First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis

The United States is celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this year. On Sunday, July 5, FUS members and friends will take a closer look at this bold, aspirational statement and consider how we as a nation have and have yet to achieve the vision embedded in the Declaration. Phil Duran, Mikki […]

Life is a journey, and we both influence and are influenced by everyone and everything that we encounter on our paths. Using the story “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy, we’ll reflect on how we make sense of our experiences along the way.

Robin Wall Kimmerer has written that all flourishing is mutual. As we approach the end of this time of interim ministry, let’s explore what we have learned and what our work together has uncovered. What are some best practices for this community to flourish as it moves into its next chapter?

Folks in animal costumes have shown up at marches all across the nation, and have become emblematic of peaceful protest, and many home-made signs have expressed a desire for kindness over hatred. The winner of a ‘sermon topic of your choice’ at the 2025 auction chose the theme of non-violence and its role in effective […]

You might at some time have been scolded with the words “curiosity killed the cat,” suggesting that too much curiosity is not a good thing. And yet we are curious beings. Assuming curiosity is itself amoral, what are our responsibilities around how we use it? (Think of AI or space travel or exploring worlds not […]

On the first Sunday Rev. Chad Snyder was with you, he spoke of the mystery embedded in what is yet to come. We just don’t know what will happen, or what will emerge. Let’s explore the role of curiosity as an influencer…as a chosen tool in creating the future. A talk from Rev. Jullan Stoneberg.

  “What is a community of faith? It is first and foremost a place of constant beginning.” Those words are from Rev. Dr. Galen Guengerich, former Senior Minister of All Souls UU congregation in New York City. In this present era, it might serve to revisit some of the ground in which our “constantly beginning” […]

Everything grows from something. We can’t always know just how the planting will turn out, but we can picture possibilities and envision what we will do together to shape them into something beautiful and flourishing. Rev. Chad Snyder — candidate to be the next settled minister at FUS — will share his hopes for what […]

We enter the month of April celebrating the Earth. The earth beneath us literally grounds us…holds us in its gravitational pull…as we continue to live into and through a shifting world. What possibilities are emerging right below our feet? Our theme for the month of April is Embracing Possibility.

A cofounder of the Minnesota Green Party, Greta Gaard is author of Critical Ecofeminism, a book about contemporary issues from animal and plant studies to sustainability and climate justice. She is an activist and scholar with insights about the ecofeminist perspective, which recognizes the co-constitution of human identities with all life on earth: elements, species, minerals, contaminants. As sh...

It has been cold and icy in Minnesota, and some are longing for spring. But Kurt Vonnegut says that March and April are not spring; rather, they are the unlocking season. Now is the time for what is frozen to thaw, and what has been buried to emerge.

It takes a special kind of resilience to insist on love, to keep choosing it when it seems an impossible task, to act in the knowledge that only love can overcome hate. This isn’t a ‘Valentine’s Day’ kind of love; it is something more primal, more wild, more radically collective.

We’ve talked of resistance, and now, as we see that we are in this for the long haul, we must lean into our resilience. Whence cometh it? What ancient knowing holds us up? What nascent understanding pulls us forward, one step in front of the other?

Humanism isn’t the opposite of faith – it’s the opposite of authoritarianism. Unitarian minister Curtis Reese, a co-founder of the American Humanist Association, referred to humanism as the “religion of democracy” for a reason – because of our radical belief that truth, morality, and power do not rightly reside in an external source, as theistic […]

There is so much to resist in these times, and it’s important to remember that the foundation of resistance is not necessarily potential success. Maybe we resist because of what will be lost if we do not, or because we dream of something different for our children…or maybe because there’s no viable alternative.  

A talk in three parts about fascism, chaos, and hope — largely from the words given here at First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis 100 years ago by Rev. John Dietrich and Rev. Raymond Bragg. And an invitation to offer new seeds to a future renaissance of systems we have had in place for so long. […]

The winter solstice has officially passed, but the sun won’t be rising any earlier for at least a couple more weeks. We’re told the days are getting longer, but it doesn’t quite feel like it. Still, hasn’t the sun been pretty reliable so far? One can only hope it will continue to light up our […]

As 2025 comes to a close, 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 […]

Can hope be cultivated? Is it just hanging around waiting for us to choose it? Or maybe there are certain conditions under which it thrives. Today we’ll wonder if hope might grow in uncertainty or hide in the shadows.

Gratitude is not just a “bigger” grateful. So says the research on gratitude. But what is it, and why is it worth our consideration? Guest speaker Rev. Arif Mamdani joins us for an exploration of gratitude – what it is (or at least could be), why it matters, and (riffing on Ross Gay a bit), […]

It’s been just over a year since ‘the’ election. It feels like the earth is burning, like democracy is dying, and as if kindness is a vanishing value. What on earth do we have to be grateful for? Are there any gifts to be found in grief, in despair? Our Theme for November is ‘Nurturing […]

It is said that the grateful person is the generous person, or is it the other way around? This morning we take a lesson from the serviceberry, and its gifts of both abundance and reciprocity. Living in gratitude, perhaps we can release our grip on toxic forms of capitalism and live into a gift economy.

At this time of year, many traditions honor their ancestors. We will do that. And, we will take a look at how it is that we know who our people are, and what it means to choose our people. What qualities do we look for? (Hint: Compassion is a very good quality!)

Covenant is more than a beautiful place to visit; it’s a place where we live. When we know what binds us in community, what is expected of us, and what our responsibilities are to others, our relationships can blossom with understanding and love.

Building a home requires many steps…dreaming, planning, measuring, hard work, polishing, a certificate of occupancy. As we launch the program year for our younger generations, let’s consider how to best build (and continually maintain) a home where all can belong…in safety and in love.