First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

Change is ever-present these days, a constant cycle of new information, new experiences and new understandings of ourselves, each other, and the larger world keep coming our way. This Sunday, we continue our exploration of the nature of change and how we, as people of faith, continue to align our actions with our values. Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (:30) Story for All Ages- The Water Cycle- Ai...

This Sunday, August 1, Julica Hermann de la Fuente guides us in using Martha Beck’s Change Cycle to explore how we navigate and make meaning of change. Join us to inquire into the nature of change, the possibilities and challenges of change, and the ways that change will continue to be with us personally and congregationally.  Words of Welcome- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (:30) Story for All Ages-...

This Sunday, Rev. Karen shares her humanist journey from Yankee Stadium to the Rift Valley in East Africa. We will also explore opportunities for Unitarian Universalism and humanism in the coming years as we reflect on our 5th Source. Words of Welcome- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (:19) Wisdom Story- Anansi- Sue Searing (4:38) Interlude- We Shall Be Known- Seth Anderson-Matz (10:31) Prayer and Cycl...

Prophets are often treated like icons. How many prophetic people can you rattle off the names of? What characteristics do they display? Our 2nd Source as UU’s provides us with some interesting human centered guidance, if we parse the words enough and dive deeply. This Sunday, we continue to learn how to walk the walk that we talk of so much. Words of Welcome- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (:30) Wisd...

Radical acceptance, as defined by Buddhist teacher Tara Brach, is the spiritual practice of accepting reality exactly as it is, without trying to control or judge or pull away. When we’re feeling stuck and unable to make a change, radical acceptance can help us move forward. Join Jill Braithwaite for a reflection on what can happen when we step into radical acceptance and let go. Jill Braithwaite...

Whole-hearted spiritual living invites us to learn how to tell our stories with honesty, humility and care - celebrating our learning and joy while simultaneously acknowledging the places we still need to grow. This Sunday we'll explore how we might own the fullness of our stories as individuals and as a nation.  Prelude- Aimee K. Bryant (:30) Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (2:28) Story for All A...

After over a year of being physically apart, this Sunday, June 13 marks our first time together in person and online as a church community when we gather at the Lake Harriet Bandshell and on zoom. How will it feel to be together in person? How will it feel to be online when others can gather face-to-face? What will it be like? As people of faith, we promise to pay attention, to be curious with our...

This Sunday, we say a final Good Goodbye to Rev. Justin through story, song, ritual, and a message from Rev. Jen Crow.  Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (:30) Story for All Ages- Rev. Arif Mamdani (5:22) Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (11:21) Ritual of Relinquishment- Worship Leaders (18:52) Message- The Stories We Tell, Rev. Jen Crow (24:09) Outro Music- For Good by Stephen Schwartz-...

Scholar Mariame Kaba reminds us that abolition is a “positive vision:” one that is fundamentally about building a world in which all people can be free and flourish. In this season of reckoning, as we commemorate the anniversary of George Floyd's murder and contemplate how we are called to build a world in which all of us are free, we will step into the practice of radical imagination together as...

In our annual beloved Youth Sunday worship, our senior high youth offer a message, story and music to remind us to cross the thresholds in our lives with care, creativity and courage. This Sunday, May 23, the service includes a Bridging Ritual to honor our graduating seniors, marking the end of their time as First Universalist youth and welcoming them into young adulthood in our church. Youth Sund...

Rev. Justin writes: Twelve years ago, I was preparing to begin my ministry with First Universalist. Outside of my candidating week with you all, I only knew you on paper. After 12 years together, a time of growth, learning, and journeying through the ups and downs of life, you know me much better, and I know you (as a congregation) much better as well – your strength, your passion, your creativity...

Coming of Age is a beloved tradition in Unitarian Universalism. Instead of asking our youth to sign on to a particular creed or dogma, we charge them with discerning for themselves what they hold dear, using the 7 principles as a guide. To round out the Coming of Age experience, each student is asked to distill their core beliefs about life, God, and humanity into a personal statement of belief. ...

