The 2025 Annual Congregational Meeting has been scheduled after worship at noon on Sunday, May 18 in the Sanctuary and via Zoom. Business to be conducted at the meeting will be: Approval of the proposed 2025-26 operating budget Election of members of the Board of Trustees Receipt of annual report(s) Interim report from the Mission … Continue reading Annual Congregational Meeting scheduled May 18

At a special meeting of our Board of Trustees on Sunday, May 4, the board approved a contract with Christensen Construction for $32,332.50 to repave the church parking lot. The cost of the repaving will be paid from the Building and Grounds Accrual Reserved Fund.

Ruth Milledge, 2024-25 President Your Board of Trustees has made this statement publicly via several media: As we witness cruel, destructive, and divisive acts by our Federal and State governments, we, the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia, Missouri, are moved to speak out. Love is the foundation of our faith. … Continue reading May messages from church leaders

he Membership Team‘s next “Getting to Know UU” Newcomer Retreat will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, June 8. If you are considering becoming a member of the UUCC, we strongly encourage you to attend. Retreat participants will learn about Unitarian Universalism and our own church, connect with newcomers, dine with UUCC members/friends, and … Continue reading Newcomer Retreat scheduled June 8

May Faith-to-Action recipient The Faith-to-Action recipient for May 2025 is Children’s Grove Kindness Libraries. The mission of Children’s Grove is to inspire a culture of kindness and to support the mental and emotional well-being of our youth. Our Kindness Library program works to get storybooks featuring kindness and empathy into the hands of our community’s children. … Continue reading May report from the Social Action Team

Members of our Board of Trustees unanimously adopted the following public statement regarding our commitments in these times at their March meeting. The statement was circulated by email to church members and friends on April 29 and was published the same day on the editorial page of The Columbia Missourian. View a video version of … Continue reading Our Board of Trustees issues public statement about our commitments in these times

The UUCC Social Action Team has opened nominations for Faith-to-Action collection recipients for September 2025 through August 2026. The team is requesting that nominations be submitted by July 1, 2025. If a full set of nominations has not been received by that time, the team will continue to consider nominations that come in later, but … Continue reading 2025-26 Faith-to-Action nominations now open

Forty UUs, including six from UUCC, gathered in Jefferson City on Wednesday, April 23, for the first-ever Missouri UU Advocacy Day. The group met at the Jefferson City UU Fellowship for relationship-building, training and lunch. After lunch they went to the Missouri State Capitol to talk with legislators about bodily autonomy, workers’ rights, and how … Continue reading 40 Missouri UUs attended first-ever Advocacy Day in Jeff City

Be on the lookout for a “Know Your Rights and Accompaniment Training” organized by the Sanctuary and Immigrant Justice Team (SIJT). We all have certain constitutional and legal rights in this country, no matter whether we are U.S. citizens or not. It is important for all of us to know what our rights are. The … Continue reading SIJT plans “rights training”

Annual Giving Chair Christine Heath and Rev. Molly report that our stewardship campaign for the 2025-26 fiscal year was extremely successful. The total pledged exceeded the aggressive goal of a 9% increase over current year pledges, allowing us to increase our budget from $327,000 this year to more than $356,000 for the next fiscal year … Continue reading Stewardship campaign was a big success

Looking for a great summer experience? Join us at Bayside UU Family Camp held at Wesley Woods Conference Center on the shores of Geneva Lake in Williams Bay, WI. This year camp will take place July 6-12. This special week includes adult workshops, activities for children, free time for family fun and relaxation, and intergenerational … Continue reading Bayside UU Family Camp July 6-12

Thirteen new members officially joined UUCC on Feb. 2, 2025 in an Ingathering Ceremony during the worship service. A 14th new member was unable to attend the ingathering. This was the largest group of new members since 16 people joined in December 2014. The 13 new members at the ingathering are Donna Brockmiller, Catherine Cooper, … Continue reading Membership Team welcomes 14 new members

Thirteen new members officially joined UUCC on Feb. 2, 2025 in an Ingathering Ceremony during the worship service. This was the largest group of new members since 16 people joined in December 2014. The new members are pictured in a group photo below as well as in individual photos that are in alphabetical order by … Continue reading 13 new members join UUCC

On Jan. 26, the Membership Team and the Rev. Dr. Molly Housh Gordon hosted the first “Getting to Know UU Newcomer Retreat.” Fifteen newcomers got to know each other and the church through discussion, videos and songs. Approximately 20 members and friends then joined the newcomers for a light dinner. Our next Newcomers Retreat will … Continue reading Membership Team hosts successful Newcomers’ Retreat

Have you met Hamamelis vernalis? …also known as Ozark Witch Hazel? Several of these woody shrubs live on our church grounds, one in front of the building and a few out back. Each year, they are the first of our native plants to bloom, even before spring arrives! On warmer winter days (January-March) they can … Continue reading Grounds Team introduces Hamamelis vernalis

Have you noticed our parking lot and the street filling up quickly on Sunday mornings as our attendance increases? We are able to park in the Shepard Elementary School lot across the street from the church. If you have been attending for some years and are able to, please park there to help welcome newcomers … Continue reading Please park at Shepard school if you can

