Let’s Play
Sunday, Jun 6, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: From Diane Ackerman: “The world of play favors exuberance, license, abandon. [In it,] selves can be revised.” This month’s Soul Matters theme is Play. Join us for a first response to the...
Wishes and Blessings at the Threshold
Sunday, Jun 13, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: We come to the end of my first year with you and with reopening the building after 14 months. What do we wish for in this next season of congregational life? How shall we bless each other as...Juneteenth
Sunday, Jun 20, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, but it took two years for the news to travel to Teas. Juneteenth is a celebration of the day the news arrived. What does this...Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, Jun 27, 2021 @ 10:30 am Hosted in the Sanctuary by Reverend Jennifer Innis. Speaker(s): First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Overview: We will join Unitarian Universalists from around the globe for this online worship with the UUA General Assembly. The...
The Truth About Stories
Sunday, May 30th, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Rebecca Gant Overview:The truth about stories, writes Thomas King, is that that’s all we are. If King is correct, then to know the truth about the people around us means to know their stories– and in order to be...
The Flower Communion: A Treasury of Grace
Sunday, May 23rd, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis and Amy Popp, CRE Overview: Join us for a celebration of story and the abundance of life as we honor our ritual of the Flower Communion. This Sunday also includes a chance to honor our senior high...
Widening the Circle
Sunday, May 16th, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:Members, ministers, and educators from five UU congregations just spent 11 weeks studying the major report from the UUA called, Widening the Circle of Concern. Join us for reflections on...
Freed into Being
Sunday, May 9th, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Bernard Loomer, process theologian asks, “What is the size of your soul?”. In other words, what is your ability to grow into life, amid the contradictions and hardship that comes your way?...
Saving Earth’s Life…
Sunday, Apr 18, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Dale Goodner Overview:Earth Day is 51 years old on April 22nd. We can become a beneficial species… The goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty, but an environment of respect for ALL species....
Becoming
Sunday, Apr 11, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: African-American First Lady Michelle Obama has this question for us, in her book, Becoming: “Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we work for the world as it should be?” As we find...Adult RE: UU Roots Class
Want to Know More About Our Past & Our Future? UU Roots Class Begins Thursday, April 8 at 7 PM Are you curious? Are you new to the UU Church or a long time member? Join us via Zoom on Thursday evenings April 8, 15, 22, 29 at 7 PM to explore our...
Rolling and Rising
Sunday, Apr 4, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Easter is a time of transformation. At its heart is the experience of letting go for the sake of what can emerge. What will be revealed this time? Join us for the music and the messages on...
UU Justice Revival – Taking a Collective Breath
Sunday, Apr 25, 2021 @ 10:00 am Worship begins at 10am – Note earlier time Speaker(s): Unitarian Universalists in Illinois Overview: Twenty five Unitarian Universalist congregations in IL, the UU Advocacy network and UU Prison ministries are gathering to take a...
O Preacher, O Pioneer!: The Legacy of Olympia Brown
Sunday, Mar 28, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: The stories of our elders serve as mirrors for how we know ourselves now and for how we wish to be in the future. Hear the story of the Universalist minister, Olympia Brown. She was the...
Installation of Reverend Jennifer Innis – Mar 21
Sunday, Mar 21, 2021 @ 3:00 pm JOIN the Zoom Meeting Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Order of Worship Overview:You are invited to join us as we celebrate our new ministry with Reverend Jennifer Innis on March 21 at 3:00 PM. She will be formally installed as our...
Ministry as Improv
Sunday, Mar 21, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Darrick Jackson Overview: From Rev. Jackson: This afternoon you celebrate the commitment between minister and congregation. Improv can provide a way for you to think about the possibilities of your...
A Living Religious Liberalism
Sunday, Mar 7, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: James Luther Adams offered a challenge to liberal and moderate churches after witnessing the rise of Fascism in Europe. What does it mean to live as a religious liberal today? Coffee Hour...
Our Year Apart – Together
Sunday, Mar 14, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis and a Cast of Thousands Overview: This weekend marks the anniversary of the major lockdown in response to COVID-19. This service is a chance to reflect on the past year. What needs to be named,...
The Great End
Sunday, Feb 28, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: In the early 19th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “The great end in religious instruction is not to stamp our minds upon the young…The great end is to awaken the soul, to excite and...
Beloved Disagreement
Sunday, Feb 21, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Congregational life is aspirational, inspirational, and intergenerational. The church and our faith are products of our differences as they are of our common vision. Where do we begin when...
Widening the Circle
Sunday, Feb 7, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed reminds us, “Alone, our vision is too narrow…and our strength too limited…Together, our vision widens and our strength is renewed.” As we begin the theme...
Brave New Worlds
Sunday, Jan 31, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: What do our science fiction dreams tell us about ourselves and our future? In a year when we have so many reasons to recast what “normal” means, where do we begin with creating a new world?...
The Edge: Imagination and Transformation
Sunday, Jan 24, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Allison Farnum Overview: Join the Reverend Allison Farnum as we reimagine what is possible in our interdependent web of life through the lens of the work of the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois....
The Body of Freedom
Sunday, Jan 17, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Deep in the heart of justice is the question of who controls one’s body. On this weekend when we reflect on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and prepare for Inauguration, we hear from...
Claiming Imagination
Sunday, Jan 10, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Due to the attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, this worship now focuses on the intersection of imagination, power, and language as part of our democratic society. The title...
