November, 2004
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Rev. Grey's column, "Both Sides," is available here. First Forums may be found here In the InterimBy Rev. Millie Rochester Interim Minister for Religious Education As we near the end of our first quarter of the church year, the work we set out together to accomplish is well underway, and taking stock of where we are is a natural thing to do. The program is becoming livelier with increased participation. There is a feeling of anticipation on Sunday mornings, and activities for all ages abound. The task force studying the professional leadership for the Religious Education Program is beginning its work. All of this might be seen as progress. A recent conference for liberal religious educators reminded me how valuable sharing our resources is, and so I want to share, with her permission, the remarks of Pat Infante, who serves the UU Church in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She wonders how we assess progress in religious education - for although some churches might test on the knowledge of bible stories or count the number of prayers one can recite, our progress cannot be so easily measured. Without a creed, our religion is a way of life. "There is no test for living a life of value except for living it," she says. For each of us, progress is "the result of a personal journey that is as unique as each one of us is." Although she is talking about children, I believe her words apply to us all, of every age: "...to discover the strength that can be found in joining hands, hearts and voices with a room full of other people who are on parallel journeys and with whom we share the path for a time...to respect all people and the natural world and to be able to give to others without expecting anything in return...to be in fellowship often and have some fun along the way." These are experiences we would all like to have, I believe. Isn't it
interesting that in a time of faith in objective measurement, there
are some very important things that cannot be measured. Measuring our
spiritual life cannot be standardized, but depends on each of us, nonetheless.
In the next several months that we have together, I hope you will share
with me your own thoughts and feelings about your spiritual life and
the ways it can be enriched.
Adult RE - Tues. Nov. 9 at 7:00 pm REMINDER TO CHURCH LEADERS RE NEWS The year is filled with a great many events and activities. Several children and adults went apple picking at an Indiana orchard after church on October 10th, and what a wonderful outing it was! The weather was picture-perfect, the trees loaded with a wide variety of apples, and everyone had a good time. Many thanks to Colleen Grogan and Melissa Harris-Lacewell, who provided transportation. The annual Halloween Potluck Party will also be history by the time this is read. Do thank RE Council member David Puszkiewicz and RE Assistant Ashley Meade for the planning and preparation that will make you reflect on the fun of the evening. Two more activities are being planned now as well, though they won't actually begin in earnest until January: the Mystery Friends Program and the Empty Bowls Project. Both of these require a commitment on the part of both young and older people, and are described elsewhere in this newsletter. The brochure for adult religious education programming is now available, and reflects a full calendar of events and interests. Whether you are drawn to learning more about Buddhism and the role of mindfulness, finding support for parenting and answering children's hard questions, discussing compelling books, deepening your relationships through small group Chalice Circles - well, I could go on and on - there is something for you. Pick up a brochure at a pamphlet rack or on the RE Registration Table in Pennington Center. Learn more about what is new in RE this year, and above all, consider how you will participate! The Empty Bowls Project Your commitment for this project may take different forms, each important. You might wish to decorate or help others decorate the bowls. Last year, sixty bowls were decorated, and all of them purchased - and more than that could have been - so there will be a lot to do in a short time! You may wish to contribute soup and/or bread for the banquet; believe me, a lot is needed! A third way of participating is to buy bowls. Whether you stay for the banquet or not, each time you see your bowl is a reminder of the need to alleviate hunger in the world, and you will know that your donation helps in that endeavor. Finally, you may contribute by helping the RE Council to add learning activities that help to educate our young people about hunger. So begin planning now and to participate, in as many ways as you wish! Introducing Mystery Friends Beginning January 9th, First Church will embark on a new activity to support the development of intergenerational friendships! Mystery Friends is a three-week pen pal program that links adults/youth