Nurturing Service Overview

We are a church nurturing spirit and service. See the Nurturing Spirit page and its subpages for those aspects of our mission classified in the "spirit" category.

Projects like our two Honduras service trips, Fair Trade Coffee, Tea and Chocolate sales, Green Sanctuary Movie Nights, Central Missouri Food Bank support, Faith-to-Action collections, participation in the Festival of Sharing, Earth Day involvement, Welcoming Congregation and support of the Center Project all demonstrate our commitment to our UU goal of "world community with peace, liberty and justice for all."

In 2009 and 2011, combined groups from our church and from the United Church of Christ traveled to El Pital, Honduras to build latrines and to take useful items to the village. Each of these trips are described in detail on the Honduras Trip pages listed below.

Below is an overview of the array of activities which nurture service. Some primarily serve our church community, while others aim to serve the community and wider world. Because of the large number of service activities, they are listed in alphabetical order to avoid any implication of relative importance:

• Book Discussion Group - Meets monthly to discuss interesting books

• Book Table - Sells books on Unitarian Universalism and other subjects

• Congregational Caring Ministry - Provides care to members of our church community in need

• Children's Service Sunday - Engages children in monthly service projects

• Common Read Project - Promotes reading and discussion of selected book each year

• Conversations, Etc. - Meets monthly for lunch, presentation and discussion

• Creative UUs - Meets monthly for creative projects and fellowship

• Dining Group - Organizes monthly in-home dinners for eight

• Fair Trade Sales - Sells Fair Trade coffee, tea and chocolate

• Festival of Sharing - Sharing our resources with those in need

• Fundraising - Raising money for general church operations and special projects

• Forum - Meets at 9:00 a.m. every Sunday for discussion of current issues

• Green Sanctuary Program - Promotes environmental awareness

• Honduras Trip-2009 - Helping Hondurans in need in June 2009

• Honduras Trip-2011 - Helping Hondurans in need in June 2011

• Honduras News - Ongoing activities and planning for future Honduras trips

• Hospitality Committee - Manages food/drinks for church functions

• LGBT Welcome - Welcoming lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender persons

• Life Writers Group - Meets twice a month to write and share writings

• Membership Committee - Promotes membership-building activities

• Men's Group - Meets two or three times a month for breakfast and discussion

• Peace Building Team - Works to prevent and resolve conflicts in our faith community

• Publicity/Publications - Promotes our church in the larger community

• Spring Family Forums - Promotes healthy families and a healthy congregation

• Social Action Committee - Engages in numerous social action projects

• Social Events Committee - Organizes church social events

• YAUUC-Young Adults - Meets weekly on MU campus

• YRUU-High School Group - Ministers to our high-school-age youth