Board Report

Hi Church Friends,

On Friday, Sept. 22, and Saturday, Sept. 23, the Board of Trustees went on retreat to the Nordic Hills Resort in Itasca to review, regroup, and recommit to the life of the church and its members. Angela Merkert, the Congregational Services Director for the Central Midwest District of the Unitarian Universalist Association, facilitated our interesting discussions.

One of the first dialogues we had was to review the accomplishments of the church in the past year. Our brainstorms filled up an entire piece of chart paper and we were only getting started! I won't go into details about all that we have listed, but some of the highlights were: devoting ourselves to strengthening our religious education program by calling Rev. Walker, increasing the number of people involved in our social justice program, and continued development of a meaningful Sunday experience through worship, First Forums, Great Books discussions, and other classes.

Because there are several new Board members this year (myself included), an important part of the weekend was getting to know each other, our faith journeys, and our hopes and dreams for the Board and the congregation. This was done formally with ice breaker activities, and it was done informally with just plain old socializing. As the baby of the group, I am quite impressed with the diversity of the experiences of the Board and the years of dedication to our denomination.

There were many small-group and large-group strategy sessions to discuss how to work together as Board members, additional ways to serve our communities resulting in an increase in membership, and additional ways to communicate to the congregation so that every member feels informed and has a voice.

I left the retreat with a new sense of commitment and vision for the life of the church. Now if I could only figure out Robert's Rules of Order. Can I call the question? Who is this Robert dude, anyway?

Yours in faith,

Beccie Bruckner
 
 

Congregational Meeting

At a congregational meeting in September, the congregation voted to include in the bylaws specific provisions regarding a Minister for Religious Education.
 
 

Important November Dates

Nov. 5:     11:45--First Forum: "Sharing Thoughts about Transience of Life"

Nov. 12:    9:00 am--Nature of Racism, Adult RE

                    11:30--Great Books

                    11:45--First Forum: "Are Amphetamines Coming to Illinois?"

Nov. 18:   6:00 pm--Annual Thanksgiving Seder service and feast

Nov. 19:    Intergenerational Thanksgiving Celebration

                New Member Ingathering

                     Guest at Your Table box distribution

                     12:15--Supporting the Membership Effort Lunch, Nancy Harlan's

                     7:15 pm--Everyday Spirituality: Adult RE Course

Nov. 23:    11:00 am--Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, Rockefeller Chapel

Nov. 26:    11:45: First Forum: "Star War Defense Programs"

                      7:15 pm--Everyday Spirituality
 
 

Worship Associate Training Scheduled for December

On Saturday, Dec. 9, a training program for Worship Associates will be held at the church from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. If you wantto be considered for participation in this important ministry, please get in touch with Rev. Nina D. Grey or Rosemary Snow.
 
 

Ministers' Hours

Rev. Nina D. Grey: At church Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10 to 2 and by appointment. On Thursdays, I study and prepare sermons. Monday is my day off. Call me at church (773/324-4100) or at home. E-mail NinaGrey@aol.com. In an emergency, call me at home even on Mondays.

Rev. Marlene L. Walker: E-mail Revmar@aol.com. Tuesday and Thursday 10--3 pm and Wednesday 9 am--noon. Monday is my day off, and I work at home on Fridays. Contact me with questions or concerns at the church (773/324-4100) or by e-mail. If you are calling about an urgent concern or an emergency, call me at home even on my day off.

Lifespan Religious Education

Rev. Marlene Walker, Minister for Religious Education

By golly it's November! For me November is the month when I can no longer argue with the coming of winter. The month when I can no longer deny that ummer has truly given up her fight. The spectacular colors of Fall trees have nearly ended and the trees are more and more and more bare. The early morning air as I walk my dog Brigid is no longer cool but at times down right cold. I'm always a bit ambivalent about this time of year. I hate to see summer go and for the most part I resist the coming of shorter days and colder weather.

But secretly there is a part of me that welcomes it too! It is a time for slowing down, for beginning to move inward. I stay at home more as the days grow shorter and colder. As I take the warm clothes, the coats and sweaters and scarves, out of storage, there's a part of me that greets them like old friends. I begin to make hearty soups again, and the urge to bake bread returns.

I need this time. I need to be urged to slow down and refocus. The busy, busy days of the start of the church year are over and the busy, busy days of the holiday season have yet to arrive. It's an in-between time. I like it--even though you may hear me complain about the coming long winter.

I encourage you, adults and children, to enjoy and enter into this in-between time intentionally, to welcome it as a time to refocus before the onrush of the holidays. Questions that I have begun to ask myself each year at this time are, "How do I want to experience the holiday season? Do I really want to get caught up in the commercial busyness? Is it even possible to avoid it? What are the alternatives?"

