Sunday Service: In-person and Online Sunday at 10:30am

Beloved Conversations Spring Registration Open: Feb 2021

Beloved Conversations Virtual Spring Registration Opens February 1-26th!

Beloved Conversations—a faith formation anti-racism program through our Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago, Meadville Lombard Theological School—went virtual last fall and over 1,200 learners joined the first ‘Within’ phase, including 23 participants from UCE! We would love to have you join us for spring! This program is an experience of connection and spiritual development that you don’t want to miss.

The Spring Term registration opens February 1st and closes on February 26th. The Spring Term begins March 16th, with lessons published every two weeks, as well as biweekly small group check-ins and monthly large group worship and discussion. In the program’s current phase, ‘Within,’ we engage with a personal exploration of race and our work for racial justice. With two caucuses, our white participants are invited into the Un/learning for Liberation course and our BIPOC+ participants are invited into the Gathering Ourselves course. In Beloved Conversations, we are here to heal the impact of racism on our lives. Let’s get free together. Learn more at meadville.edu/beloved

Scholarships are available. Please click here to apply.

Beloved Conversations Spring Registration Open: Feb 20212021-02-10T23:15:04+00:00

Update on the Anti-Oppression Efforts: November 6, 2020

UCE’s call to dismantle white supremacy, be inclusive, be antiracists, and be accountable continues and we need your assistance! 

First, if you have ideas about the process that should be used to organize the Anti-Oppression Task Force, including how to determine membership and mission, please contact one of the following people by November 15, 2020: 

Second, as mentioned in the October 2nd newsletter, representatives from the Board of Trustees, the ministerial team, and REAL are working to find an outside consultant to partner with UCE as we form our Anti-Oppression Task Force. Below is the list of organizations that we are reviewing. If you know of any other organization that you would recommend regarding a racial equity audit or anti-racism consulting, please send that information to Rev. Susan at sfrances@ucevanston.org by November 15, 2020.  

Organizations being reviewed: 

  • Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Ministries at First Universalist Church of Minneapolis  
  • Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism 
  • Crossroads of Chicago 
  • Evanston/Northshore YWCA 
  • Transforming Hearts Collective 

Our first conversation will be with Julica Hermann de la Fuente with the Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Ministries at First Universalist Church of Minneapolis on November 24, 2020 at 7:30 pm. Please contact Rev. Susan at sfrances@ucevanston.org by November 15, 2020, for the Zoom link. 

Update on the Anti-Oppression Efforts: November 6, 20202020-11-05T20:19:42+00:00

Beloved Conversations Virtual 2020: August 27, 2020

The REAL Team is thrilled to announce that Beloved Conversations is resuming this fall with a virtual format. Beloved Conversations is a great introduction for members of UCE who have not previously done substantial personal work on understanding equity and inclusion, on race and on other forms of oppression.

Beloved Conversations: Virtual is designed and offered for the 2020-2021 church year with a new curriculum organized in three “phases” that resonate with earlier versions but have vastly new features and a three-pronged program of Within, Among, and Beyond. Click here for more information on the program. The price for a lay UU Individual is $150. Additional information on pricing can be found by clicking the button below.
The REAL Team along with the UCE Anti-Oppression Task Force urge you to consider enrolling! It is vital to our work as a faith community that we all partake in learning and self-reflection on the racist world in which we live, preparing us to act for justice.
Will you join in the learning along with other UCE folks? We will get a 10% group discount for groups of 10-19, and a 20% discount for groups of 20 or more. Please contact Martha Holman holman.martha@gmail.com if you wish to register or lean more about the program. Group registration deadline with REAL Team is September 12th. (Online individual registration deadline is September 20th.)
Additional info on pricing:

Reparations Note: White participants are encouraged to consider paying an additional $50 (for a total of $200 per person), in recognition of the historic legacy of racist economic policies and the ways in which generational wealth and greater access to economic opportunity have privileged white people as a group for hundreds of years. We will use these extra funds to provide scholarships to those who need it to participate in this program.

