Omnipotence and other Theological Mistakes
February 20, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.Online and in-person Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson Omnipotence is the doctrine that God is “all-powerful.” It is is considered a core tenant of orthodox theology. But it has a problem: if God is all powerful, then why do bad things happen to good people? We’ll look at alternatives to the doctrine of omnipotence, including atheism, polytheism, and process theology – and ways that the doctrine of power might corrupt our politics and social lives, as well as our spiritual lives.
Happy Birthday to: Jeff Earhart (02/16), Kathy Killackey (02/18), Nancy Eliseo (02/19), Kim Winger (02/19), Roland Christen (02/20), Nicole Ticknor (02/21), Tracey Armstrong (02/22), Billie Callahan (02/22), & Leslie Williams (02/22)!
We will Share the Plate with UUSC Our mission: UUSC advances human rights and social justice around the world, partnering with those who confront unjust power structures and mobilizing to challenge oppressive policies. Our work is grounded in the belief that all people have inherent power and dignity. Click Here to Donate
Matthew’s Memo
Feb 15 2022
Sunday, Feb. 13th, was the 181st Anniversary of the founding of the Unitarian Church in Rockford. On that day, a group of people gathered and signed a deceleration to create the church. A few months later, another group would gather on a Sunday to create the Universalist church; shortly after that the two organizations would merge.
Over those 181 years, the congregation has kept up its witness to liberal religion, freedom, justice, and human dignity though a civil war (in which the minister enlisted, and died), a Great Depression and Great Recession, two World Wars, four major locations (and a few short-term places early on), a few name changes, and much more. The congregation has had ministers who led the work for justice in the world, who preached with love and care, and some who abused their office and trust. (Some both preached for justice and abused their office.). We’ve had powerful lay leaders who lived out their faith, and people that others looked up to for wisdom and example.
You are a resilient and steadfast congregation. You are patient, and take the long-view. You don’t react in an overboard way to the events of the moment. This is one reason we’ve managed pretty well through the pandemic, when many Unitarian Universalist and other congregations have struggled. We are now back to offering in-person and online options, and I’m glad you feel free to choose what’s best for your health and well-being. If you are comfortable being in-person, I would love to see you there – and if not yet, then it warms my heart to know you are joining online.
So, happy birthday to us. 181 years is pretty great. There are many more years of faithfulness yet to come.
In faith,
Matthew
Being An Anti-Racist Church
The Board and leaders of the church are moving towards articulating that being on a continuous journey toward being an “anti-racist and multicultural church” is important to us. What does that mean? Let’s figure that out.
To get us together in this work, we want every member of the congregation to attend one of the four sessions we are offering on “being an anti-racist church.”
The last session:
Sunday, Feb 20th, 11:30 am, in Deale Hall – masks required. (watch for any change to location).
The sessions will be 1 hour. This is a high-level overview. We will work through a list of the characteristics of an anti-racist and multicultural congregation.
Wonderful Wednesday, February 16th CDFI’s for Rockford
How does a single mother get a mortgage for a home? How can a hard-working plumber find the financing to form his own business? How do African Americans and Latinx citizens of Rockford get the capital to earn wealth in our society?
CDFI’s, Community Development Financial Institutions, fill the niche that traditional banks ignore. Their target market is low-income neighborhoods as defined by the CDFI Fund as having at least 20% of the population with poor income. Not everyone in those neighborhoods is poor, but the focus is on low income. This market is not served by traditional banks or credit unions.
In addition, CDFI’s provide more than just capital. They provide financial education to help clients increase their wealth over time.
Two different institutions are poised to start serving Rockford later this year, each with a different target market.
Join me via Zoom on Wednesday, 2/16 at 7 pm using this link: https://zoom.us/j/91686061008
Submitted by Teresa Wilmot
Book Discussion
Thursday February 24, 2022 6:00 p.m.
Join us by zoom for a discussion of 1619 Project-A New Origin Storyby Nikole Hannah-Jones and multiple other contributors.
We will be discussing pages 249-480.
The book reframes our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative.
Please read the book on your own and we will discuss it.
Join the Zoom Meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81211275487 Book discussions are presented in partnership with Rockford Public Library.
Dear colleagues,
Thank you to the colleagues who have signed onto our faith leader support letter that defends pretrial fairness and supports criminal justice reforms made last year with the passage of the Safe-T Act. We are in a political climate where legislators -who supported pretrial fairness and ending money bond- are backpedaling due to bad information, fear-mongering, and racist rhetoric in the midst of a really wonky, short session with elections coming up. Just last week Republican legislators introduced a bill to repeal the entirety of the Safe-T Act, which includes the Pretrial Fairness Act. We don’t think this will go through, but this is one of dozens that are entering the hopper.
We have only around 40 clergy signed onto this letter that not only supports the pretrial fairness act but also says we support criminal justice reforms. We need at least 100 clergy signed on.
So far we only have 15 people signed up to attend the faith-based teach-in. With your help, we can have a robust group of people of faith building new relationships together while learning about decarceration through pretrial fairness.
THE TWO-PRONGED ASK:
1) You can share the content and graphics below in your newsletters to help us educate UUs about pretrial fairness and how we really are at the 50-yard line, still working for a touchdown.
Faith Based Pretrial Fairness Act Teach-In: Join us on February 15th at 6pm for “On Faith and Freedom,” a virtual interfaith teach-in for clergy and people of faith on the Pretrial Fairness Act and the movement for pretrial freedom.
Many thanks for your continued dedication in a time where your demands are many. Your moral voice matters to us at UUPMI and as part of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice.
Blessings,
Allison
Defend the Pretrial Fairness Act and Stop Bills Promoting Mass Incarceration
One year ago, Illinois legislators passed the Pretrial Fairness Act as a section of the SAFE-T Act, a large criminal justice reform package. Next year, the Pretrial Fairness Act will go into full effect, ending our state’s use of money bond and transforming our pretrial legal system by ensuring people will no longer be locked up before being convicted of anything simply because they cannot pay for their freedom.
But, the fight isn’t over. Law enforcement and other political conservatives are already trying to convince legislators to dismantle the Pretrial Fairness Act before it is implemented. We must demand our legislators–elected officials who work for us!–say NO to mass incarceration and YES to pretrial freedom and the presumption of innocence. You can do two things:
Writing to Legislators: Reactionary racist backlash is threatening to not only undo the changes we’ve set in motion, but also to push for regressive policies fueling mass incarceration. We are calling on people across Illinois to come together and let our legislators know that real community safety comes from ensuring that our neighbors have the resources they need to thrive, not through punishment. Simply use this form to contact your legislators.
Attend our Faith Based Pretrial Fairness Act Teach-In: Join us on February 15th at 6pm for “On Faith and Freedom,” a virtual teach-in for clergy and people of faith on the Pretrial Fairness Act and the movement for pretrial freedom. Presenters from the Network will share how faith calls us to defend the historic progress made through this legislation and there will be space for attendees to engage in community conversation on these themes. Register here.
To make sure the law is fully and faithfully implemented, we have to make our voices heard to defend it against this dehumanizing backlash!
The Board of Trustees:
President: Amanda Tapfield
Clerk: Bob Spelman
Vice-President: Judy Gustafson
Treasurer: Teresa Wilmot
Trustees: Khanh Oehlke, Sarah Greer, Jami Edmonds
The Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford, IL | 4848 Turner St., Rockford, IL 61107 | 815-398-6322 | uurockford.org |
