Sunday, March 31

"Everyday Miracles"

Rev. Laura Smidzik

Liz Haworth, Service Leader

Sunday, April 7

"Interfaith Interdependence"

Rev. Laura Smidzik

Jamie Hubbard, Service Leader

Sunday, April 14

"Where no man(?) has gone before..."

Chad Snyder, Commissioned Lay Minister

Amy Luedtke, Service Leader

Sunday, March 24

The Divine in the Human:

"What do I believe?"

Chad Snyder,

Commissioned Lay Minister

Amy Luedtke, Service Leader

Name Choice Task Force Update

Potluck and Coffee House

April 6

IFTAR Dinner

April 8

SACA Group Volunteer Opportunity

April 20

March Special Collection

Southern Anoka Community Action (SACA)

March Worship Theme

The Gift of Transformation

April Worship Theme

The Gift of Interdependence

Women's Book Group

April 6

Sunday Evening Book Group

April 14

Scroll down for the details on

Upcoming Worship Services and

Programs, Events, Announcements.

Sunday Service March 31

10:30 am

Fridley Community Center and Zoom

"Everyday Miracles"

Rev. Laura Smidzik

Liz Haworth, Service Leader

For many Unitarian Universalists, Easter is a time to reflect on resurrection as a metaphor for the world around us. Rev. Laura and Liz will turn to nature as a source of inspiration at this time of year when there are so many visible signs of everyday miracles as new growth emerges.

Sunday, April 7

10:30 am

Fridley Community Center and Zoom

"Interfaith Interdependence"

Rev. Laura Smidzik

Jamie Hubbard, Service Leader

On March 17, during her Ramadan service, Rev. Laura talked about how we’d be wise to grow relationships with other progressive faith communities in the area. How do we lean into interfaith work so we can practice interdependence beyond our own congregation? 

Sunday Service April 14

10:30 am

Fridley Community Center and Zoom

"Where no man(?) has gone before..."

Chad Snyder, Commissioned Lay Minister

Amy Luedtke, Service Manager

Bending the arc of the universe toward justice takes moral imagination -- an interdependence of past and present to envision a different and hopefully better future. From the bridge of the Starship Enterprise (and other fantastical imagined places across space and time), we will explore the ways moral imagination both expands and is confined by our own imaginings.

A Bit of History about the Name of Our Congregation

Rev. Laura Smidzik

A number of you have asked about our current name so I thought I would share a few things to provide some history and perspective on our current name. It is important to know who we have been...scroll down to the bottom to read the entire article.

Name Choice Task Force Update



The Name Choice Task Force held a forum on March 17^th, primarily to discuss the “unique name” results of the first vote. Thirty-two voters attended, representing 56% of the ballots cast for Vote 1.

Unique Name Ranking and Availability shows the top 32 unique names from Vote 1 presented at the forum, along with five write-in names. The red-yellow-green name availability scale indicates names already used by other churches in town (red), names with minor or moderate conflicts (yellow), and names without conflicts (green). The most significant conflicts are shown for the names with red or yellow availability ratings.

The following four discussion questions were posed:

• Why is your favorite unique name your favorite?
• What did your friends think of the top 20 names?
• Are you concerned about sharing a name with another church in town?
• Should any of the write-in names be on Ballot 2 as new nominations?

We urge you to listen to this March 17 Congregational Forum to hear the meaning some find in their favorite names, and to hear how our friends reacted to some of the names.

Of those who voiced an opinion on the third question, 17 were in favor of excluding red names and some yellow names from Ballot 2, and two were not concerned about sharing names. 

The majority of spoken opinions were in favor of including at least the three green write-in names on Ballot 2, in the status of new nominations.

The next steps in the name choice process are Vote 2 in April to select a single unique name, and a membership vote in May on whether to adopt the new name.

