The Weekly Liberal: July 31, 2025 | | NOTE: Some e-mail programs will not load the full content of this publication. Please click "View Entire Message" at the bottom if you see it! | |
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The new apartment is full of unfamiliar echoes. I keep forgetting where I put the toothbrush, and the light in the kitchen falls in a way that shifts my sense of time. Even the simplest gesture—a turn of the wrist at the bathroom sink—reminds me that change is more than logistics. It’s an interruption of habit, a summons to notice what has been invisible.
This week, my body has called the tune. Sleep slips away, routines come undone. In the past, I would have fought these disruptions—turned them into problems to solve, obstacles to overcome. But something in me has been listening to what we’ve been teaching each other in worship and in circles of care. The practice of pause, of treating the moment not as a crisis but as an invitation. Of offering kindness to what is, rather than only what should be.
We know how to stop for grief. When loss arrives, meals and flowers and ready volunteers appear, our calendars yield, our priorities brighten. Stopping is what we do best when pain is acute. But the deeper lesson—the one love teaches—is how to stop before crisis...
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Submit a program proposal for this fall at church! | Have an idea for a small group or gathering at church? Let us know! | | | | |
Call for cardboard!
Our First Universalist Summer Campers will be building with cardboard during our camp from August 18-22. If you have cardboard boxes you could donate to camp, please reach out to Program Specialist Hirut Hedge at hirut@firstuniv.org to coordinate drop-off.
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August 3 | Let Love Stop You
| Love can be awfully inconvenient and demanding, asking us to see things we’d rather not see, feel things we’d rather not feel, and change in ways we’d rather not even consider. Love is risky and faithful, scary and glorious all at once. How might we make more room for love’s interruptions in our lives, allowing our hearts to be moved, as the poet Adrienne Rich wrote, by all we cannot save, casting our lot again and again with those “who age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world?” | | |
SUMMER: Religious Education is in worship through September 7. All ages and voices are welcome in the Sanctuary! Childcare will be available for ages 6 months through PreK in Room 104.
Registration is open for the upcoming 2025-2026 church year, which will begin in September. All families — new and returning, with babies through high schoolers — must register each church year.
| | WATCH: Last Sunday's worship at First Universalist Church | | You can see past worship services and other video content: | | |
Smriti and her family [sister Brookline (Brooklyn) and parents, Kyle and Diana] are feeling grateful for discharge after several months of hospitalization and are praying for a successful and smooth second surgery at Boston’s Children’s hospital next week.
Whitney Hartley, 89, mom to long time church member Blaire Hartley and mother in law to Joe Sweet died at Jones Harrison Senior Living in Minneapolis on Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Whitney was a teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools, she loved to walk the lakes, golf and travel.
Our hearts are with Rachel Rott and her whole family, on the death of her mother in law, Karen Key Rott, this past Friday. Karen’s love and fierceness, her generosity and care live on in her family and community, and she is dearly missed already.
Our hearts are with Marion Dane Bauer, who is dedicating the flowers this Sunday in memory of her former husband, the Reverend Ronald Bauer, and in appreciation of their daughter, Beth-Alison Bergren, who has been caring for her father for the past five years.
If you are experiencing a crisis or transition, celebrating a joy or marking a sorrow, please let us know. To be included in our Cycle of Life on Sunday in worship, or if you would like support, contact Rev. Laura Smidzik at pastoralcare@firstuniv.org or (612) 405-5583 (call or text).
| | Ways to Connect at Church | | |
Fall Program Submissions are open through August 24!
Submit an idea for a group or gathering at church:
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Featured Summer Programs
Coming up soon:
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Join a Potluck on August 16 | Please review the potluck locations, times, and details and sign up to attend. Thanks for being part of our community! | | | | Coming up in the next few weeks | |
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Trans & Gender Expansive Support Group
Saturdays: August 24, September 28, 12-1:30 at church
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Crafting Group
Sundays: September 7, 21, 12-2 p.m. at church
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Summer Grief Group
Aug. 3 & 17, Sept. 7; 4:00-5:30 p.m. on zoom
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Caregivers Support Group
Second Sundays: August 10, Sept 14; 1:00 - 2:30 pm on zoom Facilitated by Rev. Laura Smidzik.
