​Don’t miss this Sunday! This Water Communion Sunday we will be blessed by the songs of Ann Reed. ​

A touring musician for more than 30 years, Ann has gotten to know a bit about the geography of the United States and Canada. She has toured North America coast to coast, doing concerts, clubs, and festivals including Bumbershoot, Winnipeg, Black Mountain, and National Women’s Music Festival. And she’s met wonderful fans and made friends all along the way.
She has appeared on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, ABC’s Good Morning America, and NPR’s Morning Edition ​.

So come hear her beautiful songs of blessing and celebrate our ingathering of water, word and community.​

Introduction to Wellspring

Listed below is ‘An Introduction to Wellspring’, featuring Rev. Jen Crow.  If you’d like additional information about the Wellspring program, please email Rev. Jen at jen@firstuniv.org or visit http://www.uuwellspring.com.

Rev. Jen Crow joined First Universalist Church of Minneapolis as minister of program life in 2012. She founded the UU Wellspring program in 2005 while serving as associate minister at First Unitarian Church of Rochester (NY). Jen holds a master of divinity degree Meadville Lombard Theological School and a bachelor of science in psychology from Smith College.

Upcoming Art Exhibit in the Social Hall

September 7 – October 12, 2014
Oil Paintings by Carl Bretzke – Representational Paintings

Carl Bretzke

Carl is a representational painter who specializes in studio and plein aire (painted from life) landscapes and urban scenes. His work has been exhibited extensively in Minnesota and California, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art. He is currently represented by Flanders Contemporary Art in Minneapolis.

Carl holds an MD degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School. His undergraduate degree is from the University of Colorado, where he also received minor in Fine Art. Carl has also trained extensively under Plein Aire Painters of America signature artist Joseph Paquet. This talented man is also Margit Berg’s nephew, her sister’s son.

Other of examples of his work are available at carlbretzke.com

Listed below are the 2014-2015 art exhibits planned for the Social Hall:

September 7, 14, 21, 28, October 5, 12

Carl Bretzke – Plein-aire paintings

October 19, 26, November 2, 9, 16, 23

Richard Nelson — Maya Textiles and Photos

January 11, 18, 25, February 1, 8, 15

Free Arts Summer project with Wing Young Huie

February 22, March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

Anne Popadiuk Larson — Paintings

April 5, 12, 19, 26, May 3, 10, 17

Erin McClenahan (and Candace) – Photography
Jo Ann Musumeci’s Visualizing Nature Group’s accordion pieces

May 24, 31, June 7, 14, 21, 28, July 5, 12

Cynthia Starkweather-Nelson – Painting, Drawing,
Printmaking

July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Sept 6

Diane Von Arx — Calligraphy

Join the UU Pride Parade Contingent on June 29!

This year we will have drummers, a large rainbow dragon and easy chants to call out as we march downtown Minneapolis to Loring Park. You can meet at the Hiawatha rail station before for a light breakfast and travel together or meet us there. Show your UU pride and our commitment to our inclusive and welcoming faith communities!

Parade begins at 11:00 am.  UUs  march together in unit #90, which starts at 3rd St. S., between 4th and 5th Ave in downtown Minneapolis.  

Walk is one mile and ends at Loring  Park.   Wear your yellow “Standing on the Side of Love” tee shirt.

Congregants and members of the First Universalist Church Community:

If you would like to honor John Jensen — on the occasion of his retirement — with a financial gift, you may do so by writing a check to First Universalist Church, with “John’s gift” on the memo line.  Mail the check to the church (Attention:  Brad) or drop it off at the front desk in the office suite.  We will pool the gifts and present them to John as a single check on June 1.

We are about to start BUILDING the House That Love Built…and we need your help!

Summer build days are just around the corner, with our first build starting the week of May 5-9.

To sign up online, click here.  If you have any additional questions, email Chuck Coskran at chuck4199@yahoo.com or Tom Saterstrom at saterstromtom@yahoo.com. 

Want to help but hammers and nails are not your thing? Help with lunches. We prepare and deliver simple lunches to the crew. All expenses may be reimbursed. If you have questions or are ready to sign up, please email ginny mcaninch at ginny.mc1947@gmail.com.

Thank you!

Don’t miss Rev. Dr. William Schulz at First Universalist Church in Minneapolis this Sunday, at 9:30 and 11:15am.  Rev. Schulz is the current President and CEO of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) and is a long-time human rights leader, including past president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and former Executive Director of Amnesty International. His sermon, “In Defense of Barbarians”, will take up the cause of barbarianism and explain how you, too, may fall into that favored category or at least be allied with it.

Dr. William F. Schulz is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress specializing in human rights and serves or has served as a consultant to a variety of foundations, including the MacArthur Foundation, UN Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, and Humanity United of the Omidyar Network, regarding field surveys and evaluation, coalition building, grantee leadership, governance and strategic planning and other issues. He is an Adjunct Professor of Public Administration at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service and an Affiliated Professor at Meadville Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago. Rev. Schulz served as president of the Unitarian Universalist Association from 1985 to 1993.

From 1994-2006 Dr. Schulz served as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA.   During his twelve years at Amnesty, Dr. Schulz led missions to Liberia, Tunisia, Northern Ireland, and Sudan. He also traveled tens of thousands miles in the United States promoting human rights causes and was frequently quoted in the media.  He is the author of two books on human rights, In Our Own Best Interest:  How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All  (2001, Beacon Press) and Tainted Legacy: 9/11 and the Ruin of Human Rights  (2003, Nation Books); and the contributing editor of The Phenomenon of Torture: Readings and Commentary  (2007, University of Pennsylvania Press) and The Future of Human Rights: US Policy for a New Era (2008, University of Pennsylvania Press).  All of this prompted the New York Review of Books to say in 2002, “William Schulz…has done more than anyone in the American human rights movement to make human rights issues known in the United States.”

 Thank you all who participated in our 2014 Day of Service!