Reports

UUCE 2005-2006 ANNUAL REPORT

The Annual Report for 2005-2006 has been divided into four sections Board of Trustees, Worship and Shared Ministry, Programming and Administration. Each section contains reports from many of the staff, committees, councils and teams who perform the work of our church in those areas. Thanks to all who have volunteered at UUCE this year.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Dan Hislip, President

The Church Year ’05-’06 was a busy and productive period for the Board of Trustees, utilizing both regular monthly and special meetings to accomplish the church’s business. The primary focus of all the time committed was the adjusting the Board focus under the new governance policy and dividing matters appropriately between the Board and the Executive Team. Other highlights rewriting policies to ensure a more strategic focus, dedicating more time and attention to the finances of the church, including new financial reporting and a revamping of the gifting policy. The Board also continued to redefine various positions of the Church and worked on personnel matters. Finally, the Board began the organization of a Board calendar. A lot of the Board’s concerns during this year centered on the clean up of the broader decisions of the previous year.

Another area in which the Board was involved during the last year includes its monthly work in monitoring the Strategic plan to ensure its progress by both commitment of people and funds, as well as its monitoring of the year’s Budget and its contribution to the emphasis and funding for next year’s Budget. The Board monitored the work of a task force to address the feasibility of adding a Second Service and to research the issues involved in building out the Third Floor. Ultimately the latter was accomplished and the former was deferred pending further studies. The Board-created Personnel Subcommittee continued to work for proper terms and conditions for our employees, to ensure fairness and parity in the salaries paid to church employees.

The Board spent a great deal of time early in the year addressing issues surrounding the cell tower, ultimately selling the lease and paying down the debt to the church member who had made a loan.

On a personal basis, I was extremely pleased and grateful to work with a group of Trustees who were never afraid to speak their minds and always tried to seek answers which were best for the church. These folks will never be accused of being rubber stamps and the decisions made bespeak of a careful consideration of all issues to make a thoughtful. I was saddened by the resignation of Karen Olisch-Williams as Trustee in the winter and was appreciative of Lydia Larrabee’s assumption of the position. In addition, I thankfully appreciate the contributions of the all of the departing Board members and look forward to the continued contribution of the remainder of the Board on behalf of the church. Best of luck to all.

Respectfully submitted,
Dan Hislip
Board President


WORSHIP AND SHARED MINISTRY

MINISTER
The Reverend Dan Brosier

Building a community is an evolving process involving many steps. Most of the steps are small and mundane—many unnoticed by the majority. But over time the many small steps, the many individual and group contributions, bring us closer to our vision of what we want to be.

We are a different church than we were 10 years ago. We are larger and more complex. We have a new governance structure. We have more staff—volunteer and paid. A number of our long-time members are no longer with us, and many new (hopefully to become long-time) members are. We have worked through some of the old challenges and now face the new.

Over the past year we have worked together to accomplish a number of things. A few that stand out in my mind include the following:

• We have finished the third floor. It has been a decade since we moved into this building, and after a number of building campaigns we have finally completed our space. That is a milestone.
• We have seen new groups and activities rise up out of the community—more than I can keep track of.
• We have created the Wednesday evening Eat and Meet. This program has been very successful offering more opportunity for individuals and families to get to know one another and participate in various church programs and committees.
• We have created an Executive Team of dedicated thoughtful volunteers and staff who manage the day to day operations of this church.
• We have outside doors that consistently close by themselves. This isn’t probably a big thing to most people but it is a big relief to me. For several years these doors haven’t worked right thus leading them to frequently not close all the way, thus leading them to be found open by late night sheriff patrols checking the building, thus requiring I be called in the middle of the night to come out and check the building with the deputies.
• We have found that our local fire department will burn our prairie for us as needed. Again, probably not a concern for most people, but from an administrative perspective having this figured out is quite a relief.
• We have a Sunday morning adult RE program that continues to be a center of interest and community.
• We are running out of space on Sunday mornings—particularly parking.
• We have expanded our summer service schedule and saw a significant increase in attendance during many of those services.
• We have begun to use the second floor vestibule as a gallery for local artists to display their work.
• We have a Sunday morning childcare program that is bustling with children and activity many Sunday mornings.
• We raised nearly $3,500 for Gulf Coast relief efforts in the wake of hurricane Katrina.
• We began a process to study how we can create more space for those looking for a religious community like ours.
• We have as a community reached out on numerous occasions to give support to members in times of crisis or loss.

Not too bad of a year I would say. All this becomes part of the foundation upon which we will build in the coming year. And on we go.

