Church guide

Join us this Sunday July 14 at 10:30 am to hear Anne Clough preach "It's Worth the Effort"

Join us this Sunday July 7 at 10:30 am, when Dan Kalkbrenner leads a fun filled service based on the Jeopardy game show. You will learn some history of Unitarian Universalism, some history of our church, and the UU values we hold and have fun at the same time. And there will be PRIZES!

We are looking forward to this Sunday June 30 at10:30 am, when three UUCE members will discuss their religious or spiritual thoughts. Shari Smagatz, Sheena John, and Frank Morales will each relate their innermost beliefs. Sharing these deeply personal journeys has always been a moving experience for the congregation. We hope you can join us for this special service.

We hope you can join us for a special Summer Solstice Service led by Diana Heizer and Valerie Howells this Sunday June 23 at 10:30 am. Ancient peoples have always conducted ceremony at the time of the Summer Solstice, honoring the sun and imploring it to stay and continue giving us long days and life-giving light. This is a good day to be grateful for what you have this year, and focus on what you still wish to come to you.

Tomorrow is Father’s Day. We will celebrate at 10:30 am with Rev. Leland Bond-Upson leading the service. It’s spelled Father’s Day and not Fathers’ Day because it’s about your particular father or fathers. Same as Mother’s Day is about your mom or moms, and not all moms. We will talk and think about fatherhood and how to father well.

This Sunday June 9 at 10:30 am we will have our annual Flower Communion. In this Service we enact a ceremony that is nearly 100 years old, in which we exchange flowers with people we know and don’t know. The point is to revel in our diversity, and take comfort in being just like everyone else, in all the ways that really matter. Please bring a flower or potted plant to share if you can. There will be some extras if you can't.

Hope you can join us on Sunday May 26 at 10:30 am for Steve Askin's final service as music director, so he can express his gratitude to all! It will be a normal service with all the regular elements, but with a mini concert in place of a sermon.

This Sunday at 10:30 am is a special day at UUCE, when we will be "Tying It All Together". The title refers to our multifaceted service, which will include a Teacher Thank-You ceremony, new-minted Eagle Scout Mitch King’s bridging ceremony, and a homily on what budget decisions mean by Rev. Leland Bond-Upson. This will lead into the Annual Meeting, where we tie it all together in a different way, discussing our priorities, reporting on the work of the budget team, and voting to adopt the 2019-20 UUCE budget.

This Sunday May 12 at 10:30 am come hear Rev. Leland Bond-Upson's sermon "Mother-Love" - On Mother’s Day we will contemplate the blessings of motherhood and mothering. There’s a little something here, we hope, for everyone: some mother-music, some cosmology, some gender politics, some evoking our own mothers, some history of feminist power, and some evoking the mother within all of us.

Please plan to join us this Sunday May 5 at 10:30 am when our guest speaker Cathy Moon from Prairie Circle UU Congregation of Grayslake will speak to us on "Deep Hanging Out: Navigating the Social Divide" which explores how we engage in productive citizen dialogue when we perceive others’ views as uninformed or immoral. The concept of ""deep hanging out,"" a term used by cultural anthropologists, will be offered as a strategy for resisting the construction of false binaries and for cultivating nuanced conversations about passionately held but disparate beliefs. Cathy Moon is a Professor in the Art Therapy Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an author, artist, and art therapist. Her current practice is focused on cultivating inclusivity and stigma reduction through a community-based art studio in Chicago, and collaboratively training artists and counselors in East Africa to become paraprofessional arts therapists for vulnerable children. Cathy’s educational background includes a master’s degree from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio. She spent many years church shopping before finding her spiritual home in the UU congregation in Grayslake.

We are all facing an enormous challenge: Human caused global warming and climate change that threatens our future. This Sunday at 10:30 am , we will focus on Solving the Climate Challenge. Guest speaker Deni Mathews has hopeful information about a bipartisan bill in Congress and will explain how we can build the momentum needed to preserve a livable world. Deni Mathews always considered herself an environmentalist. She currently volunteers with Citizens’ Climate Lobby, working to put a price on carbon that will lower emissions. She also works with Save Our Illinois Land, a group that fights fossil fuel infrastructure expansion, and Fossil Free Bartlett, focusing on issues of sustainability in her hometown.

