Correction: The lead column in yesterday's newsletter contained a paragraph at the beginning that was accidentally left in from the previous week's column and not intended to be part of Jen's column this week. Apologies for the error! It is corrected below: |
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"Do You Know What Brings Healing and Peace?" |
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Greetings!
Jacob Blake, father, brother, cousin, uncle, son, human and so much more was shot seven times in the back by Kenosha, WI police this week in front of his children. Jacob Blake is Black.
Letetra Widman, Jacob’s sister, spoke out this week:
"So many people have reached out to me saying they're sorry that this has been happening to my family. Well don't be sorry because this has been happening to my family for a long time, longer than I can account for... It happened to Emmett Till, Emmett Till is my family. It happened to Philando, Mike Brown, Sandra. This has been happening to my family, and I've shed tears for every single one of these people that it's happened to."
"This is nothing new," she said. "I'm not sad, I'm not sorry, I'm angry. And I'm tired. ... I stopped crying years ago. I am numb. I have been watching police murder people that look like me for years. I'm also a Black history minor, so not only have I been watching it in the 30 years that I've been on this planet, but I've been 'watching' it for years before we were even alive."
"I'm not sad. I don't want your pity," Widman said. "I want change."
This week, as we’ve watched the shooting of Jacob Blake with no arrests, as we’ve seen the president parade gun-wielding white suburbanites who threatened peaceful protestors and then on that same day witnessed a young white terrorist step into a crowd of people demanding justice and commit murder, as our city has again erupted in anger, full of earned mistrust in our police department - two things have been running through my mind.
Justice delayed is justice denied - the legal maxim that tells us that if legal accountability or fair relief for the injured party are not available or are not available in a timely way, then it is the same as having no accountability at all.
Do you know what brings healing and peace? Justice. - words spoken by a Black activist in Minneapolis in the wee hours of last night, and likely said for generations.
It can be easy, especially for white people, to see the looting and fires in our city as people going too far, using ineffective tactics, and only making things worse. And while I am not eager to return to nights of fire and fear, I am eager to know real justice in our community and in our country. I am eager to get to a lasting peace based on truth-telling, reconciliation, and repair for harms done. I want to keep my focus on the humanity of Jacob Blake and all of the members of our human family who have been and continue to be harmed by racial violence, and I urge us to keep our eyes on the prize of change that reflects who we are as Unitarian Universalists - people who believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every human being as a given, creating a world where all of us can not only survive, but thrive.
I am so grateful to be about this work of transformation together.
In gratitude,
Rev. Jen
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MULTIGENERATIONAL WORSHIP
Sunday, August 30, 10 a.m.
Rev. Karen Hutt
We cannot look away. We cannot unsee these moments. We cannot put a filter on these images and events. BUT we can dig deep, let go, and express our despair, our hurt, our sadness and the pain that makes us human. Come and find out how we can reclaim an ancient tradition that can guide us.
Connect to our live streamed worship between 9:55 and 10 a.m.:
ORDER OF SERVICE:
Welcome: Rev. Justin Schroeder
Chalice Lighting
Story: Seth Matz
Music: "Shenandoah" - First Universalist Choir
Prayer: Arif Mamdani
Music: "Spirit of Life"
Sermon: Rev. Karen Hutt
Offertory: "When Our Heart Is in a Holy Place"
Closing Words
"Go Now in Peace"
AFTER WORSHIP:
~11 a.m. Virtual Coffee Hour
After Sunday worship, join us for virtual coffee hour for all identities (Meeting ID: 212 168 092 Passcode: 383174) or dial: 1-312-626-6799 and enter the meeting ID and passcode when prompted.
~11 a.m. BIPOC Virtual Coffee Hour
For those who are Black, Indigenous, Multiracial, People of Color: Join here (Meeting ID: 825 3313 5300; Password: 982432) or dial: 1-312-626-6799 and enter the meeting ID and password when prompted.
WEDNESDAY EVENING WORSHIP
~ NO SERVICE ON SEPT. 2 ~
Next service will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 7 p.m.
This midweek worship experience for adults and older youth is a brief time (20-30 minutes) of connection, centering, and reflection, to help us find and keep our balance during this time of pandemic and physical distancing.
