and sometimes intensify, during the winter holidays. If you need, or someone you know needs, some support right now, please fill out a Request for Care form or email me, Rev. Eileen, or Rev. Elizabeth.

You are also invited to join in the festivities of celebrating our Christian heritage in a UU way with our tree ornament making Sunday on December 7, our Holiday Music Sunday on December 14, our Christmas Pageant on December 21, and our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service on December 24. The list of events is located on the Home page of our website and in this newsletter. Come craft and sing and laugh and be comforted!

In this snowy winter wonder land, take care of yourself and join us! You are not alone. You are valued within our faith tradition. You are loved this holiday season for exactly who you are.

Yours in wintry rest and renewal,

Rev. Susan

Update from Rev. Susan – 12/5/2025adminuce2025-12-05T16:21:20+00:00

Sunday, December 7, 2025

What Might Rise?

In uncertain times, as all times are, choosing hope is an act of courageous defiance. In community we practice choosing hope and planting seeds of what might emerge from the soil of creative resistance. Rev. Eileen leads this service with Charles M. Anderson as our Hymn Leader and Gregory Shifrin on piano.

Upcoming services:

December 14th – Music Sunday – UCE Choir led by Vickie Hellyer

December 21st – Pageant Sunday – Kathy Underwood

December 24th – Christmas Eve Service (7pm)

December 28th – Living Faithfully – Dr. Emma Farrell

January 4th – Fire Communion – Rev. Susan

Sunday, December 7, 2025adminuce2025-11-28T15:05:20+00:00