Daylight Savings is Sunday, March 11, 2018.
Don't forget to Spring Forward!
UPCOMING SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICES  
10:15 AM in Sanctuary
Sunday, March 11, 2018
“Embracing Change”
Rev. Florence Caplow

Change is inevitable, but our response to it is up to us. There have been many changes at UUCUC in the last few years, many changes in the lives of those of us here, and many changes in the world. How can we swim in the currents of change, with grace and willingness? The CrUUners and the Children’s Choir will be singing.
Sunday, March 18, 2018
“Worth and Dignity”
Sam Beshers and Jennifer Greene

Religion should be a prominent and positive part of public and political life. Separation of church and state is important, but the steps taken to avoid imposing Christianity on people of differing faiths and viewpoints have taken us too far in the other direction. As UUs we believe in the inherent dignity and worth of every human. We will explore how this value can and should be at the center of our civic and political lives, and how a government based on such a principle might operate.  
UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS

Bookmark our UUCUC Events webpage for future reference.
Meditation at Channing Murray on hiatus until April 12. Rev. Florence will lead meditation tonight at 4:30 at Channing Murray, and will resume teaching on April 12th. 
Saturday, March 10 Non-Violent Direct Action Training at UUCUC
Throughout history, non-violent direct action has played a recurring and vital role in shining a light on injustice and bringing about social change. On Saturday, March 10, members of the Social Action Committee will host a day-long training in the principles, philosophy and practice of non-violent direct action. If you are ready to put your values into action and want to learn how non-violent direct action can be a powerful force for change, then be sure to join us!
 
Date:               Saturday, March 10th, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM (Fellowship Hall)
Cost:               $20 (includes lunch, snacks and training materials)
Register:        https://uucuc.brownpapertickets.com/
 
The training will be led by Jerica Arents, noted activist and educator in peace, justice and conflict studies. It will help prepare those of us who plan to participate in actions associated with Reverend Barber’s Poor People’s Campaign , but also has much broader, universal applications.
 
While registration is required, no one will be turned away for financial reasons. Call Lan Richart at 773-556-3417 for more information.
"Loss of a Life Partner" Covenant Group. A new covenant group has formed for those whose spouse or partner has died. The group meets on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays from 11:30 am to 1 pm in the Library at UUCUC, and will continue at least through early June. Rev. Florence will be facilitating the group. For more information or to join, please contact Florence at  minister@uucuc.org .
Church Tour This Sunday, March 11th. Are there parts of our church building you have never explored or are curious about? On Sunday, Todd Kinney will offer a short tour after our Sunday service. Meet Todd at the Welcome Table in the foyer outside the sanctuary approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the service. Tours will take place approximately once a month during the church year.
Please join us for our first conversation about developing a co-housing community. We will meet on Sunday, March 11th at noon in YRUU Classroom. Co-housing blends the privacy of single-family homes with a value for social interactions and shared resources. Communities include a common house or gathering space for shared meals and events. The potential for aging in place and shared child & pet care are tremendous. If you'd like to be part of an initial conversation, email Betsy Hunter betsyhun@gmail.com
"White Like Me" Film Screening, Sponsered by Racial Justice Intiative

Sunday, March 11 in UUCUC Fellowship Hall
Doors open at 2pm. Film begins at 2:30. Discussion to follow.

Racism is explored through the prism of white privilege in the engrossing documentary White Like Me. Based upon a book of the same name by anti-racist advocate Tim Wise, the film explores the many advantages afforded to whites throughout the history of the United States, and the extent to which they have defined a culture of racial discrimination that continues to this day.
Upcoming Racial Justice Initiative (RJI) Meetings - Want to get even more involved in RJI? Our next meetings are Monday, March 12, 5:30pm, UUCUC Fellowship Hall and Thursday, March 29, 5:30pm, UUCUC Library. Please join us.
Social Justice Webinar Hosted by the UUCUC Board of Trustees
Tuesday, March 13 at 6:45 - 8:15 pm in Fellowship Hall

The members of the UUCUC Board of Trustees invite you to join us for the third in a series of social justice webinars offered this spring by the UUA MidAmerica Region in collaboration with the Minnesota UU Social Justice Alliance. Executive Director Rev. Ashley Horan and Statewide Organizer Pastor Danny Givens will help all of our congregations prepare themselves better for social justice work.

