A Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Join us for worship and religious education at 9:15 and 11:00am on Sunday Morning!
October 20, 2017
Sunday, October 22
Worship Service  -  9:15 and 11:00am
"Mary Baker Eddy's Science of Mind Healing "
Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, was called many things: heretic, hysteric, feminist, religious reformer. Somewhere within the hype and villanization lies a woman, both brilliant and flawed, who invented the once-fastest growing religion in America. Little tracked is Eddy's transcendental roots and how the bards of New England influenced her theology and outlook. Rev. Bret Lortie speaking.

Howard Levy - Guest Musician This Sunday
Howard Levy is an acknowledged master of the diatonic harmonica, a superb pianist, innovative composer, recording artist, bandleader, teacher, producer, and Chicago area resident. T he two-time Grammy Award Winner is a favorite with audiences worldwide. More information about Howard is available at  www.levyland.com.  

Religious Education
This Sunday  our preschool, kindergarten-first-second grade, and third-fourth-fifth grade classes will meet from 9:15-10:30 and 11:00-12:15 Start in the sanctuary for the first part of the worship service before going to classes. The sixth-seventh-eighth grade and senior high youth group meet from 11:00-12:15. Childcare for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers is available from 9:00-12:30.

Connecting UU: a path to belonging at UCE 
10:15am in Room 12
These sessions are open to all, no matter where you are on the journey. Click here for more information on Connecting UU.

Wild Utah: America's Red Rock Wilderness
12:30pm in Room 3
America's red rock wilderness draws pilgrims from around the world.  It is the largest network of undesignated wilderness lands remaining in the lower 48 states. The program includes "Wild Utah," a multi-media slideshow. This 15-minute journey through red rock splendor, narrated by Robert Redford invigorates and motivates viewers to participate in the movement to protect these threatened public lands. Click here for more information.

Rainbow Alliance Black and Pink Informational Meeting - 12:30pm in Room 6
Would you like to help a LGBTQ person who is incarcerated by being their penpal?  Black and Pink is an organization that signs up penpals for some of the most marginalized folks in prisons--those who are LGBTQ.  If you'd like to learn more, please come to our informational meeting. You don't have to sign up- this meeting is intended for you to learn more about this meaningful program and find out if it might be right for you.
 
Crackerbarrel - 9:30am
"Challenges and Opportunities in Operating a Private Operating Foundation"
Urban Autism is a private foundation serving autistic individuals after they reach adulthood. Funding comes from both government and private sources. Recently the foundation opportunistically acquired an urban farm, which fit in well with their then existing programs. We will discuss private operating foundations generally, as well as specific experiences from Urban Autism. Discussion facilitators: Julia and Michael Tracy of the Urban Autism Foundation.

Click here for information about upcoming crackerbarrel topics.
 
Join us to stand in support of Black Lives Matter
12:10pm-12:30pm
You are invited to stand on Ridge Avenue between 12:10pm and 12:30pm to support the Black Lives Matter movement.  Signs and buttons are available for purchase at the back of the sanctuary. Signs and song lyrics will be provided for use.  Sponsored by the REAL team.

The Chris Isely Cancer Support Group -  9:30am
The group is open to anyone facing cancer, either personally or through a family member or friend. This lay-led group is a safe place for sharing and hope. Interested participants are encouraged to drop in any time. Questions? Contact Renee Hoff
Rev. Eileen Wiviott
Listening, One on One: an ongoing congregation-wide spiritual practice

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch.  Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit." - E.E. Cummings

Listening can be a radical act. Listening with intention, curiosity, and compassion can break down barriers and forge new pathways to empowerment. At our best, UCE is a listening community, practicing deep and compassionate listening across difference. We listen in covenant groups. We listen in board meetings, in religious education classes, in our annual pledge drive visits, and in our social justice work. Of course, listening is hard and we don't always do it well. Who couldn't use a little more practice listening? Listening to one another builds relationships of trust and strengthens the fabric of our whole community. When we listen to another purposefully, we often understand ourselves better. That is why the staff and leadership are striving to cultivate a culture of ongoing one-on-one listening at UCE. Click here to read more.
The Serendipity Auction needs you! Every year we rely on our members' generosity, creativity, and hospitality to come up with a wonderful assortment of items for our catalog. The more donations we have the more entertaining the auction, but more importantly, the more money we will raise for UCE.
 
