Dear Jenn,

Summer is upon us, and with it come new rhythms and practices to help us slow down, stay connected, and start up some shared spiritual practices. 

This Sunday, June 25, we have the unique opportunity to worship online with our larger Beloved Community gathering at the General Assembly of the UUA in Pittsburgh. In the words of the UUA worship team, “The pandemic has wrought change and created uncertainty for institutions, like our Unitarian Universalist congregations, and our wider world. Who and what are we becoming, individually and collectively? Our GA Sunday service explores these themes as we gather in community to celebrate the best of who we UUs are.” While normally we use zoom for our online services in addition to livestream, this service will be livestreamed here at 10 a.m. CST. We’ll gather in the sanctuary to participate as a congregation with Rev. Jen Crow and Rev. Ashley Harness hosting the livestream. 

Getting connected this summer can take many forms, from bookgroups to young adult and newcomer gatherings, to special Sunday offerings and shared spiritual practices. Find out more in our Summer Program Guide, and sign up for the shared Summer Spiritual Practice possibilities here. I’m looking forward to receiving reflection prompts and encouragement throughout the summer as I combine two of the spiritual practices into one daily action - a walk or time to sit outside spotting joy. Knowing that so many of you will also be joining in our shared spiritual practices will help me feel connected to you, even as I travel and take time off in July. I hope these practices will do the same for you.

In July, Rev. Arif and I will both be away for times of study leave and vacation. In addition to time with family and tending tomatoes in the garden, I’m looking forward to attending a writing retreat with Rev. Karen Hering and returning to you refreshed on August 1. We are grateful that Rev. Ashley will be here, offering her steady presence on Sundays and in the office throughout the week. Please reach out to Rev. Ashley for pastoral care and spiritual support; she is here for and with you. With Lauren Wyeth and Jenn Stromberg’s departures from our staff, Rev. Ashley will be adding coordination of our communications transition and our adult faith formation programming to her portfolio, while also expanding our digital ministries in the year ahead. We’re grateful for her skill and her willingness to serve our congregation in all of these ways. 

Join me in joyspotting, or daily nature sits, or body prayer practices as we share in spiritual practice together this summer. May the slower pace allow for the deepening of connection to ourselves, each other, and the spirit that moves within, among, and beyond us.

In gratitude,

Rev. Jen

Rev. Jen Crow

Senior Minister

First Universalist Church of Minneapolis

Intro

Summer Spiritual Practice

Sunday Worship

Sunday, June 25, 10 a.m.: "GA Worship: Ever Willing"

Sunday, June 18 Recording

June 18 Cycle of Life

News & Features

Right Relations Team Update

Calendar

Biodiversity Walk

Young Adults Gatherings

"No More Police" Book Group

Community Events & Affiliated Organizations:

AUW, 12-Step Spirituality

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Sunday, June 25 — 10 a.m.

"Ever Willing: Becoming the People

Our World Needs"

This Sunday, June 25, we have the unique opportunity to worship online with our larger Beloved Community gathering at the General Assembly of the UUA in Pittsburgh. In the words of the UUA worship team, “The pandemic has wrought change and created uncertainty for institutions, like our Unitarian Universalist congregations, and our wider world. Who and what are we becoming, individually and collectively? Our GA Sunday service explores these themes as we gather in community to celebrate the best of who we UUs are.” While normally we use zoom for our online services in addition to livestream, this service will be livestreamed here at 10 a.m. CST. We’ll gather in the sanctuary to participate as a congregation with Rev. Jen Crow and Rev. Ashley Harness hosting the livestream. 

Worship leaders: Rev. Jen Crow, Rev. Ashley Harness, with the GA Worship Team



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. Watch the livestream here. 

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.

June 18 Worship Recap: Freedom to Move

On and on, the circle of love, welcome, learning and inclusion expands. What spiritual practices, orientations of the heart, imagination and shared work is needed if we are to move with and continue to stretch that circle? Lauren Wyeth, Director of Spiritual Growth for All Ages, shares stories and reflections on her learning, and her charge, for us as she prepares to depart.



Watch the June 18 service here

Listen to the June 18 podcast here

Podcast Archive | Recording Archive 

Our care and love surround Deborah Talen as she recovers at home from Covid and pneumonia.

We celebrate with Kelly Prosen and David Feldmann as they prepare to get married on Friday, June 23. We wish them all joy and happiness on their wedding day and in all the days beyond.

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.

Submitted by Ellen Guettler

As UUs, we covenant with one another to continuously weave our web of interconnection. When conflict occurs at church -and the Right Relations training suggests that there are likely more than a dozen community conflicts (some widely known, others not)- happening within a congregation at any given time - we have an opportunity to clarify our values, deepen our relationships, and experience transformative change on a community level. 

About 50 UU congregants from First U, Unity Unitarian and White Bear UU Church gathered at Unity Church in St. Paul on June 3 for the Right Relations Workshop, facilitated by David Pyle and Sharon Dittmar of UUA. Participants from First Universalist included: Elisabeth Groebel, Laura Johansson, Louis Quast, Sara McMullen, Ellen Guettler, Rebecca Slaby, Bob Friedman, Ginny Belden-Charles, Nancy Potter, Janet Merril, Lisa Sass Zaragoza, Jeff Snyder, and Karen Heegaard. The workshop was an overview of why and how the cultivation of a Right Relations Team can support congregations to practice conflict. 

