Last Saturday afternoon, I was blessed to attend the Coming of Age Ceremony at First Universalist Church. During the ceremony, 31 of our 9th graders shared their "Statements of Faith" with the congregation, statements they've spent the year working on, articulating what they believe about community, human nature, God, death, and more. With heartfelt insight, courage, honesty, and the wisdom won from mining one's own life, these 9th graders brought laughter, tears, challenge and comfort to my soul. Hearing their voices and listening to their beautifully crafted statements was a lifeline for me -- their words cut through the noise, despair and blather of our time. Each statement had little nuggets of truth that I have squirreled away in my heart. Many of these youth were in their first year of formal Religious Education as preschool "Chalice Children" when I started my ministry at First Universalist; on Saturday, they ministered to me and to the gathered community. 

This Sunday, May 19, is Youth Sunday, and the entire service will be led by our high school youth. We'll hear homilies and reflections from our 10-12th graders, as they speak to the "threshold moments" they are crossing in their own lives.

If you're looking for hope, insight, laughter, and the power of our faith alive in the world, come this Sunday, and listen to what really matters -- the stories, experience and religious truth as it lives in our youth. You won't be disappointed.

I'll see you in church!

With care,

Justin

The term "mama" is ubiquitous worldwide. It can be uttered as a request, heard as a demand, or yelled in joy or loss. But no matter what, it is a word fraught with complexity, for mamas (and their children) are people with deep and complex relationships. Listen to Rev. Karen Hutt's humorous and heartbreaking meditation on mamas. To accompany your listening, watch the poem highlighted in her sermon, The Wide Spectrum of Mothering by Amy Young. 

Listen to our Sunday Service podcast here.

Today, Thursday, May 16, Rosita Lux will have her bond hearing in San Diego where she has been in detention since January of this year upon entering the U.S. seeking asylum. Rosita, 24, is an indigenous transgender woman from Guatemala. She has endured abuse in her own country, and en route to the border. Once her bond is set, our asylum team and a group in San Diego,  El Otro Lado, will pull together the bond payment. If all goes as planned she will be here in Minnesota, in the care and sponsorship of First Universalist, within about ten days. We will update you next week about how her hearing went. We don't know much more about Rosita than what is noted above, but we do know: She wants to come to Minnesota and hoped there would be snow when she arrived. She speaks her indigenous language, is fluent in Spanish and is confident about learning English. She has only the clothes on her back and detention issued crocs. She loves dogs and is less wild about cats. She likes to bike.

So far, we have sent money to the commissary for incidentals and a phone call to her mother. We will soon be helping with bond and travel expenses. Stay tuned next week for more information about Rosita and about how you can support this effort. Questions? Thoughts? Contact  Ingrid Young at   ingrina99@yahoo.com , or Chuck LeGros at chuck@LeGrosScientific.com  .

Please consider joining in. We need about 75 volunteers in all (15 per day). Volunteers must be over sixteen years of age, 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 every day by members of the congregation. 

Concerned that you don't know much about building or using tools? No worries! All you need is a willingness to learn and to work hard to help a deserving family in our community achieve the dream of owning a home.