Dear Jenn,

This Sunday, we observe Earth Day at First Universalist Church. Founded in 1970 in an effort to focus political energy and will toward protection of our Earth, Earth Day invites us to reflect on our 7th principle which calls us to “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” Clearly, what we are called to today far exceeds the low bar of “respect.” From looking around these days, it isn’t hard to see that we have moved from climate change all the way to climate chaos, and mindful of the science and what it points to, it is clear that significant changes in our habits of consumption and the economy that drives those habits are needed if we’re to make the necessary progress to avoid even worse impacts.

It is easy to focus on the negatives, particularly where the challenge of environmental protection is concerned. If it wasn’t enough that the scale of the challenge is so large, our brains are wired to overweight the negative. Thankfully, there is hope. As science shows, the steps we’ve taken since the 1970s are having a positive impact. There are plenty of reasons to believe that we can move things in a positive direction – and our efforts are needed for those seeds of possibility to grow into the carbon sequestering habitats of our future flourishing.

This Sunday, the Environmental Justice Team from First Universalist Church will lead us through a service that invites us to consider what it is that we love in this natural world, and why and how we might get more involved in fighting for it. Join us this Sunday as the team ministers to us through music, story, and personal narrative and helps chart a pathway of hope for how we might more fully live into our interdependence with the web of existence of which we are a part. 

Can’t make it Sunday, but curious about the signs of hope I’m referring to? Check out this video from the American Museum of Natural History, or check out these perspectives on more reasons to be hopeful or the “Links Between Spirituality and Climate Change.”

In faith,

Rev. Arif

Rev. Arif Mamdani

Associate Minister

First Universalist Church of Minneapolis

Sunday Worship

Sunday, April 23, 9 & 11 a.m.: "Hot for Climate"

Sunday, April 16 Recording & Podcast: "Only We Are Earthseed"

April 16 Cycle of Life

News & Features

Annual Giving Wrap Up

Future of Music Report

Join the Congregational Care Team

Cook-off Food Winner

Church Grounds Clean Up

Art by Martha Bird in Sanctuary

Lost & Found

Prom Clothes for AFA

MNIPL Earth Day Concert

Habitat on the Hill is 4/25

Calendar

April Board Meeeting

Dinner Church for BIPOC

Young Adults Springtime Nature Experience

"What Is Abolition and How Can it Free Us?"

Community Events & Affiliated Organizations:

MUUSJA, AUW, 12-Step Spirituality

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Sunday, April 23 — 9 & 11 a.m.

"Hot for Climate"

This Sunday, the Environmental Justice Team from First Universalist Church will lead us through an Earth Day service that invites us to consider what it is that we love in this natural world, and why and how we might get more involved in fighting for it. Join us this Sunday as the team ministers to us through music, story, and personal narrative and helps chart a pathway of hope for how we might more fully live into our interdependence with the web of existence of which we are a part. 

Worship leaders: Rev. Arif Mamdani, Aimee K. Bryant, Franco Holder, and members of the Environmental Justice Team including Alix Dvorak, Stan Sattinger, Susan Keller, and Cathy Geist.



ORDER OF SERVICE

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!.

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.

Earth Day Celebration

After both services in the Social Hall

Join the Environmental Justice Team for its annual Earth Day celebration in the social hall with activities and actions related to Healthy Food Choices, Healthy Soil, Renewable Energy, Fossil Fuel Resistance, Biodiversity and Indigenous Connections to Mother Earth. 

Sunday, April 16: "Only We Are Earthseed"

62 years ago last week, the first human being went to outer space! Our perspective as Earthlings has never been the same. Life on Earth is the part of the cosmos which relentlessly resurrects. How can we become more responsible stewards of the seeds of Life, both on and beyond Earth?

Watch the April 16 service here

Listen to the April 16 podcast here

Podcast Archive | Recording Archive 

We hold Rev. Jen Crow and her family in our hearts as they accompany Rev. Jen’s father, Cliff Feldwick, who begins hospice care tomorrow. Rev. Jen is in Baltimore to be with him and our love and care surround her and her family in this tender time.

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.

This spring during our Annual Giving Campaign, we have asked everyone to make a financial commitment to the church's annual fund for the year ahead. We've reflected on how our generosity through financial gifts is an important way we each plant seeds and foster growth in this congregation—this spiritual community that plays such a vital role in our lives.

While we formally wrapped up the campaign in worship this past Sunday, April 16 (you can watch the service here), we are still waiting to hear from more than 200 households about their financial commitment for the year ahead! The collective giving intentions of the congregation provides essential information for our Board of Trustees as they work to prepare a budget for the year ahead.

We welcome two different methods of setting up an annual gift: you can make a pledge (communicate a commitment) now and fulfill it with your preferred payment method in the 2023–2024 fiscal year (July 1–June 30), or set up (or update) a recurring electronic gift.

