All activities will be offered using Zoom
No activities will take place at the church.
Friday October 23
7:00pm Women's Circle
Saturday October 24
9:00am Chair Yoga
9:45am Flow Yoga
Sunday October 25
9:00am Coffee with Questions
9:00am Chalice Circle
10:45am Service: Rev. Jenn
12:00pm Religious Education
12:15pm Inquirers
7:00pm Chalice Circle
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Tuesday October 27
7:00pm How to be an Antiracist
Wednesday October 28
7:00pm Membership Development
Thursday October 29
8:00am Men's Breakfast
1:30pm Mindfulness
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Listening to the Ancestors
Sunday, October 25, 2020
10:45am
Rev. Jenn Gracen
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Serveral traditions consider the veil between life and death to be particularly thin during this part of the year. What does it mean to listen to our ancestors?
- Speaker: Rev. Jenn Gracen
- Worship Leader: Kaz
- Chalice Lighter: Irene Raven
- Special Music: Ron Relic – Sings “In My Life” by the Beatles
- Story for All Ages: All Saints Day
After the service, we will have coffee hour, Inquirers for newcomers, and religious education for our children and youth.
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The Lifelong Mascarade
Sunday, November 1, 2020
10:45am
Rev. Jenn Gracen
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At Halloween we enjoy doning masks and pretending to be something else. What about the rest of the year?
- Speaker: Rev. Jenn Gracen
- Worship Leader: Ron Relic
- We invite young and young at heart to join us in costume for the story of all ages
After the service, we will have coffee hour, Inquirers for newcomers, and religious education for our children and youth.
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Congregational Events and News |
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8’s Are Wild! at TOLUUC.
After seven weeks, two of our three athletes have completed their challenges and our third is very close. One week to go and the Dream Team’s 8's Are Wild! - a Triathlon fundraiser will be completed. Please take a look at the Week 7 Scoreboard to see the progress of Karen, Peter and Randy.
On November 1, you will be receiving an e-mail with the final results of the fundraiser, your sponsorship amount, and how to pay. Thank you so much for making 8’s Are Wild! - a Triathlon one of Tree of Life’s most successful fundraisers ever!
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AN INVITATION FROM THE BOARD
Members of the congregation have expressed a desire to do antiracism work this year. To explore possibilities for what effective antiracism work might look like, members of the TOLUUC Board have been reading How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi, and plan on having a group discussion about the ideas in the book on Tuesday, October 27 at 7:00 pm. The Board would like to welcome any interested members of the congregation to read the book and join the discussion. If your schedule does not allow time to read the book, you are still welcome to attend the discussion and participate in the exchange of ideas. A link to the meeting will be provided at a later time.
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Meet Rev. Jenn and Virginia!
The link will allow you to sign up for a zoom call or a phone call. When you sign up please make sure
you get an email conformation. If you don't get the confirmation email the sign up did not go through.
What if you don't have email? Or does the idea of signing up for something else seem overwhelming?
No worries! Feel free to call and chat or call and we can set up a time over the phone.
Rev. Jenn can be reached at 219-850-3821 or by email at
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Get to know us with Inquirers
Faith Forward Inquirers is a weekly program to welcome new attendees and introduce them to Unitarian Universalism and Tree of Life. We will meet online Sundays from 12:15-1:15pm using the same link as the Sunday service.
October 25th - Worship & Liturgical Year
November 1st - Social Action & Community Service
November 8th - Pastoral Care & Small Group Ministry
November 15th - Small Group Connections
November 22nd - Membership 101 & Congregational Life
November 29th- Q&A with Minister
December 6th - UU History, Principles & Sources
December 13th- Campus Tour
December 20th- Faith Development for Children & Adults
These sessions will repeat throughout the year and can be taken in any order. Questions? Contact Judy at office@treeoflifeuu.org
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Fall RE calendar
Classes will be every Sunday unless otherwise noted.
November 29, No RE (Except for Pageant practice for key roles)
December 13, Winter Pageant
December 20-January 3, No RE
January 10, RE classes resume
We invite members of all ages to join in family-friendly Worship on Sundays, followed by Religious Education classes:
Birth to 5th grade: noon
6th grade-12th grade: 11:45am
Classroom link for all classes:
Calling all Halloween fans!
You are invited to share your Halloween Costume during the Story time near the beginning of worship on Sunday, November 1st. Come help us think about all the ways in which we MASK ourselves!
Volunteer opportunities:
Classroom assistants:
We are in need of classroom assistants. These VIPs would be responsible for being present in our virtual classrooms from noon-12:45. This role requires no weekly preparation, but is vital to making sure RE can happen safely. The timing of our classes should allow you to enjoy coffee “hour” before signing in.
Substitute teachers needed:
Calling all former teachers (RE, public, or private school). Please consider helping out as a substitute this year in our Religious Education Classes.
Parent Support Group, second Sundays, 7pm
Next meeting November 8th!
Parents of all stripes are invited to meet to support, comfort, energize, and challenge each other as we meet monthly. Follow this link to sign in!
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The Tree of Life UU Women's Book Group selection for November is Becoming by Michelle Obama. Please join us on the first Friday, November 6th at 7pm on Zoom.