The phrase “mind the gap” serves as a warning on the London subway system, encouraging riders to pay attention to the threshold between the subway platform and the subway car. A little closer to home, the phrase “mind the gap” also highlights the importance of thresholds in our own lives. This month, our May worship theme of “thresholds” invites us to be mindful of our own thresholds and the thres...

Each week, we encourage and inspire one another in our transformational spiritual practices. Together, we practice recovery from racism and white supremacy culture. We practice connection with ourselves, each other, the earth, and the holy. We practice creating community that embodies love, joy, and liberation. We practice not to arrive at some one-and-done finish line, but to transform and be tra...

In the midst of unending human-made sorrow, how can we feel what we need to feel and keep on moving toward transformation? How will we ever find the Universalist paradise of a circle wide enough to include us all and a love so strong that it will not let any one of us go? Author Rebecca Solnit offers up this possibility: perhaps paradise is as simple as unbroken solidarity. This Sunday, April 18, ...

Sometimes we think of the religious life as serious and staid. But in every faith and spiritual tradition, there exists a trickster, fool, clown, jester, buffoon, or “simpleton” that disrupts, mocks, pokes fun at, and questions authority—religious and otherwise. The purpose of the “holy fool” is to upend what we think we know, to shatter our perceptions of what is real, and to reveal a deeper trut...

Easter is about new life, new hope, and resurrection of the spirit in the face of despair. Easter speaks to a miraculous force and a love that is stronger than death. In this time of global pandemic and this time of the trial of Derek Chauvin (which has global implications), how do we make sense of Easter? Easter speaks to the timeless cycle of death and rebirth, and this Easter, we ask, “Given th...

First Universalist is a church that cares about its members and friends. We demonstrate this care in all kinds of ways and we also care deeply about the world outside of ourselves. Yet sometimes, the historic nature of liberal religious enlightenment takes us away from feelings, suffering and pain. Many of us do not reach out when we need help, when we need healing, or when we need the nurturing o...

Each of us has a piece of the truth, and together, we are so much wiser and braver. Together, we have strength and imagination, accountability and encouragement big enough for transformation. When each of us brings what we can, including our vulnerability, we have the collective power to build a community of liberation and joy.  Join us as we explore our collective truth and our collective power,...

How do you measure a year? How do you measure “five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes?” The hit song from “Rent,” invites us to measure a year in love, and that’s certainly a good measure. But this past year has been full and complicated: fear, grief, loss, struggles with mental health, slowing down, re-evaluating everything, new rituals, recipes, and cooking adventures, and the dea...

What does it mean to act on your faith? This Sunday, March 7, you’ll hear moving testimony and reflections from members of our Faithful Action Council, the group that oversees the church’s Faithful Action Ministries, and you’ll hear from congregants involved with our Faithful Action Partners*, and how this involvement has grown their spirits, deepened their faith, and given them hope when things h...

The only place our lives happen is in the present, yet for many of us, our minds spend a lot of time being everywhere else but here, now. In this service, we’ll enter into the truth of the present moment through word, song, and shared practice and see if we might get a bit more comfortable hanging out here, now, together.    Words of Welcome- Rev. Arif Mamdani (:31) Interlude music by The OK Facto...

The truth is, grief hurts. It is exhausting, disorienting, and downright awful when we lose someone or something that matters to us. As we approach a year of pandemic living and losing, grief is our everyday companion. The author and activist, adrienne maree brown, reminds us that we are water, that the salt trails of our tears are the natural outcome of our living and loving. This Sunday, we cont...

In worship this Sunday, Rev. Justin offers reflections on his ministry with First Universalist, speaks to how his faith is guiding him into a new season, and most importantly, reflects on what it means for all of us to follow the call of love, to live our deepest truths, and to trust our innermost knowings. We are held by music from Franco Holder, Andrew Tralle, and a story from Aimee K. Bryant. W...

The word “truth” is a major construct in any discussion of Unitarian Universalism. We pride ourselves on being seekers of truth, but who has this truth? How is it confirmed? What happens when the truth appears broken? Can we let go of our need for universal truths? This Sunday, we delve into our February worship theme, “Truth Telling,” with this message from Rev. Karen Hutt. Rev. Jen Crow and Laur...