A huge “thank you” to those who participated in the recent REvisioning gatherings. Rev. Karen, Rev. Eileen, and I were blessed to witness the honesty, hopes, and dreams that were shared. There is a great desire to create innovative ways for people to connect within and across generations in all aspects of congregational life: worship, faith formation, social justice, and social gatherings.  

This is no small task, of course, and so we have formed a coalition of people who are excited to explore the many options out there as well as think outside the box. And so I introduce to you the Faith Formation Force 2021! Gladly serving on our task force are: Ben Kornfeld, Karena Nelson, Carolyn Leman, Ann Gadzikowski, Shirley Adams, Margaret Shaklee, Dan Solomon, and Cheryl Mounts.  

Over the next several months, we will explore these with and for our congregation:  

• Ways to co-create a multi-generational, inclusive community of life-long learning and growing in spiritual depth, commitment to living our values, and cultivating care.  
• Models of faith formation that will help us strive toward our ends and our mission.  
• Practical, clear, and accessible methods to create experiences of learning at all ages about our UU history, identity, and values.  
• Opportunities to work for justice, deepen relationships, and have fun together. 

You will be hearing from us along our journey towards building a more vibrant UCE! Of course, there are still ways to connect with others as we set out forging a new path. One opportunity coming this next week is Mystery Match! 

What’s Mystery Match? This program takes interested adults and matches them with a young person anonymously. During the week of February 6-13, adults send a card or two to their Mystery Match with some clues to their identity. The young people love to get snail mail, and they love guessing games! Then after the worship service on February 14, we will have a Meet Your Match virtual celebration where the young people will guess who their match is and meet you. This is a fun and easy way to get to know our young people!  

If you’d like to participate in Mystery Match, sign up here or email me at kunderwood@ucevanston.org. 

In Faith, 

Kathy 

We have been exploring our purpose and mission during this interim ministry period with Rev. Karen’s grace and guidance. Before we closed our doors last March, a group of us met to share our hopes and dreams for the children’s religious education program as we look towards calling a new minister. We had many insights and ideas! Now, as we consider the future of the program post-pandemic, we need your input more than ever.  

Rev. Karen, Rev. Eileen, and I want to hear what is on your heart and mind, as we consider different models of family faith formation centered around the questions: 

“What is the role of a faith community in your life and your child(ren)’s lives?” 

“How can we create together a truly multi-generational faith community which is mutually supportive and thriving?” 

We are aware of how overstretched you are. We know that time is precious, and we want to respect yours. We hope that you feel motivated by love for this congregation and the religious education program at UCE rather than by onerous obligation. We are hopeful that, together, we can discover our collective passions, values, and investments as well as the obstacles that get in the way of living into them.  

Mark your calendar for ONE of the following virtual gatherings: 

• January 9 – 10-11:30a 
• January 16 – 1-2:30p 
• January 17 – 2-3:30p 

A link to register will be in next week’s newsletter. Zoom info will be sent out to those who register. 

We look forward to seeing you there! 

In Faith, 

Kathy 

I hope you have seen emails and Facebook posts about the upcoming Stuffies Sleepover at UCE! This is a sleepover for stuffed animals only because they deserve to have fun too! Stuffies of all ages, sizes, colors, and species are welcome to attend! Put your name on the bottom of your stuffie and bring it to UCE and place it in the marked bin by the door before Sunday evening (the 27th). Call the church ahead to make sure someone is there to let you in. The stuffies will be busy recording their antics, which you will get to see in the Animal Blessing worship service on October 4. Arrangements for their return home will be made next week. 

Parents should have received an email last Friday looking for feedback on what they are comfortable having their kids participate in. If you missed it, please look for it and send me your thoughts. I will also send another email this weekend with an update and an opportunity to voice your opinion.  

So far, this is what I am learning from your replies and conversations: 

• Most are comfortable with small in-person gatherings with masks and physical distancing. Since this isn’t 100%, having outside opportunities is still important. 
• Some screen time for virtual RE is okay – no more than 1 hour and preferably not weekly 
• For younger kids, afternoons around 4p is best 

• The jury is still out on 6th-8th grade youth, although Sunday seems to be preferred 
• There is some interest in parent groups: book group, parents of teens group, and forming a second covenant group 

While collecting more feedback, I have set up a schedule of events for different age groups this month as follows: 

• Family Fun on the Lawn (weather permitting) – October 7 and 21 at 5:30-6:30p. Sign up here
• POP – Parents of Preschoolers – Monday, October 26 at 8-9p. Sign up here. 
• 1st-5th Grades – Thursdays, October 1, 15, and 29 at 4-4:45p. Sign up here.  
• 6th-8th Grades – Popcorn Theology Online – Sunday, October 11 at 9:30-10:30a. Sign up here  
• High School with MidAmerica Youth – Sundays, October 4, 18, 25 at 6-7:30p 
• Parents on the Porch – Sunday, October 25 at 8:30-9:30p (Join any time in the hour!) Sign up here. 

Please remember to register your child/youth too. You can do so here.  

I will also be sending out an invite to those who have expressed an interest in forming one of the parent groups to meet virtually and share thoughts on what you wish to get from participating as well as logistics for meeting. 