" And Each Day We Mean One More: Organizing 101 for Congregational Justice Leaders. " Secular organizing often has a different set of vocabulary, practices, and strategies for justice making than those with which our congregations are usually familiar. In this webinar, Horan and Givens draw from the wisdom of non-faith-based organizing and activism and examine how these tools can be powerfully and relevantly translated into the congregational context. Topics will include practices such as asset mapping, power analysis, one-to-ones, base building strategies, agitation, and more. Join us!
Your church Finance Committee has a lot on its plate for Spring. Your help would be greatly appreciated. If any of the following buzzwords are important or interesting to you, please join us at our next meeting Thursday, March 15 at 7 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Contact Amy Robison (217) 398-6154 or finsec@uucuc.org for more information. 

Budget Priorities, Mortgage Refinancing, Responsible Investing, Bookkeeping, Payroll, Employee Benefits, Health Insurance, Banking options, Cash Flow, Contracts and Leases.
End of Life: What Would You Do? – Sunday, March 25 th , 2pm, UUCUC Fellowship Hall. Please join us for a truly unique interactive theater experience. The Young At Heartland Theatre Group, based out of Bloomington-Normal, will perform four end-of-life vignettes. Audience participation will determine how the vignettes proceed as we explore end-of-life issues. Sponsored by the UUCUC Death With Dignity Group and Final Options Illinois.
The Service AUUction is a long-standing tradition at UUCUC. To learn more about it and what a service auction is, read more here .

Starting this Sunday, March 11th, we will be selling tickets to this year’s Service AUUction on Saturday, April 7th (theme: Rainbows and UUnicorns). It is very important that people buy their tickets in advance so that we know how much food to purchase. Tickets are $10 per person, $30 per family when purchased in advance, $12 per person/$35 per family at the door. Come find us at the Hub table during the coffee hour to purchase your tickets!

And of course, without your creative and exciting donations there can be no auction.  We’re under a month to go before the event, and your faithful AUUction Committee would sleep better for the next few weeks if we were flooded with donations early in the process rather than at the last minute. You can either pick up a paper donation form at the Hub table in Fellowship Hall or use our convenient electronic form to submit it.

Lastly, such a huge event takes many many volunteers to make it happen. If you can, please consider signing up to help before/during/after the event. We will have paper signup sheets at the Hub table or you can volunteer online .

Thanks in advance for your help!
Exploring Whiteness Class. We are excited to announce that our church will be conducting an "Exploring Whiteness" class this spring. The class builds on the "Being White" workshop offered last year and will be co-led by AJ Herzog and Tim Livingston.
The workshop is patterned after a class developed by Rev. Kate Lore, a UU Minister in Portland, Oregon. Participants will focus on a variety of educational and personal exploration activities related to whiteness and the institutional systems that favor whites and reinforce inequality. Opportunities to take action related to broad racial justice topics will be offered.

The class will meet on the first four Mondays in April (April 2, 9, 16, 23) from 6:30-9pm in the Children's Chapel at UUCUC. Group size will be limited to 20. We encourage people to commit to all 4 meetings if you wish to join the class.

Please email ExploringWhitenessUUCUC@gmail.com if you would like to participate.  
Sign-up for the next Circle Supper that is planned for Sunday, April 8 at 5:00 pm. Email Scott Godlew or visit the HUB table to add your name to the list. Please join in the fellowship and fun as we rekindle this UUCUC tradition.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Our minister will be out of the country from March 13 to March 28. Rev. Florence   will be traveling on vacation for the second half of March, and will not be in email or phone contact. Please contact Cindy Loui,  cindyloui83@gmail.com , with pastoral care concerns. 
Creating a Positive Worship Experience. Many of those who sit in the back of the sanctuary have expressed a concern about disruptions to the worship service when people come and go during the service. We are trying out a new practice starting in March that we hope will help create a more satisfying worship experience.
Once the worship service has begun our ushers will open the doors for entry into the sanctuary only during transitions in the service (e.g. announcements, greeting your neighbor, hymns, offertory, etc.). Look for the signs posted the sanctuary doors that say: "Service is in progress. Please wait for an usher to invite you in during the next transition."
Also beginning in March, Hospitality Team members will use a chime signal 5 minutes before the start of the service to notify those in Fellowship Hall and the foyer that the worship service is about to begin.
Thanks for your help. If you have any questions about this change, talk to Membership Coordinator, Sherry Bohlen OR to Membership Committee chair, Peggy Patten.
Hospitable Parking. Please reserve spaces in the parking lot for our visitors and for persons with limited mobility. You'll find a map of close-by parking areas at the Hub table in Fellowship Hall.
UUA General Assembly Registration and Housing is open!
 
