On Looking Through Another's Eyes ...

Rev. Nina Grey

    Two years ago when my brother heard that I would be moving to Chicago for my ministry, he was delighted. One reason was that I'd be nearer to him and his family (they live in Iowa). The other reason is that he loves Chicago and would have more reason to visit here. My brother is a political scientist and has travelled to many cities all over the world. "Chicago is the greatest city in the world," he told me. After two years, I think so too.
    The first year I was here, I visited three or four museums, to ok in several concerts and plays, and explored some neighborhoods. But I think I began to take the city a little for granted. This week (Easter week -- we write our columns in time for newsletter deadlines) a friend visited from Florida. I carved out some time to be a tourist with her and we saw some wonderful museum exhibitions, a good play at a theatre I'd never visited, and we explored some neighborhoods which were new for me as well as her. I saw the sparkle of the skyline and the curving shore of the lake from the perspective of a proud resident showing off! And I began again to appreciate the excitement and beauty of this city. We also drove through some neighborhoods with boarded up windows and empty storefronts and I recalled again the complex reality of this city's life.
    Sometimes we stop seeing what is in front of us. Sometimes it takes looking through another person's eyes to get renewed vision.
    This month I will be completing a pulpit exchange with a colleague, while Karen Day is the guest in our pulpit. Rev. Jay Deacon of the Unity Temple in Oak Park was our guest in October. Now he is on sabbatical, so I will preach for his congregation on the Sunday of May 6. My theme in Oak Park is evoked by my friend's visit -- My title there will be "Through Another's Eyes".
    Shortly after that, I will be travelling to Israel (as part of this year's study leave). The trip (May 13-21) is an interfaith leadership trip, involving clergy and others all over Chicago. The intent is to learn more about the political and social dynamics in that troubled region and enhance interfaith dialogue in Chicago. Looking through another's eyes will be the focus of this trip, as we try to stretch our own ways of understanding and thinking, as we learn from Israeli Jews and Palestinians and from each other.
    After the study trip, I will look forward to sharing some of my learning and thinking with members and friends of our congregation.
                              ****

    Because of this unusual May schedule, I will not be at Sunday services for the first three Sundays of May. I will miss the services especially because I love seeing so many of you on Sunday. I will be available most of the month, at church and at home, at committee meetings and at other church events. If you want to be in touch with me, please give me a call.
 

LIFESPAN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

By Rev. Marlene Walker, Associate Minister for Religious Education
 

April has arrived bringing with it flowers, multiple shades of spring green, warm days and nighttime showers. I am enjoying my first spring in Chicago. It's easy to think ahead to the warmer days of summer. But before that happens there is next year's Religious Education program plan and teachers to recruit.

Our RE program is based on a three year cycle of areas of focus. Last year the focus was on our Unitarian Universalist identity. This year our focus has been on our Jewish and Christian heritage as UU's and next year we will focus on World Religions. A group of RE Council members and I have reviewed curricula for next year and have come up with some exciting choices.

Our youngest children , the Pre-school-- Kindergarten class will be using the curriculum "Celebrating Me and My World". This fabulous curricula helps our children develop a sense of who they are in relation to other people, the world and their church.

Our 1st through 2nd grade will be reviving the "Haunting House" curriculum which has been used for many, many years. Haunting House helps children learn about their place in the world through discovering themselves and the families and communities in which they live.

The 3rd - 4th grade class will be using the exciting "Holidays and Holy Days" curriculum which is a wonderful exploration of the special days of many of the worlds religions through learning about different ways of worship and celebrating various holidays.

The 5th - 6th grade will be learning about other faiths by visiting the local places of worship of many different religions and denominations through the "Neighboring Faiths" curriculum.

