Letter from the Board 9/1/2025
Dear 2U Friends,
We are living in a dark and unsettling time in the United States of America. As I write, the nation’s president is threatening to use military force to invade our city. Despite the pretext of “protecting us from crime,” we know the truth. He is exerting authority and exacting revenge against a city that overwhelmingly voted against him — a city that he and his supporters view as too Black, too ethnic, and too resistant to their agenda.
I don’t know what is going to happen, how many people may get hurt, or how long an occupation might last. But I know this as an article of faith: when this crisis ends — whether months or even years from now — our congregation will remain standing.
Our church — originally named Unity Church — was founded in 1857. We have outlasted the Civil War, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the AIDS crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, among many other crises. Some of you remember the fear of 1968, when the Democratic National Convention brought both massive protests and a militarized police crackdown to Chicago. Others recall the grief and terror of 9/11. We have walked through these times before.
I am especially moved by the way our forebears weathered the Great Chicago Fire. The image of Rev. Robert Collyer preaching among the rubble of our Dearborn Street home — long hanging in the Palmer Room — is an icon of resilience. I look forward to seeing it back in place when our construction is finished.
Our faith doesn’t promise that we can avert or magically fix crises. But it does promise that none of us will face them alone. Together we can lament, we can rage, we can resist, and we can serve those in need. And even in the midst of horrors, we can also find moments of joy, beauty, and laughter. Our faith is big enough to hold all of those things together.
For that, I am deeply grateful.
