Prairie Circle Unitarian Universalist Congregation’s members and friends are invited to an informal potluck brunch beginning at 10:00 am on Christmas Day at the home of Marty and Tonia VerShaw, 18008 W. Winnebago Drive in Wildwood. They ask you to bring your favorite morning brunch food. They will have the coffee ready! Bring your holiday memories or thoughts to share with UU friends.

A sign-up sheet with directions to their home will be available during Sunday morning coffee hour in December.  Call Tonia if you have questions at 630-359-7295 or e-mail at tvershaw@gmail.com

To Benefit Global Alliance for Africa’s Therapeutic Arts Program

Saturday, December 10, 2010, 6 -11pm

Home of Cathy & Bruce Moon – 305 Dunbar Road, Mundelein, IL 60060

Phone:  847-566-4732

$15 adults, $10 students, children 12 and under free

Featured Musicians:

Josh Anderson, Chris Belkofer, Dan Niedziejko & Liz Viscious!
Jim Cubit, Scott Helmke, Bruce Moon & Mark Wilson!
Robinlee Garber!
Don Morman Family Band….and more!

Food & Beverages:

Soup for vegetarian and carnivores provided

BYOB and bring side dish or soup to share

East African artwork, jewelry, and other items also for sale!

All proceeds benefit the Therapeutic Arts Program for orphans and children otherwise made vulnerable by the AIDS pandemic in East Africa.  Visit www.GlobalAllianceAfrica.org for more information about Global Alliance for Africa’s work.

“When we recognize someone as a leader, we often place our faith in that person to a degree that exceeds what is humanly possible.  In other words, we expect them to be beyond fault and to not make mistakes. This, of course, is neither realistic nor fair. Just like us, these people are living human lives, and part of the deal is learning through experience and working out our individual karmas.  There will always be missteps and things they would do differently given a second chance.  If we are to be fair, we must grant our leaders the same forgiveness, compassion, and understanding that we grant our closest friends as they navigate the complex challenges of this human life.

Leaders are special people in that they have the ability to guide and represent large groups of people.  In this calling, they agree, to some degree, to be responsible for the well-being of others.  Because of this, we hold them up to a higher standard of behavior, and in some ways this is fair. However, we will only be disappointed and disillusioned time and time again if we expect them to be perfect.  If they were perfect, they would not be here on Earth. Perhaps the most we can expect of our leaders is that they make it a practice to acknowledge their shortcomings and learn from their experiences. Beyond this, when our leaders let us down, it is up to us to forgive and move on.  Dwelling on disappointment and negativity creates more of the same.

People who choose to lead are often extraordinary individuals blessed with vision, energy, and charisma.  It is their path to inspire, guide, and represent us, but it is not possible for them to never let us down. Leaders are on a path of growth just as we are.  Perhaps this is something to remember when we have the opportunity to choose somebody in a leadership role, or perhaps you are ready to step into a role of leadership yourself.”
~ Author Unknown

by Tonia Becker VerShaw

Before I dive into the core message of this post, an acknowledgement and a tiny bit of explanation is in order.  First the title of this post is a takeoff of a movie created by Kris Carr called “Crazy Sexy Cancer” and one of her books entitled “Crazy Sexy Diet.” I met Kris at a recent yoga and wellness conference and found her to be absolutely amazing.  If you or someone you love is battling cancer, or if you are simply interested in new thoughts on health and wellness, I encourage you to explore her work.

Second, the word “crazy” is being used to mean radical or leading edge.  “Sexy,” and this may be a disappointment to some readers, is being used to represent robustness, energy and a passion for life.  Finally, this post reflects my thoughts as a member of PCUUC and as the current PCUUC Board President.  I do not speak for the PCUUC Board or the congregation at large.

With these preliminaries out of the way, let’s dive in.  I believe that Unitarian Universalism is, or could be a “Crazy Sexy Faith.” Unfortunately, for the most part, we don’t approach our faith in this manner either within PCUUC or within the broader community of UU churches. Across the member churches of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) membership has stagnated for now decades and by some meaningful measures is declining.  Although on whole PCUUC membership has grown, it has not grown much for the last few years.

Despite the fact that PCUUC now has three employees on our payroll, has costs to rent space and pay for set up of Sunday services, has costs for our pianist and we need to pay for other necessities of church operation, PCUUC’s 2011-2012 year’s operating budget is less than the household income of a number of our members.  However, PCUUC is not in an unusual place when you scan across the community of UU churches.  Most, but certainly not all, UU churches have stagnant or declining membership and are constantly starved for cash.  Why?

