Our service video will be available at 10:00 am at eliotchapel.org and will remain there all week. You can also find it directly on Eliot Chapel's YouTube channel.

This is why our Shared Plate Partner in March is the Great Rivers Environmental Law Center, which provides free and reduced-fee legal services to individuals, organizations, and citizen groups who are working to protect the environment and public health. Great Rivers works through the courts and administrative agencies to safeguard the environment by enforcing environmental laws, especially air and water pollution laws, and laws intended to protect wetlands, floodplains, open space, and endangered species. The issues which they address often have national significance.  

Our Shared Plate goal for March is to raise a total of $1300, with half supporting Great Rivers Environmental Law Center and half supporting the many life-giving ministries of Eliot Chapel. Let us be a generous people.

We will let you know each week how close we are to meeting our goal. You can give in one of three ways:

For more information about activities for children and youth, please contact Scott Stewart at scott@eliotchapel.org or Christie Lee at christie@eliotchapel.org.

At 11:30 am, you are invited to “walk down the hall” and come to our Zoom Coffee Hour! We’ll take about 10 minutes or so to gather and let people settle in. We'll say a few words of welcome and then create break-out rooms – random groupings of 5 or 6 people. Everyone will likely make a new friend at Eliot from this exercise! You’ll have the chance to introduce yourself and then share your answers to a few questions, like “How has this week been for you?” and “What feelings has it brought up for you?” Each person has about 5 minutes to speak; you are welcome to pass if you like. In half an hour, everyone will return to the big group and we’ll say our goodbyes for the week. Please watch your email for "Eliot on Zoom" which will include a link to join the Zoom coffee hour. If you're not on our mailing list, sign up here.

Vigil for Hope & Healing – 5:00 pm online

Meneely Covenant Group – 7:00 pm via Zoom

Lunch with the Minister – 12:30 pm via Zoom

Many groups at Eliot are meeting despite the distance between us all. Check with your group leader or get involved with a new group! Find contact information in our Getting Involved booklet.

Group leaders, have you set up an area for your group in Realm? You have a secure place to chat and share documents and photos. Contact Christie Lee to set up your group.

Please remember Bob and Mary Meihaus at the passing of Bob's brother, Jim.

If you are ready to make this commitment, please email membership@eliotchapel.org and we will connect with you about next steps. If you wish to be recognized on April 11, please be in touch by April 5. 

The Eliot Chapel Treasurer’s Report for March 2021, along with the January 2021 Dashboard, from the Board of Trustees is now available on our website. Find it here.

How do you express the abundance Eliot Chapel inspires in you? Whether it is by songs, drawings, paintings, photos, poetry, essays, etc., send it to the Artful Abundance contest using this form or emailing it to artcontest@eliotchapel.org. The deadline of March 18 has been extended to the 25th!  

Mark your calendars NOW for CARnival, our fun, family friendly celebration on Saturday, April 10 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. There is something for every age at this event: music, jugglers, performers, and safe gathering with Eliot friends you haven't seen in awhile, all enjoyed from the safety of your car or adjacent parking space. You can bring your blue pledge card to the event, or why not submit it right now? You can use the self-addressed envelope sent to you earlier this month in the Stewardship packet or online using the portal on Eliot's front page. Many, many thanks to those of you who have already submitted your pledge! 

We are all making important decisions about our ability to increase our support of Eliot Chapel for next year. That is up to you and it's a very personal decision. How to actually make your pledge can be confusing but we're here to help. All you need to do right now is make your promised pledge. Later, you will decide if you will pay by check, cash, or through automatic giving through EliotConnects on Realm. 

No matter how you decide to pay, please let the office know the amount of your intended pledge for next year by filling out the blue pledge card from the Stewardship packet mailed to you. Use the self-addressed stamped envelope provided to send your pledge in. If you cannot locate that, you can print a copy of the intention letter and mail it in (EUC, 100 South Taylor, Kirkwood, MO 63122), OR fill out the pledge form on our website. This lets the financial wizards of Eliot know how the pledge drive is going (and how to set a budget for next year). It does NOT automatically set up your pledge withdrawal on Realm. You'll do that later – we'll be sending you reminders and further instructions if needed.

Each week we will have a suggestion of something you can do to learn or take action. What are we doing at Eliot Chapel? We have partnered with the St. Louis Audubon Society’s program Bring Conservation Home. In this program, we are working to reduce the number of invasive plants and add native plants in their place, thus encouraging more pollinators and birds. Learn more at the Audubon Society.  

Our COVID team is here for you. If you are quarantining and need support having groceries and prescriptions picked up, please email pastoralcare@eliotchapel.org with your contact information. 

In an email letter to members and friends, Rev. Barbara outlined "How We Do Church Now" as Eliot Chapel suspended face-to-face meetings. As a guiding document, it was always open to changes as we found out what worked and what didn't in our response to this extraordinary situation. You can find this document on our website now. We will keep it updated as things change. We'll also try to let you know here of any changes. Changes to RE information were made this week.

All staff are working from home. The building and grounds are closed for general use. A staff person is checking on the building and grounds periodically throughout the week for any facilities or maintenance issues. If you need assistance or have any questions, please email the appropriate staff person.

I’m so inspired by the wisdom, insight, and commitment to UU values and justice these individuals express each and every week. In the words of a beloved co-leader, we have “youth willing to express their special, independent spirit in their group,” and in the words of another dear co-leader, we definitely have “the best group ever.” The ongoing commitment and generosity from everyone in the Eliot community makes it all possible.

Director of Religious Education

Join Rev. Krista Taves for an introduction to Unitarian Universalism on Monday, March 22 at 7:00 pm. If you are new to Unitarian Universalism, new to Eliot Chapel, or want to refresh your connection to the Chapel and your faith, this is the class for you. This week's focus is Everything Eliot! – Religious Education, Social Justice, Small Groups, Social Groups, Membership and more! A link to the class will be included in the Eliot on Zoom email. You may also register on Realm.

If you are unable to join in on Zoom, head over to the Eliot Unitarian Chapel Facebook page and you’ll be able to join us there. See you then!

The last thirty days have been full of wonder and sheer delight, haven’t they? Spring weather has found St. Louis, many of us have been vaccinated against the deadly COVID-19 virus, and Alex Garcia has been released from detention! During the three years of its work, the Eliot Immigration Justice team has seen the Chapel sign the Declaration of Sacred Resistance (a declaration of intention toward immigration justice), establish itself as a Sanctuary church, and successfully sponsored asylum seeker Kency Gonzalez in her transition from supplicant to independently living, employed, English-fluent participant in our American society. But the work is hardly over. The team is now creating new projects for its 2021 focus in three areas: supporting DACA recipients and families (especially in legislation), partnering with Welcome Neighbor STL, and family support for immigrants in or released from detention. At our March meeting we will develop specific activities designed to achieve these goals. Please join us at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, March 23 via Zoom. The link will be in the Eliot on Zoom email or you may contact immigration@eliotchapel.org.  

Revs. Barbara and Krista invite you to a weekly Lunch with the Minister every Thursday at 12:30 pm. Bring your lunch or just bring yourself! Depending on the size of the group, we will hang out together in the main room or go into breakout groups. The link to join this Zoom meeting will be in the weekly Eliot on Zoom email. Check it out and get together!