Read this week’s edition of the Liberal here: The Weekly Liberal April 29. If you are not receiving our emails and would like to, sign up here.

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?”

Read this week’s edition of the Liberal here: The Weekly Liberal April 22. If you are not receiving our emails and would like to, sign up here.

Dear Ones,

What a day, what a week, what a year it has been. Pause, beloveds, feel all you’re feeling, and exhale.

Last night, we celebrated with the activists who brought us this moment of victory and accountability that comes with the conviction of one murderous police officer. Today, our hearts continue to break following news of yesterday’s police killing of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant at the hands of Columbus police. Tomorrow, we will mourn with all those who loved Daunte Wright, as his funeral is held in North Minneapolis. 

We are experiencing so much, and our identities, our life circumstances and our past victories and griefs are certainly all shaping what we know and feel. It is ok to feel however you feel today. There is no one right way to experience these joys and sorrows. The one thing we know for sure is that the journey toward accountability and justice, the recovery from racism and white supremacy culture, is a lifelong spiritual practice. We are not done. And sometimes we need to pause and rest before we can push again. 

Today, we encourage you to take tender care of yourself and those around you. Instead of our regular Wednesday worship service and the planned BIPOC caucus space afterward, at 7 p.m. Justin and Julica will be holding a space of spiritual support and companionship, where caucusing space will be available if desired. Then, at 7:30 p.m., we invite you to lean into the larger care of our Unitarian Universalist faith for a National UU Post-Verdict Vigil, hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Association, Side with Love, Black Lives of UU, and DRUUMM (with our own Rev. Karen Hutt participating). The livestream will be held on Facebook Live and Zoom at 7:30 p.m. this evening, April 21. More details are below. And tomorrow, April 22, from 6:30–7:30 p.m., join Arif and Karen in a pastoral space here as previously shared, where again caucus space will be available if desired. 

Today, we encourage you to make space to reconnect with yourself, each other, this good earth, and all that you hold holy. Now is the time to stay faithful, committed, and connected. 

With love and care,

Rev. Jen, Rev. Justin, Rev. Arif, Rev. Karen, Lauren, Jenn and Julica

Updated Schedule & Details

Wednesday, April 21 (NO regular Wednesday worship)

7 p.m. pastoral space with Rev. Justin and Julica on Zoom with BIPOC caucus space if desired. Join here (Meeting ID 995 7754 3993: Passcode: 483436)

7:30 p.m. National UU Post-Verdict Vigil on Facebook Live and Zoom. Register to join the Zoom webinar here or stream on Facebook Live here. More information is available on the Facebook Event.

Thursday, April 22

6:30–7:30 pastoral space with Rev. Karen and Rev. Arif on Zoom, with BIPOC caucus space if desired. Join here (Meeting ID: 992 9676 6337 Passcode: 034078)

Read this week’s edition of the Liberal here: The Weekly Liberal April 15. If you are not receiving our newsletter and would like to, sign up here.

Rev. Justin would love to have videos from First U members bidding him farewell. These videos are sure to be a treasure that he will enjoy for years to come as he looks back on his time with us. If you are interested in saying your Good Goodbye via video, send it to Justin using wetransfer.com (you don’t have to create an account to use it; scroll to the bottom of the page and select “I just want to send files.”) When prompted, enter Justin’s email address, justin [at] firstuniv.org, and upload your video. Justin will be able to save and view these permanently. We ask that your video be no more than three to five minutes and that you submit it by June 6. If you have questions or need help, reach out to Frederic MacDonald-Dennis or Ben Cooper (contact the church office for contact information).

Also, feel free to send a good goodbye email directly to Justin at justin [at] firstuniv.org.  And remember,  letters, notes, and cards are welcome. There’s a special keepsake box in Justin’s office so he can receive them any time and enjoy reading them now and in the future. Send them to: Rev. Justin Schroeder, 3400 Dupont Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN55408. These communications may of course include words to Juliana, Tucker and Jesse. 

And, because you asked: The Good Goodbye team has gotten a small gift for Justin, on behalf of the congregation. But some of you have asked if individual monetary gifts may be made. Of course they may and the question is not a surprising one. We are a congregation of generous, loving spirits. If the spirit moves you, the details below give instructions. But please, feel no obligation. Justin is feeling the love coming from us all in so many ways. 

Electronic gifts for Justin can be made here. Checks can be sent to the church, and made out to First Universalist Church, with “Justin’s Goodbye” in the memo line. Any questions can be directed to Finance Assistant, Chelsea Bertsch at Chelsea [at] firstuniv.org. Please note that such gifts are not tax deductible donations, and they are separate from ongoing church support.

If you have questions or comments about the Good Goodbye (GG) plans, please contact a member of the GG Team: Ginny McAninch, chair; Bette DeMars, Lena K. Gardner, Nancy Gaschott, Rich Jaeger, Frederic MacDonald-Dennis, and Karin Wille. Reach out to the church office for contact information. Together, we will create a good goodbye!

Read this week’s edition of the Liberal here: The Weekly Liberal April 8. If you are not currently receiving our newsletter and would like to, sign up here.

Our April 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.

Read this week’s issue of the Liberal here: The Weekly Liberal April 1. If you are not currently receiving our newsletter and would like to, sign up here.

“Not everything is lost. Responsibility cannot be lost, it can only be abdicated. If one refuses abdication, one begins again.”  – James Baldwin, Just Above My Head

It’s been suggested that the spiritual practice of accountability is being answerable to someone who helps you stay on target for your spiritual goals and your other life endeavors. In this frame, accountability is something that happens between two people (or a small group of people) who are open, honest, and transparent with each other about what is really happening in their lives, the struggles they are facing, and how they are responding. Together, they check in on each other, encourage each other, and remind each other of the promises and commitments they’ve made. Who are you accountable to in your life? 

In the political framework, we speak about holding our elected officials accountable to the will of the people, particularly those most impacted by various injustices, as opposed to elected officials being accountable to corporate interests or a select group of citizens.

 Closer to our (religious and spiritual) home, the proposed 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism says, “We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountability dismantles racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”

In all of these framings, accountability is a kind of responsibility – to be responsible to one’s own heart and goals, to be responsible to those one represents, and to be responsible for creating the Beloved Community. 

Accountability and responsibility can be abdicated. But if we refuse abdication and choose accountability, then we begin again. We choose to change our behaviors and institutions. We tell the truth about how we have fallen short and listen to the truth of those we have impacted. We care for those around us and center those who have been most impacted by our actions. This is how we begin again in accountable relationships.