Events & Activities
Last Updated February 15, 2012
Click here to view Wednesday Evening Programming
Women's Book Group
Wednesday, February 15, 5:30 pm, Tally's (2712 Beaver Ave)
February book is "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham. Please RSVP to Theresa, 720-2614.
Unity Circle
Thursday, February 16, Noon, Channing Hall
Bell Ringers Practice
Thursday, February 16, 5:15 pm, Auditorium
Choir Rehearsal
Thursday, February 16, 7:00 pm, Channing Hall
Duplicate Bridge
Friday, February 17, 7:00 pm, Channing Hall
A good social and learning time within the general structure of Duplicate Bridge - you will need a partner. Contact Terry or Jane Swanson at 515-778-4312 or jswanson@website-center.com.
Young Adult Game Night
Saturday, February 18, 6:00 pm, Channing Hall
Join us for a night of games and fun! Bring your favorite board game, group activity, hacky sack, juggling balls, ping pong paddles, arts and crafts etc and come prepared to have a good time. Pizza will be provided. Bring a snack, dessert or beverage to share. Childcare will be provided if we are notified in advance. Check out the Facebook event page on GenUU for additional details or email youngadultsuudsm@gmail.com with any questions. Hope to see you there!
Pathways Class
Sundays through February 26, 9:15 - 10:45 am, Room 107
This class gives newcomers a chance to examine their own personal stories in light of our Unitarian Universalist tradition and heritage, as well as learn from members what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist. Click here for more information.
Radical Justice: AMOS
Sunday, February 19, 9:30 OR 11:00 am, Conference Room
OR Sunday, February 26, 9:30 am, Conference Room
OR Sunday, March 4, 9:30 OR 11:00 am, Conference Room
Our church is a member of AMOS, a collective of churches and other institutions in Central Iowa, who work together to create a better community for all. Every two years, AMOS holds a House Meeting Campaign, where we invite people to gather in small groups to hear stories of concern, worry, and injustice as it touches our lives. In this way, AMOS builds its agenda, based in the real needs of our community.
Please join in a House Meeting conversation:
Where: Church Conference Room
When: Pick one day/time, for just 1 hour
Sunday February 19 at 9:30 or 11:00 a.m.
Sunday February 26 at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday March 4 at 9:30 or 11:30 a.m.
We are also looking for First Unitarian members and friends who would be willing to host a House Meeting conversation. You set the date and time, invite friends and neighbors, and a member of the First U AMOS Team will facilitate the meeting. Contact Sally Boeckholt 770-9482 to learn more.
Second Chance Roast & Pledge Event
Sunday, February 19, 12:15 pm, Channing Hall
Come! Eat! Pledge! And see what you missed by watching a recorded encore performance of the ROASTING OF THE REV! It was an amazing, funny show, and you too can still see what the buzz is all about! Please join us for lunch, the show, and to complete your pledge card to...
STEP UP TO THE NEXT DECADE:
Expanding our Capacity for the Future!
To RSVP (and to request childcare, if needed), please contact Jane White, Office Assistant, at officeassistant@ucdsm.org, or 244-8603 x107 by Friday, Feb. 17.
Wondering Ones Meeting
Sunday, February 19, 12:30 pm, Conference Room
Wondering Ones is a group who gathers to provide earth and nature based religious ceremony, services, and activities for this church in the metro area. We work closely under, and with, the Green Sanctuary project, Adult RE, and the UU woods project.
Radical Justice: AMOS Campaign Kick-Off Event
Sunday, February 19, 3:00 pm, Bethel AME Church (E. 18th & University Ave)
We'll be kicking off the campaign THIS Sunday. Curious about AMOS? Come on Sunday!
High School Youth Group
Sundays, February 19 & 26, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, Room 107
Bell Ringers Practice
Thursday, February 23, 5:15 pm, Auditorium
Choir Rehearsal
Thursday, February 23, 7:00 pm, Channing Hall
Boys' Night Out
Friday, February 24, 6:00 pm, off-site
Texas Hold'em party at Ryan Beck's home! Low stakes and all are welcome. Bring your own beverage and a snack to share. Please RSVP to evans.steve@principal.com.
