Anvil header

Newsletter of 2nd Unitarian Church of Chicago
June 1, 2015
In This Issue...
Worship at 2U

Sunday, June 7
Flower Communion and Ingathering
Service at 10:30
Worship Leaders: Rev. Adam Robersmith and Raquel Garcia, Director of Faith Development
Music: Rosalind Hurwitz

Sunday, June 14
Music Sunday
Service at 10:30
Worship Leaders: Rev. Adam Robersmith and Marianne Parker

Sunday, June 21
Service at 10:30
Preacher: Rev. Adam Robersmith

Sunday, June 28
L
Q Pride Sunday
Service at 10:30
Preacher: John Broome/SSC
_____________________
Children & Youth Faith Development Schedule
 
Child care for infants and toddlers is available every Sunday in the Green Caterpillar room.

Sunday, June 7
Intergenerational service:
no classes

Sunday, June 14
Music Sunday
Intergenerational service:
no classes

Sunday, June 21
Lemonade Stand Prep
All classes together in Fleishman Hall

Sunday, June 28
Pride Sunday
Lemonade Stand!
All classes together in Fleishman Hall
______________________
Recent 2U Plate-Sharing Recipients




_____________________
_________________
Church Office Information & Staff

Minister
773-549-0260, ext. 13
Office Hours:
Wed-Thurs afternoons and evenings; Sunday afternoons and other days & times by appointment only
 
Dir. of Faith Development
773-549-0260, ext. 12
Office Hours:
Sun 9:00-3:00
Other days & times by appointment

Congregational Administrator
773-549-0260, ext. 10
Office Hours: 
Mon-Thurs 10:00-4:00 
 
Community Minister
773-593-7500
 
Music Director
                                  
2U Ministry Leaders

Board of Trustees

Adult Faith Dev.

Bookstore

Buddhist Fellowship

Building & Grounds

Committee on Ministry

Covenant of Earth & Sky

Fellowship Committee

Finance Committee

Green Sanctuary

Hospitality 

Library

Lifespan Faith Dev.

Membership

Music

Newsletter

Night Ministry Outreach

Pastoral Care

Safe Congregations 

Senior Potluck Lunch

Small Group Ministry

Social Justice

Sunday Services

Transylvania Church

Webmaster

Young Adult Group
David Dyer
Stephanie Bens
_____________________
Board of Trustees 
 
 






                                  
From the Minister

The sweet June days are here again! Or at least they are by the calendar, if not the temperatures, which means we are coming up on Flower Communion, Music Sunday, and our Summer season. We're also entering the last month of our fiscal year -- this is the time for us all to complete our pledges and get our books closed for the past year. This month we welcome the Rev. Elizabeth Harding into affiliation with us as a Community Minister, joining the Rev. Rudra Dundzila. Finally, we're in the month in which the Board will hire our Sabbatical Minister and get us ready for a time of opportunity and newness in the coming year.

 

This summer, we're introducing a new 2U communication tool entitled Passages. Based on the suggestions of 2U members, we're going to send out an email each month to the members of the congregation with news of the life passages you'd like to share with one another, like births, deaths, moves, graduations, weddings, divorces, and so on. Information will only go into Passages if you explicitly give us permission to put it in, and it will not be archived anywhere that is web-accessible after it's been sent. If you've something you'd like to include in Passages, please email it to me at [email protected].

 

There's much to look forward to this month and all summer long -- I hope to see you here in worship, fellowship, and service!

 

Faithfully,

Rev. Adam

Welcome Rev. Elizabeth Harding!


Please welcome The Rev. Elizabeth A. Harding, A.M., M. Div., as an affiliated community minister at 2U.

 

Elizabeth started attending Second Unitarian Church of Chicago at the age of seven, thus marking 30 years of relationship with 2U this year. She attended Meadville Lombard Theological School and the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration, graduating in 2005 and 2006. She went on to complete the units of CPE needed to become a hospital chaplain, and served in that capacity for several hospitals in the Midwest while completing that portion of her education.

