Index of Past Issues

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

In the Interim
By Rev. Millie Rochester, Interim Minister for Religious Education

The other day, listening to NPR in the morning, I happened to hear an interview with Robert Coles, a much-published child psychiatrist. He was talking about a subject dear to my heart: the spiritual life of children. You may be familiar with his 1990 publication of the same name, which incidentally is a book on my own shelf. Coles' observation - that children "put their personal life - its assumptions, experiences, possibilities, and constraints" - into their drawings and paintings, seems obvious. Yet it makes me think about the experiences we provide that help form assumptions, possibilities and constraints. Is church an experience we want to provide on a regular, consistent basis, a priority as important as soccer and music lessons?

As busy as we all are, it sometimes is hard enough to squeeze in one more activity or event in our weeks, much less convince children to do that! And so, for one reason or another over the years, I have been asked many times, "Should I make my child come to church?" As a child's primary religious educator, this is a decision for parents to make, and it is not a new question. In the nineteenth century, the Unitarian minister Minot Judson Savage wrote, “Parents tell me continuously that they do not give their children any religious training, from the feeling that it is taking unfair advantage of the child. They say, ‘I propose to let my children grow up as far as possible unbiased.’ [But] if you do not bias [your children], the first one that [they] meet on the street, or in school, or among their companions, will begin the work of biasing, of the impression of education, for this is a continuous process. Whether you will it or not, it is something over which you have no choice. It is something that will be done either wisely and well - or unwisely and ill.”

Most of us believe that children do need a religious education. The question then is, do you want the help of our church? Regular church attendance provides children, as much as adults, a peer group, as well as a chance to form relationships with other people of all ages. With regular attendance, children and adults alike feel a sense of belonging, of being part of a community where it is safe to explore their feelings and test their beliefs. And yes, as Robert Cole would say, church is a place to deepen one's spirituality whatever our age.

I look forward to seeing you in church!

Yours faithfully,

Millie

COMING OF AGE COMING SOON!
This year, once again, junior high youth will have the opportunity to experience a Coming of Age program - a chance to further explore and develop religious understanding, service to others, personal relationships, First Unitarian Society and Unitarian Universalist heritage.

Youth will be matched with adults in the congregation who will be mentors, and each pair will meet at least monthly. Like young people in other religious traditions, each participant will be asked to complete certain requirements from each category. In addition to some requirements common for all youth, some will be chosen, and some may be developed by the individual youth. The program will culminate in a ceremonial and celebratory acknowledgment of these achievements in May.

Watch for more information, and contact Rev. Millie if you have questions or concerns (773-324-4100 at church).

GUEST AT YOUR TABLE
Guest at Your Table boxes will be collected at church during the service on January 4, 2004. The Guest at Your Table program of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) has been making a difference in peoples' lives for more than 60 years. Members and friends of First Unitarian Society were invited to take a Guest at Your Table box home, place it in their dining areas, and place a contribution inside whenever they eat. When you return your filled Guest at Your Table box January 4th, you will be living your faith by consciously reaching out across the barriers of language and religion to make a difference in the lives of real individuals.

RE NEWS
By Rev. Millie Rochester

What a lovely event the holiday worship service was! Many thanks to all who helped make the holiday program, “Christmas in the Barn,” so memorable, especially the cast - Alexandra Dodson, Claire Henriques, Rowan Cunningham, Katie Morrill-Ploum, Ellie Grosse, Paige Bennett, Adam Green, Rita Stern, Wilson King, Ethan Morrill-Ploum, Jonathan King, Nathan Bamberger, and Kourtney Coleman-Daniels. Thanks to parents of the cast, who brought their young people to church early. And my grateful thanks to Madeiria Myrieckes, Veronica Jennifer and RE Assistant Vivian Jordan, who made costumes; and to David Puszkiewicz, Jon Rice, and Madeiria Myrieckes, who collaborated with me in creating the barn.

