Find this week’s edition of our newsletter here: The Weekly Liberal June 3. If you are not receiving our emails and would like to, sign up here.

Binge watching happens when the story we’re invested in ends with a cliffhanger, a revelation, or a surprising twist, and we’ve left wondering, “What happens next? What now?” and then, barely pausing, we click “Next Episode” and continue watching. 

If only the questions of “What Now?” and “What Next?” were so easy to answer in real life! For nearly a year and a half now, we’ve been in pandemic reality, eliminating or limiting contact with beloved family and friends, creating new routines, diving into online school, navigating the slow return to in-person school, juggling roles, working to maintain mental health, losing jobs, getting vaccinated or wondering when we’ll be vaccinated, or worrying about being vaccinated, and struggling to make sense and meaning of what has happened. As we move into the summer, many of us are asking, “When will we be able to hug friends and family again? Sing together again? Return to church? How will we ensure a more fair and just post-pandemic world? What Now? What Next?” 

These questions feel urgent because the answers no longer rest in a far-away-time or distant place. The questions are alive in our hearts and minds. But unlike on Hulu, or Netflix, or Amazon Prime, there’s no “Next Episode” button to click to arrive at the answer.

Instead, we are living in the tension of these questions. We can’t binge our way through them. As people of faith, perhaps we can reshape these questions and ask, “What is the spiritual work right now? What spiritual work comes next? How do we hold grief and gratitude, fear and excitement, uncertainty and new found clarity, all at the same time? How can we go slow, and thoughtfully, trusting that the answers will emerge?”

This summer, in worship, we’ll create space to honor and live with these questions, not rushing toward answers, but engaging in spiritual practices and timeless wisdom, as we prepare our hearts for flesh and blood community, for re-engaging with the world, for doing justice work, hand in hand and side by side, with our neighbors and friends. 

Read this week’s issue of our newsletter here: The Weekly Liberal May 27.

Dear Members:

Please mark your calendar and plan to attend our virtual Annual Meeting of the Membership, scheduled for Sunday, June 6, 2021 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., following our 10 a.m. worship service.

We will be meeting via Zoom Webinar again this year. Please register here.

This year our church business includes approval of the annual budget; the election of members to the Board of Trustees, the Foundation Board and the Nominating Committee; a proposed Racial Justice resolution; a proposal to amend our bylaws to institutionalize youth participation on the Board which has been successful this past church year; and saying goodbye to our beloved Rev. Schroeder.    

Annual Meeting Agenda
Slate of Candidates
Racial Justice Resolution
Bylaws Amendment
Financial Report & Budget
Annual Report 2020–2021

Because it is virtual, it is really important that you register for this meeting ahead of time. We cannot guarantee access to the Zoom webinar for day-of registrations. 

We will vote using the Poll feature in Zoom. Therefore, each member needs to have their own device for voting – you can use a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. If you live in a household with multiple members, please have each member register separately, and attend the meeting from their own device.

A reminder that per our bylaws, only voting members can vote at the annual meeting. To be a voting member, you need to have officially joined the church and have made a pledge in any amount to the current or upcoming annual operating fund or have a ministerial waiver. Please contact Rev. Arif Mamdani at 612-825-1701 ext. 124 or arif@firstuniv.org to inquire about a waiver. 

Accessibility: If you are a member who would like your vote recorded, but do not have access to a device that will allow your participation in the Zoom Webinar and/or polling feature, or need any other accommodations in order to vote, please contact Liz Farmer at 612 825-1701 ext. 100 or liz@firstuniv.org by Wednesday, June 2.   

This is a time when we celebrate a successful year and conduct the business of this church that only church members can do. We need a quorum to conduct the meeting – please give us the gift of your time so that we may complete this work!

Register in advance here.

After registering and once your membership has been verified by staff, you will receive a confirmation email from Zoom containing information about joining the webinar. Please save this, as you’ll need your personalized credentials to access the webinar on June 6. Non-members will be able to view the meeting on YouTube live but will not be able to ask questions or vote. 

After the Annual Meeting, please join us for Rev. Justin’s Socially Distanced Goodbye! On Sunday, June 6, from 4 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!

Bryana French
President, Board of Trustees

Christa Anders
Secretary, Board of Trustees

P.S. Some of you may have questions about just how this will all work. So for those of you who want more information:

• All members who register will get their own personalized link that will allow them to connect to the Zoom webinar and vote
• We will be sharing documents on the screen so people can see them
• You will be able to see the presenters (Ministers and Board members)
• We will have a parliamentarian 
• We will be using the built-in polling software of Zoom that will allow you to vote using your device (desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone)
• Results of each poll will be displayed for everyone to see and announced verbally
• Questions will be taken via the Q & A feature and answered verbally by the presenters
• If something comes up that needs more attention than just the written Q & A, we have the option to make anyone in the audience a presenter so they can be seen on screen and ask their question via audio and/or video
• The Board Secretary will take minutes of the meeting and they will be available online after the meeting
• We will be sharing the Zoom Webinar, in real time, on YouTube Live, so interested non-members can observe the meeting

Read this week’s edition of The Liberal here: The Weekly Liberal May 20. If you are not receiving our newsletter and would like to you, sign up here.

The First Universalist Foundation concluded the 2021 grant cycle in early May by awarding $150,800 to 15 projects. This represented an increase from 2020 when 11 organizations received $105,000 in grants. The Foundation made the decision to increase our awards this year due to the continued strength of our financial portfolio and the understanding that this past year has been a hardship for many nonprofit organizations and the people who work for and with them. The high quality of the proposed projects reinforced our interest in providing greater funding this year. 

