August, 2005
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Rev. Grey's column, "A Sabbatical Letter," is available here. First Forums may be found here Fall Board Leadership Retreat Sept. 2-3 Reminder to Board Members and Chairs of church groups that the Annual Retreat will be Labor Day Weekend: Friday Sept. 2 (evening) and Saturday Sept. 3 (morning). Please mark your calendars and stay tuned. Committee Meetings this Month Activities - Wed. Aug. 31 at 6:00 pm Change, Anyone? No, I am not going to discuss how UUs should respond to panhandlers (maybe another time!) but how do we really feel about CHANGE in our congregation. At one of the first services I attended at First U in January, 2003, the speaker (our current past-president) asked from the pulpit, "Are You Ready for Change," but she focused on individual not institutional change. Many of us, looking at our First Unitarian Society's slow but steady decline in membership and increasing dependence on anonymous annual donors and fortuitous leasing opportunities to remain solvent suspect that without major changes in how we operate, our days may be numbered. But, unfortunately, change, either as an individual or as a group, always involves some level of discomfort, so it is tempting to withdraw and just hope things will somehow "work out." Several of the issues related to change will be explored at the Board/Leadership Retreat to be held September Second (eve) and September Third (all day). Several church members are currently involved in another CHANGE issue. This effort was triggered by racial incidents acknowledged by the UUA Board to have occurred in Fort Worth, Texas, during the recent General Assembly, which reflect on UUA as an institution. This subject was explored in depth at an emotional First Forum on July 17 and subsequently at the July 21 meeting of our Board of Trustees, which voted unanimously to compose and send a letter over their names to national UUA leaders. (Several of us had already sent individual letters, which have been acknowledged by the Secretary of the UUA Board of Trustees with assurances that our concerns will be taken seriously.) Many of us believe that strengthening UUA's anti-racism commitment and translating this commitment into action is the most crucial issue facing our denomination today and will require significantly more insight and action than has occurred since the 1997 GA resolution committing us to become "anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and multi-cultural" A copy of the Board's letter will be sent to the entire membership and everyone is encouraged to provide their own input. Please contact me for more details and copies of existing correspondence. AUGUST MISCELLANY
[The following letter was sent to a number of UU members and referred to in discussions at the July 17 First Forum and the July 21 Trustees Meeting (see President's column). Four church members are known to have sent responses. Ken Schug has created a file to collect al correspondence. Please contact him for more information and send him copies of any correspondence you send or receive.] An open letter to UU youth of color and UU people of color who attended Fort Worth General Assembly and the broader UU community. At General Assembly in Fort Worth , there were several incidents that reminded us that we have much work to do in our journey to becoming an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and multicultural association. We, the UUA Board of Trustees, want to express deep sadness and regret that these incidents took place. Some of these incidents involved apparently disrespectful and racist treatment of our youth by Fort Worth officials. We will respond appropriately to these incidents. When we visit a city, we expect that all members of our Unitarian Universalist community should be treated with respect and hospitality. For this and future General Assemblies, our presence might provide a "teachable moment" for us to work with our host cities on issues involving race and youth. But we have work do within our own community as well. We have been disturbed by reports of other unfortunate incidents during General Assembly within our own Unitarian Universalist family, in which some UU youth of color were made to feel that they were not welcome. There was an incident outside the hall during the closing ceremonies at the Fort Worth General Assembly. Based on the reports of witnesses, the incident involved several UU youth of color, a UU adult who questioned their right to be there, provoking an angry response from the youth, a UU minister who intervened in support of the adult, and another white youth who defended the youth of color and verbally attacked the minister, who responded in like fashion with similar inflammatory language. This was not the only incident. We have also heard that on several occasions in Fort Worth , white UUs assumed that UU youth of color were hotel service people and asked them to carry luggage or park cars. We are troubled that some UUs may have treated other UUs as if they did not belong among us. We can and must do better. Sadly, this was not the first General Assembly to have incidents like these. After one