Dear Jenn,

If you were in church last week during the first service, you heard Dr. Glen Thomas invite me to demonstrate some square dancing. The invitation was inspired by an announcement about the April 16 Square Dance at church (yes, it’s for real, RSVP here—everyone’s welcome, even if you don’t square dance). Square dance is many things, but it is not a solo activity. You need four folks to form a square, and if you’re like me and don’t know what you’re doing, it also really helps to have a caller and music—all of which we’ll have on April 16. 

The story of how the First U square dance came to be is pretty simple. A few months back, some members of the church reached out to me to ask for more opportunities to hang out, socialize, meet new folks, and connect with old friends. We need time to be together with no purpose besides having fun. If you’ve ever come to me with such a question, you know that my response is usually to ask, “Would you be interested in helping to make that happen?” And that’s more or less what happened with the folks who reached out—I said, “Hey, what do you think about a square dance?” and they said “YES!” And thus, a square dance was born. After an invitation in the Liberal for folks who wanted to help organize it, a four-person team of Bill McTeer, Karen Parson, Lisa Sinclair, and Ivy Hanson was formed and here we are!

For my part, I deeply resonate with the desire to have fun: From the bad jokes I sometimes share on the chancel, to the joy and laughter I see at Community Dinners, to the smiles of welcome and gladness I see around coffee in the social hall, or the kids chasing each other around the church between services. And what’s also true is that I, and I think many others, want more. More fun. More laughter. More meals with interesting people who picked this church to call their own. More games. More joy. More liberation. More opportunities to give and receive love. 

So in that spirit, and because food brings people together and is one of my “love languages” I also want to invite you to participate in something else that might, with sufficient interest, become a cook-off. Here’s where it starts. Head on over to this online poll and fill in your answer for this question: “If First Universalist held a cook-off, what food(s) should be in the competition?” 

We’ll let that question percolate for a few weeks, and then we’ll take the top answers and feed them into a weekly voting bracket. Two things will happen at that point: 1) we’ll have a winning food and 2) we’ll have a sense of whether there’s enough interest, as evidenced by voting and “buzz,” to have a cook-off, with judging to take place on June 4 before the church’s Annual Meeting.

So you have three things to do: RSVP for the Square Dance, get your vote in for the foods that should be in our cook-off, and let me know if you want to help organize the cook-off. I promise, it’ll be fun!

In faith,

Rev. Arif

Rev. Arif Mamdani

Associate Minister

First Universalist Church of Minneapolis

Intro

Square Dance, Dad Jokes, and a Cook-Off

Sunday Worship

Sunday, March 12, 9 & 11 a.m.: "The Seeds We Plant"

Happening After Worship

Sunday, March 5 Recording: "Persisting with Love"

March 5 Cycle of Life

News & Features

Visionary Goals Workshops

Soup for the Soul

Leadership Applications Due March 17

Featured Library Books

UU@UN Intergenerational Spring Seminar in Minneapolis

Calendar

Membership Classes

Community Dinner

Daytime Connections

March Board Meeting

ReMembering: Singing Water

LGBT Spirituality

Grief Group



Affiliated Organizations & Community Events

AUW

12-Step Spirituality

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Sunday, March 12 — 9 & 11 a.m.

"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.

Worship leaders: Rev. Arif Mamdani, Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Rev. Ashley Harness, Aimee K. Bryant, and Franco Holder



ORDER OF SERVICE

Don't forget: Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday, which means we "spring forward."

If you need to, set your clocks an hour ahead before bed this Saturday so you're not late to church; see you bright and early on Sunday!

IN PERSON AT 9 & 11 A.M. (masks required in sanctuary)

This Sunday, we worship in person at 9 and 11 a.m. Masks are required in the sanctuary for ages 2 and up; please review our Covid-19 Gathering Guidelines. Can you usher or greet? Sign up here!. Please note that Winter Parking Restrictions (single sided parking) are currently in place in Minneapolis.

