Index of Past Issues

Rev. Grey's column, "Both Sides," is available here.

Rev. Nina Grey's Summer Schedule
Rev. Nina Grey will be on vacation from July 2 to August 2, and returning to Chicago late on the 2nd of August. Her vacation will include time at a family reunion, some time in Chicago, and a week's vacation with her daughter and granddaughter at Ferry Beach Park Association in Saco, Maine. During her vacation, Rev. David Arksey, our Minister-At-Large, will provide emergency pastoral care. In addition, Rev. Ann-Marie Coleman and Rev. Don Coleman, of University Church, will be available for conducting of Memorial Services during July. However, Rev. Grey will wish to be informed of any serious illness or death in the congregation. Rick Brown, our Administrator, Rev. Arksey, or our church president, Grace Williams, will know how to reach her during her vacation. In addition, lay pastoral outreach will be provided by the Caring Committee. Contact Madeiria Myrieckes with any special needs.

Introducing Our New Interim Minister for Religious Education

Get ready to welcome our new Interim Minister for Religious Education: Millie Rochester! Ms. Rochester brings extensive experience in developing and nurturing lifespan religious programs. In the Ministerial Record she posted on the UUA Settlement web site, she described the new ministry she was seeking as one that "nurtures right relationships among people of all ages, is empowering of lay leaders, and inclusive of children, youth and adults in one religious community." Millie recently received her M. Div. From Meadville/Lombard; she participated in the Modified Residency Program while continuing her DRE work at her home church, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Salem, Oregon. She will be ordained by that congregation on November 16, 2003; after the ordination she will be Rev. Millie Rochester. Currently, she is completing her Internship at the West Shore UU Church in Rocky River, Ohio. Millie has been married to Roger Rochester for 32 years; they have four children aged 17 to 25.

The Interim MRE Search Committee included Margaret Huyck, Chair, Paulette Dodson, Richard Jenifer, Anne Morrill-Ploum, and Marge Saphir. The Search Committee recommended Ms. Rochester to the Board of Trustees; the Board voted on June 19 to accept the recommendation of the Search Committee and approved the Interim MRE Contract.

Millie should be in Hyde Park by mid-August. The packet she submitted to the Search Committee is available for review in the office.

Garfield Park Conservatory Excursion
If you are interested in a church outing to view the Chapungu art (contemporary stone sculpture from Zimbawe) at Garfield Park Conservatory, please contact Bobbi Campbell or Joanne Kent. We plan to go on Saturday July 19, carpooling from the church at approximately 10 am. Families are welcome!

Summer RE Program

The summer program is underway for the children in church school, led by Tiade Williams and a volunteer each Sunday. The children will continue to be sung out in the service as they have been during the rest of the year, and they will meet in the RE classrooms for a multi-age class focused on the theme of peace. For those who wish to volunteer a Sunday, there are still some spots available and we would love your help. Contact Ann Morrill-Ploum or Tiade Williams. Nursery care will continue to be provided throughout the summer.

Sermons and Poetry of Wallace Rusterholtz

Long-time First Church member Wallace Rusterholtz's sermons and poems have been collected in a book, Can We Believe. William Murry (current president and continuing Dean of Meadville Lombard) says in the forward,"In this volume...Wallace Rusterholtz offers us a great deal of wisdom gleaned from a long life of scholarship, solid critical thinking and reflection." Wallace is a retired history professor and some sermons draw on his wide knowledge of American history. The sermons were preached at First Church, the Unitarian Fellowship of Chautauqua, NY, and elsewhere.

Can We Believe will be on sale during the coffee hour on Sunday, July 20 for $10.00 a copy. If you would like to buy a copy but cannot come to church on that date, phone Ellie Hall and she will arrange for you to get a copy.

Concerts Next Year

Your Opinion Needed

The Music Committee is planning concerts for the 2003-2004 church year. Please respond to Joan Staples or Richard Blough or the church office prior to July 20 with your preferences regarding the kinds of concerts you would like to attend at First Church, and the kinds of concerts you would prefer not to attend.

