This Week at UBC

Updated every Monday

NOVEMBer 9, 2026

weekly pastoral blessing

In the lead up to the election, I perceived a sense of fear and anxiety about our election and the outcomes. Much has been unsettled in our social and political life in these past years. There now appears to be a sense of communal ease that has come in the aftermath of the election, and I am taking this time to sit in a moment of grace. My hope is that moments of grace and peace would meet you this week. Though life will continue to meet us with both joy and pain, may we recognize the grace and peace that meet us in the journey, and may they sustain us in our living.

In Care and Companionship,

Brittany Monson-Moffatt

Interim Pastoral Associate

give to the max day

We are 19% of the way to our goal! Can you help us make it to 25% by the end of the week?

This year, we are fundraising for our immigration justice and support ministries. As we enter the season of Thanksgiving and prepare to celebrate Christmas, we are reminded of Jesus’ call to welcome the stranger, love our neighbors, and care for those who are vulnerable. Let us think of families seeking safety and refuge, just as Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus fled to Egypt to escape danger.

The need is more urgent than ever and we are grateful for your support in helping our neighbors.

Early giving continues until the big day, Thursday, November 19. Please share this fundraiser with your networks!

Visit our GTMD Campaign

reminderS

Poinsettias to Decorate the Sanctuary

If you would like to purchase a poinsettia to decorate the sanctuary for Christmas Eve, please put $15 per plant in one of the special envelopes available in the pew racks or send the money electronically via our website. If you would like the poinsettia to be in honor or in memory of someone, please indicate that on the envelope or electronic contribution. Then, feel free to take it home with you after the service. Poinsettia purchases must be made by Sunday, November 29.

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Bible Verses

I'm working on a new social media series where I share beloved Bible verses with a short explanation of why they are meaningful to our members and friends. Would you share yours with me? I'd love to have many more in the hopper!

— Maura, marketing@ubcmn.org

Hello UBC friends,

I wanted to write with a personal invitation for folks from UBC to join us for our Founding Day events on Sunday November 15, when First Church officially begins our 175th anniversary celebration. We would be honored to have a UBC contingent join us as special guests for the day—for worship at 10:00 a.m. and/or for our celebratory program and lunch at 11:15 a.m.

With this event we are entering a season of learning and reflection, a time of integrating the complexities and contradictions of our history into who we are becoming. We will hear the story of our founding(s), intertwining past voices with present perspectives. We will acknowledge our relationship with Dakota people and land, and consider the significance of our founding at Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls). And we will acknowledge and celebrate some of our many partners, past and present, who have brought us to this place and who are moving forward with us.

Please let us know if you can come! RSVP here, or email me directly (jmcbride@firstchurchmn.org).

Blessings,

Pastor Jane McBride