ONLINE AT 11 A.M.

This service is live-streamed at 11 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 8:45/10:45 a.m. Registered children and youth in K through 12th grade begin their morning in the sanctuary with their families before being dismissed to Religious Education Classes. All ages are always welcome in the sanctuary! Learn more here.

Pick Up Your Annual Giving Packet

Outside the Sanctuary before & after both worship services

This Sunday, please take a moment to stop at the tables just outside the sanctuary and pick up the envelope addressed to your household! Packets will be available for pick up this Sunday and next; packets that are not picked up will be mailed on Monday, March 20.

From Sunday, March 5: "Persisting with Love"

In this service, we begin our March worship theme, Persistence, with a focus on advocacy. Congregants leading some of our legislative advocacy ministries share their stories along with guest speaker Rev. Terri Burnor, Senior Movement Builder with Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light. We also share a special blessing with and for our trans* beloveds and families who have been under recent attack by legislative measures.  



Watch the March 5 service here

Podcast Archive | Recording Archive 

We hold Julie Gottesleben and Donna Kurimay in our hearts as Donna prepares for knee replacement surgery tomorrow. May her surgery go smoothly and healing be quick and easy.

We join Rick Gravrok in gratitude for a successful knee replacement at Mayo Clinic last Wednesday. He appreciates our prayers for the months of recovery ahead.

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.

The church's Board of Trustees welcomes the whole church community into the important process of Visionary Goals Planning, charting the future of the church for the next five years and beyond.

Envisioning our future is extremely important communal work that asks us to ground ourselves in our values, open our hearts, call upon our wisest selves, and turn our attention to what is moving within, between and beyond us.

The Visionary Goals that come out of this process will guide all the work of the church for at least the next five years. Please give us the gift of your time and attention by signing up for one of the following workshops:

• Monday, March 13, 6:30–8:30 p.m. on Zoom
• Wednesday, March 15, 6:45–8:45 p.m. at church (after the Community Dinner)
• Thursday, March 16, 6:30–8:30 p.m. at church

Sign up for a workshop here.

Free childcare is available when requested a minimum of one week in advance by filling out the form here.

Learn more and watch an Introduction to the Visionary Goals Process here.

Submitted by David Leppik

Have fun making soup, then help serve it for Coffee Hour on Sunday! We’ll be cooking together on Saturday, March 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. This is a great way to make new First Universalist friends or hang out with old ones, and even learn a yummy new recipe.

Sign up here. Questions? Email David at david@leppik.net.

The Nominating Committee is recruiting candidates for leadership positions on the Board of Trustees, Foundation Board, and Nominating Committee for the 2023-2024 church year. We invite and encourage members to nominate themselves to serve in one of these roles. Serving on one of these bodies enables you to represent other church members to ensure that the church moves forward in alignment with its visionary goals. Members have unique opportunities to collaborate with our ministers and other lay leaders to advance the church’s mission! Positions are for a three-year term.

Member of the Board of Trustees: Trustees partner with the congregation and professional staff in shaping the vision and long-term goals of the church. They articulate these aspirations through policy and collaborate with the Senior Minister to see they are fulfilled. A fuller description of the position can be found here. 

Member of First Universalist Foundation Board: Board members serve as stewards of the Foundation endowment. They solicit grant applications, review applications, and select grantees to be awarded funding. A fuller description of the position can be found here.

Member of Nominating Committee: Committee members screen and recommend candidates to the congregation for vacant positions on the Board of Trustees, Foundation Board, and Nominating Committee. A position description can be found here.

Requirements: You must be a member in good standing of the church. Elections occur at the Annual Meeting on Sunday, June 4. Please consider either nominating yourself or encouraging a fellow church member to apply for this important work. 

Applications are due Friday, March 17; the application form can be filled out here.

If you have questions or would like more information, contact Nominating Committee Chair Ray Dillon at dillonrueter@usinternet.com 612-759-5295, or committee members: Jim Ramnaraine, Valerie Garber, Evelyn Browne, and Chad Anderson.

