COVID-19 – Updates and Resources 

"THE SHAPE OF A DOG"

Sunday, January 10 at 10:15 a.m. via Livestream

Dogs and humans impact one another’s lives in numerous ways. In this service, the Worship Committee will offer both a celebration of all the ways that a dog weaves itself into a human life, and a meditation on loss and grief. If you have a picture of a current or former dog whose memory you would like to honor, please send it, with the dog’s name, to Sam Beshers (beshers@illinois.edu) and we will include it in a special part of the service.

Please send your joys or sorrows to joysandsorrows@uucuc.org any time before the Joys and Sorrows portion of the service. They will be read aloud.

Join our online Zoom Fellowship Hour after the service on Sunday (around 11:30 a.m.). Come chat with UUCUC members and friends! All are welcome.

If you have missed any of the previous live streamed services, you can view them at our past streamed services page. You can also view previous live streamed services on our YouTube channel.

Sunday, January 17 at 10:15 a.m. via Livestream

How do we, as UUs, truly become the liberatory, anti-racist faith we long to be? The Commission on Institutional Change spent three years looking deeply at how we continue to perpetuate systemic racism within and outside our congregations, interviewing hundreds of UUs about their experience as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color within UU communities. From that work came a revolutionary document called Widening the Circle of Concern. Learn more about what it might mean for us here to “widen the circle of concern” and become the community we long to be. We will have a special musical guest, the local singer/songwriter Drake Materre.

Bookmark our UUCUC Events and UUCUC Calendar webpages for future reference.

The music committee is seeking performers! Deadline for submission is February 1.

Human Rights and Immigration Discussion - January 25

We were blown away by the generosity of those in the congregation and the community who donated to the Christmas Eve Shared Offering and the UU Utilities Fund after the News-Gazette and WCIA reported on it! Our initial tally and first check we sent to Cunningham Township totaled $7,042.83!

Holiday Greetings from Michele, Andy and Helena! We hope you enjoyed some moments of peace, inspiration and connection in this most unusual holiday season.

Michele is out of the office from December 29 to January 11 honoring one week of vacation and one week of study leave. If you need any assistance, feel free to reach out to Kendra Gibson, UUCUC’s religious education assistant at re-assistant@uucuc.org.

Watch for some great new programs and announcements once Michele returns to the office on Tuesday, January 12th. Great things are afoot!

New adult religious education offerings for 2021 have been announced in the Adult Religious Education Prospectus earlier this month. It promises to be a fun semester of classes, workshops, discussion and creative learning. If you are one of the 98 adults who participated in one of UUCUC’s adult learning experiences, please tell others about your experience. These classes are not restricted to UUCUC members and friends. The community is encouraged to attend.

Please consider donating to the Little Free Pantries run by Julie Laut and AJ Herzog, which they have kept active daily since late spring. In order to address increased and unique needs this winter, they have created an Amazon wish list. All items will be delivered to Julie's house and shared between the two pantries. Donations of all items will continue to be accepted as usual at both locations, if you want to bring them in person.

Thank you for your support and generosity ~ Julie and AJ

If it would be helpful to have someone deliver groceries for you, we have several folks who have volunteered to do this. Contact Julie Laut at: jlaut@hushmail.com or 513-544-2682 & she’ll put you in touch with a volunteer.

UUCUC'S "BUDDY SYSTEM"

During this time of social distancing, staying in touch and checking in with each other is going to be very important. We hope you will consider being part of our "Buddy System" so we can care for one another.

You can sign up here: https://uucuc.breezechms.com/form/2184f1. Buddies will check in with each other regularly by phone to provide connection, companionship, and connections to help if needed. This is a great way to help each other.

JOYS AND SORROWS sent to joysandsorrows@uucuc.org for last Sunday, January 3.

From Rev. Florence Caplow: Jessica Augustson's mother, Mary Augustson, passed away at Carle hospital on Thursday, December 31st, from complications due to COVID-19. We are holding Jessica and her family in love. Nan Ehrlich, a long-time member of UUCUC, passed away on January 1st. Click on this link to read her obituary.

From Mick McEnroe: You all may know me by a few different names: Marie, Ree, or Mick McEnroe. Although I am not ready to share this with the world at large yet, I am ready to ask everyone at UUCUC to refer to me as Mick and use he/him pronouns. Though I'm facing a lot of challenges and uncertainty, this is overall a positive thing for me. For now, I am only sharing with close friends, family, and the UUCUC community. My hope is that you all can share in my excitement in this positive step forward.

From Tim Temple & Jerry Carden: Tim's mother, Florence Temple, left us at 11 pm on New Year's Eve, in her Urbana home. We were privileged to be with her, and have Tim's sister Deborah help ease Florence's passing on speakerphone from St. Louis. She was 94 and had a very good life. Thanks to all for your kind words and caring thoughts.

From Amy Hassinger: Joy for two happy weeks with our oldest child, Jamie, home from college. It was such a blessing to spend that good time together, even if we couldn't be with our extended family.

From Beth Simpson: Sorrow at the loss of my dear friends cat, Trouble. Trouble was an important part of my friends heart healing; and she passed with love among friends.

Joy at spending 3 hours outside with friends on New Year’s Eve and not feeling cold, even at 28 degrees, with all the friendship

From Karen Retzer: Joy for the UUCUC meditation time and space on Sunday mornings before the service. Gratitude for all those who attend.

From Jim and Sandy Hannum: We are saddened by the death of Jessica Augustson's mother and Tim Temple's mother.

From Jenny Hunt and Kristi Mercer: Kristi’s older sister Jean passed Saturday morning, January 2. Her family was able to be with her and she passed peacefully.

Please send your joys or sorrows to joysandsorrows@uucuc.org any time before the Joys and Sorrows portion of the service. They will be read aloud.

UUCUC Social Action Offering. Each month a selected organization is chosen to receive offerings from our congregation. You may donate to the social action offering for the month in one of the following ways:

During the month of January, we will support Eastern Illinois Foodbank with our social action offering. The Eastern Illinois Foodbank is the primary food source for food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other programs working to feed the hungry. The Foodbank acquires millions of pounds of food and grocery product through purchase or donation and distributes it across our network of more than 160 feeding programs. Together, we’re working to create a hunger-free eastern Illinois. By partnering with EIF, emergency food programs are able to save millions of dollars each year in food purchase and handling costs. These savings allow them to focus their efforts and funds on more effectively working to alleviate hunger in our area. The Foodbank also operates programs targeted to children, seniors and veterans. Learn more about their programs here.

During the month of December 2020, our partner churches were selected to be the recipient of the shared offering. As of December 29, the UUCUC congregation has contributed a total of $2,415!

Dates are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, visit our UUCUC Calendar page.

As of March 2020, the UUCUC building closed as a preventative measure to minimize the spread of the COVID-19 virus in our community. All upcoming scheduled meetings and events at UUCUC listed on the calendar should be considered virtual unless noted otherwise. At this time, we are strongly recommending that no groups meet in person.

Last day for content: Tuesday, January 12 by 5pm at the latest.

Read our policy on publications for details.

IMPORTANT! Send your submittals to pubs@uucuc.org

Please do not send to admin@uucuc.org.

Closed until further notice

Need reimbursement for a purchase or two made on behalf of a committee project? Fill out this online reimbursement form, which will go to the DCA, and submit your receipts via email, if applicable.