CARE TEAM
Shirley Wolin, Team Leader

This is the third year for the Care Team. We meet at the church every other month, on the first Tuesday at 11:30 am. The membership is divided into neighborhoods, with a team member responsible for each neighborhood.

Esther Hermann, Kathy Hislip, Helen Maxwell and Linda Porter resigned from our team in 2005-2006. Louette Rogers joined the team, which includes Alice Macy, Pat Pecho, Bonnie Schwank and Shirley Wolin. We are in the process of recruiting new members for our team.

Throughout the year the neighborhood coordinators have been sending out cards, plants and flowers to members who are in the hospital, have lost a loved one, have had a baby, and other special events. In lieu of flowers, we have occasionally contributed to memorial funds. We have also provided other services to our members and friends as needed. The team has assisted with one memorial service and one funeral this year.

COMMITTEE ON THE MINISTRY
Leslie Sawyer, Chair

The members of the committee during 2005-2006 were: Leslie Sawyer (chair), Brandi Talaga, Laurie Kiesewetter, Joe Masonick, Kathy Underwood, and Dan Brosier

The committee developed a mission statement that reads as follows:

The mission of the Committee On the Ministry is to nurture and strengthen the ministry of the church by:

1. Maintaining healthy relationships involving staff, committee and congregation
   
2. Clarifying roles and priorities of staff
   
3. Reminding the church community of its mission and covenant
   
4. Working with and advocating for the Minister and DRE regarding continuing education/professional development
   
5. Assisting the church community in the continuing development of leadership (lay, staff and ministerial) by providing educational opportunities
6. Supporting the Minister and DRE as needed

COM has worked to fulfill this role by:

1. Providing new committee chair/church leader training in the fall of 2005
   
2. Assisting the Developer/Presenters of the Fall Leadership Retreat
   
3. Improving prominence of UUCE Mission and Covenant statements
   
4. Selection of two candidates for Mid-West Leadership School
   
5. Working with and supporting the Minister and DRE with developing professional/personal goals
   
6. Providing a “sounding-board” for committee chairs and church leaders needing support

HANDBELLS
Margot Cusimano – BellDiva

Handbell ringing is alive and well at the UUC of E - 23 ringers in three choirs ranging in age from 6 to 69 years old. We have rung for two All Music Sundays and five other Sundays during the church year. Again this year we did not attend the Illinois Spring Ring as it fell on the same weekend as the Spring All Music Sunday.

Barn Bells Two - seven beginning ringers meet from 6:45 to 7:15 each Wednesday evening to learn the basics of ringing techniques and music theory. This group has provided beautiful music for services on five separate occasions this year. Enthusiasm runs high and attendance at rehearsals has been very good. We hope to ring a piece soon where all in attendance will immediately recognize the melodic line.

Barn Bells One - six intermediate ringers meet from 7:15 to 8:15 each Wednesday evening to continue to improve ringing skills and prepare music for Sunday services. This group needs one, maybe two new ringers to complete the two octaves, but being short ringers makes it necessary for all ringers to learn to be flexible about position placement and to learn to shelley and four in hand. Has provided music for six Sunday services.

Unichords - thirteen advanced ringers meet and rehearse every Sunday AM from 9AM to 10:30AM to provide music for Sunday services and an occasional "gig" outside the church. We ring on five octaves of bells and three octaves of chimes and have concentrated this year on Level 4 and 5 music so as to give us all a challenge and to wow the congregation when we perform. Enthusiasm is high, no one ever complains about the music or sharing bells or not enough space for all the bass bells. In all seriousness - this is a great group of ringers.

We ring on five octaves of Malmark Handbells and three octaves of Malmark Choirchimes and one (borrowed) Shulmerich F3. This year a member of the congregation, Chris Leyba, made us some new mallets which are perfectly suited to our needs and we really appreciate his gift. The hinges on the trapezoid tables break with alarming frequency, but were all tightened and repaired this spring by Mr. Carey and crew. The bottom four bells are on loan from Libertyville HS and will no doubt have to be sent back after the church year is over.

This year I managed to stay under budget - every penny was spent on purchasing sheet music.

WORSHIP COMMITTEE
Elise Wall, Chair

Committee members during 2005-2006 were: Susan Anderson, Paul Anderson, Dan Brosier, Karen Olesch-Williams (Chair through December, 2005), Elizabeth Olson, and Elise Wall. Karen took a leave of absence from the committee beginning in January 2006. Elise and Susan took over as Co-Chairs at that time.

The Worship Committee continued to use information gleaned from the previous years’ survey as a guide in developing lay led services. We led a total of sixteen services between June 2005 and May 2006. This included the addition of two summer services, bringing the total number of summer services to seven. We have addressed the desire of the congregation for “more spirituality” through the addition of “Quieting” time during each service. We also conducted a ritual of remembrance in March to recognize those loved ones who have passed away. Our intention is to make this an annual service.