There's a lot about the holiday glitz and bustle that I actually like, but more and more I have begun to focus on ways to scale it down, to look at what's really important in the messages of the season. A wonderful book in our RE library has been a big help to me in thinking about ways to do this. It's called Unplugging the Christmas Machine; you may borrow it. These in-between days of November just may be the time we all need to stop and think, and get ready to welcome the celebration time ahead. But don't forget to take out the warm clothes and put the soup kettles on again. You're going to be needing them.

Blessings,

Marlene
 

Service of Dedication of Children

On the first Sunday of December we will again be celebrating the Dedication of Children. It's a wonderful way to begin the holiday season by giving our commitment, dedication, and support as a congregation to our children and to their families. Any children who have been born since our last Service of Dedication or older children who have not already participated in a Service of Dedication are invited to participate with their families. If you are interested in a child dedication or have questions, please speak with Rev. Marlene by Nov. 15.
 
 

What Went on in RE during October.

Discoverers (Preschool): The Discovers class continues to enjoy the We Are Many, We Are One curriculum. They have recently been busy making leaf collages, hearing stories and learning about themselves and each other. They even celebrated a Mid Autumn Festival by making lanterns!

Adventurers and Voyagers (K-Grade 2): This combined class continues to celebrate the Special Occasions of the Fall Season as well as Treasure Hunting the special aspects of themselves, their families and their church community. They have been working on their treasure boxes and talking about feelings.

Pathfinders (Grades 3 & 4): As they explore the Timeless Themes found in our Jewish and Christian heritage this class has been created wonderful works of art including an Ark, a Tower of Babel and Diorama complete with Earthlings! These will soon be on display in Hull Chapel during coffee hour. Don't miss them.

Searchers (Grades 5 & 6): This energetic class has been learning about the Jewish Scriptures in Bible as they explore Living the Promise. They learned about covenant and trust by going a trust walk, how the bible came to be by paying a rumor game and about knowledge and responsibility through the story of Adam and Eve. Most recently they have been creating a topographical map of the lands found in the Bible Stories.

Junior High (Grades 7 & 8): As they look at how UU Principles can be found in Messages in Music our Junior High class has been talking about their beliefs, how both their beliefs and our UU Principles can guide them in the situations they find in school and as broad as the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians and most recently about our First UU Principle--The inherent worth and dignity of all people.

Senior High (Grades 9-12): Senior High continues in its planning of youth group activities for the year and will soon be beginning the Reel to Real curriculum which will look at the themes of UU Principles in contemporary and classic movies.
 
 

Teachers Needed

We still need teachers for the Winter Intersession and the Spring Term. If you are interested in joining our young people in activities like the above--and learning more about Unitarian Universalism in the process--in addition to having lots of fun, please speak with Rev. Marlene. Opportunities abound and await. You can call her at the church or at home.
 
 

Nursery caregivers needed

We also need a few volunteers to help with our wee ones in the nursery. If you would like to spend some time with our youngest UU's--and still hear the service on speakers in the nursery!--also speak with Rev. Marlene. The rewards are great!
 
 

Adult Education Prospectus Coming Your Way

Early in November you will receive a prospectus describing adult RE programs to be offered in the coming months. One new course is listed below.

Everyday Spirituality

Rev. Nina D. Grey offers a 7-session course beginning Nov. 19 on Sunday evening at 7:15 pm. "Spirituality in Everyday Life" focuses on the development and expression of spirit in a way that honors Unitarian Universalist principles and respects diversity and individual responsibility. There is a charge of $10 for the 7 sessions. Advance registration is required. The Sunday night dates are Nov. 19 and 26, Dec. 3, 10, and 17, and January 7 and 14.
 
 

Guest at Your Table

Get a Guest at Your Table box at the Nov. 19 Sunday service. Guest at Your Table provides a handy way for support the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). All adults, families, singles, children and youth of the church are encouraged to take a box home and participate in this important service and outreach supporting the work of the Service Committee.

For 25 years, Guest at Your Table has kept congregations informed about many of the pressing social justice issues of the day such as ensuring the rights of women, children, and oppressed racial, ethnic, and indigenous groups throughout the world. In the United States, the UUSC joins with partners to monitor the results of welfare reform.

While adults have an opportunity to learn about world issues through Guest at Your Table, children discover that service is our UU prayer. Children learn about injustice at their own level and about the religious value of sharing with others. The Guest at Your Table Program offers a means for adults and children to influence change beyond the ability of one individual, one family, or one congregation by joining resources with other Unitarian Universalist congregations through the work of the UUSC.
 
 

Come to Our Annual Thanksgiving Service & Feast

Every year on the Saturday evening before Thanksgiving our congregation enjoys a special service and feast in thanksgiving for all that we have received and in recognition of the roots of our faith. Drawing elements from the Jewish Seder, the service recognizes the exodus from Egypt, the journey of the Pilgrims to the New World, and the transport of Africans to the New World in slavery and later freedom.