General Assembly is June 20-24th in Kansas City this year, an easy drive for us, and it is an extraordinary experience to worship and learn with thousands of other Unitarian Universalists. We hope to have a strong group in attendance! Hotels fill up fast, and the early registration is discounted. Financial aid applications are due at the end of the month. For more information, visit  https://www.uua.org/ga. If you would also like to be a delegate for UUCUC, please contact Julie Laut at jlaut@hushmail.com.
Help Launch a Poor People’s Campaign at UUCUC. Fifty years ago, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King called for a Poor People’s Campaign to begin a “revolution of values” in America. He and other leaders invited people of all races and religions to unite against the evils of racism, poverty, and militarism.
 
But economic inequality has only accelerated since 1968, while voter suppression laws and mass incarceration further entrench systemic racism in America. Current governmental policies promote systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, and environmental destruction that threaten our people and planet, our democracy, and our national morality. 
 
That’s why the Social Action Committee is inviting you to join a growing number of us as we prepare to participate in this year’s Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival . This campaign aims to build a broad and deep national moral movement – rooted in the leadership of poor people – to unite our country from the bottom up.
 
Are you interested in learning more or becoming involved? There is a place for everyone! Contact Pam Richart , Jan Kalmar , or Sherry Bohlen . We’re just getting started.
CARE CORE NEWS
Joys and Sorrows

Christine Cahill - Please pray for healing for my husband, Michael. An endoscopy showed gastric ulcers.
SOCIAL ACTION COMMITTEE NEWS
Do you have curiosity about issues related to gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation? As part of our assessment of our church’s status as a “Welcoming Congregation” our assessment committee has determined that it might be useful for periodically offer a primer on some key LGBTQ terms and issues. For example, what does it mean to have a “non-binary gender identity?” Or someone who defines themselves as “genderqueer.” What pronouns should you use when speaking with a person whose gender identity is unknown to you? Watch for our short informational bulletins in future eNews and Uniters. If you have some important questions that you’d like us to comment on, please send them to Jim Hannum ( jwhannum@gmail.com) and our committee will craft an answer (if we can).
Two-Year Initiative Proposals Due March 30th! What would you like the church to take on as a two-year social justice initiative for 2018-2020? We had some good ideas presented last month at our after-church brain-storming session. Previous church-wide initiatives have focused on food security, immigration, and racial justice. 
 
If you are thinking about submitting a proposal for the next initiative, you can  download a form here  or pick one up from the Social Action Table. Proposals need to be completed by March 30, and submitted to the Social Action Committee Co-Chairs,  Pam Richart   and  Kate Maye r . This year the Committee will provide opportunities to discuss and explore proposals with initiating groups before our annual meeting. This will help prepare us for a vote by ensuring everyone is well-informed and ready to make a decision. 
Did you know that the church has an endowment fund? Are you interested in how we can invest our money in ways that are financially wise, but are also in alignment with our values? The Socially Responsible Investment Task Force informally began in summer of 2017, and received an official Task Force designation in December. We are proposing guidelines to help the church invest our endowment in accordance with UU Principles. An amendment to the church bylaws will be voted on at the 2018 Annual Meeting, and we want your input! The Task Force has held two informational sessions, thus far, in order to get feedback from the congregation prior to the annual meeting.

The next session will be held this Sunday, March 11 th , 12-1pm in the Children’s Chapel. Contact SRI Task Force Chair, Lan Richart with questions.
The Shared Offering recipient of all designated funds and half of the plate cash collection in March is Partner for People & Place /Jatropha Projenou. Improving land and livelihoods in Haiti. When people in poverty can tap into their talents and wisely use the land they live on, they can shape their lives for a better tomorrow. Helping them make this journey is what we do. www.peopleandplace.org
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (RE) NEWS
Upcoming RE Dates

