Unity Church-Unitarian
  • Home
  • Newcomers
    • Welcome!
    • Map and Directions
    • Sunday Services
    • Pathway to Membership
    • Unitarian Universalism
    • Visiting with Kids
  • Worship
    • Ministers
    • Monthly Theological Themes
    • Music >
      • Arthur Foote Music Sunday 2019
      • Arthur Foote Music Sunday 2018
      • Arthur Foote Music Sunday 2017
      • Arthur Foote Music Sunday 2016
      • Arthur Foote Music Sunday 2015
      • Music Collection
    • Sermon Archive & Podcasts
    • Sundays >
      • Parish Hall Table Request
      • Welcome Teams
      • Worship Associates
  • Service & Learning
    • Adult Learning and Spiritual Practice >
      • Artist in Residence
      • Chalice Circles
      • Spiritual Direction
    • Cairns Arts Journal
    • Children and Youth >
      • Religious Education >
        • Registration
        • Calendar
        • Teacher Resources
        • Nursery Care
        • Spirit Play - Ages 3-6
        • Workshop Rotation: Grades 1-6
        • Grades 6-8
        • Our Whole Lives
        • Grade 9 Coming of Age >
          • Coming of Age Youth Application
          • Coming of Age Mentor Selection Form
        • Summer Sundays in the Garden
      • Family and Story Sundays
      • Celebration of New Lives
      • Chalice Camp
      • Childcare Request Form
      • Children's Musical >
        • Children's Musical Cast Page
      • Christmas Pageant >
        • Pageant Centennial
      • Fellowship Opportunities
      • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Community Outreach Ministry Social Justice >
      • Act for the Earth
      • Affordable Housing
      • Evergreen Projects
      • Generosity Ministry
      • Gun Sense
      • Mano a Mano
      • Obama School
      • Partner Church
      • Racial and Restorative Justice
    • Library and Bookstall
    • Literary Ministry
    • Music Ministry
    • Parish Hall Artists >
      • Art Share
    • Pastoral Care >
      • Affiliated Ministry
    • UU Families
    • Volunteer Corner
    • Wellspring Wednesday
  • Fellowship
    • All Groups
    • Children and Youth
    • LGBTQ+
    • Men
    • Mix with Six
    • Wellspring Wednesday
    • Women
    • Young Adults
  • Governance
    • Board of Trustees >
      • Ministerial Transition
    • Values Mission Ends
    • Unitarian Universalist Association
    • Unity Consulting
  • Stewardship
    • Annual Pledge
    • 2021 Fundraiser
    • Broker Information
    • Make a Gift/Payment
    • Planned Giving • Heritage Society
  • News
    • commUNITY Newsletter >
      • Current Issue
    • Beloved Community News
  • Calendar
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Facilities & Rentals >
      • EPT
    • Map and Directions
    • Membership Directory
    • Staff
    • Unity Church History
    • Unitarian Universalism

February Next Right Actions

1/27/2021

2 Comments

 
​These offerings are opportunities for taking the next right action in your antiracism and multicultural work. ​For those who have completed the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), these offerings can help you meet your personal growth goals. 
Antiracism Literacy Partners
Wednesday, February 3 • 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Register: http://bit.ly/Feb3ALP
What does it take to be racially literate and engaged in antiracism in a day-to-day way? Where do we find resources and support in our ongoing learning about systemic racism and the work of dismantling it? This program is an easy entry into finding antiracism books, podcasts, and videos, as well as discussion partners for talking about them. Come to choose a resource, sign up for a buddy or small group, and receive discussion guidelines. 

Reflection & Readiness: Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance Racial Justice Summit
Tuesdays and Thursdays, February 16, 18, 23, 25 • 6:30-8:00 p.m. CT
Saturday, February 20 • 10:00-noon CT 

​Register Here
Reflection & Readiness is an opportunity to reflect, convene, and connect across UU congregations in Minnesota and North & South Dakota, to share how we've been learning and taking action towards thriving multicultural democracy, and discern next steps for collective liberation. 

Toward a Culture of Accountability and Care
Wednesday, February 17 • 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Register: http://bit.ly/accountabilitycare
At this program, developed from the work of Unity’s Racial and Restorative Justice Team, you will meet representatives of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence and Root and Restore Saint Paul, two local groups working on divestment from policing, investment in alternatives, and justice and healing for victims of police violence. You will learn why these groups do what they do, have an opportunity to ask questions, and discover how you can join the work.

Black Film Canon Series
Friday Evenings • February 19–May 21 • 7:00 p.m.

