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Embrace the electrifying spirit of the year’s largest UU gathering, where we come together in unity for an awe-inspiring Sunday worship celebration like no other! It’s a vibrant, communal worship experience that promises to uplift your soul and ignite your passion. Don’t miss out on this extraordinary gathering of hearts and minds!
Rev. Dr. Nicole C. Kirk (she/her) is the Rev. Dr. J. Frank and Alice Schulman Chair of Unitarian Universalist History at Meadville Lombard Theological School and a historian of American religious history. She has served UU congregations in Ohio and New Jersey and is currently the Program Minister (part-time) at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She joined the Meadville Lombard faculty in 2012 after serving eight years in the parish and earning her Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary. Her research interests include religion, business, mobility, and material culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dr. Kirk’s publications include Wanamaker’s Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store (New York University Press, 2018, 2023) and chapters in several edited volumes.
Dr. Kirk enjoys advising students and assisting them on their formational path(s). Over the years, she has met and worked with many of Meadville Lombard’s international partners in the Czech Republic, Japan, and Transylvania. In 2023, the Religious Society of Czech Unitarians gave Dr. Kirk the Award for Supporting Czech Unitarianism. A popular speaker, she gives lectures and sermons across the United States and internationally.
We will share the plate with Family to Family
NAMI Family-to-Family not only provides information and strategies for taking care of the person you love, but you’ll also find out that you’re not alone. Recovery is a journey, and there is hope. Click Here to Donate
Happy Birthday to: Carolyn Bailey (Jun 17), Cecily Hansen (Jun 17), Ranay Ivan (Jun 17), Dawn Nimmo (Jun 22), Joanne Johnson (Jun 22), Debra Johnson (Jun 23), Harrison Powell (Jun 23), Sarah Greer (Jun 23), & Hailey Powell (Jun 24)!
A LETTER FROM YOUR BOARD
Dear Members and Friends of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockford:
After the Annual Meeting a week ago Sunday, the current Board and the incoming Board met at Rev Matthew’s request. At that time, we learned of Rev. Matthew’s plan to leave the UU Church of Rockford and follow his calling to serve leaders and congregations across our faith. We were surprised and saddened and yet we were filled with deep appreciation and sincere gratitude for his 17 years as the Senior Minister here at the UU Church of Rockford. We wish him the best as he moves into the next chapter of his ministry. In Rev. Matthew’s new role with the UUA, congregations across the Midwest will benefit from his spiritual insights, managerial savvy, strategic thinking, and problem-solving.
At that meeting, Rev. Matthew made it clear that it is not appropriate for him to have any role in selecting a transitional or interim minister. This makes perfect sense. The Board held a vote designating a team to begin the preliminary steps to plan, identify, and retain an Interim Minister to serve until we begin the process outlined in our bylaws to call a settled Minister. The team will be headed by Vice-President and President-elect Wendy Bennet and will include current President Matt Menze, Vice-President-elect Diane Kuehl, and Board Member at large elect Kendra Asbury. The finance team will be active in this process, and the UUA has been and will continue to be a valuable resource throughout. We will also be seeking advice and input from staff, lay leaders, and a range of others.
As we begin this transition, we are encouraged by several things.
The UUA has an extensive protocol to guide congregations in the transition process. Our church has enjoyed stable ministry over the years; however, the reality is that congregations go through transitions all the time. The UUA is well equipped to guide us through this.
We have an excellent staff and dedicated lay leaders to support and facilitate the next steps.
We have a lot going for us. We are an attractive destination for potential interim and settled minister because of the staff and lay leaders, and because we are a stable, well-funded, and functional congregation.
We are just beginning this transition. This is our first communication, and there will be more to come. Thank you in advance for your patience and your trust. We look forward to working together.
Waste Plastics at the Church
I’m currently reading the book Waste Wars by Alexander Clapp; a book mentioned in my letter to you two weeks ago, and will, in the next week, offer short quotes from it for you to ponder. I hope at least some of you will be motivated to read it as well. Today’s offering:
In December 2020, Nature published a report detailing a cataclysmic shift in humanity’s relationship with Earth. The total mass of the world’s human-made objects, its authors explained, had come to equal the entire biomass of the planet itself. That is to day, the weight of everything created by our hands–skyscrapers, automobiles, iPads, plastic straws–was on the verge of exceeding that of all trees and all plants, all animals and all humans, indeed the mass of all living things put together.’
“Let’s put this another way: You are currently living in a world in which the human ability to create garbage–or eventual garbage–has surpassed Earth’s ability to generate life.”
Sunday Morning Meditation
1st and 3rd Sundays
9:15 in the Library
The next session is July 6
We meet to meditate together and center ourselves for the day. Please join us for Sunday Morning Meditation.
This Thursday, 6/17, is the DEADLINE to purchase a ticket for our fundraiser event, Roe-Volution on 6/24 with keynote speaker Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. Now more than ever, we need to stand up and show up to protect reproductive rights in Illinois.
Our UU Library has added these books to our collection: Final Gifts by Maggie Callahan The Essence of Sufism by John Baldock
Vision:
A loving, spiritual congregation that lives our values through belonging, reason, and action.
Mission:
Like the nature that surrounds us, we evolve as a habitat for spiritual development.
Our deep roots connect us to a wealth of resources that nourish our growth as a beacon for justice, inclusion, and liberation, especially anti-racism and gender and sexuality justice.
Our listening cultivates diverse and multicultural relationships that bridge divisions, strengthen our communities, heal hearts, and foster safety for all.
Our awareness of our interdependence inspires us to protect the shared environment and natural world in which we live.
The Board of Trustees:
President: Matt Menze
Clerk: Kim Lowman Vollmer
Vice-President: Wendy Bennett
Treasurer: Bob Spelman Trustees: Clark Logemann, Rebecca Beneditz, Neita Webster
The Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford, IL | 4848 Turner St., Rockford, IL 61107 | 815-398-6322 | uurockford.org |