The Thanksgiving Seder will be held this year on Saturday, Nov. 18, at the church, at 6 pm.

The service is designed to be enjoyed by both individuals and families. It adds a thoughtful, spiritual dimension to a festive meal. Readers' voices come from various tables, from adults and children.

Reserve your space now. The cost is $8.00 per person or $25.00 for families of four or more. Sign up at church or call the Church Office to reserve your place at the table.
 
 

Chicago UUs Hold Annual Harvest Festival

On Sunday afternoon, Oct. 1, 2000, about 120 people of all ages from four Chicago churches came together at First Unitarian Church for the third annual Harvest Festival. The festival, sponsored by the UU Urban Coalition of Chicago, featured an intergenerational worship service in which five of our Chicago UU ministers took part. Providing a rich melange of music from many cultures were Lia Nicine McCoo, Joel Sims, and Joyce O'Meara.

Also included were food, games and other entertainment, intergenerational dancing, and poetry reading and music. The city of Chicago has six UU congregations: Beverly Unitarian, the Church of the Open Door, First Unitarian, Second Unitarian, Third Unitarian, and Peoples Church.

Those from our church responsible for organizing the events are Richard and Cindy Pardo, and the Choir.
 
 

Opportunities for Service Revealed at the Social Justice Action Retreat

by Bette H. Sikes

More than 20 people attended the day-long retreat to consider several options of social justice projects for the church to become involved in. The option chosen by a preference vote is the Caregiver Support Initiative. This program is in development, and you will be reading more about it in coming months.

Four other worthy action options were presented. Each them offers opportunities for service. We present here a brief description of ways that an individual may become involved in each.

Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues: The Chicago Interfaith Committee educates and mobilizes the religious community on issues and campaigns that will improve wages, benefits, and working conditions for U.S. workers, especially low-wage workers, and will support the role of collective bargaining. The Committee trains Workers' Rights Advocates in referring cases of workers' right violations to enforcement agencies and making the complaint process more accessible to workers. The Committee encourages religious bodies to become informed and involved in workers' rights issues and to become part of a Rapid Response Network to support workers who are retaliated against for filing complaints.The Committee also needs more people to advocate for pro-worker public policies.

For information about how you as an individual can help, call Kristi Sanford at 773/728-8400. Donations are also welcome at their office at 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago, IL 60660-4627.

Citizens Alert: CA is a volunteer-staffed agency that engages in crisis intervention for individuals and families enmeshed in the criminal justice system. Volunteers help respond to complaints, provide information on police issues, accompany victims to meet with lawyers and official agencies, accompany families to court hearings and trials. In addition, volunteers have provided knowledgeable presence at police board and administrative hearings.

Could you spend a few hours on the phone, a day a week in the office, one evening a month at Chicago Police Board meetings? Can you contribute your skills in publicity, grant writing, or computer work? Spending time with Citizens Alert is interesting, gratifying, and a challenge to the injustices of the "system" that victimizes so many. Donations are also welcome.

Citizens Alert is located at 59 E. Van Buren, Suite 2418, Chicago, IL 60605. For information or to volunteer, call Mary Powers at 312/663-5392.

Stolen Lives Project: This Project is engaged in assembling a national list of people killed by law enforcement agents from 1990 to the present and in documenting the circumstances of these killings. The Project also works with families. In Chicago the Project documents cases, provides assistance to the families of victims, carries out extensive public education by setting up speaking engagements for family members and by broad distribution of information, and works in coalition with other groups to protest various instances of police brutality and repression.

A full-page ad appeared in Streetwise in its Oct. 16-22 issue giving a statement of conscience. Several of our members endorsed the statement. Stolen Lives welcomes your volunteer efforts and your financial support. Call 773/528-1701 or write to Stolen Lives, Wellington Avenue Church, 615 W. Wellington, Chicago, IL 60657.

Southwest Women Working Together: This group assists women and their children who have been made homeless by domestic violence, chiefly on Chicago's South Side and Southwest Side. Opportunities for service include the following: (1) providing funds for or putting together Welcome Baskets for women made homeless by domestic violence; (2) being on call one night a month to respond to requests to transport a woman and her children to an SWWT intake location; (3) provide mentoring and other support to a family or tutoring the mother in specific skills such as computer literacy; (4) staffing child visitation facility so that fathers and their children can visit in a safe location. Contact SWWT at 4051 W. 63d St., Chicago, IL 60629; 773/582-0550.
 
 

Hurrah for Volunteers

Several people volunteered to promote the Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council's food program at the Hyde Park Co-op on Oct. 19 were Allan Lindrup, Kay Mann, Joanne Kent, Anita Orlikoff, and Kennie James.
 
