First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

We are in the midst of great change, aren’t we? Some change we choose, and some change chooses us, but everything is always changing. As Octavia Butler writes, “God is Change.” What might it mean to really embrace this reality? As we finish our month of exploring the theme of “Choosing Change,” we’ll rest in the divine swirl of courage, change, brokenness, love, new possibilities and dreams, and w...

In a society that wants you erased, existence is resistance. In a country where laws have limited your access to resources and opportunity, to safety and basic human rights, survival is a form of resistance. In a time when lies are fed to the masses, naming the truth is resistance. As we take a collective breath this week, we will remember that for many of us, existence is an act of resistance. We...

While Dr. King fervently spoke about the “dream” of country where character mattered more than skin color, this dream has failed to materialize. More often than not, the dream is simply given lip service, while structures and practices of oppression and harm remain in place. What is required for the dream to truly come alive, for justice to roll down like waters, and peace like an ever flowing str...

Every year, as we begin the New Year, we hold a ritual space to name and recount the losses we’ve experienced in the past year. This year, more than ever, this ritual of “Remembrance Sunday” feels so important. In 2020, grief was a constant companion. We lost jobs, business, and loved ones, many of them to Covid-19. We lost opportunities to attend graduations and weddings, memorials and family reu...

What will be different in 2021? What dreams for our lives and our community have been shaped by the pandemic, the racial justice uprising, and the questions still unanswered of whether or not the United States can actually become a pluralistic, equitable, multi-racial democracy? What dreams of yours – and what collective dreams of ours – might come to life in 2021? For dreams to be born, we must c...

Rev. Arif Mamdani shares: In a year that has seen so much, how we gather, how we mark this passing, is not as clear cut as it may have been in other, less tumultuous years. Back in the spring, almost a year ago now, I asked “what is the story that we want to be able to tell about this time?” I invited us then to imagine ourselves into a future where we’d be sharing the story of this pandemic with...

Our beloved annual Christmas Pageant, adapted for the small screen with creativity, humor, and extra layers of meaning will remind you of what matters most in this extraordinary season, as 2020 draws to a close. This year’s Pageant is born of the time and talents of so many, including: our children and youth, who will co-lead the service and act out our story; Aimee K. Bryant, Randy Buikema, Franc...

Sunday, December 13, Julica Hermann de la Fuente, our Director of Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Ministries, offers a Question Box Sermon. Do you have a burning inquiry about anti-racism and anti-oppression work, especially as it applies to our congregation? We create the message together when you provide the questions for the sermon part of our worship service. Words of Welcome - Rev. Justin Sch...

In his poem, “For the Interim Time,” John O’Donahue writes, “You are in this time of the interim/Where everything seems withheld,” and “The old is not old enough to have died away; the new is still too young to be born.” These words capture right where we are: we are in a season of waiting, of anticipating the arrival of Christmas, of the Solstice, of Hannukah, of the turning of the planet, and th...

Historically, UU ministers were instrumental in creating this U.S. holiday and the “Pilgrims and the Indians” pageant tradition that roots the holiday in an historically inaccurate and harmful colonial narrative. Many UU congregations in New England can trace their lineage directly back to early settler congregations that had a role in the genocide of Native communities. As a religious tradition,...

From Rev. Arif: These last many weeks, I’ve been returning to the notion of the fractal nature of reality that adrienne maree brown writes about in Emergent Strategy. As she writes: “Dandelions contain an entire community in each spore that gets blown on children’s breath.” Here in the Twin Cities, the dandelions are long gone. Winter is coming. COVID rates are on the rise. Hospitals and those who...

The costs of the global pandemic have been high: lives and jobs lost; family gatherings, celebrations, and memorial services postponed, or cancelled; and physical contact limited with friends and loved ones. At the same time, for some of us, the lockdowns and different pace of life have given us a glimpse of what else might be possible. For a time, the smoggy sky over major world cities cleared. C...

The election is over. The votes counted and still being counted. What now? What next? What guides, holds, and shapes us in these coming months? How might we live with, wrestle, and be challenged by these words of the great American poet, Langston Hughes, who wrote, “Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The lan...

