A Unitarian Universalist Church | 1800 Bell Ave. Des Moines, IA 50315

P: 515-244-8603

Be Careful What You Wish For

with Rev. Victoria Safford

Celebrants: Louise Alcorn, Birch Spick

Pianist: Bruce Martin

Director of Choirs: Karen Kraemer

Music: U.U. Singers

Song Leader: Barb Martin

A/V volunteer: Bill Allen

Pastoral Care: Ann Mowery, Amanda Kruse

Hospitality Coord.: Terry Meek

Joys & Concerns for Sunday should be submitted by noon on Friday.

Click on the Caring Community webpage for the following options:

• Caring Ministry – for temporary assistance, such as meals or rides, or to volunteer 
• Please note: the Caring Ministry phone number is now
• 515-244-8603 ext. 108
• Pastoral Care – for support through a difficult time 

Ann Mowery & Amanda Kruse are the Pastoral Care Associates available for this service time. Please email pastoralcareteam@ucdsm.org for assistance during the week.

NEWS THIS WEEK

This section holds events happening this week, as well as articles submitted in the past 7 days. Be sure to continue scrolling to read about other upcoming events, church news, and social justice efforts!g

Looking Forward Together –

Budget Planning for FY24

You’re invited to join members of your Board of Trustees and your Minister for one of two conversations about the FY 2023-2024 budget to be presented at this year’s Annual Meeting in June. We’ll share an update on the current draft budget, and look forward to hearing your ideas, input, and suggestions. This draft budget will have been revised since our last gatherings (in January) to reflect the results of this year’s Stewardship Campaign, which ends on April 15. Conversations will be held in Griffin Hall on Saturday, April 22 at 10:30 a.m. and Sunday, April 23 at 11:00 a.m. in place of the Sunday Forum. Participants may join the Sunday gathering on Zoom. With questions, contact Reba Eagles, President at boardoftrustees@ucdsm.org or Victoria Safford, Minister vsafford@ucdsm.org.

Easter Egg Hunt!

This Sunday, children ages 0-10 are invited to an Easter Egg Hunt on the church grounds, hosted by the Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU)! Parents and children will meet on the patio directly after Sunday service (10:30 a.m.) and before class. The One Room SchUUlhouse will begin directly after the hunt is over.

Unsung UU Nominations for 2023

Now Open!

Deadline: May 12, 2023

The Board of Trustees is currently accepting nominations for the 2023 Unsung UU Award to be presented at the annual meeting in June. Each year the Board of Trustees presents this award to a member or friend of our church who works tirelessly behind the scenes, is someone we can always count on, and is always willing to assist when needed.

Please help us identify the Unsung UU for 2023 by completing this form and emailing it to unsunguu@ucdsm.org by May 12, 2023.

Victoria's Spring Calendar

Friends, you may always reach me at vsafford@ucdsm.org or at 612-405-3318 (a cell number dedicated to church work). We can schedule a Zoom appointment when I am working remotely from St. Paul, or we can meet at church or in your home when I’m here in Des Moines, or simply talk by phone. If you’d like to meet in person during an upcoming visit, please reach out to schedule an appointment! You can view my calendar here.

Women's Monthly Lunch – April 11

from Barb Royal

NOTE: New location - A Dong Restaurant, 1511 High St, Des Moines

All UU (and UU-interested) women are welcome to join the monthly gathering of the UU Women’s Lunch Bunch (2nd Tuesday of every month at 11:30). 

There’s always good food and lively conversation. 

Please be sure to RSVP by the Saturday morning before the luncheon if you plan to attend: womenslunch@ucdsm.org

When: Tuesday, April 11, 2023: 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Where: A Dong, 1511 High St, Des Moines

You're Invited!

from the Memorial Reception Committee

This is a special committee that functions at the time of the passing of a member or friend of our church community. It is a time that we help and support families as they honor & celebrate the life of their loved one. Our next memorial reception will be for Mary Kelly’s service on April 22, 2023. 

The functions of this committee include helping with set up, providing baked items for the reception, ushering, serving at the reception, helping with clean up/ re-setting and anything else as needed. 

