Details: This is a space for “gay-mers” and crafters. Bring a game to play, a craft to create, or just hang out and enjoy the company of fellow Range Pride supporters.

What to know:
- This event occurs on the second Thursday of every month.
- All ages and abilities are welcome.
- Bringing drinks and snacks to share is both welcomed and encouraged.
- The event is FREE to anyone in the community who would like to show up. 

Please contact rangeironpride@gmail.com with questions.

Shane Drift is an aspiring author, songwriter and poet and has carried many stories from his childhood. One of his stories inspired him to write a screenplay called “Sad Evil.” His late girlfriend, Christina Premo strongly encouraged him to turn his “Sad Evil” into a book on which he is currently working on. Shane wrote his first children’s book, “Spirit Quest: Hummingbird and Sage’s Journey” to which he is now writing a sequel.

Shane lives on the beautiful Bois Forte Reservation in northern Minnesota. He is an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. He graduated from the Mesabi Range Community and Technical College in 2015. Shane is learning his native language and believes in his native culture and traditional teachings.

This is also our “Second Sunday Social” potluck. All members of the congregation are invited to bring something to share to our potluck: fresh garden produce, homemade treats or something that looked yummy at the grocery store.

6:00 - 7:00 pm Social Time
7:00 - 9:00 pm Journaling and Reflection

Details: Join together each month to take care of our mental health within the LGBTQ community. By putting our mental health first, we can begin working on moving forward and supporting one another. This is a great opportunity to connect with others during Iron Range events and celebrate Range Pride.

What to know:
- This event occurs on the first Thursday of every month.
- While all ages are welcome, the event is geared towards older teens and adults.
- Bringing drinks and snacks to share is welcomed and encouraged.
- The event is FREE to anyone in the community who would like to show up. 

Please contact rangeironpride@gmail.com with questions.

Gather with fellow MUU members to watch election results roll in throughout the night and discuss how this may shape and impact the future of our local Iron Range communities. Drop in for a minute or stay for the entire party. We hope you can join us!

Feel free to bring:
- Personal electronic devices to track and share results
- Food and drink to share

We often think of regenerative practices in terms of environmental systems, but what about the humans and human systems we interact with every day? Is it possible to use kindness to leave them better than we found them?

Shelly La Mar, a believer in the power of kindness, grace and empathy, holds a degree in Communications from Iowa State University. She is a partner, parent and full time volunteer who lives in Aurora.

Details: “Bonus Thursday!” offers the opportunity for our LGBTQ+ community to engage in special events together.
They will plan various activities both at their base at the MUU and at welcoming sites around the Range communities.
Join in the fun and help make every Iron Range event memorable!

Check their social media for event details: https://www.facebook.com/RangeIronPride/

What to know:
- This event occurs on the fourth Thursday of every month.
- All ages and abilities are welcome.
- Bringing drinks and snacks to share (when appropriate for the event) is both  welcomed and encouraged.
- The event is FREE to anyone in the community who would like to show up. 

Please contact rangeironpride@gmail.com with questions.

Bring photos and/or mementos of your dearly departed loved ones, pets, too! We will be setting up out Ancestor Altar again this year.

Loon Song CUIPS is the MUU’s very own chapter of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans chapter.

Details: “Finally Thursday!” offers the opportunity for our LGBTQ+ community to engage out and about on the Iron Range.
They will plan various activities both at their base at the MUU and at welcoming sites around the Range communities.
Join in the fun and help make every Iron Range event memorable!

Check their social media for event details: https://www.facebook.com/RangeIronPride/

What to know:
- This event occurs on the fourth Thursday of every month.
- All ages and abilities are welcome.
- Bringing drinks and snacks to share (when appropriate for the event) is both  welcomed and encouraged.
- The event is FREE to anyone in the community who would like to show up. 

Please contact rangeironpride@gmail.com with questions.

