November, 2005
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Elsewhere you can find: Religious Education Report By Danielle Gerrior Have you ever wondered where the children and teachers go when they leave to the tune of "Go Now in Peace" on Sunday mornings? If you've been a student or teacher in the religious education program, you are probably quite familiar with the classrooms, and you can imagine what a typical class meeting is like. But I know that there are others of you for whom children's religious education is like a foreign land. You've heard stories about it, but you've yet to venture there yourself. Maybe, in your imagination, not much goes on in Sunday school - or maybe it seems like everything does! Maybe the thought of all the art projects and singing and Big Questions being asked seems overwhelming. Or just maybe you are afraid to get too close, for fear of being asked to join the RE Council, or teach a class yourself! I know I have thought all of these things from time to time. What really happens in our classrooms every Sunday is pretty amazing - and pretty simple. The children and teachers leave the worship service to do the same thing as the rest of the congregation is doing - just in a different way. In worship, people come together to hear stories that help them to make sense of the world and to encourage them to be more loving, to experience community in a meaningful way, to reiterate the importance of commonly held truths, and to understand our own suffering and the suffering of others. The topic changes week to week, and though we might find a particular subject fascinating and helpful, mostly the benefits we receive from worship come from the repeated messages and rituals we hear and enact year after year. The same is true of children's religious education. Our children learn about important things - Unitarian Universalist history, world religions, social justice - and almost in the meantime, the most important education is happening: the education of the heart. There are lots of big and small ways to reach out in friendship to the children of our community. A big one, of course, is to teach a class. A small one is to walk down Pennington Center's main hallway and check out the bulletin board that lists what each class is up to that week. Then, during social hour, you might ask a middle schooler, say, what she is learning about the democratic process, or a third grader what he thinks about his visit to the crypt. I hope that we can all find ways big and small to support the spiritual growth of each person in this wonderful religious community.
Do You Want to Learn More About UUism and Our Church? Are You Thinking About Joining the Church? Orientations for visitors, newcomers, and those interested in joining the church will be held on Sunday, November 6 and Sunday, November 13, 2005, at 11:45, in the VOV Gallery. These are opportunities to learn more about Unitarian Universalism and our church, and inquire about membership. Rev. Nina Grey and members of the Membership Committee will lead the orientations. Refreshments will be provided. An Ingathering Ceremony for new members will take place during the service on Sunday, November 20, 2005.
Continuing warmest wishes to Herga Taylor, mother of Grace Williams. Congratulations to Madeiria Myrieckes, who preached at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bowling Green, Kentucky, on October 30. We hold Polly McCoo and her son, Paul, in our thoughts and in our hearts. We also hold Rev. David Arksey's father, Randall Arksey, and Pat MacClarence's parents, Mac and Tony, in our hearts. Continuing warmest wishes to Vivian Burns, recovering after a hospitalization. Meadville/Lombard students E. Scott Michael and Jim Moir both received the "green light" from the Midwest Regional Subcommittee on Candidacy of the Unitarian Universalist Association. This is an important step on their path to ministry. Congratulations, Scott and Jim! We wish a fond farewell to Denyse Harris, our part-time office assistant, and want to express our gratitude for her staying with us through a lengthy process in which we searched for a full-time office assistant. Denyse had said she regretfully could not continue with us on a full-time basis, as she already has a full-time job. Our admiration to Erica Kees who, after wowing the audience with her cabaret singing at Jazz at the First, ran the next day in the Chicago Marathon, and finished! Congratulations also to Colleen Grogan, who finished the Marathon.
Join with us for our annual celebration for the remembrance of Thanksgiving, based on and set in the format of the Jewish Seder. A traditional meal is served, while we read the script together. This is an important family celebration and we look forward each year to this formal dinner celebration. Cost:
You can sign up on Sundays, after church. See Polly McCoo.
