Coming of age in a Unitarian or Unitarian Universalist congregation is a unique experience and one that not many of our members and friends have had. Join us this Sunday as we share memories, sorrows, and joys about growing up at Eliot.

Large-print orders of service and hearing assistance devices are available from the greeters on Sunday. We livestream our service; find it at eliotchapel.org. After the stream, a recording will be available there all week. You can also find it directly on our YouTube channel.

If you're worshipping with us on livestream, you can always find a digital order of service, including lyrics to the hymns, on our website. 

At Eliot Chapel, we follow CDC guidelines regarding COVID-19. When St. Louis County is at a Yellow or Medium Level, we will:

Read the letter about the review of our policy and the change in measures in response to a change in levels. You may access the policy document on Eliot Chapel's website for more of the details. 

In July, Eliot Chapel will share its bounty with the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank. The Diaper Bank exists to help strengthen low-income families in the St. Louis region by ensuring access to an adequate supply of diapers and period supplies and by raising awareness about the causes and consequences of diaper need and period poverty in our community. It costs about $1,000 each year to diaper a child and $478 each year to purchase period supplies for one woman or girl. No public benefit programs allow for the purchase of diapers or period supplies.

Let us be good neighbors. Let us be a generous people. You can give in one of three ways:

From our Shared Plate program and through the generosity of the members and friends of Eliot Chapel, in April, $1,850.00 was donated to the Metro Trans Umbrella Group (MTUG); in May, $1,590.00 was donated to Immigrant Home English Learning Program (IHELP); and in June, $1,175.00 was donated to Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU). Thank you!

Children of all ages should attend the worship service with their family. Activity bags with crayons and UU coloring pages are available at each sanctuary entrance. Families may also use Adams Hall for freedom of movement while the service is livestreamed on the large-screen television.

The nursery is closed from July 2 to August 6 for staff vacation. The nursery will reopen on Sunday, August 13.

We keep this tradition of hospitality alive by taking turns hosting. This is a simple task (instructions are available in a binder in the kitchen) and a great way to serve and connect. Please check the SignUpGenius for coffee hour volunteers to sign up to host Coffee Hour on a Sunday morning after the service. If you need help using SignUpGenius, please contact Rebecca Schuder at hospitality@eliotchapel.org and she will help you get signed up.

If there is no host by 3:00 pm on Thursday afternoon, there will be no coffee served on Sunday though we will still gather for social time. Please be respectful of Sunday staff as they have other responsibilities. Thank you to all the volunteers who keep this tradition alive!

Zoom Coffee Hour takes place at 12:30 pm on Sunday. You are invited to "walk down the hall" and come to our Zoom Coffee Hour! We'll take a few minutes to say hello and let people settle in, then we'll say a few words of welcome and briefly review the service that day. We typically really enjoy the wisdom story and discuss how that story reflects on the theme of the sermon. Then we'll create breakout rooms of 5-6 people for conversation and sharing. We love making new friends and the small groups are great for that! In approximately 45 minutes, everyone will return to the big group and we'll say our goodbyes for the week. We usually end shortly after 1:30 pm, but those who wish to can stay a few minutes longer. Please watch your email for "Eliot on Zoom" on Sunday morning which will include a link to join the Zoom Coffee Hour. If you're not on our mailing list, sign up here. We look forward to seeing you!

Women’s Alliance – 9:30 am in Adams Hall and via Zoom

Vigil for Hope & Healing – 5:00 pm on the front lawn

Friday Freethinkers – 10:00 am in Room 001

Planning a meeting or event? Start with our Room & Event Request Form! 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.

A memorial for Steve Lewis, husband of Elisa Voss, will be held at Eliot Chapel on Saturday, July 29 at 2:00 pm. The service will also be livestreamed on our YouTube channel.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Alan Gadkari, husband of Sheryl Foster, on Thursday, August 3 at 4:00 pm at The Lodge, 1050 Des Peres Road, Des Peres, MO. Please see Sunday's "Eliot on Zoom" email for the Zoom link.