Among Us

Our warmest continuing get well wishes to Mary Sidney who is hospitalized at Mercy Hospital.

Our warmest sympathy to Rafaella Pretini and Guiseppe Latino on the recent death of Raffaella's father, in Italy.

We continue to hold Michael Donner in our hearts.

Our warmest best wishes to Rev. Marlene Walker and Gloria Perez as they begin the next phase of their life in Grand Junction, Colorado.

We are holding David Pusczkiewicz and Cynthia Oakes and family in our hearts at this time and wish David's mother a good recovery.

Our congratulations to Norma Poinsett who has completed eight years of service as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

We keep Alex and Norma Poinsett in our minds and hearts during this time of Alex's sister's very serious and terminal illness.

We continue to keep in our hearts the service people in our community who are in Iraq or nearby or otherwise serving our nation in the military: Marsha Bogle, Matthew Treptow, Devon Moss, and Steven, Adam and Joshua Lalonde. Our warmest wishes also go out to their family and friends.

We hold Vi Stark in our hearts and continue to send her our warmest get well wishes.

We continue to hold Polly McCoo in our hearts and send her warmest get well wishes.

We are pleased to hear of Rev. Nina Grey's good recovery and send her continuing warmest get well wishes.

Our deep condolences to John Porterfield and his family on the death of John's wife, Penny. The Memorial Service on June 22 was conducted by Rev. Viola Moore.

Board Talk

By Grace Williams
Congregation President

I am thrilled to be your new President! What an honor! For me, it's the ultimate opportunity to give back to a church community that has nurtured and supported me and my family for almost 20 years. How wonderful it was to sit with Al and Alice Hayes at Rev. Marlene's farewell party at Montgomery Place, and for him to remember that I had two little girls that had attended church school.

We are a congregation that is worth working for and supporting. We represent a strong, liberal presence in our immediate community, in the larger Chicagoland community, and in our region. We are a valuable community resource. We host in our building a pre-school, a ballet school, a branch of the Chicago Children's Choir, a women's group, and a division of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business -- not to mention the many other organizations that use our space for meetings and workshops!

Every President, and every Board has its own style and personality, while maintaining the same values and job description. You have elected a very experienced board for the 2003-2004 church year - most of whom have served previously -- and a President-Elect who is a former Board Chair. I look forward to working with such a group of committed individuals. I believe we start off with an advantage given us by the past board, which dealt admirably with the extraordinarily difficult issues of the past year.

This year, I believe our major tasks will be carrying out the Mission, Vision, and Covenant process, strengthening our administration and finance, rationalizing our committee structure, working with our Interim Minister of Religious Education to build on what was accomplished by Rev. Walker in Lifespan R.E., and continuing to work on outreach to, and retention of, new friends and members.

During this past year, as President-Elect, I learned a tremendous amount about how the church functions, what the challenges are, and how we might approach working through them. I was proud of how we handled many of those challenges: The removal of the spire. The proactive approach to raising funds to replenish the endowment. Grappling with Rev. Marlene Walker's decision to leave us. Facing up to financial realties, and surpassing the challenge grant for Lifespan Religious Education funding. Going even further, and setting up a Committee to look at a possible Capital Campaign. In addition, conducting an exceptional Canvass.

Looking back on this past year, I am amazed at what we have done, and what has happened in our space. We held a Congregational Assessment workshop in late June designed to help us take a hard look at our financial situation and potential for conducting a capital campaign. We conducted a ceremony of commitment for the Rev. Marlene Walker and her partner Gloria Perez. We hosted the first Chicago Children's Choir alumni reunion and Chris Moore Memorial Concert that filled our sanctuary with beautiful music. A joyful crowd of former singers, conductors and accompanists returned to the church where the Choir was founded. We again hosted the Meadville Lombard Theological School's graduation at which the President of the UUA gave the sermon, in our pulpit, and received an honorary doctorate. We took a courageous stand against the Iraq War, more so because we did so after the conflict began. We held a vigil on our church steps, speeches were made on our lawn by Senator Barbara Flynn Currie and others to start off a peace march and rally in Hyde Park, co-sponsored by our own Social Justice Council.

