January, 2006
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Elsewhere you can find: Religious Education News By Danielle Gerrior R.E. Reflections A few months ago I saw an episode of Scientific American Frontiers. This particular episode was exploring what we know about how people learn culture. Culture itself has long been believed to be uniquely human, but scientists have recently discovered other primates who seem to have traditions and local practices - essentially, culture. This was exemplified on the program by the study of chimps who live in areas where there are many termite mounds. Some groups have devised a way to eat the termites, by finding long sticks and poking them into one of the many tiny holes of the huge mud mounds. This is not instinctive behavior - it’s not even survival behavior - the termites are more like a snack than a meal - and other groups of chimps seem totally unaware that there is anything tasty inside termite mounds. This was fascinating to me, but even more fascinating was when the scientists at one point remarked that this termite trick isn’t taught at all - young chimps are just around when the adults are eating, and when they get old enough, they just try it out until they get the hang of it. Wait a minute!” I said to myself. “What do they mean this behavior isn’t taught? Who says teaching is limited to instruction?” Most of what the young learn about the world comes from observing and mimicking the adults in their lives. Studies have shown that a child seeing a parent read for his or her own enjoyment makes more of an impact on that child’s reading habits than when a parent reads stories to the child. As we live our lives, we are showing the young people around us what we believe about what adult life is like. This month, the religious education program steps out of its regular classroom schedule completely to focus on the Empty Bowls project. This is a tradition going back several years now that focuses the children and youth’s attention on the issue of hunger, and helps them improve the situation for hungry people here in Chicago. It has been happening long enough that it could be said to be a part of our culture at First Unitarian, but more important than this wonderful classroom experience is the fact that the adults of this congregation model commitment to social justice all year long. If you would like to help out with this project, please contact me. Whether or not you volunteer with the Sunday school program, I hope you will join us on the first Sunday in February when we’ll be selling the bowls we’ve painted in support of the interfaith council’s food pantry and sharing a soup lunch. New Year’s Day Outing for Teens January 1, 2006, the Teen Age group of the First Unitarian Church will be sponsoring a New Year’s Day outing to Navy Pier. Key events will include attending the 3-D movie, The Polar Express, being presented on super screen at the amazing Imax Theater. We will also be checking out the winter festival at the grand ballroom, riding the Ferris Wheel if it is running, going to the fun maze and taking the Virtual Reality trip through Chicago’s past, beginning with the dinosaur period, and, of course, the food court, shops, and other interesting attractions. Teenagers, 14 to 17 are invited. If we get an advance number, we will try to get group tickets. We will meet after church service on Sunday, January 1st, in the back of the sanctuary. Prior registration is required, so we can arrange transportation. So, call Zarinah Ali at 324-4100, via Rick Brown, for sign up. Or, after Dec. 30, call Finley C. Campbell. We want to be loaded up by 1 p.m, and finished by 6 p.m.
We send our deepest sympathy to Stephen Stern, Catherine Harth-Stern, Stephanie, Mitchell and Rita, on the death of Stephen's mother, Mary Ann (Agnes) Wilson. Mrs. Wilson died December 7, 2005 at the age of 79. She lived most of her adult life in Chicago, where she was a newspaper publisher, department store executive, and truant officer, and raised Stephen and nine other children. The funeral mass was at Holy Name of Mary Church on December 17, and burial was at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Our deepest sympathy to Rudi Poebel and daughter, Rika, on the recent death of Iola Ruth Poebel. Rudi and Iola were active members of the church some years ago until they moved. A Committal Service was held for family and friends in the crypt of the church on December 11, 2005. We continue to hold in our hearts Robin Moir, wife of Meadville/Lombard seminarian Jim Moir. And we also hold in our hearts Betty Holcomb and her mother; Pat MacClarence, her family, and Pat's mother; Grace Williams and her family, and Grace's mother, Herga Taylor. We are delighted to welcome home Melissa Harris-Lacewell.
