Our Sunday morning services begin at 10:00 a.m. Most services are led by lay ministers who plan a series of programs, invited guest speakers, or by individuals from our congregation. On the third Sunday of each month our consulting minister, Rev. Jody Whelden, conducts the service. Several participatory services are Prairie favorites. You will find a wide variety of topics and perspectives presented, as shown by the past program listings in the table at the end of this page.

Lay ministers are Prairie members who agree to present 3 to 6 services on a given topic. Lay ministers and their topics are proposed to the Committee on Committees and approved by the Prairie Board. Lay ministers work with the Program Committee to develop their series of presentations which may include guest speakers.

Guest speakers are presenters from outside Prairie membership. They are invited to speak at a Prairie Sunday service by the Program Committee or a lay minister. They speak on timely issues which can be related to the UU principles.

The consulting minister works to improve ministry to our congregation, including providing one Sunday service each month.

A typical service is likely to include the following elements:

Favorite participatory Sunday services

• The Ingathering water communion held at the beginning of the school year
• The Day of the Dead service during which people are invited to share memories of loved ones
• The Symbol Tree service around Christmas time when people share important milestones in their lives from the past year
• Intergenerational services usually arranged around holidays and which often include crafts, dance, music, skits and readings.

Transcripts from Talks and Sermons

A sampling of talks and sermons enjoyed Prairie members at Sunday services in recent years are available through the links below:

• May 4, 2008 - “The Music of What Happens,” Christina Klock

• January 6, 2008 - “This I Believe,” Anne Lundi, Barbara Chatterton, and Erin Bosch

• April 8, 2007 - The poems from “A Line of Poetry Strays Into Memory,” Mary Mullen and Anne Lundin

• March 25, 2007 - “Molly Ivins, A Heroine of Our Time,” Paula Pachciarz

• August 20, 2006 - “Making Memorial Services Meaningful,” Mary Mullen, Erin Bosch, and Sonya

• April 16, 2006 - “The Wilderness Requirement for Change: Easter, Passover and the State of the Congregation,” the Rev. Jody Whelden

• February 5, 2006 - flipcharts from “God's Shadow: The Archetypes of Antichrist and Apocalypse,” Steve Vorass (audio tape available)

• December 11, 2005 - “Lighting Our Lives with Hope - The Christmas Message,” the Rev. Jody Whelden

• December 4, 2005 - “Jesus and Empire,” Bob Reuschlein

• November 20, 2005 - “Our Blessings: Apparent Or Not,” the Rev. Jody Whelden

• October 16, 2005 - “The Language and Practice of Reverence,” the Rev. Jody Whelden

• October 9, 2005 - “Gaylord Nelson: Not a Unitarian Universalist, But...,” Mary Mullen

• August 21, 2005 - “Citizenship, Politics, and Liberal Religion,” the Rev. Jody Whelden

• October 3, 2004 - “Church/State Issues 2004,” Leona Balek

• September 26, 2004 - “Coming Together,” the Rev. Sarah Oelberg

• July 18, 2004 - “Pledging Allegiance,” the Rev. Sarah Oelberg

• April 4, 2004 - “Reasonable Religion,” the Rev. Sarah Oelberg

• January 20, 2002 - “Martin Luther King - Nonviolent Peace Activist,” the Social Action Committee