Diana Eck, scholar of world religions, says America is the most religiously pluralistic nation in the world. In many neighborhoods, you may live next door to someone of one of many different faiths. Religions can be sources of or exacerbate conflict in the world but they also can be profound wells of comfort, challenge and inspiration. Do you want to learn more about the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and other of the world's religions? Understanding the World's Religions, a nine-session UU course written by Rev. Gary Kowalski began in October, and will meet once monthly throughout the year. It is still possible to join this class. The course is based on Huston Smith's The World Religions, and will also draw from other source material for additional depth. It is led by Rev. Nina Grey. The second session will be on November 13, from 7 to 9 p.m. and with the exception of May, when the class meets on the third Sunday, all other sessions will also be on the second Sunday. To express interest, or for more information, contact Rev. Nina or
see the registration form in the Adult Religious Education brochure. Worship and Music News By Joan Staples The Worship and Music Committee, Rev. Nina Grey, and Music Director Michael Thorn are exploring worship, music in worship, and the relationship between the congregation and worship in our church. We are sponsoring a series of conversations on these subjects, starting with a First Forum on Sunday, December 11 (“Choir Sunday”). This will be an opportunity to reflect on worship together, and offer helpful feedback and suggestions for future worship themes. Please join us for this important discussion.
At its meeting of Oct. 20, 2005, the Board of Trustees requested the Finance Committee, plus Pat MacClarence (as executor of the estate) to present a recommendation to the Board regarding the disposition of the bequest of Violet Stark, who left her apartment and its contents to the church. This recommendation will be considered no later than the December Board meeting. The Investment Committee will also be presenting a recommendation to the Board concerning the bequest.
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, an independent not-for-profit corporation, which is the social justice affiliate of the Chicago Area Unitarian Universalist Council, will hold its annual meeting on Sunday, November 20, from 2 to 5 p.m., at the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale, 17 W. Maple St., Hinsdale, IL. The program for the meeting, from roughly 2 to 3 p.m., is a workshop entitled "The Absurdity of Corporate Personhood." The organization's annual business meeting will follow, from roughly 3 to 5 p.m. It will include a discussion with our district's new Social Justice staff person, planning new UUSJ initiatives, and more. For further information, or driving directions to the site of this meeting, you may e-mail uusj@att.net.
If you wish to receive your newsletter by email, notify the editor at tomhuyck@yahoo.com. It comes as a PDF file which can be read and printed out using the Adobe Reader program. The program can be downloaded free at www.adobe.com.
By Finley Campbell The Racial Justice Task Force met on Thursday, September 22nd. We had three items: a discussion about how we could aid the Sea Scouts with their plans to have a pancake/omelet brunch at the church; a reading of the finalizing draft of a letter for WBEZ requesting equal time to refute the notion that after a disaster it would be mandatory to separate people by race and class; and the need to have a fuller discussion of the issue of neo-racism. Present were Kennie James, Joanne Kent, Richard Snow and me. Our October 27th RJT meeting will deal with the neo-racist implications of the decline of affordable housing in Hyde Park, a proposal to support a community activist group in New Orleans which is fighting for the right of return, and a need to respond to the return of the Cosbyite position on crime and education, as being espoused by writers in the Sun Times and the Tribune.
By Joe Cherry The first thing I want to do is reassure you. Radical Hospitality is not an extreme sport, and no knee or elbow pads are required or even suggested. It is simply an invigorated approach to some things that we are already doing. In much of history, hospitality has been of the highest importance. One of Zeus's titles was Xenios, the patron of hospitality and guests, ready to avenge any wrong done to a stranger. In Islamic tradition, any person who appears at mealtime must be invited to share in the meal. Even deep within my own ancestry, the Aztecs held grand celebrations to honor their visitors. So, why all the fuss about being hospitable? Think back to when you first walked through the doors of our church. The interior probably seemed vast, and you didn't know where social hour was, if you even knew we had a social hour. If you had kids in tow, you probably wondered about the Sunday School Program. How long did it take you to find out what you wanted to know about us? Part of the idea behind this Radical Hospitality is that we can abbreviate that time for newcomers. Time and again experts say that connectivity is one of the key aspects of getting new members to return to a congregation. Connectivity does not mean immediately finding a committee for them to join. We have a lot to offer the people who come through our doors as visitors. Radical Hospitality can help us show them that in a friendly, caring way. We can integrate this into the life of our congregation. With small steps and slight changes we can make this happen, and in so doing potentially enrich not just the lives of our visitors, but our lives as a congregation. The Board of Trustees has chosen membership as a point of focus this year. The chance to be a part of this welcoming process is not limited to those on the Membership Committee, or the Board. This opportunity is open to all of us. The part you play can be as simple as a warm handshake and a genuine greeting of goodwill, or as large as… well, why limit ourselves.