Other highlights include:

• Maintained a collection of three emergency services in case Dan or a guest speaker cannot make it.
• Water Communion service in September led by Dan Brosier.
• Led the annual Deck the Halls service.
• Led a New Year’s Eve family service with party and bonfire following.
• Facilitated Bob Sandidge and Anne Ward’s service on The Theology of Kurt Vonnegut
• Presented another This I Believe service featuring three members of the congregation.

Respectfully submitted by Elise C. Wall, Worship Committee Co-Chair


ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

ADMINISTRATION

CHURCH ADMINISTRATOR
Linda Porter

This has been a busy year for our church office and the administrative functions at UUCE. In an attempt to better support our committees, team, and new programming, the office developed a number of new organizational tools. These include 1) forms to assist staff and volunteers in getting things done; 2) the implementation of a new on-line calendar which allows access to a current calendar at any time during the church year; and 3) better organization of supplies. The latter was greatly enhanced by the completion of excellent new storage space on the third floor. On the other hand, this was also a year that saw increased costs in almost every area from stamps to propane. Our costs for services such as cleaning and grounds work also increased. We continue to work on ways to make our office work more efficient and cost effective.

I would like to thank the many volunteers at UUCE for their cooperation and support in this time of change and growth. In particular, my thanks to the following: Jackie Van De Warker for her continued work as volunteer Office Manager; the Programming Council for their assistance with the development of a new process for scheduling church related events; Todd Underwood for getting the new on-line calendar up and running, along with his usual great work as Web Master and Unichord Editor; Pat Pecho for taking over as Membership Coordinator and making the job of welcoming our members seem easy; Bob Sandidge for his willingness to share his expertise with the church as leader of the PR Team; Bonnie Schwank for assisting with the church directory; Kevin Webster for his continued role as e-list manager; Andy Carey for creating shelves in many of our closets and for all the other projects he tackles each year for our building; Cheren Waller for keeping our kitchen up and running on Sundays and during special events; Mila Brinker for applying her creative flair to the aesthetics of the church and for beginning a wonderful new series of art exhibits on the second floor; and Jim Porter for his leadership of the mowing team and grounds.

2006-2007 will bring more changes to our administration team with the selection and hiring of a new Church Administrator. Jim and I have purchased a new home in Danville, Kentucky, and hope to re-locate there sometime in 2006. Until that time, I will continue in my role as Church Administrator and will work with the new Church Administrator to make the transition as smooth as possible.

AESTHETICS TEAM
Mila Brinker, Team Leader

This past year was spent discussing, making decisions and implementing the following:

• Had bathroom floors replaced on first floor with environmentally healthy materials.
• Worked with covenant group on color scheme for nursery and preschool rooms.
• Had closing words printed outside of sanctuary.
• Organized speakers for Art of the Soul, Tim King, Margo Cussimano and Cheren Waller.
• Organized Fellowship Hall for artists to display their work for Art of the Soul.
• Had First Sanctuary Gallery showing which coincided with Art of the Soul. Our first artist church member was Tim King.
• Moved aesthetics storage into new closet on third floor.
• Purchased greens and decorated front door planters for winter season.
• Purchased for nursery; two book shelves and two storage units for bathroom. This will be paid for by Alice Macy’s covenant group.
• Painted foyer with Norm Wilkinson, Bob Jackson, Day Waterman and Sandy Webster.Acquired sample system for hanging artwork in Sanctuary Gallery. Discussed with Andy Carey.
• Purchased large grape vine wreath and spring flowers for church.

Our aesthetics team members are Mila Brinker, Linda Porter, Kathy Hislip Jim Burnidge and Joy Shores.

BUILDING TEAM
Andy Carey, Team Leader

Listed below are items that were done on the building during the last fiscal year:

1. New storage shelves built in the office closet and in the storage rooms on the 3rd floor.
2. New linoleum in the men’s and women’s bathrooms on the 1st floor.
3. New toilet installed in the women’s 1st floor bathroom.
4. Repairs to the double front and side entry doors.
5. Door props installed on the 3rd floor.

We continue to have a slight glitch with the elevator, the next time it stops operating we hope to correct this problem by utilizing a computer diagnostic system that the elevator service company provides.

A thank you goes out to Dan Broiser, Norm Wilkinson and to anyone else who has put time and effort in to help maintain the building.

