Friday, May 8, 2026
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Update from Rev. Susan Frances – May 6, 2026
Hi, Friends,
I’m so proud of the atmosphere we created for last week’s Rummage Sale. The photo of me was taken by Martha Holman on a day during set-up. There is always something more to move around during Rummage Sale week! In addition to our fundraising goal, the Rummage Sale has four goals, which I am pleased to say we lived into well this year:
· Reduce environmental impact by encouraging reuse. Our volunteers spent a lot of time figuring out where to donate unsold items so they did not end up in a landfill.
· Build UCE’s community by participating in structed opportunities for connection. UCE members, friends, and visitors who volunteered met new people, learned about our congregation, and had fun.
· Build connections with and serve the broader community. Folks from our neighborhood and from other faith communities volunteered with us and shoppers enjoyed their experience, including a few who told volunteers they would check us out on a Sunday morning. Plus, connections were made with the organizations we collaborated with to make sure unsold items found homes.
· Support UCE’s mission to nurture the human spirit for a world made whole. From lunching together and encouraging each other to take a walk to offering free whistles and Black Lives Matter buttons in baskets in the lobby, we did a good job of embodying both our care for each other and our care for the world.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Rummage Sale!
I will be taking a long vacation from May 18 – June 2 to travel with high school friends through Portugal and the United Kingdom. One of those friends texted me last week about the Banksy statue which appeared overnight in Waterloo Place in London. NPR described the statue as depicting “a man in a suit hoisting a large flag. The flag’s cloth covers the man’s face, however, and his proud march appears to be courting disaster, as he steps off the plinth with no ground beneath him.” Art, in all its mediums, has the power to remind us to be present and encourage us to be engaged for a better future.
Before I leave on vacation, we will be having our Annual Meeting on Sunday, May 17. We will be voting on whether or not to change our name from the “Unitarian Church of Evanston” to the “Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Evanston.” If you are a voting member, you were sent an email with the meeting materials on April 17. We have 433 voting members and we need a quorum of 20% in order to proceed with the meeting. I hope you are planning to attend.
This past month I have been thinking about what it means to be present, to intentionally give focused attention to what is before me. There is so much happening, that it is easy to be somewhere physically and have my mind attuned to something else. This past month I have been
practicing having my spiritual, emotional, and mental attention be wherever I am physically. It has been challenging some days, and other days I have been able to be fully present. Present to what is happening in our country. On April 21, I attended the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU-IL) annual luncheon. I sat with UUs from the Chicagoland area and met UUs from Geneva, IL. I listened to the speakers make clear the abuses happening in the federal executive and judicial branches. I felt the camaraderie of 1500 people in one room with similar values, knowing we would be going back to many communities throughout Illinois to continue our resistance to authoritarianism.
Present to the needs of our congregation. I want to lift up how our Rummage Sale leaders collaborated with our Catalyst for Democracy Team leaders to think through what it meant to hold the sale on May 1, when there was a nation-wide May Day Strong call to action, which was an opportunity to reduce one’s contribution to the growing wealth of corporations and billionaires. We thought through how the Rummage Sale actually contributes to these goals by reusing and repurposing resources and building new economic streams. The team leaders proceeded with messaging for the sale that was clear that UCE supported the May Day Strong actions. There is no one way to be involved in the many efforts to address authoritarianism. What is needed is the willingness to be present and engaged, to contemplate our words and live into them with our actions. I felt that presence and engagement throughout our Rummage Sale.
Present to the stirring of the spirit in my life. On May 3, I participated in a Beltane ritual in which we placed evergreen boughs into the fire. The thick white smoke that rose was met by the strong winds that we have been experiencing this spring. The wind kept the smoke together and danced it around the firepit. It was beautiful, and as the ball of smoke hovered around me, I felt at one with the natural world.
I invite you to practice being present wherever you are to whatever is happening in your life, and then I invite you to share it with others. For it is in this sharing that we build relationships upon which we build community upon which we build a future that is inclusive and just.
