For many of us who grew up in a traditional school system, July meant“vacation”– time off from classwork, a break from the usual stressfulobligations of childhood. Now as adults, our obligations have changed. We have long to-do lists in our homes and at our jobs. And as UnitarianUniversalists, we are also aware of the work that … Continue reading The Minister’s Musings on Rest
Saturday, June 18, 2022, 5-7pm in Tree of Life’s sanctuary, Jail Brakers in coordination with Prairie State Legal Services will host a sealing and expungement presentation. Dinner will be provided. Please wear a mask. Registration is required.
Greetings Beloved Community!We have several things to share with you this week. The Board met this Monday to review our COVID guidelines. We are pleased to let you know that we are dropping the pre-registration requirement to attend in-person services. We do ask, though, that you sign in when you arrive, and that you let us … Continue reading Leadership Link May 27, 2022
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news.” These words come from the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible and are later echoed in the Christian scriptures as well. Our Soul Matters theme for the month of May is “beauty.” When I think about beauty, images of feet are not … Continue reading The Minister’s Musings on Beauty
As a community, we hold a range of opinions regarding how to best provide a welcoming and inclusive worship experience while safeguarding the wellbeing of our most vulnerable members. (As UUs, we probably wouldn’t imagine it any other way!) Despite our historic distaste of guidelines and rules, in order to regather, we needed to establish … Continue reading How to Attend our In Person Services
In 1991, Marian Wright Edelman wrote an article reflecting on her past in which she recalled listening to Dr. Martin Luther King’s speeches in the chapel of her college as a young adult. Of him, she said:One of the things I liked about him was that he didn’t pretend to be a great powerful know-it-all. I … Continue reading The Minister’s Musings on Renewing Faith
Greetings beloved church family,We are thrilled to announce that we are eagerly preparing for in-person worship services to resume inside our building! Our target date is April 3rd. Many pieces are falling into place, but we have a few more opportunities for involvement from the community. In order to make the target safe in person … Continue reading We are re-opening our building!!
Spirit of Life and Love, Our hearts are aching todayAs we watch fear and terrorBeing inflicted on Ukraine. We pray from afar,Seeing people flee in fear,Praying in the streets,Gripped by an uncertaintyThat echoes in our hearts. We have known uncertaintyAnd fear these last two years,And while we are awareIt is nothing like war, We are … Continue reading A Prayer for Ukraine
Religious Education for children and youth is offered through Zoom. Click here to attend on Sundays at noon. Our one-room classroom Zoom brings our students into the broader conversations presented by Soul Matters monthly themes at age-appropriate levels that seek to include challenging questions for K-12th grades. February 20: “Widening the History we Tell” In the telling of … Continue reading Youth Religious Education
February brings us to the Soul Matters theme of “Widening the Circle.” While I often prefer one word rather than a phrase for our theme, I am enjoying thinking about how we can explore widening our circle as UUs. One way is to take a look at Widening the Circle of Concern, a report put out by … Continue reading The Minister’s Musings on Widening the Welcome