On November 3, the United States will hold our 59th national presidential election day–and in the midst of pandemic, climate catastrophe, rising authoritarianism, and widespread uprising, this is perhaps the most significant election in our country’s history. In the context of extreme polarization and threats to so many communities, what trust can we have in the traditional systems and structures...

Some say that the most unique element of Unitarian Universalism is its individualism - the idea that each one of us is an essential source of religious authority for our own spiritual journey. But individualism and personal authority are not all there is to it. Our faith requires community, and our faith communities call out the good - and the god - in us. This Sunday, we set one among us apart as...

The poet Gwendolyn Brooks, in a poem and tribute to Paul Robeson writes “…we are each other’s harvest/ We are each other’s business/ We are each other’s magnitude and bond.” These lines reflect one way we might understand what we’re driving at at church when we talk about being a community of communities. This Sunday, Aimee Bryant, Arif Mamdani, and Lauren Wyeth weave together music, story, and pr...

In these extraordinary times, we are called to care for ourselves and each other with extraordinary discipline and extraordinary tenderness. This Sunday, we explore how we might lean into vulnerability and expand our resources as we name the mental health challenges of this and every time.   Words of Welcome, Rev. Jen Crow (:27) Wisdom Sharing, Julica Hermann de la Fuente (3:22) Humming Meditation...

Although the focus of Universalism has shifted over the years – today’s Universalists are far less focused on Universal salvation and everyone going to Heaven than our forebears were – the essential message of Universalism (there is something of value in every human being; or said another way, there are no fundamentally bad people, only bad and deeply harmful behaviors) remains a challenging, pote...

In this Sunday Service podcast, we remember the tools, practices, and habits that will sustain us through election season, winter, and a pandemic. Words of Welcome- Rev. Justin Schroeder (:31) Story for All Ages- Aimee K. Bryant (2:52) Sermon- Rev. Justin Schroeder (10:35)

From Julica Hermann de la Fuente: Dear First U, This first month and a half of my time with you has been a lovely time of connecting and deepening trust. Thank you for welcoming me so warmly, for trusting me to go deep quickly, for your willingness and desire to engage in anti-racism work in the many areas of our congregation. Please join me this coming Sunday morning for a couple of stories about...

As we gathered for this virtual Water Communion Sunday, we remembered that we are held in a larger community of care, a community that isn’t afraid of the complexity of this time, or the many swirling currents of this time, or the waves of feeling and emotion that crash into us on a daily basis. In the midst of all of this, we symbolically linked arms, held hands, and breathed together, riding the...

The service includes a story for all ages, music from the First Universalist Choir, and a sermon from Rev. Karen Hutt. We continue to explore our summer worship theme, “Here We Are.” Wisdom Story- The Water Bearer- Seth Matz (:20) Anthem- Shenandoah - First Universalist Choir (4:21) Sermon- The Ugly Cry- Rev. Karen Hutt (8:11)

 On Sunday morning, August 23, we celebrated our annual back-to-school ritual (formerly known as Backpack Blessing) in a new way for new times.   Song- Seth Matz (:22) Wisdom Story- Aimee K. Bryant (2:49) Song- Count on Me by Bruno Mars, First Universalist Choir (11:25) Sermon-Rev. Jen Crow (14:43) Back-to-School Blessing- Ministers and Staff (30:36) Song- Go On Your Way in Peace, First U Summer C...

As author and activist adrienne marie brown writes, “We are in an imagination battle.” It’s true; imagination creates racial hierarchies, creates borders, creates supremacy thinking, creates oppression. As adrienne marie brown says, “I often feel I am trapped inside someone’ else’s imagination, and I must engage my own imagination in order to break free.”   Whose imaginations are we trapped in? Wh...

What does presence have to do with poetry? Where are we when we say “Here We Are.” What do the poetic forms of haiku, American sentences, and dekazz have to do with the pandemic? On Sunday, join Seth Matz and Arif Mamdani as they help us travel with these questions through music, story, and word as we continue to explore this summer’s theme: “Here We Are.” Seth and Arif are joined by Julica Herman...