Special thanks to Laura McKee for organizing and planning the event.

We threw pies at racism, homophobia, British Petroleum, and…bad musicals, just to name a few. Have a look at some of the photos:

Can’t wait till next year!

Bring new life to your garden and home. Dig up and divide your extra plants. Trade with others, and go home with new varied treasure!

Composting worms will also be available.

Get your soil tested for lead. This is a big problem in Chicago many of us are unaware of. Learn how to take a sample. Bring your sample along with this completed form on June 6. Results will be returned to you in about 2 weeks.

Tell all your plant loving friends! $5 suggested donation to participate.

Learn more.

What is a pledge party?
A pledge party is a chance for you to discuss your hopes and dreams for 2U with other members of our community. Pledge parties are an important component of planning for the next year’s budget.

Contact Jeff Siegel to sign up. Please be sure to list your time/date preference.

Pledge Party Schedule

• 4/9/2010 at 7:00 p.m.
  

  Hosts: Mark Sneathen and Amy Markley

Committee on Ministries Charter

Safe Congregations Policy

Green Resource Guide

More to come…

Board of Trustees

• Mark Sneathen, Chair
• Jeff Siegel, Past Chair
• August Staas, Chair Elect
• Laura McKee, Treasurer
• Liz Krumweide, Secretary
• Neal Shankman, Council Chair
• Berlinda Browne, Trustee
• Jonathan Dunmore, Trustee
• Norman Groetzinger, Trustee
• Curtis Smith, Trustee

Committee Chairs

• Building and Grounds Committee
  Interim Chair: Curtis Smith

• Bookstore:
  Gene Horcher

• Committee on Ministries (COM)
  Chair: Andrea Refairn

• Endowment Committee
  Dan Ashley, Larry Lefferts, Mark Sneathen

• Finance Committee
  Chair:

• Green Sanctuary
  Chair: Libby Harvey-Hill

• Hospitality Committee
  Chair: Pat Zukosky

• Lifespan Faith Development Council
  Chair: Alyssa Joy Stowe

• Membership Committee
  Chair: John Broome

• Music Committee
  Chair: Nanna Cross

• Nominating Committee
  Chair:

• Religious Services Committee
  Chairs: Gary Bondurant and Lee-Ann Meredith

• Social Justice Council
  Chairs: Curtis Smith and David Groves

• WIDE Committee
  Chairs: Atena Danner-McFadden

• Young Adult Group
  Chairs:

In the Summer of 2008, the Second Unitarian community experienced a change to the way families with children start their Sunday morning which also changed the order of worship for everyone in the community.  Our children now go directly to their own Sunday faith development programming rather than joining the adults for the first part of worship in the sanctuary.  These changes were made based on where the community is at this time and means that we are currently in a transition period to the next generation of multigenerational worship and community (to read more about the reasons for this change, read Rev. Jennifer O’Quill’s article in the December, 2008 Anvil).

Second Unitarian has long been committed to creating a vibrant multigenerational community and that value remains strong as evidenced by the almost eighty people who responded to the multigenerational community survey in December, 2008 and the members, including two former Second Unitarian Directors of Religious Education/Faith Development, who have come forward to help shepherd our community through this time of change and work on creative ideas for ways to include people of all ages into our various ministries.  We are excited to share the raw results of the survey with you online and in hard copy at the “What’s Happening” table in the Palmer Room as well as our interpretation of the results and what we plan to implement over the next few months and beyond.

As we reviewed the results of the survey, a few themes came to the surface:

1.    People want everyone in the church to have a meaningful worship experience and this doesn’t necessarily mean that all ages need to be in the same room in order to make this happen.
2.    Most people want young people to worship in the sanctuary sometimes, but rarely for the full hour.  There was a positive response to several of the ideas about ways to incorporate families and older children into regular worship services.
3.    In general, the positive energy generated by the children is missed during the service and there is excitement for the creation of the “next generation” of multigenerational worship.
4.    The demographics of our church have changed dramatically over the past five years.  We no longer have a middle school or high school group on Sunday mornings and the half of our children are four or younger.  There are only sixteen children over the age of seven and one teenager.  This means that most of the families are not at a point where their children are able to participate in all ages worship nor is there a strong desire by those families to have their infants and toddlers with them in the service.  There are a few families with older children and other congregants without children who really miss having the children in the sanctuary every Sunday.
5.    There is a strong desire to nurture the few older children in ways that are meaningful to them spiritually and help them explore their own beliefs and what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist.  Because of our current demographics, this will most likely mean more one on one mentoring and participating at an earlier age in Sunday worship services.
6.    Regarding whether or not the community wants to worship with young people, the results are varied but most of the responses fell in the middle.  Most adults would like to worship with young people sometimes, but not all of the time.  Some people never want children in worship and some want children in worship every Sunday.
7.    It is difficult to successfully offer full hour multigenerational worship services, but important to do this well about four times a year.

So where do we go from here?  Starting in March, 2009 a family will be invited to light the chalice and share a chalice lighting reading at the start of the service.  We are also exploring ways for children to be involved with playing and singing music with our many gifted musicians.  In addition, we will be eliciting feedback from our older children to find out how they want to participate in worship and what they find most meaningful.  In addition we are planning a multigenerational worship workshop for later this spring that will be open to the whole community.  We feel it is important to be clear about our vision and goals for the times when we do worship together with our young people.  Devising meaningful all ages worship is challenging but also can be extremely rewarding so we want to be intentional about the planning for next year and beyond.

A group of members have been meeting with Gabrielle Parra, Director of Faith Development, and will continue to serve as advisors and implementers of the many good ideas that have been and will continue to be generated.  Continue to send your feedback to faithdev_2u@att.net or call 773-549-0260 x12.

Blessings,

Gabrielle Parra, Director of Faith Development

Second Unitarian lives out its values in the world by being a caring community.

Please let the Pastoral Care Ministry know if you:

• are having or adopting a child
• are sick or injured
• are grieving the loss of a loved one
• would like someone to talk with in a time of joy or loneliness or spiritual questioning

Ministry members are available to listen when people need to talk with someone. They coordinate meals for members experiencing life changes such as a new child, and arrange rides to church for those who need transportation. The ministry needs volunteers for meals and rides. Please contact secondunitarian@att.net or 773-549-0260 x11 if you are able to help or if you need help.

Additionally, if you are struggling with a job loss or are underemployed please contact secondunitarian@att.net .  We have a group for support and accountability which meets on Mondays from 9-11a.m. at church.  Also, please review the various financial resources that may be available to you in the Community and Government Resource Guide.