of those past incidents, the UUA Board of Trustees committed to provide safe space to process issues and concerns around oppression and racism and chaplains who could help facilitate reflection, discussion, and learning. However, we as a Board regret that we have not done enough to provide that safe space. We cannot control the actions of individuals, but we can create venues where we can all learn and grow as a community. We apologize for failing to provide those venues and commit to remedy this at future General Assemblies. As your UUA Board, we pledge to treat all these incidents as a wake-up call for our entire community. We understand that personal stories about individuals' experiences at Fort Worth General Assembly have been recorded and we commit to hear these stories and learn from them. Also, we will work with the General Assembly Planning Committee and other groups to ensure that General Assembly in St. Louis and all future General Assemblies are more welcoming to all members of our Unitarian Universalist family. In Faith, It is my great pleasure to offer a welcome to Danielle Gerrior, our new Director of Religious Education. Danielle is a recent graduate of Meadville/Lombard Theological School, and has, during the last few months, completed an informal internship, focused on Religious Education, under the supervision of Rev. Millie Rochester. Many in the congregation came to know Danielle during that time and we are delighted that she became interested in and accepted our new DRE position, which begins August 1. In this 30-hour-a-week position, Danielle will have responsibility for the Religious Education program of our children and youth. I will be taking responsibility in the areas of adult education, including our programming for young adults. Recognizing that religious learning and growing is a lifelong experience, Danielle and I will work closely together. Both of us will work with the RE Council, which pays attention to and supports religious education for all ages. Each of us will communicate with particular individuals, groups and task forces that offer specific RE programs. Recognizing that Religious Education happens through much of our church programming, we will reflect upon and support the RE dimensions of total church programming. Since we are in a time of transition, from a Minister of Religious Education to a Director of Religious Education, please ask Danielle or me any questions you may have about the structure and processes of our Religious Education program, or about how the work of a DRE differs from and is similar to the work of an MRE. And please offer us any suggestions you may have about RE in our congregational life. And whether or not you have any questions, please seek Danielle out, say hello, and give the warmest of welcomes to our new religious educator, Danielle Gerrior!
The Racial Justice Task Force will meet on Thursday, August 25, from 7:30 to 9 p.m., in the Resource Room in the RE wing of the church complex. If you are concerned about racial justice in our broader society we hope you will choose to come as we plan for what actions we will pursue in the new church year. As a couple of our members retired from activism earlier in 2005, and another moved out of state, we need some new task force activists to allow this task force to continue its work. Below is the new vision and mission statement for this task force, developed and adopted in the last church year, which could not be printed in the newsletter last spring due to lack of space. The Vision Statement We envision a society which is not color blind but color appreciative, which judges human beings by the content of their character, not the color of their skin or their cultural heritage, a society which treasures human diversity in the context of the "Beloved Community." The Mission Statement The Racial Justice Task Force of the Social Justice Council has three interconnected goals: To educate our congregation and the public at large, through forums, dramatizations, sermons, classes, etc., about the ways that (the concept of) "race" and (the behaviors of) "racism" affect our lives, both in this country and around the world, in the social, economic, political, and especially the criminal justice, realms of our lives; To carry out actions opposing racism in all its forms, including letter writing and bearing witness projects, that demonstrate the principles of multiracial unity and our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of all people as the only means of bringing racism to an end; To invite people to join us, both in and out of the church, in building the work of the Task Force to eliminate all forms of racial intolerance and to increase historical awareness of the ongoing struggle against racism
First Unitarian's Great Books Discussion Group will hold a planning meeting for the new church year on Sunday August 14 at 11:30 a.m. after services. The meeting, to be held in the Religious Education Resource Room, will provide a good opportunity for those who would like to find out more about the group, which will be starting a new series of books and readings. Call Gloria Gnatz or Kennie James for further information.
