From Susan Frances – Assistant Minister for Congregational Life

Dear Friends,

My entire life I have been a hugger of trees. The photo is of me hugging a tree named Grandmother Oak in Hiawatha, Iowa, during my recent January retreat. I find that when I intentionally spend time with trees, whether it is the Ginkgo outside my front door or the Arnold Hawthorn along my usual lakeshore path, that I am able to relax and think about things on a larger scale. This thinking on a larger scale is something I want to invite all of you to join me in doing this spring.

The past two weeks ended up being a smooth transition into our time with our sabbatical ministers, Rev. Allison Farnum and Rev. Elizabeth Harding, and I am now thinking about preparing for our annual congregational meeting on Sunday, May 21st. Part of preparing for our annual meeting is taking time to think about what we have been doing and what we want to be doing.

This year is the third year that we will be engaging in the Annual Review Process that our interim minister Rev. Karen Gustafson helped us establish. Last month, Rev. Eileen, the members of the Committee on Shared Ministry, and I reviewed the Annual Review Process form we used last year. We edited it to make it shorter and relevant to the current leadership development work and anti-oppression work that our congregation is doing. Over the next week, I will be emailing out all the groups at UCE, from social justice teams to affinity groups, with our updated Annual Review Process form. Please make time within your teams and groups over the next six weeks to engage in a conversation prompted by the information and questions in the Annual Review Process form. The Committee on Shared Ministry and I are available to help facilitate these conversations, so please ask if that would be helpful.

Last year, we spent time re-visioning our Ends Statements, which we renamed our Values Statements and adopted at last year’s annual meeting. This year, one way we have practiced living into our Values Statements is through our interfaith and intra-UU engagement. Over the next ten days, you are invited to support the work of four of our social justice teams who are collaborating with other organizations to live our values out in the world:

* Our Native Communities Solidarity Team, in collaboration with Reba Place Church and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, has pooled resources to bring the play We Own This Now to Evanston. The two performances on Friday, March 17 at 7:00 pm and Saturday, March 18 at 3:00 pm at Reba Place Church are free and open to the public. Check this newsletter for details. The play explores our country’s history of settler colonialism and what is means to own land.

* For years, our Food and Shelter Team (FAST) has been collaborating with our neighbors, Beth Emet The Free Synagogue, to continuously provide the Soup Kitchen. On March 19 at 5:00 pm, Beth Emet is hosting a 20-Year Anniversary Celebration of the Soup Kitchen that will also raise ongoing funding. Check this newsletter for tickets ($25 adult; $12 children). And then, sign up to volunteer through the newsletter for April 5th or 12th when UCE will be hosting a full sit-down meal Soup Kitchen for the first time since 2019 and we need lots of helpers.

* Our Prison Ministry Team and Racial Equity Action and Leadership (REAL) Team have joined with the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois (UUPMI) to bring Alonzo Waheed from Equity and Transformation (E.A.T.) Chicago to UCE on March 22 at 7:00 pm to continue our support of reparations. This event is free and open to the public. Check this newsletter for details. The initiative that Mr. Waheed will share with us is called The Big Payback Campaign, which is separate from the The Big Payback film, and will focus on the issue of reparations for individuals affected by the criminal legal system as a result of the federal war on drugs initiative.

I hope you will be able to attend at least one of these events.

The world is full of need and I am grateful for our social justice team members who are meeting the need one issue at a time. I am also aware that we have to take care of ourselves in order to meet the long term needs of the world. If you could use some support or care right now, please reach out to Rev. Elizabeth Harding, our sabbatical minister for pastoral care, at eharding@ucevanston.org or connect with our Caring Team or Pastoral Care Team by filling out the Request for Care form.

Find time to walk in the trees or to simply hug the next one you walk by as you continue to care for yourself so you may care for the world.

In faith,
Rev. Susan