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

P: 515-244-8603

An Inside Voice

with Rev. Victoria Safford

Celebrant: Kent Newman

Pianist: Bruce Martin

Song Leader: Kellie Patterson

A/V volunteer: Rob Malcomson

Pastoral Care: Laura Berardi

Hospitality Coord.: Terry Meek

Join the live service on Zoom!

Zoom Passcode: Safford

(Please mute your mic before the service begins!)

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 

Laura Berardi is the Pastoral Care Associate available for this Sunday morning. Please email pastoralcareteam@ucdsm.org for assistance during the week.

In Memoriam

Former member Richard Heathcote died on November 21. Richard and his wife, Susan raised their sons Adam and Ed in the church, and the family remembers their years here with great fondness. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 17 at 2:00 p.m.

A SignUp Genius for memorial reception volunteers will be posted on First Unitarian's Facebook page, in next week's Intercom, and via email. Please contact memorialreceptions@ucdsm.org for more details.

From Rev. Victoria Safford

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!  

Saturday, Dec. 3, between 10 a.m. and noon, and between 2 and 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 4, between 6 and 8:00 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 15, between 2:30 and 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 18, 1:00 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 19, please contact me to schedule.

Please come if you have a pastoral concern (a sadness or some issue weighing on your heart), a spiritual query, a question, or something you’d like me to know about congregational life (church programs, committees, or the ministry transition), or just come to introduce yourself and say hello!

You may find my fall schedule, with in-person visits here.

Register for Spring OWL Classes!

from Birch Spick, Faith Formation Coordinator

OWL classes for elementary grades are coming up! The class for Grades 5-6 will run from early January through early April. The class for Kindergarten-1^st Grade will run from late March through late May. Interested families may register their children here.

Please contact Birch Spick at ffoffice@ucdsm.org with any questions.

*First Unitarian will cap K-1 and 5-6 OWL classes at 8 (eight) participants each.

Peter Mayer In Concert

Progressive Voices Concert Series

WHEN: Saturday, December 3, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: First Unitarian Church Auditorium

TICKETS: $22 Advance /$27 Door /$78 for 4-Show Season Ticket

Click here to purchase tickets online



Tickets are also available in person at church after Sunday services.

Join us for a return performance of a concert series favorite! Minnesota’s Peter Mayer has been singing and songwriting full-time for over 20 years, performing in venues across the United States and beyond. He writes about life on earth, the mysterious and wondrous fact of our existence, and the vast cosmos that surrounds us. He also writes about pumpkins and dress hats, fake plants and pajamas, as well as love and freight trains just like a proper folk musician should. His songs have been performed by Kathy Mattea, David Wilcox, Claudia Schmidt, Darryl Purpose, Billy Jonas, and Ronny Cox, to name a few. His work has been included in song books, church hymnals, and folk radio playlists across the country. Peter has eleven albums to his credit, and has sold nearly 100,000 of them. He lives in Stillwater, Minnesota with his wife and two daughters.

FREE CONCERT TICKETS FOR THOSE WITH FINANCIAL NEED

A limited number of complimentary tickets for the Peter Mayer concert on December 3 are available for those otherwise unable to afford to attend. Please speak confidentially with our minister, Victoria Safford, to obtain them.

Click here for more information about this and other concerts.

Thank You, Terry!

from Lynne George

Every 8 weeks a hospitality team helps create a welcoming community for members & guests. Last Sunday our turn rolled around again. I realized that while our team only does this every 8 weeks, Terry Meek does this every week and always with a different team. She has made this challenging “kitchenless hospitality” transitioning out of a pandemic-closed church happen! So amazing! She has taught us how to make coffee for you, filling the coffee pot pitcher by pitcher from the water dispenser in the office. Every week she brings in serving pieces (bowls, plates, tongs) and then takes them home to wash up for the next week. She often contributes a healthy food item and a seasonal decoration for the table. Every Sunday she selflessly and expertly guides our Hospitality teams for you. So a shout-out to Terry Meek. We are in gratitude for her service to First Unitarian.

LGBTQ+ Meeting

Thursday, December 8, 7 p.m.

Are you interested in…

·       Building general LGBTQ+/ally community within the church?

·       Helping out with the Trans Lives Festival or its planning (likely Sat. April 1)?

·       Advocating around queer- and/or trans-adjacent issues?

·       Getting our congregation recertified as a UUA Welcoming Congregation?

If you answered yes to ANY of these, please consider attending our next meeting!

Join via Zoom

Passcode: TAG

Please contact tag@ucdsm.org for more information.

mUUvie Discussion Group

Sunday, December 11, 7 – 8:30 p.m.

Please join us at the church for apple cider and a discussion about Satoshi Kon's anime masterpiece, "Tokyo Godfathers." One Christmas Eve, three homeless people- a middle-aged alcoholic, a transgender woman, and a teenage runaway- discover an abandoned newborn while searching through garbage for presents. The trio sets out the find the baby's parents. The movie can be streamed on Amazon Video and the Roku Channel, and is available on DVD from the Des Moines Public Library. (Due to copyright laws, it cannot be shown at the church.)

Please RSVP!

2022 Giving Tree

First Unitarian Giving Tree will begin this Sunday, December 4. This year, we are sponsoring 11 families—10 families through Family Promise plus the Congolese family that several church members have been helping since the family’s arrival in March.

