Join Rev. Justin for a midweek worship experience for adults and older youth. This 30-minute service is a brief time of connection, centering, and reflection to help us find and keep our balance.

Enter the Wednesday Zoom webinar here. (webinar ID: 117-312-320). To join by phone (audio only), dial 1-312-626-6799 and enter the webinar ID.

Post-service Care Companions space (7:30 p.m.): Join the Zoom gathering here.

We are holding with care Rev. John Cummins, who has begun to receive hospice care. Over a year ago, John was diagnosed with cancer, and in consultation with his adult children, and his care team, they decided his quality of life would be better if they did not treat the cancer. His family does not believe his death is imminent, but he is in decline, and quite frail. He welcomes cards and notes at this time. We hold John and his family in our prayers.

Our hearts are with Leslie Colerin and her sons, Bailey and Sidney, as Leslie recovers from a broken hip, and upon the death of Leslie’s mother, Kay Johnson. Kay died at home, surrounded by family and friends, with her cat nearby providing comfort. Kay was a beloved front desk volunteer at church, and could often be heard making jokes and telling you how proud she was of her daughter and grandsons. Kay had a way of weaving herself into your heart and she will be missed deeply. A memorial service will be held at a future date.

Our love and care surround Mary and Thomas Johnson as they mourn the death of their son Evan. Evan entered hospice earlier this year as his cancer became too advanced to treat. His family mourns his death but are grateful his suffering has ended.

We will be holding John Adleman’s memorial service this Sunday, May 2 at 2 p.m. The service will be outdoors with additional limited (capacity 200) indoor seating available (especially for those who are unable to sit outdoors). Please help us to plan by providing an RSVP for the service here. The service will be live-streamed on Zoom here (webinar ID: 873 3444 2757). Memorials preferred to the Adleman GoFundMe. All are welcome. The outdoor space has capacity to safely seat all those who wish to attend. Please plan to bring either lawn chair or a blanket to sit on.

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

The climb to justice is a steep climb, and at times it will hurt: joy and pain are intricately tangled up in our human experience. And yet, we are bringing into being a world of joy and justice, in which every person can flourish and thrive. Rev. Jen offers us two practical steps we can take. First, the Board of Trustees has been hard at work in collaboration with Julica Hermann de la Fuente, our Director of Liberation and Transformation Ministries, to draft a racial justice resolution that will come before the congregation for a vote at our June 6 Annual Meeting. You will have opportunities to learn more about this important resolution in the weeks ahead. Second, as we welcome new members as we did in worship on Sunday, we can all take the opportunity to recommit ourselves to the lifelong spiritual practice of living in community and creating a community in which we all can thrive. If you’re new to us and want to consider membership, we encourage you to do so. You can find more information about becoming a member on our website. 

Listen to the podcast from Sunday's worship on Podbean or Spotify or watch the service on YouTube. You can find more material for reflection in the Reflection and Listening guide from our April 25 Order of Service.

Image description: Still photo from the recording of Zoom worship on Sunday, April 25.

The ‘before time’ is how many people refer to the pre-pandemic world we used to live in. We have not yet arrived in the ‘after times,’ in that post pandemic landscape. The pandemic itself is an extended threshold moment, a time between the known and the unknown. Moving across and through a threshold often ushers in a new way of being and belonging. Crossing a threshold can profoundly mark and shape us. Indeed, there is a collective, growing sense that humanity cannot return to ‘life as normal,’ because ‘life as normal,’ was violent, harmful and destructive to so many people and the planet itself. As a global community, we are at a threshold moment.

And in our own faith community, we are in a threshold season. This month, we celebrate our Coming of Age Youth and Graduating Seniors. Rev. Justin preaches his last sermon. And together, we move gingerly into a future that is still forming, as we ourselves are formed by the thresholds we cross.

This May, we will slow down long enough to notice and name the thresholds we are approaching and crossing. Together, we will wonder: “What changes when we cross a threshold? What remains the same? How long can we remain in the threshold space, the door between worlds wide open? What blessings do thresholds offer? And does religious community and spiritual practice help us prepare for the inevitable thresholds we will cross?”

In this heartfelt video, Sara and Rochelle share: "As a parent, I don't think there's any greater gift than somebody else seeing your kid fully and genuinely loving them and letting them know that, and I think that's happened for all of our kids more than once in the church."