Yours in shaping our future,
Rev. Susan
Hats Off To Rummage Sale 2026
Hats Off to Rummage Sale 2026
Our hats are off to the collective volunteer effort that went into making our Rummage Sale a success! Kudos to our Rummage Sale Co-Chairs, Jenny Walsh and Gillian Lawrence, and our Rummage Sale Publicity Co-leads, Carla Williams and Kera Beskin.
We also want to thank all the volunteers who showed up at any time from April 26-May 2. For those of you on the schedule, your name will appear below once, even though many of you spent time in several areas. For those of you who showed up to help and weren’t on the schedule, we needed your assistance and were grateful that you showed up to help!
We are grateful for everyone who stayed to set-up on Sunday led by Cathy Deamant and tear-down on Saturday led by Meredith Haydon: Dominic DiGiovanni, Jay Liddell, Andrea Lee, Karen Brennan, Leslie Piotrowski, Erik Parsons, Michele Herbst, Mags Johnston, Taylor Hobart, Rob Avery, Mike Dickenson, Curtis Evans, and John Hason.
We are grateful to Bex Blackmore, who led our lunchtime crew. We were well fed Monday through Friday with soup from Charlott Cottier, Kate Cronin, Barb Butz, Bonnie Dohogne, Lydia Walsh, Hòa Voscott, and Dan Solomon, and service by Carol Nielsen, Kathy Talmage, Michael Skilton, Alice Chrostowski, Merle Gleeson, and Julie Lamberti.
Co-led by Jeanne Kerl and Martha Holman, our Café Rummage kept us stocked Friday and Saturday with coffee and baked goods provided by Renee Hoff, Sophia Newman, Susan Carlton, and Ally Gregory.
Thank you to our Translators, Margie Rogasner, Kamila Nájera, Rita Rousseau, and Jeanette Gordon, for making the sale an easier experience for more folks in our community.
We were grateful for our Lobby Greeters and Cashiers, who provide a welcoming entry and departure for many of our shoppers: Jane Hampson, Lynn Kendall, Toni Rey, Emily Theis, Trudi Davis, Kathy Foulke, Craig Spidle, and Sheila Holder.
Thank you to our Support Team, who ran errands between departments, shepherded money to and from the office, unclogged toilets, and in general kept the good vibes floating throughout the building: Bob Mesle, Dave Schroeder, Forrest Marie Peters Linsell, Joe Romeo, Marcy Hicks, Mary Beth Roth, Mike Takada, Sandy Danforth, Sean Talmage, Steve Serikaku, and Susan Talmage.
Thank you to all of our department leaders and volunteers –
Art Department co-led by Johna Van Dyke and Will Van Dyke: Gay Riseborough, Pam Butterfield, KT DiGiovanni, and Sarah Kaiser.
Children’s Department co-led by Carol Emory and Sue Larson: Grey Wiviott, Carolyn Laughlin, Amy Yang, Marilyn Wroblewski, Lee Solock, Ellen Rieger, Wendy Drake, Daria Drake, Ava Drake, Emily Wilson, and Robbie Ehrhardt.
Our Boutique co-led by Elizabeth Kennedy and Carol Mergl & Clothing Department co-led by Lisa Solomon, Barb Badr, and Tori Bassani: Shirley Adams, Janice Milanovich, Norell Liddell, Julianna Liddell, Regina Landor, Sarah Shea, Diego Mora, Caroline Legatt, Jane Aufmuth, Jill Moore, Cindy Sammons, Heather Dreznick, Jackie Seaman, Chris Yoo, Bonnie Bean, Maggie Wilson, Lois Korda, Katie Ediger, Andy Donakowski, Pam Winkler, John Cooper, Laurence Davaney, Betsy Shuman-Moore, Christine Jacobs.
Durable Goods co-led by Robb Geiger and Kaz Ayukaka & Furniture co-led by Jinny Niemann and Pat Ulmer: Steven Baska, Mary Dudek, Cheryl Streedain, Rai Johnson-Nicholson, Dou-Yan Yang, Mia Donoghue, Andy Fisher, Neil Koreman, Woody Haynes, and David Bierman.
