Posts from December 2021
Practicing Gratitude This Holiday Season – A Message from UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray
However you celebrate, holidays and rituals are an invitation for reflection. They remind us of our past, and they also invite us to be attentive to the present moment. Practicing gratitude helps us all to be intentional in naming the gifts that surround us, reminding us that we are loved and we all share a fundamental interdependence. Practicing Gratitude This Holiday Season – A Message from UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray – YouTube
Faith in Place
Our Share the Plate recipient for the month of January is Faith in Place. Faith in Place empowers people of all faiths to be leaders in caring for the Earth, providing resources to educate, connect, and advocate for healthier communities. Diverse people of all faiths sharing the commitment to care for the Earth. We recognize and honor all indigenous peoples who once inhabited this land we now call Illinois and lift up the voices of people of color to fight for…
PADS Signup for January
Dear Friends, Thank you to everyone who helped this past year! Here is the link to the PADS signup for January. No serving is required, as the staff has been handling that during the pandemic. Note, there are five Mondays in January, where we have volunteered to prepare and deliver lunches. Feel free to contact me with questions. Thank you. Dotty Carringi UUCE PADS Coordinator847-502-4835 “Homeless Doesn’t Have To Mean Hopeless” — Elgin PADS https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f054aaba82ca4fc1-pads6
From the Church Office
The church office will be closed on New Year’s Eve, December 31. Wishing you a Healthy and Joyful 2022.
Human Rights Day, December 10
Dear Friend, Today is Human Rights Day. Seventy-three years ago today, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In adopting that Declaration, they shared a common aspiration for “all members of the human family” to have these rights recognized, and that one day, Member States would affirm these rights in their national laws. As we all know, there’s a long way to go before the UDHR is incorporated into the national laws of…
Interfaith Food Pantry
Our Share the Plate recipient for the rest of December is All Peoples Interfaith Food Pantry Several UUCE members have or still do volunteer at this food pantry, and we’ve supported the pantry with food donations for years. They serve residents of Elgin and are located at 256 E. Chicago St. Elgin, IL 60120. Open 9:30 to 11:30 Mon – Fri. Thank You!
From Religious Education
I don’t know how you all are feeling, but I’m certainly having trouble grappling with the fact that we’re in the midst of another holiday season while this terrible pandemic continues. It’s so hard to plan anything or imagine a time when we might be on the other side of this, but I do have faith that we will get through it. The pandemic has brought into sharp definition for me a new way of understanding our 7th Principle. Most of the…
Anderson Animal Shelter
Our Share the Plate recipient for December 5th will be: Anderson Animal Shelter Please consider making a donation to STP on their behalf. Just put “Anderson Animal Shelter” on the memo line of your check. Thank you for thinking of our four legged friends.
Connecting With Gratitude and Our Interdependence
So much in our lives right now—the ongoing pandemic, attacks on our democracy and rights, and the increasingly frequent impacts of climate change—seeks to isolate us, to wear us out and wear us down. Turning toward a concrete practice of gratitude helps us resist the ways in which we are being called to isolation and division, because gratitude actually turns us toward each other. Gratitude reminds us of our interdependence, which is so critically and spiritually needed in our world…
PADS Signup for December
Dear Friends, Here is the link to the PADS Signup for December. No serving is required, as the staff has been handling that during the pandemic. Feel free to contact me with questions. Thank you. Dotty CarringiUUCE PADS Coordinator 847-502-4835 “Homeless Doesn’t Have To Mean Hopeless” — Elgin PADS https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f054aaba82ca4fc1-pads5