The Membership Committee is looking for church members who would be willing to lead short orientation sessions on particular topics. Both prospective and current members would be invited. Sessions will be at 11:45 on Sunday mornings. The topics are:
If you are willing to lead sessions on any of these topics, please inform Rev. Nina or Bobbi Campbell.
By Bobbi Campbell In the introduction to The Almost Church, Michael Durall writes: "Unitarian Universalism is a movement that is desperately in need of a greater purpose. Despite its strengths, our faith tradition has been com promised by the attempt to be all things to all people, and to offend no one. In doing so, we have lost sight of the meaning of religion today. This book is intended to help reclaim the importance and the value of the Unitarian Universalist faith." The Board of Trustees has selected "membership" as a special focus this year because our church (both First Church and the denomination) will have a difficult time surviving and carrying out its mission without building its membership. Many of us who have read Durall's book believe that he offers valuable insights into why we are failing to grow. The Board and the Membership Committee hope to engage the entire congregation in the discussion of membership. At the same time as we in the Membership Committee try to improve our practices of greeting and keeping in touch with new members, we all need to try to understand WHY we are not growing. Therefore we have scheduled a series of discussions on The Almost Church. Three discussions will be held - January 22, 29, and February 5; they will be held concurrently with First Forum. Each session will have a slightly different focus: January 22 we will focus on stewardship - both of time and finances; January 29 we focus on new members - both expanding our membership and the expectations we have of members; and February 5 will focus on Unitarian theology - what do we know about it and how much should we emphasize it. Each discussion will be led by at least one member of the Board and one member of the Membership Committee. We will follow these three discussions by viewing "Breakthrough Congregations," an hour-long video based on presentations at last year's UUA General Assembly by congregations of different sizes that have experienced significant growth in the recent past. We will then discuss what we might learn from these congregations' experiences. This discussion is scheduled for Friday, February 10 from 6 to 9. Please bring a dish to pass if you would like to participate in the supper. Among the issues Durall challenges us to deal with are the following:
Please join us for at least one of the discussions. Durall's book is available for sale during Sunday social hour for $12.
The Adult Religious Education Program will sponsor a course, “Biblical Foundations of Social Justice," beginning at the church Wednesday, February 8, at 7:30 p.m. There will be ten sessions of the course, to be held the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. The course facilitator will be Rev. Viola Moore, and the readings will be from the Bible, starting with the Hebrew scriptures or Old Testament. According to Rev. Moore, "The course will focus on the 'justice passages' that have inspired and sustained various human and civil rights movements such as the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S." Our Annual Unity Party Saturday, January 21 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. "I remember my first Unity Party. It was a bitter cold wintry day but there was nothing but warmth at First Church's Unity Party. It affirmed my belief that this was the church for my family. My favorite moment was watching my shy daughter dance with one of our more senior members. In addition to dancing, there's eating courtesy of the potluck eats filled with heartwarming and delicious surprises. Of course there's the conversation in catching up with the friends you only have time to wave at (and maybe hug) on Sundays. So bundle up and come out to celebrate our Unity on Saturday, January 21, 2006, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m." – Paulette Dodson
The Michael Thorn Trio will present “Jazz for Friends and Lovers,” featuring great love songs by Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Duke Ellington, as well as others on Saturday, February 11, 2006, at 7:30 in the First Unitarian Church Sanctuary. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. Joining Michael on the piano will be Ben Willis, bass, and Rick Shandling, drums, both veterans on the Chicago jazz scene. A reception will follow the concert. Church members, friends, and their friends are invited to be sponsors or purchase ads for the Program Book. See Joan Staples or Rick Brown in the church office for order forms and further information. Flyers to distribute and tickets to purchase will be available after January 21. UU Marketing Workshop A workshop, “Marketing 101: Developing a Marketing Strategy for your Congregation,” will be held on Saturday, January 14, 2006, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale, 14 W. Maple St., in Hinsdale, IL. The workshop will be conducted by Valerie Holton, Marketing Outreach Consultant for the UUA, who was part of the design team for the outreach marketing campaigns conducted in 2005 with Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, San Diego and now San Francisco. According to Ms. Holton, “We’ll look at developing a strategic marketing plan, following a process to determine (1) which specific groups we want to reach, (2) what they want and need from a church, (3) what our congregation can offer to meet their needs, and (4) how to express a compelling message for our target audience and explore the most effective modes of communication. We’ll try low-cost marketing ideas that work, sharing ideas and exploring materials available through the UUA and other resources. We’ll develop strategies for viewing our congregations through the eyes of a visitor and assessing congregational readiness for visitors and new participants.” In the afternoon, Dan Ashley of the Chicagoland Marketing Initiative will lead his popular workshop, “How to do a postcard mailing in 3 easy steps,” focused on the UUA’s new postcard productions. The workshop is sponsored by the Chicagoland Marketing Initiative, a committee of the Chicago Area UU Council. Ellie Hall and Allan Lindrup of our congregation have been active on this committee. Cost of the workshop is $12. Send to CAUUC, 14 W. Maple St., Hinsdale IL 60521, or register by email at howshak@rcn.com.