For nearly a year I have been wondering when our Equal Exchange coffee supplier would catch up with the rest of the world and increase the price of our coffee. With the shipment I just ordered the prices will rise and I am forced to raise the prices on all coffees by $.50 per package. At this time all other products will remain at the same reasonable level. If you haven't stopped by the coffee table recently you may be missing some of our newest items. Of course we now have three varieties of chocolate bars which a number of our congregants swear are addictive! There are several new coffee varieties: Columbian drip and whole bean, Cafe Nica drip and whole bean, and Ethiopian drip and whole bean. Eve Emschwiller (our resident anthropological biologist) reminds me that Ethiopia is where coffee originated, so in one sense we are returning to our roots by selling this variety. By purchasing our Fair Trade Equal Exchange coffee you are supporting our church and the farmers who have formed the cooperatives which are part of the Fair Trade movement. If you would like more information about Fair Trade or about any of our delicious coffees, teas and hot or bar chocolates stop by the coffee table at social hour. If you would like to take a turn at the coffee table, please give me a call. And watch for a tasting at the beginning of October RETREAT! RETREAT! RETREAT! September 2nd & 3rd These gatherings of Board Members and other church leaders would better be named ADVANCES than RETREATS since they are intended to give us an opportunity to get better acquainted, share our visions of the future of our beloved community, and make plans to achieve those visions. All Board Members and Group Chairs (present, past, or future!) are invited to attend a Friday evening (Sept 2) warm-up and a Saturday morning (Sept 3) "nuts and bolts" discussion moderated by Shirley Lundin (lun-deen), who also served as facilitator last year. The meeting will be held at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, 5733 S. University . Mark you Calendars -or else!!
Our heartfelt compassion, love and strength of spirit go out to Denyse Harris at this particular difficult time in her life's journey. Denyse's father Clarence Greenwood of Chicago died following a short illness. On Thursday, July 21, Ms. Doris Brackins, Denyse's mother, died in Los Angles, CA. In lieu of flowers the First Unitarian Church has sent Denyse a monetary gift. Messages can be sent to: Denyse Harris, 9720 S. Kedzie Avenue, Evergreen Park, Ill. 60805. Our best wishes to a speedy recovery to Jim Moir, husband of Robin Moir (of Meadville Lombard). Congratulations to Rev. Jim Hobart on his appointment as Interim District Consultant of the Central Midwest District/UUA Congratulations to Melissa Harris Lacewell in receiving a Doctor of Humane Letters/Honoris Causa from Meadville Lombard at the June 2005 graduation ceremonies. Our congratulations go out to Alan Porterfield (son of John Porterfield) and Rebecca Smith on their engagement and impending marriage here at First Unitarian. Best wishes to Sarah Snow (daughter of Rosemary and Richard Snow) on her candidacy for City Council, Detroit, Michigan. You can visit her website at snow4council.net. A fond farewell and best wishes go with Rev. Millie and Roger Rochester as they begin a new chapter in their lives in Florida. The Lay Pastoral Care Associates and the congregation have said fond farewell and best wishes to Susan Grubb and Bob Davidow as they begin new chapters in their lives closer to grandchildren in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Best wishes to Eleanor Pederson on her move to Montgomery Place among friends and new acquaintances. Continued best wishes for a full recovery to Win Kennedy and maybe we should all join him in rehab. Our love and spiritual meditations continue to go out to Vi Stark. Vi is now on the Third Floor at Montgomery Place. Clyde Hedges, the brother of Carrie Hedges, has published his first collection of short stories, Twelve Tingly Tales, under the pen name Craig Hoskins. One of the short stories, "Noises," is based on an incident that happened when the Hedges family was living in a haunted Indiana farm house in the early 1950s. The book is available at www.darkrealmpress.com or at www.amazon.com. See you all in September at the Water Service.
