January 2024: Looking Back with Gratitude, Looking Forward Together
All Aboard
UUANI has a full nine-member Board with the addition of two new members this year: Rev. Beth Johnson from the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale and Kristin Clowes from Second Unitarian Church of Chicago. Welcome, Kristin and Beth!
Catalysts Multiplying
Nancy Ford is our new Unity Temple Congregational Catalyst, while former intern Kay’te Ingram is now our Statewide BIPOC Catalyst. Allyson Rosemore continues as UU Rockford Congregational Catalyst, with more to come!
More GRACE than ever
Our current GRACE* training has 23 participants from 8 congregations: ALUUC (Springfield), Bloomington, Carbondale, DeKalb, Evanston, Second (Chicago), Third (Chicago) and Unity Temple (Oak Park). Previous participants have:
led faith in action visioning sessions in Sunday worship
launched congregation-wide social justice campaigns as well as more targeted efforts
organized neighborhood mutual aid projects
ramped up their own leadership in social justice and other congregational ministries
become Congregational Catalysts
created statewide networking spaces for social justice leaders.
We look forward to seeing what participants in this year’s cohort will do!
*GRACE: Grounded, Relational, Accountable, Capacity-building, Effective
Advocating with Those in Prison
17 people from 9 congregations showed up for the first meeting of our new Restorative Justice Advocacy Team, a collaboration between UUANI and the UU Prison Ministry of Illinois. Grounded in relationships with people who are currently incarcerated, this team will share updates about current campaigns and engage in targeted advocacy with key elected officials. First on the docket: getting Elder Parole over the finish line so incarcerated seniors can apply to return as contributing members of our communities.
Register Wisconsin Voters
The Unitarian Church of Evanston will be getting out the vote in Wisconsin again this year with the Milwaukee Voter Project, a grassroots group of non-partisan volunteers who are working to ensure that all citizens, especially those in underserved communities, are registered to vote and are aware of upcoming elections. Join your fellow UUs at these upcoming trainings.
Engage Your Neighbors Around
Climate Justice
UUANI is offering a Climate Justice Teach-In to learn about three new campaigns around clean and equitable transportation, buildings/heat and power from the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, of which UUANI is a member. Building on this Teach-In, we are proposing to do three interactive Listen, Lead, Share events (one on each campaign) to solicit input and engagement from our congregations and our neighbors in these multi-year campaigns. Come to the Teach-In to find out how your congregation can participate.
7pm Thursday February 8
Engage Your Community Around Reproductive Justice
The UU Church of Urbana-Champaign spearhead a community-wide Reproductive Justice Week last April. They're inviting other congregations to consider doing a version of this in your own communities. Come to our Reproductive Justice Team meeting to learn more.
5pm Tuesday February 27
Save the Date
You are invited to join the Illinois Poor People’s Campaign in Springfield as part of a nationwide action to mobilize people to their state houses and to the polls! On March 2 we will gather in Springfield to bring our demands and let our commitment be known. More info here.
Saturday March 2
Looking Back with Gratitude
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Actions of the Week, meetings with legislators, Advocacy Days at the Capitol and more. Our 2023 Annual Report recaps the legislative and other victories we were part of. And thanks to everyone who helped grow connections and build power in our congregations and communities locally and statewide. Together we continue to Build Community and Bend the Arc Toward Justice.
Click here for ways you can
get involved in our work together