The Gift of Attention
What we choose to attend to is where we direct our time, energy, and love. How can we be good stewards of the resource of our attention?
Click here for the Order of Service (updates every Friday afternoon)
Hello!
Welcome to the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines! We’re glad you’ve found us and hope you find a church home with us.
At First Unitarian, we’re brave, curious, and compassionate thinkers and doers. We’re people of many beliefs and backgrounds – people with a religious background and people with none; people who believe in a God and people who don’t, and people who simply let the mystery be. And while we represent a diversity of faith, ethnicity, history and spirituality, we agree that we want to do good work in the world.
So we welcome you – your whole self, with all your truths and your doubts, your worries and your hopes. Let us support you on your faith journey.
Upcoming Service
The Work of Attention
We are drowning in input to compete for our attention. How do we navigate the constant distractions of contemporary life to steward our attention where we want it to go?
Click here for the Order of Service (updates every Friday afternoon)
Forum: Choosing Hope: A Garment, A Ripple, and A Button
As 2026 lurches into being, America finds itself struggling to remember essential core values which helped it get past the drumbeats of fascism, racism, homophobia and other horrible systems of belief. With all that’s coming at us, how can we keep faith, stay the course? There’s only one way: a commitment to hope, tightly wrapped with compassion. Despite today’s political and social challenges, Ellie Krug will share how most people have good empathetic hearts. Along with inspiring you, she will offer ideas on how to move forward to realize a just and verdant society. In 2009, when she was a civil trial attorney in Cedar Rapids IA with 100+ trials, Ellen (Ellie) Krug transitioned from male to female. The author of a two-part memoir series, Ellie has presented on human inclusivity topics on more than 1000 occasions. She is the recipient of the numerous awards and in 2022, Ellie was elected to the school board of her local school district, making her one of a handful of transgender school board directors in the U.S.
The Connective Power of Attention
How does our work of paying attention affect our relationships with others? How might the practice of attention deepen our capacity to love one another?
Click here for the Order of Service (updates every Friday afternoon)
Forum: TBD
Church Calendar
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DMARC Book Group
February 23, 2026 8:30 am - 10:00 am
Stonewall Conference RoomJoin Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89454166012?pwd=UVJGR2RlQzZqWExjd1o5VFFseXpBZz09
Meeting ID: 894 5416 6012
Passcode: 231074 -
AMOS Core Team Meeting
February 23, 2026 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Stonewall Conference Room -
Awakening Heart Sangha
February 23, 2026 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Zoom OnlyAwakening Heart Sangha is a mindfulness practice group in the Plum Village Tradition of Vietnamese Zen teacher Thích Nhất Hạnh, or ‘Thay’. We meet by Zoom on Monday evenings from 7:00 - 8:30 pm Central Time. All are welcome on a drop-in basis to this ongoing group.
All levels of practice are welcome, regardless of whether you are a newcomer to meditation or have had a meditation practice for a while. Brief meditation instruction will be offered at each meeting as needed for any newcomers. At each meeting, we will check-in, practice 20 minutes of sitting meditation and 10 minutes of walking meditation followed by a short reading and discussion.
Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83919185060?pwd=q1mGPZkWva8jnmTbKLk7JRfIls2Z0b.1Email sangha@ucdsm.org for more information or to be added to the weekly Sangha meeting announcement email list.
I’m New Here
Ready to explore Unitarian Universalism and our church? We’re ready for you!
- Start by joining us for our Sunday service at 9:30 a.m. CT in-person or via livestream. You can also click here for directions to our building!
- In the front lobby of our church, you’ll be welcomed by a Congregational Life Team member, who will direct you to visitor information and UU information.
- Join us after the service for coffee hour! Enjoy a generous spread of delicious food and take the opportunity to connect, mingle, and meet new people in a welcoming atmosphere.
- Check out our Affinity Groups for adults. We also have programs for children, youth, and adults.
- And finally, explore our website! There’s a lot to see and we encourage you to reach out to the contact people listed throughout the site if you have questions or want to get involved.