On Sunday April 21 at 10:30 am Rev. Leland Bond-Upson will preach "Eastertide Rebirths" - In interfaith groups at this time of year I often find myself asked about the UU attitude toward Easter. I begin by saying that there is a wide array of attitudes towards almost all religious questions in Unitarian Universalism, and that most UUs doubt literal resurrection, and instead focus on rebirth in this world.

Join us this Sunday April 14 at 10:30 am to hear Rev. Leland Bond-Upson speak on "Pre-forgiveness" - In the spring of 1974, I preached a sermon at S.F. First Unitarian, titled “Poor Richard Nixon.” This 2019 sermon updates what I said then about the relationship between understanding and forgiveness.

This Sunday April 7 at 10:30 am join us for a special service titled Why I Serve - At UUCE we affirm in our values and mission statement that we are a community who serve with love and compassion. During this special service representatives from 3 of our committees will share why they serve our church.

Please join us this Sunday at 10:30am, when Rev. Leland Bond-Upson will be preaching the sermon "The Truth, and How To Get It" - There is a 1964 movie titled “The Knack, And How To Get It,” directed by Richard Lester, and starring a young Rita Tushingham. We will attempt to bring a sense of humor to the fairly serious subject of truth, truthfulness, and ‘truthiness.’

Please join us this Sunday March 24 at 10:30 am. Rev. Leland Bond-Upson will be preaching the sermon "Right Relations" - Some people object to the ‘Right’ part of ‘Right Relations,’ because it seems to them self-righteous. Well, yes, I suppose, but the fun part of forging an agreement about how we treat each other, outside but most especially inside the Church, is talking with each other about what is ‘right.’

This Sunday March 17 at 10:30 am Rev. Leland Bond-Upson will be preaching the sermon "In Praise of Women" - Composing more than half the world’s population, proving themselves in every field formerly reserved for men (including military combat), while yet continuing to mother and raise families, women are still not recognized as perfectly equal in any country, let alone superior in some ways. But we are inching closer. Let’s talk about what is trending.

Plan to join us on Sunday March 10 at 10:30am for Music Sunday. This is a service that highlights the musical talents within our congregation to benefit the UUCE music program, which will be the recipient of all non-pledge offerings received.

This Sunday March 3 at 10:30 am Anne Clough will be leading the service. Her sermon title is "The Truth About Stories" - Each of us operates in the world with a narrative that we tell ourselves. How do we keep our story from limiting our understanding of the truth? How do we open up to the stories of others.

Join us this Sunday, February 24 at 10:30 am, when Rev. Leland Bond-Upson, Minister will be preaching "Sermon on the Amount Or, When Spiritual But Not Religious Is Not Enough" - The title is an old Unitarian (pre-UU) joke, and the subtitle is the name of an important book, on the subject of what “Church” is worth to us. You are invited to think a bit on what this Church means to you, and after we acknowledge the centrality of ‘community,’ you are invited to think a little on what it means to you because of what it means—or may mean, or will mean—to others.

Rev. Leslie invites us all to the New Year’s Eve morning labyrinth walk at 10:30am. Bundle up, because it’s zero degrees outside, but there will be a fire in the middle. For those who need to stay inside, Rev. Scott will be offering a New Year’s activity where it’s warm. Hope to see you there!

Our choir had a great rehearsal tonight, preparing some great music to share with you this Sunday, October 22! We'd love to have you join us at 10:30am. Krista Flanagan will be offering a service on "Coming Home to Yourself." Visit our website for more details at UUCE.org. You can also come for our 9am Adult Spirituality class on "Crossing the Partisan Divide," led by Andrea Schmidlin. Childcare is provided.

Happy New Year! We're ready for you to come walk the labyrinth with us. Hope to see you this morning at 10:30 -- but our outdoor labyrinth is open every day, during daylight hours.

Street is clear and parking lot is plowed. Make the travel choice that's safest for you -- but if you decide to come, know that's we're ready for you!

Our Unichords and Villa Street at Elgin's Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, hosted at First United Methodist Church

#NeighborhoodLoveNotes in downtown Elgin!

Pretzel Baking 101... very successful!

Leslie's ordination

The ordination of Leslie Mills!

Welcome to our Sesquicentennial Celebration worship service!