Have you had a family member, relative, good friend or any other well-meaning person say to you, “You’re going to go to hell because you’re not taking Jesus as your savior” or . . . you can fill in the blank? Well you’re not alone. Many of us have had these loving yet painful arrows of concern pierce our hearts.  A problem for most of us is that we don’t quite know what to say in response.

Upon the request of a Prairie Circle member, Rev. Ziegler offers the opportunity for members and friends to get together to share experiences they’ve had and through brainstorming come up with creative and caring responses.

We’ll have this discuss and brainstorming session at Rev. Ziegler’s home on Friday, June 8, beginning at 6:30 p.m. over a potluck dinner.  To participate in this evening gathering a reservation is requested by no later than Wednesday, May 30. If more people reserve than Rev. Ziegler’s home can comfortably accommodate we’ll gather at a Prairie Circle member or friend’s home. 

To make your reservation there will be a sign up at the Visitors’ Welcome table on Sundays, or you may email Rev. Ziegler at revziegler@comcast.net or call her at 847-629-5868.  After Monday, April 30, Rev. Ziegler will inform you where the gathering will take place and discuss your potluck contribution.

The AREET Movie Club is pleased to announce a viewing of Marc and Nick Francis’ film “Black Gold”. The film will be shown after the Sunday Service on May 20th. The film demonstrates the paradox that as people in the developed world are willing to pay more and more for coffee, cappuccino, and espresso, the farmers who grow the coffee beans for those beverages struggle to make a living and avoid bankruptcy.

The presentation will take place in a Prairie Crossing Charter School classroom next to the barn at 10:45. For additional information please contact Mike Honegger, Mike Merritt, Rev. Ziegler, or Julie Palumbo.

Date:   Sunday, April 1, 2012, 10:45 a.m.

Location:   In a Prairie Crossing Charter School classroom next to the Barn; room location will be announced that morning

Faced with the converging crises of energy sufficiency, collapsing environmental systems and a dangerously unstable global economy, we now must make a defining choice between two contrasting models for organizing human affairs — Empire and Earth Community.  Absent an understanding of the history and implications of this choice, we may squander valuable time and resources on efforts to preserve or mend cultural patterns and institutions that cannot be fixed and must be replaced.

To move forward in this critical moment we must, above all, recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth Community with a common destiny.  Now we must, and can, move again to a life-sustaining society in harmony with the earth’s natural abundance.

This offering will feature Dr. David C. Korten’s PowerPoint presentation on this subject given at the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly in 2006, with an update to reflect recent developments in the areas of energy, the environment and the economy.

This presentation will be led by Prairie Circle member John Crowley who has studied these problems and proposed solutions over a long period of time.

Preregistration is requested.  Beginning with the March 11 Sunday service and following services, a registration sheet will be available on the Welcome Table at the Barn.  People can also register through Rev. Ziegler by email at revziegler@comcast.net  or 847-629-5868.

A Workshop:

“Healing and Re-energizing the Soul-Weary Activist”

            The Rev. Jacqueline Ziegler will be offering this special workshop. It is one she has offered in many other locations and it always receives accolades from participants.  This free workshop is offered for people who are feeling despair or suffering disappointment, disillusionment and fatigue from their work on behalf of justice.  Through this workshop people will have the opportunity to experience a sense of healing and new energy.  Its goal is to bring hope back to the activist’s work.

            This workshop is better than anything the doctor could have ordered to heal the soul-weary activist! It is based on the work of Joanna Macy, the world-renowned Buddhist and activist. 

            Watch for more information in the future E-nnouncements and the March newsletter. Please tell any activists you know about this workshop.  If you’d like more information sooner, feel free to call Rev. Ziegler at 847-629-5868.

Prairie Circle Unitarian Universalist Congregation is offering a three-part series of interactive presentations on the Constitution of the United States for members of the congregation, friends and the general public. The currently scheduled dates are Wednesdays, April 11th, 25th and May 9th.

The first and third sessions will be conducted at the State Bank of the Lakes Building, 50 Commerce Drive, Grayslake, IL, and the second session will be at the Byron Colby Barn, 1561 Jones Point Road, Grayslake, IL. All sessions are scheduled for 7:00 to 9:45 p.m.

The purpose of the sessions is to share and expand knowledge of the United States Constitution through a process of active and interactive learning. Many Americans have a passing familiarity with the Constitution, but have not reviewed the document in detail and have not considered the values underlying the constitutional provisions or the effect of the Constitution on their lives.