Equity Note: Regardless of your racial identity, sliding scale pricing and full scholarships are available to those who need them.

Interdependence Note: Regardless of your racial identity, if your class privilege allows you to pay more so that others may pay less, please consider adding an additional contribution to your total.

Beloved Conversations Virtual 2020: August 27, 20202020-10-08T23:29:46+00:00

REAL Team Food & Supplies Drive: July 22, 2020

We are so grateful for UCE’s generous donations that have been pouring in!  Our recipient group has responded numerous times that they are so thankful for how our congregation is responding to their dire needs.  (We are keeping their identity under wraps at this point to protect them, as they have been targeted with looting and death threats).
Want to help?  
The REAL Team has been asked to coordinate some much-needed supplies for some of our community partners who have been most impacted by the pandemic followed by civil unrest. Here is an Amazon list which includes the items that were asked for and especially needed. Please check the list and donate as much as you feel comfortable. We need multiples of many items. There are several ways you can help:
  • Using the link above, you can order from Amazon and have your supplies delivered directly to our drop off location (when you check out, the delivery address should say, “Becky Crawford’s Gift Registry”) We have volunteers lined up to drive donations to the needed locations.
  • You can purchase from Amazon or elsewhere, and deliver to the Crawford-Cloonan household directly (email for address).
  • If you’d like to donate financially, you can send a check directly to UCE with “south side” in the memo line. Cash donations can be dropped off in an envelope to my house.
ESPECIALLY NEEDED NOW:
  • Diaper sizes: newborn, 1,4,5,6
  • Pull ups: 4t,5t, 6
  • Baby wipes
  • Pads with wings
  • Organic tampons
  • Body soap, bar and liquid
  • Bathroom tissue
  • Paper towels
  • Dish detergent
  • Laundry detergent
  • Fresh produce
  • Spaghetti and pasta sauce
  • Hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, alcohol
  • Any and all non-perishable food items
Any questions, contact Becky Crawford. Thank you for your support!
REAL Team Food & Supplies Drive: July 22, 20202020-10-08T23:30:50+00:00

REAL Update: June 12, 2020

This is a time when we are redoubling our efforts to step up in response to continued and increasing police violence against Black people.  It is a time when those of us who identify as White need to speak out, act up, and keep on educating ourselves to be effective antiracists. 

The UCE Racial Equity (REAL) planning group has been working on several new ways for members and friends to look more deeply into white privilege, into how to speak our truth, into ways to show up, to learn, to donate. 

  • Thanks to our amazing Communications Director Jessica Meis and our leader for Social Action Karen Mooney, there is a section on the website home page that is a UCE statement on the Black Lives Matter movement, and ways to help.  Please check it out! 

  • There will be an intergenerational class/workshop on Restorative Justice co-sponsored by the Lifespan Learning Council, REAL, and the UCE Prison Ministry Team.  Coming soon – watch for details!

  • Black Lives Matter signs and buttons are available to all for $10 per sign and $1 per button.  Contact Annette Wallace at 847-826-6825 or the church office for information.

  • We are planning a White Fragility 3-part workshop to take place in the very near future. Watch for details.

  • REAL is exploring starting a monthly UCE group specifically for BIPOC (Blacks, Indigenous people, and other People of Color).  If interested, please contact Shannon Lang shalizhilang@yahoo.com.  Also please check out  http://www.blacklivesuu.com.

  • We continue to bring you resources for self-education on racism: books, movies, articles, often through our Member to Member Facebook page so keep checking that page. 

  • We try our best to alert everyone to rallies, events, petitions, UUTheVote activities, and more opportunities to show up or to donate where it will really help.

  • There will be another series of Movie Discussions on topics related to racism in the coming church year. 

  • We are exploring the possibility of a unique program on white supremacy intended for white people who have covered the basics of white privilege and unconscious bias, to go deeper into personal work.