Our auction team will be available after both services on Sundays leading up to the auction, and we are excited to help you brainstorm ideas for donations and match people wanting to co-host. You may also contact the co-chairs, Susan Comstock and Jenny Walsh . The deadline to have your donation highlighted in the printed catalog is fast approaching. Get your donation in by October 29th. Click here for some ideas and to read more.
Join the Evanston Interfaith Clergy and Leaders group, along with our allies and friends! 
  • Diverse, Inspiring Speakers
  • Opportunities to Take Action
  • Live Music
  • Learn about Sanctuary! 
UCE will host the Emergency Overnight Shelter again this year. Interfaith Action of Evanston provides some staff to manage the shelters, which rotate among six different faith communities but we need you to help volunteer, especially when UCE hosts during the weeks of February 25, March 4, and March 18. What we need to focus on now is the brief but necessary training. Three opportunities for this hour-long training will be offered at 7pm on 11/7, 11/8, 11/9. You only need to attend one of these evenings if you haven't been trained before. Thank you for your much needed help keeping people off the streets on the coldest winter nights. Click here for information about volunteer roles and training location.
Special income tax information for IRA owners over 70 ½ years of age
 
The IRA Charitable Rollover Act  (re: Qualified Charitable Distribution) is permanent.  This allows tax-free gifts from an IRA to The UCE Endowment Fund, another charity or not-for-profit.
 
This gift is great if:
  • You want to support UCE;
  • You want to satisfy all or part of your IRA's Required Minimum Distribution without generating taxable income;
  • You will benefit from using the QCD whether you itemize or take the standard deduction  (current tax law).
Rules for a Qualified Charitable Distribution: the donor must be over 70 ½ years of age at time of distribution; funds must go directly from your IRA to the charity without going through your hands; and gifts must be completed by December 31, 2017 to qualify for this year.  You may want to contact your financial or tax adviser.   Email us at endowment@ucevanston.org for a sample letter of direction to your IRA Administrator.
Last week we were treated to a story about chocolate and samples of fairly traded chocolate in honor of Fair Trade Month. We hope you enjoyed both.

This holiday season the Fair Trade Cart will have many new items as well as some tried and true repeats - and many will be displayed on our brand new cart addition!  Look for chocolate, toys, mittens, jewelry, scarves and hats as well as coffees, teas and soups and many other gift items.

As always, all our proceeds will go to help children and families in our community like those at Chute Middle School and Family Focus. So keep looking for delicious and beautiful things that help workers of the world and our children - and may also bring a little bit of joy to your life.
You are cordially invited this year to join your UCE community for our annual Thanksgiving Day celebration!
 
This year we will again share our table with recruits from the Great Lakes Naval Base.    Come for breakfast at 9 or come for dinner at 3, come to share our wonderful UCE fellowship with some sailors far from home.
 
Opportunities for participation include contributing food, helping to prepare our meal, and hosting our guests.  You may sign up electronically by visiting our signup page  at "volunteer opportunities, " or sign up to host/bring food here, sign up to attend   here ,
UCE Military Bridge Builders
invites you to participate in Winter Chicago Standdown standdown
Held at the Northwest National Guard Armory on Thursday-Friday November 16-17, Standdown offers a day of hospitality and support to indigent and homeless vets, serving breakfast and lunch, offering health support, and distributing warm clothing, shoes, toiletries, sleeping bags and blankets .

You are invited to donate gently used winter-worthy clothing - especially jeans!  A box is in the lobby for that.

