First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

January 23, 2022- Where the River Meets the Sea

The poet, Audre Lorde, is famous for saying, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Building on this truth, we’ll explore how caring for each other – and allowing ourselves to be cared for by others – can help us expand our ideas of survival and joy beyond the individual and into the community.

Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (:30)

Story for All Ages- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (9:38)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (15:31)

Message: Where the River Meets the Sea- Rev. Jen Crow (24:50)

 

piano and voice- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout

January 9, 2022- Remembrance Sunday

Remembrance Sunday is an annual service that is a time to remember and reflect on our losses over the past year and to honor those we love who have died. This service can also be a time to mark other significant losses in the life of your family, such as a separation or divorce, saying goodbye to friends who’ve moved away, or any number of other things.

 

Words of Welcome, Announcements, and Land Acknowlegement- Julica Hermann de la Fuente and Isabel Quast (:22)

Call to Worship and Chalice Lighting- Rev. Arif Mamdani, Will, Alice (10:21)

Story for All Ages- The Buddha and the Mustard Seed Medicine- Lauren Wyeth (11:54)

Poem- Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye- Margit Berg (17:58)

Sharing Our Loss and Lighting the Candle of Impermanence- Rev. Arif Mamdani (20:02)

Hymn- Aimee K. Bryant (25:08)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (26:41)

Reading- Blessing For the Brokenhearted by Jan Richardson- Janet Merrill (32:14)

Naming Ritual and Lighting the Candle of Memory- Julica Hermann de la Fuente and Rev. Arif Mamdani (34:05)

Song- Aimee K. Bryant and Franco Holder (38:21)

Homily- Rev. Arif Mamdani (40:47)

Benediction- Rev. Arif Mamdani (46:30)

 

Piano throughout- Franco Holder

 

 

December 19, 2021- What does UUism Say to Our Suffering?

This Sunday, December 19, we enter into the heart of this question: what does Unitarian Universalism have to say when it all hits the fan? How can our faith and the commitments we hold in common help us to hold together when it all feels like it’s falling apart?

 

Words of Welcome and Calling Our Ancestors- Rev. Jen Crow (:30)

Story for All Ages- Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch- Rev. Arif Mamdani (8:19)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (23:11)

Message- What Does UUism Say to Our Suffering?- Lauren Wyeth (34:52)

 

voice- Aimee K. Bryant; piano- Franco Holder

 

 

 

December 5, 2021- Soft Heart, Open Hands, Clear Boundaries

As we turn into the longest nights of the year, what commitments will shine like stars, helping us navigate through these troubling times? What if we aimed to keep our hearts soft, our hands open, and our boundaries clear? Together we’ll explore how these ways of being might help us live in alignment with our Universalist faith in the spirit of love and hope.

 

Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (:30)

Story for All Ages- Lauren Wyeth (8:35)

Anthem- A Christmas Round by John Tavener- First Universalist Choir, Dr. Randal Buikema, conductor (12:49)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Karen Hutt (14:42)

Message- Soft Heart, Open Hands, Clear Boundaries- Rev. Jen Crow (20:57)

piano throughout- Franco Holder

November 28, 2021- Giving, Receiving, as Love Shows Us How

Rev. Jen Crow, Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Isabel Quast, Franco Holder and Aimee K. Bryant lead an intergenerational service of story and song as we invite each other into the spiritual practices of giving and receiving and growing. Come find out more about Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism and our annual Holiday Giving project, and leave lifted up by our collective power that comes together when each of us shares what we can.

 

Humming Meditation- Aimee K. Bryant (:27)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Jen Crow (9:48)

Music- Wake Now My Vision- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Aimee K. Bryant, Franco Holder (18:17)

Story for All Ages and Calling our Ancestors- Rev. Jen Crow (20:12)

Music- Wake Now My Vision- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Aimee K. Bryant, Franco Holder (28:45)

Meditation and Cycle of Life- Rev. Jen Crow (30:16)

Message- Giving, Receiving, as Love Shows Us How- Rev. Jen Crow and Isabel Quast

Outro Music- Aimee K. Bryant and Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout

 

November 21, 2021- Child Dedication Sunday

We celebrate the miracle that is at the center of the larger cycle of life. We welcome and name and dedicate ourselves to the care of nine children in our Child Dedication Ritual – and as we bear sacred witness to these unfolding lives, it is our hope we will see ourselves and each other anew. Each of us born whole and holy and worthy. Each of us important and ordinary and unique. Each of us in need of the larger community of this earth and this church to hold us in rhythm, each with the other.