Connect to our live streamed worship between 6:55 and 7 p.m.:
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Sunday, August 23
"Preparing a Place"
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Reflections by Liz Farmer:
In a flurry of preparation for the transition into fall, the anticipation of what we’re preparing for can make us lose sight of what it is we’re actually preparing. It’s easy to get carried away in the calendars, the lists, the rides, the schedules, the errands, and the e-mails. While it’s definitely practical and important to have food in the fridge and supplies at your desk, have you checked in with your heart lately? How is your heart? Is it worried? Excited? Hopeful? Grieving? Your heart is a light that guides you, and together, we will share our light to support and nurture each other on our journeys. As you prepare your surroundings for new beginnings at school or elsewhere, be sure to slow down enough to prepare your heart during what would be an already-emotional time in a “normal” year? In a sweet, playful, musical service, we prepare for what’s to come with song, story, ritual, and blessing. Listen to the podcast or watch the whole service.
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Song: Seth Matz (:22)
Wisdom Story: Aimee K. Bryant (2:49)
Song: Count on Me by Bruno Mars, First Universalist Choir (11:25)
Sermon: Rev. Jen Crow (14:43)
Back-to-School Blessing: Ministers and Staff (30:36)
Song: Go On Your Way in Peace, First U Summer Campers (32:57)
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Reminder: Church Is "Closed" Monday, Aug. 31 through Monday, Sept. 7 (Labor Day) |
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As we announced in the August 6 Liberal, we are accepting that we're in this COVID-19 reality for the long haul, preparing for virtual worship and programming through at least the spring of 2021. As a staff team, part of the preparation for the year to come means catching our breath, and ensuring that we have some sustained down time before we really dig into the new church year and continue to imagine and roll out programming that helps us meet this moment - and the needs of our congregation - in a virtual space.
To that end, church will be "closed" for one week plus Labor Day, Aug. 31 through Sept. 7, to allow for a break for staff after what has been an unusually intense several months. There will be no Wednesday worship on Sept. 2, and we will not be leading a Sunday worship service on Sept. 6. Instead, we invite you to take a virtual "road trip" and visit one of our neighboring congregations!
While church staff won't be leading worship or programs, responding to email, or attending meetings between Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, we will still be available to you for any urgent pastoral care needs you may be experiencing. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you are in crisis or struggling in any way: call the church office at 612-825-1701 and follow the prompts for "pastoral care" to be connected to a minister.
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Sunday, Sept. 6: You're Invited to
Worship with a Neighboring Congregation!
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Reminder: First Universalist will not be offering a Sunday worship service on September 6
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Here are a couple of worship options for Sunday, Sept. 6:
First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis will offer “A Question Box Talk“ with the Rev. Dr. David Breeden, senior minister. Congregants have been invited to submit questions about theology, humanism, plans for FUS, and anything else that comes to mind, and David will address them during the Sunday morning service. Connect to the livestream at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6 HERE or on the FUS Facebook page.
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Unity Church-Unitarian in St. Paul will offer "The Minnesota Cold Shoulder: We Have Not 'Done Our Part'" This momentous year of reckoning for our systemic racist history is building our resolve to practice radical hospitality and at Unity Church to take the "Next Right Action" against racism. We must also continue to learn deeply about how similar resolve has faltered in the past, and among religious liberals too. Unity Church member Dane Smith and Louis Porter II, former executive director of the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage, will reflect on lofty promises that were followed by cold shoulders, indifference, and paternalism. They also will offer constructive counsel on what we all must do to cause "good trouble'' and sustain a sweeping new movement for racial and economic justice. Connect to the livestream at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6 HERE.
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Photo & Written Submissions Request
for Water Communion
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Our (virtual) Water Communion service is Sunday, Sept. 13, and the Worship Team needs your help! Please submit photos of yourself, your family, you and your friends, etc. near water that is special/sacred to you. It could be a creek, a river, the ocean, a lake, a backyard sprinkler, a rain puddle, a bird bath, a waterfall - anything, really! We are hoping to collect images of church folks connected to water, and use these images in the service on September 13. If you don’t have a photo to submit, you’ll welcome to submit a few words about water that is sacred or special to you. Please send submissions to communications@firstuniv.org.
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Save the Date!
