VirtUUal Faith Formation: August 13, 2021
This Summer in Faith Formation
Family Engagement Survey – Parents, please fill out this short survey regarding your family’s participation at UCE this fall. It should take 5 minutes or less!
Registration for Faith Formation begins! This year more than ever, it is important that parents register their young people, so that we can plan according to current guidelines. Please complete the form here for all young people, 0-18 years old.
Worship and Faith Formation this Fall – If you haven’t seen the video about our worship and faith formation format for this fall yet, check it out here. And if you missed Kathy’s article about this you can find it here.
Summer Beautifying – Here’s an easy way for you to participate in some shared ministry – cleaning out 2019-20’s artwork in the lower level and decorating it a bit for the new church year! Join here for this event on August 21, from 9am-Noon. Come for an hour, or until noon. Snacks provided too!
UCE Book Groups
UCE Fiction Book Group meets Friday August 20 at 7 pm by ZOOM to discuss Circe by Madeline Miller.
“A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess’s story,” this #1 New York Times bestseller is “both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right” (Alexandra Alter, The New York Times).
The nonfiction book group won’t be meeting in August to discuss books but we look forward to selecting books for the coming year at our Zoom meeting at 2 pm on August 22nd.
We’re hoping that everyone who has a nonfiction book they recommend and, perhaps, would like to discuss with others at UCE, will add the title to this google document. We’re hoping that this document will encourage UCErs to share their love of books by recommending titles. The nonfiction book group will consider all titles added to this google doc and we hope that many people who submit titles will join us at the August 22nd meeting and then continue with us throughout the church year.
From DLRE: August 13, 2021
On Asking
I must confess something to you all: I have a weakness. It's not kryptonite. It's not fire, the lack of water, nor the color yellow. My weakness is admitting when I need help. And connected to this is then asking for help.
I like to think of myself as an independent person, and a very capable one at that. I'm pretty organized and manage my time fairly well. Which means that I should be able to tackle anything that gets thrown at me with some confidence, no? Well, yes, most of the time.
As I celebrate 25 years as a religious educator this month, I should be feeling assured about recruiting volunteers and setting up classrooms and all for the coming church year. This year is quite different as we all know. And so I am feeling a little less confident, a bit more reluctant too. With so many unknowns still concerning the pandemic, planning ahead doesn't feel quite right, and yet plan ahead I must.
And so I am asking for your help.
As you hopefully know by now, the Faith Formation Force (including Rev. Eileen and I), is planning for multigenerational Sunday mornings at UCE with worship followed by a faith formation hour. We are so excited to be on this adventure! We have gotten wonderful feedback from many of you saying, "This sounds awesome!" And while it is exciting, it is also a bit scary. Trying new things is risky. But the payoff can be incredible!
What I need help with is for your willingness to play an active role – to practice shared ministry. Our vision is for more interaction between the ages – not just parents helping and working with children and youth, but older adults working and helping young people, youth working and helping young people and adults, and young people working with and helping others as well.
There will be many ways to do this, such as:
Now that my weakness has been revealed, please be patient and kind. And if you can answer my call for help, send me an email or give me a call. Or if you aren't sure how to share your talents, passions, care, or knowledge, I'll be happy to help you figure it out. With the Faith Formation Force to support and guide us, we can so this!
In Faith,
Kathy
August 15, 2021
We will host an online worship service on Sunday, August 15th at 11:15 am.
Living Our Mission Through the Arts: Poetry
Nurturing the Human Spirit and Making the World Whole Through the Arts: living our mission through Poetry. The creative endeavor is more than the fluff of life. It is essential to our humanity to create, express, and process our struggles through the arts. This August we will explore five modes of artistic and creative expression and their centrality in making meaning in our lives. This Sunday, we explore the power of poetry. Worship leaders are Marianne Griebler, Ann McCallister, Susan Moss, and Rev. Eileen Wiviott.
Please submit your Joys and Sorrows through this online form. If you submit a message by 11 am, we will try to read it that Sunday. Thank you for your patience as we are adapting to best serve you all! Note there will only be one service time so that we can gather together as a whole community of faith. You can still give to the shared offering through “text to give,” mail a check to the office with “shared offering” in the memo line, or go to our website and hit “give” on the upper right or click here. This Sunday’s shared offering recipient is Black Lives of UU.
VirtUUal Faith Formation: August 6, 2021
This Summer in Faith Formation
Young poets wanted! We’re looking for poetry by young people for the August 15 worship service. Send your original poems to Kathy by August 8. Our theme is “play”, but your poem can be on anything that inspires you.
Registration for Faith Formation begins! This year more than ever, it is important that parents register their young people, so that we can plan according to current guidelines. Please complete the form here for all young people, 0-18 years old.
Family Engagement Survey – Parents, please fill out this short survey regarding your family’s participation at UCE this fall. It should take 5 minutes or less!
Worship and Faith Formation this Fall – If you haven’t seen the video about our worship and faith formation format for this fall yet, check it out here. And if you missed Kathy’s article about this you can find it here.