The Children and Youth Team is looking at ways to connect people across the ages, so if you have an idea that can bring people together, let me know! As always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback on how we can create beloved community for all ages during this unusual time.  

In Faith, 

Kathy

I can’t help but notice in August the change in the trees and the hours of sunlight decreasing. While planning for some gatherings on the lawn for September, I had to check the times of sunset so that groups wouldn’t be sitting out there in the dark! And yet, I love the approaching fall season.

With local schools deciding to continue with e-learning, and parents are telling me that they don’t want their kids to sit in front of a screen any more than necessary, I am organizing some small gatherings over the next four weeks. These will be held on the South Lawn at UCE, where there is space to run or sit in the shade of the trees. Our first gathering last Sunday was small, but very enjoyable! My hope is to continue with these small gatherings through the church year, although when the weather gets cold, they will be in the sanctuary. So parents, please sign up! Here are the dates:

August 24 at 6p – 2nd-5th Families. Sign up here!

September 3 at 6p – 6th-8th Families. Sign up here!

Sept. 9 at 6p – Pre/K/1 Families. Sign up here!

Sept. 13 at 2:30p – Parents (kids will walk to Anderson Park with chaperones). Sign up here!

Many of you have asked how you can support and help during this unprecedented time. For the Lifespan Learning Council, they need your creative juices – ideas on how we can become a truly multigenerational faith community. For example, ways to invite and include our young people to participate more in worship services. This could be a reader’s theater, reading, telling or acting out stories, or using their tech-savvy talents.

For myself, I need folks who can take an idea and help coordinate it. Some ideas are a drive-in movie in the parking lot, and a trivia game night. For the latter, Joe Romeo is looking for someone to help one this winter and needs someone to work with him. Maybe that person is you!

As always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback on how we can create beloved community for all ages during this unusual time.

In Faith,

Kathy

You may have seen this poem by Leslie Wright on social media or mainstream news:  

What if 2020 isn’t cancelled? What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for?
A year so uncomfortable, so painful, so scary, so raw – that it finally forces us to grow.
A year that screams so loud, finally awakening us from our ignorant slumber.
A year we finally accept the need for change.
Declare change. Work for change. Become the change.
A year we finally band together, instead of pushing each other further apart.
2020 isn’t cancelled, but rather the most important year of them all. 

So how do we take this challenge to “declare the change, work for change, become the change” and reach our full potential at UCE? Our covenant states that our purpose is to “nurture the human spirit for a world made whole”. I believe that this applies within our walls as well as in the greater world. We must nurture our spirit to be out in the world helping to make change, and we need to offer that to those who walk through our doors. 

This past year, Rev. Karen Gustafson has been doing interim work with us, to enable us to “declare the change, work for change, become the change” within our four walls – to help us learn what it is we want and need to fulfill our mission and to call our next minister. Your valuable input has led to some changes already. And while change can be difficult, we need to continue to “declare the change, work for change, become the change” at UCE. 

This summer, I am inviting you to continue the conversation regarding our religious education program that was begun this past February and put on hold with closing UCE in March. How do we prepare our children and youth to become empowered and transformed? What does a robust RE program look and feel like?  

And this conversation is not just for parents of children and youth. Having a religious education program that nurtures our young people and builds relationships across generations gives a congregation such energy! Isn’t that what we want for UCE? 

And so we continue this exploration beginning June 24 at 5:30pm during the all-church Zoom gathering. There will be more opportunities in July to share thoughts and ideas, so look for these future dates in upcoming newsletters. Together, we will “declare the change, work for change, become the change”! 

In Faith, 

Kathy 

By now, many of us have found a new routine with working at home or online learning, what people are calling “the new norm”. And yet many parents (and young people too, I’m sure) are still struggling to find the balance in holding the many threads of life they have between work and family time, partners and children, mental health and physical health, and many others. I am hearing that time to just be is hard to come by. For those with children and youth doing e-learning, the school year is coming to an end and with it the disappointments of missing out on musical performances, theater productions, sports, proms, and graduations.

And now summer is around the corner, although the cooler weather this week makes it seem a lot further away. Families are wondering what they will be able to do together, and what children and youth will have to entertain themselves without school and summer camps.

Typically, we would hold an all-ages RE program over the summer, with different adults or older youth offering an activity, social action project, or a morning of games. Now we find ourselves wondering what we can offer that families or the children themselves would be engaged in given the parameters we have. Not knowing if, or when those parameters might change complicates things a bit more too. Ask your family how they would like to connect with UCE friends this summer and see what ideas they offer. Think outside the box! Shoot me an email at kunderwood@uce.org and let me know what comes up in your brainstorming.

For now, look for this week’s VirtUUal RE session on the homepage. Your family can do this together at your own convenience any time during the week. You can read the session here and look at the links within it. Keep checking the UCE Children and Youth Facebook page, for other ideas to do for all ages and as a family.

Here’s a special treat for you: Rev. Eileen telling a story! If you would like to record yourself reading or telling a story that would be shared on our Facebook page and in our newsletter, let Kathy know. It would be wonderful to have a whole collection!

In Faith,
Kathy