  • And more.  Join us! If you are a member of REAL, or want to be a member of REAL, look for a REAL meeting invitation soon.  All are welcome! 

REAL Update: June 12, 20202020-06-10T21:25:40+00:00

Days of Social Action: June 5, 2020

There are so many ways you can participate in social action, from showing up, signing on, donating, or committing yourself to learn more. Here are daily lists of actions you can take part in, on the front lines or from your home. Actions are gathered from the UUA, Moveon, Indivisible, UUSJ, Color of Change, SUR, Faithful America.

Saturday

  • Show UP Stand WITH: Activate: Chicago March for Justice for George Floyd – Saturday, June 6th at 11 a.m. Where: Humboldt Park Boathouse (former home of Chance the Snapper). We will march to end Police Brutality. We will march because #blacklivesmatter. We march for justice for George Floyd and his Family. Please wear masks – This march will be peaceful.
  • Show UP to Stand WITH: Display a BLACK LIVES MATTER! Sign in your yard: REAL Message: Signs are now available for UCE members and friends and neighbors. Signs may be purchased and picked up between 1 pm and 6 pm from Annette Wallace. Call 847-826-6825 to assure a pickup time and for address and parking instructions. Bring $10 cash per sign (you can donate more if you wish). You may also pay by check made out to UCE with BLM in memo line. Contribution goes to Chicago Community Bond Fund, The Moran Center, and the purchase of additional signs. Safety measures are being followed. We ask that you wear a mask and keep at least 6 feet distance during pickup and payment.
  • We recommend that you display a sign, and that you take some additional antiracist action. Need some ideas? Check out the UCE home page “Take Action.”
  • Read this article on Performative Allyship and how to engage in powerful activism beyond social media.
  • Sign ON to Stand WITH: Color of Change: Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was in her home in Louisville, KY on March 13thwhen officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department barged in without a warning nor announcement and broke through her door, fired off more than 20 bullets, and ultimately took Breonna’s life. #JusticeforBre: Police officers who killed Breonna Taylor must be FIRED.
  • Give MONEY to Stand WITH: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
  • Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: Read this article in the Atlantic titled “When People View Citizens as Enemies.”

Sunday

  • Show UP to Stand WITH: Faithful America: Keep showing up. If you’re a white person who can attend protests, please do so. Be sure to follow the lead of organizers of color, and be willing to protect them if asked when the police arrive. Wear something that identifies you as a person of faith lifting up the moral voice. Learn de-escalation and bystander-intervention tactics.
  • Show UP to Stand WITH: Join in the Movement for Black Lives in daily action. The time for action is now, people are taking to the streets, flooding social media, calling local officials and demanding justice for those who have been killed by the police all over the county and now is the time to join them.
  • Sign ON to Stand WITH: Color of Change: Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was in her home in Louisville, KY on March 13thwhen officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department barged in without a warning nor announcement and broke through her door, fired off more than 20 bullets, and ultimately took Breonna’s life. #JusticeforBre: Police officers who killed Breonna Taylor must be FIRED.
  • Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Black Lives Matter Global Network 
  • Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: UUA: Join the “Unfinished Business” political education series hosted by Side with Love and Love Resists (starting Wednesday June 10).