Name Choice Task Force:

Byron Johnson, Marie Phillips, Janice Sankot, Rev. Laura Smidzik

MSUS Potluck and Coffee House

Saturday, April 6

5:30 (Potluck), 6:30 (Coffee House)

In Person: Pilgrim House

Online: Our Zoom Room

Join us for the monthly MSUS at Pilgrim House for the monthly Pot Luck and Coffee House (the coffee house is hybrid too). All are invited to attend and perform. Contact Chad Snyder at chadasnyder@gmail.com if you want to perform.

Iftar Dinner Hosted by the Turkish American Society of MN

Monday, April 8, 7:45pm

Pilgrim House



Gather around 7:45 pm and dinner will be served at 7:51 pm when the sun sets and it is time to break the fast.

Serpil Misirli and her friends will be hosting another Iftar dinner this year!

They will be serving a main dish, soup, appetizers, salad, fruits, and dessert.



Scan the QR code to rsvp or go to  RSVP form.

Seating is limited so please RSVP. 

Volunteer Opportunity

When: Saturday April 20th 7:30 am till 12:30 pm (+ or -)

Where: SACA (southern Anoka community assistance)

627 38th Ave NE

Columbia Heights, 55421

Who: We need a group at minimum of 7, maximum 15, volunteers. Involves walking, pushing a cart, standing, lifting 8 to 10 pounds or if you can, more. 



What: Filling orders for SACA delivers. You take a pre labeled banana box on a cart, go through the tables filling their box with elders requests on order sheets. Push the cart to the scale and weigh it. Then grab an empty box and do it all again. Options if you like, are to lift full boxes into stacks, or help volunteer delivery people (that’s what I do) load vehicles on the various routes. These groceries go to 55+ Disabled persons otherwise unable to get to the food shelf. This is a monthly volunteer driven service. There unfortunately is a long waitlist for people to receive this service.  You will be a great part of helping feed those most in need. Emily from SACA will be in the warehouse at all times for questions. She is awesome.

How: email Polly at pollybangdrums@gmail.com or tell me in Sunday service. This is an important commitment and SACA can use lots of our help.

March Worship Theme: The Gift of Transformation

"When it comes to transformation, the message of spirituality is “Be careful with what you’ve been taught and told about transformation because much of it takes us in exactly the wrong direction.” Our challenge as communities of transformation is to remind each other to take those different tacks. Such as:

• It’s about breathing rather than becoming better.
• It’s about patience not perfection
• It’s about depth not dominance.
• It’s about attention not improvement."

- from Soul Matters March 2024 Small Group Discussion Material

April Worship Theme: The Gift of Interdependence

"Interdependence. We honor the interdependent web of all existence. 

We covenant to cherish Earth and all beings by creating and nurturing relationships of care and respect. With humility and reverence, we acknowledge our place in the great web of life, and we work to repair harm and damaged relationships."

- from Soul Matters 2023-24 Themes & Article II Connections

March Special Donation

Southern Anoka Community Assistance

Southern Anoka Community Assistance (SACA) is a 5non-profit food shelf located in Columbia Heights. SACA has been serving the communities of Columbia Heights, Hilltop, Fridley, Spring Lake Park, and NE Minneapolis for almost 50 years. Using the Client Choice food shelf model, we serve 55,000 individuals each year, giving out over 950,000 pounds of food monthly.

Sunday Evening Book Group

April 14, 7 pm

Sig & Marti’s

A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib. 283 pages. Published in 2021. A sweeping, genre-bending “masterpiece” (Minneapolis Star Tribune) exploring Black art, music, and culture in all their glory and complexity—from Soul Train, Aretha Franklin, and James Brown to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Whitney Houston, and Beyoncé

MSUS Women's Book Group

April 6, 9:30 am

Online: Our Zoom Room

Book selected: Non-Fiction. Off the Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything, by Kelly Weill

The MSUS Women's Book Group is a gathering of female (identifying as female/feminine, LGBTQ+ inclusive)) members and friends who meet the first Saturday of each month to discuss books written by female identified authors. The group alternates between fiction and non-fiction works recommended by one or more of the group members.  Contact Pat Ferrian (ferri004@gmail.com) to be added to the email list.

