First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

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

 

September 25, 2022- A Topography of Belonging

Rumi and Jung agree on at least one thing: paradox is our greatest spiritual gift.

As Rumi notes:

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.

And isn’t that what we long for – that space of paradox, out beyond rightdoing and wrongdoing, beyond belonging where event the phrase each other doesn’t make any sense?

This Sunday, we explore the topography of belonging and the paths that may or may not get us where we long to be.

 

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (:40)

Story- The Green Grass Grows All Around- Lóre Stevens (7:38)

Prayer and Silence- Rev. Arif Mamdani (10:41)

Practice of Giving: Beacon Interfaith Housing- Lóre Stevens (19:32)

Message- A Topography of Belonging- Rev. Arif Mamdani (22:41)

Singing Together- Love Will Guide Us- Franco Holder, piano (38:43)

Benediction- Rev. Arif Mamdani (40:22)

September 18, 2022- Belonging to Beloved Community

The dream has been alive for years – Beloved Community. A place, a people, a moment in time when we might truly be, as our Visionary Goal proclaims, “a multi-racial, multicultural, and intergenerational faith community of mutual caring and support where people bring all of who they are and welcome each other with joy. Our sense of who we are as a community of faith is ever expanding.” What does it mean to belong to that Beloved Community, and what will be required of us as we unlearn soul-killing patterns of oppression and practice liberating, life-sustaining ways? What does it mean to belong to this Beloved Community?

Music for Gathering- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (:19)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Arif Mamdani (3:42)

Call to Worship- To Be of Use by Marge Piercy- Lóre Stevens (16:18)

Story for All Ages- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (18:26)

Prayer and Meditation- Rev. Arif Mamdani (26:11)

Practice of Giving- Rev. Jen Crow (33:28)

Celebrating Rev. Jen's Ten Years- Rev. Sara Smalley and the Team (37:17)

Message- Belonging to Beloved Community- Rev. Jen Crow (44:30)

Music for Going- Love Will Guide Us (1:03:05)

September 4, 2022- Homemade by the River

What can architects, masons, and the sound of water teach us about crafting a home by hand? And what do rivers remind us about living a life in motion and movement? Join us for worship with guest worship leader, Matt Meyer.

Matt is a musician and worship leader who has led hundreds of services for UU congregations across the country. He has a degree in hand drumming and serves as Director of Community Life for Sanctuary Boston.

Music for Gathering- Water Heal my Body by Coco Love Alcorn- Matt Meyer and Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (:30)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (1:38)

Call to Worship- from At the River Clarion by Mary Oliver- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (10:39)

Song- Put Your Roots Down by Molly Hartwell- Matt Meyer (12:33)

Story- Desmond Gets Free by Matt Meyer (17:45)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Jen Crow (25:53)

Invitation to Give- Lóre Stevens (32:45)

Offertory- Ilu Finu by Miriam Margles- Matt Meyer

Reading- 250 Things an Architect Should Know by Michael Sorkin - Matt Meyer and Lóre Stevens (36:26)

Song- There's a River Flowin' in my Soul by Faya Ora Rose Touré (39:14)

Message- Homemade by the River- Matt Meyer (42:50)

Song for Going and Benediction - Where You Go I Will Go by Shoshana Jedwab- Matt Meyer (59:36)

July 24, 2022- The Larger Circle

Poet Wendell Berry’s description of “The Larger Circle” as “the circle of all creatures/Passing in and out of life” takes on new meaning as we gaze at – and struggle to comprehend- the 13 billion light-year view of the earliest galaxies in the universe provided by the James Webb telescope. Are those faint smudges even connected to us? Do they matter? How? Or is the question, why?

 

Music for Gathering- Morning Has Broken- Aimee. K. Bryant, Franco Holder (:28)

Words of Welcome & Call to Worship- Rev. Kate Tucker (2:12)

Story for All Ages- The Stuff of Stars- Marion Dane Bauer (6:33)

Offering- Rev. Kate Tucker

Offertory- Turn the Word Around- Aimee K. Bryant, Franco Hoder (11:55)

Prayer and Meditation- Aimee K. Bryant, Rev. Kate Tucker (15:18)

Message- The Larger Circle- Kathy Coskran (22:10)

Hymn- Blue Boat Home- Aimee K. Bryant, Franco Holder (39:30)

Benediction- Kathy Coskran (42:00)

Music for Going- Where You Go by Shoshanna Jedwab- Aimee K. Bryant, Franco Holder

 

July 17, 2022- Gather the Spirit, Harvest the Power

Poet Marge Piercy writes that “a good anger acted upon is beautiful as lightning and swift with power.” Who teaches us about that kind of anger and power? How do we learn? What kind of inner transformation does it invite or require? 