Finally the junior and senior high classes, grades 7 -- 12 will be doing two kinds of programming next year. On Sundays they will meet as a combined class/ youth group. I am in the process, along with them, of designing a program that will include many of the same elements of previous Coming of Age programs,such as a mentor program, writing of faith statements and a trip to Boston along with some new themes such as a Vision Quest in the spring, and some on going social justice activities. We are still in a process of coming up with a new name for this exciting year and welcome any suggestions.

In addition our Junior and Senior youth will join with youth from Second and Third Unitarian churches for both Junior and Senior High OWL, our new sexuality curriculum. They will join in a series of six weekend overnights throughout the year along with facilitators from each church who will be attending a special training here at our church on May 18-20th.

These are all very exciting curricula but RE curricula, as exciting as they may be, are only made possible by the commitment and dedication of those adults who teach them. We need you. Those of who have taught year and year and out and those of who have never taught before. It's only possible because you make it so.

To help make it possible for more of you to teach and still be able to attend church more often we are recruiting three person teams for each class to teach in the Fall Term (September thru December) and the Spring Term (February thru May).By having three person teams each teacher will be able to attend church every third week. During January we will have a Winter Intercession where all classes will join with a group of volunteers to work on a combined RE Social Service project. We are also recruiting mentors for each of our Junior and Senior youth which would not involve missing the worship service at all. A great way for choir members and Worship Associates to enjoy involvement in RE!

If you have never taught before, talk to some of our teachers who have taught often. They can tell who how wonderfully rewarding it is. Or if you have more questions please talk to me. We would love to have you and we also really need you.

Blessings, Marlene
 
 

THIS MONTH IN RE
 

This has been a busy month in RE. We have continued with our Spring Term classes focused on our UU Jewish and Christian heritage. We have also had two Multigenerational services - on April Fools day and on Easter.
 

Pre/K - K Class: We have had a treasure hunt, made shamrocks and green playdough. We also made birthday cards and talked about our good wishes coming true. When we discussed Easter we talked about death and remembering what's important by remembering people and animals when they are no longer around. Our Teaching Team is Pat Curran, Paulette Dodson and Anne Morrill-Ploum
 

1st & 2nd Grade: We reviewed our Passover Seder lesson from last mont= h and read the story "Hosanna Day". We made a group picture about the story and made palm leaves to take home. We also learned about the Jewish people's founding of modern Israel in 1948 and made maps of Israel. Our Teaching Team is Veronica Franklin and Kelly Skalicky
 

3rd & 4th Grade: We talked about "the Law" in the time of Jesus and m= ade coins from clay - for Caesar and our own creations for God. We also talked about miracles and even experienced a miracle by having one package of cheese and oysters crackers be snack for RE through the miracle of sharing. We celebrated an Easter Tenebrae service by lighting and extinguishing candles and learned about the meaning of the Palms on Palm Sunday.Our Teaching Team is Mary Ann Hammond and John Porterfield.
 
 

5th & 6th Grade: We used a video to learn about the geography and society of a Palestine at the time of Jesus and how Jesus chose his disciples and how they did their ministry.. We even did an exercise on choosing disciples. We discussed the Beatitudes and the Golden Rule and had a discussion about what "Love Your Enemies" means, and non violence by reenacting a lunch counter sit-in from the 1960's civil rights era. Our Teaching Team is Andrew Greenlee and Allan Lindrup.
 

Junior and Senior High Groups: The main focus this month has been planning for and preparing for BOB - our youth group sleepover at the church. It was a great success - we made and ate pizza, played sardines, planned and had our own worship service and made a BOB quilt (you can see it on the wall in the RE Corridor), got very little sleep and learned that the church office has a burglar alarm. We are looking forward to doing it again soon - except for setting off the office alarm . Thank you to our advisors, Steve Ploum, Amanda Helin and Betty Holcumb (who didn't get any more sleep than we did) and to Jen Crow and Joan Pederson for helping with the planning
 
 

Please Come to Our Nursery Shower
 

The Religious Education Council invites all in the congregation to a "shower" for our nursery, Sunday, May 6 at Noon. Come meet our caregivers. See the nursery. There will be refreshments, shower games, prizes and of course gifts!
 