There are touching stories from congregants hundreds of miles away from Minneapolis, from families, from people who joined us this year, virtually, and from many others. Take a few minutes to watch and listen to these stories and to know that you are part of a community making a real and tangible difference in people’s lives.

Image description: Still photo from the video of Sara and Rochelle.

Please fill out this short survey to support our planning process as we look towards our return to in-person worship, while also continuing to offer online worship and programming. Like you, we desperately want to return to being together in-person. And what remains true is that our top-level commitments are to safety for all and broad inclusion. As we plan for returning to the church building, we are following guidelines from the MN Department of Health and consulting with the public health experts in our congregation. We also believe that it's important to gather information from you, our First Universalist congregation, as we look forward to what Fall 2021 and beyond will hold for us. We appreciate your honest feedback in this survey as we gather data in advance of re-opening the church building. Take the survey here.

By Ginny McAninch. Ginny has been a member of First Universalist since 1984, and has been a Board member and is a past Board president. Ginny has also been involved with membership and welcoming, Religious Education and Coming of Age, Wellspring and Circle groups, the Foundation Board and Nominating Committee, worship, and major events such as Ordinations, Installations, and goodbyes. Ginny has always been happy to help as needed!

Dear Justin,

There is so much to like, respect and appreciate about you Justin. But two qualities have stood out for me – courage and integrity.

I saw these when you preached your first of two sermons during your candidating week. Jesus, a prophet to you, from whom you draw inspiration and guidance. You preached about Jesus to the congregants of First Universalist Church, knowing that this was a loaded topic for many in our congregation. Cybercoffeehour and personal conversations were abuzz. I encouraged people to let the week play out and see what else you were about. And you made me proud. On your second Sunday, the conclusion to candidating week, you preached about another important prophet, from whom you drew inspiration and guidance. Your grandmother, you preached about your grandmother. We cheered and later the congregation voted overwhelmingly to call you as our Senior Minister.

I continued to witness your courage and integrity in so much else that you did. But raising the topic of white privilege, of equity, was a pinnacle. Over the 37 years I have been a part of this congregation we have had “Racial Justice” committees and a few dozen of us, off and on, worked to raise consciousness, but it never took off. You changed that. It became a church priority. You occasionally called us out in sermons. I was blown away on the Sunday you pointed to yourself and the other white men in the congregation and made it clear that you all had to be part of the change. You invited guest preachers, adding diversity to our Sunday morning experience. I am deeply grateful for this.

And I saw it in the decision to invite Jen into co-ministry. You fully and officially acknowledged her gifts and their value to the congregation. Budget issues prevented a pay raise for her. You took a pay cut, to raise her salary, so that your salaries would be equal. I tell you Justin, that seems a rare thing. Such integrity and commitment to your values.

From day one, you told us who you were and what your ministry would be about. You grew, we grew but your courage and integrity remained a constant. And they are foundational still. They are leading you to follow love’s call. Blessings and love to you Justin, and to Juliana, to Tucker and to Jesse, as you each find what new adventures and meaning lie ahead.

Love,

Ginny

By Kathy Coskran. Kathy has been a member of First Universalist since 1979 and was the Board chair from 2010 – 2012.

Justin arrived as we celebrated our sesquicentennial, a celebration of our roots, accomplishments and commitments. It could have been a time that was unusually challenging for a young minister in his first senior ministry, but we saw that his values aligned with ours when, during the search process, he described his calling as "a ministry that actively helps us grow our souls, serves the world, and is committed to anti-racism, anti-oppression, social justice, and care for the natural environment, as we seek to make real the beloved community." Words we resonated with, words that helped convince us that Justin should be our next senior minister but, I believe, we didn't really know how powerfully he would live out that commitment.

There are multiple opportunities to give and share with Rev. Justin — including offering a financial gift, making a video message, or sending a card — as we prepare for his Good Goodbye. Learn more about these opportunities on our website.

These are some of the questions that our 8th and 9th graders have grappled with throughout the year in Coming of Age class. Coming of Age is a beloved tradition in Unitarian Universalism. Instead of asking our youth to sign on to a particular creed or dogma, we charge them with discerning for themselves what they hold dear, using the seven principles as a guide. To round out the Coming of Age experience, each youth is asked to distill their core beliefs about life, God, and humanity into a personal statement of belief.