Practicing Right Relations allows us to come back into covenant with one another so we can, as Dittmar explained, “Host the conflict and allow it to give birth [to transformation].”

But hosting conflict is not supported by most dominant cultural norms. It asks us to remain tender when our shared values call us in different directions, to nurture our own vulnerability, to be courageous in our self-awareness, to apologize and redress, and to practice deep, mutual accountability. 

Within the training itself, we wondered how to experience Right Relations when we have different understandings of and experiences with structural oppression. We shared truths about the exhaustion and othering carried by those who are at greatest risk of being harmed by the power hierarchies that are knit into our society. We acknowledged that the very structure of the training was informed by dominant paradigms that are historic to Unitarian Universalism. We spoke up, we listened, we questioned, we breathed, we shifted the plan, we stayed with one another, we tried again.

The facilitators left us with examples of how Right Relations teams might move within congregations to tend to relationships, convene circles, and support community skillbuilding. Jen, Arif, Lauren, and Lóre participated in the training, and ministers from each of the three churches expressed the hope that Right Relations work could grow inside and between our congregations. 

As we filed out into the hot afternoon having practiced this cross-congregational work, I heard feelings and perspectives being released and received, as we held the possibility that we might take responsibility for this work of covenant in an intentional way through Right Relations. 

Next Steps for Right Relations Work

Rev. David Pyle recommended that church boards work with ministers to identify individuals to invite to be part of an initial Right Relations Team, and that part of the first team’s work will be to develop and create a process for its renewal. Staff at First Universalist are also in conversation with staff at Unity and White Bear to determine if and how we can move forward with the intention to build a metro-area Right Relations Team to support our three congregations. We anticipate that this work will move forward once the new board is seated and we take up the year’s business in August and beyond.

Invitations to Summer Spiritual Practice

Practicing and Connecting from Wherever We Are 

As summer blooms, the natural world’s web of interconnection ripens for our participation through all kinds of practices of body and spirit. Let’s pay attention, notice what happens when we commit to regular spiritual practice, and tell about it.

1. Register for one (or more) of the practices: Body Prayer, Nature Sit Spot, and Joyspotting
2. Pay attention, again and again
3. Starting the week of June 26, receive regular reflection prompts and steady encouragement to your inbox along the way.
4. Tell about and connect over your experiences on Facebook and/or Instagram with #FirstUnivPractice
5. Gather at the potluck after the Lake Harriet service on August 20 to share about how we’ve been challenged and changed by our practices

Young Adults go to Twin Cities Pride

Saturday, June 24, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Loring Park

Meet at church at 10 a.m. to get to Pride with some wiggle room to volunteer by sharing info and answering questions at the MUUSJA (Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance) PRIDE fest booth from noon-2 p.m. Enjoy Pride festivities together in the afternoon.

Email Kaden Colton to be in touch about day-of transportation and meetup plans.

Young Adults are folks in their 20s and 30s in varying social/cultural life stages. We are in school, job-searching, and working, single, married, partnered and dating, with kids and without, newly moved to the area and longtime residents. We gather about twice a month at church and in the community for structured and unstructured conversation, spiritual practice, and activities. Check out what we're up to this summer!

Biodiversity Walk at Wood Lake Nature Center

Saturday, June 24, 8:30-10 a.m.

6710 Lake Shore Drive, Richfield

Join the EJ team’s biodiversity activists as we explore ecosystems located in the middle of our metro community. Discover the flora and fauna of Wood Lake’s prairie, woods, marshlands, and lake. RSVP to Cathy Geist at 612-384-2723.

Dreaming Liberation Book Groups

No More Police

Tuesday, July 11, 4-6 p.m. under the First U tent

Tuesday, August 1, 4-6 p.m. on Zoom  

Join for as many as you can!

Learn from and integrate the wisdom of beloved authors and movement leaders, Mariame Kaba and Andrea Ritchie, with others who are interested in diving into their new book, No More Police, which passionately synthesizes the experiences and expertise necessary for building a new world with less violence. The book is readily available for purchase online or at local libraries. First U can provide a copy upon request.

Co-facilitated by Denise Kohnen and Rev. Ashley Harness

REGISTRATION REQUESTED

Rust in the Root, for Teens and Young Adults

Sunday, July 23rd; 12-2pm at church (with lunch)

Read the novel Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland and then come together for good food and good conversation. This book is a young adult historical fantasy set at the crossroads of race and power in America that we’ll enjoy as a springboard to envision a world beyond the confines of white supremacy culture. The book is readily available for purchase online or at local libraries. First U can provide a copy upon request.

Co-facilitated by Rasana Mamdani and Rev. Ashley Harness.

REGISTRATION REQUESTED

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 24, 10 a.m. Minnehaha Falls. 5000 West River Parkway. Mpls. Meet at the falls. We’ll be taking an easy route from the falls.

July 1, 10 am. Nine Mile Creek. Morgan Ave S and 104th Street, Moir Park, Bloomington. This is a terrific hike along a babbling creek. There are 3 flights of stairs at start and end of the out and back trail. Then flat asphalt leads onto crushed rock. Markers show how far you have gone. Let's bring a lunch, too!

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: July 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 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 next on Monday, June 26 to select our books for the rest of this year and the beginning of next year. We are starting 30 min earlier than usual. 6-7pm Potluck, 7pm- Sharing of book recommendations. 7500 York Ave S, Edina, MN 55435, Social Room. Please do not bring any red wine or anything with red sauce. Please email Abbie Finger with any questions.

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.