A Note about Joys and Concerns from Rev. Leah

 
It’s an understatement that a lot has changed since that “It will just be for a couple of weeks!” shut down in March. At the Fellowship, worship has been especially transformed by the necessary extension of the time we need to physically distance.
As we kick off the program year on September 27th, we will begin archiving our entire worship services indefinitely on our website. This will make them available to you and anyone else who might like to enjoy them on their own time! However, to make that work, we need to change our dearly held tradition of sharing our Joys and Concerns aloud. We will no longer announce the specific names and detailed news of our members and friends.
There are two major reasons; first, we have safety concerns, especially about news that mentions the names of children and/or other vulnerable people and their situations. Second, there are different privacy issues inherent in a video that will exist forever online. We are already hearing from members and friends that they are less interested in sharing personal news in virtual worship, and it becomes more of a factor in relation to archiving. 
What has not changed and will not change is the fact that we care about one another. We will still take time during each service to acknowledge that joy and concern are present among us, and we will begin inviting people to type into the chat box any news they wish to have us know about and hold in our thoughts and prayers. People may respond to each other but these written comments will not be retained or made available following the service.
We will still send out an email containing any and all news submitted during the week by contacting me or any member of staff or filling out our form. If you would like to receive this email, please contact cyndi@fvuuf.org to subscribe.
If you have any feedback to share about this change (or anything else!), or simply want to reach out and say, “I get it but it makes me sad,” then I hope you will contact me or Rev. Christina. We join you in feeling challenged in balancing all the changes these days and welcome your feelings and perspectives.
A lot has changed, and likely will keep evolving. Let’s keep in touch with one another, and continue to share about our lives.
 
Love,
Leah

Sunday Service

10:00 am CST 

Growing Resilience by Rev. Christina Leone-Tracy
Click HERE for Worship Service details
Call in: 312-626-6799
with meeting ID 176 319 484 
  • Click HERE for worship service Zoom link
  • Listen to past sermons HERE
  • Watch some of our past sermons on our Youtube channel
  • Click HERE for information on hosting a traveling chalice in your home
  • 2nd through 6th-grade Children’s Chapel meets via Zoom at 9:00 AM. See our website (here) for more information about all Religious Education classes for children and youth.
  • Click here for Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei, special music performed by members Dan Van Sickle and Mark Urness, for our High Holy Days service on 9/20.

Adult Faith Development

Click the image above for details on all these events.
  • September 30 - Anti-racism Learning Group Discussion Part 1 of 3 with Rev. Christina Leone-Tracy, Senior Minister
  • October 1 - How do we live our values? with Marie Luna, director of congregational life
  • October 8 - What does it mean to join the Fellowship? with Marie Luna, director of congregational life
  • October 15 - Defining Your Spiritual Practice with Marie Luna, director of congregational life

Wellspring
October 14: The Stonewall Generation: How To Be More LGBTQ Elder Inclusive by Jane Fleishman
More information HERE.

Religious Education - Children and Youth

Our new program year has begun!

We are very excited about our virtual Sunday programs for our young people this year! All classes have been designed to be fun and engaging with online learning in mind. Don’t miss connecting with our Fellowship friends and family this year!
Children and youth must be registered for religious education by September 27 in order to continue receiving the link for Children’s Chapel and Youth Connection this year. Please contact Kim Hartman or Eve Rosera for more information. Register today!
Program Year Format:
•  Pre-K through 1st grade meets the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month at 9:00 am CST
•  2nd through 6th grade meets the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month at 9:00 am CST
*All of the above students are invited to attend all classes; however the classes will be geared for the target ages
•  7-12th grade meets each Sunday at 11:00 AM CST
Please visit our website for more information about our classes.

On the Horizon

Virtual Meet & Greets With Our New Intern!