with younger "friends." Each pair of participants will be sent their code name by postcard ("Confucius," for example), and correspondence will be exchanged by being brought to church on Sunday during the three weeks. Younger friends address mail to their older counterpart (Confucius the Older, for example), and vice-versa (Confucius the Younger). At the end of the month, on January 30th, the Sunday worship service will incorporate a gift-making activity for everyone - appropriate even for those who have not participated in the program - and mystery identities will be revealed at a potluck celebration after the service. Registration for the program is required, so that the matches can be made ahead of time, and participants really must honor their commitment, for you can imagine the disappointment of not receiving mail from your Mystery Friend! Registration fliers will be available at church November 7th, and must be returned to church no later than December 19th. If you would like to participate, but not as a Mystery Friend, consider being a Mail Carrier, or helping with the Celebration. Each role is vitally important! Ideas for correspondence might include (but are not limited to) describing a pet or favorite animal, relating an experience, sharing a photograph, telling about a hobby...the possibilities are endless. Exchanges must not be in the form of gifts other than correspondence. Being a part of this experience will add to the number and age range of folks you count as friends, and as you can see, there are many ways to participate. Do you have questions? Comments? Let Rev. Millie know by calling her at church (773-343-4100) or at home if you are not able to connect in person. HEY, GOOD COOKIN' Interfaith Thanksgiving Service The Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council hosts its 90th annual Thanksgiving Day Worship Service on Thursday, November 25, 2004, from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. As is the custom it will be held in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave. The service will feature contributions from many religious traditions, singing by the Chicago Children's Choir, and an address by Dr. Eboo Patel. Eboo Patel is the Founder and Executive Director of the Interfaith Youth Corps, a Chicago-based international nonprofit organization that brings young people from diverse religious communities together in programs that build understanding between religious communities and encourage cooperative service to others. Dr. Patel writes regularly for international publications and has given talks at venues all over the world, including UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, Harvard University and the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, where he appeared with President Jimmy Carter. He has been profiled by the Sunday Chicago Tribune, Conscious Choice Magazine and Utne Magazine, which named him one of "thirty social visionaries under thirty changing the world". For further information contact Allan J. Lindrup, Chair of the committee organizing the worship service, at uusj@att.net . Annual Family Thanksgiving Seder Dinner Saturday, November 20, 2004 6:30 P.M. Pre paid reservations are due no later than Tuesday, November 16, 5:00 P.M. Adults: $15.00 Children under 12 yrs $8.00. Each attendee is asked to bring two non- perishable food items for the neighborhood food pantry. Please call Polly McCoo or Madeiria Myrieckes for further information CRAFT FAIR Board Talk What kind of leadership shall we seek for our lifespan Religious Education program? Our recent Vision statement makes it clear that we value this area of our life together very much. The Board has appointed a Task Force to gather information and make a recommendation to the Board. Please attend the open meeting/ potluck supper on Friday, Nov. 5, at 6:30 to discuss this. We need your input to make the best decision as we move forward. Last spring the Board appointed an Evaluation Task Force to carry out an assessment of our Senior Minister and of our lay leadership. Board members and leaders of Councils and Committees were invited to respond to a set of queries about what was going well and what areas needed improvement, for both ministerial and lay leadership. The Task Force, in consultation with Rev. Grey, identified developmental goals for the next two years for her and for leadership. The Board and other leaders will now meet on Thursday, November 18, to discuss how to accomplish the goals identified for the leadership. The goals identified in this process are largely those which impact on how effective Rev. Grey can be in her ministry; they do not encompass all the responsibilities assumed by lay leaders. One of the primary goals is to establish a climate of open, honest, caring feedback among all participants in our community. Ivan Lappin (Chair of the Committee on Ministry) is chairing this important Task Force; other members are Grace Williams (Past-president) and Margaret