Mission/activities

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WHAT IS CAUUC

The 28 Unitarian Universalist congregations of greater Chicago, northern illinois, and Michiana comprise the Chicago Area Unitarian Universalist Council.  Its membership is composed more historically than geographically:  although the council is designed to include Chicago and its suburbs, some of the members of CAUUC are included because they have an historical tie to one or more of the Chicago-area congregations,  Berrien (in St. Joseph, Michigan), Rockford, Elkhart (Indiana).

MISSION

The mission of the Chicago Area Unitarian Universalist Council is to support the work of its member congregations by:

* Encouraging an interdependent network among the congregations;
* Maintaining a clearinghouse of Unitarian Universalist information and procedures;
* Performing liaison tasks among denominational levels;
* Communicating effective programming, leadership development, and operational practices among its constituents;
* Promoting the visibility and presence of Unitarian Universalism and its values in the greater Chicago area

ACTIVITIES

UN support of communication among the congregations and with the larger Chicago community, CAUUC

• Administers the website "Chicago Area Unitarian Universalists"
• Quarterly publishes "CAUUC News"
• Annually publishes a Directory.

Fiscally, CAUUC

• provides major funding for the Chicago-area UUs for Social Justice organization (UUSJ).
• solicits and provides funding for the Chicagoland Marketing Initiative (CMI).
• administers the Clarence Darrow Fund (funds won in a 1985 suit against the "Red Squad" of Chicago Police which had harassed individual members and whole congregations for "subversive activity"), established for the promotion of First Amendment freedoms.
  

In support of the interdependent web of congregations, CAUUC

• provides grants for collaborative work among the congregations. Two "Cluster Grants" are awarded each year to support congregations in collaboration to carry off an activity.
• maintains a clearinghouse of information, ideas, and resources, published primarily in its newsletter and website.
• from time to time sponsors collaborative events, such as "Leadership Days" and training in aspects of church organization.
  

CAUUC supports its work through contributions from its member congregations, currently established as $1 per church member.  Chicagoland marketing Initiative is supported through a congregational assessment of $2 per member.

BOARD MEETINGS
The CAUUC Board meets bimonthly,
the first Tuesday, 7:30 -9 p.m. at
Third Unitarian Church
301 North Mayfield Av.
Chicago, IL  60644-2198

An annual meeting is held the first weekend of November