LANDSCAPE AND GROUNDS TEAM
Submitted by Linda Porter

Members of the Landscape and Grounds Team include:

• Mary Alice Masonick, Fencerow and Rain Garden Planting and Maintenance
• Jim Porter, Grounds and Mowing
• Linda Porter, Maintenance Scheduling and Prairie Oversight
• Stacey Reynolds, Labyrinth Maintenance
• Kathy Underwood, Labyrinth Maintenance and Grounds Work
• Janeen Vanko, Garden Maintenance

Thanks also to our mowers: Paul Anderson, Tim Davis, Carl Deitrick, Mitch Kremer, Joe Masonick, Jim Porter, Janeen Vanko, Phil Webster, and Norm Wilkinson

In the past year, we continued our work on the gardens and prairie as we planted new forbs and grasses from the Kane DuPage Conservation District into the foundation gardens and the prairie. We also transplanted several plants donated by Day Waterman. In addition, a new rain garden was started in the back of the property.

Weed control continues to be a challenge in two areas: the fencerow and the Earth Wisdom Labyrinth. Several people, most notably, Carey Schug, helped pull garlic mustard from the fencerow in the spring. This area will probably be sprayed this year to help control this invasive weed. In addition, a number of volunteers helped weed the labyrinth. We hope to get volunteers this year to spread mulch in the labyrinth to help with week control.

The church gardens received recognition in 2005-2006 from the National Wildlife Federation as a Backyard Habitat and from the Fox Valley Land Foundation as a member of the Heritage Land Registry.

MEMBERSHIP AND WELCOMING TEAM
Pat Pecho, Team Leader

Membership Report: As of May, 2006, we have 155 members. Since May, 2005, 10 new members have joined UUCE. We have lost 15 members this year, primarily due to moves from the Elgin area. We were saddened by the death of Peter Hendry.

We continue to welcome and integrate new members to our congregation by:

• Sponsoring the Welcome Team which welcomes and offers information about our church to new visitors. Welcome team members include, Kathy Hislip, Bob Jackson, Kerry Lantau, Edythe Nagler, Pat Pecho, Linda and Jim Porter, Sandy and Phil Webster and Shirley Wolin.
• Conducting New to UU classes, hosting the Newcomer BBQ, and New Member ceremonies and receptions.

We also liaison with the Care Team to ensure that the special needs of our current members are being met, as well as with Programming Council to help sponsor activities which are open to all of our members and friends.

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Bob Sandidge, Team Leader

Team Members: Bob Sandidge, Todd Underwood, Linda Porter (Anne Ward)

NEWSLETTER AND WEB SITE
In 2005 we have continued to focused on a high quality Newsletter and WebSite. Todd Underwood continues to do an outstanding job with both of those with the ongoing assistance from various writers.

PODCASTING
A major new outreach and public witness platform initiated by the committee this year is the addition of UUCE Podcasts which make our services available to internet listeners around the globe. After some minor start up wrinkles the program is now a regular weekly part of our communications landscape. We will be launching it formally at the beginning of next church year in the fall when we will be adding weekly services to it. In addition to the public witness and outreach benefits, this program also serves shut in’s, Sunday School teachers, former members at a distance, and all of us who miss a service from time to time.

CHICAGOLAND MARKETING INITIATIVE
Bob Sandidge and Anne Ward are active member contributors to The UU Chicagoland Marketing Initiative, a group focused on marketing outreach for the Central Midwest District UU Churches. Bob is a member of the planning committee which is developing strategies and action plans for bringing more attention to UU’s in our district. Bob and Anne have attended two public programs, and presented the UUCE marketing initiative at one of them. The two public presentations, One on Marketing Outreach facilitated by UU Consultant Valerie Holton and another on Public Witness programs presented by John Hurley, Director for Information and Public Witness for the UUA and Rob Keithan, Director, Washington Office for Advocacy, UUA, were attended by from 40 to 60 people working on outreach and public witness for Midwest UU Congregations. This is a very powerful initiative and one that, in my opinion, will benefit UUCE and all member and non-member congregations. UUCE has pledged $2 per member to support this initiative. We are included on the district UU Congregation finder and other public promotional materials.

NEW AVENUES
Our committee has been exploring other ways of public witness for reaching those who may be aligned with the values of UUCE and have been exploring ways to better communicate with and spread the messages of our various programs and committees.

INTERNET
We are tracking many possible new ways of using the internet more effectively to make our church and work more accessible to the “internet generation.” Podcasting is certainly a key presence. Other congregations and individuals are blogging, participating in news and discussion groups and making it easier for new (and established) members to connect and communicate with the congregation through the internet.

Communication is at the core of any community. - both the conversations within the community and the conversations between our community and the larger community. Our commitment is to facilitate and enhance those communications with the many skills and talents available within and without our committee and congregation.

