COVID Protocol: Our Covid-19 protocols have been adjusted, we are now in Blue. In respect and care for the vulnerable, masking is required in our facilities despite changing external guidelines. Please visit our website here for more details.
The Gates of Grief : Rev. Dawn Cooley
July / August Theme: Balance
Live Stream Worship at 10am / Recorded Viewing Available at Noon
Live stream link can be found here.
OFFERING : UU Advocacy Network of Illinois
Unity Temple Gives. Each week, we give our Sunday collection to an organization that aligns with our values. This Sunday’s collection will benefit the UU Advocacy Network of Illinois. UUANI supports Unitarian Universalists coming together to work for justice, beloved community, and a healthy planet – putting our deepest values into effective action. Learn more here.

You may donate by placing cash or check in one of circulating baskets during the service, sending a check to the Unity Temple office (875 Lake St., Oak Park, 60301) with (name of organization) on the memo line, by texting 73256 with the message UTUUC $____ (dollar sign followed by your donation amount) and select “Offering,” by using the camera on your phone to scan the QR code on the screen during the Offertory or you can give at the UTUUC website. Whatever modality you choose, may what you give bring you joy.
Sunday Worship Service
In-person and online options for worship are now offered. COVID Protocol: Our Covid-19 protocols have been adjusted, we are now in Blue. In respect and care for the vulnerable, masking is required (2yrs and up) in our facilities despite changing external guidelines. Please visit our website here for more details.You can access the live stream on YouTube at 10am here.
Community Hour
Following the Sunday morning service, join our in-person Community Hour for cookies, coffee and conversation in Unity House. If you are joining us from home, the on-line Community Hour will be on Zoom following the service. Go to Zoom Meeting ID: 999 2797 5277 Password: 875875 Or access directly here.
Following up on the Board's June 23 message about our congregation's budget, you should have or will soon receive a hard copy letter via snail mail outlining the Close the Gap campaign. The letter can be accessed here and the pledge form here. We are hoping some members are able to increase their giving to help offset a portion of the budget deficit.

In addition, the Board and the Finance & Investments Committee will hold sessions on July 10 and 11 to discuss the budget and our current shortfall. The Board welcomes your input as to how we manage our budget going forward. What needs to continue? What can be set aside permanently? What needs to be done differently? And what might any changes mean for staffing, programming, and building use? We may schedule additional sessions if there is sufficient interest.
The first meeting will be in-person on Sunday, July 10 at Unity Temple following the regular service. Childcare will be provided.
The second meeting will be via Zoom on Monday, July 11 at 7pm. The Zoom link can be found here (meeting ID: 835 8664 4882, passcode: 984861)

Unity Temple Faith In Action Network
Spiritually Grounded / Deeply Relational / Strategically Effective
Unity Temple Gives. Each week, we give our Sunday collection to an organization that aligns with our values. This Sunday’s collection will benefit the UU Advocacy Network of Illinois. UUANI supports Unitarian Universalists coming together to work for justice, beloved community, and a healthy planet – putting our deepest values into effective action. Learn more here.
Abortion Access in Illinois and Beyond
Thursday, July 14, 6-9:30pm
6pm – Film Screening: The Janes
8pm – Panel discussion with experts in abortion history, procedure and policy