A Registry List of needed items is included here. New or gently used items are appreciated. You may also donate a portion of the cost of a new item, i.e. $50 towards a new crib.
 

Registry list of needed items: A crib, a changing table, bookshelves, a rug, a swing, a rocking chair, a toddler-sized coat rack or pegs, storage containers for toys, a few new toys, and books (toddler and under).
 
 

RE Teacher Recognition Luncheon
 

Save the date, Sunday, May 20, 2001, to attend a luncheon to recognize and show our appreciation to those who have taught our children's religious education program this year. The luncheon will be held in Hull Chapel. All our invited non-teachers will be asked to contribute (food, cash and/or help) towards this event. Watch the announcements in the church bulletin for further information.
 

Hyde Park Interfaith Council Annual Meeting and Dinner
 

The Annual Meeting of the Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council will be held on Thursday, June 7, 2001, at Congregation Rodfei Zedek, 5200 S. Hyde Park Blvd.. Dinner is at 6:30 p.m. and the business meeting and program begins at 7:30 p.m. Dinner tickets are $10 if purchased in advance from Allen Lindrup or from the council at 5745 S. Blackstone Ave.
 

Forums, lectures and adult classes
 

Feminist Theology
 

A seminar in feminist theology for women, "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven," continues each Tuesday evening through May. This course was created for those who are interested in exploring women's religious history. It focuses on significant issues of feminism and how the suppression of the female presence in Judaism and Christianity has affected our culture. The seminar has been designed to enable women to explore female religious history and its meaning for our lives. Facilitators: Margie Allen & Anne-Marie Fischer.
 

Life journeys
 

A program entitled "Evensong." continues Sunday May 6 and May 13 at 7:00. Facilitated by Revs. Grey and Walker. Participants explore individual life journeys through sharing thoughts, experiences, doubts, and beliefs about traditional religious concepts. At each meeting, the group follows an order of service with the central event being a sharing time. Participants will be invited to lead portions of the worship services, to sing together, and to listen to readings drawn from a bowl. Each person has time to speak on the evening's topic, and the gatherings end with a closing circle and closing words. Listening is at the core of Evensong. The program focuses on paying attention to people, "hearing" them into a deeper sense of their humanness and wholeness, and into community.
 

Plight of Home Healthcare Workers
 

First Forum, Sunday, May 20 at 11:45 a.m. Part of the work of our new Caregiver Support Task Force is to advocate for better compensation for those who work in the home healthcare industry. In line with this objective, that task force and our Social Justice Council sponsor this First Forum. Keith Kelleher, lead organizer for the Service Employees International Union Local 880, which is the home healthcare workers' union, will speak to us about the challenges involved in organizing home healthcare workers and helping them secure adequate compensation for their services. He will also share with us which home healthcare agencies provide fair compensation, so that those buying such services can purchase them through such an agency.
 

Great Books
 

The Great Books selection for Sunday, May 13, will be "Momick" by David Grossman.
 

News from the Art Committee
 

The Art Committee proposes to re-hang the portraits of all our ministers in VOV Gallery. This will be one of the committee's major projects for this church year.
 

We plan to create a visual backdrop of congregational life that provided the context for the ministers and their ministries by incorporating informal photographs of church activities and events during their tenure. Therefore, we invite all members of First Church to contribute photographs that might enhance this visual display. The final decision about the display will be made by the Art Committee, and all unused photographs will be returned.
 

Please submit your contributions to committee chair Veronica Jenifer in the Art Committee box in the church office, at coffee hour, or by mail to the church office.
 
 

Socially Conscious Shopping Website
 

Have you ever wondered about the companies that you spend your money with? How does the company rate environmentally? How about human rights? Worker health and safety? Do they disclose information freely? Then check out the web site www.responsibleshopper.org. The site is sponsored by Working Assets (the long distance company) and Co-op America.
 
