Friday January 21
7:00pm Circle Social
Sunday January 23
9:00am Coffee with Questions
9:00am Chalice Circle
10:45am Online Service
12:00pm Religious Education
12:15pm Inquirers
7:00pm Chalice Circle
Monday January 24
12:00pm Lunch with the Minister
6:00pm Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times
Tuesday January 25
9:30am Pledge Team
7:30pm Mindfulness
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Wednesday January 26
7:00pm Membership Development
7:00pm Choir Rehearsal
Thursday January 27
8:00am Men's Breakfast
1:30pm Mindfulness
7:00pm Spiritual Practices
Some activities are offered onsite. Check with the group leader for venue information.
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The Road to Hell
Sunday, January 23, 2022
10:45am
Rev. Jenn Gracen
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We judge ourselves by our intention and others by their impact. What does this mean for us in our day to day lives?
- Speaker: Rev. Jenn Gracen
- Worship Leader: George “Kaz” Kazlusky
- Chalice Lighter: Judy Beyer
After the service we will have coffee hour social time in breakout rooms. We offer Faith Forward Inquirers for newcomers using the same link 12:15-1:15pm.
We conduct our services live on the Zoom platform to allow for a more interactive experience. You will need to have the free Zoom app on your device and have it updated to the latest version. www.zoom.us
Problems with Zoom? You are in Zoom but can’t hear anything? You can hear but you can’t see? You can’t open the chat to get help? During Sunday services, you can call or text 815-669-0403 and a member of the tech team will try to help.
Meeting ID: 847 0286 6562 Passcode: 929464
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Congregational Events and News |
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Stay ’n Play
Every Monday at noon. Lunch with the Minister.
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Circle Social Tonight
Are you wishing you had more social time with your TOLUUC friends?? Do you wish you knew more about your fellow TOLUUC family? The Membership Development Committee has a remedy for that! Circle Social Hour is here. Like Circle Dinners, we gather monthly for fun conversation and fellowship. Join us with a cup of tea, power smoothie, glass of wine...we won't ask what's in your mug, just how you are.
Circle Social Hour will take place on Zoom. Participants will be placed in smaller groups randomly and mixed up every month to offer you an opportunity to meet and get to know others. Our next one will take place on Friday, January 21st at 7 pm CT. Zoom link information https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89319390604?pwd=c0dvR0x3eUdQdGVvWlhxWVVtY09pQT09 Meeting ID: 893 1939 0604 Passcode: 695453
As with Circle Dinners, we’d like you to sign up each month in advance so we can randomize our groups, however ‘drop ins’ on the evening are always welcome! To register your place please RSVP to Lora Cantele
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Religious Education
Calendar
1/9/2022 Classes resume online
3/27/2022 No RE Spring Break
4/3/2022 No RE Spring Break
5/1/2022 Spring Event (please mark your calendars to attend!)
5/8/2022 No RE Mother’s Day
Last Day of RE TBD
Winter Zoom classes will be held from noon to 12:45 on Sundays
Volunteers needed!
Zoom teachers
In-person teachers (when applicable)
Coming of Age facilitators
There is a great need for teachers this Spring, especially as we return to in-person learning. Please contact Heather to find the best fit for helping out! 815-509-7862 (text) or email hmmadaus@gmail.com
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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 meet online Sundays from 12:15-1:15pm using the same link as the Sunday service. These sessions are the main path to learning more about us and membership.
January 23 - Faith Development for Children & Adults
January 30 - Worship & Liturgical Year
Sessions repeat throughout the year and can be taken in any order. Questions? Contact Judy at office@treeoflifeuu.org
Beyond Inquirers
Have you completed the Inquirers Series? Are you seeking a way to deepen your learning and engagement with the congregation? Beyond Inquirers is a five-session series on the Faith Forward Path focused on the congregation and you – offering a deeper understanding of how the congregation works and how you can be part of it. Join us on the first Thursday each month at 7pm online. You can still join us even if you missed the first session. Facilitators: Judy Stettner and Ted Funn. The following is the Beyond Inquirers schedule:
January 6th- What do UUs believe?
February 3rd- Is this a new religion?
March 3rd- How do we ‘do church’?
April 7th- How do we live our lives?
May 5th- Does it matter if I join?
For more information about our Faith Forward Path, go to https://treeoflifeuu.org/faith-forward-comes-to-tree-of-life/
Join us on Zoom
Meeting ID: 880 6590 1479
Passcode: 562650
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Faith Forward: Introduction to Spiritual Practices Beginning January 20th.
As human beings we naturally search for meaning as we seek to understand our relationship with others, with ourselves, and with life around us. We gather meaning by exploring and examining our experiences and when our quest for meaning is intentional, we often call it a spiritual practice.
Please join us, as together we survey practice avenues that are used for a “free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” (our 4th UU principle). First offered in spring of 2020, this Faith Forward introductory program is again available beginning January 20. The 12-session series gives participants the opportunity to look at many possible ways for exploring what is meaningful and how we connect to the sacred. The program affirms religious diversity while seeking unity in our communal quest for meaning and wholeness.
