Beyond Easter: Shall We Rise?
Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Apr 9, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Guest Musician: Wes SedrelJesus always flipped the tables on people’s expectations as he showed a new way of relating toeach other. What do we learn from him...
Claiming the Broken Places
Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Mar 26, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: On this last Sunday with the theme of Vulnerability and before we enter into April’s theme of Resistance, we pause to pay attention to our brokenness, our...Questions on the Mind
Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Arp 16, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Humans come in so many forms, including how our minds work. How do we expand ourunderstanding of human intelligence as we strive to welcome all?The choir will...Woman Voice/Earth Voice: An Earth Day Celebration
Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Apr 23, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Florence Caplow Overview: “Oh to be a pear tree—any tree in bloom!” Zora Neale HurstonCome celebrate Earth Day with the poetic voices of women honoring the earth, as well asreflections...Mistakes and Miracles
Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Apr 30, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Unitarian Universalism is committed to creating a more just and equitable world. And – we arepredominantly white with a mixed history of being anti-racist and...
Pioneers in Ministry: The Iowa Sisterhood
Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Mar 19, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: The first women in ministry faced bias and few opportunities. But the Great Plains of the 1800’s were an opportunity for a band of Unitarian women. Who were...
Sending an Invitation
Sunday, Mar 12, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: Rosabeth Moss Kanter tells us that “The most radical thing we can do is connect people to one another. That starts conversations toward a vision for change.” What does connection mean for us...
Brave New Words: Getting to the Heart of Our Values
Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Mar 5, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: How do we declare what we hold dear in this time? Join us for how this faith is exploring new ways to name our foundation and our values. See the notice about...
Make It Better With Make-Believe
Sunday, Jan 29, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Craig Schwalenberg Overview:Ever play Let’s Pretend? Ever visit the Kingdom of Make-Believe? Maybe when we were kids, but we’re too old for that now…aren’t we? I certainly hope not. Grab your chalk, hop on the...
A Word from Our Elders
Sunday, Jan 22, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Members of the Congregation Overview: Finding our center includes listening to the lives of those who have seen and known so much of this world. Children and youth ask questions of our older members. All are welcome for this...
To Savor, To Serve: Choosing Justice
Sunday, Jan 15, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: As we remember the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., what is the place of justice in our lives and in our beliefs? Coffee Hour Afterwards & Offering...
The Promise and the Practice
Sunday, Jan 8, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:Our efforts at a liberal approach to religion is based on deep mutual commitments. Speaking our covenant out loud lifts the heart. How do our promises work with real, live human beings? The...
Gifts of the Season
Sunday, Dec 25, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis and the Congregation Overview: On Christmas Morning, join us for carols, stories, and brunch in Fellowship Hall. We will take turns unwrapping the parts of the service and sharing them as they emerge....
Lessons and Carols for the Wonder of Christmas
Saturday, Dec 24, 2022 @ 7:00 pm Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis and the Congregation Overview:For Christmas Eve, we share the message of the birth of Jesus through ancient and modern texts and beautiful music. This service will feature music from Dave Breeden and...
Cherish the Dark
Sunday, Dec 18, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: So often in our language we use “black” or “dark” to refer to what is fearful and evil. Let us explore the richness of the Dark in our lives. The choir will sing. Coffee Hour Afterwards...
Owl and Robin, A Winter Solstice Fable
Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Dec 11, 2022 @ 10:30 am No Facebook Stream or Posted Recording on 12/11 To honor the privacy of our youngest members and friends, worship on December 11th will be available on the church’s public Zoom feed but will not be streamed...
The Body of Change
Sunday, Nov 27, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: How do you feel in your body as well as your heart? Before we enter into December’s theme of Wonder, let’s spend a moment on locating ourselves and our ever-shifting physical forms. Coffee...
Brave New Words: Under Construction
Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Nov 20, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: For over 40 years, Unitarian Universalists have worked from a core expression of our values as named in seven Principles and six Sources. Now we are asked to...
Democracy with Dignity?
Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: On this Sunday after the elections, we explore what it means to live in a divided time and hold true to a democratic process. The Fall Congregational Meeting is after the service. Coffee...
The Way of Change
Sunday, Nov 6, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:We begin this month’s theme of the Path of Change by addressing it directly. William Bridges offers a guide on how to make sense of change, even when everything is in flux. The choir...
Thinning the Veil: A Service of Remembrance
Sunday, Oct 30, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis, Jesi Laughlin DLRE & the Congregation Overview:At this time of year, many cultures and faiths set aside time for when the veil between the living and the dead grows thin. This year we will...
The Courage to Learn
Sunday, Oct 23, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis & Jesi Laughlin, DLRE Overview:The mission of this congregation includes the call to grow spiritually. What does spiritual growth mean to you? What do we offer and what would you like to explore?...
Defending Democracy
Sunday, Oct 16, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Dawn Dannenbring Overview:Illinois People’s Action organize everyday people and the faith community across downstate Illinois to be a powerful voice on justice issues. As a faith that understands the need for people to have...
Encounter with a World of Faiths
Sunday, Oct 9, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:The first global dialogue of faiths was with the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. The Parliament returns to Chicago in August 2023. How are we called to be with our siblings...
The Heart of Courage
Sunday, Oct 2, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:Join us for the first Sunday with our monthly theme of “Courage.” What does it mean to take a chance with each other? Coffee Hour Afterwards & Offering...
