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.
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Summer Office Hours: If you are planning to come by 1019 (our Unity Temple Community Center) for any reason during the week, please check to make sure a staff person will be here to help you. Contact office@unitytemple.org.
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We See You and Love What We See
Jay Cohen, UTUUC Member and Pastoral Associate
| Jay joined his first Unitarian Universalist Congregation in 1989, and he has been a member of UTUUC since 1998. More recently he has served as a Pastoral Associate, Soul Connections facilitator, Marwood (UU youth camp) counselor, and a facilitator of the Mindful Reflection Community. He recently participated in the Shared Pulpit seminar and Sunday's service was an outgrowth of that seminar. | |
July / August Theme: Balance
Live Stream Worship at 10am / Recorded Viewing Available at Noon
Live stream link can be found here.
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OFFERING : UU Advocacy Network of Illinois, UUANI
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 the 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.
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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.
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Community Hour
Following the Sunday morning service join us for Community Hour on the patios for refreshments and fellowship as weather permits. We hope to be able to offer this social time indoors again soon.
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Homecoming Sunday! August 28, 10am. Mark your calendars now for our Homecoming Sunday Worship for All Ages, which will include a water communion ceremony. Please bring a small vial of water to share. The choir will perform and there will be other fun activities such as a selfie station, chalk art and more. We hope you can join us! | |
Sermon Writing Seminar (facilitated by Jay Cohen)
Unity Temple will be offering more lay-led Sunday services in the future and we are looking for people who are interested in participating. Shared Pulpit is a UU curriculum that prepares lay people in all aspects of creating a Sunday service, with an emphasis on sermon writing. This seminar will be facilitated by Jay Cohen, a member of our congregation and previous participant of Shared Pulpit. The seminar is limited to 5 participants and we will offer gentle feedback to each other as writings are shared. There are 8 sessions that will meet on various Monday evenings from August 22 to November 21. The first 6 sessions will meet on Zoom and the last 2 sessions will meet in person at Unity Temple. You can see the seminar description and full calendar of sessions here. If you are interested in participating, you can find the registration form here.
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MyHAT Small Support Group Meeting
This group is for people living with mental illness and those who care about them. We practice deep sharing and deep listening. Participation is confidential. We are always open to new participants. Next meeting is on Monday, August 22 at 7pm in-person wearing masks at Gale House, the house immediately south of Unity Temple on Kenilworth in Oak Park. If you would like to join the in-person meeting through Zoom, please contact myhat@unitytemple.org and a team member will arrange the Zoom and send the link.
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All are Welcome!
Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 3pm, former UTUUC intern minister, mandi huizenga will be ordained into Unitarian Universalist Ministry
followed immediately by her Installation as Minister of DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church.
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Annual Women's Connection BBQ
Attention all women of UTUUC! You are invited to attend the annual Women's Connection BBQ at Jenny Earlandson's backyard Sunday, August 28. All are welcome to join a meeting at 2:30pm to learn more and share ideas about our next Women's Retreat in February 2023. We are looking for retreat committee members. At 4pm, we will be serving food. Please bring a dish to share. The committee will be providing grilling items and some drinks. You need not be on the committee to share in the food and fun. For more information, email
womensconnection@unitytemple.org.
Hope to see you then!
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What Grows in Your Garden?
As gardeners, we are proud of the plants we grow. Flowers, bulbs and plants we tend become part of our lives. We want to see them thrive and when they thrive we want to share their beauty with the world! If you are a growing enthusiast with flowering accomplishments to share, please send us photos so that we can admire and share them with our UTUUC community. Send a description of your plants along with a photo to photos@unitytemple.org. We will post photos on a rolling basis as they come in throughout the growing season.
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As we previously shared, Ann Cooke died on June 22, 2022 at the age of 75. Plans for a lay led celebration of Ann's life have been put in place. It will be held at Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation on Saturday, August 27 from 1-3pm.
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Registration is Open for Religious Education! 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.
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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.
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Movies with Meaning is Back! As Unity Temple practices theme based ministry, Movies with Meaning offers the congregation an example of each month’s theme through a familiar, friendly and popular medium sharing the experience in community. For our August theme Balance, we are screening Silver Linings Playbook (R), a story about life and illness throwing us out of balance and out of connection. You can view the trailer here. Join us at 1019 South Blvd on Friday, August 19 at 6:30pm, movie starts at 7pm. Masks required at this gratis event. All are welcome! For more information email adultre@unitytemple.org. |
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
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Unity Temple Faith In Action Network
Spiritually Grounded / Deeply Relational / Strategically Effective
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OFFERING : UU Advocacy Network of Illinois, UUANI
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.
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VoteLove In 2020, Unity Temple reached 17,000 voters with postcards and phone banking! Nationwide, UU’s reached more than 3 million voters, and have set a goal of reaching 4 million this year! Join us to contact disenfranchised voters via letter writing and postcards, 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 community hour to receive letter writing packets or contact votelove@unitytemple.org to request a packet. Together we can protect our democracy!
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Ban Assault Weapons in Illinois! Illinois Representatives have a bill in their docket to ban assault weapons in Illinois: HB5522 would ban the possession and sale of assault weapons in Illinois, making it harder for those who would wish to do harm to others to get their hands on these kinds of weapons. NOW is the time to get this bill moving!
Look here to find your representative.
Find out here if your representative is supporting HB5522. If your rep has co-sponsored HB5522, send a “Thank you" here. If your rep has not signed on, urge them to do so here.
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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.
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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 you would like to learn more please contact UTUUC member and child advocate, Erin Mackinney, of our Immigration Justice team immigration@unitytemple.org
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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.
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Faith in Action Newsletter
We invite you to subscribe to our monthly Faith in Action newsletter filled with impactful actions. Please subscribe here. Questions? Contact Rev. Colleen, Assistant Minister for Faith in Action cvahey@unitytemple.org.
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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:
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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!
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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.
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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
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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!
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