Details: The MUU Board will meet after the Sunday Service in the church area.

What to know:
- This is a hybrid meeting. Both in person and ZOOM attendees will be present.
- It is an open meeting, so all MUU members are welcome to attend.

Please contact MUU Board President Isaac Bowie or email mesabi.uu@gmail.com by October 16 if you would like the ZOOM link or wish to have an item added to the board’s discussion agenda.

Details: Third Thursdays Social Night is a monthly opportunity for our community and allies to come together to visit, support each other, eat, and hang out in a safe place.

What to know:
- This event occurs on the third Thursday of every month.
- All ages and abilities are welcome.
- Bringing drinks and snacks to share is both  welcomed and encouraged.
- The event is FREE to anyone in the community who would like to show up. 

Please contact rangeironpride@gmail.com with questions.

“Courage is knowing what not to fear.” - Plato

Rev Ted Tollefson will be presenting, “The Courage To Be.”
When life gets difficult, we need to call upon resources, such as courage, in order to move forward. But how? “Courage” is the official UU term for October.

Rev Ted Tollefson is a UU minister from Frontenac, MN. He also teaches psychology at Metro State University in St. Paul, MN.

This is also our “Second Sunday Social” potluck. All members of the congregation are invited to bring something to share to our potluck: fresh garden produce, homemade treats or something that looked yummy at the grocery store.

Details: This is a space for “gay-mers” and crafters. Bring a game to play, a craft to create, or just hang out and enjoy the company of fellow Range Pride supporters.

What to know:
- This event occurs on the second Thursday of every month.
- All ages and abilities are welcome.
- Bringing drinks and snacks to share is both welcomed and encouraged.
- The event is FREE to anyone in the community who would like to show up. 

Please contact rangeironpride@gmail.com with questions.

Dr. Ellie Larmouth will be presenting “The Separation of Church and State: An American Promise.” The work of this nation’s forefathers will be examined, along with the role of founders who were Unitarian or Deists.

Dr. Larmouth is a retired college professor and therapist. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, an M.S. in Counseling from the University of Nebraska - Omaha, an M.A. in Reading Education from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Minnesota - Duluth.

Loon Song CUUPS presents a morning reflection on gratitude.

Please bring a nonperishable item to support our friends at No Hungry Neighbors. They are in need of personal care/hygiene products, cold weather gear and non perishable food items. Check out their wish list here:
https://tinyurl.com/yjcw6k7n

About the service: ‘Tis a most disturbing time for a faithful UU. Scary, perilous, gut-wrenching, anger inducing.
Rev. Suzanne presents some admittedly incomplete and fragile and scattered reflections on how she is facing life, the universe and everything. Pick and choose and discard as you will.

About the speaker: The Reverend Suzanne Wasilczuk is a 2007 graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. She served as a circuit-riding minister for 12 years at UU congregations in Virginia, MN and Thunder Bay, Ontario, as well as traveling to another dozen sites in the region. She lives in Duluth and is semi-retired, but continues to preach in the area.

Topics covered:

• What is Shamanism?

• What makes it different from other Pagan and Earth
  Centered Practices?

• Experience a semi-guided shaman experience!

Things to be aware of:

• Participants are asked to please dress comfortably.
  You may bring something to lie on, if you choose. 

• Membership is not required to attend. Please join us!

The annual “Flower Ceremony” or “Flower Communion” is a tradition in many UU churches, including Mesabi UU.

Facilitators: Mary Erickson and Gretchen Wright

"Drawing the Line" Rev. Ted Tollefson

Sometimes life seems to require that we establish clear boundaries and edges.  But how?  And what kinds of line drawing are helpful?

Bio: Rev. Ted Tollefson began preaching during recess in grade school. And almost 70 years later, he's still at it.   

MUU Annual Meeting takes the place of our usual service this morning.

