First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

March 12, 2023- The Seeds We Plant

Robin Wall Kimmerer says that our deepest longing is to belong to each other and to belong to the larger community of life. She says that this longing is expressed in the idea of tending a garden, which is itself an expression of belonging on many different scales. There is a persistence in this belonging—one that speaks to us of our lives here, together at church, and of the audacity to plant seeds that will nourish the generations that come after us, knowing that we have been fed by work of the generations that came before. This too is tending a garden, and is itself an expression of belonging and extending belonging. As we continue with this month’s theme of persistence, we’ll journey with stories of planting and harvesting, wondering about which part of this collective garden we tend, and what seeds we’re planting for our future.

Music for Gathering and Opening Hymn- Gather the Spirit (:24)

Words of Welcome and Land Acknowledgement- Rev. Arif Mamdani (4:18)

Story for All Ages- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (10:26)

Centering Prayer and Meditation- from Robin Wall Kimmerer- Rev. Ashley Harness (15:40)

Singing Together- Morning Has Broken (19:18)

Annual Giving Reflection- Meleah Houseknecht (21:36)

Invitation to Give and Receive- Rev. Arif Mamdani (24:09)

Offertory- Garden Song by John Denver- Aimee K. Bryant, Franco Holder (25:47)

Message- The Seeds We Plant- Rev. Arif Mamdani (29:12)

Singing Together- Blue Boat Home (44:43)

Benediction- Rev. Arif Mamdani (47:52)

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 19, 2023- Universal-ish

You may or may not know that there have been multiple flavors of Universalism, some with caveats or some that were questionable. We can learn a lot about our own flavors of Universalism through the stories from our spiritual ancestors. As First U decides who we become next, it can be helpful to reflect on who we have been. 

Singing to Gather- Lead With Love by Melanie DeMore (:22)

Call to Worship and Words of Welcome- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (7:40)

Story- Hosea Ballou and the Mud Puddle- Lóre Stevens (13:59)

Invitation to Visionary Goals Process- Ben Miles (21:20)

Prayer and Meditation- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (26:48) 

Invitation to Giving and Receiving- Lóre Stevens (39:18)

Offertory- I Need You to Survive by Hezekiah Walker - Glen Thomas Rideout (39:18)

Message- Universal-ish- Lóre Stevens (43:21)

Hymn- Love Will Guide Us (57:20)

Benediction- Wake Into Love by Saretta Morgan - Lóre Stevens (59:06)

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

February 5, 2023- Accompaniment in Sanctuary & Resistance

The Sanctuary and Resistance Team at First Universalist Church works to accompany immigrants in the struggle within an immigration system which criminalizes migration, incarcerates immigrants in detention, and separates families. Since November 2016, we carry out this work as an emergent strategy team, and in conjunction with many community partners, by providing sanctuary space in the church, observing at immigration court, distributing financial resources, and resisting to change the system by advocating for policy changes, namely to make Minnesota a Sanctuary State.

On Sunday, Feb. 5, we explore and reflect upon how our UU faith and this congregation give us the courage, strength, and hope to accompany immigrant partners in the struggle for justice in our immigration system.

 

Opening Hymn- Come, Come, Whoever You Are- Aimee K. Bryant and Franco Holder (:23)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Ashley Harness (1:47)

Land Acknowledgement- Karen Wills (6:14)

Call to Worship- Sara Adams (11:56)

Time for All Ages- Jeanne Guignon and Rev. Ashley Harness (13:36)

Singing Together- Love Will Guide Us- Aimee K. Bryant and Franco Holder (21:48)

Reflection- Joan Naymark (23:47)

Singing Together- Courage, My Friend- Aimee K. Bryant and Franco Holder (27:09)

Prayer and Meditation- Lóre Stevens (29:08)

Reflections- Sara Adams and Heidi Romanish (35:45)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Karen Wills (49:44)

Offertory- Franco Holder (51:47)

Closing Hymn- Sanctuary- Aimee K. Bryant and Franco Holder (54:04)

Benediction- Rev. Ashley Harness (55:48)

Song for Going- Where You Go I WIll Go, Beloeved by Shoshana Jedwab

 

January 29, 2023- Who Said 70 is the New 50?