Why wouldn't I want to be President of such a congregation?

I hope to be as thoughtful, forthright, strong, caring, sensitive and courageous as my predecessor, and mentor, Cynthia Oakes. I am delighted that she will be on the Board next year as Past President, to complete her term as Trustee. I am equally delighted to have Margaret Huyck as President-Elect to learn from her experience and sharp insights. I look forward to working even more closely with, and learning from, Rev. Nina Grey, whose knowledge, pastoral strength, understanding of process, and wisdom, will be invaluable. I also look forward to getting to know, and working with our new Interim Minister of Religious Education, Millie Rochester, who will join us in August.

During the month of June, the Board: conducted a very successful Annual Meeting; accepted the Interim Search Committee's recommendation to hire Millie Rochester and approved her contract; and had a transitional/exit interview with CMD District Executive Angela Merkert following Rev. Walker's leaving. One of our major tasks in July will be to nominate a Committee on Mission, Vision, Covenant. Peace and Blessings,

Since my last report, the social justice situation worldwide is in turmoil. The US imperialist occupation of Iraq is slowly turning into a bloodletting field, with over 90 US American soldiers dead of various causes and 100's of Iraqis dead by their bullets. The road map to peace has turned into a road map to hell for Israelis and Palestinian workers, students, professionals, soldiers. A major anti-police rebellion took place in the community of Benton Harbor, supposedly in the heart of the western Michigan wonderland. And now, like a faint echo of the future, war drums are lightly beating against Iran. Meanwhile, the only arena where we as US American citizens have for participating in these political events fast approaches: the 2004 elections and most of us have no idea what to do beyond voting either Democrat or Republican. This then is the context of my brief report.

•The Environmental Task Force (ETF): The celebration of ecology/earth, originally scheduled for June 21st, at the home of James Jenkins, whose house abuts into a forest preserve, has now been scheduled for August 30th. For more information, contact Ellen LaRue.

•The Racial Justice Task Force (RJTF) has not met since my last report because our chair, Raffaella Pretini, had to return to Italy, along with her husband, Giuseppe Latino, to be with her father who was dying of cancer. He died last month and so she will be in Italy for awhile. Our prayers go with them. However, before she left, Raffaella led a contingent of six First U members to participate in the anti-Klan rally in Berwyn, where we joined over 420 people in protest against this racist-terrorist group. Our group consisted of me, Bobbi Campbell, Alan Lindrup, Pat Lucas, Raffaella, and Giuseppe. Bobbi and I also attended the closing activities at the Presbyterian Church of Berwyn, which had a prayer service in opposition to the KKK Nazi "invasion." We passed out a leaflet to scores of people outlining the RJTF's position on the Nazi-Klan movement. Copies available on request.

•The 9/11 Study Group: 9/11 group is continuing to discuss the book by William Domhoff, entitled, WHO RULES AMERICA? This past discussion dealt with how the power structure uses polls both to reflect public opinion and to influence it. There are supposed to be 1450 people in a statistical sample who represent the hopes and dreams and attitudes of 200 million people. It is this sample which is put forward in the media as "the American people."

•Denominational Affairs: The main focus for May was getting representatives from the Council to attend the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in Boston. I will be going as the official representative of the Council and also as a church delegate. Many social justice activists will be present at this grand meeting in Boston, June 26 - June 30th: Julian Bond, Richard Reich, Tom Hayden, with sessions dealing with racism, the US-Iraqi war, globalization. I will also be taking the resolution passed at the Chicago Mid-West District to present as a resolution for immediate witness, calling on our churches to study the possibility of becoming anti-imperialist churches.

