First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

June 4, 2023- Flower Communion

This coming Sunday, June 4, we’re celebrating Flower Communion, and we could use your help! Bring a flower to share with the community (don’t worry: we’ll have more flowers available if you don’t have one). We’ll make a beautiful arrangement with whatever flowers come! At the end, we each get to take a different flower with us as a gift and reminder of beauty in our unity and difference. This special ritual has been performed for years here at First Universalist. And this year marks the 100th anniversary of the very first Flower Communion ever!

Singing to Gather- Come, Sing a Song with Me- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (:29)

Call to Worship- Rev. Jen Crow (2:26)

Introduction to Flower Communion- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (7:07)

Hymn- We Would Be One- (10:35)

Flower Communion Ritual- Rev. Arif Mamdani (14:57)

Prayer and Meditation- Rev. Jen Crow (36:33)

Celebrating Lauren Wyeth- Revs. Jen Crow and Arif Mamdani (41:55)

Practice of Giving and Recieving- Rev. Arif Mamdani (47:29)

Offertory- This Little Light of Mine (52:18)

Benediction- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (55:03)

 

April 30, 2023- All Beginners Here

The Zen practice of shoshin calls us each to bring a “beginner’s mind” to every day we live. This Sunday, as we celebrate how our community has grown with new members, we are reminded to bring this same spirit to our relationships with one another. We can know each other more deeply with fresh curiosity. We can deepen our bonds with fresh compassion. We can build a stronger “we” when each of us takes every opportunity to “tell our story from deep inside and listen with a loving mind.”

Opening Hymn- When Our Heart Is In a Holy Place - Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (:27)

Words of Welcome and Call to Worship- Rev. Ashley Harness (2:59)

New Member Welcome- Come, Come, Whoever You Are- Liz Farmer, Matt Keller, Daryn Woodson (9:04)

Singing Together- Turn the World Around - Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (22:03)

Meditation Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Jen Crow (26:28)

Message- All Beginners Here- Liz Farmer (35:54)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Rev. Jen Crow (45:31)

Offertory- Franco Holder (47:28)

Singing Together- The Fire of Committment - Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (49:17)

Benediction- Liz Farmer (52:38)

Song for Going- Where You Go, I Will Go, Beloved by Shoshana Jedwab

 

April 9, 2023- Easter Sunday

With and without our permission and participation, life is forever seeking resurrection. Relentlessly, life finds a way in the harshest of circumstances, and even out of death comes new life. How might we join with this turning toward life? And how might we rebuild and resurrect ourselves, our relationships, and even this church in the shape of beloved community through our everyday actions? Join us on this multigenerational Sunday as we lean into these questions through story, song, and ritual.

Opening Hymn- Morning Has Come- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout and Aimee K. Bryant (:30)

Words of Welcome and Call to Worship- Rev. Ashley Harness (4:40)

Singing Together- Allelu, Allelu- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout and Aimee K. Bryant (10:07)

Meditation and Prayer- Rev. Ashley Harness (16:45)

Invitation to Give and Receieve- Rev. Ashley Harness (19:23)

Offertory- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout and Aimee K. Bryant (20:22)

Ritual Stations- Rev. Jen Crow, Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, and Aimee K. Bryant (23:52)

Benediction- from The Book of Delights by Ross Gay- Rev. Jen Crow (46:16)

Postlude- Where You Go I Will Go, Beloved by Shoshana Jedwab (

 

March 5, 2023- Persisting with Love

This Sunday, we begin our March worship theme, Persistence, with a focus on advocacy. Congregants leading some of our legislative advocacy ministries will share their stories along with guest speaker Rev. Terri Burnor, Senior Movement Builder with Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light. We’ll also share a special blessing with and for our trans* beloveds and families who have been under recent attack by legislative measures.

Opening Hymn- The Fire of Commitment - Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (:50)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Ashley Harness (4:19)

Land Acknowledgement- Rev. Terri Burnor (7:04)

Call to Worship- Peg Mitchell (9:25)

Blessing for our Trans* Beloveds- Kaden Colton, Lauren Wyeth, and Rev. Arif Mamdani (13:22)

Hymn- This Joy- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (22:32)

Prayers and Meditation- Rev. Arif Mamdani (28:36)

Reflections- Rev. Terri Burnor, Sara McMullen, Susan Willhite (32:46)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Karen Wills (56:25)

Offertory- Franco Holder, piano (59:20)

Benediction- Rev. Terri Burnor (1:00:04)

Music for Going- Where You Go I Will Go, Beloved by Shoshana Jedwab

February 12, 2023- Are We Sleeping Through a Revolution?

Multiple choice question:

Who said: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”?

1. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
2. Theodore Parker
3. None of the above

This Sunday morning we learn the answer, not just for this question but more so for what these ministers and theologians had to say to Unitarians and Universalists in the past, and what their words say to us today. In particular, how do their words point us toward two essential movements in our spiritual and religious lives and what do they call us to today?

Music for Gathering- by composer Robert Glasper- Franco Holder (:22)

Welcome - Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (4:50)

Singing Together- Guide My Feet (9:17)

Reading- Practice by Omar Bronson- Rev. Ashley Harness (15:19)

Hymn- My Life Flows on in Endless Song (18:12)

Loving Kindness Meditation- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (26:47)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Rev. Ashley Harness (36:08)

Offertory- Franco Holder (37:16)

Message- Are We Sleeping Through a Revolution?- Rev. Arif Mamdani (40:43)

Hymn- Make Channels for the Streams of Love (1:08:52)

Benediction- Rev. Arif Mamdani (1:10:19)

Music for Going- Where You Go, I Will Go, Beloved by Shoshana Jedwab

January 8, 2023- Remembrance Sunday

Remembrance Sunday is a yearly service in which we name and honor those we’ve lost in the congregation and the wider community. Through story, song, and ritual, this service invites us to name and make room for the loss, grief, and sadness in ourselves, within this community, and beyond in the wider world. This service includes an invitation to name with a neighbor, in-person or at home, any losses you’d like to hold in community, as well a candle lighting ritual in which we name and honor the deaths in our congregation this last year. Join us on Sunday to be and become the community of love and know that together, love can make every grief and suffering bearable for us all.

Singing to Gather- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (:20)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (5:45)

Time for All Ages- Making Room for Sadness- Lauren Wyeth (14:00)

Hymn- Come Sing a Song With Me- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (21:03)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Rev. Arif Mamdani, Isabel Quast (26:02)

Poem and Cycle of Life - Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye- Rev. Ashley Harness (30:49)

Remembrance Ritual- Rev. Arif Mamdani (35:29)

Benediction- Rev. Arif Mamdani (54:00)

Music for Going- Where You Go I Will Go, Beloved by Shoshana Jedwab

 

November 27, 2022- One in Gratitude

On this multigenerational Sunday, our shared attention will turn to the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address, a practice created and shared by the indigenous people of the Turtle Clan, Wolf Clan, and Mohawk tribe. This practice invites us to begin and end our days with gratitude, and together we will experiment and wonder about how we might choose to begin and end our days, and how we and our relationships might be changed by our practices.

Intro- Ashgrove (Welsh Tune)- Franco Holder, piano

Hymn- We Give Thanks (1:43)

Words of Welcome- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (5:19)

Singing Together- The Welcome Table (7:42)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Jen Crow (11:36)

Gratitude Ritual- Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address- Rev. Jen Crow, Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, members of the congregation (17:54)

Practice of Giving- Rev. Jen Crow (40:11)

Offertory- You Matter to Me by Sara Bareillis- Franco Holder, piano (44:56)

Singing Together- For the Earth Forever Turning

Benediction- Rev. Jen Crow (49:58)

November 20, 2022- Becoming Together: Child Dedication Sunday

This Sunday, Nov. 20, we will celebrate the miracle that is at the center of our larger story and the cycle of life. We will welcome, name, and dedicate ourselves to the care of children in our congregation through a Child Dedication Ritual. Together we will discern and practice the spiritual work of committing ourselves to the care of our youngest and making room for the people they will become over the course their lives. 

Singing to Gather- Come, Come Whoever You Are

Words of Welcome- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (2:21)

Child Dedication Ritual- Lauren Wyeth, Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Rev. Ashley Harness (7:47)

Silence, Meditation, Prayer- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (15:09)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Rev. Ashley Harness (22:46)

Offertory- Glen Thomas Rideout (25:36)

Message- Becoming Together- Rev. Ashley Harness (26:56)

Benediction- Rev. Ashley Harness (42:13)

October 16, 2022- Mental Health Sunday

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)

October 2, 2022- The Heart Left Open Will Heal Itself

As we begin our exploration of the monthly theme, “You Can Count On This,” we’ll start with our hearts. What do our hearts tell us, and how do we listen? Where and with whom do we place our hearts? And what do we do with the inevitable heartbreak that comes? We’ll explore all of these questions and more through stories, songs, meditation, and prayer together.

Singing Together- Circle 'Round for Freedom (:28)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (1:35)

Story for All Ages- Rev. Ashley Harness (8:54)

Hymn- Lean On Me by Bill Withers- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (14:33)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (23:02)

Practice of Giving- Rev. Jen Crow (37:45)

Offertory- Franco Holder, piano

Message- The Heart Left Open Will Heal Itself- Rev. Jen Crow (42:50)

Benediction- Rev. Jen Crow (1:01:39)

Outro- Franco Holder, piano