Huyck (President). Do you know about our “other congregation?” In the Crypt are many of our late members and friends. The Crypt Committee, chaired by Pat Lucas, is working on a revised set of fees for this service, since our fees are currently far below similar facilities. The Board is working with the committee to establish a fee structure that seems reasonable overall. The Board is delighted that we could approve a contract to renovate the front doors, including refinishing and fitting the north sanctuary door with an automatic opener. We are deeply grateful to a generous anonymous donor who has agreed to cover all these expenses. Thank you! We are concerned about the potential – probable – loss of our long time Fenn House tenant. The University of Chicago has informed us that they anticipate moving the operations currently in Fenn to the new business school, probably in January. We are looking for another tenant. With special warm greetings for the coming holiday season! Among Us
Advance Directives Workshop Welcome Dinner Sunday Nov. 7 Unity Party January 29th If you are new to the church or have not come to the Unity Party before, it is a time when we celebrate the multi-racial, interweaving, intergenerational, international unity of our diverse congregation. We enjoy a potluck dinner of ethnic food in Hull Chapel, set a dj up in the sanctuary and move the chairs out of the way for dancing, enjoy intergenerational mask-making, and have a wonderful time enjoying each other's company! Please put it on your calendars! Nature of Racism Course Sabbatical Committee Report The Sabbatical Team has developed a first brochure which generally outlines those plans and includes a listing of those who will fill the pulpit from January 3 through May 31, the months of the sabbatical. We hope you agree that there will be many interesting and varied speakers to listen to and learn from. We distributed the brochure at the Committee Fair and have recently mailed it to members and friends of the church. It will also be available in the church office and at the Welcome Table on Sunday Mornings. The Sabbatical Committee is preparing a second brochure which will give the names, titles of sermon and a short biography of each pulpit speaker. The Worship and Music Committee and the Worship Associates will be responsible for making arrangements for each of these visitors. Several members of the church have begun training as Lay Pastoral Care Associates. They will supplement Rev. Millie Rochester's pastoral ministry. Rev. David Arksey will also provide some emergency pastoral care. Madeiria Myrieckes will coordinate the Lay Pastoral Care Associates, in consultation with Rev. Rochester. Our Administrator, Rick Brown, will be supported by Rev. Rochester, our president Margaret Huyck, and the Management Consulting Task Force. Cindy Pardo and the Sabbatical team are planning the Bon Voyage Party marking the beginning of the Sabbatical, Sunday, January 2, 2005. Cindy will be contacting many of you inviting to help prepare for the party.While Nina is experiencing her sabbatical renewal the church as a whole has the opportunity to move on the adoption of a Covenant Statement and beginning the strategic planning which will grow out of our new Mission and Vision Statements. The Sabbatical Committee invites you to a FIRST FORUM on Sunday, November 7th to share more information and answer any questions you may have regarding the Sabbatical time. What RE Leadership do We Need Next? Life Journeys Series for Older Adults Get Your Newsletter by Email Chalice Circles This kind of gathering together offers us a chance to talk to each other in ways we don't usually do in our active participation in congregational life. The groups will allow us to explore both "intimacy" and "ultimacy". "Intimacy" means not so much disclosure of personal matters, as the sharing of each others' values based on our life experience. One definition of "Ultimacy" is the meaning we make together of our individual stories. The group will have a guided and structured format, based on a covenant that defines the ways in which we will behave with one another. There will be short readings and the theme will be principles of Unitarian belief. In an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, members will be encouraged to participate actively and authentically. Let's learn more from one another. There is room in both groups so sign up today. Call the office at (773) 324-4100, or fill out the sign-up sheet in your order of service. For more information call Rev. Nina Grey, Rev. Millie Rochester or Pheifer Browne after 5pm. Men on the Move We also invite you to join us as we undertake our first project. Our building needs preparation for winter. So on Saturday, November 13, 2004 between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., we're going to get together to cover the windows in Fenn house with plastic. Don't worry about your skill level or ability. There's enough work to go around and we'll find a task that meets your talents and abilities. For more information on our Men's Group or our November 13th project, contact Joe Harrington. Claiming Our Future: Creating