After the holidays, Way Cool Sunday School will go into its "Wintersession" - a hiatus from the usual programming. This year, the focus will be on social justice and responsibility, acted out through the Empty Bowls Project. Bringing the abstract concept of hunger into our lives, young people are going to be decorating ceramic bowls, and on the first Sunday of February filling them with soup for the rest of the congregation. For a minimum contribution of $13, members and friends may purchase a bowl and their lunch of soup and bread. These bowls will be collection items, especially for parents, so order yours soon! Talk with me if you would like to be more directly involved with this project.

Other opportunities also abound to be involved with our young people, whether on a weekly, monthly, or occasional basis, for an hour or only ten minutes at a time, for children, youth and adults.
Junior high and high school youth meet weekly on Sundays, and need facilitator-advisors. There is curricula for junior high, and older youth work with their advisors in determining their program, which includes relevant videos and follow-up discussions, social justice projects, and "hot topic" lunches. Talk with me to apply.

Preschoolers need teachers, too, as they learn about their religious community and tradition through a Unitarian Universalist curriculum called “We Are Many, We Are One.” Additional facilitators are also needed for Way Cool Sunday School, which returns to its usual format in February. Sessions focus on Jewish and Christian teachings (2nd and 4th Sundays), as well as social justice issues (3rd Sundays). It's not unusual for people who want to learn and be in stimulating company to decide to teach. Stop by my office to discover when the subject of your particular interest is scheduled, and sign up!

For every age/developmental level and interest group, teacher training will help prepare you. Mark your calendar now for general teacher training on Saturday January 17th, from 10 AM to 2 PM at church.

Youth Advisor training will be calendared soon. Perhaps you have additional ideas of ways you'd like to be involved, with children, youth or adults. Do share!

Lifespan RE Calendar

Sunday January 4
10:00 Multigenerational worship
Return Guest at Your Table boxes
11:30 Youth Group Movie Day

Sunday January 11
10:00 Way Cool Sunday School Wintersession - Empty Bowls - a social justice project, continuing through Sunday January 25
11:30 Youth Group Movie Discussion

Friday January 16
6:00 Family Potluck

Saturday January 17
10:00-2:00 Teacher Training for Spring Semester

Sunday January 18
11:30 Youth Group Social Justice Discussion/Project

Sunday February 1, 2004
11:45 Empty Bowls Hunger Banquet (Garden Room)

Board Talk
By Grace Williams
Congregation President

I've been thinking hard these past few days about what could be realizable resolutions for me in this New Year. I came up with the following:

In my personal life:
-- Continue to strive for wholeness - a balance between work, intentional family time, exercise, plain old fun, and spiritual enrichment;
-- Continue the mutual nurturance and support amongst my family members and friends;
-- Continue to work on my own gremlins that threaten to undermine my personal goals and objectives.