UCE Military Bridge Builders will coordinate a team to help out and welcomes your participation.  Click to sign up Thursday, 10-2pm and Friday, 8-noon
Sing Thing
Wednesday, October 25, 7:00pm singthing
If you play a folk type musical instrument (or anything else that would blend with guitars and banjos), please bring it. Or just come and sing along! We supply words (and chords if needed). All are welcome! 
Great American Freethinkers: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass
Tuesdays, November 7 and 14, 7:00pm  freethinkers
The past is relevant! It gives perspective to our present lives.  Frederick Douglass was a former slave, abolitionist, sometimes champion of women's rights, orator, and diplomat. He wrote an account of his experience of slavery, and escape. Suggested reading: The Portable Douglass; Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom; Douglass, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass Elizabeth Cody Stanton was a champion of women's rights, and a long-time but contentious friend of Susan B. Anthony. She co-authored The Women's Bible, a major critique of the Scriptures. Suggested reading: Ellen Carol Dubois, The Elizabeth Cady Stanton-Susan B. Anthony Reader.  Facilitated by Rev. Jerome Stone, UCE's Affiliated Community Minister. Click here to sign up
Continues Tuesdays, October 24, 31
7:00-9:00pm  moralarc
Are moral norms merely social constructs, like which side of the road to drive on? Does God have reasons for His commandments? If there is no God, is everything permissible? How many scientific facts does it take to justify one moral judgment?  What say you when asked to justify your moral opinions? When pushed to defend your justifications, does your thinking end in a core belief with which you so closely identify you stop further inquiry? Where does TRUTH reside? Religion? Personal Experience? Reason? Science? Nowhere? If morality is ultimately grounded in an arbitrary choice, do we each have our own moral truths?  Join us to ask each other, and the writings of Michael Shermer, author of The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom: "WHAT SAY YOU?"  Facilitated by John Tobin, UCE member, former philosophy teacher, and defender of Enlightenment values. Click here to sign up.

Click here for a reading list for this class and information about other upcoming adult religious education classes.
Do you or someone you know come from a fundamentalist or otherwise authoritarian religious background? If you would like to talk about your experiences with others who understand, please join us at our discussion group. For more information, contact Taryn Nelson Seawright
If you are in a caregiving role of any sort, we invite you to drop in at the next Caregiver Support Group. We meet the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at 7:30pm at UCE. Questions?  Contact Joyce Lofstrom  or Renee Hoff .

Fiction Book Group
Friday, October 20, 7:30pm
Join members and friends in discussing Christopher Buckley's The Relic Master.  




Non-Fiction Book Group
Sunday, October 22, 12:30pm
Join the nonfiction book group to discuss "You're in the Wrong Bathroom!" and 20 Other Myths and Misconceptions about Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming People by Laura Erickson-Schroth and Laura A. Jacobs. As we celebrate the theme of courage during the month of October at UCE, learn more about the courage required of transgender and gender-nonconforming people as they go about their daily lives.
Join us for Hands-on Habitat Restoration with the Evanston Interreligious Sustainability Circle. The opening religious ceremony begins at 1:15pm.  The location is the Harms Woods Forest Preserve. Meet at the Forest Preserve parking lot on the west side of Harms Road, just south of Glenview Road. Come dressed for the woods.
 
Habitat restoration is FUN! It is an activity appropriate for young people (generally ten and older-must be accompanied by a parent or guardian) and senior citizens. This habitat restoration afternoon will provide an opportunity to cut down buckthorn, an invasive species, and to collect the seeds of native plants, which we will then sow next spring. For more information, contact Dale Griffin or Susan Comstock. We'd like to know how many people are coming. But, most important, just come.  It's a wonderful afternoon in a beautiful woods with friendly and enjoyable people, and you learn a lot about native plants and woods in the process.
UCE Board of Trustees meeting is held the third Wednesday of each month in Room 3. All members are welcome.
Upcoming UCE Events

Sunday, October 22, 12:30pm
Wild Utah: America's Red Rock Wilderness


Sunday, October 22, 12:30pm
Black and Pink Informational Meeting


Tuesdays, October 24, 31, 7:00pm
The Moral Arc: What Say You?


Wednesday, October 25, 7:00pm
Sing Thing


Saturday, October 28, 7:30pm
UCE Fall Coffeehouse


Sunday, October 29, 12:00pm
Celebrate Dia de los Muertos Ofrendas and Potluck


Sunday, November 5, 1pm
Hands-on Habitat Restoration


Tuesdays, November 7, 14, 7:00pm
Great American Freethinkers: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass


Saturday, November 11
Serendipity Auction


Thursday, November 23
Thanksgiving with the Navy


Tuesdays, November 28, December 5, 12, 19, 7:00pm
The New Testament for UU's


Thursday Nights, 7pm
UCE Addictions and Recovery Group


Sunday Mornings, 9:00am & Wednesday Mornings, 9:30am
Yoga

Community Involvement
Click each event for more information.

October
Book Drive for Chicago Women in Prison


YWCA Let's Talk at Lunch
Third Thursday of the Month
 
Celebrate Dia de los Muertos
Ofrendas and Potluck

Sunday, October 29, 
10:15am and 12:00pm

Please bring a photo or a sacred object to honor a loved one who has died. Place it on the ofrendas or altar with their name and a few words about them on an index card. We will have tables set up in the sanctuary with Dia de los Muertos decorations. Please put your name on the item as well so you can easily retrieve it after the service.