By Tom Huyck A lively discussion of gentrification in Hyde Park and surrounding communities took place at the First Forum on Sunday, October 23. Leading the discussion was Winston Kennedy, prominent Hyde Park realtor, long-time Hyde Park resident, and long-time member of our church. Kennedy noted that the last census showed that in the zip code areas 60615 and 60637, sixty-six percent of the households have an income of less than $40,000 per year. Doing the math, he demonstrated that these families cannot afford to buy housing in Hyde Park, where the typical sale is for $200,000. Rents are also going up, in part because of a decreasing supply of rental housing due to condo conversions. Affordable rental housing is shrinking because landlords are not renewing the Section 8 status of their buildings. Kennedy observed that many people who live in Hyde Park could not afford now to buy the homes they live in. What was said at the time of the Hyde Park Urban Renewal Plan 50 years ago, has come true: it’s “whites and blacks against the poor.” Audience members observed that the gentrification process is happening all over the city, that even middle-income people are being squeezed, and that Hyde Park may soon become “Lincoln Park South.” Others pointed out the stress of families displaced by the tearing down of the CHA high-rise developments. It was asked whether the CHA “mixed income” developments being built to replace the high-rises offered one solution. Kennedy stated that the “verdict is still out” on whether the new development north of 47th Street will succeed. Several audience members urged that we support Alderman Preckwinkle in her campaign to increase the affordable housing requirement for new developments by ordinance, and also her use of her Aldermanic clout to force more affordable housing in developments such as the one planned for the NW corner of 53rd and Cornell. Other suggestions were: a survey of the housing stock; investigation of using non-profit development corporations to take advantage of available government funding (such as was done by All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington D.C.); limited-equity coops; rent control; and finding ways to increase the supply of housing. Finley Campbell undertook to continue the discussion at the next meeting of the Racial Justice Task Force.
By Ellen LaRue The Social Justice Council met on October 13. At that meeting, Vreni Naess of the Lisa Fittko Internship Committee came to tell the story of Lisa Fittko, an anti-fascist activist in Europe before WWII, and after her escape and until her death a social justice activist in Chicago. The Internship Committee, a group of Lisa Fittko's friends, is organizing a benefit to raise funds for a social justice internship for a young person at Crossroads Fund. In her letter introducing the idea of the benefit, Vreni said, "First Unitarian Church was chosen for the beauty and convenience of its space and its congregation's openness to all." The benefit will be Saturday, Dec. 10, 3-5 PM, in our sanctuary. The SJC will co-sponsor the event. Joanne Kent will be the liaison with the Lisa Fittko Internship Committee. Carolyn Baker came to the meeting to relate several conversations she had had with people in Hyde Park with serious problems getting enough to eat. She said she could give them some money but had no information for them about a dependable source of food. Allan Lindrup was able to give information about the Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council's Soup Kitchen (M-F at lunchtime at Kenwood UCC, 4608 S. Greenwood) and the Interfaith Council's Food Pantry (Sat. 10AM-1PM at Hyde Park Union Church, 5600 S. Woodlawn). Allan also showed us a UUSJ flier "If You or Someone You Know Needs Help (Chicago)". Copies of this are in the church office. Carolyn is going to take the information and condense it into a small easy-to-carry size for dissemination. When you think about it, to be able to get a lunch five days a week is a drop in the bucket for a person with no food, and yet it is a tremendous effort for those who provide it. Both the Soup Kitchen and the Food Pantry need donations of food, money and time. Allan told us that Nancy Harlan volunteers at the Soup Kitchen, and that he, Marge Saphir, and Paulette Dodson and her children, Alex