Monday

  • Make CALLS to Stand WITH: UUSJ: Police/National Guard murdered David Mcatee in Louisville around 12 am as they shot blindly into a crowd outside Mcatee’s business. Governor Beshear is allowing LMPD to independently investigate themselves. This cannot stand.  Calls must be made:
    • Mayor Greg Fischer – Call (502) 574-2003
    • Governor Beshear – Call (502) 564-2611
    • County Attorney- Call (502) 574-6336
    • SCRIPT: My name is [X] and I am calling to ask for the following actions in response to the murder of David Mcatee:
      • Immediate release of all body camera footage
      • Appoint citizen review panel with subpoena power to investigate
      • (Mayor only) immediately appoint interim police chief
      • (Mayor only)  immediately fire the officers involved in shooting David Mcatee as well as those responsible for Breonna Taylor’s murder.
  •  Sign ON to Stand WITH: Color of Change: Keep echoing the demands of Black organizers. Sign the “State of Emergency: End the War on Black people!” list of demands from Color of Change, one of the most important civil-rights organizations of the digital age.
  • Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Chicago Community Bond Fund: Chicagoland bail fund
  • Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: Listen to Trevor Noah as he reflects with wisdom and compassion on what is going on in America. https://youtu.be/v4amCfVbA_c  He speaks truth to power.

Tuesday

Wednesday

  • Show UP to Stand WITH: From SURJ: Post images and content from the Movement for Black Lives @mvmnt4blklives. They have called for Trump to resign and continue to call for the defunding of the police. Find, follow, and amplify local Black-led organizing.
  • Sign ON to Stand WITH: UUA: We have called on the Minneapolis City Council to become these visionary leaders by pledging to defund the Minneapolis Police Department and invest in the resources that really keep us safe and healthy, especially in Black communities, Indigenous communities and communities of color.
  • Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Black Visions Collective  – Black Visions Collective (BLVC) believes in a future where all Black people have autonomy, safety is community-led, and we are in right relationship within our ecosystems.
  • Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: Read this article about 75 things that white people can do for racial justice.

Thursday

  • Make CALLS to Stand WITH: Use the Winning Justice Prosecutor Project from Color of Change to make calls to keep pressure on the two District Attorneys to take responsibility for the large role they played in delaying justice for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Make calls now.
  • Sign ON to Stand WITH: UUSJ: On May 27th, 2020, Tony McDade, a black transgender masculine person was shot five times in the back and killed by a Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) officer. TPD, notorious for its racism, white supremacy, and transphobia has consistently misgendered Tony and refused to release the officer’s body camera footage and/or admit their wrongdoing in murdering and misgendering an unarmed black trans person.  Please join us in demanding #JusticeForTony.
  • Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Reclaim the Block: Community fund
  • Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: This document is intended to serve as a resource to white people and parents to deepen our anti-racism work. If you haven’t engaged in anti-racism work in the past, start now.

Friday

  • Show UP to Stand WITH: Poor Peoples Campaign: Join the June 20th virtual march on Washington with the Poor Peoples Campaign. Stay in Place! Stay Alive! Organize! The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is calling for people across the country to Stay in Place! Stay Alive! Organize! And Don’t Believe the Lies! Right now, states are beginning to reopen against the best recommendations of doctors, public health officials and other experts. State legislatures, governors, and the federal government are putting millions of people, especially the poor, at great risk by reopening too soon.
  • Sign ON to Stand WITH: UUSJ: Demand resignation of Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson for not issuing a warrant of arrest for the murderers of Ahmaud Arbery on February 23, 2020.   On Sunday, February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery was unarmed when he was chased and gunned down by Travis and Gregory McMichael. They should have been arrested on February 23rd and as a result she should resign due to judicial malpractice. Click here to sign
  • Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Black Visions Collective: Supporting Black activists on the ground
  • Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: Watch Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III – As our country struggles with a fresh epidemic of senseless deaths of African Americans, Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III has a powerful message for us, “When Is Someday?” This message serves are a prelude to his sermonic video, “The Cross and the Lynching Tree: A Requiem for Ahmaud Arbery.” Two messages to awaken your spirit, open your hearts, and inspire you to action.