If you would like to be part of this special ministry team, let me know. 

Thank you, Lynne George.

Big Tent II Planning Begun!

from the Ministry of Fun

The planning has begun for Big Tent II! Mark your calendars for Sunday, May 21. The event will be held at Pete Crivaro Park after service/forum that day. Details will be coming soon. It promises to be wonderful time for us to enjoy time together!

Transforming Hearts Workshop

Date change, class still open!

The UU movement has come a long way in LGBTQ+ inclusion, but there’s still a long way to go. Meanwhile, trans and non-binary people are under attack in our country in wildly escalating ways.

We need to dig deeper. This program goes beyond “trans 101”— it’s a six-session course that explores the theological grounding of radical welcome; your own gender journey; trans identity, experiences, and spirituality; the role of culture in inclusion; and how to engage in culture shift.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the class dates have been shifted a week later than originally announced. The class will be held in the Peace Conference Room at the church on Tuesdays, April 11 – May 16, 7 – 8:30 p.m.



Join us! Please email tag@ucdsm.org to sign up by this Sunday, April 9.

What to expect: Each week we will watch a 45- to 55-minute lecture by Rev. Mykal Slack and Zr. Alex Kapitan, two trans/non-binary UU leaders, and discuss the content together. In between sessions there are supplemental resources we can engage with on our own.

Trans Lives Festival Thanks

The 3^rd Trans Lives Festival held Sat 4/1 was a huge success, and our little committee couldn’t have done it without the passionate support of this beloved community and the over 30 volunteers who took time out of their weekend to help everything run smoothly so that Iowa trans folx and allies could relax and enjoy a day filled with art, opportunity, celebration, and love! Growing by half from last year, with attendance around 750, some local media even took notice. They only used a tiny portion of what we said, but here are the media links Doug found, if you want to check out the coverage:

• WHO13
• We Are Iowa
• Iowa Starting Line

Special thanks to the organizing committee and staff consultants – Doug Aupperle, Sarah Chang, Amanda Kruse, Franco Berardi, Janice Hawkins, Polly Antonelli, Elliott Nassif, Dave Witke, Rev. Victoria, Birch Spick, and Alice Stewart – and to our excellent A/V engineers, Rob Malcomson and Bill Paxson, who spent most of their Saturday at the festival making sure all the performances sounded great.



Thank you so much for your support of this important event! It will be exciting to see where it goes from here!

UU Board Game Night

Friday, April 14, 6 – 10 p.m. in Griffin Hall

Welcome: All

Please join fellow UU friends for a fun night of board games in Griffin Hall. Bring your favorite game as well as any beverages or snacks you might want to share.

Contact gamenight@ucdsm.org with any questions!

Amilia K. Spicer In Concert!

April 22, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

It may be her haunting, husky voice that first grabs a listener, the way it glides over melodies like smoke, but it's the songwriting that Spicer really wants you to hear. Her songs often have a grit and gentle ache, yet still can exude a wry joy and playfulness when she's on stage. Wanderlust spills from her songs, with topography that covers languid farmlands, quirky roadside stops, and an occasional turn down a dark alley with flickering neon. Or, as she might say with a slight drawl: "Water, wine and whiskey."

Join the Progressive Voices Concerts Team on April 22 and 7 p.m. in the Auditorium to hear this amazing artist!

Come to the May 6 Covenant Workshop!

Covenant is at the heart of Unitarian Universalism from the beginning—what are the promises we make to each other as we journey together in religious community. It is the third of the key documents that congregations need: to understand their mission, create their vision, and articulate a covenant on how you will be while you’re working your mission and toward your vision. 

In 2019, First Unitarian created both our mission and vision, but we haven’t clearly articulated our covenant. It’s time for us to articulate explicitly how we want to be with each other, to unearth what is implicit in our community, and to create

the culture that we want to have in our congregation.