The office received a request from Larry Ross of the Eliot Chapel UU
church in Kirkwood MO, for a room from September to December, 2005,
for his son Devin. Devin is a student at Antioch College and will be
in Chicago for an internship. For contact information, call Rick Brown
at the office. Social Justice Council Report The Social Justice Council will meet on Thursday August 11, at 7:15 pm. We will discuss ongoing work and concerns, and also make plans for the coming year. All are invited. Old-timers and new-comers are welcome. If you think you might be interested but don't want to get stuck, don't worry, come anyway! This is my first report as Chairperson of the SJC. My feet are barely wet and all I can say is that it's a lot different from being chair of a task force. It's somewhat intimidating, but I remind myself that it's not about me, it's about us. From conversations over the years, I know of the deep commitment of First-U's to social justice, many doing work for years that nobody even knows about. So I say to myself, this can be an interesting year. And hopefully also productive and delightful. Our social justice project for the year is to support the Midwest Workers Association. There are a lot of ways that we can participate in their work. Here are some examples.
This is an all-church project, but our members will often be doing the work one at a time, or in small groupings. So in order for it to be a project of our church as a community, not just random efforts of individuals, I hope you will let us know what you did, how it went, etc. (Yes that means you will let your light shine, even though many of us are disinclined to do so.) For example, I heard that Stephen Stern had given a know-your-law workshop at MWA headquarters, so I tracked him down and asked him what he did. Here is Stephen's report: "On June 18th I gave a presentation on what steps people can take to try to get relief when they believe they are victims of Employment Discrimination. The presentation was from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at the Midwest Workers Association's Offices located at 5152 S. Halsted Street in Chicago. Around 15 people attended this presentation and some materials were made available to give to persons there and who might come later. I was informed by Brandon McDonald that the staff and community persons who attended found the information conveyed to be very useful in understanding what to do when they face employment discrimination." Also several of our First-U's were involved in the clothes-collection. I asked Alex Wolf how it went. He said it was hard work but an enjoyable couple of hours. Here is his report: "...We first met at MWA's headquarters on Halsted where we were briefed about the drive. After our forces were assembled, we drove to the GSB [Graduate School of Business] building on 58th and Woodlawn. There we discovered that generous members of the community had donated two small rooms' worth of clothes. Ten to twelve of us worked together to load up the vehicles. The clothes were taken back to the MWA headquarters. (I don't know what happened after that. I wasn't able to go back to MWA.)" In addition to this project, voted on in the spring, we were reminded in late June that the struggle against prejudice and racism continues to be a priority. At General Assembly in Fort Worth, racial incidents occurred out in the city and, what is more heart-breaking, amongst the Unitarian Universalists at the convention itself. First-U's who attended our First Forum on July 17 heard Zarinah Ali's report of those events and were appalled. Many elders responded by rising to speak with dismay and outrage. Because of our experience with striving toward multiracial unity, our church can and should be key in outrage against those events and in assessing, reworking, and revitalizing our denominational anti-racism programs. A letter of protest is to be drafted by our Board of Trustees, to be followed later by a document outlining a plan of action. Stay tuned.