In my church life:
-- Trust in our ability and conviction to make bold, considered and informed decisions that have long-term implications for our future -- just as an earlier generation made the decision to purchase Fenn House in the early 1950s (before the construction of Pennington Center) in order to house the burgeoning number of Sunday School children.
-- Extol the positive and unique characteristics of our congregation that define who we are -- such as our multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural make-up, in the context of a university community, kitty-corner to a Unitarian Universalist Seminary, residing in a distinctive mini-cathedral, within a multi-racial neighborhood, and a world-class city.
-- Appreciate the many gifts that reside in our community -- musical, intellectual, creative, financial, spiritual, analytical, organizational, and abundant communication skills.
-- Honor the legacy left us by such saints as Von Ogden Vogt, Lee Reed, Rev. Christopher Moore, Aki Yasutake, Rev. Dorothy Schaad - often lifted up in our annual Kwanzaa Service.
-- Recognize the contributions of such members as Allan Stern, our webmaster, who recently contributed to the conversation started by UU World editor Tom Stites' article on "Jazz Theology", in a January/February 2004 letter to the Editor; Joe Cherry, who spearheaded the very engaging Interweave-sponsored film series on gay, lesbian and transgender matters last year, and this year is conducting a Welcoming Congregation series;
-- Ensure, with the help of all of us, that our church continues to be a place of Hope, Help and Home for our current and future members and friends, for the children of the church who return each year for Christmas Vespers - such as: Joy Dickson, Jana Dickson, Jordan Greenlee, Kelsey Harden, Rachel Orlikoff, Alec Lappin, Allyson Ratliff, Gayle Ratliff, Kyla Saphir, Maja Saphir, Dawn Saphir, W. Saphir and Mark Saphir, Alicia Stern, Kedda Williams, Tiade Williams, and the alumni and parents of alums of the Chicago Children's Choir; and for our currently attending children, who participate in such events as our Christmas Pageant - among them: Zarinah Ali, Nathan Bamberger, Paige Bennett, Rowan Cunningham, Kourtney Daniels, Alexandra Dodson, Julius Dodson, Adam Green, Claire Henriques, Gabriel Henriques, Jonathan King, Wilson King, Mitchell Stern, Rita Stern, Stephanie Stern, Ethan Morrill-Ploum, Katie Morrill-Ploum, and Ellie Grosse.
-- Encourage our process of revisioning our church community and our mission and covenant so that we may continue to be a viable, spiritually enriching, enlightening, socially active and prophetic voice in our neighborhood, city and world.

What are your resolutions for the year 2004?

Happy New Year!

Among Us
We send warm get well wishes to Michael Donner, recovering in the hospital.
We send our continuing good wishes to Vi Stark.
We continue to hold Polly McCoo in our minds and hearts.
We announce with delight the birth of Sophia, daughter of Kathy Szoke and Geza Gyuk.
Congratulations to Wallace Rusterholtz on the publication of the revision of his book, My Not So Gay Life.
We offer our deep sympathy to Harriet Swanson and family on the death of Joan Dix, Harriet's sister, who died on Noivember 20.
Warm get well wishes to Ivan Lappin, recovering from surgery.
Warm get well wishes, also, to Mitchell Green, recovering from surgery.
We remembered Elizabeth McGiffin in a Memorial Service on December 28, 2003.
We received a holiday greeting from Devon Moss, still serving in Iraq. Devon writes, "Merry Christmas from Iraq. Please pass on my warmest holiday wishes to the congregation. I look forward to seeing everyone again next year. Warmly, Devon.
"Devon can receive greetings at:
Sgt. D. T. Moss
933rd MP Co.
LSA Adder
APO AE 09331

Great Books
The Great Books group will meet Sunday, January 18 in the RE Resource Room. The book to be discussed is Endless Mountains by Reynolds Price. See Gloria Gnatz for information.

It’s a Party!
Please join members and friends of First Unitarian Society for the annual Unity Celebration from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 24. This celebration will include music, dancing, food, conversation, and activities for children. Please bring your favorite comfort or ethnic food to share. The admission price is $5 for individuals and a maximum of $15 for families. This event is co-sponsored by the Social Justice Council, the Religious Education Council, and Charlotte Lackner Anti-Racism Committee, the Board of Trustees and Interweave. The “snow date” for this event is Saturday, January 31.

Lunches and Conversations with the Ministers
Nina and Millie welcome you to an ongoing series of lunches and conversations, times to eat together and engage in informal conversations about any topics, thoughts, ideas, concerns and questions on your minds. Bring your bag lunch and a drink. We'll gather in comfort in Chris Moore Parlor and have almost an hour together. Join us when you can, for one or many of these opportunities to listen to and talk with one another. Friday noon dates will be announced in Orders of Service.