and Julius, volunteer at the Food Pantry. At the entryway of our church is a bin to receive donations of non-perishable food items for the Food Pantry. At the SJC table on Sunday's we have contact information for volunteering. The proceeds of the collection taken at the Thanksgiving community worship service at Rockefeller Chapel go to the Interfaith Council's hunger programs. The 9/11 Study-Action Group recommended a special collection for the UUSC-UUA South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund. The SJC endorsed the collection, set for November 6, and expanded it to include the Guatemala relief effort. The Midwest Workers Association will have a Halloween party on Oct. 31 at St. Thomas Apostle Church. First Unitarian has been asked to contribute hot dog buns, potato chips and candy, as well as help in finding game leaders and a magician. On Nov. 20, the First Forum topic will be the Draft Statement of Conscience on Global Warming, adopted at General Assembly (GA) this summer. Congregations are asked to comment on the draft, with deletions, additions and modifications, so that changes can be incorporated to produce a final Statement of Conscience (SOC) to be voted on at the 2006 GA. The SOC will state the position of our denomination on global warming. The draft will be available at the SJC table during social hour. The next meeting of the Social Justice Council is November 10, at 7:15 p.m. All are welcome.
By Finley Campbell The Nature of Racism course kicked off on October 9th, co-sponsored also by Adult RE and the Charlotte Lackner Anti-Racism Committee. Three key points were made: the idea of an all-white Europe was debunked; the idea that racism existed from time immemorial was also debunked; and finally, the idea that there was no opposition to the brutal, religio-racialist oppression of Native American people in Mexico and Central America was shown to be false. While the racism was not fully developed as it was to be later, it was shaped by religious factors which combined both religion/racial elements to account for the persecution of Moors and Jews who had converted to Christianity and the genocidal warfare against Native peoples during the first wave of the Spanish conquest. Our next discussion will be on November 13th and will look at the rise of a more authentic racism, but based on the so-called uncivilized nature of Africans and Indians, rather than religious grounds and the rise of an anti-racist movement which made "civilizing" Africans and Native Americans its main ideological and practical tenet.
We need some help in planning, organizing and selling at our Fair Trade Holiday Fair. The Fair itself will be on Saturday Dec. 3, from 10:00 - 4:00, and on Sunday, Dec. 4, from 12:00 to 2:00. Would you like to help choose the items we will sell (it is kind of like shopping without a bill at the end!)? How about being in on the display decisions? And we certainly need sales people, even for a couple of hours. We have decided to change our Holiday Fair to one which will benefit many craftspeople in Central and South America, Africa, India and Asia. All of the goods we will offer will come from Fair Trade cooperatives, which have an enormous impact on the lives of the artisans who create the wonderful artwork. We will make some money for the church as well, with this approach. We are not asking our own church members to make items to sell this year, though we will still have a bakery table which we do need stocked. But we hope you can spare a few hours to help make this a successful event. Please contact Cindy Pardo at pardoquilts3@comcast.net to volunteer.
By Finley Campbell, Acting Chair There was an update on the proposal that we have a church program featuring African American writers from the Chicago area, specifically Erin Mitchell, Elaine North, and Elaine Mack. I had met with Erin Mitchell and Elaine North, and they were agreeable to do the readings and have their works available for sale. In light of the incident at UUAGA last summer, it has become important that First U signal publicly its commitment to multiracial unity, so Bobbi Lammers Campbell brought up the need to have our CLARC banner finished and be made available to be hung up outside the church. Cindy Pardo is hoping to complete the banner in the near future.