Submitted by Jennifer Kane

We're excited to feature two books on the shelves in our First U library for you to check out!

For adult readers: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, a #1 New York Times Bestseller book, which examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.



For young readers: Astrid and Apollo and the Starry Campout by V.T. Bidania and Dara Lashia Lee, part of a series of books about a set of twins. This one is about facing your fears of the dark.



Please remember to return your library books after one month.

Joining First Universalist is a symbolic, spiritual act of saying “yes” to growing your soul in this place, with these people, within our free faith tradition. Our membership class offers a chance to inform yourself about the ministry areas of the church, be in community with other new members, and officially join the church. Learn about First Universalist at your own pace through online videos before meeting, then choose a class meeting experience below that meets your needs.

The following membership class options are offered this spring:

1) Attend a two-session class in person: Sundays, March 19 & 26, 1–3 p.m. (lunch provided at 1 p.m.; class begins at 1:15 p.m.)

2) Attend a one-session class on Zoom: choose either Thursday, March 30 OR Tuesday, April 11, 6:30–9 p.m. 

REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Facilitated by Liz Farmer, Coordinator of Membership and Congregational Connections, & Ginny McAninch, First U member

Wednesday, March 15, 6–8 p.m. in the Social Hall (5 p.m. Family Pre-Party)

RSVP REQUESTED

Swing by church for a delicious home-cooked meal at 6 p.m. All are welcome and there is no charge. In March, we’ll celebrate an un-Birthday Party with an invitation to join others who share your birth month for a bit of birthday cake!

On the menu this month: spaghetti (vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options available), bread, salad, and cake for dessert! We always offer vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, nut free, and kid-friendly options. All church events are alcohol-free.

Family Pre-Party, 5-6 p.m.: We’ll host space for play and socializing for families with babies through 1st graders in the Library, and set out board games and coloring for families with 2nd-5th graders in the Social Hall.

Visionary Goals Workshop, 6:45–8:45 p.m. details & sign up here

Breakout Group Options, 6:45–8 p.m.:

• Creating a Spiritually Grounded and Just Relationship to Money Join us for a time of spiritual practice around our personal relationship to money in this world of capitalist injustice. Together we hope to draw out our own call to right relationship with our resources in our individual & collective lives. Led by Rev. Ashley Harness.
• Intro to the IDI Join us to learn more about the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) as a way for our congregation to engage in deep self-reflection as individuals and within our groups, and understand our capacity to experience and bridge cultural patterns with increasing complexity.
• Navigating Masculinity Do you identify as a cis-male? Let’s talk about what it takes to live with integrity when the dominant culture has such a limited imagination about what our gender must be and how it should influence our relationships with others. Maybe this becomes an ongoing conversation? If you think this group is for you, it probably is; come find out. Facilitated by Rev. Arif Mamdani.
• Young Adults Conversation with a Minister What’s on your heart and mind as you navigate your 20s and 30s as spiritual beings having a human experience? Bring your burning questions and let’s “geek out” on religion, spirituality, and theology with Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout and ministerial intern Lóre Stevens.
• The Spiritual Practice of Art Making We’ll make birthday cards, of course, as a way of expressing our care for those around us, and our gratitude for their lives.

Thursday, March 16, 10 a.m. program in the Social Hall or on Zoom

Salad & Soup Lunch begins at 12 p.m.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED

How and where do you envision spending your senior years?

At our March Daytime Connections program, Amanda Bogus, Outreach Specialist at Trellis Senior Services, will discuss senior housing options and resources available. Also, we will hear from church members about their decisions and processes with time for questions and discussion.

Daytime Connections programs begin at 10 a.m. on the third Thursday of each month, from October through May. They include fabulous presenters about fascinating topics, a delicious lunch, and an opportunity to meet new people and rekindle old friendships.