FINANCE

FINANCE COMMITTEE
Dennis Schwank, Chair

The Finance Committee included the Treasurer, Eric Prebys; Finance Coordinator, Alice Macy; Financial Secretary, Carl Deitrick; Dan Brosier, Mike Mitchell and Dennis Schwank, Chair.

The committee reviewed the church’s insurance coverage, and decided to increase the deductible from $500 to $1, 000, thereby saving $300 on the annual premium. (There was also a slight increase in the premium when the third floor was completed. The committee reviewed the church’s earmarked funds, oversaw audits of the financial records, endowment fund and third floor construction expenses and receipts. It oversaw the work of the capital campaign, canvass and auction committees.

The Financial Secretary installed upgrades to QuickBooks, our church accounting system, and downloaded tax tables so that QuickBooks will generate payroll tax reports.

The committee developed a “dream budget” for the Canvass Committee, and then based on the results of the canvass, drafted a budget to submit to the Board and to the congregation at the Annual Meeting.

We have been considering whether to accept credit cards. That investigation continues.

We sent a recommendation to the Board that the bylaws be amended to raise the minimum annual contribution for membership from $50 to $100 per person. We have also begun a discussion on changing the church’s fiscal year.

2006 CANVASS COMMITTEE
Joe Masonick and Paul Anderson, Co-Chairs

Our canvass theme this year, Fanning the Flame - Funding Our Future, was inspired by the symbol of our church - our chalice and flame. The canvass goal was to raise $159,000 from pledges to pay for the costs of operating our church for the upcoming year.

Information about the canvass was shared with members and friends in a variety of ways. A brochure, letter, and an email were sent out to the congregation. Articles about the canvass appeared monthly in the Unichord. Weekly announcements were printed in the Order of Service and brief oral announcements were made during services. A canvass section of our website was designed to provide another outlet for canvass information. Canvass posters were displayed throughout the church.

The canvass began on Canvass Sunday, March 5, with a revival service led by Dan, followed by a Revival Luncheon in the Fellowship Hall. After the luncheon, canvassing locations were set up throughout the church so many canvassing sessions could be conducted on Canvass Sunday. These canvassing locations were also available after the Music Sunday service on March 12.

Our members and friends pledged $133,569 (as of 4-15-06) for the 2006-7 church year. Though short of our goal, it is the most money ever raised in a canvass in our church and an increase of about 8% from last year.

During canvassing, four questions were asked by the canvasses:

• What positive changes have you seen in our church community?
• Are there other things you would like to see happen in our church community?
• Why are you a member of UUCE and what in our church do you find most valuable?
• In what ways would you like to be more involved?

Responses to these questions were read, tabulated, and given to our minister, church administrator, and our Board of Trustees.

The Canvass Committee spent $321 of our budgeted amount of $1000 to run the canvass this year. Expenses incurred were for the Revival Luncheon. Stamps for mailings cost $160, but were paid out of the office budget. The brochures and posters were donated.

The 2006 Canvass Committee members are Paul Anderson (co-chair), Cameron Kirk, Alice Macy, Joe Masonick (co-chair), Leslie Sawyer, and Rusty Winchel. Thirty-two canvassers were trained to conduct 120 canvass sessions with our members and friends. These canvassers were the six committee members listed above plus: Susan Anderson, Donna Askins, Mila Brinker, Andy Carey, Kim Cecil, Margot Cusimano, Tim Davis, Trisha Dean, Henny DuBois, Amy Hill, Dan Hislip, Kathy Hislip, Bob Jackson, Laurie Kiesewetter, Lydia Larrabee, Mike Moutrie, Elizabeth Olson, Pat Pecho, Linda Porter, Jim Porter, Andrea Schmidlin, Carol Schoengart, Dennis Schwank, Todd Underwood, Phil Webster, and Sandy Webster.

We also benefited from the contributions and donations of volunteers not on the committee. Todd Underwood donated the printing of 150 canvass brochures and designed a Canvass section on the UUCE website. Todd also helped Rusty and Paul design the brochure. Rusty Winchel donated four canvass posters. Alice Macy offered her house and provided breakfast for canvasser training. Cheren Waller again planned, purchased, and prepared for the Revival Luncheon. Linda Porter helped by sharing her knowledge of some of the newer members and canvassed many of them. Jackie Van De Warker assisted with printing letters and labels. Bob Sandidge designed the Canvass logo and buttons and Mila Brinker helped with aesthetics.

Respectfully submitted - Joe Masonick (2006 Canvass co-chair) – April 2006

ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE
Jim Porter, Chair

The Endowment Committee was created by the Congregation to oversee the management of the church Endowment Fund. The members of the committee for 2005-2006 were Jim Burnidge - Treasurer, Carol Schoengart - Secretary and Jim Porter - Chair.

