Join us in person at the Lake Harriet Bandshell on Sunday, July 4 at 10 a.m. Worship will include a story for all ages, sharing our joys and concerns, special music, and a message. We will not be live-streaming the service from the bandshell due to a lack of internet and poor cellular connectivity. However, a high-quality recording of the service will be posted on our YouTube channel on Sunday afternoon/evening, and, as usual, the worship podcast will be available on Podbean and Spotify early next week.

Follow along with the Order of Service.

Offering: Crisis Nursery
(give here) or text firstuniv to 73256. You’ll receive a link to a secure form where you can enter your information. Select the “Offering Plate” fund from the dropdown menu.

First Step
Normally offered every first and third Sunday, today’s First Step is cancelled due to the holiday.

Fellowship Hours
Over the summer, we’ll be offering All Identities and BIPOC Coffee Hours on second and fourth Sundays only. The next virtual coffee hour will be on July 11.

This Sunday, June 27, First Universalist Leads the Sunday Service for our worldwide virtual gathering of the Unitarian Universalist Association! Today’s challenging times require a nimble and resilient spirituality. We need a demanding, inspiring faith and a love strong enough that it will not let us go. Join us at 10 a.m. as we draw the circle wide, gather our strength, and promise to stay in the struggle and joy until love wins.

Click to enter the Worship Webinar – 10 a.m.

Webinar ID: 861 805 984
Dial-in on a phone for audio-only: 312-626-6799

Follow along with the Order of Service

Offering: MICAH
(give here) or text firstuniv to 73256. You’ll receive a link to a secure form where you can enter your information. Select the “Offering Plate” fund from the dropdown menu.

Care Companions Space ~ 11 a.m.
We know that worship can take us into deep and surprising places. If you find yourself needing to talk with someone about what is stirring for you after worship, please speak with one of our care companions in a confidential zoom room after the service. This is how we care for one another.

Fellowship Hours ~ 11:15 a.m.
First U members will be happy to meet you and greet you in this casual social time to meet new folks, say hi to old friends, catch up, check in, and trade stories. BIPOC Coffee hour will meet in a breakout room via this link.

UUs in 12-Step Recovery – 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Do you identify as someone in 12-Step recovery? Would you like to build community at church and add a layer of support for yourself and others? Join this drop-in group for UUs in 12-step based recovery from all kinds of addiction and family dysfunction. We’ll join in a time of silent meditation, explore a topic, and share our experience, strength and hope with each other. Participation in the meeting is confidential, and no sign up is required.
Meeting ID: 922 6965 4151; Passcode: 839388

Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion at Harvard Divinity School, says, “[Unitarian Universalism is] in my estimation, the church of the new millennium. In this era, Unitarian Universalism is not the lowest common denominator, but the highest common calling. . . . In a world divided by race and by religion and ideology, the very presence of a church like this, committed to the oneness of God, the love of God, the love of neighbor and service to humanity, is a beacon.”

Thanks, Diane, for that compliment! Now, fellow UUs, let’s get our creativity going and think of some new ways to put more skin on the bones of our beautiful beliefs. This is the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly Week and this is where that creativity can happen in our Association.

Launch the Wednesday Worship Zoom here – 7 p.m.

Webinar ID: 117-312-320.
Listen by phone (audio only), dial 1-312-626-6799 and enter the webinar ID.

Care Companions Space ~ 7:30 p.m.
We know that worship can take us into deep and surprising places. If you find yourself needing to talk with someone about what is stirring for you after worship, please speak with one of our care companions in a confidential zoom room after the service. This is how we care for one another.

On June 20th, First Universalist will join Meadville Lombard Theological School (a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago, and alma mater of Rev. Jen Crow, Rev. Karen Hutt, and Rev. Sara Smalley) for a compelling service led by by Rev. Nancy McDonald-Ladd, MDiv ‘04, Senior Minister of River Road UU Congregation in Bethesda, Maryland, and special musical guest Mark Miller, faculty at Drew Theological School and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University. This service is sure to offer nourishment for our parched souls. We will stream this service through our usual worship webinar on Zoom and on YouTube live. Rev. Jen will open our service with a Welcome at 9:55 and the service will begin precisely at 10 a.m.

Click to enter the Worship Webinar – 10 a.m.

Webinar ID: 861 805 984
Dial-in on a phone for audio-only: 312-626-6799

Follow along with the Order of Service.

Offering: Meadville-Lombard Theological School.

Care Companions Space ~ 11 a.m.
We know that worship can take us into deep and surprising places. If you find yourself needing to talk with someone about what is stirring for you after worship, please speak with one of our care companions in a confidential zoom room after the service. This is how we care for one another.

First Step ~ 11 a.m.
First Step is a brief, casual orientation to Unitarian Universalism and First Universalist Church. During this 45-minute class, participants will learn about the foundations of our faith tradition and opportunities to get involved. If you attend First Step this morning, please fill out the Visitor Connect form so we can follow up with you! Thank you!

So often we use the words “faith” and “religion” interchangeably. In what sense is Unitarian Universalism a religious movement? And what is “religion,” anyway? Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy? Who gets to decide? Join Rev. Karen Hutt on Wednesday, June 16 at 7 p.m. and let us explore the surprising history of this debate.

Launch the Wednesday Worship Zoom here – 7 p.m.

