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December 20, 2018 | Vol. 5 No. 51
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"Is it beyond thee to turn with the turning of the season?"
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Rev. Jen Crow |
"Is it beyond thee to turn with the turning of the season?"
This is the question my mentor asked during my first winter in Minnesota. We were making the turn into the deep darkness of December. I had admitted that it was harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning, that all I really wanted to do was retreat into my tiny apartment and eat rice and light candles. I wondered out loud how I would possibly enjoy the holidays when my relationship with my family was strained, I was out of money and living alone, not entirely by choice, and new in town. I wondered how I could be the minister telling the story of light in the darkness when I wasn't sure I believed the story myself. My mentor's reply came as it often did - a single line of poetry that felt like an incomprehensible riddle.
Is it beyond thee to turn with the turning of the season?
What the heck was that supposed to mean?
It turns out that this question is a riff on a line of poetry I can never seem to find again even though the question stays with me. Looking back now, this is what I think he meant: Of course you are tired. Of course you want to cocoon in, burrow down, light the candles and stay warm. Of course you are worried and wondering if the age old stories of light and miracles and a vulnerable baby born in a barn have any application to this world and your life. The darkness - this predictable every year darkness and this predictable every year cold is why the stories exist. Because all of us need them and we have for thousands and thousands of years. We all doubt. We all worry. We all struggle and wonder if the light will ever return. And you are no different, no matter your job title or your role or the configuration of your family or whether you have money or not. You are one among many and the stories have the power to capture your imagination, your need and your longing, too. Surrender, dear one. Allow yourself to be just like everyone else - affected by love and loss and light and darkness. Trust what the ancestors know - that each year, every year, the light returns.
So friends, I ask: Is it beyond thee to turn with the turning of the season?
What might this mean for you?
I wish you love and light and comfort even through the longest nights of the year, trusting that the ancestors and all of us here at church are with you as each of us is impacted in our own way by the turning of the year.
In gratitude,
Rev. Jen
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| SUNDAY WORSHIP AT FIRST UNIVERSALIST CHURCH |
Sunday, Dec. 23, 9:30 & 11:15 a.m.
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"Coffee Klatch" by Ricardo Levins Morales (image used with permission)
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"Spiritual Survival"
Rev. Jen Crow
Creating and finding sanctuary are spiritual survival skills. In this time when so much is broken and so many of us feel broken, how can we create sanctuary for ourselves and others? Come and know again the light that can shine through the broken places in us all.
Please join us for worship at 9:30 or 11:15 a.m.!
Please note: there will be no childcare or Religious Education for children and youth this Sunday during worship services.
December Worship Theme: Sanctuary
In ancient times, finding an inn was more than finding a place to spend the night. Certainly, the inn was a place for the traveler to rest, but it also provided safety and healing to the wayfaring stranger. There were no hospitals in those times,
so the inn functioned as one. It was a place to tend to the physical body, and to gather one's spiritual resources for the continuing journey. When we hear the story of the Nativity, when an innkeeper provided a place for the Christ child to be born, perhaps we could imagine ourselves as the innkeeper, and our church as the inn, a place of respite and healing, a sanctuary. This is one of our strengths as a faith community. We are a sanctuary, a place one can go to find health, healing and community. When people ask, "What do you believe?" We might respond: "Come with me to a place on 34th and Dupont Avenue South. This is a place where people are nourished, where people begin ministries, where people invest in something beyond self interest, growing in community and ever widening circles of compassion." As writer and theologian Gary Gunderson writes: "I may have trouble articulating
what
I believe; it is easy to say
where
I believe." This month we explore the
where
of what we believe.
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Sunday, Dec. 30, 10 a.m. only
Lead Minister: Rev. Karen Hutt
Sunday, Jan. 6, 9:30 & 11:15 a.m.
Remembrance Sunday
Lead Minister: Rev. Justin Schroeder
The Visual Arts Committee has added holiday flourishes to our worship spaces and around the church building for the month of December - with best wishes to the congregation.
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December 16, 2018
Vivaldi's Gloria
First Universalist Choir
"Stories of Sanctuary"
Rev. Ruth MacKenzie
December 9, 2018
"The Sanctuary Is Burning"
Rev. Karen Hutt
December 2, 2018
"Finding Sanctuary in Each Other"
Rev. Elaine Aron Tenbrink
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Winter Solstice Celebration
Friday, Dec. 21, 7:30 p.m. (7 p.m. doors)
Celebrate the longest night of the year and rejoice in the returning of the sun at our 38th annual Winter Solstice Celebration. The ritual begins at 7:30 p.m., and the sanctuary doors open at 7 p.m.
The ritual celebration includes chants, solstice heritage and wisdom, a call to the directions, time spent in the darkness, music, and celebrating the returning of light.
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Christmas Pageants
Sunday, Dec. 23 & Monday, Dec. 24, 4 p.m.