First Forums in January
Sunday Mornings at 11:45

January 4 - A New Federal Credit Union
A new federal credit union has been formed to service the southside community. Its purpose is to educate consumers about managing their money, and especially to provide an alternative to payday loan sharks. At the First Forum on January 4 Gregg Brown, President of Southside Community Federal Credit Union will speak. Our Investment Committee is considering investing $5,000 or $10,000 to show our support of this endeavor. The interest rate will be low, so this would be done as a socially responsible investment rather than as an income-producing one. Come and express your opinion.
January 11 - People and the Environment in East Africa
Our First Forum on Sunday, January 11 will feature guest speaker Dr. Chapurukha Kusimba, Curator of Anthropology, African Archaeology and Ethnology at The Field Museum. Kusimba studies the relationships between people and the environment in East Africa, especially during the pre-colonial societies from 700 to 1700 AD. He has studied historical trade routes and iron metallurgy, and he has recently focused on the historical role of the elephant in African culture, its impact on the landscape, and the environmental effects of overhunting elephants for the ivory trade.
January 18 - Unemployment among Black Youth
On January 18, 2004 in Chris Moore parlor, the Racial Justice Task Force will be presenting a First Forum on the issue of the emergence of a lost generation of young people, some 64,000 in all in the Chicago area, mainly black and latino, who have completed high school but cannot get into college, get into or do not wish to join the military, and cannot find work. We will hear witnessing from a few of these young people and discuss possible solutions, one being working with local churches to help these our young brothers and sisters with developing job searching skills. This is the initiative of Brother Richard Snow. In addition, an article about this situation appeared in STREETWISE, and last November Congressman Danny Davis called for a rally to address this situation. Come join us in coming up with ideas about this important issue.
January 25 - The “Dos” and “Don’ts” for Justice-Seeking Congregations
Social Justice work often causes divisiveness in congregations. Here are some ways to orient your justice work so that you build community and draw new church members. Kate Lore, the Social Justice Director at First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon, has been doing justice work in congregations for the past 11 years. She has a great passion for her work and, consequently, gives workshops around the country, including General Assembly. In addition to working full-time, she is a part-time student at Meadville/Lombard and the mother of two teenage sons.

WINTER YOUTH CONFERENCE
"Under CONstruction" will be held at the North Shore Unitarian Church in Deerfield, Illinois beginning Friday night and running through Sunday morning, January 30 to February 1, 2004. It will feature home hospitality on the first night, and a full array of small group ("touch group") activities and workshops. Registration forms have been mailed to youth group members, and additional forms are available on the bulletin board outside the door to Rev. Millie Rochester's office.

YOUNG ADULT PROPHETS CONFERENCE
This conference will be held in Cambridge, MA on January 8-11, 2004. The Young Adult Prophets Project is an effort to reclaim radical Unitarian, Universalist and Unitarian Universalist history and kindle the UU legacy of social justice through exploring the history of Unitarian and Universalist prophetic leaders and ways they have participated in the justice movement, as well as their own experiences. For more information, email Colin Bossen at cbossen@mindspring.com.

Racial Justice Task Force Report
By Raffaella Pretini, Co-chiair

After Advocate Health Clinic responded in the Hyde Park Herald to our letter, the Task Force is continuing its effort to obtain a Community Forum, in order to have a satisfactory explanation from Advocate about the reasons for the closure. The Task Force is also studying the report published by Service Employees International Union accusing Advocate of charging as much as double for uninsured patients.

We also continue with our support to Lia McCoo and we informally met with her and Anita Orlikoff to hear her feelings and how she'd like to be supported by our group and by the congregation at large.

Next, we are continuing our effort to involve more members from our congregation in the social service project in collaboration with Companions Journeying Together. For example we had a mailing of sixty Christmas cards to incarcerated women with Allan Lindrup, Finley Campbell, Tom Huyck and Karen Heffernen. Our next project is the story-taping project. We are planning to organize a First Forum about the issue of unemployment among black youth, as proposed by Dick Snow for January 18th in Chris Moore Parlor.

At our last regular meeting on December 17th we had Anna Mustafa as our guest. She wanted to express her gratitude for our support and we had a little celebration (she brought wonderful pastries!!!!) for the successes she has had until now in her struggle for justice, which is still going on. She has gotten her job back with the Cook County Clerk's Office and the Illinois Human Relations Commission said her previous firing was based on religious and racial discrimination.