Margaret Fuller: First Woman of the Transcendentalist Club
Sunday, Sep 25, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:The Transcendentalists of the 19th century laid the foundation for the liberal religion we know today. The big names were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. But Margaret Fuller’s...
Homeward Bound
Sunday, Sep 18, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:We offered a powerful, positive message when we added, “Welcome Home” to our shirts and banner for Pride Fest. “Home” also is complicated for many of us. What does “home” mean? How does our...
Meeting and Merging
Sunday, Sep 11, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis, Jesi Laughlin, and the Congregation Overview:Ingathering Water Communion, Potluck to follow, and Splish Splash Games at NoonThis Ingathering marks the beginning of the church year. We offer our...
NOW Is a Moment
Sunday, Sep 2, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:Join Reverend Jennifer as she offers highlights from her summer travels in our larger Unitarian Universalist world, including notes from when Ibram X. Kendi (How to Be an Antiracist) addressed...
Clean and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA)
Sunday, Aug 28, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Kiersten Sheets Overview:As part of fulfilling our commitment to being good stewards of the earth, this service features a general overview of CEJA as passed in the Illinois legislature last fall. CEJA is the mostprogressive...
The Question is the Answer
Sunday, Aug 21, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:For our end of summer Question Box Sermon, we are part of creating the message along with Reverend Jennifer. Send her your questions ahead of time or in person during the service. She will...
Blessing of the Animals
Sunday, Aug 14, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis and a Cast of Thousands Overview:Join us for our first ever Blessing of the Animals! Beloved animals are welcome to join us onsite or in a photo. In person pets must be leashed or in a kennel or...
The Circle of Love
Sunday, Aug 7, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Allison Farnum Overview:We gather in the Universalist spirit and are reminded that no one is outside the circle of love. Joining with guest speaker, Reverend Allison Farnum, we are invited to feel the power of our...
Learning to be Seen in a World That Would Rather Hide You Away: My Journey in Body Positivity
Sunday, July 31, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Mary Warren Kuester Overview:Growing up I never saw myself represented in the books I read or the other media I consumed, and if I did it was never in a positive light. It wasn’t until I happened upon a romance novel...
Stories of Gratitude
Sunday, Jul 24, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Carol Manny and Bob Woolsey Overview:Join us this Sunday as Peoria businessman and philanthropist Bob Woolsey talks about how our stories can lead us to embrace gratitude and mentor others to do the same. Coffee Hour...
Building Our Church
Sunday, Jul 17, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Amy Kordonowy and Carol Manny Overview: What is the foundation of this congregation? Love? Compassion? Justice? How might it all fit together? All ages are welcome to share in the service. Coffee Hour Afterwards &...
Stories Behind Stories: Real History and Sherlock Holmes
Sunday, Jul 10, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Brad Keefauver Overview:In the late 1800s, a new legend was born from the pen of a doctor named Arthur Conan Doyle that literally inspired both real and fictional detectives for the century that followed. What do those...
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident…
Sunday, Jul 3, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Rica Kaufel Overview:What does the best friend of this German UU minister grandfather have to do with the 4th of July, and how can this help us to love this country even better? Come find out at church on Sunday!...
Believing Us
Sunday, Jun 26, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Leela Sinha (ze/zim/zir) Overview: Ours is a living faith. What does it mean to be the UUs we say we are? If we were to follow our deepest passions, what might we become? Reverend Leela Sinha joins us via Zoom from...
The Paths We Do Not Choose
Sunday, Jun 19, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Tom Byrom Overview:I am going to talk about my spiritual journey, in particular some unwelcome events that have, I hope, led to a more meaningful life. This journey will always be a work in progress, but there are some...
Celebrating Blessings
Sunday, Jun 12, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer and a Cast of Thousands Overview:Join us at the Herm Farm for our annual picnic and celebration of the past year. The picnic begins at 9:30am. The service at the farm begins around 10:45am. A recorded...
Flower Communion: Emerging Beauty
Sunday, Jun 5, 2022 @ 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. For this multi-age service, all are invited to bring flowers as...
The Beauty of Music
Sunday, May 29, 2020 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis and Graduating Senior High Youth Overview: Join us as we enjoy the return of Music Sunday with our excellent choir led by Dave Breeden. We will also honor the senior high youth who are moving from...
Riding the Winds of Change
Sunday, May 22, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis and Amy Popp Overview: Join us for Religious Education Teacher Appreciation and marking the transitions in our lives. Amy Popp will offer the message in her next-to-last in person Sunday before she...
The Beauty That Makes Us
Sunday, May 15, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: How has beauty transformed your life? Reverend Jennifer shares reflections from many sources, including the words and images of members of the congregation. Note: This service is in lieu of...
Invisible Work
Sunday, May 8, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: The past few years have revealed major shifts in how and where we work. What is our religious response to how we value labor? Our special music comes from the Peoria Recorder Consort. Coffee...
The Wonder of Co-Creation
Sunday, May 1, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: As we begin the monthly theme of Nurturing Beauty, what do we create together? Join us as we celebrate the official end of our Annual Campaign. Share memories during Social Hour as we honor...
Get Rooted and Get Ready
Sunday, Apr 24, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): UU Ministry for the Earth with Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: When you imagine pathways to embodying the inherent worth and dignity of all people, particularly climate migrants, what do you see? Who is with you on in this...