About Our CommunityUC Evanston2023-04-25T20:01:41+00:00
About Our Community
About Our Community
We meet for worship in our sanctuary each Sunday at 10:30 am. Greeters will be available beforehand in the lobby to welcome you and answer your questions.
There is childcare provided for nursery at every service.
At 10:30 am most Sundays, all will begin in the sanctuary for the first part of the worship service before going to classes. Approximately once a month, the whole community participates in Worship for All Ages, designed to engage children as well as adults. On these Sundays, all children and youth are invited to attend the entire worship service in the sanctuary with their parents.
Yes, families are encouraged to do what makes the most sense for them. If your children want to participate in faith formation classes, that’s great! If they prefer to stay with you in the worship service, that’s okay too. If your child becomes restless at any time during the service, you may want to see if they’d be happier joining their peers. Also, the service can be heard in the lobby if your little one is fussy. We ask that you be considerate of others in terms of hearing the service, as sound does reverberate in the sanctuary.
Yes, child care is available every Sunday morning.
The Unitarian Church of Evanston is located on the corner of Greenwood Street and Ridge Avenue.
For Sunday services, adults wear everything from suits to jeans, with many wearing casual slacks or skirts. Children are encouraged to wear clothes appropriate to the (occasionally messy) activities in which they will be involved.
We have approximately 400 adult members, and approximately 100 children and youth participate in our religious education program.
Yes! Everyone is welcome, whatever your age, ethnicity, color, gender, sexual orientation, physical challenge, religious background, or political affiliation.
Yes. We have accessible parking, entrances, and restrooms. An elevator helps with access to our lower level where most religious education classes meet. We have a t-coil enabled hearing loop in our sanctuary for compatible hearing aids and independent receivers with headsets for anyone who wants them. We also offer large-print hymnals and orders of service.
We understand the worship service as a time when we hold up those things that are of worth (following the ancient meaning of the term “worship”). Usually, the heart of each service is a sermon given by one of our ministers, with readings, music, and a time of meditation. After the service, coffee, hot tea, and other beverages are available.
Music at our worship services ranges from classical to contemporary and represents diverse traditions. On one Sunday you may hear Handel or Bach; on another, African drumming or an original synthesizer composition. The choir supports the congregation in hymn-singing and performs gifts of music. The choir welcomes new members.
Our services include a time for prayer or meditation, but the definition (and object) of prayer varies widely from person to person. One idea: “Prayer doesn’t change things. Prayer changes people, and people change things,” suggests Unitarian Universalist minister Lon Ray Call.
We are non-creedal and non-doctrinal, meaning that individual members hold a wide variety of beliefs.
Historically, both Unitarianism (meaning that God is one) and Universalism (meaning that no one would be condemned to eternal damnation) come out of Christianity. Today, our members include those who identify themselves as humanists, agnostics, atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Neo-pagans, and “none of the above.” Each person is encouraged to develop their own beliefs in keeping with their experience and conscience. Our children (adults, too) are encouraged to think for themselves and to ask questions.
Have we answered your questions?
If we haven’t answered your particular question in this FAQ page, please contact the congregational office for more information.