 

A New Place to Help the Homeless

The Caring Closet of Chicago, which connects those in need with resources, has opened in Hyde Park at 5312 S. Harper (entrance in the alley souther of the building). All proceeds from the resale shop, which employs homeless men and women, benefit the homeless. Anyone in need can walk in and get clothing, food, and other items. Use of the space has been donated by the building's owner, Marie Schuster.

To donate clothing, household or other goods, call Debbie Hamilton at 773/489-0640. You may also give time for sorting or working in the shop.
 
 

Great Books for November

On the agenda for the Great Books group on Nov. 12 are poetry selections of William Butler Yeats, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, and Elizabeth Bishop. The discussion begins at 11:30 in the Choir Room. For more information, contact Gloria Gnatz.
 
 

Among Us

Our thoughts are with Paul Ulbrich, whose stepfather died Oct. 12 ... with Julie Gilmour, whose mother in Toronto is ill ... with Frances Guterbock, whose husband, Hans, was memorialized at Bonn Chapel in October by the Oriental Institute and University of Chicago community. Tom Weisflog was the organist.

John Berquist has recovered quickly after a brief sojourn in the hospital in early October.

Congratulations ... to Alex Coutts on another fine annual concert. His CDs are sold out! ... to Devon and Tinessa Moss on the birth of their new baby boy, Duncan Thomas, born Sept. 21, at 7 lbs. 5 oz. ... to Rob Moore, who received a favorable judgment from the UUA Ministerial Fellowship Committee, which examines all candidates for the UU ministry.

We were pleased to see Karen Day on her recent visit to Hyde Park. Karen is completing her final year of study at Starr King School of the Ministry in Berkeley, CA. Our church is her sponsor.

Daughters Joy and Jana Dickson completely surprised mother Vivian Burns with a birthday party on Oct. 14. Joy and Jana, both of whom live out of Chicago, gathered Vivian's old friends from all over and presented her with a scrapbook of notes and photos.

Andrew Jordan Greenlee was home from Grinnell College in mid-October.

Greta Godbey is enjoying her new home in Bala Cynwood, PA, near her daughter Margaret's family.

Welcome back to Revs. Robert and Viola Moore, back from a trip to Israel.

Did you know that Joe Cherry is now the Religious Education Director at Beverly Unitarian Church?

Richard Snow, who is the new president of the Hyde Park Kiwanis Club, was pictured in the Oct. 11 Hyde Park Herald presenting awards to retiring officers.

In a letter to the Chicago Tribune on Oct. 11, Betty Holcomb reminded readers of the need to be aware of the impact of the presidential election on the future composition of the U.S. Supreme Court. Betty is co-president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in Illinois.

Thanks to Georgia Pierre for her contribution to the church of the Bill Moyers's video series "On Our Own Terms," on death and dying.

Thanks to the RE Council for a delicious and fun apple picking in September ... and to the Social Justice Council for a meaningful retreat in October.
 
 

News from Old Friends

Rev. Sydney Wilde, who underwent surgery in October, reports she is recovering well. She and her husband Rev. Dennis Daniel were our Interim Ministers during 1998-99. They will be installed as ministers of the Reston, VA, church on Nov. 12.

Rev. Beth Williams, formerly our Interim Minister for Religious Education, was installed at her new position at the UU Church of Greater Lynn in Swampscott, MA, on Oct. 29; Rev. Nina D. Grey preached the installation sermon. Rev. Terasa Cooley is being installed in her new ministry at the Hartford, CT, Unitarian Church this month.

Seen at the dedication of the new home of the Joliet Universalist Unitarian Church were the Revs. Ed Moreano and Jean Sullivan, who were active in our church while they were in Meadville/Lombard Theological School. They are now serving the United Church of Monticello in Iowa. They send greetings to all who remember them.
 
 

WomanSpirit 2001 in South Bend

The annual Women and Religion WomanSpirit conference is scheduled for January 26-28 in South Bend, IN. The theme is "As the River We Flow." In addition to the usual rich selection of workshops, the conference this year will include programming for young girls to complement the conference theme. Look in the Blue Folder in the Newsletter slot in the Church Office for more information.
 
 

UUs for Social Justice

UUSJ is holding its Annual Meeting this year on Sunday, Dec. 3, 3-6 pm. The program features a presentation on "Contemporary Issues in Reproductive Choice," which is being organized by UUSJ's Gender Justice Task Force. The Annual Business Meeting will follow the presentation. The gathering will be held at North Shore Unitarian Church, 2100 Half Day Rd, Deerfield, IL (about 1/2 mile east of the Tri-State Tollroad's Half Day Road exit).

For more information, contact Allan Lindrup or check out the website at http://www.uusforsocialjustice.tripod.com.