I do not make these statements to make us feel bad about ourselves or our faith – quite the contrary.  We share a proud, dynamic and incredibly important faith.  I make these statements out of hope, tremendous optimism, my perspective on our opportunities, my belief in us and most importantly to me, the critical nature of the work before us.  How is it possible in a country and a local community full of seekers searching for a higher calling, that a faith dedicated to “the continued search for truth and meaning” is struggling to find its place?  In moments of honest reflection, I think many of us know that some of our approaches to faith, spirituality and “church” are not well-suited for the modern world.

Three factors have recently collided in my mind:

1) For the last couple of years, especially the last handful of months as I prepared myself for the challenges and the rewards of being PCUUC’s Board President this church year, I have been thinking a lot about these issues.

2)  I just finished reading a book entitled “The Almost Church:  Redefining Unitarian Universalism for a New Era,” by Michael Durall.

3)  Bhante Sujatha a monk from the Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple in Woodstock, Illinois delivered the sermon at PCUUC on Sunday, August 7.

Let’s look at two very different faith communities that have flourished in recent years – non-denominational evangelical Christian churches and Woodstock’s Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple. These two faith communities could not be more different, but I think there are also some compelling similarities.

To a decent extent UU’s have watched the rise of evangelical megachurches with envy.  Maybe if we had a coffee bar and fancy audio/visual effects during our worship services our membership would grow.  I have more than observational experience with Willow Creek Community Church, an incredibly successful now network of non-denominational evangelical churches, and I would be happy to share my experiences there at some point.  But, I will point out the obvious.  Willow Creek is not starving for cash. In fact, jet planes have been donated at the spur of the moment by wealthy members just because Senior Pastor Bill Hybels made the statement that they were having difficulty coordinating the transportation of members doing missionary work.  Numerous other evangelical churches have also been launched and thrived in the last couple of decades.

I think some UU’s are jealous of the vitality of many evangelical churches, and many of us look down our noses at them to some extent.  We seem to think to ourselves….maybe, just maybe, these millions will see the light one day and start breaking down the doors of our UU churches.  I hate to disappoint, but this is unlikely. We know this, so many UU’s dismiss the evangelical movement….we just can’t “compete” with them after all.

However, what struck me to the core was this past Sunday when Bhante Sujatha was with us.  Standing behind our pulpit was a soft-spoken, smiling, radiant Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka wearing a saffron robe and delivering a radical message – a message of true loving kindness and compassion. A message that always makes me think of a certain radical Nazarene that lived and taught some 2,000 years ago. Over the course of the last year, via my yoga studio and PCUUC, I have had the opportunity for numerous interactions with Bhante Sujatha.  I have developed a warm affection for him and I am certainly far from alone in these feelings.  Most importantly, by attempting to internalize his wisdom and teachings and via very regular yoga practice I have developed a greater affection for myself and for others. Although far from perfect, my “love levels” are greater than they were a year ago.

Bhante Sujatha and the other monks of the Blue Lotus Temple are not splashy people (I suppose flashiness would fly in the face of the whole “monk thing”), they do not have rock and roll bands that perform at their meditation practices and Dharma talks and I doubt they are planning to open a Starbucks within the walls of their new temple.  Yet, they are not strapped for cash and find themselves sometimes turning away or redirecting money from wealthy donors offering to write large checks.  No flashing lights and lattes and they are turning away money while many of our UU congregations struggle for survival and PCUUC, while not struggling for survival, is not attracting abundance in either membership or funds.

Why?  I want to hear your ideas and the Board has decided to dedicate this church year to the exploration of these questions and most importantly to the encouragement of potential directions.

You will have your own thoughts, but the following is a very brief outline of my beliefs on this issue.  Both evangelical churches and the Blue Lotus Temple, in very different ways, are offering something tremendously meaningful and/or radical.  Evangelicals are sharing the good news of the opportunity for salvation (an alluring prospect to say the least). The Blue Lotus monks are in their own way evangelizing the radical message of loving kindness.  Both call their followers to change core approaches to living their lives. They ask their followers for something bigger – both faiths change the core of their followers in fundamental ways.

