Thanks for taking a moment to check out these events in our shared life & the wider world.
If you’d like something included in an upcoming newsletter, please let Andrew know! You can reach him by email (office@waucc.org) or at 773-935-0642 (text or call).
DONATE YOUR BOOKS!
We are holding a book drive – for kids AND adults – from now until our Community Fall Festival on October 31.
Please bring your donations to church!
There is a box in the Narthex where you can drop them off.
As part of World Week for Peace, Sabeel co-organized three ecumenical prayer services with the Catechetical Office of the Latin Patriarchate and the World Council of Churches for school students in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Ramallah. The services brought together approximately 1,200 students from Christian schools, along with clergy, church leaders, teachers, and choirs. The prayer services focused on justice, peace, and solidarity with children around the world, particularly children in our region and in Palestine and Israel. The first service was held on 10 September at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, followed by a service in Ramallah on 12 September, and a third service in Jerusalem on 15 September.
Gracious God, we thank you for everyone who helped organize these prayer services, and for all those who participated, students, teachers, clergy, church leaders, and choirs. We are grateful for this shared witness of faith, hope, and solidarity. We pray for children around the world, especially those living in places of war and violence. Protect them, comfort those who are suffering, and give them hope for a future of peace. Give us the courage and wisdom to work together for justice, peace, and a future where every child can grow in safety, dignity, and love.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer.
From the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
Join us on September 27th during Virtual Fellowship Hour!
Do you have questions about current realities around immigration in Chicago? Want updates about how Wellington is engaged in these matters? Plan to stick around for fellowship hour this Sunday as members of Wellington’s Immigrant Justice Task Force (IJTF) share reflections during a new quarterly offering: Entertaining Angels.
The Immigrant Justice Task Force’s Entertaining Angels will share a brief presentation during Fellowship Hour THIS SUNDAY, including updates from our involvement with the Sanctuary Working Group.
Click THIS LINK for the Fall 2026 SWG “Sanctuary Dispatch” newsletter.
DEEP gratitude for IJTF members, Sara Wohlleb, IJTF Chair, plus Craig, Meg, Joey and myself along with Ann-Louise who regularly attends.
IJTF additionally supports other vulnerable migrants and major organizations including ICIRR (IL Coalition of Immigrant & Refugee Rights) & ARISE Chicago (organizes the collective power of working class immigrants in partnership with faith communities to uplift all workers.)
Most of our IJTF members & Wellingtonians will attend the ICIRR 40th Anniversary Event, as well as the SWG Fall Fundraiser. (Info for both events can be found in the Upcoming Events section below.)
Thanks for your support and encouragement. Please contact Chris Inserra for any questions or comments.
BOOK CLUB meets on
Saturday October 17
at 10:00 AM (on Zoom)
Our pick for the month is Vigil by George Saunders, and our discussion will be led by Karen Graham.
“Vigil transports us, careening, through the wild final evening of an epic, complicated life. Crowds of people and animals—worldly and otherworldly, alive and dead—arrive, clamoring for a reckoning. Birds swarm the dying man’s room, a black calf grazes on the loveseat, a man from a distant drought-ravaged village materializes, two oil-business cronies from decades past show up with chilling plans for Boone’s post-death future.”
–Goodreads
Keynote Speaker: Judy Da Silva
Anishinaabe Elder and Water Protector from
Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows) First Nation
Saturday, September 26, 2026
11 AM Chicago | 5 PM London | 7 PM Palestine
90 mins
Register for the gathering
Join us for an online gathering celebrating 40 years of
peacemaking around the world!
This year CPT marks its 40th anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, we’re hosting a special webinar, bringing together stories spanning four decades of transforming violence and oppression.
You’ll be able to support our work into the next 40 years through our fundraising auction! Your bid will raise funds that keep our programs going.
It’s Powwow time again! The American Indian Health Service of Chicago and St. Kateri Center are partnering to host the Every Child Matters Powwow September 26, 11:00am – 4:00pm at the Bunker Hill Forest Preserve in Niles. Wellington UCC has sponsored this free gathering for several years and it’s always a joy to attend.
This event remembers and supports generations of Native people who suffered in residential schools in the U.S. and Canada. Young children were taken from their families in an effort to erase their heritage. Their hair was cut short, their traditional clothes were taken away, they couldn’t speak their language or practice their customs. They were forced to speak English and punished severely for any disobedience. Many never returned to their communities.
The Powwow features traditional dancing, drumming, community vendors and is an opportunity to learn more about Native culture and history.
Bring a lawn chair. Enjoy some Indian Fry Bread. Visit the vendors. Bring a friend and join our Wellington family for a day to stand in solidarity with over 65,000 people of Native American heritage living in Chicago. Don’t worry, they won’t all be there, so there is lots of room for us at the Forest Preserve. 😉
In addition to medical services, The American Indian Health Services provides mental health, behavioral health and trauma therapy plus many programs to celebrate the culture and traditions of our native residents (from children to adolescents to senior care).
For more information, click here or contact Cyndee Fox-Starr (cstarr@aihschgo.org) or Christine Redcloud (credcloud@aihschgo.org).
The next Last Supper* Club is coming up!
Claudette and Jim are hosting at their home in Beverly at 6pm
on Wednesday, September 30th.
Reserve your seat through the Church Office!
ONLY ONE SPOT REMAINS!
Come see the art of NHSS residents!
Running until September 30th.
Click here for more information.
We have supported Healing to Hope/Anar with Helping Hands, and now invite you to MEET the hands behind their wonderful, transformative work with children and their caregivers in the West Bank & Gaza.
Ann-Louise, Shelby, and Joey Sylvester will all be there – and we’d love to have more Wellingtonians with us!
Please CLICK HERE to RSVP for their Chicago events to receive updates about parking, etc.
Save the date! The AIHSC is gathering Saturday, October 17 for a gala celebration of community and their traditions at the Irish American Heritage Center. This fundraiser will include dinner and entertainment. Attire will be semi-formal (suits, sports coats, cocktail dresses). Cocktails begin at 6:00 pm with dinner and the program following at 7:00 pm. Outreach has purchased a table (tickets are $125). Four seats remain.
Please Contact Barb Lagoni if you wish to attend. If more people are interested, we will purchase another table!
The SWG fundraiser returns on Saturday, October 24th! Click the image above to purchase tickets or make a donation.
We hope to see you there!
If you have any questions, please contact Emily Wheeler at SWGAdmin@waucc.org.
Save this date on your calendar now! Our inaugural community-facing event call for “all hands on deck” engagement, including folks who are willing to decorate their car trunks & hand out candy as part of our “Trunk or Treat” event. Ask Claudette how you can help!
SONGS IN THE KEY OF RESISTANCE (SKOR) is a cross-movement project, hosted by the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice, for artists, organizers, faith leaders, and community members to come together in song. We gather to learn and share music for demonstrations, direct actions, and community rituals; to tell stories of hope and resistance; and to create the world we know is possible.
Oye Mi Gente (We Belong Together)
with Songs in the Key of Resistance
Sometimes you just need a document!
Click below if you’re looking for:
- This Sunday’s BULLETIN
- The latest version of the CHURCH DIRECTORY (updated 6/1!)
- The approved CHURCH COUNCIL MINUTES (Sept mtg)
- Buying something for church? Remember that it’s tax-exempt! CLICK HERE for a copy of the form.
- Need to be reimbursed for a church expense? Download a Wellington REIMBURSEMENT FORM and submit it to the Church Office!
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