Join us for this service honoring loss and grief.

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.

In October, we’re sharing our offering with IFCLA, The St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America. Since 1977, IFCLA has collaborated with congregations, schools, and organizations in the St. Louis metropolitan area, across the US, and internationally to work for a more just and equitable world community. IFCLA envisions a world in which partners reach across economic, political, and social borders to build a sustainable future for the planet and its people. See more about IFCLA on their website.

Text ELIOT SHAREDPLATE $X [$3 is the minimum for online giving] to 73256 to give to the shared plate recipient using your text messaging. Please indicate "IFCLA" in the memo to ensure appropriate allocation. Checking the box next to "Contribute an extra $X.XX to help offset processing fees" helps pay for the fees Eliot pays to offer this text service. Standard text message rates do apply.

You can also donate from the Giving page on Eliot's website or send a check to the front office.

For more information about how to get involved in upcoming activities for children and youth, or to find out about the program, please contact Christie Lee at christie@eliotchapel.org or Scott Stewart at scott@eliotchapel.org.

At 11:30 am, you are invited to “walk down the hall” so to speak 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. Remember: this is an experiment! We promise at least some technical glitches and awkward moments, but also laughter and maybe a few tears. Just like church. Please watch your email for a link to join the Zoom coffee hour. If you're not on our mailing list, sign up here.

Online Church Service – 10:00 am on Eliot Chapel website

Coffee Hour – 11:30 am via Zoom

Vigil for Hope & Healing – 5:00 pm outside Eliot

Approaching The Broken Heart of America – 6:30 pm via Zoom

Psalms for Comfort and Courage – 7:00 pm via Zoom

Fall All Reads – 7:00 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.

Ken Dodds died Wednesday evening, October 21. Our deep condolences to Kathy McVoy and their family. Watch for notice of a service celebrating Ken's life via Zoom.

There will be a Zoom meeting on Thursday, November 12 at 7:00 pm in order to present the 2020-2021 budget. You'll receive an email with further details soon.

Click through to Rolling Toward November and see the activities your Social Justice in Action Committee has created for the Eliot community as we count down days to the November 3 election! This “living events" list is regularly updated with all the information you need to take action!

Making a plan to vote increases your likelihood of following through. Do you have a plan? Have you already voted? Let’s find community in our individual acts of voting and help hold each other accountable! Our UU the Vote team urges you to share your voting plan here with the Eliot Community. Read the plans and click the plus sign to post your own!

Still need some voting information? We're just days away from Election Day! Voting questions can be addressed to the Board of Elections in your area:

And don't forget, Eliot has a notary public on staff: if you need your absentee ballot notarized, contact Christie in the front office.

No on Amendment 3 is one of our important local issues this election.

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 this week include the current RE gatherings.

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.

Are you ready for some spooky fun?! Then you won't want you to miss this event for ghosts and goblins of all ages! Enjoy Eliot's Halloween Spooktacular on Saturday, October 24 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the Eliot Chapel parking lot. See all the spooky details in the video!

All are welcome; wearing a mask is required as is maintaining the 6-foot social distancing guideline. Please remember that the building is not open so there are no available bathrooms. Black Lives Matter signs will be for sale for your use at the vigils and to display in your yard. In case of severe weather, the vigil will be cancelled. Please join us!

As of July 3, St. Louis County is under a mask order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Eliot Chapel has required masks and social distancing at our Tuesday night vigil since the event returned on June 2. Eliot Chapel closed its building in March and has worked hard at creating alternate ways to be the church in this time. The vigil is a special case that is vital to our mission and cannot be accomplished in other ways. We welcome the mask requirement as the science points to its effectiveness. (Photo courtesy of Ava Smith, Eliot Youth Group member)

At the monthly meeting on Tuesday, October 27 at 7:00 pm via Zoom, participants will work on toe tags for “Hostile Terrain 94.” HT94 is a participatory art project to be installed at Washington University next spring, consisting of handwritten toe tags for the 3,200 people who died while crossing the Arizona Sonoran Desert. A toe tag for each person needs to be completed with care and compassion. We will also work on planning 2021 activities. Get the Zoom link by emailing immigration@eliotchapel.org.

Eliot Connects: Rohr has met twice a month since May to discuss our various spiritual truths in response to reading The Universal Christ by Father Richard Rohr, a Franciscan Priest. The group strives to create a safe space for each of us to grow. We share, raise questions, and support each other. We have decided to go forward with each member taking a turn in providing a reading or other piece of media as a jumping off point for discussion that week. The emphasis is on how to make the spiritual applicable in our everyday lives. "Humor is seeing the irony in life," (Deepak Chopra). We do laugh! We meet on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month from 4:00-5:15. Our next meeting is Wednesday, October 28. If you’d like to join us, please contact one of us: Karen Beargie, Karen Gender, Dan Dreyfus, Peter Wilson. (see Realm for contact information)

The Eliot Chapel Grief Group is held every two weeks and is facilitated by Rev. Krista Taves. This support group is open to all members and friends. The next meeting is Thursday, October 29 at 3:00 pm. Please email ktaves@eliotchapel.org to receive the Zoom invitation.  

For centuries, in both the Jewish and Christian traditions, the Psalms have helped people in difficult times. They have served as a container for the entire range of human experience, including joy, rage, peace, longing, and sorrow. We will use techniques like “Lectio Divina” and study different translations, as well as experiencing the psalms in art and music. We will try our hand at writing some of our own. People of all theologies and no theology are welcome. You’ll get the most out of it as a live class, but all sessions will be recorded for you to watch on your own. This class is ongoing but you are welcome to join in. Register today.

Fall All Reads at Eliot Chapel: Election Insiders

You may have attended the Zoom presentation on September 15 with Gloria Bilchik, sponsored by the Social Justice in Action Team. You may have listened to an interview with Bilchik on the “St. Louis on The Air” radio show in September. Now you can read and discuss her book with Eliot folks! Sign up here to join a discussion of Election Insiders with facilitator Ellen Duncan, Eliot member. Hope you can join us for one of these 90-minute discussions!

Nature writers, and scientists in their popular writings, often speak of their subjects with awe, wonder, fascination, gratitude, and reverence, emotions typically associated with religions. Understandings of the Big Bang, the quantum realm, and evolution have enhanced nature-centered spiritualities and “respect for the interdependent web of existence” (the UU 7th Principle). This series of six sessions will explore the new scientific story of creation in the context of religious naturalism, a fruitful set of practices and principles compatible with the diverse worldviews found at Eliot Chapel. The sessions will be facilitated by Ted Lau, long time UU, physics degree holder, and group facilitator on the Adult Spirituality Task Force. Sessions will be via Zoom on Wednesday evenings from 7-8:30 pm beginning November 4 (complete schedule: 11/4, 11/18, 12/2, 12/16, 1/13/21, and 1/27/21). Sign up today online or on Realm.

We are fast approaching election day. We know there is a strong possibility for an unclear outcome that night, and a potential for chaos and confusion in the days to come. How can we as UUs prepare ourselves for this time? How can we best be of use?