Dear Jenn,

I am sorry to say that in conversation with our Board and after carefully studying the church’s financial situation and the impact of the significant reduction in annual giving commitments we’ve received this year, it became clear that in order for our church to be financially sustainable, reductions in staffing must be made. All of these decisions were incredibly difficult. As you know, all of our staff members believe in the mission and vision of the church, all are highly skilled, and everyone has given deeply of themselves, especially over these last three years. Each of our staff members are needed and wanted, and with the direction of our Board, I have made a series of decisions that impact us all, most especially those staff members most deeply affected and the programs and ministries they serve. 

The position of Communications Manager, held with such skill and dedication by Jenn Stromberg for almost 8 years, is being eliminated effective Wednesday, June 13. Jenn was instrumental in our move to online worship and connections throughout Covid, and through her work has offered a lifeline to so many of us. We are so very grateful for her dedication, skill, and commitment to First Universalist, and we are so very sad about her departure from our staff. Please do send your notes of thanks to Jenn at jenns@firstuniv.org or to the church office prior to June 13. If you’d like to send a note of gratitude after that time, please send them to my attention and I’ll make sure that Jenn receives them. I am grateful that the church will be able to offer three months of severance, including full pay and benefits, as Jenn adjusts to this loss and moves on to what is next. 

I am also sad to report that we will not be filling the position of Youth Coordinator, held through June 30 by Emma Paskewitz. With more than 400 children and youth registered in our religious education programming, and with dynamic and connecting programs like Neighboring Faiths, Our Whole Lives sexuality education, Coming of Age, and Senior High Youth Group, we’ll be moving into a new model of leadership and responsibility for the program areas Emma led, while also hiring a new Interim Director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministries. As a congregation, your willingness to serve and lead, as well as your encouragement of all who work and volunteer in our Youth Ministries, will be very important in the year ahead. 

In the care of our building, we will also be decreasing staffing. Many of you know Tracy Van Epps and Richard Thomas, who care for our building and all of us with such dedication. Beginning July 1, both of their positions, along with their pay and benefits, will be significantly reduced. We are grateful that they have both agreed to stay on staff even with these losses. Their combined knowledge of our building and programs, and of so many of us, is a tremendous gift. 

These last few years have been times of enormous change. Crisis and opportunity have gone hand in hand, and so have grief and gratitude. What it means to go to work, to school, to be in community have all changed. Who is here—in our families, workplaces, friend groups, and our church—has changed. How we connect has changed, and our patterns and rhythms are different than they were just a year ago, and three years ago. The pace of change and loss on the larger scale has been exhausting and overwhelming for many of us. And these changes have offered opportunities to reset our lives with intention, whether the changes in front of us were chosen ones or not. 

Here at church, we’ve experienced change and loss in so many ways. Like congregations across the country, our worship life and the ways we interact with each other changed dramatically, moving first to all online and then to online and in-person. Just as many of us began to be able to come to church in person more often, conflict around the termination of our Director of Choral Arts resulted in the loss of our beloved choir. We continue to feel the pain of the fraying of these relationships, and that we have lost these musical contributions impacts us all. 

As Rev. Ruth used to say, each loss rings the bell of all the losses we have known, so even as we say goodbye to Lauren Wyeth, Director of Spiritual Growth for all Ages, and Emma Paskewitz, Youth Programs Coordinator, and Jenn Stromberg, Communications Manager, we remember, too, the losses of leadership and relationship that came with the departures of Rev. Ruth, Rev. Justin, and Julica. This Sunday, we will also say goodbye to our Cummins Ministerial Intern, Lóre Stevens, as she completes her learning with us and moves on to serve the Foothills UU Fellowship in Maryville, TN. 

As we allow the waves of these changes to roll through us, may our hearts know the grief and gratitude that so often move together—and even as we say goodbye—may we choose again and again, as the poet Adrienne Rich wrote, to cast our lot with each other, “who age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.”

