First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

Every year, as we begin the New Year, we hold a ritual space to name and recount the losses we’ve experienced in the past year. This year, more than ever, this ritual of “Remembrance Sunday” feels so important. In 2020, grief was a constant companion. We lost jobs, business, and loved ones, many of them to Covid-19. We lost opportunities to attend graduations and weddings, memorials and family reunions. For many of us, grief wove with grief.

In this service, we will be held by beautiful music from Ellis as well as Franco Holder and violinist Travis Waymon. Lauren Wyeth, Rev. Arif Mamdani, and Rev. Justin Schroeder will lead us in story and ritual as we touch on the realities of impermanence, remember what lives on in memory, and discover how, even in the face of grief, we might embrace life and love once again.

Words of Welcome- Rev. Justin Schroeder (:29)

Story for All Ages- Lauren Wyeth (3:03)

Lighting the Candle of Impermanence (9:30)

Interlude- Excerpt from Spiegel im Spiegel- Travis Waymon and Franco Holder (10:55)

Prayer and Reflection- Rev. Justin Schroeder (11:43)

Lighting the Candle of Memory (21:02)

Spirit of Life- Travis Waymon and Franco Holder (22:02)

Homily- Rev. Arif Mamdani (23:20)

Lighting the Candle of Embracing (30:46)

Start Where You Are- Ellis Delaney (32:45)

Closing Words- Lauren Wyeth, Rev. Arif Mamdani, Rev. Justin Schroeder (36:59)

What will be different in 2021? What dreams for our lives and our community have been shaped by the pandemic, the racial justice uprising, and the questions still unanswered of whether or not the United States can actually become a pluralistic, equitable, multi-racial democracy? What dreams of yours – and what collective dreams of ours – might come to life in 2021? For dreams to be born, we must choose change, be courageous and brave, and let old habits and patterns fade and die, so something new and life giving can blossom.

Story for All Ages- Aimee K. Bryant (:21)

Hymn- Voice Still and Small, Erin Segrue (6:40)

Sermon- Impossible Dreams, Rev. Justin Schroeder (8:16)

Closing Hymn- We'll Build a Land, Sarah Lindsay

Rev. Arif Mamdani shares: In a year that has seen so much, how we gather, how we mark this passing, is not as clear cut as it may have been in other, less tumultuous years.

Back in the spring, almost a year ago now, I asked “what is the story that we want to be able to tell about this time?” I invited us then to imagine ourselves into a future where we’d be sharing the story of this pandemic with young ones who hadn’t lived through it or were too young to recall. This was before George Floyd was murdered, before the cities across our nation and around the world rose up in a cry for justice that is still reverberating, before it became evident that Line 3 was going to be a significant fight, before our president would make numerous attempts to destroy our democracy and we would wonder (we are still wondering) if we’d have a peaceful transition of power or if we would need to be in our streets defending our democracy. And in the background of all this, the drumbeat of loss, and loss, and loss that has been a constant refrain of 2020.

It has been a year. And so, when we gather as a community on the 27th, let’s gather with this question in mind: “how shall we end this year? And what comes next?” And when we gather, let’s see how we answer it, together.

Words of Welcome- Rev. Arif Mamdani (:34)

Opening Hymn, Sanctuary - Seth Anderson-Matz (3:01)

Collective Prayer- Rev. Arif Mamdani (4:59)

Homily- Rev. Arif Mamdani (19:27)

Our beloved annual Christmas Pageant, adapted for the small screen with creativity, humor, and extra layers of meaning will remind you of what matters most in this extraordinary season, as 2020 draws to a close.

This year’s Pageant is born of the time and talents of so many, including: our children and youth, who will co-lead the service and act out our story; Aimee K. Bryant, Randy Buikema, Franco Holder, the First Universalist Choir, Seth Anderson-Matz, Andrew Tralle, Dave and Ani Peichel, several caroling families and our virtual children’s chorus, who crafted amazing music; and a great deal of technical wizardry from dedicated church members and staff.

Sunday, December 13, Julica Hermann de la Fuente, our Director of Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Ministries, offers a Question Box Sermon. Do you have a burning inquiry about anti-racism and anti-oppression work, especially as it applies to our congregation? We create the message together when you provide the questions for the sermon part of our worship service.

Words of Welcome - Rev. Justin Schroeder (:22)

Story for All Ages - The Wonder Box- Julica Hermann de la Fuente (3:04)

Sermon - Question Box - Julica Hermann de la Fuente (13:48)

Anthem - Make Them Hear You, from Ragtime - First Universalist Choir, Dr. Randal Buikema, conductor, Dominique Wooten Embretson, soloist, Franco Holder, piano, First Universalist Instrumentalists, Shelley des Islets, editor (40:33)

In his poem, “For the Interim Time,” John O’Donahue writes, “You are in this time of the interim/Where everything seems withheld,” and “The old is not old enough to have died away; the new is still too young to be born.”

These words capture right where we are: we are in a season of waiting, of anticipating the arrival of Christmas, of the Solstice, of Hannukah, of the turning of the planet, and the returning of the light. We are in a season of waiting, anticipating the vaccine for Covid-19 and the end of the pandemic, but “when?” and “how?” remain just out of reach. We are in the in-between place, the liminal space, a time of miracle and magic, fear and anxiety, wonder and grief.

In such a space, where do we cast our eyes for hope? In such a space, what is the spiritual work as we wait for the new dawn?

Words of Welcome - Rev. Justin Schroeder (:31)

Wisdom Story - Aimee K. Bryant (1:45)

Hymn- Lo, How a Rose/The Rose - First Universalist Choir (12:54)

Sermon - In the Interim Time - Rev. Justin Schroeder (18:18)

Interlude - Why Shouldn't We - David Lauth (34:20)

Blessing - Rev. Justin Schroeder (34:56)