Summer Beautifying – Here’s an easy way for you to participate in some shared ministry – cleaning out 2019-20’s artwork in the lower level and decorating it a bit for the new church year! Join here for this event on August 21, from 9am-Noon. Come for an hour, or until noon. Snacks provided too!
UCE Book Groups
UCE Fiction Book Group meets Friday August 20 at 7 pm by ZOOM to discuss Circe by Madeline Miller.
“A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess’s story,” this #1 New York Times bestseller is “both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right” (Alexandra Alter, The New York Times).
The nonfiction book group won’t be meeting in August to discuss books but we look forward to selecting books for the coming year at our Zoom meeting at 2 pm on August 22nd.
We’re hoping that everyone who has a nonfiction book they recommend and, perhaps, would like to discuss with others at UCE, will add the title to this google document. We’re hoping that this document will encourage UCErs to share their love of books by recommending titles. The nonfiction book group will consider all titles added to this google doc and we hope that many people who submit titles will join us at the August 22nd meeting and then continue with us throughout the church year.
From the Board of Trustees: August 6, 2021
The 2021-2022 Board of Trustees has started its work! With a transitional meeting in June and a July meeting of the new Board it has been a busy summer. Two innovations to support Board efficiency and effectiveness will continue: During the meeting the Process Observer and the Generative Process Observer pay special attention. At the end of the meeting, the Process Observer describes how well the Board interacted and accomplished the agenda. The Generative Process Observer comments on how creatively the Board considered and accomplished the tasks on the agenda, specifically how much time was spent discerning strategic and mission-based questions. Other tasks are assigned to Board members to provide experience for new and returning trustees and spread responsibility for activities across the entire Board.
A couple other innovations being implemented this year involve the Executive Committee. On a trial basis, we are moving toward a three-year presidential commitment; the first year an elected leader will serve as Vice President (Carla Williams this year), the second year the leader would serve as President (Joe Romeo) and then the cycle would be completed with a third year as President Emerita (Jessica Tomell-Presto). Also, there will be a rotating participation of trustees who are not officers in the monthly Executive Committee meetings. The intent is to create more opportunities for involvement and leadership experience for each Board member, and for the Board to benefit from the experience and wisdom of its previous president.
Other continuing activities:
Plans for 2021-2022
Want to know more about any of these topics? The Board minutes and agendas are available on the UCE website or feel free to contact the Board at BOT@ucevanston.org!
Reflections with the Board: August 8, 2021
It is our goal as the Board of Trustees to maintain connections with you. To that end, we are hosting a program entitled, “Reflections with the Board.” We have hosted these sessions via zoom on the second Sunday of each month at 10 am before the service. (We’ll adjust the schedule as necessary in the fall.) Our next session will be held on August 8th at 10 am. For this session, the Board would like to talk with you about Widening the Circle of Concern. This month we will discuss Chapter Six, Religious Professionals. You did not have to attend any of our previous sessions to join us.
Questions from Study Guide for WTC chapter, Religious Professionals:
- Do any religious professionals of color serve your community, in capacities such as minister, religious educator, musician, membership professional, or administrator? How do you know an individual holds an identity of color?
- If you do, have the bodies that supervise them (e.g., board, committees on ministry or personnel) read this chapter?
- What groups or individual leaders in your congregation have the most influence on the recommended actions outlined in this chapter? How can you encourage them to become engaged?
- How do your congregation’s hiring practices and policies support or not support religious professionals from “marginalized/traditionally under-represented communities/identities”?
- Do you know of policies and practices to minimize micro-aggressions? Trauma? Disrespect? Harm? Abuse?
- Does your congregation or community support or encourage the participation of religious professionals of color in supportive collegial groups? Finding Our Way Home? UU Professional Chapters for Identity Groups?
Which of these questions would you like to discuss? What have you been learning as you have been reading Widening the Circle? Please join us on Sunday. Thank you.
REAL Event Racial Equity Learning Moment
Did you miss the compelling Ware lecture at this year’s General Assembly? Do you want to meet Desmond Meade via video? Join REAL for a 30-minute viewing of Desmond Meade talking about the fight for voting rights and his personal story as a citizen returning from prison who has been disenfranchised for years — and what he did about it. You may have some insights and questions yourself! We welcome all to this REAL meeting on Wednesday, July 28th, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm.
Beloved Conversations Registration Open Through August 31, 2021
The REAL Team highly recommends that anyone who has not taken the online version of Beloved Conversations sign up for “Beloved Conversations: Within”. The Beloved Conversations in-person curriculum has evolved to be a three-part online curriculum divided into the Within Phase, the Among Phase, and the Beyond Phase. If you took the original in-person curriculum, the new online Beloved Conversations: Within is a restyled individual curriculum that will bring you something new. If you have not taken any form of Beloved Conversations, now is a good time to take the Within Phase curriculum, because the next phase, Beloved Conversations: Among, is a congregation wide curriculum that the REAL Team is exploring.
UCE has scholarships available for the Beloved Conversations: Within registration fee. Please contact Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org.