Days of Social Action: June 5, 20202020-06-10T23:21:28+00:00

YWCA Ricky Byrdsong Race Against Hate 2020

June 21 is Father’s Day.  Many of us would have gathered to walk or run the 21st annual Ricky Byrdsong Race Against Hate, and many would have sponsored those who did.  Like so many of our shared gatherings, this one will have to be virtual.  How can you help make this happen?  The YWCA has posted some opportunities and you can check those out at https://www.ywca-ens.org/rah/.  For the UCE REAL team, I suggest 2 ways to help support the YWCA in honor of Ricky Byrdsong:
  1. Although the large gathering and race won’t happen on June 21, the YWCA has asked that, on June 1, those who have them, put on our Race Against Hate shirts and run or walk inside or outside in memory of our neighbor Ricky Byrdsong, who was killed by a white supremacist in 1999.
  2. The Church has included in our budget a $500 contribution to the Evanston YWCA in honor of Ricky Byrdsong and the Race Against Hate, which will support the YWCA’s amazing work for racial justice and violence prevention.  We know many are struggling financially, so this ask is not for you.  But for those who would have paid the registration fee, or sponsored someone who did, if you still could, perhaps you could contribute to an effort to match the UCE contribution.  Then UCE could contribute $1,000 in honor of this deserving cause.  If you can, please contribute directly to the YWCA online (https://p2p.onecause.com/rah2020 ) or mail a check to YWCA (1215 Church St Evanston 60201).  Then email Dana Deane (dddeane@yahoo.com) and let me know how much you donated.  I’ll keep track and report on how well we did as a UCE Team!
Recent events demonstrate the continued need to to support racial justice.
YWCA Ricky Byrdsong Race Against Hate 20202020-05-29T16:27:53+00:00

REAL Meal – Friday March 1, 2019

February has turned out to be too short and too busy to schedule a REAL Meal, so we have pushed into the first evening of March for our next event. We’ll meet at Good to Go, the Jamaican restaurant that moved last year across the street to their snazzy new digs on the Evanston side, 711 Howard. It’s a large establishment, with an extensive menu and space for a much larger group than we’ve been able to accommodate in the past. But we’ll still need to give the management a week’s notice on the numbers we expect, so make your reservation early with Betty Walker, blw35@comcast.net. And go to their website to check out the menu and read the story of the owner, Tony Levy, who learned the recipes for his signature offerings in his mother’s kitchen in his native Jamaica.

REAL Meal – Friday March 1, 20192020-10-08T23:32:39+00:00

Selves to Defend? Domestic Violence Survivors Who Are Criminalized

Selves to Defend? Domestic Violence Survivors Who Are Criminalized
Saturday, October 27
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Unitarian Church of Evanston, 1330 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, in the Sanctuary
Co-sponsored by Dr. Melissa Blount, Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration, and REAL

What happens to survivors of domestic violence who act to protect themselves and their children? Too often, they are punished and “disappeared” in prison for decades, especially if they are Black or Brown. Evanston artist, psychologist, and poet Melissa Blount will present the “Say Her Name” quilt, which honors the lives of women killed by domestic violence, and its genesis in the work of Love & Protect, the Chicago chapter of the national group Survived & Punished. A survivor and the women who used participatory defense to free her from prison will discuss her case, and invite us to think about how we can support similar efforts for criminalized survivors. Last of all, we will have an opportunity to take part in a sewing circle and letter writing for women charged with crimes when they acted in response to life-shattering violence. Featured speakers include Debbie Buntyn, Monica Cosby, Paris Knox, and Holly Krig of Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration.

= = =

Selves to Defend? Domestic Violence Survivors Who Are Criminalized2018-10-10T19:38:55+00:00

Unitarian Church of Evanston

A Unitarian Universalist Congregation

1330 Ridge Ave
Evanston, IL 60201
Directions

(847) 864-1330
uce@ucevanston.org

UCE's office hours:
Tuesday - Thursday: 10am - 4pm
Friday: 10am - 1pm
Sunday: 10am - 1pm

In-person and Virtual Sunday Service is held at 10:30 am.

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The Unitarian Church of Evanston is recognized by the Unitarian Universalist Association as a Welcoming Congregation, a Peace Advocate Congregation, and a Green Sanctuary.

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