At PCUUC we have a radical premise of “the continued search for truth and meaning.” Wow! But, we spend way too much time (in my opinion) in committee meetings discussing non-radical ideas and initiatives.  We spend so much energy being tolerate and trying to avoid being offensive that we repress the truth in each of our hearts.  Sometimes we feel accomplished that we have “achieved” our own search for truth and meaning and we forget all the people who might need our help facilitating their own journeys.  In a recent conversation with my husband, he profoundly pointed out that it is difficult to conduct a search for truth and meaning if you don’t have food on your table, if you are ill and can’t access medical treatment, if you don’t know how to read, etc. In addition to our own personnel searches, is facilitating and inspiring the search of others our calling?  Sometimes we are so afraid that we might be viewed as trying to convert others to our specific beliefs, that we in effect turn our backs on those who desperately need us.

And as offensive as it might be to some, I am going to say it because we are going to need to take bold steps together in order to prosper.  Focusing on by-laws, policy and procedures is really focusing on all of the ways we can protect ourselves from one another.  What we are really saying is that we don’t trust each other and we don’t trust future members and/or future leaders of our church. And, we don’t have faith that we can simply talk to each other about what conduct is acceptable within our community and what is not.

Governance is important, but before we go even further down the rabbit hole of process, rules and procedure we need to open ourselves to the possibility that we might get hurt.  When we open our hearts and extend our trust to our friends, family, our faith, and members of our church community we will get hurt from time to time. When we inevitably get hurt, we need to stop flipping through the by-laws to come up with an attack plan. Rather, we need to center ourselves.  We need to breath in, breath out….let ourselves heal, get up and begin anew.

Somewhere within us we know that we can be a better, “larger,” more exciting and fulfilling faith, but maybe a part of each of us is scared.  It is very comfortable in a lot of ways to be this little island within the community of people of faith, that is non-offensive, tolerant, undemanding and….too often, unfortunately, not all that inspiring and engaging.  There is so much work that needs to be done – the important work of ministering to each other and to those less fortunate, to those in need of inspiration or to those who need help to begin or to continue their own search for truth and meaning.  Friends, we are never ever going to find these riches in a procedure guideline or in a book detailing Robert’s Rules of Order.

To be bestowed with these riches, to be the “Crazy Sexy Faith” we can be, we have to surrender, while driving forward with all the energy we can spare where it is important to do so.  We have to open ourselves to each other, to potential new members and to those who desperately need us.

We can be the crazy, sexy, full of life, full of core-changing important work, faith we are destined to be….where do we start?

Ian Evison from the Central Midwest District will be working with Reverend Ziegler, the Board and the committee chairs to assist us in welcoming Reverend Ziegler and establish healthy, dynamic and fun working relationships.

The meeting will contain three one-hour segments:

1.  PCUUC unwritten rules Rev. Jackie needs to know/be aware of in order to succeed in her ministry with us.

2.  Roles – where does Rev. Jackie “start and stop” and where does the church leadership and congregation “start and stop”

3.  We are bouncing around a few different ideas with Ian on the third segment.  There are a number of things we could do, we just ant to make the best use of our time and take the best advantage of Ian being with us.  More information will be available shortly.

All are welcome and this is a particularly great opportunity for anyone interested in becoming more involved in active PCUUC service and/or leadership roles.

Date, Time and Location

August 18, 2011

6:00 – 9:30 pm

Days Inn Libertyville – Conference Room
1809 N Milwaukee Ave
94 Exit Buckly Rd HWY137
Libertyville, IL 60048 US
Phone:  847-816-8006

We will have sandwiches, water and sodas available.  Eating and socializing will begin at 6:00 and we will begin the first segment promptly at 6:30

Our society is constantly talking about the importance of community, family and teams. Our neighborhoods, churches, clubs, our global community. Our family and friends. Our work teams, organizational teams, even athletic teams.

“The sum is greater than the whole.” “Two heads are better than one.” Constantly we profess to value, above all else, our connectedness to our loved ones, to those we respect and to the community at large.

However, as a society we nearly worship the individual.

Individualism is so import to us that we strive with focused determination to “be true to ourselves.”

Consumer product companies sell all kinds of products that allow us to distinguish ourselves from others…to express our individual personalities. Psychologists have found that the sound of our own name is the most pleasing sound there is to our ears.

There is little wonder many of us feel conflicted much of the time. Many of us profess that others are more important than ourselves and we work tirelessly to prove this to ourselves and to the world at large.

BUT, we want things our way. Giving up a piece of ourselves borders on a mortal sin within American society. We are petrified of losing ourselves. We are horrified by the thought of selling out.

