The Board of Trustees will be holding listening sessions on September 29 and October 27. Sessions will begin after worship service at 11:30 AM and run for two hours. Childcare, food and drink will be provided. Questions will be raised and responses will contribute to the Board’s planning for hiring our next minister. We will be sending an invitation for everyone to sign up for one or the other session but wanted to give folks a chance to consult calendars and commitments.
Category / Announcements
Backpacks and Blessings!
Sunday, August 25 during worship service
Be sure to bring your backpack or something symbolic of any new beginnings in your lives this fall, to the worship service on Sunday, August 25. Whether school, work, or home related, there are many new things to anticipate in the fall that deserve special focus and support of the congregation. Join us for this brief but fun dedication so you start out right!
Beloved Conversations Coming This Fall
We’re excited to bring back Beloved Conversations again this fall. Around 40 members have already gone through this immersive small-group curriculum for exploring race/ethnicity in our lives and in the life of this congregation. It is a meaningful and deep experience as we work to interrupt racism and dig into how racial truths shape our ways of being with each other. The curriculum also supports the different learning and participation needs of people of color and white congregants.
This may be the last offering of this program for a while. If you’ve been on the fence or would like to take it again (which we encourage!), don’t miss out. We will begin in September with an opening retreat (Friday night and all day Saturday) followed by 8 weekly 2-hour sessions on Sunday afternoons. Exact dates and registration will be available soon. Please contact Terri at revterri@uucmtka.org if you’re interested.
Save the Date: Annual Women’s Retreat
Please save the date for our Annual UUCM Women’s Retreat and watch for upcoming event and registration details!
Dates: October 4th-5th, 2019
Theme: “Whole-Hearted Women’s Week-end”
Location: UUCM
The 2019 Women’s Retreat Planning Committee: Stephanie Siewert, Shelley Buss, Malia Brandt, and Lori Arnold
Social Generosity Offering: August 2019
Our AUGUST Social Generosity Offering will go to the Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance (MUUSJA). MUUSJA equips individual Unitarian Universalists and UU congregations to be skilled, accountable, faithful partners with broad movements working for justice and collective liberation. They strive to work in solidarity with all communities seeking to bend the arc of the universe toward justice. MUUSJA is rooted in Unitarian Universalist understanding of the inherent worth and dignity of all humans, and our radical interdependence with all of creation. In their own words:
“We are UUs from across the state of Minnesota—diverse, spirited, and deeply committed and firmly grounded in our UU principles of world peace, justice, and sustainability. We work together on focused programs of education, witness, and systemic change to create a world that works for everyone.
A key MUUSJA goal is to develop the capacity of Minnesota Unitarian Universalist individuals and congregations to work effectively for systemic change and social justice. Because we do this work as Unitarian Universalists, we aspire to help Minnesota UUs develop and deepen our religious voice, and to bring this voice to the public square.
Because we aim to make a difference, we work to build a lasting social justice organization and to prepare UUs to use an action, reflection, collaboration approach to social change ~ action to combat root causes of injustice; reflection to evaluate our progress and ground our work spiritually; and collaboration with faith based and secular social change organizations (including communities deeply affected by our target issues) to maximize our power and impact. Our collaborative work includes developing a social change infrastructure that shifts the political climate toward a social agenda that serves the common good.”
Note: All cash placed in the Sunday collection, as well as checks to “UUCM” with “Social Generosity” in the memo line, will go towards the Social Generosity cause for the current month. You may also use the basket to make other contributions to UUCM. Simply make your check out to “UUCM” with instructions in the memo line.
North Wall Art: Cara Buettner and Jeff Adrian
The work of two local photographers, Cara Buettner and Jeff Adrian is featured this month on the North Wall Art Space. The exhibit shows how two different artists capture and interpret their surroundings. Jeff Adrian is a Friend of the congregation. If you wish to purchase any of the works, please contact Christy Dachelet at czdachelet@comcast.net.
Performing Arts Concert Series 2019-2020
The Performing Arts Series at UUCM offers concerts, musical events and church variety shows to the congregation and the entire local community.
Upcoming Events:
Friday, August 31 at 7:30 PM
ROY ZIMMERMAN: RiZe Up Tour
In the current national nightmare, we need to laugh. And we need to hope. Roy Zimmerman’s signature blend of heart and hilarity has never been more necessary. In a career spanning more than thirty years, Roy’s songs have been heard on HBO and Showtime, and Roy has shard stages with icons like Ellen DeGeneres, Robin Williams, George Carlin and many more.
RiZe Up is Roy’s tenth album release as a solo artist. He co-wrote the songs with his wife, Melanie Harby, a three-time West Coast bluegrass guitar champion. RiZe Up is a funny and forceful expression of resistance in the age of Trump. “Satire empowers people,” says Roy. “To laugh is to fight back. To hope is to fight back.” Tickets $22 each, currently available on Eventbrite. More info on Roy here.
Saturday, October 19 at 7:30 PM
PRUDENCE JOHNSON & DEAN MAGRAW
Prudence Johnson’s long and happy career as a singer, writer, and teacher has landed her on the musical theatre stage, in two feature films, (A River Runs Through It, A Prairie Home Companion) on national radio, (several long stints on A Prairie Home Companion) and on concert stages across North America and occasionally Europe. She has released more than a dozen recordings, including albums dedicated to the music of the Gershwins, Hoagy Carmichael, Greg Brown, and a collection of international lullabies. In recent years, her greatest focus has been on creating multi-media works for concert and theater stages that blend performance with her interests in history and literature.
Composer, arranger, producer, guitarist Dean Magraw has fine-tuned his “Heavy Meadow” approach to music from years of performing and recording with some of the finest musicians in the United States, Europe, and Japan. His first recording, Broken Silence, came out in 1994 and won the NAIRD award for Best Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year. Dean has since produced myriad passionate albums, including his latest release, Fire on the Nile, a duo collaboration with renowned percussionist, Eric Kamau Gravatt. “Dean Magraw unveils soulful melodic grooves intricately designed to heal the broken dancer, confuse the boldest mathematician, and eradicate ennui in our lifetime.” – Nick Lethert. Learn more about Dean here. Tickets $20 each.