The yearlong Coming of Age journey will culminate on Saturday, May 8 with two virtual Coming of Age ceremonies. The 8th grade ceremony will be at 11 a.m. and the 9th grade ceremony will be at 6 p.m. During the ceremonies, each youth will share their personal credo with family, friends, and community members. Coming of Age youth have put in a great deal of time and thought into their statements. On May 8, our congregation has an opportunity to honor and celebrate the thoughtfulness of an incredible group of young people. All are welcome and warmly invited to attend.

Zoom information will be shared next week in the Liberal.

Join the Environmental Justice team to discuss the film "The Need to Grow." With only 60 years of farmable soil left on Earth, "The Need To Grow" offers an intimate look into the hearts of activists and innovators in the food movement: an 8-year-old girl challenges the ethics of a beloved organization; a renegade farmer struggles to keep his land as he revolutionizes resource efficient agriculture; and an accomplished visionary inventor faces catastrophe in the midst of developing a game-changing technology. Watch the trailer for "The Need to Grow" here. This 2019 film is 96 minutes long.

"The Need to Grow" delivers alarming evidence on the importance of healthy soil — revealing not only the potential of localized food production working with nature, but our opportunity as individuals to help regenerate our planet’s dying soils and participate in the restoration of the Earth.

View the film before May 2 here.

Register for the Sunday, May 2 discussion here.

Join the Environmental Justice team to play the Green House Game this May! The Green House Game, a climate saving card game now available for play online, will engage you in saving the planet before climate changing events overwhelm us all. This game was created by First U member and EJ team activist, Alix Dvorak. Green House game is sure to spark ideas as you work collaboratively to avert disaster. Here is a short 5 minute video about playing the Green House card game online.

Join us on May 7 when Alix Dvorak, Green House Game creator and First U member, will join us to play and to share how the game came to be. Sessions will be online via Zoom — each session is limited to 4-5 players, although more can watch and comment. This game is good for ages 10+, and all you game loving adults. Feel free to sign up for more than one session. Games last for about 30-40 minutes. No previous experience needed. The only requirement is a willingness to have fun and learn together. Sign up for a play date here.

Join this monthly congregant-led group for silent meditation on Zoom. After 20 minutes of sitting together in silence we share how our practices are helping us.

The Zoom space opens at 11:15 a.m. to provide time to connect informally . Meditation starts at 11:30 a.m. Join the Zoom gathering here (Meeting ID: 811 5515 5500; Passcode: 244512; Audio-only by phone: 312-626-6799).

Please join Rev. Jen and Keven Ambrus, Board Treasurer, on Tuesday, May 4 from 7–8 p.m., to learn about the proposed operating budget for the 2021–2022 church year starting on July 1. This budget focuses on continuing our progress toward becoming an anti-racist community and supporting our BIPOC members and children, youth and families, while re-opening to in-person ministries in September. Several new staff members will join us over the summer as we live into these commitments, including a Minister of Worship Arts, Office & Building Manager, and Program Assistant for Children, Youth and Family Ministries. We look forward to your feedback as we prepare to present the finalized operating budget to the congregation for approval at the June 6th Annual Meeting of the congregation.

Join the meeting congregational budget meeting here. (Meeting ID: 893 9360 5739;

Passcode: 939860)

Join the Zoom gathering here.

Meeting ID: 814 6743 2711; Passcode: 772008

Join this Zoom call to wish Rev. Justin a Good Goodbye! It is a drop in opportunities for chatting with Justin. For Audio-Only, dial in: 312-626-6799

On Sunday, June 6, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Rev. Justin and his family will be on the steps of the church for congregations to say a socially distanced goodbye. You may drive by, walk by, or roll by, as long as you’re six feet away!

Julie Neraas, spiritual director and author of several books, is leading a series of workshops on hope: what it is, how to cultivate it, and how to sustain it. As she writes, “Hope is a stupendous human quality, and in this challenging time in our complicated world, it may be our greatest need, its viability our greatest question."

Co-sponsored by the Association of Universalist Women (AUW) and the Young Adult group. To help defray costs, we invite you to contribute as you’re able: no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Recordings of the sessions will be made available to those who register. Hope might be one of the most important spiritual disciplines we can cultivate right now, so please do sign-up for this series here.

Tangled Blessings is a weekly grief group where participants are invited to bring their whole selves and whatever grief they may be carrying. Through sharing, silence, ritual, and reflection, we will offer each other support and companionship. You are welcome to attend one or all of the sessions. Registration is requested. You can register here.