by Finley Campbell On January 8th, beginning at about 1:30 p.m., the Racial Justice Task Force in cooperation with members and friends of First U will be presenting the 13th edition of this great event. The Pageant promises to be an outstanding production. In addition,
we will also be using this performance to dramatize the efforts of the
Racial Justice Task Force to have a resolution presented to the Illinois
Legislature proclaiming the first week in January as Emancipation Proclamation
Week, with “schools and other institutions in our state [being]
encouraged to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation and educate our
young people about its historical significance.” Great Books This month, First Unitarian's Great Books Group will discuss "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner. Our group will meet after church on January 15th in the Religious Education Resource Room from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For further information contact Gloria Gnatz at or Kennie James.
By Ellen LaRue The SJC met on December 8. Since the last newsletter, SJC members have volunteered to help with the Fair Trade Fair that Cindy Pardo organized, and the Lisa Fittko Internship Benefit. We also collected food and toys for the Midwest Workers Association holiday distribution. The December social justice First Forum featured Clovis Bordeaux speaking on "MWA: Mission and Methods". Since MWA is the Social Justice Council project for this year, a synopsis of the forum might be of interest. Clovis said MWA is an all-volunteer organizational drive of the lowest paid workers. What kind of work? Fast food, cashier, retail, day labor, child care, elder care, and janitorial. Seasonal temps, under-the-table, sometimes undocumented. In Chicago, and elsewhere, good-paying jobs in the auto industry, steel, stock yards, and the supporting industries, are mostly gone. Good-paying jobs have been replaced by low-paying jobs. The neighborhoods are affected. When people have no disposable income, local businesses and services leave. So how do you turn this situation around? MWA sees it as a labor problem which can be traced back to the National Labor Relations Act, passed on 1935. It divided labor into unionized and non-unionized labor. Farm workers, domestic workers, and independent contractors (including day laborers and temps) were not to be included in unions. MWA organizes workers that do not have the right to collective bargaining - the "unrecognized workers." MWA provides a self-help benefit program by putting workers in contact with professional service providers like doctors, dentists, lawyers. (Many doctors are unhappy with HMO's. So MWA will say to a doctor, if you really want to practice medicine as it was meant to be practiced, you need to work with us!). MWA also provides a weekly supplemental food distribution. These programs won't lift people out of poverty, but will help with survival. MWA aims to build an organization of support with businesses, institutions (like First Unitarian), individuals, and members. Meanwhile, MWA is encouraging membership to develop leadership. Food distributions and events provide opportunities for people to learn leadership skills, such as phone-calling, logistics, etc. A forum participant observed that it seemed that MWA was trying to do two things - survival and building to make systemic change. The response was that MWA works with the "expendible" people. So why do they need the support of Unitarians and others? So that we are not divided, which has been done to us. The only way that change will come is for us to be together. A couple of other participants asked about whether it doesn't have to come through legislation and policy. Clovis said maybe. But we have dental benefits ... Eventually people may see this is how it could be... There was more, but this is the gist of it.