How does the Giving Tree work? We will have slips of paper on the tree that contain a wish list for each person we are sponsoring. We ask that you look over the slips and then sign up for the person that you would like to sponsor. We request that all gifts be brought to church by December 18th. They will then be delivered to the families. Gifts should be wrapped and if possible, include a gift receipt.

We would like to give you an update of the Congolese family. Masoka, the mother, arrived in March with her family, which includes her sons Wilonja (William), Lununga, age 20, Kibungo (Bernard), age 18 and her daughters Makyamba, age 14, and Safi, age 24. Makyamba and Kibungo attend Roosevelt HS. Safi has 3 children—Tatu, age 4, Masoka, age 2 and baby Byabele, age 7 months. Also, in the family is Masoka’s mother, Zukari.

All the adults are working and the family is self-sufficient, but their needs are many. Their greatest hope is to find a house they can rent. The search is underway, but four-bedroom rentals are rare. If anyone has any sources for rentals, please contact Joanne Johnson, Sue Huber, or Judy Davis.

The family requests gift cards (Walmart is probably the most practical) or cash for the adults. When we talked to the family about what they wanted or needed, Makyamba was very excited about getting a gift card. Just imagine what it will be like for her, to buy what she wants with her own money, maybe for the first time.

Members of First Unitarian Church have always been generous with their giving to the families, and we ask that you do so again this year.

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.

First Unitarian Humanist Update

Book Group 

The Humanist book group will meet on Sunday, December 4, at 12:00 noon, right after the forum. We will be discussing chapters 5 and 6 of Cosmos by Carl Sagan. Everyone is invited to participate, either in person or via Zoom.

Annual Meeting

The annual meeting of the Humanist Society of Iowa will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 3, at the Stine Barn in West Des Moines. Our guest speaker for the evening will be Iowa State Professor David Hollander, who will speak about Marcus Tullius Cicero and his contributions to Humanism.   Snacks and soda will be available. 

David Hollander is a professor in the history department at Iowa State University. His research focuses on the economic history of the late Roman Republic and early Empire. He's particularly interested in agriculture, foodways, coinage, money, credit, and debt. He serves on the steering committee of the Society of Biblical Literature program unit on Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy. He is also one of the editors of Wiley's Encyclopedia of Ancient History.

Capitol Tour

The Iowa Atheist and Freethinkers group will set up their Holiday display in the Rotunda of the Capitol and will have a guided tour of the Capitol Building on the morning of Saturday, December 3. Please email Robert Cook at vice-president@iowaatheists.org if you are interested in attending.

CUUPS Yule Celebration

Gather with Sacred Bridges CUUPS to celebrate Yule with a family-style potluck and ritual with some caroling.

We will be gathering in Griffin Hall at First Unitarian Church at 5 p.m. on December 10 to celebrate Yule.

Please RSVP with a food item you will bring to share for the potluck. We will be providing a list to pick from soon. (Keep an eye out for that on the Facebook event page.)

We will perform an all ages ritual, and sing Pagan Carols together.

Holiday Services

from Rev. Victoria Safford

Saturday 24 December

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 7:00 p.m. with Cookie Reception to follow. Please bring a plate of cookies to share. We will provide chilled apple cider, but there will be no coffee.

Sunday 25 December

Christmas Day Potluck Brunch. Join members of the congregation on Christmas Day at 11:00 a.m. in Griffin Hall. Please bring a dish and drink of your choice. A Sign-Up Genius post will be in the Intercom soon. Please note: NO Sunday service this day!

Sunday 1 January

Happy New Year! Join Barb and Bruce Martin, and Karen Kraemer, for a service of singing, at 11:00 a.m.

Masks for One Room SchUUlhouse

from Birch Spick, Faith Formation Coordinator

Cases and incidences of hospitalization with RSV (Respiratory Syncitial Virus) and other respiratory viruses continue to climb during this cold and flu season, especially among young children. Given these facts, we are asking children, families, and facilitators to wear masks and use hand sanitizer when attending the One Room SchUUlhouse in Room 111 on Sunday mornings. If you are feeling sick or sniffly, please consider staying home and joining us another weekend. We will continue to monitor this situation and adjust our response accordingly. Thank you as we continue to care for one another!

Bidwell Food Pantry Donation

from Carolyn Spencer

Kerry and Lynne George took a large donation of food to Bidwell Riverside Food Pantry on 11/20. Also, $60.00 in cash was collected and sent to Bidwell to help with the purchase of turkeys and hams that were given out in addition to the normal food allotments during November. Thank you, everyone, for your donations!

The work is not done as the need for food and personal care items continues. Missy Reams, the Volunteer and Community Outreach Manager at Bidwell Riverside, has asked for the following items:

• Canned fruit
• Canned vegetables
• Peanut butter
• Cereal
• Pasta
• Pasta sauce
• Rice, lentils, beans
• Soup
• Toilet Paper
• Shampoo & Conditioner
• Soap (bar or liquid)
• Deodorant
• Toothpaste
• Toothbrushes
• Feminine Hygiene Products
• Razors
• Baby Wipes
• Adult Diapers
• Dish Soap
• Laundry Detergent
• Disinfectant spray

Please continue to be generous with your donations to make life just a little easier for neighbors in need. 

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

Rev. Victoria Safford, Transitional Contract Minister

vsafford@ucdsm.org

Office phone: 515-244-8603 ext. 102

Cell: 612- 405-3318

Rev. Victoria's Spring 2023 Calendar

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