Help Decide Next Year’s Shared Offerings

The Social Action Committee is soliciting nominations for Shared Offerings for 2015!

Do you know of a non-profit organization that you think is deserving of a financial contribution from the church? The Social Action Committee (SAC) is now soliciting nominations for the 2015 Shared Offerings to be chosen by members and friends of the church at the November SAC meeting. Those organizations that are chosen for a Shared Offering will receive half of the plate cash collection and all designated checks from each Sunday service for a month.

There are three ways to nominate an organization:

1. In the Order of Service on Sunday, October 5th, there will be a form you can fill out to nominate an organization. You can take that form to the SAC table in the Fellowship Hall afterward.
2. Use the new online nomination form, available here.
3. Email Ryan Latvaitis, SAC chair, with your suggestions at ryan.latvaitis@gmail.com.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, November 14^th.

The meeting to choose 2015's Shared Offerings will be Monday, November 17^th at 7:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Shared Offering choices are divided among local organizations (usually 6-7), as well as national (2-3) and international (2-3). Organizations are chosen to represent different categories of help, such as Housing, Environment, Food, Children, Medical/Health, and social justice concerns, and will also be discussed regarding how well they align with UU Principles as well as their charity rating, if available.

A Coffeehouse Celebration in Memory of Kent

Join us in an intergenerational celebration dedicated to Kent Conrad, our beloved former Music Director, as we hold a UU Coffeehouse Saturday, November 8th at 7:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. You’re invited to present a song, skit, musical theater snippet, poem, dance, or whatever else you think the congregation would enjoy. Take advantage of the church’s new percussion instruments (drum set, maracas, claves, cymbals, etc.) purchased this summer!  We will follow the usual format of brief performances (8-10 minutes), yummy desserts, and beverages for the entire family. Sign up to perform, bring goodies, or help with setup/cleanup in one of three ways: in person between Sunday services, or via email to either Jim Hannum at jwhannum@gmail.com or Sandy Hannum at smhannum@gmail.com.

Monthly Shared Offering: Canaan Development Foundation’s SAFE Houses

Our Shared Offering for October will support the Men’s SAFE House and the Women’s SAFE House in Champaign-Urbana. “SAFE” stands for Substance Abuse Free Environment. Each provides a 12-month program of residential care for men or women with alcohol or drug addictions, as well as drop-in support. The Men’s SAFE House opened in 1994, the Women’s in 2012.

Both were created and are administered by the Canaan Development Foundation (CDF), a community-supported non-profit founded by Canaan Baptist Church.

The mission statement for the Men’s SAFE House is: “To provide positive alternatives for those who seek to escape the pressures of areas with high drug activity.” For the Women’s SAFE House, it is: “To combat the incidence and impact of drugs and alcohol abuse among women; to empower these women to make informed choices about their future and the future of their dependent children.”

Each of the SAFE House programs provides extensive support for residents – overnight accommodations; breakfast, lunch and dinner; and classes in substance abuse, family life skills, violence prevention, as well as communications skills The Women’s SAFE House also provides residential care for residents’ dependent children.

The importance of these SAFE houses to us all is clear. The CDF website puts it succinctly.

What costs over $700 million and provides no value to the purchasers? That’s the yearly cost to feed, clothe, and house incarcerated men and women in Illinois, not including the economic value that prisoners could have contributed to society’s wellbeing!

How do so many capable individuals end up behind bars? To be sure, poor personal choices, coupled with the social ills of poverty, violence, abuse, and neglect, have contributed to the plight of prisoners, but only drug abuse characterizes all incarcerated populations. Drug abuse is an equal opportunity drain on our society’s wellbeing. Nearly 75% of all White, as well as Black, and over 60% of Hispanic prisoners admit to regular drug use prior to incarceration.

It’s simple – Less substance abuse, less prisoners. Today’s global economy requires every individual to be a contributing member of society. We don’t have a single person to waste! In other words – CDF promotes “the inherent worth and dignity of every person.”