By Finley Campbell I took part in the great anti-war march held September 24th. Lowest estimates of attendance on September 24th was 150,000, highest estimate 300,000. And, unlike the January turnout, there were more mainstream US Americans present, so it seemed to me, and definitely more minorities, especially black. It started with a breakfast rally hosted by ATU Local 648 in Washington, DC. We then took public transportation to the march site. I broke away from that group in order immerse myself in the mass feeling of such an event. Banners, chants, the multitudinous variety of people, street theater, including running into Harry Belafonte, Rev. A. S. Sharpton, Cornel West, and Julian Bond, and, my brother, Russell; but mainly meeting the broad range of opposition to the US/Iraqi war. And among the chanting and the posters, I added my small voice, plus distributed nearly all of the 120 leaflets which I brought to pass out to the gathered throng. Later, we had a rally and concert at the Washington Monument area: Jim Hightower gave a rip-roaring speech about the need to get rid of the Bush regime and Cindy Sheehan rejected the justification of the war which stated that since so many brave men and women had died already, we should continue to get more brave men and women killed. The high point of the rally for me was when Cindy was presented with a sacred quilt by members of one of the most victimized Native American "nations" in US America, the Lakota Indians (Also called the Lakota Sioux). To me it was like a reconciliation and a symbol of the multiracial unity we would need to end the war and change the system. That event brought me to tears. After that, my brother (who had joined me) and I left to enjoy the rest of Washington, DC.
By Allan Lindrup The UU Service Committee was the leading organization in an interfaith effort, held in Washington D.C. September 24-26, to educate more individuals about torture either carried out, sponsored or condoned by U.S. personnel and to orchestrate lobbying on Capital Hill to advance legislation to halt such torture. In part this can be considered as a follow up action to the Action of Immediate Witness passed at this year's General Assembly that called for an end to U.S. sponsored torture. The Saturday workshops that I attended, which drew over 200, included testimony from individuals who had survived torture in Latin America, particularly in Central America, where those conducting the torture would be periodically visited and apparently given guidance by men with American accents. Many of the tactics were similar to those we have read about from places such as Abu Ghraib or were ones that had been taught at what was formerly called the U.S. School of the Americas. There was also written testimony from individuals who had suffered at Abu Ghraib and the testimony of relatives of those who had died in connection with their torture. Many of us took a few hours out from the series of workshops, documentary showings, etc., to participate in the major rally and demonstration of over 100,000 that went past the White House among other locales, calling for the U.S. to develop and follow a plan for a rapid withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq. In response to such calls, Secretary of State Rice has said that the U.S. military may need to be in Iraq for another 10 years. On Sunday I and many of the other U.U.s at the conference attended the Sunday morning Worship Service at All Souls Unitarian Church, which was inspiring, with an excellent sermon on the history of violence used to advance the Christian faith. That afternoon more than 500 were in attendance for the formal mock trial, in a hotel conference room near Capital Hill, of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, and former CIA Director George Tenet. Real-life attorneys presented the arguements for the prosecution and the defense, using U.S. and international law, with actors standing in for the defendents, responding to questionning as the defendents could be expected to respond in court, with testimony from individuals who had survived torture, from others who stood in for torture survivors who could not be present, who presented their written testimony, plus from expert witnesses such as retired U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright. On Monday morning teams who had attended the conference met with staff members of U.S. Senators and Representatives, thanking them for co-sponsoring various legislation and amendments to curtail U.S. sponsored torture, where that was of record, and encouraging co-sponsorship of specific other anti-torture legislation. Of the roughly 16 anti-torture lobbyists from Illinois, I was part of a team of a dozen, including one survivor of torture, who had a joint meeting of about one hour in length with Kevin O'Reilly of Senator Durbin's staff and Mark Lippert of Senator Obama's staff. Members of our Illinois team then had appointments with appropriate staff of nine of our Illinois Congressmen, either later on Monday, or Tuesday morning, to lobby their own Representative on behalf of anti-torture legislation. I and Sharon Hunter-Smith, a member of University Church, lobbied John Marshall, who has the lead on foreign affairs issues in Congressman Bobby Rush's office.
