Seeking Truth, Building Community, and Promoting Justice
Welcoming Congregation
We are a welcoming congregation that seeks to be a spiritual home for people of free faith. We value the full range of human diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, affectional/sexual orientation, age, national origin, socioeconomic status, and ability.
We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional and sacred land of the Anishinaabe and Dakota people. In honor of their stewardship throughout the generations, we commit ourselves to protecting that land and working to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The St. Cloud Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is a small religious community serving the central Minnesota area. We are a welcoming congregation and a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association which has more than one thousand congregations in the United States and Canada.
Our denomination has a shared set of principles to guide us rather than a prescribed creed. Each individual has an opportunity to seek their own spiritual path. Our efforts and growth are encouraged through intellectual, aesthetic, supportive and spiritual programs and activities and through discussions among members and friends.
If you are seeking an open and welcoming religious environment, please visit us and share in our fellowship.
Sunday Services
We meet at 10:30 on Sunday mornings from September through May. The services usually include music, readings, a presentation by a minister or other speaker, and a chance to respond to the presentation. Casual dress is common and the service is less formal than many churches. Visitors are welcome.
On the first and third Sundays of each month from September to May, a Children’s Religious Education (CRE) experience, based on UU Principles, is offered for children and youth ages 5 – 16. Recent topics have included: Democracy for Dinosaurs, Insects, A Creative Expression of Thankfulness, Bullying, Beekeeping, Meditation and Racism.
A “CRE Corner” in the Sanctuary has quiet games and activities for youngsters to enjoy during the other Sundays of the month. “Time for Children” story time is offered early in the service and a nursery is available for infants and toddlers.
Sunday Services and Events
SUNDAY SERVICES WILL BE MULTIPLATFORM. YOU MAY USE ZOOM OR ATTEND IN PERSON.
PRESENTERS PLAN TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON.
View our Calendar for more events and information.
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April 2024
10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 7: Indian Recovery Act (IRA), A Minnesota Bill for Reparative Justice – John Kellen
John will give us a brief history of the Indigenous Peoples of Minnesota, details of the Indian Recovery Act (Case Study), and suggested actions we can take to support this bill and Indigenous Rights in Minnesota. John has worked with a wide variety of cultures around the world and now he’s learning to be an ally of native people.
Children’s Program (CRE): FIELD TRIP! to experience and learn from the faith traditions at Jubilee Worship Center in St. Cloud, welcomed by the youth at Pastor Buddy King’s dynamic faith home. We’ll meet at the Fellowship at 9:30 to caravan together. Dunkin Donuts anyone?
10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 14: India revisited, USA re-assessing, India recalling – Malcolm Nazareth (rescheduled from November)
Terrible outcomes of climate change and the recent rise of fascism and bigotry have caused the Nazareths to vacillate between returning to India which seems to have recently embraced Brahminical Hindu Nationalism, on one hand, and, on the other, remaining in their adoptive USA which seems to have recently been bewitched by White Christian Nationalism. Not an easy discernment to make, they see it now as a life-or-death decision. For the past twenty years, Malcolm and Mariani have promoted opportunities for interfaith/intercultural dialogue and their leaving would be a big loss for our community.
Children’s Activity: Bright Bulb Kidz Korner.
10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 21: The Lessons of Water and Wu Wei in a Time of Climate Crisis – Meleah Houseknecht, UU seminarian
Water is a potent symbol in nearly all the most ancient philosophical and religious traditions, and philosophical Taoism gives us a particularly rich teaching on water as both a metaphor and a model for effective action in and on the world. Water as a way of being is closely associated with the important Taoist concept of “wu wei.” What can the softness, adaptability, and humility of water teach us about power and finding our way back into right relationship with each other and the non-human world?
Children’s Program (CRE): Arbor Day Festivities. How do we set up a tree for success in a new home on our Fellowship’s property? And, let’s read a story and play a game together. Please bring a non-fighting game from home to teach the gang. Querkle and Scotland Yard will be available (super fun!)
10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 28: “A Listening Practice” – Karen Erickson
In an increasingly noisy, violent and polarized world, listening is often taxing and challenging, but it is essential for people and communities to co-exist and thrive. Listening can be transformative and life-affirming, to the listener as well as to the one who feels the gift of being heard. How can we increase our capacity to listen longer, in healthy ways that honor both speaker and listener, even or especially when we don’t agree or understand? What practices of listening can we develop to help us meet the needs of our day?
Children’s Activity: Bright Bulb Kidz Korner.