Meeting ID 521-385-171
Meeting Password
730531
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Women's Circle Friday October 23rd |
If you identify as an adult woman, we invite you to join us October 23rd at 7pm for Women's Circle. We meet to socialize, decompress and be in community. Women's Circle meets every fourth Friday of the month so join in any month. Use this link to join us online https://bit.ly/3e1s3tj
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Thursday mornings at 8:00am men of Tree of Life are invited to gather online to shoot the breeze. No agenda or particular topic- just men in community. You can join us online with this link Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/96545523207 Meeting ID: 965 4552 3207
One tap mobile +13126266799,,96545523207# US (Chicago) Meeting ID: 965 4552 3207
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Social Justice Team Notes
Compassion For Campers—The next Faith Leaders of McHenry and Compassion for Campers distributions of camping gear and supplies will be held at
St. Ann’s Episcopal Church
503 W. Jackson, Woodstock
3:30-5 pm Tuesday, October 27
We are finalizing indoor, cold weather sites beginning in November which will tentatively include First Methodist Church in McHenry, the WARP Corps storefront on Benton Street in Woodstock, and First Church Crystal Lake (Methodists). Exact dates for each location will be announced soon. We will be needing warm, clean, new or like new clothes, hats, scarfs, gloves, and cold weather gear and need indoor space for distribution. For More information contact Patrick Murfin at pmurfin@sbcglobal.net or phone 815 814-5645.
Donations to continue this work can be made by sending a check made out to Tree of Life UU Congregation with Compassion for Campers on the memo line to the church.
Second Sunday Collections—Our September Second Sunday collection of $155 went to Chalice House refugee sanctuary sponsored by Countryside UU Congregation in Palatine. On November 8 we will feature TLS Transitional Living Services for Veterans.
Chalice House—The Chalice House refugee sanctuary sponsored by Countryside UU Congregation in Palatine and our friends at the Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants (ICDI) is hosting their first family, refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who were recently released from detention in Texas pending their appeal to have their asylum claim heard. Donate here for household items the guests might need.
UU the Vote— Join Unity Temple Illinois, Saturday, October 24th 12-2pm CT (1-3pm ET) to call voters in Wisconsin Join the team that’s helping UU the Vote reach 2 million voters before November 3rd. Click here to register.
Vote by Mail, Voter Registration and In Person voting.—Early voting began on Thursday, September 24. You can still register to vote up to the day of the election. You can also deposit mail-in ballots at boxes at a secure lock box available 24 hours a day located in the McHenry County Government Center parking lot. You can vote in person now at the County Clerk’s office. On October 19 these these additional locations opened and also have a secure lock box to deposit mail in ballots during their hours of operation:
The Dole Mansion
401 Country Club Road
Crystal Lake
Lake in the Hills Village Hall
600 Harvest Gate
Lake in the Hills
McHenry Township Office
3703 North Richmond Road
Johnsburg
McHenry City Hall
333 South Green Street
McHenry
If you have received a mail-in ballot but now prefer to vote in person be sure to bring your whole mail-in packet to turn in at the polling place.
Virtual Poets in Resistance—We will host a Virtual Poets in Resistance program on line on Friday, November13 from 7 to 10 pm. We will be able to showcase noted poets will reach a national audience. Voluntary donations will be split between an active front-line resistance group and Tree of Life. More details to follow on this exciting project.
UU Prison Ministry— Cheryl Niemo of our Jail Brakers ministry and Irene Raven recently participated in an online event sponsored by the UU Prison Ministry of Illinois
We will be exploring participating in their initiatives. Of particular interest to us is the Solidarity Circles which offer support and encouragement to recently released former inmates, using the principles outlined in Radical Hospitality: Welcoming the Newly Released to help us find ways to integrate the formerly incarcerated into our Congregation community, and in UUPM’s legislative initiatives on criminal justice reforms.
Social Justice Team Meeting—The Social Justice Team will meet by Zoom on Wednesday November 18 at 7 pm.
Meeting ID: 825 0597 6845
Passcode: 969631
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In Warren Harding's 1920 presidential campaign, he pledged a 'Return to Normalcy."
The COVID-19 pandemic has left most of us with a longing for a return to normalcy.
What is normal? How does society arrive at the concept of normal? Is normal a universal concept or something we are influenced to accept? What are some of those influences? What are the downsides of adhering to social constructs of normalcy? Are there any upsides to abnormalcy?
Terry Kappel will lead another lively discussion this Sunday 10-25 morning at 9 o'clock. Grab your favorite beverage in the comfort of your home and prepare for some food for the soul. Join us on Zoom, ID 937 0697 3849, Password 202119.
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Thanks to Worship Arts, Billy, Tom and Beth, Ron Relic, and the Tech Team.
Maureen Skuban's son-in-law participated in The Voice this week! She said that contestants experienced a grueling lock down period due to Covid.
Steve Decker, Judy Stettner's dad, had a good week! He graduated from radiation treatments and also got the boot off his broken foot. Good job, Steve!
Kathy Murfin, Patrick's wife, underwent surgery this week to repair damage done by radiation treatments several years ago.
"Breathe"
"My friends go forth and breathe deeply."
Ron Relic
If you are in need of assistance or know somebody in the congregation that does, our care committee can be reached at care@treeoflifeuu.org
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Judy Stettner
Congregational Administrator
Heather Madaus
Interim Director of Religious Education
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Cassandra Vohs-Demann
Director of Music
Billy Seger
Accompanist
Leah Mikkelson
Board President
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Office Hours: Hours will vary from below while our staff practices social distancing to flatten the curve
Monday 10-2
Tuesday Closed
Wednesday 10-2
Thursday 10-2
Friday 10-2
Others by appointment
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Our Board Members:
Leah Mikkelson - President
President Elect -Sue McCowin
Janet Burns - Treasurer
Irene Raven- Secretary
Steve Lyons - Trustee
Ivy Sitkoski- Trustee
Mike Bissett- Trustee
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Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation
5603 Bull Valley Road
McHenry, IL 60050
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