From Rev. Susan Frances – Minister for Congregational Life

Dear Friends,

Each week I spend time collaborating with the volunteers of our four Sunday morning hospitality teams. Our hospitality team schedule is set up for a 12-month cycle following our congregational year from July through June. So, as we transition into a new year, I am sending out a BIG THANK YOU to each one of you who has volunteered on a Sunday morning over the past year! I am grateful for your energy and care for our community.

As our congregation is continuing to emerge from the pandemic lockdown, we are in need of your assistance to continue to expand our ability to care for our growing community. Right now, I am looking for 11 more volunteers for our Greeters Hospitality Team, which involves arriving at 9:45 am on a Sunday morning to greet folks attending the worship service in-person. I am also looking for 11 more volunteers for our Livestream Chat Host Hospitality Team, which involves logging onto our YouTube UCE Channel at 10:25 am on a Sunday morning to greet folks attending the worship service online. Will you join in our Sunday morning collaboration?

Each member of a hospitality team is asked to volunteer 4 Sundays over the course of a year, and we can always find a substitute if your schedule changes. We are a large and vibrant congregation and if most of us are involved with one of the hospitality teams, then the ask of only volunteering 4 Sundays over the course of the year is easy to fulfill. If you have taken a break from our hospitality teams and would like to engage again, if you are a newish member and would like to join a hospitality team, or if you have questions about what the hospitality teams do, please email me at sfrances@ucevanston.org.

I am also collaborating regularly with two of the three Anti-Oppression Task Force (AOTF) working groups, while Rev. Eileen is collaborating with the third working group. Right now, we are moving from our equity assessment phase to our implementation phase. The AOTF has taken the recommendations provided by our YWCA Equity Consultants and prioritized the first set of recommendations that they will be working on to advance the AOTF’s three aims:

1. Expanding ownership of the anti-racism and anti- oppression work;

2. Power sharing; and

3. Radical inclusion and hospitality.

The AOTF will also be following the lead of our equity consultant, Dr. Gilo Logan, as we continue on a restorative justice process of healing and repair following the events occurring at our rummage sale. If you are interested in joining the work of the Anti-Oppression Task Force, please contact me at sfrances@ucevanston.org.

I am also enjoying the beautiful weather. My condo association is self-managed, and we collectively contribute to the care of our landscaping. This week, I spent a morning trimming hedges around the building, a morning watering the grass seed in the park row, and a morning setting up my porch plants. This time out in the fresh air with the birds chirping and the sun still rising behind the neighboring buildings to the east has been good for my mental and emotional health.

What is good for your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health right now? What can you do to care for yourself? What will your self-care adventure be this summer? If things are overwhelming right now, please reach out to me, Rev. Eileen, or our Pastoral Care Team. You can request care by clicking on this Request for Care form. There is so much to do and so much going on in our personal lives and our society. It is important that we make time to care for ourselves.

Finding the balance of caring for our community and caring for ourselves takes practice. We cannot let go of one for the other. I invite you to join me on the path of choosing both, finding a way to balance both, and feeling the benefits of being engaged in both.

Yours in community and self-care,

Rev. Susan