Ministry

We are a community of people with different beliefs and diverse backgrounds who embrace basic principles which include the freedom to engage in our own personal search for truth and meaning. We come together in the spirit of mutual caring and respect to celebrate life, offer service, and work for a better world.

This church seeks to minister to the spiritual, intellectual, and social needs of its members and their families and friends. At the center of the church’s program is the Sunday worship service, coordinated by a lay-led Worship Committee. Morning worship is followed by a period of coffee and conversation.

The Church is financed by pledges from its members and friends. It is governed by a board of trustees elected by the membership. Committees administer many facets of church life. Special events are scheduled throughout the year. There are special festive services at Thanksgiving and Easter, and a candlelight Christmas Eve service is celebrated.

Adult classes and discussions, carry-in lunches, circle suppers, and fund-raising events, including a much-anticipated plant sale in the spring, are also scheduled. Our annual plant sale is both an expression of ecological concern and a service to the community. A monthly newsletter keeps members and friends informed of activities.

Dr. Sharon Buzzard, Lay-Minister

Dr. Steve Wiegenstein, Lay-Minister

Sami Newbanks, Religious Education Teacher

Sami Newbanks is a 4th grade teacher at Western Elementary School in Barry, IL. She has 3 years of teaching experience. Sami has a true passion in teaching and working with young learners!

When Sami is not working, she loves to travel and hang out with her friends and family. You can also find her curled up with a good book or working on a new DIY project or a puzzle!

Taylor Wood, Tech Support Assistant

Taylor Wood is a graduate of Culver-Stockton College, where she studied Business and Marketing. She came on as the Tech Support Assistant in 2020 as the church responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. She works to maintain the website, run church over Zoom every Sunday morning, and to handle the other occasional problems that pop up.

Taylor enjoys filling her time with numerous hobbies and activities. Specifically, she enjoys volunteering with Homeward Bound Waggin, an animal shelter located in Quincy, Illinois, where she is a crazy cat lady in-training. She has a passion for learning new things and for pushing herself well out of her comfort zone.

Sierra Williams, Groundskeeping

Our Covenant

Love is the spirit of this church, and service is its law.
United in the free quest of high values in religion and life,
We covenant with one another:
To dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help one another.

—James Vila Blake (adapted)
our minister from 1877 to 1884.