The Foundation embraces the spirit of the original endowment by supporting projects on the cutting edge of racial, climate, gender and immigration justice, and for which our funding can make a significant difference for the grantee organization. While we cannot fund all the grant applications we receive, we are very excited about the positive impact we foresee for the projects we were able to fund.

A list of the recipients and projects awarded for 2021 follows below. In some cases, projects were funded for a portion of their request.

612 M*A*S*H* (Minneapolis All Shall Heal) – Medical Clinic for George Floyd Square 

To solidify the delivery of health services within George Floyd Square, while also working towards expansion of services to other communities in need through development of a mobile unit.

Align Minneapolis – Street Voices of Change

To decrease injustice in the homeless sector by advocating for the rights of shelter residents and to develop a Common Application for rental properties that is fair, equitable, and affordable.

BLUU (Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism) – Northside Cooperative Housing Initiative

To cover expenses for maintenance and care for lots held for building permanently affordable housing for Black and Indigenous single mothers.

Black Men Teach – Diversifying the Teacher Pipeline

To support recruitment and pipeline-building efforts to diversify the teacher workforce with Black men as elementary school educators.

Brightside Produce – Developing a Financially Sustainable Model for Addressing Urban Food Insecurity

To support a financially sustainable expansion of the home delivery service by recruiting a net increase of 50 subscribers.

CLNE (The Center for Leadership and Neighborhood Engagement) – Triumphant Changemakers Fellowship Program

To support emerging leaders as they develop themselves for maximum community impact and explore the ways they would like to engage in social change work.

Conversations with Friends – Major Support for People Jailed in Sherburne and Kandiyohi Jails

To support people jailed by ICE at the Sherburne and Kandiyohi County Jails by providing 

phone cards, hygiene items, or food for those detained or basic clothing for those who are being deported.

discapacitados abriendose caminos – Soluciones Legales (Legal Support)

To provide legal consultation and representation in court by an immigration attorney for Latino youth and family members with status needs in the Twin Cities area. 

Million Artist Movement – Indigenous & Black Solidarity Study

To host three weekend study sessions exploring decolonization and solidarity for MAM artists who will create work in their artistic medium to present in a Community Sharing.

Midwest Food Connection – Activating Youth for Food Justice

To expand and strengthen work with middle school students in North Minneapolis to provide hands-on education in school classrooms on food systems, food access, and eating habits.

MN350 – Frontline Fund

To support requests from the frontline communities of climate justice most impacted by the intersectionality of climate and racial injustice, the COVID 19 pandemic, and the murder of George Floyd.

MIRAC (Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee) – DACA Education and Renewal Workshop

To host a DACA legal clinic to update participants on immigration policies, connect them to resources for immigrants, and provide legal support for DACA applications.

MUUSJA (Minnesota UU Social Justice Alliance) – Pride PSA: Digital/Printable LGBTQIA+ Welcome

To create a digitized poster with QR code linking to statewide UU welcoming congregations and statewide service organizations to disseminate at virtual and in-person PRIDE festivals.

Our Justice – Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers

To provide small stipends to volunteers to ensure the ability to recruit and retain a volunteer base that reflects the populations served.

RISE (Resilient Indigenous Sisters Engaging Coalition)

To educate, empower and inspire native and non-native people in climate justice, environmental sustainability, and Treaty Rights.

The grant-making process started in late 2020 with nominations from First Universalist Church members and we appreciate all the proposals that we received this year. This year the Foundation Board consisted of Foundation Board chair Suzan Klein and committee members Leila Ambrus, Jill Anderson, John Bringewatt, Jared Cruz, Ginny Halloran, Rochelle Hammer, Roberta Haskin, and Anne McBean. We receive important and greatly appreciated staff support from Emma Paskewitz. We want to thank Leila Ambrus (Class of 2021 high school graduate!), Jill Anderson (treasurer), John Bringewatt, and Rochelle Hammer for their years of contributions to the Foundation. Next year, we will welcome four new members. 

We are very excited to see the change work that is happening in our community. It was inspirational to read the applications that we received this year. We wish the best to our grantee organizations that, as you can see, are doing truly important work. 

At our Annual Meeting of the Membership on June 6, we will be voting on a Racial Justice Resolution, written and edited by the First Universalist Board of Trustees and improved by several key lay leaders in Racial Justice groups in our church. You can find the Racial Justice Resolution here on our website. This six-minute video with Board President Bryana French and our Director of Liberation and Transformation Ministries Julica Hermann de la Fuente provides context and more information about how the Racial Justice Resolution came to be. 

Questions? Please join us at one of the Town Hall Meetings listed below:
Sunday May 16, noon
Monday May 17, 7 p.m.
Wednesday May 19, 8:15 p.m.

Join any of the Town Hall Meetings via Zoom here (Meeting ID: 968 0136 3031; to join by phone dial +1 312 626 6799).

Find this week’s edition of The Weekly Liberal here: The Weekly Liberal May 13. If you are not currently receiving our newsletter and would like to, sign up here.

Read this week’s edition of The Weekly Liberal here: The Weekly Liberal May 6. If you are not currently receiving our email and would like to, sign up here.

Our May Faithful Action newsletter is now available here! This newsletter contains information about our Faithful Action Community Partners and provides concrete ways to get involved and take action through our Faithful Action Community Partner organizations. In this newsletter you will find invitations to volunteer, advocate, give, and learn with others at First Universalist and in our broader community through the work of our partner organizations. You can learn more about our Faithful Action Community Partners and find out how to get involved in their work in this newsletter.