June 2018

First Chronicles
The Newsletter of the First Congregational Church of Evanston UCC

An Eye for an Eye and a Tweet for a Tweet than react. Incorporating a thoughtful pause, a deep
Just because there were no electronics mentioned in breath, a meditative walk, or a heartfelt prayer into our
Scripture doesn’t mean our faith has nothing to say interactions may be the difference between a harmful
about how we use the tools that we have. “Back in the reaction and a healing response.
day,” emails were only used for brief messages (“meeting Blessings,
at 4:00”), and e-dresses could only have seven characters Rev. Ann
(my brother’s was Rosewad). Careful thought was put
into what was communicated, since the medium was so
limited. And then it grew. And grew. Today emails are Upcoming Events
so long, we may only scan them and therefore miss what
the author intended us to know. Sunday, June 3
This is not a new issue. The rabbis and Pharisees of 10 a.m., Healing, Mending, and Scars Art Show
Jesus’ time asked him, “Which law is the most impor- Opening, Narthex
tant?” They wanted the Reader’s Digest version of the 4–5:30 p.m. Kintsugi Art Workshop,
lengthy rules and regs for the Hebrew people. Love the Church House Small Dining Room
Lord your God with your heart, mind, and strength, and 5:30 p.m., Japanese Dinner, Small Dining Room
your neighbor as yourself. Jesus had this response already
cued up. He had thought about the heart of the Torah’s Sunday, June 10
message for a long time. This was not his first Pharisee 10 a.m., Celebration Sunday
rodeo. In this situation, as in the early days of email,
more thought went into a shorter message. When there Sunday, June 17
is more room to write or speak, there is a tendency to 10 a.m., Summer Spirit (children’s summer
reflect less. If there’s no need to edit, why not say it all? Sunday School) begins
Enter Twitter. What began as a
way to send out a quick message to Friday–Sunday, June 22–24
a large group of people has become All-Church Retreat, Tower Hill
the equivalent of an automatic reac-
tion, giving important issues of the Sunday, June 24
day and minor irritations the same gravitas. Tweets now Noon, Chicago Pride Parade, Montrose Avenue
seem to be the mechanism for blurting out a faux pas at Broadway
or Freudian slip. However, a faux pas is inadvertent; a
Freudian slip is a sign of a thought that was unprocessed. Sunday, July 8, 15, 22, and 29
The very fact that a tweet has to be written takes away 11:30 a.m., Sunday Forum Series: Beginning
any possible excuse that it was unintentional. to Talk about the End
Jesus said, if someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the
other also. A first strike is usually the knee-jerk reaction Sunday, August 12
of a jerk. The offer of the other cheek gives the aggressor 5 p.m., Bonfire and Picnic, Lighthouse Beach,
pause—what is going on here? How will I respond to Evanston
this second cheek? Therein lies the difference. The first
strike on the cheek is a reaction because it is impulsive; Sunday, September 9
the potential second strike would be a response because 10 a.m., Rally Day and Picnic
it demands forethought. One of the transformative
behaviors Jesus modeled is the ability to respond rather
This Month’s Sunday Music
June 3
Kurt Weill, “Kiddush”
June 10 (Celebration Sunday)
Gordon Young, “Now Let Us All Praise God and Sing”
Jonathon Crutchfield, “Make Our Church One Joyful
Choir”
June 17
Charles Moore and David Lornson, piano-organ duet
June 24
Gary Hardesty, clarinet solo
News and Notes
Congratulations, 2018 Graduates!
On Sunday, June 10, we will honor our recent graduates.
High School Graduates College Graduate
Katherine Bezaitis Henry Doyle
Mallen Clifton
Michael Colton Professional Licensure
William Koestring Catherine Watkins, LCPC
Isabelle Ogbolumani
Jake Snider
Summertime: Volunteer Your Gifts During Worship
While the Chancel Choir is on summer break, we are
looking for instrumentalists, singers, or poetry readers
of all ages to present a special piece during the Sunday
offertory. If this opportunity interests you, please
speak to David Lornson or email him at dlornson@
firstchurchevanston.org.
Sunday School Ends, Summer Spirit Begins
We’ll celebrate the last day of Sunday School on June 10
with a small party in class, where we’ll choose our charity
to receive the year’s Sunday School offerings. Beginning
June 17, children head outside with two adult lead-
ers for Summer Spirit in Raymond Park (or Fellowship
Hall if weather requires). During Summer Spirit, we let
God speak to us through playing, laughing, and deepen-
ing friendships together at the park. The leaders bring
the children back to join their families for coffee hour.
Drop-ins and visitors welcome! Contact Sarah Petersen at
spetersen@firstchurchevanston.org for more information
or to volunteer for one or more Summer Spirit Sundays
—no prep work required. Come play with us!
2
Last Chance to Register for Summer Retreat!
Last call—the registration deadline is June 10 for joining
us at this year’s annual All-Church Retreat, “Celebrate,”
at Tower Hill Camp and Retreat Center in Sawyer,
Michigan, June 22–24. We’ll be staying in comfortable
conference-style lodging with time for playing, praying,
beaching, discussing, walking, relaxing, reflecting, creat-
ing, singing, and more! It’s always a wonderful, enriching
weekend in the woods and on the shore of Lake Michigan
for all ages. Come by yourself, bring your partner, invite
a friend, or bring the whole family! Lodging and meals
from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch cost $145 per
person; 3- and 4-year-olds are just $15 a night (includes