Music for Entering the Space- All People that on Earth Do Dwell (:20)

Call to Worship- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (1:12)

Singing Together- Lean On Me (5:36)

Prayer and Meditation- Rev. Ashley Harness (10:21)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Rev. Ashley Harness (18:43)

Offertory- There is a Balm in Gilead - trad. Arr. Mark Hayes- Franco Holder (19:48)

Message- Who Said 70 is the New 50?- Rev. Karen Hutt (24:07)

Singing Together- Lady of the Season’s Laughter (49:03)

Benediction- Rev. Karen Hutt (52:17)

 

 

 

January 22, 2023- When’s Your Shift for the Revolution?

Hymn for Gathering- Building a New Way- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (:27)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Ashley Harness (3:31)

Call to Worship- Dallas Rising (8:31)

Time for All Ages- Stone Soup- Rev. Arif Mamdani (12:11)

Singing Together- Love Will Guide Us- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (21:16)

Meditation Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (24:31)

Message- When's Your Shift for the Revolution? - Meleah Houseknecht (34:25)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Rev. Arif Mamdani, Jeanne Guignon, Jeff Snyder (48:13)

Offertory- Sing Out, March On- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (55:02)

Hymn- The Fire of Commitment- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (58:05)

Benediction- Meleah Houseknecht (1:01:25)

 

January 15, 2023- Yesterday Teaches Tomorrow

Time and time again, in stories and scriptures and songs, ancestors have left lessons for building beloved community. Though they come in all languages and expressions, the wisdom persists: to resist materialism and hold on to what truly matters; to unshackle from habits of needless prejudice; to put down the weapons we store in our hands and hearts and study war no more. How much comfort can we take that we aren’t nearly the first generation to struggle to live into these communal ways? And what’s our part in the progress?

Music for Gathering- Come, Come Whoever You Are- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout and Aimee K. Bryant (:29)

Words of Welcome & Call to Worship- Rev. Arif Mamdani (5:17)

Hymn- 'Tis a Gift to be Simple- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (13:05)

Prayer and Meditation- Rev. Jen Crow (15:20)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Rev. Arif Mamdani (22:29)

Offertory- We Shall Be Known by Ma Muse- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout and Aimee K. Bryant (23:22)

Message- Yesterday Teaches Tomorrow- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (26:11)

Benediction- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (52:30)

Music for Going- Return Again- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout and Aimee K. Bryant 

 

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

 

January 1, 2023- Practicing Pause

Join us for a time of contemplation and intention setting as we gather on the turning of the year. Together, we’ll engage in the spiritual practices of pausing, noticing, settling and resetting—practices that serve us well in living lives of love, purpose and meaning in all the moments of our lives. We’ll also enjoy music by special guest Dean Magraw on this Sunday.

Words of Welcome- Lóre Stevens (1:13)

Singing Together- Breathing Meditation (5:21)

Time for All Ages- Slow Motion Freeze Tag- Aimee K. Bryant (7:33)

Music- Regeneration by Dean Magraw (12:18)

Meditation Prayer and Cycle of Life- Lóre Stevens (15:33)

Message- Practicing Pause- Rev. Jen Crow (19:44)

Practice of Giving and Receiving (42:29)

Offertory- Waterfall / May this Be Love by Jimi Hendrix - Dean Magraw (43:46)

Singing Together- My Life Flows On- Dean Magraw and Aimee K. Bryant (46:41)

Benediction- Rev. Jen Crow (50:06)

Music for Going- Where You Go I Will Go by Shoshana Jedwab - Aimee K. Bryant and Dean Magraw