A total of $1800.00 in donations was made to the Endowment Fund in 2005-2006. The total assets for the fund as of the beginning of March 2006 were $28,598.45. Interest earned by the Endowment Fund is contributed as income to the UUCE Church Budget. During FY 2005-2006 the fund was able to donate $480.09 towards church expenses.

The following is a breakdown of the assets held by the Endowment Fund in 2005-2006:

PROGRAMMING

GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES
Kathy Hislip, Coordinator

Groups and Activities Programming consists of:

Groups:

• Book Discussion
• CUUPS
• Covenants Groups
  • Spiritual Inquiry
  • Intentional Living
  • General Discussion
  • Women’s Spirituality

Activities:

• Quilting
• Circle Suppers
• Ethnic Dining
• Men’s Biking
• Family Activities: Halloween Party, New Year’s Gathering
• Labyrinth Walk to Honor Ancestors
• Film screening: Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Prices
• Eat and Meet Wednesdays

Two new groups were added to the programming of UUCE: the Women”s Spirituality Covenant Group and CUUPS. Several one time events took place this past year: the labyrinth walk, the film screening and the family parties at Halloween and New Year’s Eve. The Program Council implemented the new Eat and Meet Wednesdays on the second, third and fourth Wednesday nights of each month. Eat and Meet Wednesdays consists of a meal, childcare, social time and group meetings. Wednesdays have become a gathering time for the church community to connect during the week. The revised programming policies and procedures guide continues to encourage new programming at UUCE.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Kathy Underwood

This year, we were able to use the third floor space for classes, and it has been wonderful! Due to the large number of children in grades Kindergarten-2nd, I had to add a second class this year. This has worked out well.

I have spent some time looking at newer models of religious education and exploring them with the Religious Education Council. We will be having a retreat in June to re-evaluate our goals and to see if any of these models might fit our needs better in the near future.

Accomplishments this year were:

• Continued to maintain all records regarding the RE program
• Provided teacher training and support, including the purchase and maintenance of supplies and books
• Attended Executive Team and Program Council meetings
• Worked with the Executive Team to restructure the youth ministry program
• Continued the “Today in RE” announcement in the order of service, as well as monthly columns in the newsletter
• Helped visitors and new students feel welcomed in our program
• Conducted background checks and interviews for volunteers
• Coordinated the spring nature hike
• Served on the Second Service Feasibility Task Force
• Continued facilitating the Chicago Area Religious Educators group
• Completed one year as chair of the district’s Liberal Religious Educators’ Association (LREDA)
• Coordinated seven summer sessions
• Recognized volunteers in the order of service, the newsletter, and in services
• Maintained communications with parents, children, youth, and volunteers
• Served as a member on the district’s Congregational Growth and Development Council
• Attended District Assembly, including Professionals’ Day
• Attended professional workshops throughout the year
• Consulted with two congregations on religious education matters
• Continued maintenance of the church library
• Helped coordinate the Boston Bound group’s activities

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COUNCIL
Trisha Dean, Council Chair

Religious Education Council Chair: Trisha Dean

Director of Religious Education: Kathy Underwood

RE Council Members: Stan Forrester, Babette Colburn, Ann Kremer, Louette Rogers

The religious education program serves children and youth from birth through high school in six classrooms and a nursery. There are 43 children and youth registered in the program. There were 9 regular visitors during the year. We had 20 teachers and have used volunteers as teacher assistants. Two professional childcare workers staff the nursery.

Our goals for this past year were:

1. Develop ways to help children and youth strengthen their connections to each other and the church community.
   • Increase children and youth’s involvement in the church through participation in the worship services and by presenting and sharing classroom experiences.
2. Contact parents at least twice during the year regarding their child’s/children’s experience in the RE program.
3. Include activities that emphasize our Unitarian Universalist principles and the connection of our faith to the church community.
   • Identify and implement at least one social justice activity for each class during the year.
4. Find innovative and successful ways to attract teachers and assistants.
   • Develop a teacher’s assistant schedule in order to increase parental involvement and awareness of classroom activities.
5. Provide a safe environment for children and adults in our church.
   • Support our Sexual Abuse Prevention Policy.

We are working on these goals and they are still in progress. All goals will be reviewed and new ones made for the next church year at the RE Council retreat in June.