Spring is a season of change and renewal Rev. Oby Ballinger

As we inch closer to summer, let us take time to marvel at the beauty of growth and change. Nature shows us the challenge - and reward - of this mindset. It invites us to create space for the unmasked version of ourselves to rise; a version defined by actions, thoughts, and feelings in alignment with our own personal truth and values. Rev. Oby will share insights and experiences through his work at Prism about what it means to live authentically as ourselves and the joy that accompanies being honest, vulnerable and self aware. 

Rev. Oby Ballinger (he/him) is a pastor of Morningside Hills United Church of Christ in Edina, MN. He is the founder of Prism, a statewide network committed to bringing together faith communities, allies, and advocates from diverse traditions to advance a shared vision of justice and inclusion for all, following decades of community organizing for racial, economic, climate, and LGBTQ+ justice. A graduate of Yale Divinity School and Concordia College, Oby has also served several Twin Cities congregations as a pastor in the United Church of Christ, worked part-time for the Minnesotans United for All Families campaign and served on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Conference UCC and the national UCC’s Council for Youth and Young Adult Ministry and Executive Council. Rev. Ballinger lives with his husband in St. Paul.Rev. Oby Ballinger

“Poets Among Us” Facilitator - Ellie Larmouth

April is National Poetry Month. This year we will highlight poems written by members of the Mesabi UU. Please sign up and share the magic of your words crafted into poems.

"Begin Again" Rev. Ted Tollefson

In this life, we sometimes need to begin again and start over. But how? Sometimes a brief pause suffices, but other times a clear break is required.

Bio: Rev. Ted Tollefson began preaching during recess in grade school. And almost 70 years later, he's still at it.   

Passover Seder Adam Tritt

“OutFront MN: Queer Joy in Resistance” (Safe Spaces on the Iron Range) Oakley Wilton

Connecting Through the Struggle Rev. Leslie Mills

This year, we have focused on how to engage in activism during times that drain us -- an "Age of Compassion Fatigue." But what about those relationships that are closer to home? Together we will explore what causes "bumps" when we try to connect across differences, whether that's an argument with a dear friend, or an uncomfortable conversation with a neighbor who voted for the other side. From Eastern philosophy to Western psychology, we will draw on many stories and examples, only to find that the solution is both simpler and more challenging than one might think.

Rev. Leslie Mills has been a Unitarian Universalist minister for over a decade, serving several congregations on staff as well as guest preaching around the country. Leslie is a resident artist who has sold her work at the St. Paul Art Crawl, currently focused on using materials harvested from nature to create prints and dyes on fabric. She also loves singing, knitting, reading, and traveling. A long-time student of the peaceful Japanese martial art of Ki-Aikido, Leslie draws on its foundational principles to guide her preaching and her ministry. 

“What I Keep Learning: Reminders” Rev. Suzanne Wasilczuk

Suzanne reflects on fairness and kindness, love and justice. She talks about all the stuff she’s been learning in this, her 5th year in kindergarten. And she tells a story of iniquity, befuddlement, betrayal, mayhem (a modern-day fairy tale?) and of ultimate retaliation. Open heartedness? Forgiveness? Healing? Redemption?

Living in a Mutual World Rev. Terri Burnor

All over Minnesota, people are helping neighbors and responding generously in material ways. This kind of support is critically needed not just right now, but always. As we fight the power, what are we building up in its place? Join Rev. Terri to talk about mutuality and community care. 

Rev. Terri Burnor (she/her) is Executive Director of MUUSJA (the Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance). She also serves the St. Croix Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Wisconsin as their minister. Terri is a life-long Minnesotan who lives in St. Paul with her spouse, Brian, and their two dogs, Marvin & Betty.

"Manifestation 101"  Facilitator: Siyanda Elizabeth

In the Hawaiian wisdom tradition, a foundational principle is "Energy flows where attention goes."  This morning, we turn our attention to rituals and techniques that can successfully bring thoughts and goals, large and small, into physical reality.