Preparing the Space
Sunday, Jan 3, 2021 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: As we enter the New Year and a new decade, how shall we make ourselves ready? In January we pick up the Soul Matters theme of Imagination. We begin to explore what it means to be a people of...
Kwanzaa
Sunday, Dec 28, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Garry Moore Overview: Join us as Garry Moore shares a celebration of Kwanzaa and African culture through his stories, wit and music. Mr. Moore is a programming/radio consultant for WPNV-106.3 FM, former TV anchor, poet,...
Christmas Eve Service
Thursday, Dec 24, 2020 @ 7:00 pm Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis and Congregation Overview: Our online Christmas Eve service will include the deep story and the beautiful music of the season. Musicians include EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks and Andrei Baumann, along with...Winter Solstice Service
Sunday, Dec 20, 2020 @ 4:30 am Speaker(s): Amp Popp, CRE Overview: This year the eve before the Winter Solstice will be Sunday, December 20, and the church’s annual solstice service will be held as the sun is setting on that day (technically 4:34 PM) on Zoom at...
Night and Day
Sunday, Dec 20, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: In this Winter Solstice service we explore the long night even as we seek the new light. Order of Worship Coffee Hour Afterwards & Offering...
“Home” for the Holidays
Sunday, Dec 13, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Amy Popp, CRE Overview:Many of us will be staying close to home for this year’s holidays, celebrating with our circles of loved ones in the warmth of our own dwellings. This special holiday service will celebrate all of the...
Waiting for Enlightenment
Sunday, Dec 6, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Mahayana Buddhists tell the story of how the Bud-dha completed his search for Enlightenment by sitting under the Bodhi Tree. As part of our theme of Stillness, what is our practice of waiting...
Tradition Under Deconstruction
Sunday, Nov 29, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: To close our monthly theme of Healing, we explore times when the way to be more whole is to break down what already exists. Then we can begin to rebuild. Order of Service Coffee Hour...
The World’s On Fire (And We Still Fall in Love)
Sunday, Nov 22, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Rev. Erin J. Walter Overview: Feminist scholar Carol Meyers says Exodus is arguably the most important book of the Bible. This Sunday, musician and UU Rev. Erin Walter will lift up one small but key detail in that story of...
How the Light Gets In
Sunday, Nov 15, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:Rumi reminds us, “The wound is where the light enters.” We explore the nature of brokenness and healing. Hint: They are not opposites Order of Service Coffee Hour Afterwards &...Blue Christmas Vespers
Tuesday, Dec 8, 2020 @ 7:00 pm Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:The holiday season is not merry and bright for many of us. Share a quiet space with kindred spirits as we acknowledge the wider range of feelings and experiences of this time. This live Zoom...
Resilience and Resistance
Sunday, Nov 8, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:On this Sunday after the election, the questions is: “Where to begin?” Order of Service Coffee Hour Afterwards & Offering...
Grief and Life Woven Fine
Sunday, Nov 1, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:Join us for a service on grief and remembrance inspired by the All Souls tradition in Universalism. There will be times to remember our beloved dead. You may want to light a candle, gather...
Democracy Revival – Special Worship Event @ 10 AM
Sunday, Oct 25, 2020 @ 10:00 am Illinois UU Congregations Overview: YouTube: Democracy Revival Live Event Worship is at the special time of 10 AM. Join with hundreds of other Unitarian Universalists around Illinois for a Democracy Revival. Along with 16 Unitarian...
The Middle is a Mess-age
Sunday, Oct 18, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Order Of Service & Lyrics Overview:We are 8 months into a pandemic marathon that nobody wanted. The finish line is a question mark. Where are we now, and what is our liberal religious response to...
Greater Expectations
Sunday, Oct 11, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Amy Popp, CRE Overview:A service on the importance of loosening our expectations and hopes about life, so we can listen for what Life hopes and expects from Unitarian Universalism. The sermon is by Reverend Sandra Fees. This...
Sunday Promises
Sunday, Oct 4, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:As this congregation deepens into what it means to be a liberal religious community in this time, let us explore the nature of covenant. How are we called to live out our promises and hopes in...
Audacity of Faith
Sunday, Sep 27, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:September 30 marks the 250th anniversary of John Murray’s first Universalist sermon in the United States. But it wouldn’t have happened without the determined faith of one country farmer....
Opening the Heart
Sunday, Sep 20, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:As the High Holidays of Judaism begin, we explore the practice of reflecting on the year, taking responsibility, and making amends. Coffee Hour Afterwards Facebook Post...
Ingathering Water Communion
Sunday, Sep 13, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:Join Reverend Jennifer and a Cast of Thousands (You!) as we begin the new year. Congregations across the country start the church year by inviting members and friends to share a bit of their...
Questions? Questions!
Sunday, Sep 6, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: This Sunday is a chance to create the message along with Reverend Jennifer. She will take your questions and respond during the sermon. Your input also helps her plan for the year. Send your...
Sexuality Through a UU Lens
Sunday, Aug 30, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Dr. Melanie Davis Overview: Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Our Whole Lives (OWL) Sexuality Education, this service explores the Unitarian Universalist perspectives on sexuality and our internationally acclaimed Our...
A Pilgrim Church, A Servant Church
Sunday, Aug 23, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: As the winds of summer and our shifting world blow about us, what is the purpose of the church? How might we manifest our beloved community in this moment? Share the Plate: Peoria Friendship...