Energy & Justice Meeting
Sunday, February 26, 11:00 am, Conference Room
Great Decisions
Sunday, February 26, 11:00 am, Minister's Office
This group enjoys a thought provoking discussion program produced by the Foreign Policy Association.
LGBTQ Family Social Club
Sunday, February 26, 12:30 pm, Channing Hall
The LGBTQ Family Social Club invites lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) parents to a brown bag lunch (to manage food allergies) each month. Expand your community of two-mom and two-dad parents—as well as single LGBT parents—to compare and share parenting tips, cultivate lasting friendships for your child with other children of LGBT parents. All LGBTQ families welcome! For details, please contact Calla Rongerude at calla.rongerude@gmail.com / 415.205.2420
Oscar Night with Windbreakers
Sunday, February 26, 5:00 pm, Channing Hall
Immigration Class - Special Speaker
Monday, February 27, 7:00 pm, Channing Hall
Women's Potluck
Tuesday, February 28, 6:30 pm, off-site
Hosted by Carol Henderson. Please RSVP to carol@hendersoncentral.net, or 254-1004. These potlucks are open to all Unitarian women and offer an opportunity to share food and conversation. Please bring a dish to share.
Scriptease: MY NAME IS ASHER LEV
Tuesday, February 28, 7:00 pm, Auditorium
MY NAME IS ASHER LEV follows the journey of a young Jewish painter torn between his Hassidic upbringing and his desperate need to fulfill his artistic promise. When his artistic genius threatens to destroy his relationship with his parents and community, young Asher realizes he must make a difficult choice between art and faith. This stirring adaptation of a modern classic presents a heartbreaking and triumphant vision of what it means to be an artist.
"This adaptation has a knack for lifting nearly wholesale the terse, telling dramatic exchanges in the book that efficiently drive the conflict forward." —Washington Post
"A profound declaration of the power of storytelling on a stage." —Philadelphia Inquirer
"Thought-provoking, humorous and deeply insightful." —Talkin' Broadway.
Aaron Posner is the Artistic Director of Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey and a founder and former Artistic Director of Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre Company. He is a playwright and director who has directed at major regional theatres across the country. His produced adaptations include Who Am I This Time? by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., “What Ho, Jeeves” by P.G. Wodehouse, The Brothers K. by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Echoes of the Jazz Age by authors from the ‘20s, Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons, Third & Indiana by Steve Lopez, and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace (with Scott Greer, Tony Lawton and Michael Hollinger). His adaptation, with Chaim Potok, of The Chosen won the 1999 Barrymore Award for Best New Play in Philadelphia and has now been produced by more than 40 professional theatres. His most recent adaptations include a musical adaptation of Mark Twain’s A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage (with James Sugg), Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey (Portland Center Stage, spring 2008), and My Name is Asher Lev. He has won Barrymore Awards and Helen Hayes Awards for both playwrighting and directing, and is an Eisenhower Fellow.
First Friday at 5
Friday, March 2, 5:00 pm, Location TBA
All church members and friends are welcome to enjoy some casual socializing at this Interweave-sponsored event starting at 5 p.m. (but you can come any time after that). Enjoy beverages of your choice, as well as appetizers. Then make some new plans for the rest of the evening with others there. Contact Rob Stephens at rfstep2002(at)yahoo.com or Doug Aupperle at aupperle.douglas(at)gmail.com for more information. Interweave is a group at First Unitarian Church welcoming lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and straight allies to socialize and work for social justice.
UU Children's Theater presents: Homeroom the Musical
Friday & Saturday, March 2 & 3, 7:00 pm, Des Moines Social Club
Friday & Saturday, March 9 & 10, 7:00 pm, Auditorium
Sunday, March 11, 2:00 pm, Auditorium
UU Children's Theater is proud to be presenting its 5th annual winter production in conjunction with the Des Moines Social Club. Matters of importance to contemporary teen-agers are explored in Homeroom the Musical. Their individual stories weave together a musical that addresses themes of understanding, acceptance, independence and responsibility. Click here for ticket information; tickets also available from cast members and at the door. $7.50 adults / $5.00 children. Click here to see the poster!