By Allan Lindrup To further public celebration of, and education about, the Emancipation Proclamation, particularly here in Abe Lincoln's Illinois, a proposed Illinois House Joint Resolution, to establish the first week of January as a time when education about and celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation should take place, was approved by the task force. Initially drafted by task force co-Chair Allan Lindrup, the House Joint Resolution was approved by the task force after incorporating some structural changes recommended by the other Co-Chair, Finley C. Campbell. Allan and Finley have an appointment with Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie on January 3, to present and discuss the House Joint Resolution and to seek her agreement to serve as its primary sponsor and introducer. The Racial Justice Task Force is seeking to encourage and co-sponsor a series of films about racism, which would be shown at DOC films in the spring of 2006. We have been submitting a list of suggested feature films, along with information about their distributors, to task force member Alex Wolf, who is a Univ. of Chicago student and our envoy to DOC films. Representatives from this task force and the Older Women's League have been working with the Interfaith Open Communities' Hyde Park Cluster to 1) pressure our two Aldermen and developers to require and build (respectively) more affordable housing in Hyde Park when new developments are put up, and 2) to organize a community forum, in the spring of 2006, which will examine many aspects of the affordable housing shortage and ways that the community can act in a concerted way to make a difference on this topic.
By Ken Schug A major task for the voting delegates at UUA's annual meeting ("General Assembly" or GA) is to select a single STUDY/ACTION ISSUE from among a short list presented by the UUA Commission on Social Justice (based on an earlier preference vote of certified congregations). Discussion of each issue is limited to a small number of (alternating) pro and con speakers. If no issue gets a majority on the first ballot, a second vote is taken to decide between the two highest scoring issues. The winning issue then goes through two years of revision and refinement and is presented as a Statement of Conscience at the GA three years later. The rest of this article is based on GA2004, though I have similar concerns about the GA2005 Study/Action outcome. Four Study/Action issues were listed in the Program: S1 Civil Marriage Equality, S2 Oppression of Women Worldwide, S3 Stopping Mass Extinction, and S4 Threat of Global Warming. Before discussion began, however, it was announced that S3 (one of the two "environmental" issues) had been withdrawn. [I don't know the details of the withdrawal process and or how often it occurs] The first ballot was S1 522(47%), S2 166 (15%), S4 425(38%), the second ballot (the following day with a smaller attendance) was S1 456(46%), S4 540(54%). As a newcomer attending my first GA I had concerns both about the process and the results. Process: Since S3 and S4 both had a strong environmental focus, withdrawal of either would likely enhance the first round vote for the other and give it greater prestige for the second round. If this was done deliberately because supporters of these two issues were uncomfortable with the prospect of S1 (Marriage Equality) being selected, I would be uneasy about that type of manipulation in a Unitarian gathering. I hope my concerns are not valid. Result: Certainly, at some level, each of these issues has "Social Justice" consequences, though, in my opinion, global warming much less so than the others. Furthermore global warming is a much less "urgent" issue and such a massive problem that the UUA has the smallest chance (by far) of making a real impact. [In my president's column this month I ruminate on the relative importance of UUA focusing on Study/Action (and related activities) versus "congregation building".]
After undergoing a seven-month selection process, Susan Scrimshaw was selected to be the seventh president of Simmons College in Boston, effective next July. Simmons is one of the few remaining undergraduate women's colleges, with an enrollment of 1800 students . It also has five graduate schools -- in Health Sciences, Management, Library and Information Science, Social Work, and Liberal Arts. While the School of Management is women-only, the other four schools are coed. The enrollment for the whole school is approximately 4500 students. On Dec. 20th in Boston Susan and her fiance Allan Stern were introduced to the Simmons Community as their new presidential couple. Susan's parents were able to be there along with three of her four brothers, and Allan's aunt and cousin from the Boston area. After her remarks to over 400 assembled faculty, staff, and students -- available on-line at www.simmons.edu -- there was a question-and-answer period. One of the more pointed questions was, "Which baseball team do you prefer?" Susan's diplomatic answer was, "I think the name has the word 'Sox' in it," which seemed to satisfy everybody and nobody. Susan will be leaving her post as Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in June, and she and Allan will be moving to Boston.