First Unitarian's Great Books Group will be discussing "Gwen" and "Somwhere, Belgium," two of the interconnected stories in Jessica Kincaid's first novel, Annie John. Kincaid was born in Antigua in the West Indies. At age 16 she left to study in the United States and work as a journalist. Our group will meet after church on Nov. 20 in the Religious Education Resource Room from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For further information contact Gloria Gnatz or Kennie James.
We are pleased to announce that Edward Scott Michael has begun a Field Education year at First Unitarian Church of Chicago. Field Education is one important step in the formation of a minister. Scott's learning goals, shaped in consultation with his field education supervisor, Rev. Nina Grey, include growth in various areas including: facilitation as a leadership style, pastoral ministry and worship. The primary context of Scott's learning will be through his leadership of the Young Adults and Campus Ministry. In addition, he will begin a relationship with Montgomery Place, and have opportunities for leadership in worship in our congregation. Scott is a second year student at Meadville Lombard Theological School, where he is Volunteer Coordinator and the chair of the Undoing Racism Committee. Born in 1962, Scott is a native of Havre de Grace, Maryland, where the mighty Susquehanna River flows into the Chesapeake Bay. He is the oldest of five, and his parents still live near Havre de Grace. In the 1980's, Scott was a founding member of the Progressive Student Organization (PSO) at Harford Community College. He also helped found the Harford County Chapter of the Nuclear Freeze Campaign. Scott was very active in community building and social justice when he lived in Baltimore's Union Square neighborhood. He is also a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, local #24 (Baltimore). He has been a Unitarian Universalist since 1999. His first church home was the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Harford County, in Churchville, Maryland, where he worked under the direction of Reverend Lisa Ward. He has preached at several churches in the Mid-Atlantic as well as in the Chicago area. This summer, he was the Young Adult Worship Coordinator at the UUA's General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas. Scott attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where he graduated with honors with a BA in English. He also earned a Masters of Liberal Arts from St. John's College, Annapolis. Scott taught sixth-grade English for Baltimore City Public Schools. He also taught for ten years at Coppin University, an historically black college in Baltimore City's west-side There he taught English (mostly), Drama and Philosophy as an adjunct faculty member. He has played drums for 33 years.
A special preview reception of the exhibition, "Timuel D. Black, Jr.: Seven Decades in the Struggle for Human Rights" will be held at the Woodson Regional Library on Friday, Nov. 11. Mr. Black is a long-time member of First Unitarian Church. In keeping with his devotion to civic responsibility, Mr. Black has donated a vast selection of his personal photographs, correspondence, speeches, audiovisuals, clippings, programs, and memorabilia to the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature at the Woodson Regional Library. The exhibition, opening to the public on Nov.13, 2005, and running through July 31, 2006, will feature over 125 rare and unique items, including photographs, correspondence and awards. On Friday, November 11 from 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., the Vivian G. Harsh Society will host an opening preview reception at the Woodson Regional Library at 9525 S. Halsted St. Tickets for the reception are available to the public for $50.00. For more information, e-mail viviangharsh@viviangharshsocietyinc.com. - 1909 W. 95th St., Chicago, IL 60643. In honor of Professor Black, a commemorative book will be presented to celebrate and recognize his lifetime of achievement as a prominent human rights activist.
The Adult Religious Education Committee will meet on Wednesday, November 9, at 7:30 p.m. to plan for the next steps in the Chalice Circle program, including review of last year's program, and recruitment and training of new facilitators. Those interested in participating in the 2005-2006 Chalice Circle program of Small Group Ministry are invited to contact Rev. Nina D. Grey. The Committee will also discuss distribution of the newly published brochure of Adult Programming offerings and begin planning for new spring classes. If you are interested in Adult Religious Education, see the new yellow brochure in the brochure rack in Pennington Center and at the Visitor's Table during Social Hour after church.
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