The conflict comes from the fact that we know that we must give up a piece of ourselves to have successful relationships. We must, to some extent, give way to the whole to make relationships, organizations and societies work. Any of us who are married or have children might be especially aware of this giving of ourselves as without it, it is impossible to have a successful marriage or to raise well adjusted children.

Think about a recent conflict you experienced at work, within your church or within your family. The conflict most certainly resulted from either a misunderstanding and/or the clash of different sets of opinions, needs or positions.

Relationships, organizations and societies typically remain in tact as long as there is enough commonality. As long as the parties involved are willing to lay enough of themselves “on the altar of the whole” –relationships, organizations and societies stay together. When the differences become more important or more numerous than the value of the commonalities….relationships, organizations and societies break apart.

Each of us has to constantly make these judgments. We generally will overlook small disagreements within our marriages, with our co-workers and with our society at large. We are often even willing to overlook very large differences of opinion. However, at various points in our lives we each have to make “Will I Stay or Will I Go?” decisions.

We ask ourselves, “In this specific case, am I willing to lay enough of myself on the altar of the whole to continue my participation in this relationship, this organization or even this society?”

First posted December 2, 2009

7/26/2011 Update

Tim DeChristopher sentenced to 2 years in prison, taken immediately into custody

Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to 2 years in prison today at the Salt Lake City federal courthouse. He was taken immediately into custody, being denied the typical 3 weeks afforded to put his affairs in order and say goodbye to his friends and family.

Federal prosecutors asked for Tim to receive an extra harsh prison sentence in an effort to intimidate the movement that stands with him. They hoped that by condemning him to years behind bars, they would “make an example out of him” and deter all of us from taking meaningful action. But Tim is already an example. He’s an example of the courageous acts that people across our movements are taking to fight for justice and a liveable future. We support Tim by continuing to organize. Our response to this sentence is an affirmation: we will not be intimidated.  What’s your response?

Read full article on PeacefulUprising.com

What should Prairie Circle Unitarian Universalist’s Response be?

Posted 7/12/2011

First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City is requesting that Unitarian Universalists stand with them in solidarity with climate champion, Tim DeChristopher, member of their congregation, as he awaits sentencing on July 26, 2011.

In December 2008 Tim DeChristopher was an undergraduate economics student at the University of Utah and he willingly admitted to participating in a federal auction to secure oil and gas leases.  He ultimately won the rights to $1.8 million worth of leases, but soon announced that he had no intent to pay.  However, later Tim did offer to pay his $1.8 million tab via funds raised within an internet fundraising campaign, but the government refused to accept the money.

Mr. DeChristopher’s infiltration of and participation in the auction was to serve as a protest of U.S. energy and environmental policies.

In March 2011 a federal jury found Tim guilty of two felony counts of “interfering with and making false representations at a government auction.”

Tim now faces up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $750,000.

The solitary actions being suggest are:

• Flooding local press offices across the country.  A suggested letter template can be found by clicking here.
• Scheduling or participating in local demonstrations.

What are your thoughts?  How should we, members or Prairie Circle Unitarian Universalist Congregation respond?  Feel free to comment below or e-mail your thoughts to either SocialAction@PrairieCircleUUC.org and/or President@PrairieCircleUUC.org.

The following list contains just a few background articles and resources on Tim DeChristopher’s journey and mission.

From Joy and Resolve to Love and Outrage: July 26th
Published July 8, 2011 – Peaceful Uprising website

Federal Jury in Utah Convicts Environmentalist
Published March 3, 2011 – New York Times

Climate Activist Tim DeChristopher Convicted on Two Felony Counts
Published March 3, 2011 – TreeHugger.com

Transcript of Tim DeChristopher addressing the Congregation of First Unitarian Church on February 24, 2011

Posing as a Bidder, Utah Student Disrupts Government Auction of 150,000 Acres of Wilderness for Oil & Gas Drilling
Published December 22, 2008 – DemocracyNow.com

Peaceful Uprising is a 501(c)(3) Charitable Trust founded by Tim DeChristoper.  The organization is dedicated to defending a livable future through empowering nonviolent action.

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First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City Supports Tim DeChristopher

The Unitarian Universalist Association and President Peter Morales are pleased to present a new video series, “A Religion for Our Time.” These short videos highlight inspiring work in Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations, including innovative projects relating to worship, religious education, social justice, membership, and fellowship.

Access Video Series