We are excited to have you visit and would love to get to know you better. Click this Visitor Info Form Link to tell us about yourself. 

No service at UUCD this week!

September 5 - Pride Festival

 Bayfront Park from 11am to 7pm. 

 Come and enjoy the festival. We do not have a faith booth this year.

September 6 - Communal Pride Service

10:00 am, St. Paul's Episcopal Church

1710 E. Superior St., Duluth, MN 55812

Please join the Pride worship service at St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 10 am.

A continental breakfast will be served at 8:30 am.

September 6 - Pride Parade

 Tower Avenue, Superior

 PARADE in Superior. Lineup 11am on Broadway. March at 12 noon. We are #11 in the lineup. 

Get your PRIDE on! See you there!  

See the flyer for more details about Pride events or visit dspride.org

To support our congregation's mission, please contribute to the operating fund and Woven Basket via Give. The Woven Basket recipient for September is Interfaith Committee for Migrant Justice.

ICMJ is a local umbrella organization bringing together communities of faith and people of conscience to increase community education and public awareness of migrant issues. It provides resources and support to migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and foreign nationals living in the Twin Ports. In the past year and a half, immigrants, foreign nationals and communities that welcome them have faced increasing challenges. ICMJ and its partners work together for the safety and well-being of all residents. Members of UUCD’s Migrant Justice Team are also members of ICMJ and provide a link between the congregation and this important community resource.

** The UUCD Forum Team is taking the summer off **

The Forums team is taking the summer off and will reboot in September.

Previous forums can be viewed here.

Religious Exploration News

Opportunities for all ages and stages

to grow in spirit, connection, faith, and justice-seeking

Sharing a Story with Pride at our Collaborative Service



During this Sunday's collaborative Pride Service at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, our DRE, Kate Alworth, will be representing UUCD by sharing a brief Time for All Ages. She hopes to see many familiar faces in the congregation beaming with UU PRIDE! 

Religious Exploration is Getting Ready for Another Year's Journey

Our Religious Exploration (RE) class resumes Sunday, September 20th! RE lessons assist in developing a child's abilities to do right by themselves, others, and the planet while enjoying stories, activities, and time together learning to process these big ideas using the language of our shared UU Values. To learn more, or to complete a a registration form for a child, please visit: uuduluth.org/learning to learn more about RE or contact our Director of RE, Kate Alworth at DRE@uuduluth.org.  

Read the September newsletter or check our online calendar.

To submit information for future issues of The Connect: click this link. Please email connect@uuduluth.org if you have any questions about submitting to the Connect or have artwork to include (note the new address!).

Transformation -- a UU Value -- and our Library's Present State

Please pardon the dust... so much dust... but we are delighted to announce that the reimagining of our UUCD Pooley Library is underway! Today we present the cliched "BEFORE" image of our neglected library. Check future Connects for the "AFTER," and as the dearly departed Tim Curry would note, we "see you all shiver with antici..." 

We did it, The Berm

Several dedicated members of Outdoor Green Sanctuary have worked all season maintaining the showcase of the UUCD. One of the most visible features of the UUCD from College Street (in the growing season), the berm. The berms cover about 5000 square feet in front of the building. One very large garden. This maintenance included weeding, trimming hydrangeas, mulching and other features. The results are wonderful and the work will continue. Acknowledge them for toiling in the soil!

Congregational Mini Retreat!

Members and Friends are invited to join us on Saturday, September 12th, at UUCD for our first Congregational Mini Retreat! The purpose of this event is to begin the congregational year with intentionality, to get together as a community, and to have fun! We will gather from 10 am–2 pm in the Social Hall, but feel free to come for part of that time if you have other commitments. Lunch and childcare will be provided, AND there will be a door prize for attendees! To pre-register for childcare please contact DRE Kate Alworth by emailing dre@uuduluth.org 

Care Team Update

You are welcome to join Barbara Possin, her family and friends, and our UUCD family in celebrating the life of her husband, Dr. James Allan Holter, who died on July 3rd. Our Minister Emerita, Reverend Karen Gustafson, will be leading the service, with music by Karen Bauman at noon, Friday, September 18th, in our sanctuary. You may find Dr. Holter's obituary here.

As always, our Care Team is on call for you whenever you are in need of a ride, a meal, help during illness or following surgery, or managing those inevitable challenges we all encounter at one time or another. 