Meetings are held online via ZOOM, 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Unless otherwise noted, use the “Our Zoom Room” (Yellow Button) on the msuu.org home page. 

A Bit of History about the Name of Our Congregation

Rev. Laura Smidzik

A number of you have asked about our current name so I thought I would share a few things to provide some history and perspective on our current name. It is important to know who we have been, who we are, and where we are headed as we decide together if we are going to change our name.

These are the first two paragraphs of a brief history of our congregation that was written by Barbara Hughes many years ago:

 “On a rainy Sunday, late in May 1966, three members of the First Unitarian Society in Minneapolis on their way home from church stopped at a small Episcopal church at East River Road and Mississippi Street in Fridley. They had heard the building was about to be sold. They decided the facilities would be just right for a fellowship to serve the Unitarians in Anoka County. That afternoon they, with three other couples, decided

to found a fellowship.

On June 1, 1966, an organizational meeting was held. Twenty-three Unitarians signed as charter members, a board of trustees was elected, and articles of incorporation were drawn up. Michael Servetus Unitarian Society (MSUS) was chosen as the name of the new fellowship in honor of the first Unitarian martyr.”

My understanding was that when the founders first met there was a book about Michael Servetus sitting on the coffee table. That is what gave them the initial idea. The founders liked the idea of naming the congregation after a heretic and a martyr. The word “society” vs. “church” or “congregation” was selected because of the humanist nature of most of the founders, and because they came from First Unitarian Society.

Our first conversation about a potential name change was in 2019 at a congregational forum. The fellowship hall on Oakley Drive was full of people sitting in chairs and on tables lining the side of the room. Newcomers and old timers shared their perspectives. Several of our founders expressed the opinion that Michael Servetus is a good name for us. They felt that the name connects us to our history. They shared that Michael Servetus had many characteristics that UUs identify with—he was a scientist, he questioned, he was a rebel, he shook things up. They felt that he portrayed the characteristics that many UUs value and have exhibited throughout history.

Others spoke in favor of exploring a new name. A number of people reflected on looking up the name Michael Servetus online and coming away confused about why we would name a church after a man from the 16^th century*. Some asked if it was time to move away from the name of a martyr and think of something that would be more welcoming and contemporary. Others expressed initial concern about whether they would be welcomed at a “society.” And finally, there was the recognition that although Servetus was a genius, passionate about his theology, and influenced the beginnings of the Unitarian movement in Poland and Transylvania, his ego often got the best of him. He couldn’t keep himself from showing up in Geneva despite his awareness of Calvin’s power there. Ultimately, he was tried as a heretic and burned at the stake with his books at his feet.

*These are the first few paragraphs in the page about Michael Servetus on Wikipedia:

Michael Servetus (/sərˈviːtəs/;[1] Spanish: Miguel Serveto; French: Michel Servet; also known as Miguel Servet, Miguel de Villanueva, Revés, or Michel de Villeneuve; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and Renaissance humanist. He was the first European to correctly describe the function of pulmonary circulation, as discussed in Christianismi Restitutio (1553). He was a polymath versed in many sciences: mathematics, astronomy and meteorology, geography, human anatomy, medicine and pharmacology, as well as jurisprudence, translation, poetry, and the scholarly study of the Bible in its original languages.

He is renowned in the history of several of these fields, particularly medicine. His work on the circulation of blood and his observations on pulmonary circulation were particularly important. He participated in the Protestant Reformation, and later rejected the Trinity doctrine and mainstream Catholic Christology. After being condemned by Catholic authorities in France, he fled to Calvinist Geneva where he was denounced by John Calvin himself and burned at the stake for heresy by order of the city's governing council.