The Chicago Children’s Choir has been invited to Boston to participate on the third annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday concert from Jordan Hall. The concert will feature the Concert Choir, together with the Boston Children's Chorus and the Young People's Chorus of New York City. This program will be televised live on WCVB-TV, the ABC Channel 5 in Boston on the national King holiday, Monday, January 16 at 6:30 p.m. In Chicago, WGN-TV has agreed to air this show as a Black History Month special on Saturday, February 4th from 7-8 p.m. CT. WGN-TV will air it both on the local Channel 9 station and on the Super Station network as well.
UUMeN and the Unitarian Church of Evanston Men's Group are Co-Sponsoring a Saturday Morning January 14th Men's Program titled "VoiceMale: Marriage and Partnerships in Men's Lives." Neil Chethik, UU Author's latest book, VoiceMale, explores research from hundreds of heterosexual men with female partners. The results are interesting and many unexpected very educational answers are obtained from men surveyed. VoiceMale is the second book written by Neil. His first, FatherLoss, was presented by him at the Unitarian Church of Evanston (UCE) a few years ago. The morning of this event "VoiceMale" includes a Continental Breakfast at 8:45am, a good program and Lunch at noon - all for $15 in advance ($20 at door). Make out check to UCE (write "Voicemale 1/14/06" in lower left-hand corner). Send to UCE, 1330 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201- Attn: Dave Woods. Further information can be obtained from Dave Woods, Unitarian Church of Evanston Men's Group Member and Chair, UUMeN's Network (a UUA Affiliated Organization); email dnwoods@ameritech.net.
By Finley Campbell The Nature of Racism course met on Sunday, December 11, 2005. The title of the session was: The Nature of Slave Labor Racism or the shift from civilizational racism to inherent inferiority type racism and the rise of its opposition, multiracial abolitionism/ multiracial Americanism 1801- 1885). First we covered the characteristics of the US American Slave Labor Economic System which made it more powerful and pernicious than the slavetalist economic system of the Roman Empire. The essential difference was the issue of the justification of slavery: the Roman rationale for slavery had to do with the captivity model i.e., if you are captured by Roman soldiers regardless of your race, you were inferior; vis the ideological model; i.e., your race made your inherently inferior, not your condition of servitude or the fact that you had been captured. We then discussed the components of the inherent inferiority type of racism, showing that it was an expansion of the Jeffersonian thesis - that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race or made distinct by time and circumstance are inferior to the whites in the endowment both of body and mind. However, for most slave owners, it would be theological racism, more than biological racism which would be the basis of the slavocracy, although the biological explanations were useful for gaining general support from the non-southern members of the white elite. We then described the components of the anti-racist counter attack, centered in the George Buffon thesis. George Buffon was a naturalist, who argued that: “the unfortunate [enslaved or primitive] Negroes are endowed with excellent hearts, and possess the seeds of every human virtue,” The main point of the session was that the thesis put forth by some proponents of the white skin privilege theory of racism that racism is prejudice plus power is a fallacious one; racism is about class privilege of an elite who used the skin color of the masses of whites as a way to win them to support an exploitative and oppressive system; and that racism was more precisely ideology plus power whose main function was to generate prejudice in the average white and self-hatred in the average black. Finally, what were the elements of the struggle between racism and anti-racism after the de-legalization of slavery (1865 - 1896)? Since we ran out of time, this discussion will be presented at our February session. We also voted unanimously to make the Nature of Racism course available to the general public, beginning with our next official session in February, as a major component of the Racial Justice Taskforce’s celebration of Black History Month. While there will be no formal Nature of Racism in January in light of the Emancipation Proclamation Pageant being presented in the time slot, there will be many indirect references made to the multiracial struggle against slavery as in essence a fight against racism. In light of this assertion, I propose consideration of the following questions:
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