a Covenant In October, we began work on a covenant. This is a promise of how we wish to relate to one another as we interact as a community. Congregations often refer to this type of promise as a covenant. A covenant is meant to guide us in how we will be together and live together as a congregation as we move into the future. The primary focus of a covenant is how we will agree to behave toward each other in our voluntary society as we pursue our mission and vision. Sunday, October 17, during an interactive, participatory service, congregants looked carefully at our Unison Affirmation from the perspective of a covenant. In November, the Claiming Our Future Task Force will carefully consider the thoughts and ideas arising from those discussions during this worship service. The Task Force will consider bringing recommendations to the congregation after the holiday season about how to proceed with further development of a congregational covenant. Great Books First Forum With Dr. Quentin Young Dr. Young indicated that the current system of providing medical insurance coverage mainly through employers developed during and after WWII as a way to provide benefits to attract employees without raising wages. Now, with increasing competition forcing companies to cut costs, and the steep increases seen in the cost of medical care, companies are dropping this benefit. This has contributed to the rising numbers of the uninsured, now at 45 million people, and the many others who are inadequately covered. He stated that the U.S. is 27th in the world in life expectancy, not first as many people believe. Dr. Young advocated for a national single payer program similar to the Medicare program. This would eliminate the 15-30% of funds that go toward the administrative costs of 1600 insurers and free up that money for use in providing preventive care. Medicare's administrative costs are 3% and Canada's universal system requires on average 0.9%. A national health insurance program would also eliminate the administrative costs of a hodge podge of programs for the poor and other groups, all of which have differing eligibility requirements. Even the costs of malpractice insurance and awards would be reduced as everyone would be guaranteed the care they need. He urged everyone to support HR 676, U.S. National Health Insurance Act, Medicare for All, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. and cosponsored by Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis and Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, among others. We thank Dr. Young for his generous contribution of time to meet with us and for his tireless efforts to improve the health care system in this country. Membership Committee Report During October, Polly McCoo discussed the proposal with a number of church members, and has already found people who are interested in playing the role of "befriender". Stay tuned for more information about this initiative in the December newsletter, or talk to Polly McCoo or me to find out more. Polly is in the church office every Tuesday answering calls. Environmental Task Force Green Corner. Dear reader, we live on such a beautiful planet. Sometimes it seems right to take a minute to just be grateful for the wonder of it. If one can get out, here are a some highly satisfying nearby places to visit: (1) The garden between Woodlawn and Ellis, between the Midway and 59th Street. (2) The newly restored natural area behind the South Shore Cultural Center, where you will see wetland, prairie, and incipient sand dunes. You can get there from Hyde Park by public transportation on the #6 Jackson Park Express bus. They also have a parking lot. (3) Wooded Island behind the Museum of Science and Industry. Report of the Social Justice Council The Social Justice First Forum gave a small group of people a chance to sound off about the upcoming elections, facilitated by Dr. Roberta Lammers Campbell. Ellie Hall, Pheifer Browne, Joan and Chuck Staples, Carrie Hedges, and I made up our experts as we touched on issues and personalities related to the election. The Social Justice Council met on October 8th: The full minutes are available on request. We covered a wide ranging agenda of issues: the temporary suspension of the Labor Justice Task force, financial matters related to the Labor Day Service, the need to be more timely in responding to social justice issues from the General Assembly, the problems of communication with Companions Journeying Together and as a result the need for a new social service project for the church, our responses to the election debates, and reports from the various task force and associate groups. Some highlights: the Nine/Eleven Study group is still reading Good Muslims/Bad Muslims. This is a must read for anyone who lived during the period 1975 - 