Members of the Task Force also attended the First Forum on Sunday December 21st, with Finley Campbell and Alex Poinsett, discussing the questions about integration versus desegregation; a video is available for interested people. The consensus was that we had achieved desegregation, but we would not achieve integration so long as there was inequality . Our next meeting will be announced in the newsletter for January 2004.

Social Justice Council Special Project
By Allan Lindrup
Co-chair, Racial Justice Task Force

The Social Justice Council has adopted Companions Journeying Together (CJT), which serves incarcerated women and their families, as the church's Social Justice Special Project for this church year. They serve incarcerated women and their families through several projects. I speak of two of them here and others later.

The Aunt Mary's Storybook Project helps incarcerated women stay connected to their children by having her select and then read a story book into a tape recorder, along with messages of love and encouragement. A copy of the book, along with the tape of their mother's reading it to them is then given to the child. This can help maintain family connections while helping to encourage reading and providing a connection with the outside world. One member and one friend of First U. will be participating in the project by going to the prison, usually once a month, to help the women select a book and tape it. We have been provided a list of 38 suggested books. We want members and friends of First Unitarian to volunteer to buy one or more of the books. We hope to be able to deliver CJT at least one copy of each of the 38 books by mid February. Please volunteer by January 20 and then get your books in to Allan Lindrup by Feb. 10. You can get the list e-mailed to you by e-mailing Allan at uusj@att.net. When you have books for pick-up, contact Allan. Diana Gray has volunteered to assist by taking information on what book(s) you are volunteering to buy, and to accept books at church, for transfer to Allan.

In another project, members of congregations are encouraged to send cards with season's greetings and words of encouragement to women prisoners. We sign with only our first name, and the cards are sent with CJT's return address. As we did not get our list until near the deadline, four members and friends of the congregation got together on Dec. 18 and prepared cards going to 59 women in Dwight Prison. They were mailed the next morning.

Stewardship Team Formed
By Cindy Pardo

Early this fall, seven of our church members, including the Revs. Grey and Rochester, attended a workshop about Mission-based Budgets. They came back very excited about this different way to look at the budgeting and fund-raising activities of the church, and began to look for ways to implement what they had learned here at First Unitarian. The Stewardship Team was born.

Stewardship of an institution such as ours has a broad and inclusive definition. We have a responsibility to maintain our building, to promote continued growth of our congregation, to provide programs, including outreach, which will serve the needs of our congregation, to pay our ministers and staff fairly, and to be realistic about funding all of these activities. A major activity of 2004 will be the Vision, Mission and Covenant work which we so definitely need so that we may continue to have a lively and vital congregation. But, the reality is that both our programs and the "bricks and mortar" must be adequately funded.

Recently the Board of Trustees voted to create a Stewardship Team which will look at our budget, canvass and fundraising processes, as well as at the way we engage our members in the life of the church.

All of these fall under the category of Stewardship. If you serve on any church committee at all you will probably notice the first efforts of the Stewardship Team in the budgeting process for 2004-05. Each committee has been asked to meet specifically to work on its budget request. They have been asked to think about what specific projects they would like to pursue next year, and about the cost of these projects not only in terms of the tangible costs ( art supplies, food costs, hiring someone to help, etc.) but to think about the cost of things such as office staff assistance, janitorial assistance, ministerial advice or attendance at meetings, cost of building use. People from the Stewardship team will attend these committee budget meetings to assist with this planning.

All of this is aimed at creating what is called a program-oriented budget. That is, while we will still have a line item budget, so that we can track our expenses and income carefully, we want to begin to think of our expenses, both in terms of actual dollars and of building use and staff, as serving the programs of our church. For many of us, a line item budget by itself means little except that we're being asked to dig deeper to support the church. But the Board and the Stewardship Team believe that most of us come to our church because of the programs the church offers. Yes, we want the furnace to work and the office to print the Order of Service. But what brings us back are the programs which help us to raise our children in a community whose principles reflect our own beliefs, or help us understand that we are not alone in our struggles toward justice, or just allow us to raise our voices in song and strengthen our spirits with worship.