This circle will provide an opportunity to meet in a small group and be open, honest and transparent with each other about what is really happening with money in our individual and collective lives. With our current worship theme of "accountability," now seems like a good time to take a look at money and how it works to support white supremacy, undermine equality and separate us from each other. The group has space for eight to ten members. Each week, group members will receive a reading or video and questions for reflection. The group format will include a grounding, time to respond to reading and reflections, body settling, one or two stories, open interaction and closing. This circle will meet for six weeks beginning May 11 and will touch on both personal and collective experiences. On a personal level, members will have the opportunity to tell stories of their own experiences with money. On a collective level, members will read short articles or watch videos that examine the creation of racialized consciousness and extractive economies which promote accumulation of wealth for a few through the exploitation of many and of our Earth.

If you are interested in joining this group, please reach out to facilitators Karen Heegaard (kfheeg@aol.com) or Susan Hoffman (susanjean57@gmail.com) for more information. You can learn more about this circle here.

You can find ways to get involved with our Faithful Action Partners in our April Faithful Action Newsletter. The newsletter contains opportunities to connect through volunteering, donating, advocating, and learning. Our Faithful Action Partners are community organizations that share our vision of love and justice. We work through Faithful Action Partnerships in order to leverage our energy, commitment and expertise. You can find more information about our Faithful Action Partnerships on our website.

The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis while in police custody sent shockwaves across the globe. Nearly a year later, what has changed? Have we answered the calls for systemic change? Have we helped to bend the arc of the moral universe any closer toward justice? This May, the Westminster Town Hall Forum is featuring a special series of talks, titled “The Arc Toward Justice: Taking Stock One Year After George Floyd’s Death,” which will feature racial justice leaders who will address these questions and more. This series includes four talks, one on each Tuesday in May, culminating on May 25, the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death. Speakers for this forum series are:

May 4: Jelani Cobb of The New Yorker

May 11: Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago

May 18: Deborah Archer, the newly elected and first BIPOC president of the American Civil Liberties Union

May 25: Angela Harrelson and Paris Stevens, George Floyd’s aunt and cousin.

You can find more information about this forum series, including information about ways to watch and listen, and submit a question to the speakers on the Westminster Town Hall Forum’s website.

The care team at First Universalist is here to help in a whole lot of ways—from phone calls to say we’re thinking about you to a listening ear when you need someone to accompany you through whatever’s happening in your life. COVID-19 has changed some of the ways we provide care, but there is a lot we’re still doing. Here is one of the ways we’re here to provide support:

We Care Meal Train

Sick? Surgery? Caring for a family member or welcoming a new child? Something else? Sometimes, what helps more than anything is having church members bring healthy nourishing meals to your home. As one of our members recently said “it was such a gift to receive meals when my mom was sick. I could focus on taking care of her and when I wasn’t, I could just be with my family without worrying about getting dinner on the table.” Contact arif@firstuniv.org to get set up with a Meal Train

If you would like to access any of our other caring resources, contact Rev. Arif Mamdani at arif@firstuniv.org 

Spiritual Care - Your ministers and program staff are here for one-on-one confidential conversations of support. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us to connect. 

Love Kits - Are you or someone you love ill? Is your family struggling? Do you live alone or feel isolated? Do you know someone else from church who might be? If so, please let Rev. Karen (revkarenhutt@gmail.com) know so that a package full of love and support can be delivered to your home.

Meal Trains - If you or someone you know at church would welcome a meal to help them through a difficult time, loss, illness or injury — and having someone else do the cooking for a bit would help —please let us know. Contact Rev. Arif Mamdani at arif@firstuniv.org.

Minister’s Emergency Fund - For many of us, these are difficult financial times. If you need help with a car repair bill, making rent, a doctor’s bill, groceries, gas, a mortgage payment, affording your medication, a bus card, or any other financial situation - please be in touch. We have financial resources available. Please contact a minister/staff member. 

Mental Health Connect - www.mhconnect.org - Need help finding a therapist? Want to learn more about particular mental health conditions and resources? Check out Mental Health Connect, a local organization supported by congregations like ours, that provides community-based resources, support and education to improve access to mental health services and connect individuals and families with the services they need. 

Counseling - The Walk In Counseling Center offers free counseling by phone or computer. Find out how to “walk in” on their website.