Please note: instead of our regular Wednesday evening worship, tonight we will hold a pastoral space at 7 p.m., and encourage you to tune into the National UU Vigil at 7:30 p.m. Details are below. 

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.

Connection Details:

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.

Please note: instead of our regular Wednesday evening worship, tonight we will hold a pastoral space at 7 p.m., and encourage you to tune into the National UU Vigil at 7:30 p.m. Details are below. 

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.

Connection Details:

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.

In the midst of unending human-made sorrow, how can we feel what we need to feel and keep on moving toward transformation? How will we ever find the Universalist paradise of a circle wide enough to include us all and a love so strong that it will not let any one of us go? Author Rebecca Solnit offers up this possibility: perhaps paradise is as simple as unbroken solidarity. Join us Sunday, April 18 at 10 a.m. as we explore the possibility of a world of unbroken solidarities.

Follow along with the Order of Service

Offering: Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU)
(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!

Fellowship Hour for BIPOC and Multiracial folks ~ 11 a.m.
A social space for those who identify as black, indigenous, people of color, and multiracial to connect. Please note: this week this group will enter through the same Zoom room as the Small Groups & All Identities Fellowship Hour, and will meet in a breakout room. 

Sunday Small Groups & Fellowship Hours ~ 11:15 a.m.
Fellowship hours will funnel through this link. Breakout room options are:

• Six-Week Sunday Small Groups (pre-registration required)
• All-Identities Fellowship Hour
• BIPOC Fellowship Hour

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

These last several days have been hard. This week, we invite you to join us for worship in “meeting” mode on Wednesday, April 14, at 7 p.m., to be present with one another and remember that we are not alone. In Zoom’s “meeting” mode, we will be able to see one another (those who choose to turn on their videos will be visible; you can keep yours off if you’d prefer). The beginning of the service will be like other Wednesday services, with a message and prayer, but we will use the last ten minutes or so to move into small groups. In these groups we will be welcome to share what’s on our hearts, be received into a circle of love and care, and hold together the many things that are moving with our spirits.

Many of us are experiencing pain and heartbreak at yet another life lost at the hands of the police, tension as we try to make sense of Daunte Wright’s killing in the midst of Derek Chauvin’s trial, and the many feelings that were reawakened by the sounds and scenes of protest and curfews. At the same time, many of us are experiencing the beauty of a community that comes forth and shows up for each other, the generosity of folks in the Twin Cities and around the country in supporting Daunte Wright’s family in this time of grief, and the many reminders that even in a time of heartbreak and grief, there is so much that is good and beautiful in this world.

You don’t need to share your video tomorrow night. You don’t need to be part of a small group. And, we hope you’ll do both, because right now, we need each other. We need to see each other. We need to hear each other. We need to receive each other and ourselves into a circle of love and care. Join us.

Launch the Wednesday Worship Zoom here (Meeting ID: 988 8810 2553; Passcode: 264562) between 6:55 and 7 p.m.

To join by phone (audio only), dial 1-312-626-6799 and enter the meeting ID.

The Care Companions space after the service will open at about 7:30 p.m.

Sometimes we think of the religious life as serious and staid. But in every faith and spiritual tradition, there exists a trickster, fool, clown, jester, buffoon, or “simpleton” that disrupts, mocks, pokes fun at, and questions authority—religious and otherwise. The purpose of the “holy fool” is to upend what we think we know, to shatter our perceptions of what is real, and to reveal a deeper truth. Play, playfulness, riddles, and humor are all tools of the “holy fool,” designed to snap us out of our waking slumber, out of our certainty, and into a new understanding of life and ourselves. In this time of environmental collapse, of racial justice uprising, of life altered by a pandemic, what might we learn from the “holy fools” of history, from the “holy fools” of our own time, and how might we embody and practice holy foolishness? Join us for worship Sunday, April 11 at 10 a.m., including a story for all ages, sharing our joys and concerns, special music, and a message.

Follow along with the Order of Service

Offering: Joyce Food Shelf
(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 Hour for BIPOC and Multiracial folks ~ 11 a.m.
A social space for those who identify as black, indigenous, people of color, and multiracial to connect.