There will be a potluck meal after each service. Please bring the favorite food of your loved one to add to the celebration.
Serendipity Auction

Sunday, November 11, 2017


The Serendipity Auction, the social highlight of our church year, is coming soon!



In October we are collectings toiletries including feminine hygiene pads, shampoo, bar soap, toothpaste, razors; sponsored by the Recently Retired Women's Group and donated to the Evanston Interfaith Refugee Round Table.

UCE Fall Coffeehouse

Saturday, October 28, 7:30pm

Free will offering accepted. Snacks and beverages provided. Come for music, poetry, story telling, and a great time!
Recently Retired (but not Retiring!) Women: 

We will not have a meeting in October. Instead, the group will help with the Day of the Dead service on October 29. 
Upcoming Membership Classes

Intro to Unitarian Universalism 
Sunday, November 12
12:30 - 2:00 pm
An overview of our faith, led by Rev. Bret Lortie 

Orientation Toward Membership 
Saturday, October 28 
9am - noon
Led by Assistant Minister, Rev. Eileen Wiviott. An interactive class exploring what it means to be a member of this congregation.

Sign up at the guest table in the lobby or email Rev. Eileen Wiviott at  ewiviott@ucevanston.org. Childcare available upon request for both of these classes.
Things to Know About our Community

Interested in knowing more about UCE? How to submit something to Joys and Sorrows? How to get a nametag, or a rainbow or pronoun sticker for your nametag? Interested in bringing flowers and lighting the chalice on a Sunday? Click here for more information about our community!
Yoga at UCE


Join us every Sunday at 8:15am and every Wednesday at 9:30am.

Yoga at UCE is designed to reduce stress, bring relaxation, increase range of motion, and find balance - restorative yoga. If you never have done yoga before, this is your opportunity. Drop in, wear comfortable clothing for stretching, and try it. Yoga is learned by doing. Community yoga mats provided if needed.

Add Your Photo to the Photo Member Directory

Remember that there is a directory of members that includes photos on our website. This is a password protected document. Contact the office if you don't know the password. If you would like to add your photo to the directory, or update your photo, please send  a photo to  Carli Magel , or let her know you'd like your picture taken on Sunday morning. 
UCE Facebook Groups
Did you know that, in addition to the UCE Facebook Page, there are three UCE groups that members can join - the UCE Member to Member Group, the UCE Children and Youth Religious Education Group and the UCE Social Action Group?  

These are closed groups that allow members to post directly to each other. If you have an event you want members to know about, or have a cause you hope to bring attention to, in addition to the newsletter and order of service, you can post to the Facebook Group. Click the links above or search for the groups by name when you are on Facebook and ask to join.
Connecting UU: a path to belonging at UCE

45 minute discussions; Sundays at 10:15 in Room 12
These sessions are open to all,
no matter where you are on the journey. 
Childcare available. No need to sign up in advance.

UU Principles  - Understanding the seven principles, an enlightening discussion led by members of the New Member Committee.

UU Sources A discussion of the six sources from which we draw wisdom and spiritual nourishment.

Spiritual Journeys (4 parts) - take any one or all of them in any order. Explore your religious and spiritual background, where you come from, what you want to cherish and what you want to release, and how you practice your spirituality.

How to Get Involved  - Learn how to become more engaged in the life of the church, find groups and activities of interest, discover the way things get done, answer your questions about belonging in our community.

UCE History and Tour - Learn more about the history, architecture and art of our building through a guided tour led by one of our long-term members. Tour begins at the back of the sanctuary near the large mural.
Opportunities
 for Spiritual Practice

Ministers' Schedules

Rev. Bret Lortie  is available on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and by appointment. Monday is sabbath and Friday devoted to writing. To send a message or read Rev. Bret's blog, visit

Rev. Eileen Wiviott has office hours most Tuesdays,
Wednesdays, and  Thursdays, and often evening meetings on those days. Mondays are sabbatical days and Fridays she works from home. Please contact her via email at ewiviott@ucevanston.org , or via phone at (847) 864-1330 x111 (office), or (224) 565-3952 (cell).
| 847-864-1330 | uce@ucevanston.org | http://www.ucevanston.org
1330 Ridge Ave.
Evanston, IL 60201