Session one (April 11^th): The first session will cover the document itself and provide a brief history of events that led to the creation of the Constitution. We will cover the perspective of the drafters, discuss key points, and distinguish between the Declaration of Independence of 1776, the original text of the Constitution as promulgated in 1787 and the Bill of Rights, as adopted in 1791.

Session two (April 25^th):  The second session will explore the values reflected in the Constitution and ask the question – Are these values still relevant, and does our current Constitution achieve them? During this discussion, we will touch on Martin Luther King’s analogy of the Constitution to a promissory note and other perspectives on our constitutional scheme.

Session three (May 9^th): This session will examine the actual workings of our constitutional system in practice and some prevalent notions of constitutional values by focusing on three notable Supreme Court opinions:

• The Hosanna-Tabor Church v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission case, where the Court for the first time recognized a “ministerial exception” to employment discrimination laws under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment;

• The Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, which has been criticized by some as a misguided ruling undermining our constitutional values in the name of First Amendment free speech rights;

• The Griswold v. Connecticut case (1965), a seminal case sewing together the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Ninth amendments to find a constitutionally protected zone of privacy that is not expressly found in the text of the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.

The series will be co-led by two Prairie Circle members, Dr. Michael Merritt and Mark Wilson. Mike is a political science instructor at the College of Lake County. Mark is a practicing lawyer and a former Illinois Assistant Attorney General whose practice has included several significant constitutional cases, including a Due Process Clause in the United States Supreme Court and several notable constitutional cases in the lower federal and state courts.  All attendees will be offered a small pocket booklet containing the U.S. Constitution and some other founding-era text and information.

For session three a panel discussion involving other distinguished guests is being planned.

For more information, please contact Michael Merritt, Mark Wilson, Mike Honegger or Rev. Jacqueline Ziegler.

Title: Movie Club Presentation of Josh Fox’s “GASLAND”  

Location: Prairie Crossing Charter School Classroom
Description: The Adult Enrichment Committee is pleased to announce a showing of Josh Fox’s documentary film “GASLAND.” GASLAND is Mr. Fox’s search for information and truth regarding fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, as a means to extract natural gas. His search began when he was asked to lease his land for drilling.

The film will be presented after the Sunday service at 10:45 on February 26th, in a Prairie Crossing Charter School classroom, next to the Byron Colby Barn. A discussion period will follow. 

If you are interested in attending the film and discussion, please contact Mike Honegger, Mike Merritt, or Rev. Ziegler.

Start Time: 10:45

Date: 2012-01-31

Rev. Ziegler is offering another evening gathering for members and friends to discuss the philosophical, theological and ethical implications of a designated secular movie, all while sharing a potluck dinner.  The movie for May 11 is the highly acclaimed and classic movie Rashomon.

The story told by Rashomon is both surprisingly simple and deceptively complex. Sixty-two years after it was made Rashomon has lost none of its fascination or power. It’s still a marvelous piece of cinema that asks unanswerable questions of great import. No movie before or since has presented these issues in quite the same unique and intense fashion. In every sense of the word, this is a true classic. It’s hard to find a more rewarding way to spend ninety minutes.

Rashomon is directed by Akira Kurosawa.  Kurosawa is considered one of the ten greatest motion picture directors of all time and Rashomon is one of his most acclaimed films. It stars the famous Japanese actor, Toshirō Mifune. This movie won the 1952 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

In order to participate in this evening of exciting, thoughtful discussion and delicious food, you need to meet the following two requirements:

You must have seen the chosen movie no more than 4 weeks before the evening gathering so its themes are fresh in your mind.

Reserve one of the 10 places at the table through Rev. Ziegler.

We’ll meet on Friday, May 11, 2012, with the potluck dinner beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the discussion starting around 7 p.m.

Please understand that you don’t need to know or understand what the philosophical, theological or ethical themes are in a movie in order to participate. The goals of the evening are for people to discuss what they “think” the theological, philosophical and ethical themes in the movie are and in the process of the cordial discussion learn from each other and come to an understanding or even a better understanding about the film’s themes. That’s the main fun in the evening, the discussion!

To reserve a place at the dinner table sign up at the Visitors’ Welcome table on Sundays, or email Rev. Ziegler at revziegler@comcast.net or call her at 847-629-5868.  As space is limited, reservations will be available only to the first 10 people who contact her.

The deadline for reserving a spot is Monday, May 7, 2012. Rev. Ziegler will call you to confirm your place and discuss your potluck contribution.