Register: http://bit.ly/ucublackfilmcanon
A new online film series invites you to view and discuss films written, produced, and created by Black people. Black Film Canon 101 (BFC 101) will meet on Zoom, beginning Friday, February 19, and continuing bi-weekly (mostly) through May (February 19 and 26; March 5 and 19; April 2, 16, 30; May 7 and 21).

Congregation Book Read Discussion of Imani Perry’s Breathe 
Wednesday, February 24 • 7:00-8:30 p.m. 

Register: http://bit.ly/bookreadbreathe
Join us for an online discussion of this year’s Congregation Book Read, Imani Perry’s Breathe: A Letter to My Sons (Beacon Press, 2019). The discussion will be facilitated by Rev. Karen Hering and members of the Racial and Restorative Justice Team. ​Discussion will include a BIPOC group, led by congregant Russel Balenger, for readers and parents who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color.
Reading guide: bit.ly/breathereadguide
2 Comments

2021 Congregation Book Read

1/27/2021

0 Comments

 
Breathe book cover, purple, orange leaves and brush strokes
Breathe is full of stories, lessons, prayers, hopes, dreams, poetry, warnings, guidance, the terrible truth of racism in America, and above all, love. Beacon Press describes the book as “an unflinching challenge to society to see Black children as deserving of humanity.” Written as a letter to her two sons, the book is organized into three sections:
  1. Fear. The recognition that she cannot guarantee the safety of her sons; that along with the everyday business of life, there is “the daily work of beating back the ugliness. And reconciliation with the irreconcilable.”
  2. Fly. In a “world bent on you not being and becoming,” there are ways to use your wings. She is not advocating for “making it,” but “what I hope for you is nothing as small as prestige. I hope for a living passion, profound human intimacy, and connection, beauty and excellence.” And freedom to fly. 
  3. Fortune. The basic elements of a good life, of building yourself, is “a stripping down to fundamental lessons for one’s life. And it is a meditation between the lives and love that have gone and the ones right here with us…and give meaning to our lives today.” 
You will find that Breathe has received many accolades, prize nominations, and good reviews, and deservedly so. Stacey Abrams describes it as “a lyrical meditation that connects a painful, proud history of African American struggle with a clarion call for present-day action.”

There is much to talk about here. Please join the online book discussion on February 24, at 7:00 p.m.. Registration is available here: http://bit.ly/bookreadbreathe. ​Discussion will include a BIPOC group, led by congregant Russel Balenger, for readers and parents who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color.

The book is available in the Unity Online Bookstall at unitybookstall.square.site and at your favorite local bookstore. Or contact the Library & Bookstall Team for mail order library service — a limited number of copies are available. 
0 Comments

Black Films Matter

1/27/2021

0 Comments

 
The black film canon with knuckle ringsPhoto illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker
Black Film Canon series explores Black perspective behind and in front of the camera.
Friday Evenings • February 19–May 21 • 7:00 p.m.

Register: http://bit.ly/ucublackfilmcanon

A new online film series invites you to view and discuss films written, produced, and created by Black people. Black Film Canon 101 (BFC 101) will meet on Zoom, beginning Friday, February 19, and continuing bi-weekly (mostly) through May (February 19 and 26; March 5 and 19; April 2, 16, 30; May 7 and 21).

The eight films will cover almost a full century, beginning with Oscar Michaeux’s silent film Within Our Gates, including Spike Lee’s 1979 film Do the Right Thing, and Gina Prince-Blythewood’s Love and Basketball, and ending with Ryan Couglar’s Fruitvale Station. It does not include recently released films from the last five years.

Participants are asked to commit to the full series to build a deepening understanding and rapport with one another. The series begins with an introductory session and each session thereafter discusses one of eight films selected from the a list of 50 that Slate magazine has dubbed the “Black Film Canon.” The movies to be discussed bring to life not only Black suffering, slavery, and trauma, but also joy, love, and humor. 

Rev. Jack Gaede, from White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church and developer of BFC 101, notes: “...this isn't just a film study group, but also a chance to dig deeper into [ourselves] in the context of antiracism work. We are watching these movies … to explore and examine the concepts of race, of whiteness, of racism. We are asking people to look at the films through certain lenses, to notice whiteness and blackness and the way that those concepts are portrayed on screen. And we are especially curious about the way those portrayals have changed through time, which is why we are utilizing a chronological approach to the films that we are watching.”