Music for Gathering- Aimee K. Bryant, Franco Holder

Words of Welcome- Rev. Kate Tucker (1:17)

Story for All Ages- Zoe Mulvihill (5:56)

Prayer and Meditation- Rev. Andrea Johnson (14:00)

Message- Gather the Spirit, Harvest the Power- Rev. Kate Tucker (19:19)

Song- There's a River Flowin' In My Soul- Aimee K. Bryant, Franco Holder (40:09)

Benediction- Rev. Kate Tucker (42:07)

 

 

July 10, 2022- Growing the S-I-Z-E of Our Soul

When we are faced with a difficult situation, it can be challenging to greet it, not necessarily with agreement, but to simply take it in and receive it as another truth. This is what Unitarian Universalist process theologian Bernard Loomer describes as the essence of the spiritual path—the practice of receiving rather than resisting reality in the fullest possible sense. Come explore how we can grow our souls together in light of the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade with guest preacher Rev. Andrea Johnson.

Song for Gathering- For All That Is Our Life- Aimee K. Bryant and Barb Brooks (:18)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Kate Tucker (2:16)

Story for All Ages- Anger, a Buddhist Story- Emma Paskwitz (6:50)

Invitation to Give to Augsburg Fairview Academy- Rev. Kate Tucker (10:05)

Offertory- Aimee K. Bryant and Barb Brooks (10:51)

Prayer and Meditation- Rev. Kate Tucker (15:14)

Message- Growing the S-I-Z-E of Our Soul- Rev. Andrea Johnson (21:24)

Benediction- Rev. Andrea Johnson (37:29)

 

 

July 3, 2022- American Stories

On this Fourth of July weekend, we’ll hear different versions of the story of the United States of America. What kinds of stories build resilience and trust and what kinds build fragility and fear? This Sunday we’ll explore how the stories we tell create meaning.

Words of Welcome- Rev. Kate Tucker (:30)

Time for All Ages- Mark Caswell (5:49)

Prayer and Meditation- Rev. Kate Tucker (13:16)

Message- American Stories- Rev. Meg Riley (21:28)

Invitation to Give to Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity (41:04)

Benediction- Rev. Kate Tucker (42:42)

June 19, 2022- BOGO Worth and Dignity

The equation for calculating price per unit is a simple one, handy for finding the best value at a store. Yet trying to fit our values and Principles into that equation complicates it quite a bit. In this time of rainbow capitalism, performative activism, and faltering progress, let us double check our trajectory. Are we on our way to the heaven on earth Universalists dreamed of, or do we need a new equation? Join us this Sunday as we welcome guest preacher Nico Van Ostrand, who will lead worship along with Rev. Kate Tucker, Lauren Wyeth, Aimee K. Bryant, and pianist Barb Brooks.

Words of Welcome- Rev. Kate Tucker (:30)

Time for All Ages- Lauren Wyeth (4:13)

Hymn- Gather the Spirit (7:45)

Reflection and Prayer- Rev. Kate Tucker (8:54)

Message- BOGO Worth and Dignity- Nico Van Ostrand (12:39)

Invitation to Give to CLNE- Rev. Kate Tucker (26:26)

Benediction- Rev. Kate Tucker (27:28)

 

June 5, 2022- Flower Communion

99 years ago, almost to the day, Rev. Norbert Capek led the first Flower Communion ritual. He developed it then, and we observe it today, as a ritual of giving and receiving, of connecting with the beauty in each of us, and the bigger story of that beauty when we come together in community, in fellowship, and in the spirit of love that is this church. We’ll have music from Dean Magraw and his band, and a special guest vocalist, Thomasina Petrus.

Prelude- Feelin' Good by Nina Simone- Dean Magraw, guitar; Thomasina Petrus, vocals; and the band

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (3:13)

Time for All Ages- Saying Goodbye to Julica (12:18)

Flower Communion Ritual- Rev. Arif Mamdani (20:15)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (28:51)

Homily- Rev. Jen Crow (31:42)

Invitation to Give- Rev. Jen Crow (38:28)

Benediction- Summertime by Miles Davis- Thomasina Petrus, Dean Magraw and the band (41:15)