•The Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council: They had a very successful Annual Meeting in May with dinner, a panel discussion (I was one of the members, speaking on how the US-Iraqi war was a prelude of a coming war between the US empire and the Eurasian Coalition), and business meeting. Also, the transitional housing program is proceeding apace. The SJC still needs to investigate the possibility of working with their Food Distribution Program. Rev. Nina Grey, Allan Lindrup and Joanne Kent were delegates. Rev. Grey was re-elected as President of the HPKIFC and Allan was re-elected as Treasurer.

•Unitarian Universalist for Social Justice: There are no major events planned for the summer. However, there are regularly scheduled meetings over the summer. And there is a need for a UUSJ Racial Justice Task Force. For more information, contact Allan Lindrup.

Recommended movie for the month of June. Finding Nemo. The importance of multi-species unity and collective/communal action is dramatized in this delightful, well-done, intergenerational film. And that is all for now.

Report on the Assessment Workshop
By Margaret Huyck

It was an energizing workshop. Thirty-six of us gathered together in Hull Chapel on Saturday, June 21 to meet with Larry Wheeler, a UUA consultant who has helped numerous congregations with their capital campaigns over the last year. The purpose of the workshop was to assess the potential of a capital campaign to reimburse the endowment for money used for the bell tower restoration, and to assess our readiness to undertake systematic long range planning involved in a Vision, Mission and Covenant process (scheduled to begin soon) and a capital campaign that would build for the future.

Wheeler led off by soliciting the goals of the participants for the workshop, and having each participant identify the "greatest milestones or events in the congregation since he/she has been a member." It's a long and impressive list. Each participant received 6 "votes" (blue stickers) to indicate which we thought were the top six of the entire list. Top milestones are the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s and the impact on the community, continued commitment to Social Justice Work, Phase I of the Accessibility Campaign, calling a full-time Minister for Religious Education, and the vote to remove a senior minister (in 1986); the formation of the Children's Choir and the recent alumnae reunion were also noted. The most important issues to address in the next five to ten years also generated an ambitious list. Top priorities for this group are putting our financial house in order (talk with our treasurer, Julie Neuman, about specifics), becoming more relevant to the community again (so growth will come), care and feeding of members, growing the membership, and developing a five year plan. When queried, 24 participants said they thought most members in the congregation do not think we should remain at the same membership we have now.

The data suggest that while involvement in the RE programs has increased, overall membership and number of pledging units has been stable for several years. We have 189 members and 120 pledging units; average attendance at services is 85. A major financial difficulty in recent operating budgets is related to uncollected pledges.

Wheeler shared strategies used by other congregations to increase pledging and contributions - including the custom of "greening the plate" by expecting each person to put at least $1.00 in the collection basket each time, setting a good example for the children and for visitors. We will have opportunities to discuss which strategies might work for us.

According to Wheeler, people look for a church for hope, help, and home. All our efforts must be directed at strengthening the ways each participant can meet those quests.

We are probably on the road to a capital campaign - but there are many steps along the way. As Wheeler identified them, as a congregation we need to 1) trace our roots, 2) crystallize our vision and mission, 3) forge our strategic plan, 4) collect data and claim ownership of our plan, 5) assess sources of financial support of our plans for the future, 6) do an assessment of building and program needs, and then 7) engage in a capital campaign. Other congregations, smaller and less affluent than we, have raised some very impressive funds. Why not us?

This workshop was arranged by the Board-appointed Bell Tower Restoration/ Capital Campaign Task Force, co-chaired by Ivan Lappin and Grace Williams; other members are Joe Cherry, Tom Huyck, Jamie Orlikoff, and Cindy Pardo; Rev. Nina Grey participated ex officio. We began this first group session at 9 with tasty breakfast treats, broke for a delicious luncheon (both arranged by Cindy), and ended promptly at 2:30. A good start!