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Summer Instrumental Music
Thursday evenings, beginning June 12, no meeting August 7, 14, or 21; 7-8:30 p.m. in the Cummins Room
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Meditation Tuesday Mornings
On Zoom only
Every Tuesday, all year/every week; 9:00-10:15 a.m.; gather at 8:45;
Email Martha Easter-Wells to RSVP: ewellsm@gmail.com
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Improv for Elders
Wednesdays, ongoing, 10:00-11:30 a.m. at church
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Qigong for Liberation
Thursdays; 4:00 - 4:45 p.m. at church
Facilitated by Denise Konen.
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Becoming Dementia Friendly Congregation | |
This past Sunday we had our second Dementia Friends training led by First Universalist congregant, Maren Levad. Maren works with Trellis which is an organization that helps people optimize well-being as we age. I learn something new every time I attend a Dementia Friends program and we will continue to offer the program a few times a year going forward so any of you who are interested can attend.
What I love most about church life is that it includes people across the spectrum of ages. We welcome the sounds of children in the sanctuary and also welcome those beloveds who have moved into varying stages of dementia. Part of this support has been congregants who have volunteered to joyfully accompany congregants who need to have companionship when they are in the building so that they stay safe and connected through worship and fellowship time.
If you are willing to be on a list of people who accompany congregants, please let me know. We are looking for no more than one Sunday a month commitment during the summer service and 11 o’clock service starting in September. I will be supporting volunteers throughout the year. Please email me at laura@firstuniv.org or send a text to 612-405-5583 if you are interested.
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One Million Rising Resistance Gatherings
Ready to stand up for democracy? First Universalist congregants are hosting gatherings to learn noncooperation techniques to resist attempts to undermine democracy. This is part of One Million Rising from Indivisible, the group behind the No Kings rally. Each of the three small-group gatherings will cover the same material, so choose the one that works best for you.
The three gatherings:
Friday, Aug 1, 10:0am Potluck Brunch
Hosted by: Karen Wills (IndivisibleSouthMetroMN@gmail.com)
Where: Bloomington
RSVP Here
Monday, Aug. 4, 4:30-6:00pm
Hosted by: Todd Pierson (todd.pierson@gmail.com)
Where: Bottineau Public Library, 55 Broadway St. N.E.
RSVP Here
Saturday, Aug. 9, 2 PM
Hosted by: Dave Leppik (david@leppik.net)
Where: St. Louis Park
RSVP Here
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August 1-22: No in-person gatherings at church, except worship
If you have a group, gathering, or meeting scheduled at church between August 1 – 22, we ask you to reschedule, gather virtually, or meet off-site instead. We have multiple summer camp programs taking place during that time, and our space will be filled with children and youth, and all sorts of summer camp equipment. Thank you so much for helping to make space for these wonderful and affirming programs at church.
| | Community & Affiliated Org Events | |
From Palestine to Minnesota: Navigating Difficult Conversations and Taking Actions that Can Change and Save Lives | |
Saturday, August 2, 2025 @ 12:30 pm - 3:00 pm
LOCATION: Bethlehem Lutheran Church 4100 Lyndale Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55409
PRESENTERS: Ruben Slomianski, Julie Elhard, and Ariella Tilden
We will discuss how we can navigate the complex conversations we need to have about Israel and Palestine and how...
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12-Step Spirituality
Visit the website for details.
In person – at First Universalist Church
And on Zoom - get the link here.
These meetings are for people who are actively working any 12-step program.
The meetings focus on the 11th step, prayer and meditation, by using the practice of Centering Prayer Meditation.
We teach Centering Prayer Meditation, meditate for 20 minutes, visit in small groups and practice two other forms of prayer.
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Association of Universalist Women
AUW sponsors activities for people who identify as women, non-binary and/or gender fluid.
| | Need to make a connection or ask for care?Find what you need here. | |
First Universalist Church of Minneapolis
3400 Dupont Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-825-1701
firstuniversalistchurch.org
For staff contact information, please visit our Ministers and Staff page.
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Weekly Liberal Submissions
We encourage you to submit church news! To do so, email your content to Rachel Rott: rachel@firstuniv.org. Edits for length and/or content may occur. The deadline for submissions is noon on Wednesday the week of publication. Past issues can be found on our website.
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