Sunday, March 11th: Children will begin in the sanctuary.
Sunday, March 18th: No RE. Children are welcome in service.
Sunday, March 25th: All ages craft project.
Sunday, April 1: Regular RE classes followed by Easter Egg hunt!
New staff member to support RE this spring! Jody Hangar, parent and teacher, has stepped up to support the teachers and the program this spring, until our new Interim DRE is hired (the search for the Interim began this week). Jody will be available by email at re-director@uucuc.org , and will be working on Fridays and on Sunday mornings. We are so grateful for her willingness to work with us.
Camp UniStar Registration. Registration for Camp UniStar’s Youth Weeks begins Sunday, March 11, for new campers. Camp UniStar is a UU summer camp located in northern Minnesota. Our congregation has a long-standing tradition of sending some of our young people up for Youth Week 1 (this year, June 16-23). Many in our midst have served as counselors, youth counselors and program leaders in the past. If you have a child who will be entering 7th grade (or higher) in the fall, please consider this opportunity! There will be brochures available at the HUB table or nearby in Fellowship Hall - look for Jody Hanger , Chris Hannauer , and Ben Hannauer after the services March 4 and March 11. Family and adult camp options are also available throughout the summer.
UUCUC Mindfulness Meditation Group - Join fellow UU's in a mindfulness mediation practice before worship service on Sundays ( detailed schedule) in the YRUU room. As always, the door will be left slightly open so that late arrivals can enter quietly.
CHURCH CALENDAR
Dates are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, visit our UUCUC Calendar page .

Note: Parenthesised meetings/events are outside rentals. Asterisk meetings/events are closed.
Thursday, March 8
Meditation Class with Rev. Florence / 4:30 pm / Channing-Murray
(Rental: Many Paths: an Agnostic AA) / 6:00 pm / Classroom #1
BOT Business Meeting / 7:00 pm / Children's Chapel
*New Member Covenant Group / 7:00 pm / Library

Friday, March 9
Moving Forward Divorce/Separation Group / 3:30 pm / YRUU Classroom

Saturday, March 10
Social Action Committee hosts Non-Violent Direct Action Training / 8:00 am / FH
RE Advisory Team / 9:30 am / Classroom #1
UU Band & CrUUners Rehearsal / 10:00 am / Sanctuary
Loss of Life Covenant Group / 11:30 am / Library
(Rental: Many Paths: an Agnostic AA Group) / 4:30 pm / Classroom #1

Sunday, March 11
Choir Rehearsal / 9:00 am / Sanctuary
Team D Hospitality Team Brunch / 9:00 am / Children's Chapel
Mindful Meditation Group / 9:20 am / YRUU Classroom
Children's Choir Rehearsal / 9:15 am / Classroom #1
Worship Service / 10:15 am / Sanctuary
Church Tour / 11:15 am / Meet at Welcome Table
Adult Discussion Group / 11:30 am / Library 
Young Adult Group / 11:30 am / Table in Fellowship Hall
Co-housing Conversation / Noon / YRUU Classroom
Social Responsible Investment Info Session / Noon / Children's Chapel
RE Advisory Group / Noon / Classroom #1
"White Like Me" Film Screening / 2:30 pm / Fellowship Hall

Monday, March 12
Bridge Group / 1:00 pm / Children's Chapel
Racial Justice Initiative Meeting / 5:30 pm / Fellowship Hall
Death with Dignity Group / 7:00 pm / Fellowship Hall

Tuesday, March 13
(Rental: DSC Playgroup) / 9:00 am / Nursery
BOT Presents Webinar "And Each Day We Mean One More" / 6:45 pm / Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, March 14
eNews & OOS content is due to pubs@uucuc.org by noon
CrUUners Rehearsal / 6:00 pm / Sanctuary 
Adult Choir Rehearsal / 7:00 pm / Sanctuary

Thursday, March 15
Care Core Steering Committee / 11:00 am / Library
Meditation Class with Rev. Florence / 4:30 pm / Channing-Murray
(Rental: Many Paths: an Agnostic AA) / 6:00 pm / Classroom #1
Finance Committee Meeting / 7:00 pm / Fellowship Hall
Reflective Writing Chalice Circle / 7:00 pm / Library
Upcoming Publications - Mark Your Calendars!
Next eNews: March 15
Deadline for content: Wednesday,
March 14 by Noon (or earlier)
April 2018 Uniter: March 30
Deadline for content: Wednesday, March 21 by Noon (or earlier)
UUCUC Contact Information
Church Office
(217) 384-8862
Rev. Florence Caplow
Minister
Jody Hanger
Interim RE Coordinator
Matt Sheppard
Music Director
Sherry Bohlen
Membership Coordinator
Rosalyn Maziarka
Office Administrator
Shornor Vineyard
Custodian and Building Caretaker
Beth Cobb
Assistant for Services
Matthew Gladden
Accompanist
Stephanie Cobb
Sunday Kitchen Helper
Mary Foltz
Childcare Coordinator