Rev. Dr. Lisa Presley, one of the MidAmerica Congregational Life Consultants, has worked with our leadership before, and now she will be here to engage the whole congregation in delving-in to our covenant. She specializes in covenant and safe congregations issues, as well as working with the UUA’s Hope For Us conflict resolution team. She has worked for the UUA for 16 years, and brings her skills and gifts to help us understand what’s important to us in how we are together.

The Covenant Workshop will be Saturday, May 6, from 9:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.  Please come and be part of building our Covenant. We promise the coffee, donuts and bagels will be good!  

-Rev. Safford and the Right Relations Team (Bill Brauch, Scott Clair, Linda Lemons, Jean Rommes and Katherine Vance)

Kitchen Project Update

Not All is Good News This Week, But Here’s the Skinny

Folks might have noticed that the wall ovens were recently removed in our kitchen. No one gets through a reno project without at least one glitch; most of us have been there. Turns out new ADA rules say we need more space around the center island. Not much we can do about that (unless we want to fight City Hall); so some adjustments are in the works. Overall, this won’t change much, but it does require we tweak the island. Not sure yet how this will affect our planned finish date; watch the Intercom and the KP webpage for updates!

New Dishes FINALLY Unpacked

Kay Scott and Elaine Imlau helped with unpacking our new dishes, long stowed in Griffin Hall. Fern Stewart is pictured appraising the new mixing bowls, and Terry Meek assures all that cardboard went to recycling. The new dishes and flatware will be on full display at our May 7 dedication brunch!

Griffin Hall Tables for Sale (almost gone)!

Last call on the old Griffin Hall tables! They are white plastic topped round folding tables, 60" in diameter, and weigh 50lb. We are asking for a free-will offering, with a minimum of $10 each, and the buyer will need to transport them. If interested, contact Marilyn Lantz.

See more photos on the Kitchen Project webpage!

AMOS Makes Big Wins,

and First U's Are Leading!

AMOS is powering ahead with lots of wins for the people's priorities! In the last year we:

• Removed police as the first responder to individuals in mental health crisis! The city added a mental health professional on the 911 line to send a Mobile Crisis Team (with extended hours!) to answer the needs of children with mental health crises--saving them from encounters with police.
• Started negotiations with the City of Des Moines leaders to bring permanent affordable housing to the metro in the form of a community land trust.
• Convinced the Polk County Board of Supervisors to adopt our plan to devote $1.8 million in county American Rescue Plan funds to recruit and retain 90 mental health therapists in Polk County over the next 5 years.
• Initiated a Public Schools research team to address pressures on public educators both locally and at the state level.

Want to learn more about the First U AMOS team? Email amosevents@ucdsm.org

Want to learn more about how AMOS operates and engage other AMOS leaders? Come to AMOS Training on April 28-29 here in DSM. More info coming soon.

Tell Congress to Advance

a Climate-Smart Farm Bill in 2023!

from Write Here, Write Now!

This month we’ll write our Senators and Representatives to advocate for a Farm Bill that brings about fairness, especially to farmers and farm workers of color who have been left out of earlier bills, and that encourages production of sustainably grown, healthful food rather than commodity crops grown in ways that deplete soil and pollute our waterways.

The current Farm Bill expires on September 30, 2023, so both the House and Senate are actively working on drafting a new five-year Farm Bill. Our Representatives and Senators need to hear from us now so that the Farm Bill, as enacted, reflects our UU values.

Join in urging Senators Grassley and Ernst, and Representative Nunn, to redirect Farm Bill funding to reduce hunger, promote sustainable farming practices, fight climate change, and make our agricultural sector more equitable.

The deadline to mail letters is April 17.  You can send your letters by US Mail, by e-mail, or by direct online submission. Those sending by e-mail or direct online submission have a few more days beyond the 17. The details, including a model letter, are available via the link below or on request via e-mail: writenow@ucdsm.org.

Link to model letter and information, including a link to send your letters online:   

UUSJ Model Letter

IUUWAN's New Website is Live!

The Iowa UU Witness Advocacy Network (IUUWAN) is your statewide UU social justice network! You are invited to visit their new website at www.iuuwan.com to explore ways that Iowa's UUs can collaborate on LGBTQ+, equality, racial, and environmental justice issues and solutions.

