First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

March 26, 2023- This Isn’t a Crisis; This is Your Life

This isn’t a crisis, this is your life.
These wise words arrived at my mental doorstep a few weeks back, and they stopped me in my tracks. How might I – and we – make space to breathe and reflect, to name and collectively acknowledge the losses and changes that have impacted us all in different ways over the last three years? 

Opening Hymn- Come Sing a Song With Me (:29)

Words of Welcome & Call to Worship- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (3:02)

Time for All Ages- Rev. Jen Crow (7:51)

Breathing Meditation- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (17:47)

Message- This Isn't a Crisis; This is Your Life- Rev. Jen Crow (23:11)

Meditation and Cycle of Life- Rev. Jen Crow (52:28)

Reflection on Stewardship- Shelley des Islets- (57:14)

Invitation to Give and Receive- Rev. Ashley Harness (1:03:18)

Offertory- Light of a Clear Blue Morning by Dolly Parton- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (1:04:13)

Benediction- Rev. Jen Crow (1:08:51)

 

March 19, 2023- A Covenant with Mystery

As Unitarian Universalists, we make covenants all the time. Our relational faith is built on covenant. Join us as we explore what it means to make horizontal and vertical promises to each other and to the oneness of mystery.

Prelude- Seasons of Love, Franco Holder, piano (:23)

Opening Hymn- Gathered Here- Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout (1:14)

Words of Welcome and Land Acknowledgement- Rev. Jen Crow (5:35)

Story for All Ages (11:40)

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

Hymn- For the Earth Forever Turning (23:13)

Reflection on Annual Giving- Ginny MacAninch (26:16)

Practice of Giving and Receiving- Rev. Jen Crow (30:21)

Offertory- The Lovers’ Celebration by James Williams- Franco Holder, piano (32:03)

Reading- from The Sacred Depths of Nature by Ursula Goodenough (34:13)

Anthem- What Wondrous Love is This, setting by John Carter- Franco Holder, piano (37:05)

Message- Guest Minister (39:47)

Hymn- Woyaya (54:04)

Benediction (56:49)

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

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 26, 2023- Embodying Belovedness

This Sunday, February 26, we close our February worship series on “Commitment” with a focus on what our bodies have to teach us. We will commit to practicing embodying our original Belovedness and also sit with the inevitable vulnerability of bodies– our own and each others’. As a part of these practices, we will also honor the anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s death and the founding of the Movement for Black Lives.

Singing to Gather- Breaths (1:21)

Words of Welcome- Rev. Ashley Harness (6:27)

Invitation to Visionary Goals Process- Christa Anders (8:51)

Call to Worship- Rev. Ashley Harness (11:56)

Time for All Ages- Rev. Arif Mamdani (14:00)

Prayer and Meditation- Rev. Arif Mamdani (25:49)

Practice of Generosity- Rev. Arif Mamdani (34:53)

Offertory- Franco Holder, piano (37:00)

Message- Embodying Belovedness- Rev. Ashley Harness (41:15)

Benediction- Rev. Ashley Harness (59:06)

Singing Together- Where You Go, I Will Go by Shoshanna 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)