The Stewardship Team is still being formed, and the names of its members will be in next month's newsletter. I have agreed to chair this team, but I know I will have plenty of experienced and enthusiastic help for this work. In tandem with our Vision, Mission and Covenant process, we are looking at a very exciting opportunity for our beloved community.

Asian/Pacific Islander UUs
The Second Annual Meeting of the Asian/Pacific Islander Caucus of DRUUMM (Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries) will be held the weekend of Feb 20-22 in Arlington St. Church, Boston. All UUs of A/PI heritage and/or immediate family members of A/PI UUs are invited to attend. Registration form and publicity flyers can be downloaded from http://apiuu.org. The Caucus will pay for up to 22 people to stay at Eliot/Pickett House, the UUA's Bed and Breakfast facility in Boston, on a first-come first-served basis. Home hospitality with Boston area UU families will be arranged for all other participants. A few travel grants are also available. For more information, please contact registrar@apiuu.org.

Charlotte Lackner Anti-Racism Committee
By Pat Lucas

Are you interested in working toward more diversity in our church and worship services? If so, the Charlotte Lackner Anti-Racism Committee would like you to join them at the monthly meetings held on the second Sunday of each month. Watch your Order of Service for the exact time.

The Committee continues to monitor the worship services for cultural diversity in its content. If you have comments you would like to share, feel free to see a member of this Committee or the Worship and Music Committee.

The Committee has voted to co-sponsor the Unity Party scheduled for January 24, 2004. The party is always great fun so save the date! Volunteers will be needed to help out so see Bobbi Lammers Campbell if you are interested.

The series of Dialogue Circles for Committee members continues. Four of the six sessions have been completed. Each session deals with a topic related to racism. The November discussion covered racism in the media and the December topic focused on practices in a racially diverse congregation. Spirited, open discussions are the norm. At the conclusion of the series, the Committee will consider setting up such discussion groups for all members of the congregation.

Veronica Jennifer reported that the Heritage Festival held in November was a success. The attendees expressed their cultural heritage through the clothing they wore and everyone had a lot of fun.

The Committee also sponsors movies dealing with issues of racism. The November film was a documentary entitled Race: the Power of an Illusion. The film examined how race came to play a central role in American culture and history. The film was very educational and interesting and led to a good discussion. Another part of this documentary will be scheduled for the month of February. Watch your announcements for the time and place.

Environmental Task Force
By Ellen LaRue

The Environmental Task Force is currently in hibernation, except for individual efforts and unscheduled communications. Check back next year.

Green Corner. A thing that really bugs me is all this trash lying around in the gutter, blowing across the lawn and stuck in the bushes. I mean it is disgusting. It sends me a message: you live in a dirty place and so there is probably something wrong with you. Of course I'm old enough to reject that message from the debris. But what about the kids? What kind of message are they getting? Can they reject it? Besides, it takes too much energy to be constantly filtering out and rejecting messages.

Part of this irritation with litter is rooted in a selfish attitude: Well I didn't put it there, you know. But I have encountered examples of more generous behavior. When I lived in Ho, Ghana, the streets were always clean. There were no public services to keep them that way, but early every morning women would sweep their own compounds plus the adjoining part of the street. If I would do that where I live, it would help our whole neighborhood. And some of you will remember when Mark Watanabe was a First U member. Mark used to carry around a plastic grocery bag and just slick up an area here and there, during his daily life. He was nonchalant and just did it like it was a perfectly natural thing to do.

So instead of being in a perpetual state of agitation, I am going to try to get some peace that comes from simple action. I am going to acquire the habit of carrying a bag, and doing a bit of picking up. Then maybe a kid will come along and get a message: Hey this place is nice, and you're a part of it.

