Blog (Page 3)
Is Dr. Seuss is a Victim of ‘Cancel Culture’?
Dr. Seuss is a victim of ‘cancel culture,’ say a lot of people in the past three days since the announcement that after a year of study, six of Seuss’ books will not be reprinted due to portrayals that are ‘hurtful and wrong.’ The six books are And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, McElligot’s Pool, If I Ran the Zoo, On Beyond Zebra, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer. I happen to own the first three,…
FINCA
This month’s Share the Plate recipient is: Foundation for International Community Assistance FINCA is a trusted partner in catalyzing economic growth and alleviating poverty. UUCE has been a steadfast supporter of FINCA since 2007, supporting six Village Banks on three continents. By enabling access to microloans, UUCE has empowered thousands of low-income clients to build more resilient lives. Poverty’s many challenges are interconnected, and so are the solutions. FINCA International, a Washington, DC-based not-for-profit organization, is working to advance market-based…
I Read the News Today, Oh Boy
About the BLM accomplishments. Last week the sermon spoke to the BLM (Black Lives Matter) record of non-violence, and its self-discipline. We spoke of BLM-led demonstration following the George Floyd murder ranged somewhere from 15 million participants, to 26 million. That’s a big range, produced by large polling differences: The Pew poll reported an estimated 16 million NORC reported an estimated 18 million Civis Analytics reported an estimated 23 million Kaiser Family Foundation reported an estimated 26 million Even if…
Warmup for the Next Round of a 21-day Challenge for Racial Justice
Our Service this coming Sunday will address the BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement, and BLUU (Black Lives UU), and Antifa (the loosely organized anti-fascist assemblage). This is the first of 3 or 4 services that will address racial justice, and U.S. history. February is Black History Month, and I hope many of you are taking advantage of it. I personally have fallen behind in this area. I have only watched the first segment of the excellent The Black Church, hosted by Harvard professor…
Saturday’s Council of Chairs Meeting Update
The monthly Worship Theme service we use here at UUCE has the theme of POWER for February. For comparison, the UUA reports that the monthly theme from Soul Matters, Touchstones, All Souls (Tulsa), and Faith Rocket/Church of the Larger Fellowship) are: Belovéd Community, Mercy, Love, and Risk, respectively. I am glad to be reminded of this, because sometimes I cannot fold in a Theme, and am grateful for alternatives. Not that I rely on any of them for subject matter, nor do…
Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois
Cheryl Niemo, member of the Tree of Life UU Congregation would like to share with UUCE the word about a special training from Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois. Cheryl writes the training is geared toward creating Solidarity Circles for people who are newly released. We welcome anyone who would like to learn more. We would like to see an increase in support towards a more positive reentry process. You are welcomed to participate on Tree of Life Church’s team and/or develop your own. Hope…
Did You Know?
To vote at our annual meeting in May, our bi-laws state you must be “an active voting member”. An active voting member of the church is any member who has reached the age of sixteen years and has made an unrestricted contribution of not less than $100.00 to the general operating fund, for which no goods or services were provided (hereafter “unrestricted contribution”), during the first eleven months of the twelve months preceding the annual meeting, except that the minimum…
Worship Team Update
The Worship Team met Wednesday, and the news from that meeting is that we are scheduling two mini-series of Services between now and June. One series will be dedicated to racial justice and injustice, and not only for Black Folk. We will have one a month for at least 3 months. Likewise, we will have a series on the cluster of subjects that deal with gender and sexuality. We will likewise have one a month on these subjects and other related ones, including abortion,…
MLK College Scholarship & Annual MLK Food Drive
This month’s Share the Plate recipient is: The MLK college scholarship fund & the annual MLK food drive. Each year, the City of Elgin Human Relations Commission takes great pride in presenting a weekend of activities celebrating the life of one of our country’s greatest civil rights leaders, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year in lieu of the Prayer Breakfast, Dr. King’s birthday was celebrated virtually, but lost none of its power. Learn more by visiting the…
Woman of Power and Standing
Maya Soetoro-Ng, Barack Obama’s half-sister, works with my wife Deborah on education and justice projects in Hawaii, and sent her this video today: “The Women Are Coming“ The first part of this video is a sequence of the images of the world’s current female heads of state, followed by 28 images of U.S. women of power and standing, ending with the young poet Amanda Gorman. You may have some names you would like to add. Mila suggested Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,…
The Tide Has Turned
I said something like what follows at the close of last night’s Board meeting, and people seemed to like it, so I will share it with you. If we are feeling tired and worn out and a bit discouraged, this is understandable, this is normal, and we shouldn’t beat ourselves up for feeling a bit down. Even though most of us are feeling somewhat relieved by the recent elections, I and many people I know are still kinda glum. Having our…
January Board Update
Find out what took place at the January 20th Board of Trustees meeting.