Finding Hope when Plans Change

In this all-ages service, we’ll follow a story of setback and adaptation to explore hope…not as certainty or fixed outcomes, but as openness to possibility.  Dr. Emma Farrell, Ministerial Intern, leads our service with Worship Associate Annette Wallace. Gregory Shifrin shares his talents on piano.

Today’s offering will be shared with FORA – Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America, whose mission is to ensure that refugee families are provided access to an education sufficient to prepare them to become economically self-sufficient and robustly engaged in American civic life.

Upcoming Services

January 4th – Fire Communion – Rev. Susan

January 11th – Love Resists – Revs. Eileen and Susan and the Catalyst Team

January 18th – Shall We Overcome? – Rev. Eileen with Henry Pleas as musical guest

January 25th – Sophia Newman’s spiritual journey with Rev. Eileen as worship associate

In the bleak of winter, amidst the night of the soul, when peace feels so far away, we gather to pray for the clarity of a single star guiding us toward a peace we can only create together. Rev. Eileen Wiviott leads our Christmas Eve candlelight service with Worship Associates Shirley Adams, Mary Dudek, Dr. Emma Farrell, and Bob Mesle. Our UCE Choir, directed by Vickie Hellyer and accompanied by Gregory Shifrin on piano, Peter Schifrin on flute, and Nadav Simon on percussion, lead us in song.

 A Story of Hope

The winter solstice brings the promise of returning light and warmth, and the Christmas story as we enact it, helps us to choose hope even when things are bleak. Join us in celebrating the season with the retelling of Jesus’ birth in an interactive and music-filled worship service. Kathy Underwood leads and Rev. Eileen will be the Worship Associate. Jenn Wisegarver, Kiley Korey, Charles M. Anderson, and Patrick Briody will lead our hymns.

Today’s offering will be shared with FORA, which stands for Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America. I invite Sue Larson up to share with us about her experiences tutoring at FORA.

Upcoming Services

December 24th – Christmas Eve Service (7pm)

December 28th – Living Faithfully – Dr. Emma Farrell

January 4th – Fire Communion – Rev. Susan

January 11th – Love Resists – Revs. Eileen and Susan and the Catalyst Team

January 18th – Shall We Overcome? – Rev. Eileen with Henry Pleas as musical guest

Lighting Our Way

In these times of growing darkness, we search together for sources of light to guide us on our collective journey toward hope. Our annual music service lifts our spirits and fortifies our hearts. The UCE choir and soloists led by Music Director, Vickie Hellyer, accompanied by Gregory Shifrin on piano, Kevin Barrow on clarinet, and Nadav Simon on percussion. Kristee Boehm, Ellie Feddersen, Sarah Vanderwicken, Andy Fisher, and Rev. Eileen will be our Worship Associates.

Today’s offering will be shared with FORA, which works to ensure that refugee families are provided access to an education sufficient to prepare them to become economically self sufficient and robustly engaged in American civic life.

Upcoming Services

December 21st – Pageant Sunday – Kathy Underwood

December 24th – Christmas Eve Service (7pm)

December 28th – Living Faithfully – Dr. Emma Farrell

January 4th – Fire Communion – Rev. Susan

January 11th – Love Resists – Revs. Eileen and Susan and the Catalyst Team

What Might Rise?

In uncertain times, as all times are, choosing hope is an act of courageous defiance. In community we practice choosing hope and planting seeds of what might emerge from the soil of creative resistance. Rev. Eileen leads this service with Charles M. Anderson as our Hymn Leader and Gregory Shifrin on piano.

Today’s offering will be shared with FORA, which works to ensure that refugee families are provided access to an education sufficient to prepare them to become economically self sufficient and robustly engaged in American civic life.

Upcoming services:

December 14th – Music Sunday – UCE Choir led by Vickie Hellyer

December 21st – Pageant Sunday – Kathy Underwood

December 24th – Christmas Eve Service (7pm)

December 28th – Living Faithfully – Dr. Emma Farrell

January 4th – Fire Communion – Rev. Susan

Until We Are All Free

This Sunday’s service is a haunting meditation on what happens to the human soul when it is caged. Keith Talley with the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois (UUPMI) leads our service this Sunday with Rev. Susan Frances, worship associate Sally Parsons, and pianist Gregory Shifrin.