Who are These People Anyway?
By Cindy Pardo

If you have been in our building at any time besides Sunday morning you have undoubtedly encountered little girls in tutus, heard children singing, watched preschool children parade out the door for a walk, or wondered what the people in the Garden Room are doing. Our very large building allows us to help support our church activities by renting space we are not using to outside groups. All of them provide a positive service to the community, and we thought you might like to know a little more about them
.
The Hyde Park School of Ballet was begun a little over ten years ago by First U member Marilyn (Ratliff) Sheperd and August Tye, its current Artistic Director. Their vision was to provide top quality dance instruction for children in an atmosphere which promotes appreciation of diverse backgrounds and abilities. HPSB offers classes in pre-ballet, ballet, tap, flamenco, modern dance and choreography to a range of ages from three to adult. Understanding that some children want to dance for the fun of it and some are more serious, the school offers upper level classes with a view to a professional track.

One of the bedrock principles of the school is that if a child is serious about dance lessons they should be able to receive instruction, even if they have very limited ability to pay for those lessons. Therefore the school offers a variety of scholarships, and this year expects to provide over $20,000 in scholarship money.

The school offers excellent instruction to over 500 students, and is always looking for opportunities for its students to perform. The school performs the Nutcracker every Christmas season, and has an annual Spring performance as well. Its dancers can also be seen at the Arts Festival held in conjunction with the 57th Street Art Fair, as well as a number of other community events.

If you would like more information about the ballet school, contact Betty Holcomb or Cindy Pardo, both of whom serve on the HPSB board of directors.

Welcoming Congregation Workshop Update
By Joe Cherry

The Welcoming Congregation Workshop includes a small group of individuals who have agreed to meet monthly for 10 months to consider what it means to be a Welcoming Congregation. While this group is not open to new members, one of the goals of the Workshop is to keep the congregation as a whole informed about what we are doing in our group. Look for newsletter updates, posters, and Sunday bulletin inserts.

One of the exercises we did in our initial meeting was called “Everything You Always Wanted to Know.” Each participant wrote a question they wanted answered. We then read them aloud anonymously by placing the questions into a pile and then randomly redistributing them. We then agreed that we should share them with the rest of the congregation. Look for a poster with our questions – and add your own if you wish.

During the second meeting, members discussed when we first realized the range of sexual orientations, and how we feel about the varied orientations. Generally, we became aware of male homosexuality before lesbianism, transgender, or bi-sexual variants.

The group is co-led by Joe Cherry and Frieda Stillerman, using a Guide developed by the UUA.

Interweave Film Series
Interweave explores issues of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender sexual orientations in monthly movies. On Friday, January 9 the feature is The Sum of Us. This is an early Russell Crow film in which he plays a gay man with a Dad who won't stop match making! Funny and touching. Potluck supper at 6:30.

Report from the Social Justice Council
By Dr. Finley C. Campbell

One of the principles of Kwanzaa is Ujamma, which means collective work. Kwanzaa is an artificial African-American celebration created by the cultural nationalist, Ron Karenga, one of the reactionary members of the old black nationalist movement of the 60's. Until I came to First U, I refused to celebrate or participate in this event because of my on-going opposition to Karenga as an agent of the neo-racist section of the power structure. However, as transformed by our church into a multiracial celebration rather than as a tribute to Karenga and his "blackist" ideology, I have participated in our service. Since much of Karenga's seven principles were plagiarized by him from African socialism and African communalism, I have found much which I can approve of, without giving him any credit. One such principle is of Ujamma: because much of our social justice work emerges from this principle, I thought I would share the following excerpt which Bobbi and I developed for the service last month:

All great movements for social justice depend on collective work. This the Christian revolutionaries discovered in the struggle against the Roman Empire: that each talent, whether one or many, had its role to play; their favorite image of Ujamma was Ecclesia Christus, the body of Christ, in which all members of the body had to work together for a common good. And even that revolutionary movement, though there are some who would deny it, even today, was made possible by the collective work led by women who led worship services, did evangelism, healed the sick, helped the poor, bore up bravely under the torture of the Roman oppressors, all for the sake of the Collective, called in the Greek Koinonia, which means the beloved community, of Christ, of God, of Humanity.