You should have received or been invited to pick up an annual giving packet last month. Please take time to fill out the commitment card that's in your packet and either mail it or bring it to church as soon as possible. You can also set up a new recurring electronic gift here, or download a pledge card to print and fill out here.

Email Jie Wronski-Riley to request a packet, make a change to a current recurring electronic gift, and/or with any questions about your annual giving.

Thank you for your generosity and attention to this important part of church life!

Thank you, dear community. You invested in First Universalist’s music ministries with your insight and your voice. You were candid, expressive, reflective, and earnest. You welcomed the newest among us into dear memories and beautiful stories. And together, we journeyed with possibility and emerged with hope refreshed. In total, 130 of you (about 13% of our congregation) showed up in-person and online, through surveys and snowstorms, to dream about our music ministries’ future.

The organizing team for our listening sessions worked to treat all that you shared with respect and grace. We consciously made time for deeper, honest conversations in the planning process. We made space to go further than our first impressions. We approached this process with intention and moved at the speed of consensus. 

The resulting document captures the imaginings of the community. It represents some of the dreams for our music ministries as they are. For some of you, this was a chance to lift up musical experiences here that we loved and imagine their return. Many of you imagined all kinds of possibilities our community’s never seen! 

Our conversation about First Universalist’s music ministries is a shared and ongoing one. Your collected insights will be one of the key documents to inform our music leadership—along with the church’s Visionary Goals, the principles of our faith, and our music leaders’ ongoing discernment.

The reflections represented here will help to shape our community’s vision for vibrant music ministries as the next chapter unfolds. Still, only your participation, your willingness to be a part of what we build will bring any of this to life. Music ministry at its heart is people-powered! 

We offer this reflection back to you, now: we asked you to imagine, and this is what you told us. Journey with care through this work of yours. You’ll hear our hearts, our history, and our hope calling in the data. They are asking us how we plan to help the community we love realize its life-giving dreams.

You can read the Listening Session & Survey Summary here.

Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Director of Worship Arts Ministries

and the Listening Session-Survey organizing team:

Shelley des Islets, Ann Kay, Shelley Thron, and Lou Quast

The Congregational Care Team is accepting applications to join the many caring ministries at church. Congregational Care includes everything from sending cards to folks at church who could use some words of support, to making meals, to being a listening and compassionate companion for congregants when life gets "lifey"—and so much more. 

Apply here to be part of the team that extends the care of the church to those who need it —and remember, we all need care. 

And the winner of cook-off voting is....

SOUP!

The cook-off team met over the weekend and plans are shaping up for a fun and filling cook-off prior to our Annual Meeting on June 4. More info coming soon so get your recipes ready! If you'd like to help corral the cook-off, please be in touch with Rev. Arif Mamdani at arif@firstuniv.org.

Submitted by Susan Keller, Healthy Soils Lead 

The Climate and Environmental Action Team is sponsoring two Clean-Up Sundays on April 30 and May 7, after each service. Bags will be provided to collect trash, and if you could wear some old washable gloves to protect your hands, that would be great. This is a great family activity and we can notice all the new green plants coming up through the earth. We may even see some bugs! Please meet members of the Team in the parking lot to get directions. Thank you for your help!

A sculptor of natural fibers, Martha uses basketry techniques as a starting point to create expansive conceptual forms that both carry forward the traditional craft and challenge its utilitarian assumptions. Her work explores the human body, manifestations of trauma, and concepts of resilience, energy and growth while drawing from her education as a nurse and life experiences. Creating these sculptures is a year-long process using specialty willow that Martha sustainably grows and harvests.  

Martha took her first basket class in 1994, as a way to end two years of prescribed bed rest that followed a disabling injury and subsequent bout of depression. She fell in love with the medium as it brought hope and movement back into her life. In 2016, she began experimenting with sculptural ideas using locally grown wild willow and then in 2017 designed her own solo trip and traveled to Ireland to hone her foundational willow skills through focused individualized study with four master basketmakers. 

Martha’s artwork has exhibited regionally and nationally, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota History Center and Boston’s Society of Arts and Craft with the National Basketry Organization. Her work has been acquired by the Minnesota Historical Society and can also be found in collections in New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and as part of the National Cause Based Art Program in partnership with a large national healthcare provider. Martha has received numerous state and regional grants in support of her work.  

You can visit Martha’s website and follow her new Instagram.

The church Lost and Found has been cleaned out. Items will be held until May 1. If you are missing something that might have found its way into the church Lost and Found, please contact church member Anne Frenchick (tedanne@pro-ns.net) to check and she will find a way to reunite you with your favorite: water bottle, thermos, coat, hat, gloves, mittens, snow pants, fleece jacket, or other miscellany.