 

Chicago Area UU Council

The Annual Meeting of the Chicago Area UU Council will take place May 12 at the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale. If you are interested in workshops that can help you in your work in the congregation, or in meeting UUs from other parts of the area, make plans to attend. At lunch Rev. David Bumbaugh and Rev. Carol Hepokoski, both of Meadville Lombard, will trade ideas about the place of humanism in contemporary UU thinking. Nominees for Unsung UU will be recognized after lunch.
 

Be a Chalice Lighter

Join with other UUs in an exciting and growing program in Central Midwest District (CMWD) called Chalice Lighters. As a Chalice Lighter you become part of a larger UU community that demonstrates its commitment to our faith, values, and beliefs. Three times a year each Chalice Lighter donates $10 to support a specific growth program in a specific CMWD church. Contributions are tax deductible. With the $6,000 donated last spring, our church was able to fund our new ministry for religious education.
 

New UU Orientation Series
 

The second session of the "New UU Orientation" series will be held on Sunday, May 6 from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the VOV Gallery. The Membership Committee and church members will lead a session on Unitarian-Universalist History and a brief history of First Unitarian Society; information about social action programs, life span religious education programs, and the many other activities provided by First Unitarian Society. Light refreshments will be served and child care will be available.
 

NEWSLETTER - SOCIAL JUSTICE COUNCIL
 

On March 26, just two weeks after the klan demonstration in Gary, a cross with a swastika was burned in the yard of a black family in Valparaiso, IN. (Another cross has since been burned in Chesterton.)
 

Bobbi and Finley Campbell represented the Social Justice Council at a community meeting in Valparaiso the following Sunday. Approximately ten Hobart Unitarians were there also. The community meeting was a multiracial event sponsored by the Union Community Church and the First Christian Church. It appeared that many people in Valparaiso had been working hard on multiracial dialogue and were therefore doubly upset about the cross burning. We were received very warmly, especially when Finley spoke during the discussion and told people we had come from First Unitarian in Chicago to offer moral support to the family.
 

The main speaker at the program was James Bevel, billed as a lieutenant of Martin Luther King, Jr. However his subsequent affiliations were given in his introduction: Unification Church of Rev. Sun Mung Moon, Nation of Islam, and candidate for vice-president of the US with Lyndon LaRouche. In our opinion he tried to derail the main concern of the meeting with the suggestion that injustice survives only because the victims allow it. This neo-racist idea was sugar-coated with a few truths - i.e., there is only one race - the human race.
 

The meeting ended on a positive note with people committing to work on issues of monitoring racist events in the community and trying to bring other community institutions into the anti-racist dialogue.
 

The Social Justice Council and the Board of Trustees is sending the following letter to the family:
 

We are writing you to express our feelings of solidarity and sympathy for your recent pain as victims of racial terror. In this, we work in conjunction with the Hobart Unitarian Universalist Church. At times like these, we believe that there are no strangers or outsiders, but a common bond between victims of racial terrorism and opponents of racial terrorism. Our Social Justice Council is committed to bearing witness against racist terrorist organizations like the ku klux klan and bearing witness in support of victims of their criminal ideas.
 

We believe that there was a climate of racism created by the kkk rally held early in March in Gary, Indiana, which led to the Swastika/cross burning at your home in Valparaiso, Indiana. We invite you, your family, and your church to join with us in the protest against the kkk and its racist terrorist practices on May 19th in Gary. Finally, we must always remember that in all instances of racist terrorism, we must never forget the victims: the pain, the fear, and, yes, the appropriate anger associated with the violation of our spiritual sense of safety.

The purpose of sympathy is to feel those same feelings: that is what we wish to share with you in this letter. The seventh principle of Unitarian Universalism teaches us about the interdependent web of all existence and in that framework we assert that a racist injury to one is a racist injury to all of us who see multiracial unity as a path to the Beloved Community.
 