In the future, Ujamma will be known by its true name, Communitas, when six billion people of this earth will act as one through the interaction of commitment, ability, and need, where through collective work we will all share the burdens and the benefits of a common wealth, a time when work and play will be one, when the personal and the political will be one, where being a miner or a musician are tasks, not roles, when what we call today Ujamma, shall emerge fully from the Second Coming of Equality.

Upcoming Dates:
• Nature of Racism Course, "The Red Summer of 1919: the Great Chicago Racist Riot - Its Political Economic Roots," January 4, 2004, 9 am, VOV -
• Rehearsal times for the Emancipation Proclamation Pageant 2004: January 4, 12 noon, January 9, 6:30 pm. Performance: Saturday, January 10, 7:30 pm
• Social Justice Council Meeting: January 15, 2004, 7:30 pm, Thursday.

Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice News
By Allan Lindrup

The current Chair of UUs for Social Justice is a fellow Hyde Parker, Lara Tushla, a member of Second Unitarian Church. She can be reached by e-mail at ltushla@rush.edu or by phone at 773-955-7141. Our Chair-Elect is Emerald Young, who also chairs the Peace and Justice Committee at the Unitarian Church of Evanston. I serve as UUSJ's immediate past Chair. The UUSJ Board currently has one vacancy, that being in the position of Secretary.

UUSJ's Environmental Task Force is planning a regional conference titled "We All Live Downstream", which will be held at the Unitarian Church of Elgin on Saturday, April 3, 2004, between 10 am and about 2:45 p.m Mark the day/time if you are interested in water issues. There will be a flyer (probably in early February) with details, plus driving instructions, how to get there by Metra train from Union Station, and car-pooling options. UUSJ has bumper stickers, in support of the Action of Immediate Witness calling for a study of and hopefully the end to the use of Depleted Uranium in munitions, which read, "SUPPORT OUR TROOPS by STOP USING DEPLETED URANIUM". Individual bumper stickers may be purchased from Ellen LaRue or myself for $1. You can also get 10 for $7 from Allan, if you belong to a veterans group or other organization where you would like to resell them.

You may wish to take a look at things on our web site. It is www.uusforsocialjustice.org. Allan J. Lindrup, uusj@att.net.

December Board of Trustees Meeting

Among the items discussed or decided on at the December 18 Board Meeting were:
- A 2004 Budget Plan and Stewardship (Canvass) Campaign
- The formation of a Personnel Committee
- A proposed Alcohol Policy
- The renewal of the Interim MRE's contract for the 2004-2005 church year

Note Cards For Sale
Note cards, featuring four attractive photos of First Unitarian Church, are available for sale after service each Sunday as a fund raising effort. Cards are packaged 16 to a set (four of each of four photos) with envelopes. These sell at $15 for a pack of 16 cards. Please make checks payable to First Unitarian Society of Chicago and indicate "note card sale" on the memo line of the check. In the spirit of Chicago, "Buy early and buy often!"

Committee Meetings this Month
Charlotte Lackner Anti-Racism - Sun. Jan. 11 at 1:00
Committee on Ministry - Tues. Jan. 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Communications - Thurs. Jan 8 at 5:30 o.m.
Executive Comm. - Wed. Jan. 7 at 5:30 p.m.
Membership - Thurs. Jan. 22 at 7:00 p.m.
Nominating - Sun. Jan. 11 at 12:00
Program Council - Tues. Jan 6 at 7:00 p.m.
Social Justice - Thurs. Jan. 8 at 7:00 p.m.
Trustees - Thurs. Jan 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Worship & Music - Thurs. Jan. 8 at 7:00 p.m.

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