James Harvey Tuttle came to Minneapolis in 1866 in part because of the Great Minnesota Falsehood, the idea, promoted by land speculators, that our climate was a cure-all for every kind of ailment.  Thus began a ministry that was to last 25 years. It included the swift growth of the congregation, which outgrew our first building in less than 10 years; the construction of an imposing and ornate stone building dedicated in 1876; its reconstruction after a fire in 1888, and Tuttle’s rise to local and national prominence.

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Rev. Marion ShutterI would rather be a heathen, living in a land where the name of Christ
has never been heard, where his views of the Father have never been
promulgated -- a heathen bowing before the hideous deities of my own
brain and hands -- than to believe that the character of our Father in
heaven is such as the popular creed has made it, a God who is so unjust
or indifferent as to permit sin and suffering always to exist, or so
helpless that he cannot prevent it.
— Marion Shutter, from his sermon Endless Punishment from the Standpoint of Reason, 1890

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Religious liberalism teaches not merely that Jesus was human, not divine, but that the human race is capable of producing such leaders as Jesus, as Buddha, Confucius and others, and it teaches that all men are the sons of God, actually or potentially.
Religious liberalism teaches that men love and yearn for good. They make mistakes in in the efforts to attain good, as do we all, but they — and we — continue to seek it. Children are born, not of or in sin, but of their parents’ love of life and desire for fulfillment. …
Religious liberalism teaches that life is unending, that death is a phase of life, that the forces of life are present everywhere, at work constantly, neither beginning nor ending ever, at any point in time, as far as we know. ...
Religious liberalism holds that every person not only has the right and the privilege, but also bears the burden and the responsibility of thinking honestly, of examining carefully, of speaking in accordance with his convictions. Each individual is morally bound to think what he MUST think in the light of his own experience and understanding. It is one of the functions of religion to guarantee the freedom of each individual to fulfill this moral responsibility. It is the duty of each parent and teacher to free the child to accept, to understand, and to live in accordance with his universal human responsibility and privilege.

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To find the true north within yourself and live to it will bring you ‘round right,
no matter what life does to you. These are the important uses of the hard places in every life.
To use our hard places as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks,
to be created by them rather than destroyed by them is our part in the great game of life.
— John Cummins from his sermon Hard Places

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First Universalist Church of Minneapolis: The First 150 Years will be on sale in the Social Hall after each service from Sunday, November 1 through December 19. The book is loaded with stories, sermon excerpts, and photos on every page. The paperback is priced at only $10 so that everyone can share this wonderful gift. A limited number of hardcover copies, priced at $25, will be ordered in time for holiday giving, so get your order in by November 9.

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