First U will again host the AFA Prom in our social hall on Saturday, May 6! We will collect prom dresses and dress pants and shirts on Sundays, April 23 and 30. The women students like short, dressy dresses as well as long prom dresses; some may also like dressy pants outfits. The young men like dress pants and shirts. All sizes are needed (small to extra large).

AFA is a public charter school serving high school students in the Phillips neighborhood. AFA is a long standing Faithful Action Community Partner. Due to the generosity of our congregation, we have supported student Food and Clothing Closets for over 10 years and hosted spring proms in 2018 and 2019.

Please bring contributions to the Social Hall on Sundays, April 23 and 30. For more information contact Cindy Marsh at cindy.marsh2588@gmail.com. Thank you for your generosity.

Submitted by MNIPL community connector and First U member Roberta Haskin

Our community partner, Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light (MNIPL), will have an Earth Day benefit concert at First Universalist on Sunday, April 23, 3–5 p.m. Family friendly! Inspiring! Come and celebrate Songs are Seeds. Featuring music by singer-songwriter MJ Gilbert, and Wild Voice Chorus; with a welcome from Jim Bear Jacobs (Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation), and other surprise guests. You can purchase tickets here.

Submitted by Joan Naymark

Join First Universalist Housing advocates at the Capitol in St. Paul to speak out for affordable housing in Minnesota. We’d like to bring a large group from First Universalist to this annual event. It’s easy, interesting, and full of good community.

Our Faithful Action Community Partner Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity's mission is to eliminate poverty housing from the Twin Cities area and to make decent, affordable shelter for all people a matter of conscience.

When: Tuesday, April 25; check-in will start at 9:30 a.m. and program begins at 10:30 a.m.

Where: Minnesota State Capitol in the L'Etoile du Nord Vault Room, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, St. Paul, MN 55155 



What: Our annual advocacy event—come show your support for housing! Includes state of MN housing, advocacy training, and materials. Breakfast and lunch are provided. 

Who: All who want to disrupt the systemic racial bias in affordable housing. That’s us!

For more information about the event, to let us know that you'll be part of our church group, and/or to coordinate carpooling options, contact Joan Naymark at jnaymark@gmail.com. Also be sure to register with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.

Thursday, April 20, 6:30–9 p.m., Cummins Room & on Zoom

The First Universalist Board of Trustees meets Thursday, April 20. The board packet and meeting information is available here.

Wednesday, April 26, 6–8 p.m. in the Cummins Room

RSVP Requested

What’s Dinner Church? Pretty much what it sounds like—we’ll have a meal together while creating a worshipful experience with music, words, and opportunities to share what’s on our hearts and minds. You’ll be fed in body and spirit while helping to create and sustain the community we all need.

We gather on the last Wednesday of each month. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) members and friends of the church are invited. Kids are welcome and encouraged to attend, and childcare staff will be available to support parents and caregivers.

Hosted by Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, Director of Worship Arts Ministries, Lóre Stevens, Cummins Ministerial Intern, and Rev. Arif Mamdani, Associate Minister

Sunday, April 23

Grief Group

Caregivers Group

Wednesday, April 26

BIPOC Dinner Church

Sunday, May 7

A Place to Start

BIPOC Book Group

Young Adults Group Springtime Nature Experience

Thursday, May 11

Abolition Circle Begins

Sunday, May 14

Grief Group

LGBT Spirituality

Thursday, May 18

Daytime Connections

Board of Trustees Meeting

Join MUUSJA's Spring convenings: Earth Day, Reproductive Justice, and MN Queer Caucus Leaders Forum! Find details here. Contact Karen Wills at 612-927-2072 with questions.

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. April 22, 2 p.m. Richardson Nature Center. 8737 East Bush Lake Rd, Bloomington. Meet in parking lot at trailhead sign. Free parking. Marie will be there in red shirt/jacket. April 29, 2 p.m. Lakewood Cemetery, 3600 Hennepin Av S, Minneapolis. Meet by the Chapel. Park on the side of road. Marie will not be there. Lynn may be able to come. This could be a “Walk With Friends.” May 6, 2 p.m. Roseville Central Park, 2540 Lexington Av N, Roseville. Go to the parking lot off Lexington Avenue North. Free parking. Option to walk around the Lake. Marie will not be there.

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: May 11, 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. This month's book is "The People We Keep" by Allison Larkin with a meeting on April 24. RSVP to host Susan at 612-578-9655 or Armington007@gmail.com Address: Studio 501 at 2205 California St NE; building is locked so Susan will meet people at 6:30 or 7:15 pm in the Mojo Cafe parking lot at the Parking Lot Door (off of 22nd Ave). In Person Potluck at 6:30 pm, discussion at 7:30 pm. An online discussion will take place at 7 pm on Zoom.

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.