First Universalist Church of Minneapolis Sunday Service Podcast

As we witness migrants in crisis on our southern border and within our own community,

Wisdom Story: Lauren Wyeth

Sermon: Rev. Elaine Aron Tenbrink

Piano: Franco Holder

All month we’ve been exploring the non-negotiables in our lives. We end this month’s theme by turning to “The Big Non-Negotiable,” that thing that every human being shares as an ultimate non-negotiable, no matter age, gender, race, culture, class, religion, or education. On this Sunday, facing our own mortality, we will fully immerse ourselves in the present moment of life.

Call to Worship: Juliet Ali-Caccamo

Sermon: Rev. Justin Schroeder

Piano music: Franco Holder

Our Universalist faith is grounded in the belief that each and every person is born whole, holy, and worthy. This means that your dignity and worth (and everyone’s dignity and worth) are non-negotiable. What does it mean for us to live into this truth individually and as a community?

Call to Worship by Suzan Klein, Sermon by Rev. Jen Crow

In her poem, “A New National Anthem,” the poet Ada Limon writes, “Perhaps, the truth is, every song of this country has an unsung third stanza, something brutal snaking underneath us as we blindly sing the high notes with a beer sloshing in the stands hoping our team wins.” Over these past two years, the veil has been pulled back on the ugliness that is a part of our country and its founding – racism, anti-semitism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and white nationalism – all of which have been given oxygen by the words and rhetoric of the leaders of our country. It’s enough. It’s enough to destroy our democracy. Enough to destroy our moral compass. It’s enough, and it’s time to sing a new song.

Call to Worship by Daryn Woodson, Sermon by Rev. Justin Schroeder

What do you say when asked what Unitarian Universalism consists of, what defines us as religious people? Does Unitarian Universalism matter in the face of rising authoritarianism and nationalism? In this month we tackle the non-negotiables, those things that are the bedrock of our faith, the soil in which we grow our souls and the foundation on which we aspire to create a just and whole world for all.

Call to Worship: Prayer for Living in Tension by Rev. Joseph Cherry, read by Liv Dalby; sermon by Rev. Ruth MacKenzie