The Power of Coalition

We honor Labor Day with our guest, Margarita Klein, from Arise Chicago. Arise Chicago organizes the collective power of working class immigrants in partnership with faith communities to uplift all workers. We are pleased to be a part of their Labor in the Pulpit speakers program. Rev. Eileen Wiviott, Senior Minister, returns from her summer sabbatical. Ally Hunter is our Worship Associate and Gregory Shifrin is on the piano.

Today’s offering will be shared with Building Peaceful Bridges, whose mission is to foster multicultural relationships by assisting in the integration of newcomers into American society and educating communities on the challenges facing newcomer populations through their stories.

Upcoming Services

September 13 – Water Communion Blessing and Ingathering – Rev. Eileen and Rev. Susan

September 20 – On the Frontlines of Social Change (ALL AGES) – Rev. Eileen

September 27 – Beginning Again with our Covenant of Engagement – Rev. Eileen

October 4 – Instinctual Courage and our annual Pet Blessing – Rev. Eileen

The Power of Coalition

We honor Labor Day with our guest, Margarita Klein, from Arise Chicago. Arise Chicago organizes the collective power of working class immigrants in partnership with faith communities to uplift all workers. We are pleased to be a part of their Labor in the Pulpit speakers program. Rev. Eileen Wiviott, Senior Minister, returns from her summer sabbatical. Ally Hunter is our Worship Associate and Gregory Shifrin is on the piano.

Today’s offering will be shared with Building Peaceful Bridges, whose mission is to foster multicultural relationships by assisting in the integration of newcomers into American society and educating communities on the challenges facing newcomer populations through their stories.

Upcoming Services

September 13 – Water Communion Blessing and Ingathering  (All Ages) – Rev. Eileen and Rev. Susan

September 20 – On the Frontlines of Social Change – Rev. Eileen

September 27 – Beginning Again with our Covenant of Engagement – Rev. Eileen

October 4 – Instinctual Courage and our annual Pet Blessing – Rev. Eileen

 Activating Transformation

What does it mean to make Love a force for transformation in a world shaped by punishment, isolation, and injustice? Drawing on the work of the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois, this service explores how acts of compassion become acts of resistance. Together, we will reflect on our UU values, the practice of solidarity with incarcerated people, and the ways that courageous love can transform both individual lives and the systems we inhabit. Rev. Allison Farnum and Keith Talley with the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois (UUPMI) lead our worship service with worship associate Janelle Brittain and pianist Gregory Shifrin.

Keith Talley (him/him)  is a system-impacted Muslim leader working at the crossroads of reentry, faith, and narrative justice. He serves as Prison Solidarity Specialist with the  Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of IL, Reentry Program Coordinator at Phalanx Family Services, and Founder & CEO of Revolutionary Reentry Hub. Introduced to UUPMI through the Pen Pal Program while caged, Keith found not a call to conversion, but a deep alignment of values. Today, he serves as Director of Programs with UUPMI and works to build bridges between spiritual traditions and to transform how we see, and stand with those returning from prison.

Rev. Allison Farnum (she/her/ella) is the Director and Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of IL, and a lifelong Unitarian Universalist. She is dedicated to the vision of collective liberation, one mindful act of care at a time.

Today’s offering will be shared with the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois, known as UUPMI.

Upcoming Services

9/6/2026 – Rev. Eileen Wiviott, The Power of Coalition

9/13/2026 – Ingathering Water Communion with Rev. Eileen and Rev. Susan

9/20/2026 – Rev. Eileen Wiviott, Change Makers

9/27/2026 – Rev. Eileen Wiviott, Beginning Again with our Covenant of Engagement

Slackline Thoughts

Embodied practices, such as jogging, yoga, or walking a slackline, benefit our mind, body, and spirit. Aidan Caravana, Finn Liddell, and Rev. Susan Frances will share their slackline experiences during our service, which will be held in the round in the sanctuary with Gregory Shifrin accompanying on piano. We will have a moment for our annual Backpack and Bag Blessing to start the new school year. We will end the service on the South Lawn and anyone interested may walk Aidan’s slackline, weather permitting. Comfortable, flat-soled shoes are good for walking the slackline.

Today’s offering will be shared with Mother and Child Alliance, whose mission is to strengthen the safety net for pregnant persons before and after delivery, to prevent HIV transmission and other serious infections in newborns, and to address the disparate prenatal and postpartum systems of care in Illinois and across the U.S.

Upcoming Services

8/30/2026 – Rev. Allison Farnum, Activating Transformation

9/6/2026 – Rev. Eileen Wiviott, The Power of Coalition

9/13/2026 – Ingathering Water Communion with Rev. Eileen and Rev. Susan

9/20/2026 – Rev. Eileen Wiviott, Change Makers