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Sunday, March 23, 2025
Call & Response
Singing out and singing together is part of the creation story of humanity. When our ancestors felt worried or alone, they called out into the darkness with song, and their community would respond in harmony. Join us for a service of song and silence, and an exploration of call and response. When times are uncertain, let’s gather to celebrate the communities where we practice love and resilience.
March’s shared offering recipient is the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois (UUPMI), whose mission is to equip UU’s in Illinois to transform institutions; partnering with and supporting people harmed by the prison industrial complex.
Upcoming Worship Services
March 30th – Rev. Susan returns from sabbatical to share her experiences
April 6th – Music Sunday – The Practice of Joy
April 13th – Rev. Eileen with UCE Youth on Joy
April 20th – Easter Sunday and Child Dedications – Rev. Eileen with Dr. Emma Farrell
March 14, 2025
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Sunday, March 16, 2025
Trusting the Way
Up is down. Left is right. Fact is fiction. In these dizzying and dispiriting times what and who can we trust?
Drawing from The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust by Francis S. Collins, Rev. Eileen with worship associate, Robb Geiger, will explore the essentialness of cultivating trust in community. The UCE Choir, directed by Vickie Hellyer and accompanied by Gregory Shifrin will lift our spirits.
March’s shared offering recipient is the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois (UUPMI), whose mission is to equip UU’s in Illinois to transform institutions; partnering with and supporting people harmed by the prison industrial complex.
Upcoming Worship Services
March 23rd – Call and Response – Matt Meyers, UU Musician and Worship Leader
March 30th – Rev. Susan returns from sabbatical to share her experiences
April 6th – Music Sunday – The Practice of Joy
April 13th – Rev. Eileen with UCE Youth and Young Adults on Joy
Friday, March 7, 2025
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March 7, 2025
UPDATES FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Written by Kera Beskin
Friends, the world feels foreboding. I work as a policy manager at a CountyCare, a Medicaid health plan. Medicaid is the government health insurance program for low income families, pregnant people, and people with disabilities. 20% of Illinois residents are on Medicaid. It is the largest funder of nursing homes and substance abuse treatment. Medicaid often provides life saving care. Professionally, I’m tasked with tracking what changes to Medicaid are coming and I am deeply worried about the future of this government program.
Since my dad was a farmer with variable annual income, my family was on Medicaid off and on throughout my life. My summers in rural Minnesota were filled with home grown sweet corn, pumpkins, and rhubarb. My mother was a proud Lutheran woman who had the Serenity Prayer tacked up in our kitchen. Recently, I have been reciting that prayer to myself and transporting myself back to the safe, warm, worry-free memories of childhood.
The Serenity Prayer forces me to focus on what I can control. I cannot control what the Trump administration will do with the Medicaid program. But I can call my representatives. I can call a friend and tell them I love them. I can donate to causes I care about. I can continue to work for the world I want to see. I can take time to rest. I can volunteer my time as a board member at the Unitarian Church of Evanston.
What can you do today to fill your spirit? What can you do to take care of yourself to continue the fight? What do you want to see for the Unitarian Church of Evanston? In these challenging times, we can come together. I encourage you to join the board of trustees at the Big Questions discussions in March or April as we focus on topics of accessibility and connection. Register on Realm.
March 22nd – on Zoom 10-11:15 am
March 30th – in person at UCE after worship 12-1:15pm
April 11th – in person at UCE 6:30-7:45pm
April 22nd – on Zoom 7-8:15pm
The Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.
—Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971
Friday, February 28, 2025
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Sunday, March 9, 2025
Progress is Possible, Not Guaranteed
Gathering inspiration from stories of lesser known heroes, women who accomplished incredible things and changed lives with and for community. Rev. Eileen leads the service with Annette Wallace as Worship Associate. The UCE Choir, directed by Vickie Hellyer and accompanied by Gregory Shifrin on piano provide musical inspiration.
March’s shared offering recipient is the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois (UUPMI), whose mission is to equip UU’s in Illinois to transform institutions; partnering with and supporting people harmed by the prison industrial complex.
Upcoming Services:
March 16th – In What Can We Trust? – Rev. Eileen
March 23rd – Call and Response – Matt Meyers, UU Musician and Worship Leader
March 30th – Rev. Susan returns from sabbatical to share her experiences
April 6th – Music Sunday – The Practice of Joy
Updates from Kathy Underwood, February 28, 2025
DLFF Newsletter – February 2025
I am sitting in my office with the sunlight streaming in as I write. One of my favorite things to do is sit in a sunny window and read while sipping some decadent flavor of tea. Last week when it was below zero, I took my dog for our usual 1.5 mile walk and saw a small flock of robins in a tree. It was then that I knew spring was coming soon. Sure enough, after a couple of colder-than-normal weeks for this time of year, it is a balmy 52 degrees out today! There is hope after all!
I am one of those people who is closely attuned to weather and seasons. I love to surround myself with tokens that remind me of this – rocks, shells, leaves, bird nests, warm blankets, and the colors of the season. This parallels my feeling about life in general – things are constantly changing, so take notice of them before they’re gone. I try not to fret over something that will not last long. I need to keep this in the back of my mind and hold it internally during these turbulent times in our country and world. I want to believe that this will not last.
Of course, the pressing issue is about what happens in the meantime. The saying, “Be the change you wish to see” resonates with me but I struggle in discerning where and how to do this. What injustices and causes are most important? They all are, in the end. Because everything is interdependent, each one has a direct connection and effect with the others. We can also refer to this as intersectionality. So with this reasoning, the answer to myself is simply to act on ANY cause, and it will tug on the threads in the web of life that are connected to it.
UCE gives me the inspiration to act. Hearing people’s stories, finding ways to widen the circle, and seeing the impact of so many people individually and collectively, gives me hope. Our young people need to hear and see this as well as take part in it as best they can. As parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles, we need to include them in our conversations on the injustices we are passionate about and listen to their perspectives and solutions. They need to know that we care about their future, that we have not abandoned them and left them to deal with it when they grow older. They, like us, need to know that spring is coming.
Our Family Friday event earlier this month was making toys for dogs and cats from old t-shirts for a local animal shelter. Next month, we will be planting a variety of seeds to take home and tend to. Our middle school youth are interested in planting trees or something similar. These are simple ways to include younger people in our efforts to make the world a better place. If you are part of a local effort that can include children and youth in any kind of social action, please let me know.
May we create the change we wish to see.
In Faith,
Kathy
March 2, 2025
The Internal Work of Radical Welcome
The work of sustained cultural change that puts love at the center is done through relationships. What does it look like to broaden our horizons and make room for true pluralism and alterity? What does it mean to trust people to be the experts of their own lives? As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr described, it starts by making room for the other within.
Dr. Emma Farrell, ministerial intern, leads the service, with Bob Mesle as Worship Associate. Charles M. Anderson will be our vocalist/hymn leader and Gregory Shifrin our pianist.
March’s shared offering recipient is the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois (UUPMI), whose mission is to equip UU’s in Illinois to transform institutions; partnering with and supporting people harmed by the prison industrial complex.
Upcoming Services:
March 9th – Progress is Possible, Not Guaranteed: Stories of Lesser Known Heroes – Rev. Eileen
March 16th – In What Can We Trust? – Rev. Eileen
March 23rd – Call and Response – Matt Meyers, UU Musician and Worship Leader
March 30th – Rev. Susan returns from sabbatical to share her experiences