At the July 24 First Forum, with Ellie Hall as facilitator, nine church members started a discussion of how we can "market ourselves to the larger world." After agreeing somewhat reluctantly to accept the term "marketing" (in its most positive sense, of course) we engaged in an unstructured discussion of how to reach, attract, and retain new members to First Church. An attempt at a summary is provided here. REACH
ATTRACT
RETAIN
Looking for a Few Good Pianos The pianos currently in the church are reaching the point where they are no longer repairable. The church doesn't have the budget to purchase new pianos, but maybe you can help. Perhaps Aunt Tillie left her baby grand piano to you. You always wanted to get back to piano lessons but it hasn't happened yet and that piano takes up half your living room. Consider donating your piano to the church. The church will pay moving expenses and, if you request, place a small donation placard on the piano. You may be able to take a charitable deduction for your contribution (consult your attorney or tax advisor) and you get the satisfaction of hearing the piano in our church. Now to the specifics. We are looking for a grand piano for the sanctuary, a baby grand piano for the choir room, and a consul piano for Hull Chapel. Michael Thorn, our Director of Music, reserves the right to evaluate the piano first to determine if it will fit our needs. If you have a piano that you think may be suitable for the church, please call Michael and arrange for him to come look at it. Environmental Task Force The Environmental Task Force has not met since the last newsletter. However on the July 3 Church Workday Ellie Hall, Ellen LaRue, Patti Stark, and Irene Vitullo worked all morning in the wildflower garden as well as helping with the watering of the garden by the front steps. And we had a heck of a good time doing it. 9-11 Task Force The first meeting will be on August 7 and 6:30 pm. The discussion will be about How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, by Walter Rodney, Chapter 4. We will also spend some time discussing current events. Tales from GA2005 - II (CSW-AIW) CSW-AIW is part of an alphabet soup of acronyms within our Unitarian Universalist community. This one is part of the Social Justice Business Process, specifically the Committee on Social Witness (CSW) which at each General Assembly (GA) presents several Actions of Immediate Witness (AIW) statements for delegate consideration. AIW's are truly grass roots efforts, proposed and promoted by various coalitions of UU members; at each GA up to 6 AIW's can be endorsed by the delegates, a 2/3 vote being required. [More details on the process at www.uua.org/csw, and on the history of social witness actions since 1960 at www.uua.org/actions] This year eight AIWs were proposed so a preliminary run-off vote was held to reduce the number to six. During deliberations, pro and con speakers alternated for a total of 12 minutes prior to voting. The six "finalists" were: (1) U. S.-Sponsored Torture Must End; (2) Support of the United Farm Workers' boycott of Gallo Wines; (3) Our Defining Moment: Millennium Development Goal One [ending extreme poverty; (4) End Crimes Against Humanity in Darfur, Sudan; (5) Defending Freedom of the Airwaves; and (6) A Call for Support and a Fair Trial for Dr. Sami-AL Arian. This should give you a flavor of the variety of issues which are of concern to fellow UUers; as I recall, most (perhaps all) of these concerns received the 2/3 vote needed for endorsement so could be used by individuals, groups, or congregations to bolster local efforts. The Green Sanctuary Experience from Multiple Perspectives Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice will hold their Summer Quarter Meeting on Sunday, August 21, at the DuPage Unitarian Church, 4S535 Old Naperville Rd., Naperville, IL. The program, from 2 to 3 p.m., will feature a panel of representatives from several churches that have become certified Green Sanctuaries or are going through the process. They will share what their congregations are like, how they handled the process of becoming a Green Sanctuary, what were some of the obstacles and joys in their experience, and if they have become certified Green Sanctuaries, how are they maintaining their enthusiasm and momentum. The UUSJ quarterly Board of Directors meeting will follow, from 3 to 5 p.m., and is open to all. For further information you may write uusj@att.net or leave a message in the UUSJ box at 773-643-8061. Chicago Children's Choir The Red Jacket Optional is the major annual benefit event for the Chicago Children's Choir. We can demonstrate the continual support of the First Unitarian Society for the Choir if we go in together on a "First Unitarian Society" table. If you are already planning on going to Red Jacket Optional, please co-ordinate your reservation through Carrie Hedges, the Church representative on the Chicago Children's Choir Board. If you already make a substantial donation to the Choir, why not make it toward the Red Jacket Optional and enjoy a lovely evening with fellow Church supporters of the Choir? If you have put off making a donation to the Choir or attending Red Jacket Optional, why not do it this year? The Red Jacket Optional will be held on Monday, October 24, 2005, at the Chicago Cultural Center. A cocktail reception begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner and award presentation. The concert will feature the internationally-acclaimed Concert Choir of the Chicago Children's Choir. An ensemble table costs $3,000, that is, $300 per person. If we co-ordinate this as a group, rather than purchasing ticket individually, we will be listed in the program as the "First Unitarian Society."
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