Our annual Christmas Pageant is a beautiful telling of an ancient story. It is a tale of hope and hospitality, a reminder that every child is born a redeemer, a story that speaks to us all of what it means to be a seeker, a star, a wise one, a wanderer.
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Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Monday, Dec. 24, 9:30 p.m.
The Candlelight Service at First Universalist is a time of mindfulness, meaning making and music. This service is a weaving of scripture readings, poems, musical offerings, silence, and lighting our hearts and spirit with the candlelight and hope.
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Worship on Sunday, Dec. 30 will be held at 10 a.m. only. Join us for our annual post-Christmas Singing Sunday, a multigenerational service led this year by Rev. Karen Hutt.
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One Heart, One Mind:
A powerful conversation among diverse advocates to strengthen solidarity
Saturday, Jan. 5, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Social Hall
Diverse advocates and proponents of climate change and environmental and racial justice, water protection and like-minded initiatives: is it time for us to imagine strengthening our solidarity - intentionally? How can we manifest one heart and one mind? Join us in a powerful conversation led by Native American elder, Lemoine Lapoint, and his sons, Wakinyan and Thorne. Lunch included. Sign up by January 2 with John Saxhaug at john_saxhaug@yahoo.com.
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Remembrance Sunday
Sunday, Jan. 6, 9:30 & 11:15 a.m.
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. You're invited to bring a photo or memento of a loved one(s) you are remembering to the sanctuary for our shared altar on Sunday, Jan. 6.
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Thank You to the First Universalist Choir!
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Soloists:
Marybeth Hoelzer, Fawzia Khan, Tony Meysenburg, Willow Wiedenhoeft
Choir Members: Janet Avery, Margit Berg, Kira Berglund, Fran Bieganek, Angela Bowles Edwards, Theresa Brinkhaus, Judy Broad, Peter Brower, Alison Cerier, Bridget Cerny, Shelley des Islets, Ray Dillon, Nancy Duncan, Alix Dvorak, Grace Fremont, Valerie Garber, Nancy Gaschott, Mary Gitschier McCarthy, Pat Gottschalk, Bonnie Gray, Gail Griffin, Steve Grove, Wilbur Hannan, Anna Hayek, Carol Hiniker, Marybeth Hoelzer, Laurel Johnson, Ann Johnson, Ann Kay, Susan M. Keller, Anna Kennedy, Fawzia Khan, Ellen Kluz, Reid Knuttila, Jason Kwiat, Geoff Lenox, Bill McBean, Anne M. McBean, Tony Meysenburg, Linda Neuman, Nate Ott, Nora Page, Ron Parker, Nancy Paxson, Dave Paxson, David Peichel, Julie Ploetz, Louis Quast, Richard Rames, Jean Ramlow, Jim Ramnaraine, Weld Ransom, Cheryl Ritenbaugh, Dick Rueter, Pat Ryan, Susan Schultz, Martha Scott Johnson, Kate Seybold, Sarah Sheehan, Lisa Sinclair, June Sroufe, Alan Sroufe, Lynne Stanley, Deborah Talen, Tyler Tracy, Tina Wade, Cora Walsh, Willow Wiedenhoeft, and Judith Wright.
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Habitat for Humanity 2019 Winter Work Days
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First Universalist has three Habitat for Humanity work days coming up in early 2019, and we'd love to have you on the crew! The dates are Thursdays, Jan. 10, Feb. 14 and March 14.
Volunteers must be at least 16, and sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds must be accompanied by an adult. The work day is from 8:15 a.m. until 4 p.m., and lunch will be provided.
Worried that you don't know much about building and using tools? No worries! Your fellow volunteers and the Habitat site supervisor are there to help you.
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Calendar year 2018 is quickly coming to an end. If you would like to make a financial gift prior to the end of the year, donations must be transferred, postmarked, made online or dropped off at the church office no later than Monday, Dec. 31. Please be aware that the church office will be closed Friday, Dec. 21 through Wednesday, Jan. 1. Contributions can be dropped off in person with a staff member at the information desk in the social hall before or after services on Sundays, Dec. 23 and 30. If you have questions, contact Chelsea Bertsch at 612-825-1701 ext. 107 or chelsea@firstuniv.org. Thank you to all for your ongoing support and generosity to First Universalist Church!
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December Board of Trustees Meeting
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The Board of Trustees meets this evening, Thursday, Dec. 20, at 6:30 p.m. You may view this month's board packet, as well as board meeting materials from past months, here.
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Join the UU Church of Tucson in Border Ministry
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First Universalist's Sanctuary and Resistance team is organizing a small group of folks to volunteer with No Más Muertes, a humanitarian aid group, in the borderlands for a week in March. We are looking for people to join us.
No Más Muertes, or No More Deaths, is a ministry of the UU church of Tucson, AZ. Their mission is to "end death and suffering in the borderlands through civil initiative." Their Desert Aid program distributes water, food, and supplies on known migration routes in the Sonoran Desert, and provides emergency medical care to any folks they encounter. Volunteers spend a week camping in the desert, driving and hiking to do supply drops. "We see volunteering as an opportunity to directly serve people in migration, build solidarity between a borderland church and our own, and learn new ways to strengthen our sanctuary and resistance practices."