We are here for you. Why just last month we made 21 calls/texts, sent 13 cards, provided 8 meals, gave a whopping 48 rides, and made 7 visits. Multiply that by 12. Do you see why we need help? We are recruiting folks who have never served on the wonderful Care Team. We need YOU!  All jobs take only one or two hours per month. Some can be done entirely from home! E-mail our current coordinator, Julie Morgan, at jmorgan4801@gmail.com or 218-590-6343.

GEMS is back! 💎

Monday, September 28th

UUCD Social Hall from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm

Please join us as we have a guest speaker from Access North. They will talk about aging in place in your own home, and ways to help you make it happen. A light lunch will be provided afterward.

Contract to Call- What's Next? 

Congregational Meeting 10/25/26

This summer we had the opportunity to participate in small group sessions, talking about our ministry at UUCD; what’s important, what’s needed, where we are heading- and how that all fits with the possibility of calling Amy, our contract Minister, to a settled call. Thank you to everyone who gave input, to the small group Facilitators, and to the members of the contract-to-call Task Force.

Looking ahead, this is what we can expect:

• In August: the Task Force will create a summary report of all our small group sessions. They will identify trends, consensus points and general weights of themes (such as few members, many members discussed a topic, etc). Anonymity will be preserved in the report.

• In September: the Task Force will share the report with our Minister, and have a conversation with her to ensure broad understanding of the report. The Task Force will also share the report with our Trustees, in the same manner. 

• In September–mid October: the Congregation will have the opportunity to review the information created by the Task Force. Informational meetings will be available for discussion.  

Our bylaws tell us that a congregational meeting is required to vote on extending a settled call to a minister. A quorum for this meeting constitutes 33% of our voting members. Paper ballots will be used to vote; no proxy votes are permitted. October 25, after service has been reserved for the congregational meeting. Please mark your calendars!  

One last thing… however the congregation decides- if you personally are pleased with the vote, or disappointed, or don’t have a strong opinion either way- we have in common our care for each other, and our desire to strengthen our UUCD community.  

Questions? Contact Ann Burns, Charlie Moore, Jim Seitz, or Tim Wilson.  

Our Minister's Cancer Journey

We understand that you may have questions and concerns regarding Amy's breast cancer journey. The best source for information is her CaringBridge account. Anything she feels comfortable sharing with the public will be shared there. The account is set to public, however CaringBridge requires users to be signed in to leave comments. You can access her account here: tinyurl.com/caringbridgeforamy.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Tuition Fundraiser for International Students Affected by War

The Cohort for Students Affected by War (CSAW) invites you to their inaugural tuition fundraiser meal. International students must show proof that they are financially secure before receiving a visa to study in the U.S. Once they are here, however, situations at home such as war may disrupt their source of funds, devalue their currency, or make it impossible to access family support. This fund will help students caught up in such situations to cover tuition and living expenses. You can still support this fundraiser if you are unable to attend. Simply send a check to UPC (United Presbyterian Church) in Superior and please add CSAW in the memo section.

Date: September 9 beginning at 5:15 pm and ending at 7:30 pm

Location: Pilgrim Lutheran Church, 820 Belknap St, Superior

$25/person or $175/table of 8.

To reserve tickets, please contact 218.348.7896 or kdokhanc@gmail.com.

Duluth Climate Week - many events including at UUCD

September 13 - 18 is Climate Week in Duluth, organized by the Duluth Citizens Climate Commission, an open community group. 

The keynote event is a Climate Town Hall on Thursday, Sept. 17 from 6 - 8 pm at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1710 E. Superior St, designed to generate ideas from all present on the climate future we want. 

Other events include an Open House at UUCD on Monday, Sept. 14 from 4 - 5:30 pm, featuring our solar plus battery storage project, explained by the installer from Sun Power Electric. All are invited - that's you and any friends or acquaintances interested in this promising and quickly expanding sector of the clean energy economy. Watch for news of other events planned for that week.

UUCD & MN/WI Solidarity Summit - in Duluth

Saturday, October 3, 2026

9:30 am – 5:30 pm at Our Savior's Lutheran Church - Duluth

Join MUUSJA and WUUSAN (Minnesota and Wisconsin’s state action networks) for the Northland UU the Vote Solidarity Summit — a regional interfaith gathering to connect people, build skills, and share strategies needed for justice in this moment.

Across faith traditions, we are increasingly called to respond to authoritarian violence, community harm, and democratic crisis with care, coordination, and action. This Solidarity Summit is designed to build relationships spanning rural and urban contexts and to strengthen our capacity for justice-centered, spiritually rooted organizing that sustains long-term transformation.

Whether you are new to this work or deeply engaged already, there is a place for you at this special event! If interested please see their site to register.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth

218-724-0308

Board of Trustees