First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

When have you felt like you truly belonged somewhere? What did it feel like? If you’ve rarely or never had that feeling of belonging, what made you keep showing up in places that didn’t feel comfortable? We claim that Universalism is grounded in a love big enough to hold us all, no exceptions – but how are we doing living into that core belief, and what might we do to become even more radically welcoming?

Call to Worship- Rev. Jen Crow (:29)

Sermon- Rev. Jen Crow (3:51)

This holiday season, join us in actively engaging in ways to re-imagine our relationship to the holidays, to our families, to our planet, and to our communities. Over the coming weeks, we are inviting the whole congregation to explore what truly brings us joy in this season, to more fully live into our values as people of faith, and to put in motion new practices and ways of being that might live with us throughout the year.  In this service, you’ll hear from Rev. Justin, youth and adult members of our Holiday Giving Team, learn more about about Holiday Giving Recipient, Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism, and be invited to re-imagine what joy and justice might look like in your life this holiday season. 

Youth Reflections (:30)

Reflections from Holiday Giving Team Co-Chairs, Isabel Quast and Rev. Justin Schroeder (4:57)

What are the spiritual muscles we need to exercise in order to take our place and make room? How do we tone up our aerobic capacity to lift up the whole of our stories, take in the whole of another’s story, the particular of our community’s story, and within the context of our national story? This week, we will talk about the meaning of “reparations,” and develop a musculature to hold “the full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequences (Ta-Nehisi Coates).” In this service, we listen to where love is taking us next in all the complexity, pain, joy, failure, and richness of our multifaceted stories.

Call to Worship- Shawn Neel (:31)

Sermon- Rev. Ruth MacKenzie (4:26) 

Our theme this month is “Taking our Place, and Making Room.” Both of these practices require noticing our ego and its movement in our lives. Are we willing to step back, make room, and let other voices, experiences, and realities hold center stage? Are we willing to step forward when that feels dangerous, uncertain, and vulnerable? So often, deep spiritual work involves navigating and understanding our egos. But what about when we have an encounter in which our ego totally disappears? What place do we take up then?

Call to Worship- Rev. Jen Crow (:32)

Sermon- Rev. Justin Schroeder (5:10)

Ever wonder why and how our church was founded? What does it mean to celebrate the anniversary of a minister’s ordination and installation? Are we consciously using our history to inform our future as a faith movement? This week, we remember and dream together.

Call to Worship- Monroe Chumklang

Sermon- Rev. Karen Hutt