Housewares Department co-led by Ann McCallister and Aidan Caravana: Deb Semel, Ellie Feddersen, Ed Finkel, Mary Bell, Jeanie McCullough, Carol Johnson, Chris Stefano, Janet Hartmann, Kale Johnstone, Reno Eckebrecht, Laura Eckebrecht, Tina Kropifko, Pamela Parker, Sally Hunt, Nancy Moore, Wai Chiu Ng, and Patty Arient.
Jewelry co-led by Judy Holman and Susan Schneider & Treasures co-led by Joyce Lofstrom and Nancy Katz: Michael Grider, Carolyn McMurray, Fay Robinson, Sarah Vanderwicken, Alison Brill, Mollie Weisskoph, Patty Skaja, Olga Skrebets, Katie Burda, Janelle Brittain, Sydney Lawrence, Laura Lothschutz, Carol Nielsen, Laura Etchen, Erin Burden, Kat Foster, Margaret Schatz, and Jo Ingle.
Thank you to everyone else who just showed up to help and isn’t on our master volunteer schedule. We were short volunteers this year (yes, even with all these names, we could have used another dozen volunteers) and your presence helped the entire process go more smoothly!
Sunday, May 10, 2026
The Fierce Love of Mothering
Mother’s Day can carry gratitude, grief, tenderness, and complexity. In this service, we will honor fierce love in all its forms, whether it comes from mothers or not — love that protects, nurtures, and helps life grow. Together, we will reflect on what it might mean to turn that love toward one another for our collective liberation.
Dr. Emma Farrell, ministerial intern, leads this service with Ellie Feddersen as worship associate. The UCE Choir and Children’s Choir, along with soloist Jenn Wisegarver and pianist Gregory Shifrin provide the music.
Today’s offering will be shared with The Children’s Best Interest Project, whose mission is to assist parents with dismissal or reduction of charges in minor criminal cases and to educate Illinois families, organizations, and lawyers about the Children’s Best Interest Act, which requires Illinois courts to consider children’s needs when making sentencing decisions about their parents.
Upcoming Services
May 17 – A Home By Any Other Name – Rev. Eileen Wiviott
May 24 – Rev. Allison Farnum and Monica Cosby
May 31 – The Courage to Be Curious – Rev. Eileen Wiviott
Friday, May 1, 2026
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Update from Dr. Emma Farrell – May 3, 2026
Dear beloved community,
It’s hard to believe that my time with you is beginning to draw to a close. In about a month, I will say goodbye — with my last Sunday among you on June 7. Even writing that feels a little surreal. I will carry so many of you with me. You have shaped me, challenged me, encouraged me, and trusted me in ways that have changed who I am as a minister and as a human being. That is a gift I will always cherish.
As I prepare for what comes next, I’ve also been wrapping up some meaningful work beyond UCE. I just finished facilitating a series of workshops with the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association on artificial intelligence, and I’ve been invited to turn that work into a standalone curriculum, which will be my summer project. It feels like a continuation of something many of us have already been doing together: learning how to meet a changing world with curiosity and courage, not knowing how the future will look but approaching it grounded in our values.
As part of that, I’ve created an AI Toolkit that will soon be available on the UCE website. It includes an overview of what AI is (and isn’t) good at right now, a practical matrix to help you discern when and how you might decide to use it, guidance on transparency and disclosure, and tools for skillful prompting, iteration, and evaluating outputs. If you’re curious, here’s a sneak preview.
And one more invitation: I hope to see some of you at my ordination on June 13 at 2:30pm at Unity Temple (and on YouTube for those joining from afar). All are warmly invited — you can RSVP here.
It would mean so much to celebrate that moment with you, the people who have helped form me into a parish minister. It’s not any “higher power” or authoritative body that ordains a UU minister, it’s the people who give us our sense of call and legitimacy, and your trust in me has been both humbling and sustaining. I carry that trust forward, hoping to continue growing into it.
Thank you for the ways you have loved me, taught me, and walked alongside me. I will continue to carry you with me.