The Social Justice Council will be organizing to protest the klan rally in Gary on May 19. We believe the cross burnings make it especially important for us to witness against acts of racist terrorism.
 

The Social Justice Council also discussed the Cincinnati rebellion and will be sending a letter of support and encouragement to the Cincinnati Unitarian churches.
 

Congregational Meeting for Delegates
 

On Sunday, April 22, there was a short congregational meeting held after the service to elect people to the four lay delegate positions to represent First Unitarian Church at the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, which will be held June 21-25, 2001 in Cleveland, Ohio. Four members of the congregation submitted petitions to serve as delegates, and the congregation uuanimously approved them. Our delegates for General Assembly will be Anne Jonas, Allan Lindrup, Joan Pederson, and Alex Poinsett. It was proposed and accepted that the Board of Trustees appoint alternate delegates to serve in case one or more of the elected delegates are unable to serve.
 

Talent Auction 2001
 

The 2001 Talent Auction was held on Sunday, April 22, after the service and the congregational meeting to elect GA delegates. There was a sandwich lunch available at low cost, and then the Talent Auction began. Talents offered included hypnosis, computer consulting, nature walks, dinners, and excursions. Also taking place was a Silent Auction - where people could write in bids on items such as artwork, a Weber grill, gift baskets, and dinner opportunities at local restaurants. In addition, there was a Quick sale - where people could buy items such as artwork and jewelry at a set price, and Poster items - which were events to sign up for with a set limit of guests.
 

The awesome task of coordinating was accomplished by Polly McCoo and Madeiria Myrieckes. Hard-working task force members included Ellie Hall, Mary Ann Hammond, Ed jamison, Holly Jamison, Margaret Kennedy, Win Kennedy, Sherman Myrieckes, Cindy Pardo, Joan Pederson, Sadie Picardo, and Cathy Harth Stern. Additional crucial assistance on the big day was provided by Cynthia Echols, Nico Echols, Mike Green, Andrew Greenlee, Alec Lappin, John Porterfield, and Steve Stern.
 

For those who missed the fun, there are still opportunities to take advantage of the talents and treasures to share. Look for the list of opportunities remaining - a few dining opportunities, chances to learn some new things, embellishments for your home or your self, family outings.
 

In Memoriam

Rev. Jack Kent

Rev. Jack Kent, minister of First Unitarian Church, from 1963-1968, died suddenly on Wednesday, April 17, 2001 at his home in Hornsby Island, British Columbia, Canada. We send his family and friends our deepest condolences.

While Jack was in ministry here, Jack's family (Jack, Dorothy, Carolyn, Jay and Allison) lived in the parsonage at the the corner of 56th and Woodlawn. Jack Kent collaborated with Jack Hayward in bringing the Thanksgiving/Seder dinner to our congregational life. Jack was very involved in the Civil Rights movement. He marched in Selma, Alabama with Dr. Martin Luther King and was also on Dr. King's advisory board about race relations in Chicago. At one time he was arrested at the Museum of Science and Industry during an anti-war protest. He was charged with interfering with the arrest of a young boy. He was very active in the anti-war movement. He was always an extremely active and involved person in Chicago and continued to be in his new home in Canada. His son, Jay, indicates that Jack died while mowing his lawn, which he had decided to do that day, instead of going canvassing door to door for the Cancer society.

Memorial Services will take place on Hornsby Island and in West Vancouver, British Columbia. Details have not yet been arranged. A more complete obituary will be printed in the UU World. We will publish addresses to send letters of condolence in forthcoming Sunday Orders of Service.
 

Eleanor Lewis

We recently received the news about the death of Eleanor Lewis. Eleanor was the Director of Religious Education at this church when Chris Moore arrived and began the choir that would become the Chicago Children's Choir. All four of her children were founding members of the choir and Eleanor was a driving force in its early development. Her children suggest a good way to honor her name is with a donation to support the Chicago Children's Choir.