Work Accomplished by the RE Council:

• Recruited fall and spring instructors to teach RE curriculum
• Chose curricula to reflect the theme of World Religions
• Conducted an evaluation of the RE program
• Included “Kudos” in the Unichord to recognize those contributing to the RE program
• Offered and organized the Secret Friends program in February (February 12 was the final meeting of “friends”)
• Developed an RE budget for the 2006-07 year and submitted it to the finance committee
• Held an Easter Egg Hunt April 16
• Held a Birthday Potluck celebration on April 30 with a “May Day” theme
• Recognized teachers for the fall and spring semesters
• Implemented the Our Whole Lives Sexuality (OWL) curriculum
• Implemented additional summer RE programs
• Investigated different models of RE (e.g. Family Ministry, Spirit Play, workshop rotation)

Ongoing RE Council Projects

• Discussing ideas for managing growth issues such as class size, space for RE activities, child care for younger children, second service, and information for visitors
• Planning Teacher Recognition Ceremony at the end of the year
• Supporting the RE program with adequate resources and insuring that the DRE is given sufficient hours to perform her job

Adult Religious Education
This has been another growing year for the Adult Religious Education Program. After exploring the Four Spiritualities through Meyers Briggs the group voted to move on to learning more about Speaking Peace, the Marshall Rosenberg work on Compassionate Communication. Each week at 9:30 twenty five to thirty enthusiastic participants practice speaking peace. The group has also engaged a couple of service projects including hosting a monthly Eat and Meet meal and adding media support to the third floor classroom. Dan Hislip, Anne Ward and Bob Sandidge facilitate the program.


SOCIAL ACTION

SOCIAL ACTION COUNCIL
Andrea Schmidlin, Social Action Coordinator

The Social Action Council as two new programs this year – Concern for Animals and APPLE/Elgin, and ongoing programs including Supporting the Interfaith Food Pantry, Women Cooking for Women, Larkin Center Group Home sponsorship, and the Green Sanctuary Committee.

We continue to operate as a council, not a committee. The program leaders met one time as a Council this year, and agreed that more frequent communication and meetings are needed. Next year, there will be quarterly meetings, and a monthly update to all Program Leaders.

Individual program reports follow.

Supporting the Interfaith Food Pantry
Program Leader: Henny DuBois

Church members and friends of the church donate non-perishable food items, toiletries, baby needs or checks every month during our church year to the Interfaith Food Pantry located at the First Congregational Church of Elgin. Reminders of our collecting for the Food Pantry are included in the Unichord and are sent out in e-mails. As the attendance at church increases so have the donations to the Food Pantry increased.

Compassion for Animals
Program Leader: Leslie Sawyer

Two documentaries were shown depicting individuals helping animals in unique and inspiring ways. In sharing the life-changing journeys that brought these individuals to their calling, these documentaries demonstrated how one person can make a difference in creating a kinder world for both animals and people. There was free literature available and an open discussion following the films. This activity was sponsored by the Green Sanctuary Committee and the Intentional Living Covenant Group.

Wednesday, February 8th - The Witness: Told the story of a construction contractor's journey to compassion, from the unexpected love of a kitten, to his actions in awakening the public to the injustice of animal exploitation. 4 people + the presenter were present.

Wednesday, March 8th – Peaceable Kingdom: Explored the interconnected life journeys of farm animals, former farmers, and animal rescuers struggling against an out-of-control factory farming system. 6 people + the presenter were present.

Women Cooking for Women (WCFW)
Program Leader: Laurie Kiesewetter

“Women Cooking For Women” hosted monthly potluck dinners to raise awareness and money for different causes and projects that support women.

The dinners were open to all women, 13 years of age and older, and were held the first Fridays of October, ’05 through June, ’06. An average of 20 women attended the potlucks with a range of 6 – 30 women in attendance. The following topics and donations occurred during the ’05-’06 church year:

• September – organizational meeting.
• October – An open discussion about women’s health, relaxation, recreation, etc. Items were donated to the Interfaith Food Pantry.
• November – 1st anniversary of WCFW. We revisited the story of Mukhtaran Bibi (the founding story of WCFW) and Louette Rogers presented the story of a woman in flight from her cultural marriage constraints. $175 was donated to the Elgin Community Crisis Center.
• December – $60 and assorted toys were donated to the Salvation Army in Elgin.
• January – Leslie Sawyer was the speaker for our first “Night of Passion” (a woman may present and have funds donated for a topic she is passionate about). $180 was donated to the Farm Sanctuary in New York.
• February – Beth Peterson came and spoke about the Haba Na Haba project in Tanzania, Africa. Beth sold embroidered pillows made by the women of the project. The monies collected ($205) went to a young boy who lives in a home for Aids orphans, to have a hearing operation.
• March – Andrea Schmidlin and Kathy Hislip presented the concept of micro-financing which helps women start small businesses with small loans. $200 was donated to a micro-credit organization in Oak Brook.
• April – Kim Cecil (as a Program Director for Sexual Assault Programs) led a tour at the Elgin Community Crisis Center. $135 was raised for the Community Crisis Center.
• May – Rebecca Novak from Planned Parenthood will be coming to give an overview and discuss sex education, policy, etc.
• June – Potluck at Laurie Kiesewetter’s to celebrate WCFW! Donations collected for the Interfaith Food Pantry.