In gratitude,

Rev. Jen

Rev. Jen Crow

Senior Minister

First Universalist Church of Minneapolis

Intro

Grief and Gratitude

Sunday Worship

Sunday, June 11, 10 a.m.: "Freedom: Not for Ourselves Alone"

Happening After Worship

Sunday, June 4 Recording: Flower Communion

June 4 Cycle of Life

News & Features

Annual Meeting is June 11

GA Delegates

Worship Associate Applications Due June 14

Joyce Food Shelf

Calendar

Sanctuary Mural Image Ideas Brainstorm Session

Summer Sunday Kickoff

REP Skill Share: Podmapping

June Board Meeting

Newcomers Circle

Community Events & Affiliated Organizations:

MUUSJA, AUW, 12-Step Spirituality

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Sunday, June 11 — 10 a.m.

"Freedom: Not for Ourselves Alone"

Summer Sundays have begun! Join us for a single worship service—in-person and online—at 10 a.m.

In these days when the circle of who has autonomy over their body and what history we can teach in our classrooms grows smaller and smaller, we are called to remember that freedom is not freedom if it is for the individual, alone. Freedom is individual and collective—a personal experience and decision, and a collective commitment, experience, and responsibility. Universalism invites us to draw the circle wide, and draw it wider still. What does our faith require of us when the circle of freedom is shrinking in our society?

Worship leaders: Rev. Jen Crow, Lóre Stevens, Rev. Ashley Harness, Aimee K. Bryant, and Franco Holder



ORDER OF SERVICE

IN PERSON AT 10 A.M. (masks welcome but not required)

This Sunday, we worship in person at 10 a.m. Masks are welcome but not required in the sanctuary; please review our newly updated Covid-19 Gathering Guidelines. 

ONLINE AT 10 A.M.

This service is live-streamed at 10 a.m. Join the Zoom livestream here (Webinar ID: 861 805 984) or watch on YouTube. The recording will be available here after worship.

CHILDREN & YOUTH

Childcare for Nursery through Pre-K starts at 9:45 a.m. Elementary age kids begin their morning with their families in the sanctuary before being dismissed for crafts, games, and play. All ages are always welcome in the sanctuary. Learn more here.

Summer Sunday Kickoff

11 a.m.–noon, Under the Tent

Enjoy bagels, fruit, and ice cream as you learn about the variety of ways to get involved at church this summer. 

Annual Meeting of the Membership

Noon–1:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary & online

Sunday, June 4: Flower Communion

Every Sunday is Pride Sunday here. We celebrate and support our queer and trans beloveds.

We remember Pride began as a riot. This celebration you can now commemorate by picking up a t-shirt at Target began with a riot, with resistance, by those with the most to lose and the most to gain saying "no" to harassment and harm at the hands of the state.

You are whole and holy. In this year when legal protections of our trans and queer siblings are rolling back faster than we can keep count and as homegrown terrorists like the Proud Boys threaten to attack Pride festivals around the country, we will keep showing up in love and solidarity. Because we are all made whole and holy.

In this service, we celebrate Flower Communion, making a beautiful arrangement with flowers brought by congregants. At the end, each person takes a different flower with them as a gift and reminder of beauty in our unity and difference. This special ritual has been performed for years at First Universalist. And this year marks the 100th anniversary of the very first Flower Communion ever!



Watch the June 4 service here

Listen to the June 4 podcast here

Podcast Archive | Recording Archive 

We celebrate with Kelsey and Jason Kelley as their family grows larger by two. Kelsey and Jason welcomed twins into their family: Henry Jason Kelley and Anders Clove Kelley. Everyone is healthy and doing well and they appreciate the congregation’s care and well wishes.

If you are experiencing a crisis or transition, celebrating a joy­ or marking a sorrow, please let us know. To be included in our Cycle of Life on Sunday in worship, or if you would like support, contact Rev. Arif Mamdani at arif@firstuniv.org or 612-825-1701.