meals and lodging), and children 2 years and younger
stay and eat free. A half-retreat option for Saturday lunch
through Sunday lunch costs $96 per person. Scholar-
ships are available, so please don’t let cost keep you from
attending! Please email Sarah Petersen at spetersen@
firstchurchevanston.org with questions or to sign up.
Thank You, Teachers!
A huge, well-deserved thank-you to our Sunday school
teachers—Thekla Metz, Rachel Schmal, Ravi Batista,
Larissa Tripp, and Sarah Petersen—for all the creativity,
care, thoughtfulness, and time you’ve poured into our
children on their spiritual journeys this year. We are so
fortunate to have such a wonderful team to guide our
young learners. Special thanks to Linnea Garcia, who
cares for our very youngest each week in the nursery.
Your warm welcome, conscientiousness, and caring
play with the littlest ones is their first glimpse that First
Church is a place of Love.
Japanese Art Workshop and Dinner on June 3
June 3 is a special day for art and dining here at First
Congregational. The group show Healing, Mending, and
Scars opens in the Narthex Gallery. Do you still have
things that need healing and mending? Bring a piece of
broken pottery to an art workshop beginning at 4 p.m.
in the Church House’s Small Dining Room and mend it
using Japanese kintsugi techniques. The last leg of our
collective journey of celebrating healing ends with a
Japanese dinner starting at 5:30—a typical family meal
of Japanese curry and rice and other Japanese foods.
The Spirit of Summer
On Trinity Sunday, we talked about the many names
of God—who is bigger than all the words we know—
and unraveled a list of names that stretched down the
entire center aisle of the sanctuary. Then we began our
Sunday School lesson with the story of Isaiah’s call and
the God experience in the temple that enlivened all of
Isaiah’s senses. The children smelled potpourri, touched
a smooth metal vase, listened to the sounds of bells, and
imagined what it might have been like for Isaiah to feel
God’s presence so viscerally in the temple. Then with
watercolors, markers, sequins, and glitter glue we each
created an image of what an experience of being near
God would be like for us. The colorful, sparkling cre-
ations depicted a dream of hands in the clouds making
artwork, a rainbow with shimmer, hearts and swirls
of blending colors, a simultaneous sunrise-sunset,
trees reaching out, and water radiating into light. All
the young people seemed particularly focused as they
worked, and the similar themes of nature and creativity
were present in all our pieces about God.
As the warmth of summer envelopes us in longer
days, it’s fitting that our youth time together on Sunday
mornings moves outside the temple to nature, where the
children already sense such a deep connection with the
Holy. Beginning June 17, after the Children’s Message in
worship the young people will head outside to Raymond
Park with two adult leaders for Summer Spirit. We’ll
have our usual bin of sidewalk chalk and bubbles and
ample free time to feel God in the breeze that blows past,
the sun that shines down, and the friendships that form Themes of nature, light, and creativity in Sunday School art
through play. If time outside or with children is one way about God
you connect with the Spirit, please email me at speters- nity art making, and campfire singing under the stars.
en@firstchurchevanston.org—we’re always looking for Each year I feel renewed by the new and old friendships
more volunteers to fill our summer leadership spots (no that are deepened and by the time in nature, where I
lesson prep required!). sense All That Is Holy is so very close. June 10 is the
Another way for everyone to experience the embrace deadline to let us know you’re coming; I hope to cele­
of God in nature this summer is by joining us for our brate the bigness of God in the smallest moments with
all-ages, all-church retreat at Tower Hill Camp and you there. Whether we’re worshiping inside the sanctu-
Retreat Center in Sawyer, Michigan, June 22–24. Our ary together or outside under a dome of pines, the Spirit
fourth annual retreat centers on the theme “Celebrate” will certainly find us this summer.
and allows ample time for conversation, quiet reflection In the Spirit,
in the woods, soaking in the sun at the shore, commu- Sarah Petersen, Director of Learning and Outreach
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If It’s Broken—Let’s Fix It! Church Office Summer Hours

As staff, members, or friends of the church, we are all As of June 11, the Church Office will be open
responsible for the upkeep of our beautiful buildings.If Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
you see something broken or missing, please contact Friday, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
Melia Pappas at 847-864-8332, ext. 22, or mpappas@
firstchurchevanston.org. Be as specific as possible. Let’s
all collaborate in being good stewards of our space.
3
Thank you to all the
First Congregational
Church volunteers
who showed young
artists how to make
earth scenes at our
YEA! Festival table this
year. We reached out to
nearly 100 young people
and their families!

Rev. Ann and Jonas and Sarah Petersen participated

in the Stand Against Racism, an annual event sponsored
by the Evanston YWCA.

Happy Birthday
to everyone
cele­brating a
birthday in June!

Anne Bauer Roger Lehman

Laurie Brown David Mansen
Hayley Chill Joseph Page
Mallen Clifton Elizabeth Phillips
Eleanor Hardesty Jeffrey Roseberry
Jane Koestring Lindsey Siemens
Chris Krei Heather Soto
Betsy Lane Cole Tucker
John Lane Kathy Vissman