Keith Talley (him/him) is a system-impacted Muslim leader working at the crossroads of reentry, faith, and narrative justice. He serves as Prison Solidarity Specialist with the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of IL, Reentry Program Coordinator at Phalanx Family Services, and Founder & CEO of Revolutionary Reentry Hub. Introduced to UUPMI through the Pen Pal Program while caged, Keith found not a call to conversion, but a deep alignment of values. Today, he works to build bridges between spiritual traditions and to transform how we see and stand with those returning from prison.

MASKS ARE REQUIRED AT THIS SERVICE to create space for in-person community time with our immunocompromised members and friends.

Today’s offering will be shared with the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois in its effort to equip UU’s in Illinois to ​transform institutions and partner with people harmed by the prison industrial complex. 

Upcoming Services

December 7th – Hope in the Darkness – Rev. Eileen

December 14th – Music Sunday – UCE Choir led by Vickie Hellyer

December 21st – Pageant Sunday – Kathy Underwood

December 28th – Living Faithfully – Dr. Emma Farrell

Thanks For Being

Our annual Bread Communion service in which we share from the abundance of our traditions, with gratitude for what we have and knowing that what we pay attention to grows. Rev. Eileen leads this service with Ellie Feddersen as Worship Associate. The UCE Choir, directed by Vickie Hellyer and accompanied by Gregory Shifrin and Ken Smith share their musical gifts.

The Alchemy of Gratitude

As we explore nurturing gratitude we consider how to transform gratitude into generosity, the kind that comes from a place of abundance and mutuality rather than scarcity. Rev. Eileen leads this service with Kiley Korey as Worship Associate. Jenn Wisegarver is our Hymn Leader with Gregory Shifrin on piano.

Today’s offering will be shared with Restore Justice Foundation, which advocates for fairness, humanity, and compassion throughout the Illinois criminal legal system, with a primary focus on those affected by extreme sentences as youth.

Upcoming Services

November 23rd – Bread Communion – Rev. Eileen

November 30th – UUPMI – with Rev. Susan

December 7th – Hope in the Darkness – Rev. Eileen

December 14th – Music Sunday – UCE Choir led by Vickie Hellyer

Cultivating Gratitude in Hard Soil

In a world that can feel heavy and unyielding, how do we keep our hearts open? This service explores the practice of gratitude—not as denial of pain, but as an embodied discipline that softens the hard soil in our lives and helps us stay resourced for the journey.

Dr. Emma Farrell leads this service with Janelle Brittain as Worship Associate. Andy Carpenter shares his talents on the tenor saxophone and Gregory Shifrin shares his talents on the piano.

Today’s offering will be shared with Restore Justice Foundation, which advocates for fairness, humanity, and compassion throughout the Illinois criminal legal system, with a primary focus on those affected by extreme sentences as youth.

Upcoming Services

November 16th – The Alchemy of Gratitude – Rev. Eileen

November 23rd – Bread Communion – Rev. Eileen

 Gratitude for Our Ancestors

Honoring our UCE Founders, with thankfulness for those ancestors who planted long ago seeds of possibility so that we may continue to carry on their legacy and be good ancestors for our descendants. Rev. Eileen leads this service with Shirley Adams as Worship Associate. The UCE Choir, directed by Vickie Hellyer and accompanied by Gregory Shifrin on piano bless us with music.

Today’s offering will be shared with Restore Justice Foundation, which advocates for fairness, humanity, and compassion throughout the Illinois criminal legal system, with a primary focus on those affected by extreme sentences as youth.

Upcoming Services

November 9th – Cultivating Gratitude in Hard soil – Dr. Emma Farrell

November 16th – The Alchemy of Gratitude – Rev. Eileen

November 23rd – Bread Communion – Rev. Eileen