This drop-in program will meet every Thursday except the first Thursday of the month (when Faith Forward Beyond Inquirers is meeting). Each session creates a forum for learning, sharing, and growth that can enrich our personal faith journeys. Join us on Thursdays at 7:00pm by CLICKING HERE
The following is the Spiritual Practice schedule:
January 20 Defining Spiritual Practice
January 27 Finding your Spiritual Practice
February 10 Keeping Sabbath
February 17 Prayer
February 24 Meditation
March 10 Mindful Walking and Eating
March 17 Worship and Ritual
March 24 Discernment and Devotional Reading
March 31 Hospitality and Belonging
April 14 Work and Service
April 21 Retreat
April 28 Life as Spiritual Practice
You can drop in on these sessions anytime; they do not need to be taken in order. We will attempt to make this program regularly available. We encourage you to sign up before you attend by emailing office@treeoflifeuu.org so materials and suggestions can be sent to you ahead of time. Facilitators: M.E. Tanabe, Irene Raven, and Maureen Skuban.
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Please Join the Tech Team
We need a couple more volunteers on our tech team. Are you willing to help admit people to the service in Zoom and help monitor microphones? This is needed now. Are you interested in helping out in our new sound and video booth once we are back in the building? We will provide the training. If you are willing to try, contact Judy Stettner. office@treeoflifeuu.org or 256-682-1119
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We need Filter-Builders
In order to be sure we are breathing clean(er) air when we return to gathering in our building, we need to add filtration.
We have a plan to build very simple "Corsi-Rosenthal" boxes. A box can be built by one person, but will be easier with an extra set of hands.
We have everything you need to build one! Please let Heather Madaus know that you are interested, and we will arrange for pick up or delivery. We only have 8 kits, so we will hand them out on a first come, first served basis.
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Community Connections are at Your Fingertips
Breeze is our online membership tool. It includes our directory, our events calendar, and giving portal. It is an up to date directory that can travel with you on your smart phone- very handy! But sometimes it can be hard to log in if you don't remember your username. It is not your email! It is usually some variation of your name that you set up. If you cannot remember, you can get that information from the office. To log in go to https://treeoflifeuu.breezechms.com/
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Join the men’s group every Thursday morning at 8am in the
Double Yolk Café on the Woodstock Square. We eat and talk
Until 9:30-10am. Late arrival or early departure is acceptable.
GPS: 117 E Van Buren St.
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The January meeting of the Men's Group will be held on Thursday January 27 at the home of Randy Meyer at 676 Dane Street in Woodstock. Let Randy know if you'll be attending by texting, calling, or emailing to 815-347-5504 or rjmeyer315@yahoo.com. Lasagna, salad, French bread and a dessert will be served along with a limited selection of beer and wine. Feel free to bring some munchies! We will engage in the lively art of conversation with with the intent to share, educate, entertain and amuse each other with our stories and experiences that may even contain a modicum of truth! Join us!
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Our next Book Club meeting will be held on Friday evening at 7:00 pm on February 4. Unless the Covid situation changes drastically, we’ll once again meet on Zoom only. And once again, we’ll be reading about a pandemic - but not Covid. This month’s selection is Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell. “In 1580s England, during the Black Plague, a young Latin tutor falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman in this “exceptional historical novel…” (The New Yorker) "Of all the stories that argue and speculate about Shakespeare’s life...here is a novel...so gorgeously written that it transports you." (The Boston Globe) Join us to talk about this timely novel. For any questions, contact Ivy at 815-451-1426 or isitkoski@gmail.com.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 521 385 171
Passcode: 730531
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Second Sunday Collections— In January the collection was for the Family Health Partnership Clinic. In February it will be Home of the Sparrow.
For information on Side with Love Reproductive Rights Campaign, Side with Love Build Back Better and Voting Rights Campaign, Immigration Justice, Fully Free Campaign, Prison Ministry, and other Social Justice Team initiatives, contact Patrick Murfin.
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Compassion for Campers— The Community Empowerment Shower collaborative service events at Willow Crystal Lake, 100 S. Main. The next Shower events is today, Friday, January 21 from 10 am to 2 pm and then on Friday February 4 at the same time. We continue to need donations to order more supplies for those events. Thanks for your continued generous support. Money donations can be made to TOLUUC by check with Compassion for Campers on the memo line or donate online here.
We have been asked again to donate to a county-wide fund for cold weather emergency hotel rooms. We were unable to raise money for this over the past months as we had hoped. The Social Justice Team will donate $200 of its annual $300 budget. If you would like to add to this use the usual donations methods above and note emergency cold weather fund. Thanks.
People in Need Forum scheduled for Saturday, January 29 from 8 am to 1 pm. at McHenry County College has been moved to a virtual, on-line event due to Covid 19 Omicron infection rates. It will be on the special events site Whova. Must register at Whova to participate here. Compassion for Campers will still participate.