The Eliot Ride Team has been asked to help someone who lives near I-270 and Olive attend Sunday Services. If you would like to supplement the Ride Team by volunteering to drive every few weeks, please email them at ineedaride@eliotchapel.org.

Do you play cribbage? Ann Marie Hutson does. She'd like to start a cribbage group at Eliot. If you are interested please get in touch with her. You can approach her, find her contact info in the directory, or sign up on the bulletin board. This is the first step to determine interest. Come play!

Photo by J. Wynia – Afternoon cribbage on the patio, CC BY 2.0

Please volunteer to supervise our games at the Meacham Park Backpack Giveaway on Saturday, August 12 – you'll have fun! Volunteers are needed from 11:30-1:30 pm and from 1:30-3:30 pm. This is a great opportunity for families, covenant groups, and you to share our goodwill with the Meacham Park community. The signup sheet is on the bulletin board. Thanks for your help.

It's that time again to start collecting backpacks and school supplies for the Meacham Park Neighborhood Improvement Association (MNIA)! Please leave your donation of new school supplies and backpacks for the MNIA in either the box in Adams Hall or in the one at that entrance to our building. Supplies for all grade levels are being sought and will be collected through July 30.

Last year 300 backpacks filled with supplies for kindergarteners through high schoolers were given out. The MNIA backpack giveaway will be on August 12 from 12:00 to 3:00 pm at Meacham Park Memorial Park. Thank you for your compassion for the schoolchildren in Meacham Park.

July 1, 2023 was the first day of the new Eliot Chapel fiscal/pledge year of 2023-2024.

We realize Eliot Chapel's fiscal and pledge year are confusing. Everyone thinks of "year" as the calendar year of January to December. However, a corporation like Eliot Chapel (EUC was incorporated in 1959), follows a different calendar year for its fiscal year. Eliot Chapel's fiscal calendar year is July 1 to June 30. This means that the pledge card members and friends were asked to fill out and return to Eliot Chapel in March/April became effective July 1, 2023.

There are several things pledgers who pay via online giving need to do in a new fiscal/pledge year.

If the following directions confuse you, please contact the Front Office at frontoffice@eliotchapel.org or DFO@eliotchapel.org and we will help you delete your 2022-2023 pledge payment and/or set up a new online giving pledge payment for 2023-2024.

If you have not yet submitted your pledge card for 2023-2024, please use this link to access the online pledge form or a printable pledge card to download and mail.

Thank you for your support of Eliot Chapel!

The Eliot Ride Team provides rides to church and to medical appointments for Eliot members and friends who cannot drive themselves. If you need a ride, email ineedaride@eliotchapel.org with your name, your address, where you need to go, and the date and time needed. We will be in touch to make arrangements. 

The Eliot Meal Train provides meals to Eliot members and friends who need some love and care. For example, we will provide meals for those who have recently lost a loved one or are recovering from medical care. If you would like to request meals or offer to provide meals, please email mealtrain@eliotchapel.org with your contact information and someone will be in touch with you.

At Eliot Chapel, we care for our earth and our building! One way you can express this is by joining the Eliot Recycling Team! This committee is responsible for taking the recycling from Eliot to the Kirkwood Recycling Depository at 350 S. Taylor Avenue each week. Sign up for a week that works for you and plan to grab the recycling after service to drop it off. Thanks for being part of the team!

Providing receptions after a Celebration of Life is another way we care for each other at Eliot Chapel. The Reception Team sets up, serves, and cleans up after these receptions. If you can be available once in a while to help, please email receptions@eliotchapel.org. Your efforts will be appreciated!

Women’s Alliance will meet at 9:30 am next Tuesday, August 1, for our hybrid meeting in Adams Hall and on Zoom. After a period of refreshments and conversation, we’ll have a short business meeting followed by a discussion of the book, The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. The discussion will be led by Yvonne Kirkpatrick. Please feel free to join us, even if you haven’t read the book. For more information about this meeting, contact womensalliance@eliotchapel.org.

The doomsday cult next door predicts the end of the world. What comes next is a memorable lesson in religion, science, and reason.