Sunday Small Groups & All Identities Fellowship Hour ~ 11:15 a.m.
Fellowship hours will funnel through this link. Breakout room options are:
Six-Week Sunday Small Groups (pre-registration required)
All-Identities Fellowship Hour

First Sunday Meditation Group – 11:15-12:30pm (rescheduled from April 4)
Join this monthly congregant-led group for silent meditation on zoom. After 20 minutes of sitting together in silence we will share experiences from our practices. We will begin our gathering at 11:15 am to provide time to share our lives with one another. Meditation will start at 11:30am

Our worship theme for April is “accountability.” Perhaps accountability is best understood as a complex and layered set of relationships and responsibilities. As we think about accountability, we might ask, “Who and what are we in relationship with? What do those relationships ask of us? What are we responsible or accountable for in those relationships?” In our time together Wednesday, we won’t offer easy answers to these questions, but we’ll live in the questions and the relationships that surround us. Join us for this short service (20-30 minutes) to pause, breathe, re-center, and create sacred community together.

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

Webinar ID: 117-312-320.
To join 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.

Easter is about new life, new hope, and resurrection of the spirit in the face of despair. Easter speaks to a miraculous force and a love that is stronger than death. In this time of global pandemic and this time of the trial of Derek Chauvin (which has global implications), how do we make sense of Easter? Easter speaks to the timeless cycle of death and rebirth, and this Easter, we ask, “Given the world as it is, what in us might die, so that something new and life giving might be born?” Join us for worship online Sunday, April 4 at 10 a.m. Worship will include a story for all ages, sharing our joys and concerns, special music, and a message.

Follow along with the Order of Service

Offering: BLUU Housing Project
(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!

Fellowship Hour for BIPOC and Multiracial folks ~ 11 a.m.
A social space for those who identify as black, indigenous, people of color, and multiracial to connect.

Sunday Small Groups & All Identities Fellowship Hour ~ 11:15 a.m.
Fellowship hours will funnel through this link. Breakout room options are:

• Six-Week Sunday Small Groups (pre-registration required)
• All-Identities Fellowship Hour

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

First Sunday Meditation has been rescheduled to April 11.

As we enter a month where our worship theme is “Accountability,” join our Wednesday evening service on March 31 at 7 p.m. for two short stories, images really, that will help us enter the theme and reflect on the nature of accountability in our lives and how the spiritual practice of accountability might help us all live into the world we long for. We’ll sing together. We’ll pray together. Most importantly, we’ll remember that none of us makes it through this life alone. See you Wednesday night!

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

Webinar ID: 117-312-320.
To join 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.

First Universalist is a church that cares about its members and friends. We demonstrate this care in all kinds of ways and we also care deeply about the world outside of ourselves. Yet sometimes, the historic nature of liberal religious enlightenment takes us away from feelings, suffering and pain. Many of us do not reach out when we need help, when we need healing, or when we need the nurturing of human care.

This Sunday, March 28 at 10 a.m. come and learn about WE CARE Ministries at First Universalist. Find out more about how to become a care seeker or a care provider.

Follow along with the Order of Service

Offering: Care Ministries at First Universalist Church
(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 Hour for BIPOC and Multiracial folks ~ 11 a.m.
A social space for those who identify as black, indigenous, people of color, and multiracial to connect.

Sunday Small Groups & Fellowship Hours ~ 11:15 a.m.
Fellowship hour and small groups will funnel through this link. Breakout room options are:

• Six-Week Sunday Small Groups (pre-registration required)
• All-Identities Fellowship Hour

In worship this past Sunday, Rev. Jen reminded us of the words of the Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman: that we “need to find a home somewhere before we can feel at home everywhere.” Join us this Wednesday, March 24 at 7 p.m. for a time of silence, prayer, and reflection. We’ll explore the meaning and power of home, and where and how we find and create home- that place of belonging and being known, that place we sometimes know, and long to return to.

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

Webinar ID: 117-312-320.
To join 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.