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Women’s March Global 2022 |
Events and activities begin today and run through March 8. They write: This January 21st, let’s unite again in solidarity to begin a new phase of activism.
January 21st’s march will show our solidarity and strength once again. Even though we come from different places and we have different struggles, we all have the same overarching goal for equality and justice. As Audre Lorde said, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own” and so, this January 21st, show up and fight, not only for yourself but also for your sisters. Follow us and be one of the first to know how you can take part – either on the streets or in the comfort of your home. #WeWontBackDown https://fb.me/e/1OFzPllFV
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Join us via Zoom this Sunday, January 23 at 9 am CDT, for another lively discussion. Grab your favorite beverage in the comfort of your own home and prepare for some food or the soul.
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Ted Funn shared his joy that his wife is recovering from COVID. Best wishes for a continued recovery, Emily.
James Carpenter shared he lost his mom at the beginning of December and his son at the end of February. May we all hold James in our hearts for these very hard losses.
Lisa Campagnolo was thinking of all the synagogues that are on extra awareness in these trying times now and to come.
Gloria Van Hof celebrated the life and teachings of MLK and her mother who share a birthday and same year. Grateful for them both.
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
January Birthdays
Blossom Broussard Jan. 4
Andy Myers Jan. 5
Whit Sears Jan. 6
Thomas Steffens Jan. 16
Joaquin Patino Jan. 16
Aiden Benson Jan. 19
Deb Glaubke Jan. 26
Katie Mikkelson Jan. 27
Ross Relic Jan. 28
Mary Robinson Jan. 28
January Anniversaries
Penny & Paul Krieg Jan. 11
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Side With Love invites you to join our annual celebration of love, faith and justice.
In 2022, 30 Days of Love will focus on Side With Love’s four intersectional justice priorities, with opportunities each week for communities and people of all ages to ground, grow, and act together for justice.
Each week, we will share a ‘playlist’ of activities and resources for individuals to interact with, connected with our weekly theme. There will be full playlists for multigenerational families/communities, as well as many activities for general adult audiences, categorized as Read, Watch, Act, Listen, or Worship.
- Week 1: January 17 - 23 – Reproductive, Gender, & LGBTQIA+ Justice
- Week 2: January 24 - 30 – Democracy & Voting Rights
- Week 3: January 31 - February 6 – Decriminalization & Racial Justice
- Week 4: February 7 - 14 – Climate Justice
- Side With Love Sunday: February 14
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VIRTUAL Seminary for a Day on Saturday, January 29, at First Unitarian Portland. This year’s spiritual theme is entitled, Doing the Inner Work of Racial Justice.
Our keynote speaker is Rev. Abhi Janamanchi who serves as the Senior Minister of the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, Maryland. He describes himself as a Hindu-Unitarian Universalist and says that his Unitarian Universalism makes him a better Hindu.
If you are engaged in the work of racial justice and long for spiritual connection in this work, join us for this year’s virtual Seminary For A Day.
This is an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of how racism has shaped our UU faith and our congregations; how structural racism still operates today, often unnoticed; and what is involved in cultivating Beloved Community and working against racism and oppression in all of its forms.
We will practice mindfulness meditation, conversation, and experiential exercises that get to the heart of healing internalized racism and being anti-racist. We will seek to create brave space, engage in courageous conversations on what is healing and what is harming racial justice, and rest in restorative meditation and embodied practices.
Details: Saturday, January 29, 2022
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time
10:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time
11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Central Standard Time
12:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
Registration is open until 11:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on Friday, January 29th. You will receive a Zoom link via email before the event.
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Monthly Gathering for Trans and Nonbinary UUs of All Ages
Tuesday, January 25, 2022 | 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT
Join the UPLIFT monthly gatherings focused on trans, nonbinary, and other not (completely or at all) cis UUs. Join us to connect with other trans/nonbinary UUs and co-create support and community across our faith. All you need to bring is yourself (and other trans/nonbinary friends, if you’d like)! These gatherings focus on getting to know each other and on sharing our collective dreams, ideas, and talents for this space. Expansive definitions of trans, nonbinary, and UU all apply. If you are interested in this space, and you aren’t cisgender, it’s a space for you. Learn more and register here.
2021-2022 Taproot: National BIPOC Space, Second Thursdays
Spring dates are Feb. 10, Mar. 10, Apr. 14, May 12 | 8-9:15 pm ET / 5-6:15 pm PT
Black, Indigenous and People of Color Leaders rooted in the Unitarian Universalist congregations are invited to take part in this monthly, virtual gathering as we explore the pillars of rest and renewal, analysis building, and leadership development in creating means by which to ground ourselves in resilient communities of care. This space is explicitly for people identifying as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPoC). Learn more and register here.
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Rev. Jenn Gracen
Interim Minister
Judy Stettner
Congregational Administrator
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Heather Madaus
Director of Lifespan Learning
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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