Larkin Center Group Home
Program Leader: Roberta Nauman

We continue to support the residents of the Larkin center Creekside Home. We did arrange to do some planting at Creekside in the spring, In early fall we had an auction of used clothing in good condition furnished by Helen Maxwell through Shop-n-Share. We sponsored the Giving Tree for the Creekside home at holiday time, and we had a games and Valentine party in February. Funds were raised for an outing, and we attempted to schedule a trip to a local production of Godspell, but staffing problems at the house interfered.

There has been difficulty finding a time to meet to plan activities. Previously we met on Sundays before church. However, a number of members wished to participate in Adult R.E. before church, making this meeting time unworkable. The chair was unable to take advantage of Wednesday night Eat and Meet night. The Creekside Home residents seem always glad for church involvement, and we hope we can do more next year.

APPLE/Elgin Annual report
Program Leader: Donna Askins

APPLE stands for Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy. This group began in December 2005 with a showing of the documentary "The End of Suburbia." Nearly 30 people attended including the mayor of Elgin. In December and January, there were two offerings of the workshop "Lessons from Stelle: Breaking our Petroleum Dependence." As of this writing, a third workshop is planned for April at the home of Dundee township official Sue Harney.

Because a primary need for post-petroleum living is local food production, APPLE's current major project is the establishment of a comUUnity garden. As of this writing approximately 15 UUCE members and friends have signed up to be gardeners. Placement of the garden on the church grounds has been approved by the Executive Committee, Landscape & Grounds, and the Board. Gardeners have sold 17 shares to shareholders, who have made an up-front investment in exchange for a portion of whatever yield is harvested. This funding pays for materials and supplies such as dirt, seed, and tools.

A second project underway is the establishment of a local currency, the type known as a Local Exchange Trading System, or LETS. About 30 entries were submitted in the contest to name the currency and the name Seeds was chosen. Seeds work just like dollars do, when buying and selling goods and services. There are 2 major differences. The first is that seeds are only good locally. The second is that, rather than being based on a petroleum-dependent global economy, seeds are based on the value of local talent and locally produced goods. This means that when the federal dollar crashes, some local business can continue. An online organization is willing to host all transactions electronically, for free, and this option is being pursued.

GREEN SANCTUARY COMMITTEE
Elizabeth Olson, Chair

Committee Members for 2005/2006: Elizabeth Olson, chair, Dave Segel, Mary Alice Masonick, Jack Berry, Alice Macy, Joe Masonick, Day Waterman, Stacey Reynolds

Goals:

• Maintain funding of wind energy through sale of green tags (tradable renewable energy certificates) equal to 100% of our church’s electricity use and expand green tag sales to include individual households
• Increase awareness of and action toward green investing
• Involve youth in “green” action
• Create multiple “opportunities for action” for the church community
• Continue to promote individual and collective practices designed to reduce global warming

Accomplishments:

• Congregation joined UU Ministry for the Earth
• Significant participation by the congregation in letter writing campaigns, the 1-2-3 Program, and sale of CFL and fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate
• Maintained schedule of litter pick-up along the 1.5 mile stretch of Highland Ave through the Adopt-a Highway program.
• Conducted Renewable Energy Audit at church to prioritize actions to increase energy efficiency in the building

Activities:

• Co-sponsored programs on Wednesday evenings such as “End of Suburbia”
• Special Earth Day Service with ancillary activities including Hybrid and Electric cars with information on display in parking lot
• Continued Green Corner articles in Unichord newsletter
• Provided ongoing environmental information center in Fellowship Hall including collection for recycling used batteries
• Focused on global warming issue:
  • Sponsored “1-2-3 Program” to encourage individuals to take action
  • Third year of green tag sales for the church and added sales to homeowners
• Provided monthly Opportunities for Activism to congregation
• Recycling opportunities: used household batteries and holiday cards
• Networked with area churches:
  • UUSJ Environmental Task Force
  • Illinois Interfaith Council on Climate Change
• Serve on Prairie “Seed” Team for Prairie Fest 2005 and plans for September 2006
• Initiated “Bike To Church” event and weekly carpooling to church
• Monitored compliance with procurement and re-usables policies