Webinar ID: 117-312-320.
To listen by phone, dial 1-312-626-6799 and enter the webinar ID.

Care Companions Space ~ 7:30 p.m.
We know that worship can take us into deep and surprising places. If you find yourself needing to talk with someone about what is stirring for you after worship, please speak with one of our care companions in a confidential zoom room after the service. This is how we care for one another.

After over a year of being physically apart, this Sunday, June 13 marks our first time together in person and online as a church community when we gather at the Lake Harriet Bandshell and on zoom. How will it feel to be together in person? How will it feel to be online when others can gather face-to-face? What will it be like? As people of faith, we promise to pay attention, to be curious with ourselves and each other, and to make room for all of who we are and all of the feelings and experiences that arise. We’ve got this, together.

Follow along with the Order of Service

Offering: 50/50 Split between Minneapolis Crisis Nursery and First Universalist
(give here) or text firstuniv to 73256. You’ll receive a link to a secure form where you can enter your information. Select the “Offering Plate” fund from the dropdown menu.

All Identities and BIPOC Virtual Fellowship Spaces are canceled today. Over the summer, we’ll be offering All Identities and BIPOC Coffee Hours on second and fourth Sundays only. The next coffee hour will be on June 27th.

Where do you find beauty in the world? How can paying attention to beauty help us find our way? Join United seminarian and First Universalist member Jill Braithwaite this Wednesday, June 9 at 7 p.m. as she invites us to consider beauty and to listen to its transformative call.

Launch the Wednesday Worship Zoom here – 7 p.m.

Webinar ID: 117-312-320.
To listen by phone (audio only), dial 1-312-626-6799 and enter the webinar ID.

Care Companions Space ~ 7:30 p.m.
We know that worship can take us into deep and surprising places. If you find yourself needing to talk with someone about what is stirring for you after worship, please speak with one of our care companions in a confidential zoom room after the service. This is how we care for one another.

Join us online Sunday, June 6 at 10 a.m. for Flower Communion, our annual ritual that celebrates beauty, human uniqueness, diversity, and community. Worship will include special music, a story for all ages, and a message from Rev. Jen Crow.

Follow along with the Order of Service

Offering:
(give here) or text firstuniv to 73256. You’ll receive a link to a secure form where you can enter your information. Select the “Offering Plate” fund from the dropdown menu.

Care Companions Space ~ 11 a.m.
We know that worship can take us into deep and surprising places. If you find yourself needing to talk with someone about what is stirring for you after worship, please speak with one of our care companions in a confidential zoom room after the service. This is how we care for one another.

First Step ~ 11 a.m.
First Step is a brief, casual orientation to Unitarian Universalism and First Universalist Church. During this 45-minute class, participants will learn about the foundations of our faith tradition and opportunities to get involved. If you attend First Step this morning, please fill out the Visitor Connect form so we can follow up with you! Thank you!

Our feelings matter. Too often we ignore them, suppress them, or hold onto them, not knowing exactly what to do with them. Yes, our feelings are messengers and if we listen carefully we can learn so much about how to take care of ourselves. Join me in Wednesday Worship tomorrow evening as we ask ourselves new questions and develop new strategies to address our feelings using a practical tool. Join Rev. Karen this Wednesday, June 2 for a midweek worship experience for adults and older youth. This 30-minute service is a brief time of connection, centering, and reflection to help us find and keep our balance.

Launch the Wednesday Worship Zoom here – 7 p.m.

Webinar ID: 117-312-320.
To listen by phone (audio only), dial 1-312-626-6799 and enter the webinar ID.

Care Companions Space ~ 7:30 p.m.
We know that worship can take us into deep and surprising places. If you find yourself needing to talk with someone about what is stirring for you after worship, please speak with one of our care companions in a confidential zoom room after the service. This is how we care for one another.

Scholar Mariame Kaba reminds us that abolition is a “positive vision:” one that is fundamentally about building a world in which all people can be free and flourish. In this season of reckoning, as we commemorate the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder and contemplate how we are called to build a world in which all of us are free, we will step into the practice of radical imagination together as we work to conceive of a world without policing and prisons, and with resources, accountability, and safety for all. Join us for worship this Sunday, May 30.

Follow along with the Order of Service

Offering: Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity
(give here) or text firstuniv to 73256. You’ll receive a link to a secure form where you can enter your information. Select the “Offering Plate” fund from the dropdown menu.

Care Companions Space ~ 11 a.m.
We know that worship can take us into deep and surprising places. If you find yourself needing to talk with someone about what is stirring for you after worship, please speak with one of our care companions in a confidential zoom room after the service. This is how we care for one another.

BIPOC Coffee Hour – 11 a.m.
A space for Black, Indigenous, and Multiracial folks to connect.

UUs in 12-Step Recovery – 11:30 a.m.
Do you identify as someone in 12-Step recovery? Would you like to build community at church and add a layer of support for yourself and others? Join this drop-in group for UUs in 12-step based recovery from all kinds of addiction and family dysfunction. We’ll join in a time of silent meditation, explore a topic, and share our experience, strength and hope with each other. Participation in the meeting is confidential, and no sign up is required.
Meeting ID: 922 6965 4151; Passcode: 839388

Please note: there will be no All Identities Fellowship Hour this Sunday. Over the summer, we’ll be offering this opportunity on second and fourth Sundays only.