Members: please mark your calendar and plan to attend our multi-platform (in-person and online) Annual Meeting of the Membership, scheduled for Sunday, June 11, 2023, from noon to 1:30 p.m., following our 10 a.m. worship service. This is an important meeting that requires 10% of our voting members to attend to reach quorum. Please make time to join us and be a part of this important congregational process.

Lunch will be served outside under the tent between worship and the annual meeting and all are welcome. 

Friends and non-members are welcome to join us for the annual meeting as observers.

LOCATION

The Annual Meeting will be held in person in the Sanctuary and the meeting will also be live-streamed in meeting mode on Zoom for verified members and on YouTube for non-member observers. 

AGENDA

This year’s business includes: presentation of and vote to approve the proposed 2023-2024 Budget, election of members to the Board of Trustees, Foundation Board, and Nominating Committee, a review of the 2022–23 church year, and a look ahead.

• View the Meeting Agenda
• View the Slate of Candidates

REGISTRATION

Advance registration is requested/strongly recommended for members joining us in person and required for members joining us on Zoom. All members, regardless of plans to attend in-person or online, should register here.

Friends/non-members are welcome to join us to observe the meeting in person or view the livestream on YouTube and do not need to register.

CHECK-IN AND VOTING

Those joining us in person will need to check in and verify their active membership status in order to vote. Advance registration allows membership to be verified ahead of time and avoid the membership verification line at the meeting. Everyone who registers will receive a personalized meeting link after registration (pending verification of membership status) that will allow them to join the Zoom meeting and vote, and you'll automatically have the option to attend either in person or on Zoom. 

A reminder that per our bylaws, only voting members (members in good standing) can vote at the annual meeting. There are two requirements to be a voting member: 1) you need to have officially joined the church, and 2) you have made a pledge or gift in any amount to the current or upcoming annual operating fund or have a ministerial waiver. Please contact Rev. Arif Mamdani at 612-825-1701 ext. 124 or arif@firstuniv.org to inquire about a waiver. 

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR ONLINE ATTENDEES

Online Zoom attendees will vote using the Poll feature in Zoom. Therefore, each member needs to have their own device for voting—you can use a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. If you live in a household with multiple members, please have each member register separately and attend the meeting from their own device so that every member can vote individually.

After registering and once your membership has been verified by staff, you will receive a confirmation email from Zoom containing information about joining the Zoom meeting. Please save this, as you'll need your personalized credentials to access the Zoom meeting on June 11.

MEETING MATERIALS

You can find meeting materials, including the meeting agenda and slate of candidates, here on our website. The Annual Report, the proposed budget, and additional materials will be added on Friday.

This is a time when we celebrate a year of growth and challenges and conduct the business of this church that only church members can do. We need a quorum to conduct the meeting—please give us the gift of your time so that we may complete this work!

Thank you,

Daryn and Matt

Daryn Woodson

President, Board of Trustees

Matt Keller

Secretary, Board of Trustees

Interested in being a delegate from our congregation at UUA General Assembly 2023? Delegates are church members who play an important role in the annual business meeting of the UUA, which this year includes voting on the the budget, the Proposed Revision to Article II, and the presidential election. You may participate as a delegate if you're already registered for GA, or, you may attend as a "business only registrant," which does not include access to GA programming.

Our church votes on delegates at the Annual Meeting, and historically has passed a resolution to include any delegates who opt into being a delegate after the meeting. Each congregation is allotted a limited number of delegate slots, and there are still several remaining open for our congregation. 

Contact Membership Coordinator Liz Farmer to be included on the list of delegates to be named at the Annual Meeting, and to receive your delegate packet. 

A note from Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout:

I’m excited to invite you to consider applying to become a worship associate here at First Universalist, as we at once re-start a once vibrant program here and create its new place in our community from the ground up.

