Dancing with Creativity

Dancing with Creativity

Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, May 14, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: The creative principle is everywhere, as are the forces working against it. How do you navigate that flow? We will enjoy the music of the Peoria Recorder Group....
Five Smooth Stones To Save the World

Five Smooth Stones To Save the World

Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, May 7, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: As the Nazis rose to power in Western Europe, many churches ignored or denied the growing threat. Unitarian theologian James Luther Adams called those...
Mistakes and Miracles

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...
Questions on the Mind

Questions on the Mind

Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Apr 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...
Beyond Easter: Shall We Rise?

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...
Liberate, Animate, Agitate

Liberate, Animate, Agitate

Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Apr 2, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview: What might we mere mortals offer to a bruised and hurting world? Join us for the kickoff of our Annual Campaign and dream of our work in the world. The choir...
Claiming the Broken Places

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...
Pioneers in Ministry: The Iowa Sisterhood

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

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...
Grounding in Love

Grounding in Love

Join the 10:30am Service Zoom Sunday, Feb 19, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Carin Bringelson Overview:Come explore the loving roots of Unitarian Universalism. When we dig deep into our spiritual sustenance, we might just find that love is as messy as it is...
Listening to the Heart of Islam

Listening to the Heart of Islam

Sunday, Feb 12, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:In conjunction with our series on the six sources of Unitarian Universalism, we consider the relationship between love and surrender in Islam. Coffee Hour Afterwards & Offering...
The Love Church?

The Love Church?

Sunday, Feb 5, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:Over the past few decades, Love has grown as the primary word for Unitarian Universalism. Are we The Love Church? The choir sings today. Coffee Hour Afterwards & Offering...
Make It Better With Make-Believe

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

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

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

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...
Touchstones for the New Year

Touchstones for the New Year

Sunday, Jan 1, 2023 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Jesi Laughlin, Director of Lifespan Religious Education Overview: What is at your center? Let’s look inside ourselves set an intention, and create a touchstone to recall all year long. Coffee Hour Afterwards & Offering...
Gifts of the Season

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

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

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

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...
Encounter with Wonder

Encounter with Wonder

Sunday, Dec 4, 2022 @ 10:30 am Speaker(s): Reverend Jennifer Innis Overview:What is the place of wonder in our lives? What has wonder done for us lately? The choir sings today. Coffee Hour Afterwards & Offering...
The Body of Change

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...
Homeward Bound

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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...
Stories of Gratitude

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

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 &...
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident…

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

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

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

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...