 

Elizabeth was ordained to the Unitarian Universalist ministry by Second Unitarian. She also ministered to the Prairie Circle Unitarian Universalist Congregation for a time. While attending a reunion for her elementary school, she met her husband, Kevin B. O'Reilly, and they were married at 2U in 2011. In 2013, they had Lucas A. O'Reilly. 

 

Elizabeth went back to being a chaplain in 2011 and is now working as a bereavement counselor with Midwest Palliative and Hospice Carecenter. She works part-time and is looking forward to her on-going relationship with 2U. 


Elizabeth is a Cubs fan because no other team has such a direct handle on teaching us about both hope and suffering. When she's not pondering deep thoughts, she loves painting, swimming, reading, and works hard at being silly.

Annual Flower Communion and Ingathering

Please join us this Sunday, June 7 at 10:30 AM for our Annual Flower Communion and Ingathering service.

 

The Flower Communion service was originally created in 1923 by Unitarian minister Rev. Norbert Capek, who founded the Unitarian Church in Czechoslovakia. In the ceremony, members of the congregation place their flowers in a shared vase on the altar. The flowers are blessed during the ceremony, and at the end of the service, each person brings home a flower other than the one that he or she brought.

 

Reginald Zottoli writes, "The significance of the flower communion is that no two flowers are alike, so no two people are alike, yet each has a contribution to make. Together, the different flowers form a beautiful bouquet. Our common bouquet would not be the same without the unique addition of each individual flower, and this it is with our church community: it would not be the same without each and every one of us."

 

Come and be a part of this lovely celebration of our 2U community!

 

Please don't forget to bring a flower with you to contribute to the ceremony!

UU Worship resumes at Great Lakes Naval

Dear Colleagues,


I would like to share the good news: Recruit Training Command has decided to resume civilian led worship for Unitarian Universalists and several other faith groups. The chaplains found uniformed personnel to lead worship for the remaining faith groups that were discontinued in early April. Details and a meeting are forthcoming over the next week. Worship resumed on May 31st, in time for the "Summer surge," the time of year when a bulk of recruits join after high school graduation.

 

There was an article in the Chicago Tribune about the changes: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-great-lakes-religion-policy-reversed-met-20150513-story.html


The Chief Chaplain also made it clear that he is still looking for uniformed personnel to lead Unitarian Universalist worship. We remain in negotiations to insure the continuation of UU worship for the recruits. The Great Lakes Ministry is seeking ways to comply with this request, thus preventing a future possible shutdown of worship services. If you have active duty or reserve military personnel in your congregations who would like to lead worship at Great Lakes once a month, please have them get in touch with me.


On behalf of the Great Lakes Ministry, I also look forward to working with you to schedule plate sharing and pulpit supply opportunities that would lend financial support for the ministry.


In faith and fellowship,

Rev. Rudra

Death Caf� at Second Unitarian!

 

THIS Sunday, June 7, from 1-3pm, the Pastoral Care Team will be hosting a Death Caf�, with the assistance of Kathy Miller, LCPC and Judy Lendsey, CHP of Windy City Death Caf�. This is the final event in our class series on end of life care and planning, and a wonderful opportunity to continue conversations that were started during the class series. And hopefully to spark some new ones!

 

At a Death Caf�, people, often strangers, gather to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death. The objective is 'to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives'. A Death Caf� is a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counseling session. The Death Caf� model was developed by Jon Underwood and Sue Barsky Reid, based on the ideas of Bernard Crettaz. People have described their Death Caf� experiences as informative, engaging, reflective, comfortable, and fun!

 

For more information about the Death Caf� movement, please visit deathcafe.com.

 

Please RSVP for this event to [email protected].

2U Folk Fundraiser on Tuesday, June 16 at 7:30 PM

 

The Folk Fundraiser returns to the 2U sanctuary on Tuesday, June 16, at 7:30 p.m.


This year's performers are the Good Graces, an Atlanta-based indie-folk collective led by singer-songwriter Kim Ware. The Good Graces have been described as "indie Lucinda Williams" and "countrified Liz Phair," and their blend of dreamy pop and heartfelt folk recently captured the attention of the Indigo Girls, who have invited the band to tour with them this summer.

