at the Yellow House, 209 W. Trish Knight St., West Plains, Missouri. Who are we? We are a small Fellowship of good people who work at maintaining open minds and loving hearts. Some of us are lifelong Unitarian Universalists; others are former Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, and Methodists. Some of us don’t identify ourselves with any religious label. We are politically liberal and conservative, ga
y and straight, partnered and single . . . and lots in between. What we share is a
belief in the spiritual journey and a desire for a supportive spiritual community in which we feel valued for who we are. The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of West Plains was founded in the mid-2000s by a small group of people
seeking a liberal church, a place of sanctuary and inspiration to connect them to each other and to their higher selves. They wanted a church that accepted different spiritual paths, honored the inherent worth of all persons, and encouraged exploring the meaning of life and the role of ethics in their lives. In January 2006, after a series of exploratory meetings, the group held its first public meetings. In spring 2007, they affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA). In 2010, the Fellowship joined the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), an online congregation of Unitarian Universalists whose mission is to provide a ministry to isolated religious liberals. Both the UUA and the CLF provide religious education materials to help congregations develop programs for a variety of audiences such as children and young adults. What do we do? Our activities fall into three categories: formal services, charitable activities, and informal gatherings. Formal services encourage us to explore our religious ideas and philosophy. Our services provide a ritualized structure that challenges us to think more deeply about what we believe and why and to continually search for Truth. Charitable activities support and contribute to the community. As part of our commitment to be good citizens, we have adopted a portion of Jefferson Street; and we regularly pick up trash to keep it clean. Each month, we take up a special collection to support a variety of local charitable groups such as Samaritan
Outreach, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), the community garden, and the West Plains Regional
Animal Shelter. At Christmas, we “adopt” a family in need and buy gifts for the children. In special circumstances, we donate to causes outside the local community, such as the Joplin tornado relief effort. We are governed by a 4 person board which is elected at the annual meeting. Four times a year we use our service time for a meeting of the whole congregation to make bigger decisions and plan services and activities together. Informal gatherings help us develop friendships with people who share similar values. Many Sundays before the service, we meet for dinner at local restaurants or have a potluck at the Yellow House. We occasionally get together for other activities such as events by local artists and musicians or float trips down Ozarks rivers. During the summer; we meet twice a month, this year we decided to meet once a month for worship, and once a month for an outdoor family activity. Our regular weekly meetings will start up again August 21 with the quarterly meeting, followed on August 28 with the Fall Ingathering Service.