To learn more about these programs, visit CDF’s website, canaandevelopmentfoundation.org.

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry for a Good Cause

Mark your calendars: Saturday, October 18th at 5:30 p.m. is the annual Partner Church Committee's (PCC) fundraising dinner for our partner churches in Transylvania, Romania, and the Khasi Hills in India. Our theme this year will be a dinner/film combination honoring the Transylvanian region of Romania. Enjoy a light dinner consisting of sour cherry soup, artisan rolls, a selection of sandwiches, and German strudel with ice cream for dessert. The dinner will cost $15 per person, with larger donations welcome, to support our partner churches.

Contact Brigitte Pieke at brigittepieke@hotmail.com if you need a ticket.

PCC Members: Anne Sharpe, Barb Strauss, Christine Cahill, Gail Hueting, Libby Tyler, Peri Ceperley, Sally Babbitt, and Brigitte Pieke (chair).

Happy Hour is the Best Hour

Join us at the next Happy Hour this Thursday, September 18th as we try the bar at the new Hyatt Place Hotel, located at the corner of Neil and Church in downtown Champaign. Join us anytime between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. to get together, chat, and relax.  For more information contact Russ Rybicki at russadr@fastmail.fm. Hope to see you there!

Help Us Get To Know One Another Better:

Sign Up to be in our Photo Directory

Please plan to be a part of our photo directory project this fall. We would like photos of everyone who is involved in our church to appear in this book. Three photographers will be here from Tuesday, October 7th through Saturday, October 11th to take the pictures of members and friends of the church. 

To say thanks for participating, you will receive a copy of the finished directory AND a free 8 x 10 photo or set of 9 wallets. You will also have the opportunity to buy additional portraits if you so choose. Lots of folks like to buy holiday cards at this time of year, and you will get your photos in time for the holidays. Others don't like to buy photos, and that's okay, too – but we really want you to be in the directory, so please sign up and get your professional portrait done.

Stop by the Membership Committee’s new Connections Hub in Fellowship Hall after services to sign up or sign up online by clicking here.

September’s Shared Offering: Immigration Forum

This month’s Shared Offering Recipient is the Immigration Forum (IF). Immigration Forum is a local not-for-profit organization open to all residents in our community. Participants include immigrants, students, clergy, service providers, labor union representatives, residents, and community organizations concerned about the progress and plight of immigrants in the Champaign County community. In addition to activities promoting comprehensive and humane immigration reform, the Forum and its Allies of Faith working group has organized an October Immigrant Justice Month for the past three years, a collaborative effort among local faith communities (including the Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign) to highlight the plight and promise of immigrant communities in Champaign County.

This summer, the group again had an informational table twice a month at Farmer’s Market in the Square. The Forum also works as direct service providers assisting undocumented immigrants and their children to apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, which allows students who qualify to get work permits and drivers licenses. In addition to DACA, we are assisting immigrants in applying for Drivers License for All, a recently passed piece of legislation in Illinois that provides undocumented Illinois residents the opportunity to qualify for a driver’s license and purchase auto insurance.

The IF’s most recent initiative centers around making CU a welcoming, friendly community to immigrants of all ethnic backgrounds and will be holding a forum in Fellowship Hall on Tuesday, September 16^th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the very current issue, “Central American Children at the Border: What Can We in Champaign-Urbana Do?” The UUCUC has actively supported activities of the CU-Immigration Forum/Allies of Faith since the group’s beginnings some three years ago. Indeed, the Allies of Faith often have their monthly meetings at our church and various working groups of the IF are currently meeting at Channing Murray. Our minister, the Rev. Axel Gehrmann, has been an active supporter of immigration reform as a moral issue and, on a national level, the UUA is definitely a supporter of comprehensive, humane immigration reform. In brief, the many and varied activities of the IF provide an opportunity for UUs to continue to be involved locally in immigration justice efforts and our new two-year Immigration Justice and Advocacy Initiative.