Sign in and coffee at 9:45 a.m. Soup & salad lunch follows program at 12 p.m.: $5-15 sliding scale (more if you can; less if you can’t; no one will be turned away for lack of funds). Registration is requested a minimum of four days in advance.

Thursday, March 16, 6:30 p.m.

The First Universalist Board of Trustees will meet on Thursday, March 16, from 6:30-9 p.m. Meeting materials will be available here next week.

Wednesday, March 22, 7–8:45 p.m. in the Cummins Room at Church

RSVP REQUESTED

First Universalist Church is a Water Protector Congregation. We will celebrate World Water Day 2023 with this special presentation.

ReMembering: Singing Water is an original choral film that explores Minnesota as a place of both home and exile for Indigenous people, LGBTQ people, and immigrants. Interconnected stories are brought to life through choral music, spoken word, animation, and life-size puppets. ReMembering Singing Water was filmed outdoors by the Mississippi River and Minnehaha Creek.

Presented by First U’s Environmental Justice Team, this event will be moderated by Cathy Geist, an EJ team member, trustee of First Universalist, and a member of the One Voice Mixed Chorus.

Sundays, March 12, April 9, & May 14, 3–4:30 p.m. on Zoom

REGISTRATION REQUIRED

This group meets on the second Sunday of each month to support us on our journeys through and with LGBT-specific theology. Any and all LGBT folks interested in LGBT theology are welcome. New members are always welcome.

Facilitated by Kaden Colton, First U member

Sundays, March 12, 26, April 9, 23, May 14 & 28, 4–5:30 p.m. on Zoom

REGISTER HERE

A gathering for those who are grappling with the web of feelings associated with loss. A group of souls who share, listen and care. A community interested in exploring new life invitations. Come as you are, when you feel moved to attend. We will be here for you. Facilitator: Rev. Karen Hutt, Community Minister

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

AUW Spring Retreat – April 28-30, 2023

The theme is Badass Women; it will be held at Camp Courage near Annandale. Registration is open and fees are reduced this year! Go here for more info and to register.

Hiking Group:  Meets most Saturdays at a park or trailhead. For questions, contact Marie Sorenson. March 11, 2pm: LOCATION CHANGE - Wood Lake Nature Center, 6710 Lake Shore Drive, Richfield. March 18, 2pm: Nine Mile Creek starting at Moir Park. Intersection of Penn Ave S and 104th Ave, Bloomington. If going south on Penn, turn right onto 104th and go to west end of park where there is a parking lot. Meet in parking lot.

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 address to Anne Frenchick. Next date: April 13, 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. Request an email invitation to our next meeting and be added to our email list by sending your name and email address to Abbie Finger. This month's book is The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson with a meeting on March 27. Sara McMullen will host this month. Please email or call her and let her know if you are able to attend. RSVP at 612-805-5059 or saramcminneapolis@gmail.com

First Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.–noon in person at church

12 Step Spirituality meetings will gather in our church on the 1st Saturday of each month beginning on Oct. 1, 2022 and ending on May 6, 2023. The meeting focuses on people who are actively working a 12 step program. It is focused on the 11 step to the practice of Centering Prayer Meditation. Meeting details are available at 12stepspirituality.org.

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.

Our full updated Covid policies are available here. A summary of updates (as of November 2022) to our masking policy is as follows:

Highlighted Updates: 

• Masks continue to be required in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings and for special services for everyone ages 2 and up 
• Masks are optional in the rest of the building outside of the sanctuary on Sunday mornings/for special services, and at all other times and for all other church activities, when Covid community levels are Low or Medium, with the following exception:
• Masking will be required in classrooms and small groups when a participant reaches out to Lauren Wyeth, Director of Spiritual Growth for All Ages, in advance to make that request. Lauren will hold the name of the person making the request confidential, and will alert the group leader and participants that masks are required for that in person small group or class. 
• When Covid community levels are High, masks are required throughout the whole church building.

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.