Worship associates are members of our community who serve as worship leaders with our current worship team. Associates participate in selecting worship themes throughout the year. They each contribute to the planning of worship services, having a voice in shaping what the community experiences together on Sunday mornings. Associates prepare words for different elements of worship and lead the congregation in service 2–4 times a year. They join the worship team in reflecting on what’s going well in our services and what ought to be improved. 

Before the beginning of the church year, worship associates come together to get to know the worship planning and leadership process here at First Universalist, and to train in important skills like what makes a great worship theme, speaking in public, and writing for worship. Along the way of their terms of service, worship associates will work closely with me (as well as with our ministers leading worship), receiving feedback to encourage and strengthen their worship leading technique and help them to become steadily more comfortable and proficient on the chancel. 

Worship associates are a vital part of how the community helps to build its own worship experience. Associates are valued members of the worship team and leaders in the community. They represent our community’s diversity of age, race, socio-economic background, spiritual perspective, culture. Still, the team will be united by a common love for our community, an investment in its worship, and an earnest desire to help build it up. 

If you’re interested in becoming a worship associate here, I invite your application to the program for the coming year. Applications are being accepted through June 14, 2023, with our initial gathering to happen in July. 

Submitted by Velma Wagner

Part of my ministry at church is to deliver donations to the Joyce Food Shelf which serves our neighbors who have food insecurity. You can drop off nonperishable food on the shelves at the Dupont entry. Right now they especially need toothbrushes/paste, ramen, wipes, canned goods and paper grocery bags with handles.

On a monthly basis Joyce Food Shelf serves around 900 households with 60,000 pounds of food. The shoppers come from all over the city, but the majority are from zip codes 55408 and 55407. About 40% speak Spanish as a native language, and another 10% are from West Africa. Here is their annual report with detailed information on the organization.

Saturday, June 10, 10 a.m.–noon in the Cummins Room

We hope you join us in the Cummins Room this Saturday, June 10, to share your ideas for images to be included in two murals being created for our sanctuary. Artist Melodee Strong will be leading the brainstorming session. We want to be proud of our murals and to have them represent many aspects of our congregational life. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate.

The colorful mural pictured above, located in Tartan High School in Oakdale, Minn., is one of many collaborative murals that artist Melodee Strong has created.

Sunday, June 11, 11 a.m.–noon, Under the Tent

Summer at First U is all about gathering outside, trying on a regular spiritual practice, and getting to know one another better! At this kickoff event between worship and the Annual Meeting, enjoy bagels, fruit, and ice cream as you learn about the variety of ways to get involved and get connected at church this summer. 

Thursday, June 15, 6:30–9 p.m.

Tuesday, June 20, 6:30–7:30 p.m. on Zoom

Join First Universalist's Care Companion Team for a Zoom Skill Share from Relationships Evolving Possibilities [REP] on podmapping for care companions and others interested in building communities of care and support. 

The skill of podmapping helps us think about how to loop together a community of care for times of crisis, mutual support, and connection. This is helpful for those who provide care professionally, for family, or other community members, because in order to offer care to others we need a strong network ourselves for support. Podmapping is also a skill we can share with colleagues, family members, and friends to help them link up the networks of care and support that they need as well.

Join here. You do not need to be a member of the First U Care Team to attend the virtual skill share event. 

Wednesdays, June 21, 28, July 12, 19, 6:15–7:45 p.m. at church

REGISTER HERE

The Newcomers Circle creates a rich, supportive environment in which to share and grapple with our emerging UU values, theology, identity, and sense of belonging. This 4-session gathering is a caring and structured group to dig deeper into Unitarian Universalism. Newcomers Circle is intended for those who are discerning if they will commit to and continue their spiritual journey at First Universalist. 

Facilitated by First U members Jane Jordan and CT Neal-Herman.

Tuesday, June 13 at 5:30 p.m. on Zoom, is the MN Queer Caucus convening!