The Board will consider how to utilize the suggestions in the Report from Larry Wheeler. Look for the session notes posted in Hull Chapel. Ask one of these participants for more information: Aneesah Ali, Everett Bernstein, Dick Blough, Pheiffer Brown, Vivian Burns, Bobbie Campbell, Finley Campbell, Robert Chenoweth, Diana Gray, Ellie Hall, Betty Holcomb, Margaret Huyck, Tom Huyck, Kennie James, Joanne Kent, Ellen LaRue, Ivan Lappin, Madeiria Myrieckes, Julie Neuman, Cynthia Oakes, Linn Orear, Anita Orlikoff, Cindy Pardo, Richard Pardo, Joan Pederson, Jim Proctor, Cynthia Redd, John Saphir, Marge Saphir, Ken Schug, Bette Sikes, Chuck Staples, Joan Staples, Pat Stark, Catherine Stern, and Grace Williams. Each will have a somewhat different perspective on what we experienced, and what comes next - that's the diversity we celebrate, and benefit from. Let our journey continue!

President Sinkford Addresses the Meadville Lombard Commencement Ceremony
By Neil Gerdes

The Meadville Lombard Theological School held its one hundred and fifty-eighth commencement in the church on Sunday, June 8th. The President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Rev. Dr. William Sinkford, delivered the Commencement Address. His sermon, "In From the Margins," outlined how Unitarian Universalism has been ahead of many other religious bodies in areas like the recognition of gays and lesbians. But he also noted that while many of our progressive positions have been accepted by the mainline, UUs have remained mostly by our own choice on the margins of religious life in America. He pointed out how many conservatives fear our ability to attract people, but rejoice in our inability to retain them. He suggested as one among several tactics that perhaps a return to using some traditional religious language in sharing our liberal message might help us to keep as we once did many of those who do come in our doors.

President Sinkford was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree as was the Rev. Elizabeth Boyd, noted religious educator. Degrees of Doctor of Humane Letters were granted to Dr. Robert Richardson, author of "Emerson: Mind on Fire," and, posthumously, to Mr. Hardy Saunders, a distinguished UU layman. Thirteen Meadville students received their Master of Divinity Degrees, including four closely associated with First Church: Karen Hutt, former Director of Religious Education; Rosie Rimrodt, recent office assistant; Anthony David, former RE teacher; and Ruth Jacquot Gnagney, a former member of our choir.

Summer Sale Sizzles on Saturday
By Joan Pederson

The Summer Spectacular Books and Music Sale moved to Art Fair weekend this year. Good weather, a steady stream of customers, and an impromptu decision to keep the doors open two extra hours brought Saturday sales to nearly $1000! The sale's total income was $1290, less than we'd hoped: mainly due to the threatening weather that slowed traffic from the art fair to a crawl, also due to competition from the church picnic. (We also lost an hour to make way for Meadville commencement on Sunday, but sales to members of the visiting choir more than made up for it.) Even so, nearly $1300 from mostly non-church sources is a worthwhile outcome. Most came from books, some from music, and a bit from computer software and games and from a few unclassifiable oddities (including golf bookends and a long-ago Boy Scout's bugle).

Missed your chance to shop? You missed the most readable selection of books we've had so far, so we'll do it again in October without the competition. We have plenty of books left over to fully stock the adult tables AND to deliver a good-sized shipment to the state prison in Dixon, so the only donations we'll seek for the fall sale will be music (CDs, tapes, LPs; no home-copied tapes or discs, please) and children's books.