Tuesday, September 29 @ 6:00 pm CST
Tuesday, September 29 @ 8:00 pm CST
Thursday, October 1 @ 12:00 pm CST
Zoom link HERE, Passcode UU
Come join us as we get to know Ali, our new Intern Minister, a little bit better! Log in for any one of these three sessions to hear Ali share a bit more about herself and answer some of your questions about her or about the intern minister position. It will also be a chance to share with Ali a bit about you, the Fox Valley, and the Fellowship! We hope to see you there! If these dates don’t work for you, email Ali at ali@fvuuf.org with your questions or to schedule another time.
Do you wish there was someone, anyone, who would deliver cookies to your house every month? Or could fix that darn broken step? Or watch your cat while you take a mini-vacation? Tell us your dreams, and maybe we can help. We're bringing back the Fellowship Service (and Goods) Auction! Read more...

Justice Action Ministry

Checking in with our Compas

Less than 6 months ago, many of our lives changed abruptly in so many ways due to the pandemic. You may recall during those days of upheaval in March that joyful news was shared. Through the support of the Immigration Justice Team, a young mother and her son seeking asylum had arrived safely to the Fox Valley. Shortly after, a 14-year-old girl, alone in the US after her mother was deported, also arrived. They are all being supported by our team.  Read more and hear from our compas

The Justice Hub webpage is now live!

Information about our JAMs and justice groups, and justice events and opportunities here at our fellowship and out in the community is right there at your fingertips any time you need it. 
This week: Read more about each of these on the Justice Hub webpage!
  • Urgent: Volunteers Needed! Sign up to help serve a meal on September 28 at the Pillars shelter with Fellowship friends
  • Express interest in participating in an environmental and racial justice book-read with our Fellowship’s Green Sanctuary team
  • UU the Vote information including phone-banking alongside UUs from around the country
  • UU webinar on the federal Breathe Act and criminal justice reform
  • Local election information including virtual candidate forum
  • ESTHER (interfaith organizing) information: Training, task force meetings, and register now for their upcoming virtual “banquet” on November 1 
If you want to share something on the Justice Hub webpage, please do so by completing this form by Thursday to be posted when the page is updated each weekend. Submissions may be subject to staff approval and editing.

Notable

The MidAmerica Nominating Committee Needs Your Help!

We are seeking fresh voices for leadership positions to strengthen the future of the MidAmerica Region! We have open positions for the Board of Trustees, Camp Unistar Foundation Board of Directors, Midwest Unitarian Universalist Conference (MUUC), and the MidAmerica Nominating Committee itself. Our region needs energetic people with diverse perspectives to fill these leadership positions. We are working to dismantle the legacy of white supremacy in our faith in order to create a collaborative environment with people from historically marginalized communities. Read More

Notable Extras

Click HERE for details.
  • Black Lives Matter Lending Library
  • Zoom Guidance
  • Masks Available at the Little Free Library

Small Groups

Click HERE for details about these groups.
  • Anti Racism Fellowship Facebook Group
    A group for people affiliated with our Fellowship who want to learn about racism, anti-racism, and how to be better allies in the struggle for racial justice ongoing, find the group and ask to join by clicking HERE

  • Fellowship Community Journal
    Ongoing, submit your work to leah@fvuuf.org

    More information HERE.
  • Fellowship Pen Pals - Click HERE for information.
  • Journey Group Facebook Group - Click the small groups link for information
  • Joyful Mind Zen Sangha; Saturdays, 7:00 am CST
  • Men's Group, First Wednesdays & Third Tuesdays, 7-9:00 pm CST
  • Music-Making Online - Click the small groups link for information
  • Pollinate (BIPoC), Email pollinate.BIPoC@hotmail.com for meeting information
  • Smiling Dandelion Sangha, Sundays, 6-7:30 pm CST
  • Spill it Sister, Second Thursday of the month, 6:30-8:00 pm CST
  • Third Thursday Book Club, Third Thursday of the month, 2:00 pm CST. Click the link above for the reading list.
  • UU Parenting Support Group, First Monday of the month, 6-7:30 pm
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