Sunday, Sept. 13 is our Water Communion Sunday service
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"Gather In His Name: From Protests to Healing for George Floyd" Photography Exhibit |
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MN African American Heritage Museum & Gallery Exhibits
Portraits by First U Sound Engineer John Steitz
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Learn more about the MN African American Heritage Museum & Gallery and current exhibits on the museum's website. |
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From a KARE 11 piece on the museum's reopening: "The Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery in north Minneapolis is back open after closing in March due to the pandemic. The new exhibitions give visitors a glimpse into the last few months. "It was strange but it also gave us an opportunity to look at what was going on because museums have always been repositories of history. This was a historic moment and then of course with the death of George Floyd, it became even more imperative that we record this history and what was going on," said Coventry Cowens, co-founder of MAAHMG. The museum's reopening includes new exhibitions documenting the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd. One of the exhibitions is a portrait photography collection by John Steitz called "Gather In His Name: From Protests to Healing for George Floyd" which is prominently on display inside the museum.
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Just for Fun: Rev. Karen Hutt Quoted in Star Tribune Article About the Name 'Karen' |
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"Minnesotans named Karen say they're OK with the name, despite the unflattering meme" |
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"It’s an awkward time to be Karen right now. Thanks to a recently popular meme, the name has become a label for a privileged, entitled, rude, demanding, insufferable person, typically white and middle-aged, sometimes racist."
"The Rev. Karen Hutt, vice president at the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and a minister at First Universalist Church of Minneapolis, also sees herself as a good Karen.
“It is this moment where a name is being associated with a particularly bad behavior,” she said. “It’s disappointing, but I feel like I always have to raise my hand and go ‘That’s not me. I’m a Black Karen.’ ”"
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Update on Our Neighbors at Lyndale Farmstead |
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Submitted by Peg Mitchell:
As most are aware, the Minneapolis Park Board has sanctioned the use of Lyndale Farmstead for people experiencing homelessness. This is one of 16 parks throughout the city designated to allow between 15 and 25 tents, following an application to the Park Board. Upon approval, the city provides toilets, wash stations and trash containers to the site. There are no longer any tents at Powderhorn. Most of those residents have been moved to other parks.
Lyndale Farmstead had a population of 10 until recently, when a few more people moved here, following the clearing of Powderhorn. An incredible Collective, the F12 People’s Kitchen, had been providing lunch and dinner to Powderhorn and now works to provide meals to any park housing people in need of shelter. Beginning the week of August 16, F12 Kitchen will continue to provide dinners only.
So many members of our church have generously responded to the needs at Farmstead, bringing lanterns, flashlight, ice, coolers, sleeping bags, mattress pads, clothes, bug spray – and snacks and snack and snacks! The list goes on. Others have provided breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and morning coffee.
There is no resolution on finding permanent shelter for our neighbors at Farmstead and therefore, a great likelihood that they will be here until October 1, the date given by the MPRB.
If you are new to supporting our neighbors, welcome. If you have been reaching out from day 1 and still have energy, great! Due to the many changes at the other parks, the SignUp Genius we formerly used is inactive for providing meals. There is, however, a new SignUp Genius, just for Lyndale Farmstead. The encampment has an ongoing need for supplies and all meals except dinner. Please use this website before dropping off anything at the site. The Peoples’ generosity has been abundant, but the residents don’t have the ability to cook pasta, potatoes, etc. Fruit and other perishables have often had to be disposed, just because there was so much more than 10 -15 people can eat.
Above all, never hesitate to stop by and introduce yourself. If you have specific suggestions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact congregant Peg Mitchell at 612-280-6119 or pegmitch16@gmail.com.
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Virtual Meetings & Gatherings |
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Sunday, Sept. 13 at 11:30 a.m.
(please note: the group is meeting on the *second* Sunday this month)
Join this monthly congregant-led group for silent meditation on Zoom. After the silence we will share how our practices are helping us through these difficult times.
(Meeting ID: 857 1493 2445; Password: 673643; Audio only via phone: 312 626 6799)
Third Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.
The Young Adults group (for those in their 20s and 30s) is now gathering on a monthly basis. Connect with fellow young adults after Wednesday worship on the third Wednesday of the month for conversation and fun. (Meeting ID: 137 172 572)
Thursdays, 5-6:30 p.m. (weekly)
AUW members are staying connected via a weekly Zoom "Happy Hour."
Meeting ID: 834 7301 7986. Password: 557571
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Children, Youth & Families |
Single Parents Gathering
Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
Single Parents Gathering with Rev. Sara Smalley - Parents/guardians who are single and/or co-parenting gather for mutual support and spiritual sustenance. Email Sara to be connected to the group at smalley.sara@gmail.com.
Parents of Babies and Preschoolers (ages 0-4 years)
Parents/guardians of little ones gather with Lauren for mutual support and spiritual sustenance. (Meeting ID: 273-644-536; Password: 446240)
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