Bridge
Friday, March 2, 7:00 pm, Channing Hall
Knowledge of the fundamentals of bridge is needed, but beyond that, skill levels range from novice to expert. Contact Wynell Kisner at 265-4442 or at mwk987@yahoo.com.
Forum: UU Woods - Planning for the Future
Sunday, March 4, 11:00 am, Channing Hall
A REACH grant was awarded to help develop plans to make the church's woods more inviting, usable and family friendly. We need your input. Please bring your own ideas, and we'll provide some initial thoughts about how our woods could become more welcoming, diverse, stable, and engaging for church members and friends. Click here for more information.
Human Rights Action Group
Sunday, March 4, 12:30 pm, Conference Room
The Human Rights Action Group at First Unitarian Church is currently working to protect Marriage Equality and pass a Death with Dignity law in Iowa. If you are also interested in learning more about or working on either of these issues (you need not be interested in both), then please join us the first Sunday of the month in the church conference room. Contact Doug at aupperle.douglas(at)gmail.com or 515-277-1263 for more information.
Windbreakers
Sunday, March 4, 6:00 pm, Channing Hall
Join other Unitarian men at this monthly potluck social.
Full Moon Ritual
Wednesday, March 7, 7:00 pm, Patio (weather permitting)
This is family friendly, and weather permitting, outdoors. For inclement weather, we will move inside the church. If you have questions or are interested in collaborating for either night, please contact Cynthia Lee: cynthialee71@gmail.com.
Board of Trustees Meeting
Thursday, March 8, 6:00 pm, Conference Room
Members are welcome to attend.
Young Adult Social Outing: Des Moines Derby Dames
Saturday, March 10, 6:00 pm (doors open at 5 pm), 7 Flags Event Center (2100 NW 100th St, Clive)
Get ready for fast-paced, heart-pounding action! Join us for a Roller Derby Bout: Des Moines Derby Dames vs. Chicago Outfit Shade Brigade. Tickets are $10. If we have a group of 10 or more, tickets are only $8. Please RSVP to the Facebook GenUU event and have payment to Lisa Linnenkamp no later than March 5, 2012. Please contact the Young Adult email if you have any questions (youngadultsuudsm@gmail.com).
Energy & Justice Meeting
Sunday, March 11, 11:00 am, Conference Room
First Steps Class
Sunday, March 11, 11:00 am, Gather at the Visitor Table
Introductory class for visitors meets the second Sunday of each month. Click here for more information.
Church Chats Luncheon
Sunday, March 11, 12:15 pm, Large Activity Room
To help foster the connections within our ever-growing community, we unveiled a new program last November: Church Chats, one-on-one opportunities for creative interchange. Twenty members of the congregation have each met with one person each month in an effort to get to know them better. They do not meet to recruit or to solicit donations, but simply to chat. If you have participated in one of these chats - or would like to - please join us for lunch to learn more about the program. For more information or to RSVP please contact Lori Emison Clair, Director of Congregational Life at dcl@ucdsm.org, 244-8603 x 103.
Creative interchange is liberal theologian Henry Nelson Wieman's process of seeking to transform oneself through the simple interaction of listening to one another in an engaging and meaning full way, with an expectation that greater awareness and understanding of each other will ultimately widen and deepen our community by expanding our appreciation of the world we share and what is possible in it.
Interweave Potluck
Sunday, March 11, 12:15 pm, Conference Room
The potluck lunch begins at 12:15 p.m. following the second service. The purpose of Interweave is to provide social opportunities for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and straight allies, to increase awareness of this church in the greater Des Moines LGBT community and among all people seeking a liberal religious community, and to help advance social justice. Another purpose is to enjoy delicious monthly potlucks!
So, bring your ideas, your enthusiasm, your sparkling conversation, your commitment to social justice, and something tasty to share. 'Hope to see you there! Contact Rob Stephens at rfstep2002(at)yahoo.com or Doug Aupperle at aupperle.douglas(at)gmail.com for more information. Childcare is also available if requested in advance.