We at UCE are beginning a new endeavor that typifies the amazing things that can happen when a community of people follow their instincts and discover new purpose and skills. Just like making stone soup!

An eye-opening beginning came when UCE chose Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow as a non-fiction book group selection. What a revelation it was to see that mass incarceration was happening in our country more than in any other, and that its roots were in racial bias. What a call to action it was, because it requires a movement to change it.

The New Jim Crow motivated more Community Renewal Society (CRS) training and involvement. CRS gave us the opportunity to have one of its organizers, Marlon Chamberlain, recently released after drug sentencing changes, be part of our discussion of the book. Another CRS member, from Second Unitarian, Megan Selby, agreed to do a workshop with us on the Prison Industrial Complex and what to do about it.

The stone soup was beginning to bubble. The workshop led to the Prisons and Restorative Justice group that led seminars and volunteerism. Jackie Seaman and Jeanne Kerl got involved with Chicago Books for Women in Prison, and brought many of us along. Some started driving families to youth detention centers to visit their young family members. We started getting trained in, and working for, Restorative Justice.

Then Megan Selby approached us with the idea of a UU Prison Ministry. The stone soup miracles continued, with Gail Smith lending her deep experience with the issues. We were joined by others at UCE, 2nd Unitarian, and Beverly Unitarian Church, and received a planning grant from the UUA to develop a UU prison ministry. From that came fundraising training, fundraising that you supported, and progress toward our goal of hiring a quarter time minister to lead the prison aspects of the ministry.

Now we have many UU churches involved, and are developing plans for welcoming congregations for returning citizens, advocacy for restorative alternatives to incarceration, worship services and small group ministry in two Illinois prisons. We will continue the stone soup efforts by asking for your involvement in all aspects of the UU Prison Ministry of Illinois.

All this has happened because of a thriving community of caring people trying to make the world whole. We celebrate this, and praise it, and want it to stay “open for good.”

Reaction to the conference on Income Inequality, held at the church February 20-22, was very positive. Some 139 UU activists, from 34 different congregations and 14 states, attended 37 workshops and talks to learn more about the 2014 UUA Congregational Study Action Item (CSAI) on Escalating Inequality. In a satisfaction survey of attendees, scores ranged 4.5 – 4.8 on a 5-point scale.

Speakers at the conference included Chuck Collins, author of the book ’99 to 1’, Bill Ayers of the Univ. of Illinois at Chicago, and Rev. David Breeden of the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis. Those at conference shared ideas on how to lobby their state legislatures and how to support workers facing wage theft. They also discussed the possibility of opening a UU credit union and the importance of shopping at worker and retail co-ops.

The conference was timed to provide folks at the conference with information they could use to respond to the congregational poll on the Inequality issue, due to be submitted to the UUA by March 1.

In their response to the poll, members of the UCE Inequality task force said: “We are a justice-minded people. We must work to make society more just and equitable.” We indicated in the survey that members of our Peace & Justice committee are currently working to expand civil protections for former prisoners and to change state tax and wage laws that favor the wealthy.

In the future, the task force said, we plan to continue these activities and to strengthen our ties with the Community Renewal Society, the Chicago interfaith lobbying organization that works on these issues. The task force met recently and started planning activities in these areas. Another planning meeting is scheduled at the church Wednesday, March 25 at 2pm. All are welcome.