As a Welcoming Congregation, we actively welcome gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people as full participants in the life of the church. We are committed to standing on the side of love in our congregational life and our advocacy in the larger community.
Who Are We
| Who Are We |
|
Our Purpose and Covenant Our church is based on a shared covenant and the liberal religious traditions of the Unitarian Universalist Association. The Purpose of the Church is to promote liberal religion; to ensure for all, individual freedom of conscience and to restrict no one in his/her belief with creedal or doctrinal confessions. We unite to strengthen the bonds of kinship among all persons; to promote human dignity and increase reverence for life's creating, sustaining and transforming power through worship, study and service. Covenant of the Unitarian Universalist Association We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:
The living tradition that we share draws from many sources:
Grateful for the religious pluralism that enriches and ennobles our faith, we are inspired to deepen our understanding and expand our vision. As free congregations we enter into this covenant, promising to one another our mutual trust and support. Our History From a small gathering of 18 adults and 34 children in 1956 to a strong and growing church of over 300 members and 200 children today.
Our Ongoing StoryOur Ongoing Story Our congregation of 18 members first gathered in the fall of 1956 as the Countryside Universalist Fellowship. In 1963, the word "Unitarian" was added. The congregation called the Reverend Dr. Ruppert Lovely, a student minister at the time, to the pulpit in 1965. Through the years, as we grew, we met in various rented facilities until 1976, when we purchased the old Palatine Public Library on Broackway Street. The space was renovated to house the Countryside Unitarian Universalist Church and its programs. During the 80's we enlarged our professional staff to include a Religious Education Director, a pianist and a music director. In 1993, with an adult membership of 150 plus 91 young people, we dedicated our current building on Smith Road. The congregation voted in 2001 to expand our building to accommodate our growth, providing for additional classrooms as well as increasing the social space. The new wing was dedicated on June 1, 2003. Following the retirement in June of 2001 of Dr. Lovely our settled minister of 36 years, the church was served by a series of interim ministers while a search committee implemented a UUA process to obtain a new minister. The Rev. Julie Denny-Hughes was called in August of 2004 as our settled minister. She served through December 2006 when she resigned to pursue a career in community ministry. On June 6, 2007, Countryside received official designation as a UUA Welcoming Congregation. This designation means that the members, after engaging in a process of self-examination, education and discussion, in accordance with the Welcoming Congregation Guidelines of the Unitarian Universalist Association, declared ourselves to affirm bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons, to be responsive to their concerns, and to celebrate and be inclusive of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons as members of our church community and our community at large. In April of 2008 we called the Reverend Hilary Landau Krivchenia as our new settled minister and she began with us in August of that year. We are flourishing in the present – with many innovative programs blossoming. We are looking forward to the future and building on the vision, gifts, love, and commitment of our called minister, our strong staff, and our vibrant congregation. We are writing new chapters of our history as you are reading this! Come Grow With Us! Our FutureOur FutureWe have completed a long range plan or vision of our mission and goals for the next 5-10 years that we collectively refer to as SpICE, an acronym for: Spirituality, Involvement, Communications, and Education--each important dimensions to our work. Each year, the leadership of the church gather in a retreat to assess progress against our goals, learn from our successes and failures, and to establish new goals for the coming year. |
