First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Cummins Ministerial Intern Lóre Stevens, and Rev. Arif Mamdani invite you to Christmas morning at church, where our worship leaders will be gathered by the fire opening presents together—presents we are gifting to ourselves and to the church as we work to bring the spirit of these winter holidays into the day-to-day of our lives all throughout the year.

Music for Gathering- For Each Child That's Born- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (:24)

Words of Welcome and Story- Rev. Arif Mamdani (1:09)

Singing Together- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (7:58)

Prayer and Meditation- Lóre Stevens (10:09)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Rev. Arif Mamdani (12:25)

Offertory- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout

Reading- Relentless by Sean Parker Dennison- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (14:42)

Giving and Receiving Gifts- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Lóre Stevens, and Rev. Arif Mamdani (17:47)

Singing Together- Say Amen- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (41:07)

Benediction- Now the Work of Christmas Begins by Howard Thurman- Lóre Stevens (42:58)

Music for Going- Where You Go I Will Go, Beloved by Shoshana Jedwab- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout

 

The everyday work of world change takes trust, patience, and faith. The individual steps it takes to progress a vision can look mighty different, more complex, smaller, even frustrating at times. It can be hard to see sometimes how what we’re doing even makes a difference in the world. Yet, this diligent faith is the very dream in action. 

This Sunday, December 11, Lena K Gardner talks with Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout about the bold work of BLUU (Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism). Come to worship this week with your heart wide open to sing, to learn, and to learn how our hands can help the dream.

Music for Gathering- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Franco Holder, piano (:30)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Ashley Harness (4:52)

Singing Together- Lean On Me (11:06)

Meditation and Cycle of Life- Rev. Ashley Harness (17:44)

Message in Conversation- Lena Gardner and Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (23:20)

Hymn- The Fire of Committment (57:24)

Benediction- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (1:00:29)

This Sunday, October 16 is Mental Health Sunday, a service where we commit ourselves to creating a world where struggles with mental health are normalized and where seeking mental health care is destigmatized. Through word, song, and ritual we will make visible these commitments of our hearts, bodies, and minds, knowing that mental health care is something we all need access to, and that while not all illness can be cured, in community, we all can find healing.

Opening Hymn- Come Thou Fount of Ev'ry Blessing- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (:28)

Words of Welcome- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (3:17)

Story for All Ages- Rev. Ashley Harness-Jiminez (9:56)

Hymn- I've Got Peace Like a River- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (17:43)

Meditation and Message- Rev. Arif Mamdani, Carol Jackson (22:14)

Ritual (32:14)

Song- Sending You Light by Melanie DeMore- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (49:55)

Singing Together- For All that is Our Life- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (53:26)

Benediction- Rev. Arif Mamdani (56:08)

Sometimes the swirl of the world, our communities, our lives, is just too much. Rest and stillness are part of the story – and so is change. This Sunday, March 13, we’ll explore what it means to let go of perfection and live in full progress – risky, messy, beautiful becoming.

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (:30)

Celebration of 10 Years with Lauren Wyeth (3:39)

Call to Worship- Liv Dalby (8:17)

Story for All Ages- Acornology, part 2 (15:03)

Interlude- Right on Time- Ellis Delaney

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (23:26)

Reflection- Todd Pierson (30:33)

Reflection- Claire Tralle (36:38)

Invitiation to Give- Rev. Arif Mamdani (42:17)

All Interludes and Outro music- Ellis Delaney

 

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, we explore the possibility of a world of unbroken solidarities.

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (:21)

Wisdom Story for All Ages- Rev. Arif Mamdani (3:09)

Musical Response- Motherless Child - Aimee K. Bryant and Franco Holder (8:34)

Prayer - Julica Hermann de la Fuente and Lauren Wyeth (12:00)

Message, pt. 1- Yahanna Mackbee (15:58)

Musical Response- Ella's Song- Ani Peichel (23:47)

Message, pt. 2- The Paradise of Unbroken Solidarities, Rev. Jen Crow- (25:45)

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 have seemed hopeless.

*Our Faithful Action Partners are Augsburg Fairview Academy, Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, Habitat for Humanity, Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light, Simpson Housing, a variety of Immigration Justice Organizations and the Center for Leadership and Neighborhood Engagement (CLNE.)

 

Words of Welcome- Rev. Justin Schreoder (:31)

Spoken Word- Joe Davis (5:11)

Story for All Ages- Aimee K. Bryant (8:35)

Hymn- We Shall Be Known- Seth Anderson-Matz (17:04)

Faithful Action Team Conversations (19:16)

Interlude- We'll Build a Land- Sarah Lindsay and Franco Holder (27:49)

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 we’ll see what emerges to guide us in our living in 2021. 

 

Words of Welcome - Rev. Justin Schroeder (:30)

Story for All Ages- Lauren Wyeth (3:29)

Hymn- Voice Still and Small- Erin Segrue (8:38)

Sermon- Amidst the Change- Rev. Justin Schroeder (10:15)

Anthem- Dream On by Aerosmith- First Universalist Choir (29:32)

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. Carbon emissions dropped. Many of us became more clear what really mattered and why. How might these new “pandemic insights” shape our holiday season this year? What would it mean to put the earth first this year? To prioritize what really matters? Though the votes have been counted, and a new president elected, every day, we get to vote with our dollars, our actions, and our relationships. Everyday, we can cast a vote for a more just and fair world, or a vote for the status quo. This Sunday, we explore these questions as we launch our annual Holiday Giving Project, in support of Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism.

 

Words of Welcome- Rev. Schroeder (:21)

Story for All Ages- Lauren Wyeth (2:28)

Hymn, Glory Glory- Aimee K. Bryant and Franco Holder

Holiday Giving Reflections- Rev. Schroeder, Lena K. Gardner, Lamboglia Family, Isabel Quast (7:00)

Outro Music, We Shall Be Known - Seth Anderson-Matz

 

In this Sunday’s worship service, we say a good goodbye to Rev. Ruth and bless her as she retires, hear special music, and more.

Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (:30)

Wisdom Story- Lauren Wyeth (4:24)

Reflections for Rev. Ruth- Michael Dotson, Daryn Woodson, Adrian Ali-Caccamo (11:28)

Anthem- First Universalist Choir (26:28)

Blessing for Rev. Ruth (28:47)

Every Sunday we come together to remember who we are, revisit and affirm our values, understand our history, and practice the collectivity of building hope. This Sunday, we open our Annual Giving Campaign with messages of resilience, memory, and envisioning from our beloved Minister Emerita, Rev. Kate Tucker, senior minister at the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), Rev. Meg Riley, youth worship associate, Monroe Chumklang, and our Board of Trustees Treasurer, Keven Ambrus. With a sanctuary full of song and spirit, we join together to say, “We build hope!”

Call to Worship- Monroe Chumklang (:31)

Reflection- Rev. Meg Riley (3:31)

Reflection- Keven Ambrus (11:04)

Reflection- Rev. Kate Tucker (14:53)