The week we are applying to volunteer is March 16-22. No Más Muertes requires volunteers to fill out an application, which is due January 1st. The application requires some short-answer questions and a letter of reference. Because the due date is so soon, please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested in volunteering. Email Justine at
ju.jones1515@gmail.com
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 UUs have been knitting hats for the homeless and those in need for the past ten years. Our hats are distributed to neighborhood schools and social service agencies working with those in need. It is not too late to pick up your knitting needles and make a few hats! If you're not a knitter, consider purchasing some hats or donating clean and gently used hats. This year we have received many requests for hats/mittens for elementary school kids. This is our greatest need.
Our donation basket is by the elevator at church and will be there through the end of January. For more information and patterns, check out the
Hats for the Homeless blog.
Pictured:
UUs gather at the yarn shop to count, sort, and deliver hats. From left to right:
Barb Melom, Dick Rueter, Bill Howard, Julie Howard.
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AUW Women's Spring Retreat - Save the Date
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The Association of Universalist Women is planning another wonderful women's spring retreat. Mark your calendar now!
WHEN: April 12-14, 2019. Last year's unexpected snow storm gave some of us the opportunity to stay a THIRD night, and we loved it. Therefore, this year there will be an option of staying an extra night until the 15th.
THEME
: Our Stories Anew: What is needed now?
WHO
: Featuring Rev. Kelli Clement (keynote) and Rev. Karen Hutt
WHERE
: Koinonia Retreat Center, South Haven
WORKSHOPS
: If you have an idea for a workshop, contact Kathy Urberg at
Kathyurberg@gmail.com
HOW TO REGISTER
: Stay tuned - registration information coming by February
QUESTIONS
: Contact Kit Ketchum
kitketchum@hotmail.com
or Martha Easter-Wells
mm3second@aol.com
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Thanks for Donations for Augsburg Fairview Academy!
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Thanks to the many congregants who have generously donated food and winter clothing to the students of Augsburg Fairview Academy (AFA) - you make a difference!
First Universalist is the primary sponsor of Food and Clothing Closets at Augsburg Fairview Academy, a public charter high school located within two miles of church. The 100+ high school students come from diverse backgrounds including African American, Somali, and Native American. Many are homeless or marginally housed during the school year. We are experiencing a higher than typical need for food this year and your contributions of the following are gratefully received:
- Microwavable single serving dinners
- Snacks: granola bars, fruit cups, small packages of nuts or raisins, crackers
- Winter teen clothing: winter jackets, scarves, gloves and hats; hoodies, jeans (clothing in good repair, clean, and teen appropriate)
- Winter toiletries: chapstick and lotions, men's and women's deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste, ethnic hair products, sanitary products, condoms
Bring items to the Hub on Sundays or drop off during the week at the shelves labeled for AFA by the 34th Street entrance.
Thank you for your generosity!
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| RESOURCES & CONTACT INFORMATION |
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Cycle of Life and Pastoral Care
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We hold in our hearts
Marcia Cole and her children, Ed and Eleanor,
as they mourn the death of
Gregg Giswold
. Gregg was a beloved husband and father, and prayers are welcome during this tender time. A memorial service for Gregg will be held on
Saturday, Dec. 22 at 1:30 p.m. in the
Sanctuary.
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Let Us Keep You in Our Thoughts and Prayers
If you are experiencing a crisis or transition, or celebrating a joy, please let us know. To be included in our Cycle of Life each Sunday in worship, contact Sandy DiNanni at
sandy@firstuniv.org or 612-825-1701. If you would like support, call the office at 612-825-1701 or contact any member of our
Pastoral Visitors Team.
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Congregational Care: Caring Corner
Write a note to a congregant who could use support! There are cards available in the library, which is located off of the Social Hall. You are welcome to stop by and write a card at any time. Just leave it in the basket and the church will mail it for you. Learn more about congregational care on our website.
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Planned Giving & the Heritage Circle
Please let us know
when you designate First Universalist Church as a beneficiary in your will or estate plan so we can thank you for your generous commitment and welcome you to the Heritage Circle. The church office and the Planned Giving Committee can help you. Learn more on our website.
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Join Our Mailing List
Subscribe to
The Weekly Liberal
here.
Sign up to receive our weekly Children Youth & Family Ministries news
here.
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Church Office Hours
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Sundays 9
a.m.-1 p.m.
Mondays-Thursdays 9
a.m.-8 p.m.
Closed Fridays and Saturdays
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The Weekly Liberal
is compiled and edited by Communications Manager Jenn Stromberg. Past issues, deadlines, and policies can be found on our
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.
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Contact Us
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First Universalist Church of Minneapolis
3400 Dupont Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-825-1701
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First Universalist Church of Minneapolis
3400 Dupont Avenue S.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-825-1701
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