First Unitarian Church of Des Moines Iowa

First Unitarian Church of Des Moines Iowa Welcoming liberal faith community. Growing ethically & spiritually, serving justly, and loving radically

This Father’s Day, we honor and celebrate all who nurture, guide, protect, teach, and love with a father’s heart. We rec...
06/21/2026

This Father’s Day, we honor and celebrate all who nurture, guide, protect, teach, and love with a father’s heart. We recognize fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, adoptive and foster fathers, mentors, chosen family, and all those who have played a meaningful fathering role in the lives of others.

We also hold space for those for whom this day is complicated—those grieving a father, missing a child, navigating difficult relationships, or carrying hopes that remain unmet.

May we celebrate the many ways care, wisdom, and love are shared across generations and communities. Happy Father’s Day to all who help others grow and flourish

🌞 Summer SolsticeThe summer solstice is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It happens when Earth’s ...
06/21/2026

🌞 Summer Solstice

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It happens when Earth’s tilt positions our hemisphere most directly toward the Sun, bringing the most daylight and the shortest night.

It also marks the start of astronomical summer. After this point, daylight slowly begins to shorten again, even though the warmest part of the season usually comes later.

The solstice is often seen as a seasonal turning point, associated with reflection on light, change, and the rhythms of the natural world.

A turning point in the year where light is at its peak—and the days quietly begin to shift again.

𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐫. 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠June 23, at 6:15 p.m. in Griffin HallJoin First Unitarian’s Green Sanctuary Team...
06/20/2026

𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐫. 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠
June 23, at 6:15 p.m. in Griffin Hall

Join First Unitarian’s Green Sanctuary Team and the Central Iowa Sierra Club Group on June 23 for an evening with Dr. Richard Deming as he discusses cancer trends in Iowa and the environmental risks that impact public health.

The evening will begin with a silent auction at 6:15 p.m. benefiting Above + Beyond Cancer, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting those affected by cancer through nature retreats, physical activity, yoga, meditation, art therapy, fellowship, and community support.

Dr. Deming, director of the MercyOne Richard Deming Cancer Center, will speak at 7 p.m. This important community conversation will explore the connections between environmental health and cancer in Iowa while supporting programs that bring healing and hope to cancer survivors and their families.

If you would like to volunteer or help with this event, please contact the Green Sanctuary Team at [email protected].

𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝟗:𝟑𝟎 𝐚.𝐦.- 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠What are the conditions necessary for flourishing? How do our pa...
06/20/2026

𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝟗:𝟑𝟎 𝐚.𝐦.- 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠
What are the conditions necessary for flourishing? How do our pasts – even across generations – affect our capacity to flourish? Join us as we honor the Summer Solstice, Father’s Day, and the deep work of nourishing and repairing the soil in which we grow.
🔗:https://www.youtube.com//streams
𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟏:𝟎𝟎𝐚.𝐦.- 𝐀𝐂𝐋𝐔: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫'𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞
Erica Dubin-Barz, ACLU of Iowa Community Engagement Manager, will share the organization's analysis of this year's legislative session and talk about what the results will mean for Iowans' lives. She'll also share ways to take action and protect civil liberties in the coming months


"𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥" 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧Saturday, June 20th at 7:00 PMGeode Room (Room 107)Please join the mUUvie discussion gr...
06/19/2026

"𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥" 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Saturday, June 20th at 7:00 PM
Geode Room (Room 107)

Please join the mUUvie discussion group to view and discuss the Pixar animation film, "Soul."
The film follows Joe, a middle-school band director who lands the jazz gig of his dreams. But a misstep puts Joe into a coma which eventually leads him to "The Great Before" where he teams up with another soul to find his way back to Earth, learning profound lessons about life's purpose and meaning.

Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/xOsLIiBStEs?si=GZv83f2wemWeEWIP

Popcorn will be provided; bring your own drink.

RSVP to [email protected] to let us know that you are coming!

Please note that the church office will be closed on Friday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth. Juneteenth commemorat...
06/19/2026

Please note that the church office will be closed on Friday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when news of emancipation finally reached enslaved people in Texas, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. As we honor this important day in our nation's history, we invite our community to reflect on the ongoing work of justice, equity, and freedom for all. The office will reopen during regular business hours on Monday.

🌈 Pride Month is a celebration, a remembrance, and a call to action. 🌈During Pride Month, we honor the courage, resilien...
06/18/2026

🌈 Pride Month is a celebration, a remembrance, and a call to action. 🌈

During Pride Month, we honor the courage, resilience, and joy of LGBTQ+ people both past and present. Pride began as protest, rooted in resistance against injustice and in the demand for dignity, safety, and equality for all. Today, Pride remains both a celebration of identity and a reminder that the work of justice is far from finished.

As Unitarian Universalists, we are called to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This means celebrating LGBTQ+ identities, standing against discrimination, and building communities where everyone can live fully and authentically.

Through Side With Love, we are reminded that love is not passive; instead, it is courageous, active, and rooted in justice. Love calls us to show up for one another, to speak out against oppression, and to create a world where everyone belongs.

Pride asks us not only to celebrate, but to act.

✨ Support LGBTQ+ advocacy
✨ Speak out against harmful policies
✨ Protect trans and q***r youth
✨ Build communities of radical welcome and belonging

This Pride Month, may we choose love over fear, courage over silence, and justice over complacency.

Because honoring everyone’s inherent worth and dignity means more than words- it means action!

💖 We celebrate Pride.
💖 We affirm love.
💖 We commit to justice.

It’s time to renovate the auditorium! We realized that we could stretch our capital campaign dollars much further if we...
06/18/2026

It’s time to renovate the auditorium! We realized that we could stretch our capital campaign dollars much further if we turned the auditorium over to Story Construction entirely for July and August. So, while Story is hard at work building a beautiful new Mary Safford Auditorium this summer, we will hold 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝟗:𝟑𝟎 𝐚.𝐦., 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟓.. Griffin will seat about 130 people; we will also set up an overflow room in the lower level as needed.

We anticipate returning to the auditorium in September, knowing that the stage will still be under construction. We’ll know more about the timeline to move back to the auditorium when construction progresses. In the meantime, it’s wonderful to have a space as beautiful as Griffin Hall to use this summer, and it’s wonderful to see our Dare to Dream campaign making so much progress!



With gratitude for our shared investment in the future of First Unitarian,
Rev. Steve

𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭Saturday, June 27, from 9-10:30 a.m. in Griffin HallKick off summer with us as we meet...
06/18/2026

𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭
Saturday, June 27, from 9-10:30 a.m. in Griffin Hall

Kick off summer with us as we meet to gather in community to eat, connect, and reflect on our Centering Nature events this past year, and hear your ideas for the year ahead! Bring yourself and your thoughts to share! And if you’d like to bring a dish to share, that’s great too (but certainly not required!). Children are welcome!
Our team will be prepared to share some of our ideas for this coming year.

Hope to see you there! Please RSVP here- https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfKTIFAUnhyEQPQKBsM9S1L-AfJaUh9UKqvAlCG84CAJpShbQ/viewform

This program is hosted by the Centering Nature Team and supported by the REACH program (Radical Engagement And Creative Happenings) from First Unitarian Church of Des Moines!

Address

1800 Bell Avenue
Des Moines, IA
50315

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 12:30pm

Telephone

+15152448603

Website

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