Submissions to the Intercom Weekly are due on Wednesday at 12 noon. Submissions after the deadline cannot be guaranteed a spot in that week's newsletter.

Want to publicize your church event? We have a form for that!

Visit our "Our Events" page to fill out the form.

Email communications@ucdsm.org with any questions.

Fellowship, Food, & FUNds #23 Alert!

Mark your calendars for FFF #23, April 29 & 30, and start thinking about what you might like to offer! Never heard of it? For more info on our biggest fundraiser of the year and community-building series of events, see this link.

To participate, please fill out this form.

Your help is needed! Particularly needed are individuals who enjoy making clever announcements and cover table displays after church during the month of March to promote participation, as coordinator Elaine Imlau, will be out of state most of the month. Please contact her via email at foodfair@ucdsm.org or directly via text or call.

Griffin Gallery Artist April

Tanya Lichinsky received her education in painting, life drawing, still life, sculpture, and art history from Repin's School of Fine Art in Moldova. Oppressive political conditions in the former Soviet Union pushed her to make the decision to look for a stable life in the United States. She has been drawing and painting since early childhood and has developed unprecedented taste and vision through years of industry and freelance experience. Creation has become a necessity where any medium, be it watercolors, acrylic, oil, or pencil, is utilized. Her muse can be exotic, but it can also be anything from everyday life or even something out of a negative space that looks interesting.

This piece was inspired by Barbados, 40x40 acrylic on canvas.

Our current partnerships run from September 2022 through August 2023. They were selected by our members at our June 2022 annual meeting. The organizations are:

Hawthorn Hill

Our Champion is Sally Boeckholt

Let's Talk

Our Champion is Ellen Taylor

Faith In Action: It's Time to Nominate Partners for 2023-24!

Led by our Faith in Action (FIA) Coordinating Team, our congregation selects two nonprofit organizations each to receive financial support with proceeds from our Sunday service collection. Recipients are nominated by church members and chosen at our annual church meeting in early June. We have proudly worked with more than 20 organizations, including Al Exito, Candeo, Central Iowa Shelter and Services, and more. Our current partners are Let's Talk and Hawthorn Hill, who began receiving contributions in September, and have each received over $4,500.00 so far this fiscal year.

Each spring, the FIA Coordinating Team solicits applications from congregation members for outside organizations to become one of our two annual Faith in Action partners. Now is the time to make your nominations!

Each nominated organization needs to be nominated by a church member, and must have a "champion" who will work with the FIA team to promote the organization throughout the year. The links below explain the program in more detail, and will guide you to the nomination form on our website.

Nominations must be received by 4/30/23, and the FIA team will be sharing more about our nominees during May.

Thanks to ALL of the congregation for expanding our reach in Central Iowa through Faith in Action

https://www.ucdsm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/FIA-Partnership-Responsibilities.pdf

https://www.ucdsm.org/faith-in-action/

Rev. Victoria Safford, Transitional Contract Minister

vsafford@ucdsm.org

Office phone: 515-244-8603 ext. 102

Cell: 612- 405-3318

Alice J. Stewart, Director of Finance and Administration

director@ucdsm.org

515-244-8603 ext. 101

Mondays: by appointment

Tuesdays – Thursdays: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fridays: by appointment

Zoom meetings available upon request

Birch Spick, Faith Formation Coordinator

& Congregational Life Coordinator

FFOffice@ucdsm.org

CLOffice@ucdsm.org

515-244-8603 ext. 106

Off Mondays

Tuesday - Friday: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Emily Petty, Communications Coordinator

communications@ucdsm.org

515-244-8603 ext. 103

Off Mondays

Tuesday-Friday: 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

To submit an item for the Intercom, email communications@ucdsm.org by Wednesday at noon.

Hannah Notch, Social Media and Executive Support Specialist

hnotch@ucdsm.org

Tuesday - Friday: 1:00 - 5:00 pm

To have an event or meeting added to the church calendar, email Hannah at calendar@ucdsm.org