MUUSJA is THRILLED to be hosting esteemed state leaders, Senator Scott Dibble and Representative Leigh Finke, with Matt Lewellyn-Otten from OutFrontMN and Rev. Michael Crumpler of UUA Side With Love Uplift (which covers, among other things, the Welcoming Congregations and related gender/repro/LGBTQIA+ justice ministries for UU congregations). REGISTRATION is required for comfort of all participants, here.

AUW sponsors activities for people who identify as women, non-binary and/or gender fluid.

Hiking Group:  Meets most Saturdays at a park or trailhead. For questions, contact Marie Sorenson. June 10, 10 a.m. Bredesen Park. 5901 Olinger Blvd, Edina. Parking lot at south end of park. Nice trail through some trees. June 17, 10 a.m. Richardson Nature Center. 8737 East Bush Lake Rd. Bloomington. Nice asphalt trail. There is out and back trail. Also a longer loop now that snow is gone. Visitor Center at end of trail has toilets. June 24, 10 a.m. Minnehaha Falls. 5000 West River Parkway. Mpls. Meet at the falls. We’ll be taking the easy route from the falls.

Game Group: Meets at the church on the second Thursday of the month to play board games and socialize. Request an invitation to our next meeting and be added to our email list by sending your name and email to Anne Frenchick. Next date: June 8, 7 p.m.

Weekly Happy Hour: This online Zoom gathering is a way to stay connected with AUW friends. We meet at 7 p.m. every Thursday. Hosts are Liz and Carol. Here is the Zoom info to tune in: Evening Happy Hour

Women Who Read: We read books written by women. We host an in-person and a virtual meeting on the fourth Monday of each month. (Note: no virtual meeting in June.) Request an invitation to our next meeting and be added to our email list by sending your name and email address to Abbie Finger. We will be meeting on Monday, June 26 to select our books for the rest of this year and the beginning of next year. There will be NO Zoom meeting in June. Please submit up to four recommendations of books with women authors that you have already read and think would be good for our book group. Please include the following: Name of Book, Author Name, Number of Pages, Number of Copies Available at the Library, If the book is fiction, non-fiction or memoir, Short Description. Recommendations will not be accepted after June 15 so please submit them now. Here is the form to submit. Please email Abbie with any questions. Abbie Finger. June Meeting: We are starting 30 min earlier than usual. Please do not bring any red wine or anything with red sauce. 6-7pm Potluck, 7pm-Sharing of book recommendations, NO Zoom meeting in June 7500 York Ave S, Edina, MN 55435, Social Room

Saturdays, 9:30–10:45 a.m. online via Zoom

This weekly online meeting focuses on people who are actively working in any of 12 Step programs. It is focused on the 11th step through the practice of Centering Prayer Meditation. Meeting details are available at 12stepspirituality.org.



After careful consideration of local and national health guidelines, which have continued to evolve over the past year, and ongoing monitoring of COVID levels in Hennepin County, we have updated our COVID Community Care Policies, as of Sunday, May 21:

• Masking is welcome, but not required, inside the building—including the sanctuary—when Covid community/hospital admission levels in Hennepin County are Low or Medium. Masks will be required inside the building when levels are High.
• High quality KN95/N95 masks are available free of charge for anyone who wishes to use one when in the building.
• Creating an intentionally inclusive space where masking is respected and welcomed without question is all of our responsibility.
• We continue to encourage all who can be vaccinated against Covid-19 to receive the initial vaccination and subsequent boosters to reduce the impact of Covid 19 for each person individually and for our wider community, collectively.
• We continue to ask people to stay home if they are feeling sick. 
• We continue to offer online and multi-platform opportunities for spiritual growth and focus resources on strengthening our online and multi-platform community. 
• We will work with congregants and families on an individual basis to address health and accessibility concerns, and to find creative ways to care for each other and connect. Please reach out to Rev. Ashley Harness to brainstorm together. 

Church Office & Building Access

The church office is open on Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The door bells are not monitored outside of this time. Access to the building at times on other days can be arranged by contacting Jim Poulter, Building & Office Manager, at jim@firstuniv.org.