Becky Gonzalez-Campoy, member of Unity Church and student of social transformation at United Theological Seminary, will lead the series at Unity. 
​
Participants will view each movie on their own prior to the Zoom meeting. Class materials will include information about where to find these films (online) for viewing before each session as well as discussion questions and related resources. Films chosen in the series are available online for free or a minimal cost. If financial assistance is needed, please email karen@unityunitarian.org.

BFC 101 is a great learning opportunity for anyone just starting their antiracism journey as well as for those who are already seasoned in this work. For those who have completed the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), this series can be a useful tool to help meet your personal growth goals. 

For more information please contact Becky Gonzalez-Campoy at beckygc83@gmail.com. 

0 Comments

When I Leave My House: Reflection on How Curiosity Connects Us

1/27/2021

0 Comments

 
Lia Rivamonte, Artist-in-Residence Team

Tonight
in the dark kitchen
only the stainless steel 
holds the moon

On the sidewalk in front of my house I am invited to see the moon on the stainless steel surfaces in the dark of my kitchen. I do not have a stainless steel sink; the moon does not enter my kitchen through the window above it. No matter, I am grateful to have this invitation impressed into the concrete that evokes such delight. I hope that all who pass my house will look down and notice, read the words, and experience the wonder of the conjured image. 

There is much to admire in these four simple lines by the writer, @grumbles_mccoy, and credit must be given to Marcus Young, Unity’s current artist-in-residence, who initiated the project, “Everyday Poems for City Sidewalks.” It is Marcus who envisioned the sidewalks of St. Paul as pages in a book of wildly diverse poems and who worked with the city’s sidewalk maintenance program to make it happen.

What crosses your mind as you glimpse a pleasant looking man dressed in flowing robes walking calmly in silence through the galleries of the large museum you are visiting? Or, perhaps you’re in a hurry, making your way to the bus stop. In the corner of your eye you catch a person dancing in an open space on the other side of the street. You stop to watch. Neither person asks you for anything yet you are drawn in. Each appears to be fully absorbed, moving through the space with intention. Each encounter throws you off, disrupts your routine in a subtle, but insistent way.
​
Marcus YoungMarcus Young
“Marcus Young brings an openness, curiosity and deep listening to his approach working within government agencies,” says Jessica Oh, Highway Sponsorship Director with MnDOT’s Office of Land Management where Marcus is serving as the Community Vitality Fellow. “He is interested in how art can create a more equitable world, both representational and lived, and his artistic practice considers those that are not at the table…”

Marcus’s work is rooted in curiosity. It is playful and nonthreatening, and invites questions. Marcus was gently queried by patrons at MiA, during his 10-day live-in residency titled, “With Nothing To Give I Give Myself.” He meditated, cleaned the chrome framework at the museum’s entrance, and walked through the corridors in flowing robes. Who are you? What are you doing? Why are you doing it? People asked.
​
One of the truly wonderful things about Marcus’ art practice is how it seems to exist in the world with no agenda other than to spark curiosity. Those who are open to receiving it will experience whatever they are ripe for at that moment of encounter. 
His work challenges us, if we are willing, to imagine the possibilities, to begin honing a practice of seeing one another with no agenda, without prejudgment. Can we let curiosity point the way?

CLICK HERE for information about Marcus' "Don't You Feel It Too?" program.

0 Comments
    ​In 2016, the Beloved Community Staff Team was formed at Unity Church to strengthen and coordinate Unity’s anti-racism and multi-cultural work, and to share the stories of this journey with the wider community. We commit to sharing the struggles, the questions, and the collaborations here at Unity and in the wider world of our faith and city. The current members of the team include Rev. Janne Eller-Isaacs, Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs, Rev. KP Hong, Barbara Hubbard, Drew Danielson, Ahmed Anzaldúa, Laura Park, Karen Hering, Angela Wilcox, Pauline Eichten, and Erika Sanders. 

    Additional Resources

    Unity Justice Database
    As a “next right action,” the Racial and Restorative Justice Team asked the Library and Bookstall Team to team up to search for, vet, and organize resources related to anti-racism, defunding/reforming police, legislation around policing, etc.  The Unity Justice Database is your one-stop location for information about and links to books, articles, news, podcasts, films, events, organizations, and more. If you know of a good resource that is not already in the database, please do request that we add it. 
    Anti-Racism/Racism Resource in Unity's Library Collection
    White Supremacy Teach-in 2017
    Graphic: How to be a racial transformer

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    April 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

© Unity Church-Unitarian • 733 Portland Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55104 • 651-228-1456 • unity@unityunitarian.org • A Welcoming Congregation
rainbow banner