We are invited to join our friends at Oak Park Temple for a viewing of the HBO hit documentary The Janes, followed by a panel discussion. Find more information and RSVP here. Contact reproductive@unitytemple.org.
Youth Climate Petition In 2015, twenty-one youth (including one UU youth) filed a constitutional climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States. It asserts that the government's direct actions, like fossil fuel energy policies, knowingly cause and worsen the climate crisis, and violate the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, property and equal protection, and fails to protect public trust resources. The youth wait for a decision from the U.S. District Court (expected any day now!) which could put them back on the path to trial. Learn more here and sign this petition. Contact ecojustice@unitytemple.org.
VoteLove Building on the incredible momentum from 2020 when over 5,000 UU volunteers in 450 congregations contacted more than 3 million voters, UU the Vote 2022 is ready to help protect democracy and increase voter engagement. Our Unity Temple Vote Love team asks you to help contact disenfranchised voters via letter writing, and trips to support frontline partners in southern Wisconsin. Let us know how you’d like to participate by completing this quick form. Stop by our table at this Sunday’s community hour to receive the first letter writing packets! Questions? Contact votelove@unitytemple.org
UU Pen Pals Needed
You can make a huge difference in the life of a lonely incarcerated individual, and in writing, you will learn so much about our prison system. "Inside" pen pals are members of the UU Church of the Larger Fellowship, and have been waiting as long as two years for a match. Learn more by contacting Barbara Moline at prisonpenpals@unitytemple.org. We provide group and individual support for outside pen pals.
Faith in Action Newsletter We’ve launched a new monthly Faith in Action newsletter filled with impactful actions. Check out the June edition here. If you didn’t receive it and would like to, please subscribe here. Questions? Contact Rev. Colleen, Assistant Minister for Faith in Action cvahey@unitytemple.org
UUANI Action of the Week Each week our Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of IL (UUANI) offers a call to action. Sign-up to receive these simple and impactful actions direct to your in-box here.
The Young Center is in need of Chicagoland volunteers to serve as Child Advocates. The next training is Saturday, August 13, 9am-4:30pm (CST). Volunteers will serve as federally appointed volunteer Child Advocates for unaccompanied and separated immigrant children in federal custody. We are specifically looking for volunteers who are fluent in Spanish, Dari/Farsi, Pashto, Ukrainian, French, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Punjabi and Indigenous languages of Central America. If would like to learn more please contact UTUUC member and child advocate, Erin Mackinney, of our Immigration Justice team immigration@unitytemple.org
Distribute Voter Information in Racine, WI
Join UUANI and the Racine Interfaith Coalition (RIC) to help reach voters in Wisconsin. RIC will be tabling and distributing voter information every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday through August 6. Training is provided 1 hour before each shift starts. No prior experience needed! Snacks and drinks provided. Register here. Contact votelove@unitytemple.org if interested in going with other Unity Temple members.
Many thanks to all who were part of the powerful June 26th Pride service, and to all who expressed interest in working with our new LGBTQ+, Gender and Reproductive Justice team. Please complete this form to join us. We will be following up with you soon! Questions? Contact Terry Kinsey at rainbow@unitytemple.org or Rev. Colleen cvahey@unitytemple.org.
2nd Annual Men's Retreat Golf Outing
Now accepting reservations. 18 holes at White Pines in Bensenville. Sunday July 17 at 2pm. The cost is $49 to ride and $39 to walk. Anyone interested can sign up for 9 holes instead of 18 (at a reduced rate). Event is open to all! Questions contact mensgroup@unitytemple.org.
Pathways to Recovery 
at Unity Temple is a safe and confidential space where we will explore UU principles and our congregation’s values of connection, acceptance and transformation to support recovery from addiction. It is a peer-led group that is intended to be a supplement to, not a replacement for, other addiction recovery groups such as AA, SMART Recovery, and Recovery Dharma. We will meet every other Wednesday at in Gale House at 7pm. Next meeting date is July 13. Questions can be directed to recovery@unitytemple.org.
The 2022 Fall Softball Season is Starting!
The fall season begins August 12 and is comprised of 8 games. Start times are 7:15, 8:15 and 9:15pm. We welcome any and all players that just want to have fun, get active and/or want to try something new. The team could use some more female representation to add to our already awesome core of women. Since this a team sport, the team asks for your commitment in attending games or advanced notice if you’re not able to make it. Please reach out to sports@unitytemple.org. Oh, one more thing, the coach likes to give mandatory post-game speeches which don’t make sense or are completely over the top, but it makes the coach feel important and valued so the team puts up with it AND you will too when you join the Wright Fielders!
Becoming a Member
For more information about how to become a member of Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Contact tlewis@unitytemple.org. 
Religious Education Registration 2022/2023 is Open! Each year, we ask our families to register and re-register their children for our religious education programming. It ensures we have the most up to date information about our young people, helps us with planning, and gives us an ongoing communication loop. Along with information, we ask for a registration fee of $50 per child (for pledging members and friends) and $100 per child (for non-pledging members or friends). These fees help support elements of our program. Scholarships are granted by request to Emily Gage egage@unitytemple.org or Val Ridenour vridenour@unitytemple.org. Please register your child/children for Religious Education using this link.
Daily Mindful Reflection Community 30 minute meeting, 7 days a week! Starts at 8:25am and ends at 9am every day, seven days a week. This will be different from our regular Tuesday night meeting. The daily meditation will include opening words, 20 minutes of mindful reflection, and closing words. All are welcome! You are welcome to attend regularly or sporadically. 
Time: Every Day (including weekends) at 08:30am Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting here. ID: 373 008 242  / Passcode: 4IFrYx. One tap mobile: +13126266799,,373008242#,,,,*940220#1 312 626 6799 Meeting ID: 373 008 242 / Passcode: 940220
The Mindful Reflection community meets every TUESDAY evening virtually and in person in Unity House at Unity Temple. Meeting opens at 6:45pm for camaraderie, the program starts promptly at 7:20pm. Vaccinations are encouraged, masks are mandatory. We will follow our usual format with 20 minutes of Mindful Reflection followed by a dharma talk and discussion. Questions email mindful@unitytemple.org. Join Zoom Meeting here.
News Flash! To date 212 UU congregations and organizations have adopted the 8th Principle, including most recently our neighbors, 2nd U of Chicago, and the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale. Each week the number increases! Interested in learning more about the 8th Principle? Check out UTUUC’s worship service “Digging into the 8th Principle” here and explore the following documents, prepared for you by our own 8th Principle Team:

Important update from the 8th Principle Team and the Board:
Although we have temporarily postponed a vote on the 8th Principle per se, on May 10, 2022, the Board approved the chartering of an Anti-Oppression Anti-Racism (AO/AR) Committee of the Board. This committee will have the responsibility of working closely with the Board and lay leadership to guide the congregation to more authentically and accountably live out its values, covenant, and mission by applying an AO/AR lens to all the ways that we engage with one another and the surrounding community.
 
In keeping with the AO/AR charter, the Board is finalizing the open selection process, which will include an application form to be completed by UTUUC members who are interested in serving on the AO/AR Committee. Stay tuned!
Through Our Differences, We Are One :: The beloved community includes people of all political parties. Here at Unity Temple we call people to live out our faith but this does not mean we share the same political or partisan perspective. May we remind one another to honor our own life experience in the development of our unique perspective while honoring that of others. The core of being a religious liberal is remaining open to and respectful of a pluralism of theological positions and political stances. As Unitarian Universalists, we affirm the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large while also knowing that endorsements or support of particular candidates cannot be part of our congregational process. 
Planned Giving offers a variety of meaningful ways to support our congregation through charitable gifts and can be made by anybody – young and old, working or retired. These gifts are made today, but they support the future needs of your congregation and Unitarian Universalism. You can obtain more information about planned gifts by contacting the Planned Giving Team at plannedgiving@unitytemple.org

Support Our Work : As we continue to find new ways to join together in virtual community we have launched additional portals to financially support UTUUC. Details can be found here. If you have questions please reach out to office@unitytemple.org. Thank you!