Tickets are $15 each and will be available at the What's Happening table after Sunday services, and at the door the night of the concert.

SUMMER SOLSTICE on Thursday, June 18 at 7 PM

Covenant of Earth and Sky (CUUPS CHAPTER) invites all to join us for SUMMER SOLSTICE on Thursday, June 18th at 7PM. Also know as Litha, we celebrate the energy and passion of the sun. We turn the wheel of the year with each other in community and light. We will honor the Sun God in his many manifestations and the guidance of the Goddess as the year turns toward the waning time. We welcome all to bring a summer dish to share (sweet or savory) and we will make a Spirit Bag to take homePlease contact Shauna for any questions or comments at [email protected].


 

2U Gardening Update
A team of seven gardeners tackled the job of moving the plants from the east planter to the main front yard at church over two days in mid-May in order to save them before the city removes the east planter to make room for the larger parking space for those who need assistance getting into church from a car pulled up on Barry Avenue. 

We did it--and we hope that you like the results! In addition to finding new spots for peonies, irises, lilies, and phlox, we also weeded (and weeded and weeded!), laid a dozen bags of mulch where we weeded, and set up new fencing around the main yard (and used the old fencing for the west planter).

The purpose of the fencing is to deter dogs. At some point, it would be nice to have a permanent, low fence with a gate and some decorative elements (our 2U wreath pattern, for instance). But for now, we have the fencing that we have. If you would like to be added to the list of 2U gardeners, please contact Andrew in the office.
From the Sunday Services Committee

Do you have an idea, a concept, or a story you want to share with our congregation? Do you think there is something we could all benefit from learning or thinking about or just sharing together? Consider doing a lay service!


Second Unitarian has a long tradition of lay services, in which a members of our congregation are given the pulpit to share their thoughts and feelings. Recent services have included topics such as prison ministry, the poetry of Rumi, and "This I Believe." If you are interested in providing a service, the Sunday Services Committee will support and guide you through the entire process. To learn more, simply email [email protected].
Coffee Hosts STILL Needed!

Please sign up to be a coffee host! Providing snacks assures that we have a welcoming environment for guests and more reasons to connect with our community following service. Your service and participation is GREATLY appreciated!

 


Please sign up in the Palmer Room or by clicking below:

 


Please contact our coffee hour maven, Laura McKee, if you have any questions at [email protected].
Choir Corner


The 2U choir will be winding up the church year with the Music Sunday service on June 14. The choir will start up again - refreshed and ready for new members (and returning members!) - when the church year begins in the fall. For more information, please contact music director, Marianne Parker.

Money Matters
The weekly cost of running 2U is $5,890!

2U's annual budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 is $306,403.

For the Year to Date period July 1, 2014 to April 30, 2015:
Actual Pledges + Collection Plate =
$197,045
Budgeted Pledges + Collection Plate =
$206,659
     Surplus or (Deficit)
($9,614)

ActualBudgeted
Total Revenues Year-to-Date =$269,418$260,402
Total Expenses Year-to-Date =$268,472$251,946
     Total Surplus or (Deficit)$946$8,456

In April, we raised $904.15 towards the collection plate sharing recipient, Lakeview Pantry.

Thank you so much for helping to make 2U possible!
Stay Connected
Did you know that the UUA and MidAmerica Region UUA have their own respective newsletters?

Click here for more information about the UUA and click here to sign up for their newsletter, UU World.

Click here for more information about the MidAmerica Region UUA and click here to sign up for their newsletter.
Submission Deadlines
Have a message to put in the next Anvil or Orders of Service? Plan ahead! 

Please have all submissions for the next newsletter submitted by noon on Wednesday, June 10.

Please have all submissions for the Orders of Service submitted by noon on Wednesday prior to the Sunday you'd like the announcement to appear.

Second Unitarian Church of Chicago
656 West Barry Avenue
Chicago, IL 60657

Phone: (773) 549-0260