Posts from April 2021
UU Conscientious Objection
From the Introduction to Used to Be UU published January 2021, by the 5th Principle Project: … Unitarian Universalism is the inheritor of values from our heritage denominations. We value self-expression, reason, logic, science, and critical thinking from the first U in our combined denomination. We value compassion and love from the second U. Mostly, we have the freedom to pursue our own path, to search or not search. It is not that UUs are rudderless, characterized as some pejoratively…
Public Action to Deliver Shelter
This month’s Share the Plate recipient is Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS) PADS works to meet the basic needs of homeless individuals first. They provide a safe place to sleep, eat meals, take showers, and do their laundry. The next step is to provide comprehensive case management. Case managers meet with each guest and together, an action plan is created by identifying the barriers which led to the person becoming homeless. Action plans are tailored to each individual and…
Budget Open House Zoom Meetings
Budget Open House Zoom Meetings Sunday, 05/02/21, immediately following breakout rooms. Final Budget Open House (05/02/21): This meeting is where the second draft of the budget will be presented. We will show the congregation changes in income and expenses based on the feedback we have received. We have tightened up our projected expenses for 2020-2021 to give us a more accurate idea of what our YE surplus will look like and how much will be rolled into income for 2021-2022.…
Annual Meeting – May 23, 2021 12:00pm
Our annual all-church meeting is happening on Zoom this year. It’s for all voting members of the congregation where we vote on policy measures and the budget.
Upcoming Event Offered by the UUA MidAmerica Region
MidAmerica Extended Leadership Experience Saturday, May 8, 2021, 10:00 am – 1:30 pm EDT Leadership is always important, but these days, there are extra elements that make being a leader even more challenging. For more information and registration: Extended Leadership Experience Submitted by: Committee on Ministry
They’ve Put a Spell on You
Them In the breakout group I was in last Sunday, someone mentioned two movies of interest. One was Them, which is a surreal story of a Black family who have moved from North Carolina to Compton, California in the 1950s, when Compton was an almost all-White Los Angeles community, and not the almost all-Black community it soon became. In this Amazon Prime movie, the whites uniformly and horrifyingly oppose the arrival of the Black family, as if there were no liberals at all in White southern California. Malevolent White…
April Board Update
In Attendance : Tom Lesiewicz, Kevin Sweeney, Erica Lavine, Steve Stultz , Elizabeth Olson, Jamie Yucuis, Rev. Leland New Business Minister’s Report We discussed the minister’s involvement in the UUMUA / 5th Principle Project. Review Music Director Job Description Kevin moved to accept the job description and offer letter, Jamie seconded. It was unanimously approved. ET recommendations for reopening The Board reviewed the recommendations from the Executive Team. We will discuss further at our next meeting on May 4. Direction…
Sick and Tired
“I’ve been sick and tired all my life, and now I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired,” said Fannie Lou Hamer in June of 1964. She was being interviewed by a reporter for The Nation magazine, about her campaign to represent her part of Mississippi as a delegate of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the Democratic National Convention, held that year in Atlantic City, NJ, and she was talking about life under Jim Crow, where Blacks could not vote,…
The Chicago Area UU Council (CAUUC) Spring Conference; Re-opening and Reimagining Church
The Chicago Area UU Council (CAUUC) Spring Conference will be held on Saturday, May 8th 9:30am-11:30am and be conducted via Zoom video conference. There is NO FEE required to participate. The CAUUC annual meeting will be held after the conference. CONFERENCE TOPIC: Re-opening and Reimagining Church. We are 1 year into the pandemic and many congregations are in the planning stages of reopening the doors to in-person gatherings. Our panel discussion will be related to how the lessons learned from…
2021-2022 Budget Process Update
Budget Open House Zoom Meetings 1. Sunday, 04/18/21, immediately following breakout rooms 2. Sunday, 05/02/21, immediately following breakout rooms First Budget Open House (last Sunday): This meeting is to present current income levels and budget requests. This allows our congregation to review the budget overall for the first time including the current significant deficit. We will be collecting feedback on changes desired for the second draft (income increases or expense changes). Please see the PDF that will be used in…
Baby photos and more defiance of the UUA and UUMA.
Presenting my granddaughter Aurora means ‘the dawn;’ Amalthea means ‘tender goddess.’ She nursed baby Zeus (the future king of the gods) and protected him from his murderous father Kronos. Emma is a Bond family name going back to at least the mid-19th Century. As Norskis, the Stenehjem family branch of the Bonds emigrated to North Dakota, and many are still there. This little cherub looks like she is preparing to take wing. And now for something completely different I want…
Virtual Folk Benefit Concert – Peter Mayer
As a talented Folk singer-songwriter from Minnesota, Peter Mayer has been performing in venues across the United States and beyond for over 20 years. He writes songs for a small planet – songs about interconnectedness and the human journey – songs about life on earth and the mysterious and wondrous fact of our existence. He also writes songs about dress hats, pumpkins and pajamas, and even love and freight trains, like a good folk musician should. His music has been…
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