 

Words of Welcome- Rev. Karen Hutt (:20)

Story for All Ages- Lauren Wyeth (7:27)

Calling Our Ancestors- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (13:23)

Child Dedication Ceremony- Lauren Wyeth and Rev. Karen Hutt (16:52)

Prayer and Cycle of Life- Rev. Jen Crow (22:25)

Anthem- Children Will Listen by Stephen Sondheim, arr. Brymer, First Universalist Choir, Franco Holder, piano, Dr. Randal Buikema, conductor (28:23)

Message- Rev. Jen Crow (31:52)

November 14, 2021- New Member Sunday

This Sunday, November 14, we welcome new members into our company. Our new members will be formally welcomed during our second service while our first will offer a renewal of membership and a blessing to those joining. **Both ceremonies are included on the podcast** Whichever service you attend, we invite you to “re-member” what it means to cast our lot with this congregation, day after day, week after week, as we affirm again the threads of connection that bind us to those who came before, and make and remake our faith for the world that is coming.

 

Words of Welcome- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (:30)

Calling the Ancestors- Julica Hermann de la Fuente and Rev. Arif Mamdani (3:06)

Story for All Ages- The Perfect Club- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (7:58)

Meditation Practice and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (14:46)

Renewal of Membership Ceremony (9 a.m. service)- Liz Farmer, Daryn Woodson, Rev. Arif Mamdani (23:32)

New Member Ceremony (11 a.m. service) - Daryn Woodson, Rev. Arif Mamdani, Liz Farmer (34:53)

Message- Rev. Arif Mamdani (43:29)

November 7, 2021- Building a New Way

We continue to build a new way of being together as a church community. The choir will sing – with some guest appearances you won’t want to miss; children and youth will be with us and we’ll share in a story for all; we’ll join in meditation and prayer and care, and we’ll ask each other – Can you feel a brand new day? Is today a day when you can feel it? Is today a day when you feel something else – worry or fear or sadness or grief? Is today a day the community can hold the hope of a brand new day with and for you? Does this day – like all days – hold it all?

Words of Welcome- Rev. Karen Hutt (:28)

Calling Our Ancestors- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (4:38)

Anthem- Everybody Rejoice from “The Wiz” by Luther Vandross (arr. Pete Eklund) - First Universalist Choir and Band, Dr. Randal Buikema, conductor (12:06)

Story for All Ages- Where Are You From?- Lauren Wyeth and Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (16:38)

Meditation and Cycle of Life- Rev. Jen Crow (22:20)

Message- Building a New Way- Rev. Jen Crow (33:50)

Music for Going- Sing Out, My Soul by Marques L. A. Garrett- First Universalist Choir and Band, Dr. Randal Buikema, conductor (46:15)

 

October 24, 2021- Be Your Note: Journeys into Prayer

“…sometimes, it can take a long time to sound like yourself.” -Miles Davis

This Sunday, Oct. 24, we lead a journey of creative prayer practices. There is no one way to pray, or a specific word you must remember. There are many ways to focus the mind and tune the heart to love.

We’ll share music and stories. We’ll have fun together, making space to call the wisdom in each of us, until we hear the singing from within.

 

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

Story- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (2:37)

Hymn- Standin' in the Need of Prayer (6:27)

Invitation into Prayer- Rev. Arif Mamdani and Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (9:09)

Silence, Community Prayer, and Cycle of Life- Rev. Arif Mamdani (17:00)

Poems, Prayers, Meditations- Be Your Note- Rev. Arif Mamdani and Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (25:39)

 

September 26, 2021- When Control Can‘t Carry Us

If we’ve learned anything these last 18 months, we’ve learned that try as we might, we cannot always control how things turn out. If control cannot carry us, then what can? Unitarian Universalist theologian Dr. Sharon Welch suggests that an ethic of risk may be at the center of what allows us to persist in building the world and the lives of love and justice we long for, even in the face of partial victories and continued defeats. Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Franco Holder, Julica Hermann de la Fuente, Rev. Arif Mamdani, Dr. Randy Buikema, and the First Universalist Choir lead the service.

 

Words of Welcome- Rev. Arif Mamdani (:30)

Story for All Ages- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (4:43)

Anthem- The Road Home by Stephen Paulus- First Universalist Choir, Dr. Randal Buikema- conductor

Message- When Control Can't Carry Us- Julica Hermann de la Fuente

 

Vocalists: Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Aimee K. Bryant

Pianist: Franco Holder