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.

Learn More

Upcoming Service

Commensality: The Open Table

Jesus talks a lot about the kingdom (or “kin-dom”) of God. What did he mean by that, and how do the various Easter stories in the Gospels re-present that beloved community?

Join the live service on Zoom!

Zoom Passcode: Safford

(Please mute your mic before the service begins!)

Click here for the Order of Service (updates every Friday afternoon)

Forum: No Forum This Week

There is no Forum this week. Pease join us instead for the 25th Fabulously Fun Food Fair happening from 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. on Sunday in Griffin Hall.

April Theme: Caring

Join us each Sunday to hear a sermon on our monthly theme.

Sunday Services

9:30 a.m. Service

10:00 a.m. One Room Schoolhouse (Grades K-4)

and Crossroads (Grades 5-7)

10:45 a.m. Coffee and treats

11:00 a.m. Coming of Age (Grades 8-9)

11:15 a.m. Forum (starts 30 minutes after service ends)

 

 

 

Upcoming Services Previous Services

Church Calendar

  • Morning Zen with Meredith (Zoom)

    April 18, 2025  6:00 am - 7:00 am
    Zoom Only

    Morning Zen with Rev. Meredith Garmon is now offered on Zoom every Tuesday through Saturday morning at 6:00 am.

    Detailed information can be found on One Earth Zen. For the chants and sutras, it will be helpful to have the booklet: "One Earth Zen: Sutras, Chants, and Songs." You may also pick up a copy in the church office.

    Format:

    Opening Chants

    25 minutes zazen (silent seated meditation)

    6 mins kinhin (walking meditation)

    9 min Sutra service (recitations)

    10 min dharma discussion

    Closing chant

    See more details

  • Morning Zen with Meredith (Zoom)

    April 19, 2025  6:00 am - 7:00 am
    Zoom Only

    Morning Zen with Rev. Meredith Garmon is now offered on Zoom every Tuesday through Saturday morning at 6:00 am.

    Detailed information can be found on One Earth Zen. For the chants and sutras, it will be helpful to have the booklet: "One Earth Zen: Sutras, Chants, and Songs." You may also pick up a copy in the church office.

    Format:

    Opening Chants

    25 minutes zazen (silent seated meditation)

    6 mins kinhin (walking meditation)

    9 min Sutra service (recitations)

    10 min dharma discussion

    Closing chant

    See more details

  • SJ Event Set-Up/Clean-Up

    April 19, 2025  8:00 am - 11:30 am
    Griffin Hall and Kitchen

    See more details

  • Social Justice Revival II: Designing Our Teams to Win

    April 19, 2025  9:00 am - 11:00 am
    Griffin Hall and Kitchen

    Join us for a conversation on how we can design our social justice work to be impactful by being accountable, finding issues that fit with our UU values, grounding ourselves spiritually & ethically, and looking for opportunities to make a difference. In other words, designing our team to win.

    We are working with a great UU resource: Inspired Faith, Effective Action. Here's a link if you'd like to download it and learn more. https://www.uua.org/files/documents/washingtonoffice/ifea.pdf

    See more details

  • Grounds Work Day

    April 19, 2025  9:00 am - 12:00 pm
    Woods

    See more details

View Calendar

I’m New Here

Ready to explore Unitarian Universalism and our church? We’re ready for you!

  1. Start by joining us for our Sunday service at 9:30 a.m. CT in-person or via Zoom. You can also click here for directions to our building!
  2. In the front lobby of our church, you’ll be welcomed by a Congregational Life Committee member, who will direct you to visitor information and UU information.
  3. 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.
  4. Check out our Affinity Groups for adults. We also have programs for children, youth, and adults.
  5. 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.