The church fiscal year ends June 30, 2009.  Thank you to the many generous folks who have made additional Deficit Closure gifts (over and above their pledges) to help us close an $8,000 projected operating deficit.  If you have an outstanding pledge amount or are able to provide an additional end of year gift, please bring your payment this Sunday June, 28 and drop in the offering plate or mail to the office.  Pledge statements with full detail were mailed last week so also contact Suzanne Larimer, office_2u@att.net  in the office if you find any discrepancies so that we may reconcile our end of year records.
 
Remember, that if you like you can also contribute via credit card at the 2U website at www.secondunitarian.org  "Donation" button on the homepage.

Thank you so much!

 
Buy tickets for the Experience Summer raffle.  This Sunday, June 28 through Sunday, July 12. The drawing will be on July 12.

Tickets are $5 each, or 5 for $20.

First prize is a Giant FCR comfort bicycle - perfect for cruising the bike paths of Chicago's lakefront, riding the wilderness trails of the forest preserves, or even commuting to work.

Saturday July 25, 9:45am - 2:00pm, lunch provided

Come help us vision the next generation of intergenerational worship at Second Unitarian Church.  This visioning, goal-setting workshop is an all church event, so please join us.

To participate, sign up at the What's Happening table in the Palmer Room or contact Gabrielle Parra at 773-549-0260, ext. 12 or faithdev_2u@att.net.

by Katie Norris

This past Sunday, our worship topic was environmental justice. Some of the biggest environmental burdens are placed upon the most disenfranchised and our UU principles call us to act to help heal this inequality.

The first and seventh principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association's seven principles are the "pillars" of the seven principles, the two that support and ground the other five. Those two together, 1. belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person and 2. respect for the interdependent web of existence of which we are all a part, are what environmental justice is all about.

We talked about Van Jones, who calls for a green economy. Jones is the founder of Green For All and the current Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Green For All is a U.S. organization that promotes green-collar jobs and opportunities for the disadvantaged.  Jones says "The green economy should not be just about reclaiming thrown away stuff. It should be about reclaiming thrown-away lives" and  "If we decide to do that, we can do something extraordinary. We can connect the people who most need work to the work that most needs to be done-we can fight pollution and poverty at the same time."

Also, last year as a denomination we voted to have Ethical Eating: Food and Environmental Justice, be a Congregational Study/Action Issue for the next four years. A Congregational Study/Action Issue is an invitation for congregations and districts to take a topic of concern and confront it, learn about it, respond to it, and take action-each in their own way.

The issue is stated in this way: "Religious organizations throughout the world have discussed the production, distribution, and use of food. Some people enjoy many food choices while others remain hungry. The food industry produces wealth, but small farmers and farm workers are often poor. Food production and transportation contribute to many environmental problems. We have made a commitment to study this issue because Unitarian Universalists have a vision of environmental justice. One of our principles acknowledges "the interdependent web." Others affirm the importance of human rights. Together our principles form one holistic statement that helps to define liberal religion."

In that sermon I said I would put a small list of resources into this addition of the Anvil for kids and adults to learn about environmental justice, and, here it is.

Adults
Books:
Van Jones, The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems
Jay Weinstein, The Ethical Gourmet
Juliet Schor and Betsy Taylor, Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the Twenty-first Century Paul Hawken, Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World

Websites
http://uuministryforearth.org
http://greenforall.org (Van Jones' organization)
http://www.ourrenewablenation.org (The McCullough family who was with us at church this Sunday)
http://www.greencollarchicago.org
http://www.uua.org/events/generalassembly/2008/commonthreads/115749.shtml (Van Jones' lecture to the Unitarian Universalist Association)
http://www.uua.org/socialjustice/issuesprocess/currentissues/ethicaleating/index.shtml (UUA ethical eating Study/Action Issue)
http://www.storyofstuff.com

Kids' Books
Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
Graeme Base, Uno's Garden
Laurie David and Cambria Gordon, Down-to-Earth Guide To Global Warming
Cathryn Berger Kaye, Kids' Guide to Climate Change & Global Warming: How to Take Action!
Stephen Cosgrove (Serendipity Books), Trapper

I hope last Sunday gets us talking about environmental justice and sharing with each other the resources we know of so we can work on this together.

In Faith,
Katie Norris
Summer Minister

We are having a big cleaning day on July 7.  If you have any items that you have left at the church please collect them on Sunday, June 28 or July 5.  Any remaining items will be  donated so that we can tidy up a bit.  If you want something set aside for you just call the office.

UU World: The Magazine of the Unitarian Universalist Association aims to help its readers build their faith and act on it more effectively in their personal lives, their congregations, their communities and the world.  If you are a member of Second Unitarian Church and not receiving a copy of the UU World please notify Lisa Todd at secondunitarian@att.net.  If you are not a member or would prefer to read it online you can do so at
http://www.uuworld.org/currentissue.shtml.  Audio files of the articles are also available at http://uuworld.org/issues/audiorecordingsspring2009.shtml.