Our building has been a hub of activity these past few weeks. We've hosted multiple holiday services from Solstice to Remembrance Sunday. We've been home to families experiencing homelessness, we've supported Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism, and we've cared for each other and our larger community. All of these things happened because hundreds of you put our Universalist vision of love and hope into action by sharing your time, talent, and financial resources within and beyond these walls. 

Our building is a bustling place, a resource for our congregation and our community, and as we've been doing the work of being the church, we've also been hard at work studying our spaces, deciding what changes we can make to our physical space that will allow us to be even more welcoming, accessible, and inclusive of both our First Universalist and larger Minneapolis community. 

Our building project, Not For Ourselves Alone: Building an Inclusive Future , is moving quickly now, and we are getting close to being able to share more concrete details. While things are always fluid with a construction project, there are a few things that are clear:

• We continue to keep our focus on fulfilling the original intent of our capital campaign - improving accessibility and hospitality, improving worship and religious education spaces, and securing our financial future. The money we have raised, which totals over $4.5 million, will allow us to do so much! 
• We expect to move out of our building in most ways after our annual meeting on May 31 and return to a fully remodeled space in time for Water Communion and the start of religious education classes in the fall.
• We have paid off our mortgage and do not intend to take out a new one. 
• We will complete many critical repairs (roofing, electrical, HVAC) and create a new, central accessible entrance.
• Our sanctuary will be refreshed - including new paint, flooring, lighting, electrical work, audio visual equipment, ceiling repair, the creation of an accessible chancel, and installation of a hearing loop. 
• We will be building and renovating with a focus on environmental and racial justice - looking for ways to reduce the environmental impact of our building and putting our vendor policy to work in the hiring of all contractors and subcontractors. 
• For the first time since we became a Sanctuary Congregation more than two years ago, we will have a living space designed to house individuals and families at risk of deportation, and will no longer need to rely on make-shift arrangements in a crowded building. 
• There will be work for us to do this summer! As we look at ways to save money and achieve more of our dreams, we will need to put in our time, energy, and resources. There will be opportunities for additional financial gifts to add in hoped-for improvements, and there will be lots of opportunities to help with packing, cleaning, moving, painting, and even some demolition. I'm looking forward to working with you as we make our dreams a reality. 

This is who we are, and this is what we do. We take the mission and vision of our church - sharing the Universalist spirit of love and hope - and we make it real. I'm so glad to be in this community, doing the work of the church with all of you.

In gratitude,
Rev. Jen

Co-Senior Minister

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Hearing the stories of the tragic realities of people who are new to this country, or who have been deported after being here a long time, is a heartbreaking spiritual challenge for me.   Sometimes I question whether I can hold their devastating stories of loss and trauma because they bring up all the ways our racist, patriarchal, economic and colonial systems are continuing to cause great harm to so many people daily.

 

Then something happens - I will call them 'miracles' - that let me know the web of life is holding us with love, and this encourages and strengthens me. Here is a story of the most recent. At the end of this story if you are moved to step in to help, please call me, Denise Konen, at 952-836-4917.

 

Just before Christmas, I received an email from a local minister and organizer asking if our Sanctuary and Resistance team at First U could support a local immigrant in distress. What was unusual about this request was how it crossed countries and this nation to get to me. It started with a woman from Minneapolis who was at a meeting of her faith in Mexico. One of the attendees was the father of a man from Minneapolis, who was deported to his birth country. He was worried for his two teenage grandchildren who live in Minnesota with his son's partner. The stress of all that had happened - a child's illness and hospitalization, her long work hours at a minimum wage job and the mounting bills, no matter how many hours she worked - led to the mother's hospitalization. No one could reach her, and it was assumed her children were on their own.

 

The woman who was in Mexico called a woman from her denomination in Boston to ask who could help. She was referred to a UU minister in Boston, who then contacted the UU minister in Minneapolis, who connected me with the woman who had met the grandfather in Mexico. If that is not a miracle of love and connection, I don't know what it is!  

 

Unable to get a hold of the mom over the holidays because her phone was disconnected, I tried other ways to find her. I texted with dad in his home country to get the address and decided to go to her home. I showed up at her place last week with a grant from the Sanctuary & Resistance Immigrant Fund. She was grateful to receive this gift, with no strings attached. It brought hope at a moment when she really needed it. She lost her job and is soon to be evicted. Someone whose child knew her son has taken in the two kids for now. She has been through a lot and yet has the resilience and readiness to get a new job and find a place to live. But she can't do it alone. She is overwhelmed and gave me permission to send this out. She is asking for support from people who care and want to help her get back on her feet.  

 

Here's where you come in - if this is something that calls to you. You can volunteer to do one thing or several. She needs someone to accompany her as she looks for an apartment and a job; donations of cat litter, cat food and gas cards; help with talking to the phone company; and connections to community resources. She is very capable and speaks good enough conversational English, but doesn't understand our complex systems. If anyone is going to Chicago, she needs a ride to the consulate there. If you can help her connect with resources in the Richfield/Bloomington area please let me know. If someone can provide housing temporarily, that would be awesome! She needs what any of us wants when something like this happens  - a friend or several to step in to help.  

 

Someone reminded me this week that Rev. Jen says, "We've got this - together." Yes, we do.