Sporting new muscles from hauling, setting up, and packing books and/or from moving out of the way several decorative but HEAVY architectural elements from the steeple are Mike Green (our Custodian Extraordinaire), Gerald Beroldi, Joe Cherry, Pat Lucas, Joan Pederson, Richard Pardo, Don Scott, and Kathy Valek. Polly McCoo recruited volunteers and held everything together during the weeks before the sale when the so-called coordinator was otherwise engaged. Cindy Pardo got the Equal Exchange coffee all ready to sell. Linn Orear, Lori Rosenblum, Pat, and Joan enjoyed watching customers find the perfect books, music, and beans and enjoyed taking their money on the way out the door. Richard Blough not only managed the money but took down the outdoor signs in the midst of a torrential downpour once we'd closed up on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to all of them, to everyone who donated things to sell, and to everyone who shopped. See you again next time! (I promise to leave the bugle at home.)

First Forum: Imprisoned Mothers

Sunday, July 27, 2003, 1 p.m. in the Chris Moore Parlor the Social Justice Council and the Racial Justice Task Force are sponsoring a First Forum. Our guest presenter will be Joan Archibald of the Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM). She is a peer counselor representing Visible Voices of the CLAIM advocacy project, a women's peer support group working for personal and systemic change. In this network, former prisoners address individual re-entry issues and the wider policy issues that affect them and their families.

Ms Archibald will be showing a 20-minute videotape, entitled What We Leave Behind, that challenges stereotypes about women in prison and examines the impact of their incarceration on their children. It demonstrates the power of a disenfranchised group to shape their own media images.

Please join us for a dynamic and stimulating First Forum.

Charlotte Lackner Anti-Racism Committee Report
By Joanne Kent

1. Co-chairs Joanne Kent, Ellen LaRue and Frieda Stillerman were unanimously re-elected to serve another year.

2. CLARC films will be presented on a quarterly, rather than a monthly, basis starting in September.

3. Members of the committee will meet informally over the summer to plan their participation in six 2-hour sessions starting in September, using the UUA's Dialogue Study Circle format. The long-range plan, if we find the Dialogue Circles useful, is to open them up to members of the congregation who wish to deepen their anti-racism work.

4. Our meetings will take place on the 2nd Sunday of the month following the worship service starting in September and we invite anyone in the congregation who is interested to attend our meetings.

5. We have agreed to distribute two items for general circulation developed by CLARC members during an earlier period of the committee's work on "Highlights of First Church Anti-Racism Efforts" and an "Anti-Racism Monitoring Questionnaire."

6. We are focusing our attention on how our church visually reflects our cultural and racial diversity, as well as how our worship services do so, and we hope to work with the Worship & Music committee on these endeavors.

7. We are evaluating how to best utilize the bibliography we are developing, and we encourage members to add to our list of books, providing a short description of why this book is recommended.

Environmental Task Force Report
By Ellen LaRue

The Environmental Task Force has not met since the last newsletter. During this time the wildflower garden has been weeded by Irene Vitullo and Marge Saphir, and is looking quite good. Our other news is sad for us, though good for them -- Bill and Dottie Barron will be moving to Colorado. We will sure miss them.

Green Corner. Our nation (our world) desperately needs wise public energy policy, with teeth. Unfortunately we may have a bit of a wait for that. Meanwhile it is possible to reduce our CO2 footprint by individual action. The 1-2-3 Program is effective and easy to remember.

1 degree on the thermostat: During the heating season 1 degree lower will reduce fuel consumption by 3%. During the summer, if you use air-conditioning, 1 degree higher saves 5% in energy use.

2 miles per hour slower: If you are driving over 60 mph, every mph reduction in speed reduces fuel consumption by 1 1/2 - 2%. And at that speed, you will lose only about 2 minutes in a one-hour trip.

3 compact fluorescent light bulbs: These bulbs last up to 10 times as long as incandescent bulbs and use only a quarter of the energy for the same amount of light.

Average Yearly Household Savings

1 degree 2 mph 3 cfl's

330 lbs CO2 390 lbs CO2 600 lbs CO2

Source: Green Sanctuary-Eco-Spirituality for Liberal Religious Congregations, 3rd Edition

First Unitarian Homepage