Our worship attendance spiked in the Sundays before and after the Nov. 5 general election, bringing our average attendance for November to 111, a 28% increase from the October average of 87. We held an initial congregational strategy meeting after worship on Sunday, Nov. 17 to imagine how we can deepen our solidarity in this … Continue reading Election concerns boost attendance, spark strategy brainstorming

Potlucks can be challenging and sometimes downright frustrating for those with food sensitivities and allergies. For many, checking a box indicating “gluten-free,” “vegan” or “nondairy” is not enough. For instance, one of our members is gluten-free but also sensitive to arrowroot and sorghum flour. Let’s support each other by completing an ingredient list for our … Continue reading Please provide complete ingredients list for potlucks

By the Rev. Dottie Mathews When Rosie and I moved to Columbia in 2015, we were thoroughly delighted to find this vibrant, committed faith community to join, and it has been my honor to serve as your Affiliated Community Minister for these eight and a half years. For those who may not know, that role … Continue reading Living Our Love for Our Trans and Gender Expansive Siblings

When you sell items on EBay or Facebook, you can now donate some or all of the proceeds to UUCC using the Paypal Giving Fund. You will need to select an option in EBay or Facebook to donate a percentage of sale proceeds to charity. When you do that, at the time you complete a … Continue reading Help UUCC when you sell on EBay or Facebook

The Planned Giving Work Group of the Stewardship Team has been busy this past year and has launched a renewed planned giving program at UUCC. During many past Founder’s Day celebrations, we have shared the story of how our founders hand-carried water to nourish the young trees on the site where they planned to build … Continue reading Water Bearers Society is launched

Thanks to everyone who put non-perishable food items in the barrel at the upstairs elevator doors over the last few months. Joan and I took 90 pounds to the Food Bank Market on Jan. 26. The need continues. Please, everyone, continue to feed our barrel, which helps feed our neighbors, and maybe some of us. … Continue reading Please feed our Food Barrel

Staff and volunteers successfully completed a CPR and AED course with the American Red Cross on Oct. 29, so we are feeling more prepared for any medical emergencies that may come our way. UUCC staff members have been working on creating a visible area for the supplies needed in these life-saving treatments. The photo at … Continue reading First Aid supplies now located in Sanctuary

In the past UUCC used a key system for exterior doors. We have now fully transitioned to an automatic lock system to make our church more secure. Each week, Church Administrator April Rodeghero will update the schedule so the exterior doors will unlock and lock for scheduled activities. Staff members, lay leaders and organizations that … Continue reading Lock system for exterior doors has changed

Dottie’s recognition certificate Click to enlarge During our Oct. 23, 2022 worship service, our Affiliated Community Minister, Rev. Dottie Mathews, was recognized for her past work as coordinator of the Congregational Accompaniment Project for Asylum Seekers (CAPAS), a program of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). As part of the recognition, it was announced that … Continue reading Rev. Dottie Mathews recognized for immigrant work

By the time you see this article, the backyard meadow at church is likely to have received its maintenance-mowing and may look like a blank space or a poor excuse for lawn. But, I hope you have seen, can imagine, or will see the wonderful plants that are still alive and well beneath the ground. … Continue reading Welcome to our meadow!

The Grounds Team would like to introduce you to some of our trees and invite you to share your love of our trees and woods on the UUCC Facebook page. Shingle Oak – Wood from this oak can be split into thin sheets, which used to be made into shingles. White Oak – These oaks … Continue reading We love our trees!

We are excited to announce that we have launched a new system giving our members and friends the ability to give to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia by: Text message from your smartphone, or Online This new system has been arranged through the Breeze Church Management System, our new church database. It replaces our … Continue reading Easy text and online donations now available

The UU Life Writers’ Group is pleased to announce the publication of its second anthology, Stories, Just Stories. The stories are mini-memoirs about family, growing up, social activism, romance and pets. A big section of poetry is included. The anthology also contains tributes to those writers no longer with us. Copies are $8 and can … Continue reading UU Life Writers’ Group publishes its second anthology

On Sunday, March 24, the Accessibility and Inclusion Ministry (AIM) Team presented the lay-led service, “Living Up to Radical Welcome,” and made a small change in the sanctuary while we were at it. As we’ve heard a number of questions about this change, we thought it was about time we shed some light on it. … Continue reading Fragrance sensitivity? We’ve got you (or at least your chair) covered!

After a two-year lapse in the availability of UUCC T-shirts, the UUCC Social Action Team now has three designs of T-shirts available for purchase at $20 apiece. The shirts are perfect for rallies and other activities and events. Look for them in the Greeting Area. Some of the shirts feature the design that first became … Continue reading Social Action Team makes UUCC T-shirts available

Our YRUU youth carried our church banner in the banner parade at the opening session of the UUA General Assembly in Kansas City, Mo. on June 20. In the first part of this short video, they are seen on their first pass through the convention hall. After the transition, they are seen on their way … Continue reading 2018 UUA General Assembly

Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray was selected by delegates as the first elected woman President of the Unitarian Universalist Association at the June 21-25 General Assembly in New Orleans. She had been the lead minister of the UU Congregation of Phoenix, Ariz., where she became well known for her work on behalf of immigrants, since 2008. Read … Continue reading UUA has first elected woman President