Inquiring Souls Spirit Zones was offered by Jessica Motherwell-McFarlane and Bill Richardson by Zoom and in the Sanctuary, and were very popular! At each session, the group tackled a burning question, and drew large graphics of their explorations.
Special thanks to Bill & Jessica for hosting such a popular Spirit Zone activity!
Our awesome Hospitality Team and souper volunteers are delivering another Souper Sunday this week. Please join us after the service for soup and fellowship in the Fireside Room.
Activities and crafts will be available during our soup lunch.
Our JEDI Team invites you to a workshop event offered by the CUC (Canadian Unitarian Council). This event is designed to help us think about some of the implicit biases inherent in some of our democratic practices.
Our CUC rep (Joan Carolyn) said, “Congregations that choose to take up the challenge of actively welcoming greater diversity may need to reconsider some of their long-term practices. The ways we organize and make community decisions are no exception. Some of our congregations are exploring new approaches. In this workshop, we will explore a few ways they are working to uncolonize their democratic processes. Participants will be able to choose two of the four streams being offered.”
For further information and to register, please click on the button below.
Our Spiritual Development Team (part of the Congregational Life Team) invite you to join the First Unitarian Church of Portland for a virtual Seminary for a Day on Saturday, January 28. The theme is Transcendentalism.
The keynote speaker, Rev. John Buehrens, served as UUA President from 1993-2001. A prolific author, his most recent piece about our heritage is CONFLAGRATION: How the Transcendentalists Sparked the American Struggle for Racial, Gender, and Social Justice (Beacon, 2020).
Rev. Buehrens will offer a keynote on the first Unitarian Transcendentalist on the Pacific Coast, the Rev. Thomas Starr King. He exemplified key spiritual practices of the Transcendentalists that need renewal among us today: personal reflection (often in the form of keeping a journal), and deep interpersonal connections crossing conventional boundaries.
In addition, Rev. Buehrens will offer a workshop entitled, “God Optional: Theologies Among Us Today.” John Buehrens and Rebecca Ann Parker surveyed the hope-filled thought patterns in progressive religion today in their book, A House for Hope: The Promise of Progressive Religion in the 21st Century (Beacon, 2010). While their framework borrows from a heritage of Judeo-Christian systematic theology, it also makes room for humanist, indigenous, and non-Western a/theologies. All such thinking, however, needs to meet some overriding and important tests to be effective. Tests which will be revealed in the workshop.
Details: Saturday, January 28, 2023 from 9:30am to 2:35pm (Pacific Standard Time).
Registration is open until 4pm on Sunday, January 22nd. You will receive a link to join via email on January 23rd.
Several congregants have expressed the view that our financial statements and budgeting process are rather opaque and confusing. To help those who would like to understand our finances better, the members of the Finance (Brian Funt and Brian Welwood) and Residence Governance Committees (Elain Duval and Barrie Forbes) will lead a Spirit Zone on January 8th, NSUC Finances Q&A. Topics will include the budgeting process, personnel costs, operating costs, pledge income, rental income, and endowment funds. As well, we’ll discuss the financial arrangement surrounding the minister’s residence. Questions and discussion will be encouraged.
Since pledges are down from 210,000 last year to 140,000 this year, the Finance Committee projects a serious budget deficit for 2023. Budget cuts will be needed. Although this Spirit Zone will not be a budgeting session, it is hoped that it will help participants understand our finances well enough to feel comfortable making informed decisions at the upcoming January 29th Congregational Budget Meeting.
~ Brian Funt, Treasurer
The Unitarian Church of Vancouver (UCV) and the First Unitarian Church of Victoria (FUCV) are hosting OWL sessions for young adults one Saturday a month from February to May.
The first session is Saturday, February 11th from 1 - 5 pm at UCV. March and May’s sessions are in Victoria. The first session is mandatory, while the others are not. So, if you can’t make it to Victoria that’s not a problem.
Registration fee is on a sliding scale - $0 - $120. Registration closes February 5th.
Information about travel bursaries, logistics, etc. is on the FUCV Facebook page.
We’re not having a Sunday, December 25th (Christmas Day), but we invite you to join us at 7pm for a Christmas Eve Service the night before.
You’re invited to join John Slattery for an informal, in-person church service at 10:30am on Sunday, January 1st. This service will not be broadcast live on YouTube.
We’re still planning to meet in person for our Christmas Eve Service — but watch our Home page for details, as that’s where we’ll announce a cancellation (if weather conditions make driving unsafe). If the service is cancelled, you can join us on our YouTube channel for a video replay of a prior Christmas Eve Service.
Weather permitting, the whole family is invited to join us for this Christmas Eve service featuring traditional stories, carols, and candle lighting. Wassail will be served in the foyer following the service. (Thank you, Merrick Walsh and Summer Kang, for arranging this).
