November 1st | Healing Broken Hearts and a Broken World
with Rev. Sara Smalley
We'll gather to share grief and hope, and to lament all that has been lost even as we continue to love. This is our annual Remembrance Sunday. You are invited to bring a photo or other memento of a loss in your life – a person or pet who has died or any other loss you wish to honor – to place on our shared altar. This is also the Sunday before Election Day. We’ll ground ourselves in community and connection through story, song, and the life- and world-changing act of showing up for each other.
After the service the Care Team will be hosting a conversation circle on grief for those who wish to continue to share stories and memories.
November 8th | The Fruit of the Spirit: The Spiritual Practice of Queer & Trans Solidarity
with Seth Anderson-Matz
Through ritual, storytelling, and music, queer & trans community minister Seth Anderson-Matz will articulate how solidarity with and among queer & trans folks is a time-honored spiritual practice, inviting all of us—individually and collectively—to re-commit to this practice and live all the more deeply into our faith in liberation.
In addition to being UUFN's Office Administrator, Seth Anderson-Matz (he/him) is a queer & trans community minister, public theologian, and ritual artist based in South Minneapolis.
November 15th | The Question of Suffering
with Ry Klassen and Rev. Sara Smalley
How do we make sense of suffering in the world? From the Book of Job through modern poetry, humans have struggled with how to make meaning in a world filled with so much suffering. Join congregant Ry Klassen and Rev. Sara Smalley as we explore this fundamental human question.
November 22nd | Holy Hurt
with Rev. Sara Smalley
It’s a far-too-common story in Unitarian Universalist spaces: the religion of our childhood was painful and left us with lasting wounds. Many of us and many of those we love carry the residue of this religious trauma with us still. Adam Arnold, a therapist who specializes in spiritual and religious trauma, will join us to reflect on how messages of fear and control affect us all, and how healing and even thriving is possible.
Rev. Sara will be hosting a conversation circle after the service for those who want to continue to reflect together on healing from religious harm and trauma.
November 29th | Earth, Heal Thyself?
with Janet Scannell
When we read about nature's resilience, it’s easy to hope the planet will save itself without us. But what happens when our optimism gives way to the sobering reality of the climate crisis? This Sunday, we’ll journey through both hope and anxiety and finally to a steadfast commitment to our living Earth. How are we called to move from passive hope to active stewardship?