More on services at Services/Forums.
More on forums at Forums and Past Forum Topics and Speakers.
March 2010 Schedule of Services and Forums:
Sunday, March 7
10am Forum
"Grow Our Own: Horto in Urbe - The Challenges of Urban Gardening,"
Gary Zacny, speaking
Gary Zacny of our board of directors would like to start a community garden on our Fulton Street lot east of the church. Come and hear what Gary has done so far and what the advantages of this garden would be to our church and our neighbors. A master gardener, Steven B. Meyer, a Horticulturist at the Lincoln Park Conservatory, will accompany Gary and fill us in on how urban community gardens work. Steve is a popular contributor to news publications, talk shows and seminars. He lectures on orchids, cactuses and many of the 3000 plant species under glass at the Conservatory. He will discuss the special challenges of the "Garden in the City", and will field your questions about plant care. Spring is coming. (Sue Lodgen or John Bradley will facilitate).
Celebration of Life - 11am
"Letters and Papers from (a Women's) Prison,"
The Reverend Brian Covell, preaching
While the title is a take on a book by the famous German minister (and anti-Nazi martyr) Dietrich Bonheoffer, the sermon is not about him. It is a meditation on a collection of writings sent to us by the Reverend Leslie Kee, our Community Minister at the Wyoming Women's Correctional Facility (WWC). Leslie has offered spiritual guidance and pastoral care to many WWC inmates this past year. As a result of offering a UU-inspired "Build Your Own Theology" course, she combined her thoughts with those of the women in her care. At the start of our observance of Women's History Month, Brian will suggest that Leslie's charges are part of a long tradition. As it was for Paul of Tarsus and Dr. King, prison for these women has been a test of faith and a time of spiritual discernment.
Sunday, March 14
10am Forum
"New Orleans Schools After Katrina,"
Emily Krone, speaking
Emily Krone will report on what she found while studying schools in New Orleans, and some of it might surprise you. Emily is the Senior Manager for Outreach and Publications at the Consortium on Chicago School Research. She previously worked as an education reporter at the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights. Most recently, she traveled across the country in 2008-09 writing about charter schools and school reform as part of a year-long journalism fellowship sponsored by the Washington-based Phillips Foundation. She received a Master in Science and Journalism from Medill at Northwestern University and a B.A. in history from Princeton University. Deb will facilitate.
Celebration of Life - 11am
"Prairie Pastors: The Legacy of the Iowa Sisterhood,"
Ms. Lynn Garner, preaching
In little more than a month, we'll ordain Lynne, one of our former Board presidents, to the Unitarian Universalist ministry. We'll hear just some of the fruits of our scholarly labors this morning as she preaches on a 19th Century precursor to the strong presence of women in the liberal clergy in the late 20th/ early 21st Centuries. It helped support one of our own-the Reverend Dr. Rowena Morse Mann-and it happened on the prairies not far from Chicago. What's more-Lynne's topic was the result of an early Auction bidding contest won by Jerry Jaecks!
Sunday, March 21
10am Forum
"The St. Francis of Assissi House of Hospitality,"
Alex Iwasa and Lucky Marlovitz, speaking
TUC Member Alex Iwasa and colleague Lucky Marlovitz will speak on the history and current work of St Francis of Assisi House of Hospitality in Chicago, a Catholic Workers' House, where both live. The Catholic Worker Movement is grounded in a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every human person. Today over 185 Catholic Worker communities remain committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the homeless, exiled, hungry, and forsaken. Catholic Workers continue to protest injustice, war, racism, and violence of all forms. What can TUC learn from the work of this religious social justice community? Sue Lodgen will facilitate.
Celebration of Life - 11am
"Was It the Addams Family,"
The Reverend Brian Covell, preaching
TUC'ers know Jane Addams (1860-1935) as "icon" memorialized in one of our Sanctuary murals, and a towering figure in Chicago history. Did you know that she was a lead member in an intellectual movement at the University of Chicago that gave rise to Religious Humanism? You're invited to learn about what might be an overlooked part of the life of this public intellectual. Two more good reasons to be with us this Sunday: a music program focused on female composers performed by an all-women's string quartet, and--we'll have yet another new member ceremony!
Sunday, March 28
10am Forum
"Summoning Our Sheros - Black Women and Unitarian Universalism,"
Rev. Dr. Qiyamah A. Rahman, speaking
Rev. Dr. Qiyamah A. Rahman, faculty member at Meadville Lombard, will speak on the contributions of black women in the history of our movement as well as contemporary women she has interviewed who reflected on what brought them to Unitarian Universalism, what has kept them and what the challenges have been. Rev. Dr. Rahman was ordained at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte, North Carolina in October, 2007. She has been a Unitarian Universalist since 1992 and served as District Executive in the Thomas Jefferson District of the Unitarian Universalist Association from 1999 to 2005. Her degrees include a Master's in Divinity from Meadville Lombard and a doctorate from Clark Atlanta University's Africana Women's Studies with a major in gender and development and a minor in feminist/womanist theory. Her journey includes growing up a devout Christian and practicing Islam for 10 years. It is always good to welcome her back to Third. Deb Donovan will facilitate.
Celebration of Life - 11am
"The Journey of Faith,"
Ms. Kimberly Tomaszewski, preaching and the Reverend Brian Covell, convening
If you've wondered if, or how, the liberal faith is affecting the lives of college students, plan to be with us this morning! Ms. Tomaszewski is the 2009-'10 Intern UU Campus Minister at the Channing-Murray Foundation and Center at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. This Sunday she'll comment on how young adults-like her-have been transformed by Unitarian Universalism through the presence of active campus ministries.