With deep gratitude and love,
Emma
Sunday, May 3, 2026
Constructing Curiosity: Faith Formation Sunday
As we returned to in-person worship in 2021, our Faith Formation Sunday looked at how we wanted UCE to be for all to grow in their UU faith. Together, we built a structure with our visions and commitments written on blocks. Are you curious about whether we have kept to those visions? How can we continue constructing and building Beloved Community on the foundation we began with? Kathy Underwood, Director of Lifespan Faith Formation, leads this service with Ally Hunter as worship associates. Ally Hunter on vocals and the ukulele, Taylor Hobart on harp, and Gregory Shifrin on piano provide the music.
Today’s offering will be shared with Children’s Best Interest Project.
Upcoming Services
May 10 – The Fierce Love of Mothering – Dr. Emma Farrell
May 17 – A Home By Any Other Name – Rev. Eileen Wiviott
May 24 – Rev. Allison Farnum
Friday, April 24, 2026
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Sunday, April 26, 2026
Honesty, Integrity, Good Works
Long time UCE member and choir tenor, Mike Dickenson, shares his Spiritual Journey which includes what it means to him to be a ‘true Christian’ and a Unitarian. Rev. Eileen Wiviott and Heike Eghardt will serve as his Worship Associates, Charles M. Anderson as hymn leader and soloist, Kevin Barrow on guitar, and Gregory Shifrin on piano.
Today’s offering will be shared with Connections for the Homeless, one of our longest community partnerships. Connections serves as a safety net for neighbors who need support to maintain safe, stable housing in Evanston and northern Cook County.
Upcoming Services
May 3 – Faith Formation Sunday
May 10 – The Fierce Love of Mothering – Dr. Emma Farrell
May 17 – A Home By Any Other Name – Rev. Eileen Wiviott
May 24 – Rev. Allison Farnum
BOT Column – April 19, 2026
April Newsletter
Happy spring, everyone! This season of renewal and change brings longer days, warmer weather, and a welcome shift from sweaters to t-shirts and boots to sandals.
Last August, the Unitarian Church of Evanston (UCE) Board of Trustees held a retreat to reflect on the themes that emerged from the 2025 congregational focus groups that focused on what the future of our congregation could look like. One key theme that stood out across every conversation: a desire to reconsider our congregation’s name. A small workgroup was assembled that conducted research with over 40 UU congregations who changed their name previously and spoke with the Unitarian Universalist Association about their recommendations on a possible name change.
Congregants shared two primary reasons for exploring a change. First, many expressed a desire to include our Unitarian heritage in our name. Second, there was thoughtful discussion about whether the word “church” fully captures our commitment to pluralism and the breadth of our faith community.
The Board acknowledged that a name change has been proposed several times in the past. In those instances, conversations stalled due to a lack of clarity around a specific alternative. To ensure productive conversations, the Board identified a potential new name to bring to the congregation for consideration: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Evanston.
Over the past several months, the Board sought input from the congregation:
- Focus Groups: Four focus groups were held, with more than 80 participants
- Individual Meetings: Board members met one-on-one with congregants who preferred to share feedback privately
- Emails: Board members received several emails from congregants who wished to share their feedback via email
- Survey: An online survey distributed through the newsletter received over 50 responses
Survey Results:
- 74% of people supported changing to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Evanston
- 15% were opposed to changing the name to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Evanston
- 11% were undecided
Based on feedback, the Board compiled a summary of common themes, including both the benefits and concerns related to a name change. We encourage you to review this document for a deeper understanding of congregational perspectives. Click on this link to read the common pros/cons.
You should also have received the Annual Meeting packet that includes the congregational budget as well as a Frequently Asked Questions document prepared around the name change motion.
What’s Next?
The proposed name change will be brought to a vote at the May 17th Annual Meeting following worship services. As a reminder:
- A quorum requires participation from at least 20% of voting members (either in person or online).
- Approval for the name change requires a two-thirds majority of those present to vote during the Annual Meeting
The UCE Board of Trustees encourages all members to attend the May 17th Annual Meeting and vote on this important decision.
Finally, thank you to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts on the name of our congregation. While we may not all agree, we are grateful for the care, respect, and thoughtfulness that have characterized this process.