2001 on the historical backdrop of how US American anti-communist polices and praxes, ironically, led to the creation of a more deadly international enemy, neo-conservative political Islam and its terrorist wings. The Racial Justice Task Force successfully completed the first phase of its opposition to the neo-racist ideology of Dr. William Cosby, having sent out copies of our letter to major media outlets. The last phase is to send out copies to key civil right leaders. This is an on-going issue since Dr. Cosby is being featured in a major film on the blues, directed by Martin Scorese. An old cultural issue, the suppression of Richard Wagner's anti-Jewish racism, is being dealt with in relationship to his being celebrated during the Centennial of the Lyric Opera. A proposal for a demonstration on November 6, in connections with the 66th anniversary of the first major Nazi pogrom against German Jews is in the works. Activities of Social Justice Council members: I continue to work with the Sunday School on Social Justice Sundays. We dealt with the issue of Buddhism and Social Justice, with a story by our RE assistant Ashley Meade about how Siddhartha (Buddha is a name like Christ, a title, not a real person's name) discovered social injustice in the world. And under the guidance of Sister Rosemary Snow, some of us made peace poles. Ellen LaRue attended a gathering of conservationists in the Calumet River area. Roberta Lammers Campbell took a group of her students and a colleague (I went along for the ride) to Horicon Marsh where we heard an amazing presentation by a park ranger on the intersection of governmental policies, land use, and ecology. It turns out that this great marsh for migratory birds is a combination of nature and human ingenuity, but is being endangered by current governmental policies. Allan Lindrup represented the Council at a conference held at UIC dealing with the danger of nuclear power plants in Illinois. Upcoming Events: the Emancipation Proclamation Dramatic Pageant, O Freedom: The Day of Jubilee, 2005 - a Celebration of the 140th anniversary of the Victory of the Abolitionist-Unionist Coalition over the Slavocracy (1865 - 2005). Auditions will be held on Sunday, November 21st, 1:00 pm, VOV. Attendance for at least five minutes is mandatory for all those who wish to participate. As usual, we need more members, especially young adults, both as full time, part time, and associate members. So, if reading this column has inspired you, contact me, Finley Campbell UU’s for Social Justice CHARLOTTE LACKNER ANTI-RACISM
COMMITTEE The concerns raised by the Committee have been given serious consideration in the process of planning for services and speakers during Rev. Nina Gray’s upcoming sabbatical. As a result, two very prominent African-American Unitarian Universalist ministers, Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed and Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, as well as Archene Turner, an African-American student at Meadville-Lombard, and our own Dr. Finley Campbell and Dr. Melissa Harris-Lacewell have been scheduled to address the congregation during that period. More information about these speakers and their topics will be forthcoming in a brochure being prepared by the Sabbatical Committee. The Committee meets on the fourth Sunday of the month and invites anyone interested to attend. Racial Justice Task Force Report A letter, signed by over two-thirds of the Racial Justice Task Force membership, protesting Dr. William Cosby's attacks on the so-called black underclass, was sent to a variety of media outlets in September, hoping to generate interviews, articles and further debate/discussion on the merit of Dr. Cosby's remarks. On Nov. 21 the First Forum will be "Issues and Concerns with Today's So-Called Black Underclass: a discussion/dialogue sparked by the remarks of Dr. William Cosby". Come join us for some vigorous discussion and contribute your own views and reasoning if you choose to share them. The Justice Coalition of Greater Chicago (JCGC) is working with other organizations to advance the Civil Liberties Restoration Act. Task force member Susan Grubb plans to attend a meeting on November 9, where stategies for getting broader support from Illinois' U.S. House delegation will be developed. Task force Chair Allan Lindrup is exploring ways that members of the task force and others in our church can assist JCGC now that it has lost the funding to have a staff person and must operate as an all volunteer organization. The Racial Justice Task Force will be sponsoring a short, probably two session, study group, for those wishing to read and discuss the book Gates of Injustice, which examines the U.S. criminal justice system. Those who are interested in participating should contact Bobbi Campbell at rlammer@luc.edu.. Two task force members are working on drafting a revised mission statement for the task force, specifically to include criminal justice issues. CLARC Dialogue Circles |