Unitarian Congregation of Guelph

Join Grand River Unitarian for a Sunday Service
2023-07-23 10:30 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | Grand River Congregation, 299 Sydney St. S., Kitchener, ON, N2G 3V8, Canada
Join Janis Collins and musician Becky Verdun for a thought-provoking Sunday service at Grand River Unitarian Congregation in Kitchener. Childcare is available for this Sunday. Note that this service takes place at Grand River Unitarian Congregation in Kitchener at 10:30am.

After Service Outdoor Social
2023-06-25 12:00 - 13:30 | 122 Harris Street, Guelph, ON, 122 Harris St., Guelph, ON-Ontario, N1E5T1, Canada
Come One, Come All, to our first Sunshine Room Tea Party outside (weather permitting) so that those who haven’t been to the building in person for fear of the virus can eat, drink (tea of course:) and be merry while enjoying IN PERSON conversations!
Where: The UCG parking lot, of course!
When: June 25th, after the flower communion and last service before summer.
If you have any food you’d like to bring that would be great, but if not, please bring the most important gift to others…yourself.
Help Wanted! If you are attending and physically able, we could use some help bringing in/out some tables and chairs. Please email Amanda at amandaloo1920@gmail.com to let us know.

Flower Communion
2023-06-25 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Save the Date!
The Flower Communion, which is 100 years old this year, is a cherished ceremony among UU congregations worldwide. It is a celebration of “beauty, human uniqueness, diversity, and community” created in 1923 Norbert Čapek, in Prague, Czechoslovakia. As well as a celebration of the sixth principle (The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all), it’s also a welcome to summer and a (Temporary) farewell to our regular scheduled services until the fall.
An integral part of the communion is the sharing and distribution of flowers, so please bring flowers from your garden if you will be at the sanctuary. The communion will be led by one of our Lay Chaplains, Carey McDonald.
For more information on the Flower Communion, here are some primers from the UUA on the ceremony and also the centennial:
https://www.uua.org/worship/holidays/flower-ceremony
https://www.uua.org/worship/lab/flower-ceremony-centennial
Note that due to the after service social in the parking lot, parking will be available on Harris Street and at Ferra Flooring (322 York Road). Hope to see you there!
Childcare with our junior staff will be available on site at 122 Harris St. Guelph.
For the Zoom link, please email admin@guelph-unitarians.com
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/A8zXhvo2vxM

Walking the path of Reconciliation (Darin Wybenga)
2023-06-18 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Prior to working with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Darin Wybenga was an educator in elementary schools in Southern Ontario. Specializing as a teacher of history and geography, he also served as a vice-principal and curriculum coordinator. In recent years, Wybenga has worked for the MCFN as the Traditional Knowledge and Land Use Coordinator for the First Nation’s Department of Consultation and Accommodation. His work in the department primarily consists of educating project proponents about the history of the treaty lands, territory, and people of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. I will bring a few wampum belts with me and talk about the spirit of Reconciliation (as I see it) between First Nations and Settlers. If we walk down the path of reconciliation together in peace, respect, and friendship we will eventually reach por goal. Service Leaders: Margriet and Paul

Photos provided

Learning and Listening, Solitude and Connection
2023-06-11 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris Street, Guelph, ON, 122 Harris St., Guelph, ON-Ontario, N1E5T1, Canada
In the UUWellspring program focused on Sources, we have explored the six sources of Unitarian Universalism, meeting bi-monthly in a format that centers on a practice of deep listening. This Sunday, join Hannah and Lorna and other members of the Sources group, as we share some of what we have been learning through sitting together, sometimes in silence. Deep listening catalyzes the profound connection between solitary reflection and communal interconnection, and the results are mysterious and often joyful!
Childcare with our junior staff will be available on site at 122 Harris St. Guelph.

New Members' Service
2023-06-02 08:00 - 17:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Join Hannah Schell and some of our community’s friendly new contributors as we welcome our new members, learn about them and explore the theme of belonging. If you plan to attend online, please email Holly for the link at admin@guelph-unitarians.com. Childcare available on site.

Outdoor Nature Walk Service – Ignatius Jesuit Centre
2023-05-28 11:00 - 12:00 | Ignatius Jesuit Centre
Spring is a great time to immerse ourselves in the joys of nature, the mysteries of
migrating birds, ephemeral spring wildflowers, and animals emerging to the abundance of
spring. Guelph is especially blessed with the 600-acre Ignatius Jesuit Centre of farmland and
forests, with seemingly endless hiking trails open to the public.
Ignatius also has the spiral Stations of the Cosmos, Stations of World Religions, and the
Labyrinth, that seem almost designed specifically for Unitarians! Come commune with nature
and the cosmos with Paul Smith and Andrea Scapinello.
We will have a mobile service outdoors combining some usual elements of a service with a stroll
through the Stations of the Cosmos, and a leisurely nature walk to explore some of the farm
ecosystems, and whatever plants and wildlife reveal themselves.
Weather permitting, please join us at the Ignatius Farm Workshop parking area and Stations of
the Cosmos at 11am. See map for directions.
Note from Igantius: Please note that parking may be a challenge this weekend with all of the community gardeners. Parking on roadways is strictly prohibited, so if the farm workshop parking lot is full, the parking lots at Orchard Park (the big brick building when you first come in) would likely be your best bet.

CUC National Service
2023-05-21 10:30 - 12:00 | Zoom
We will gather from across the nation to celebrate what has brought us to this moment in making manifest our new principle: promoting “individual and communal action that accountably dismantles racism and systemic barriers to full inclusion in ourselves and our institutions.“ This is a promise worthy of this time and the fullness of our creative energies.
The Sunday morning worship service will be led by Rev. Eric Meter of the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa alongside Rev. Diane Rollert of the Unitarian Church of Montreal, Rev. Fulgence Ndagijimana, youth and young adults, and others.
Raised Unitarian Universalist, Rev. Eric has served our congregations in Northern California, upstate New York, and in the U.S. Great Lakes region. Proud to now be in Canada, he and his wife have family in the Greater Toronto Area, as well as Germany, and the United States.
All are welcome to join us at our Sunday Worship Service.

In-person at the Theatre, Robert C. Gillett Student Commons
Livestreamed on the CUC’s YouTube channel
Interactive on Zoom https://bit.ly/2023-05_NationalService

Virtual Town Hall
2023-05-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Ontario’s healthcare is being privatized. Find out what you need to know.

The Privatization of Public Healthcare
2023-05-14 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Speaker: Karen Rathwell, Guelph District Heath Coalition
Karen is the current Chair for the Guelph/Wellington Coalition for Social Justice, a community group consisting of sixteen not for profits and local union groups. She has retired from a 28 year career as an educator and continues to pursue her keen interest in local and global water issues. She brings her enthusiasm for life and commitment to community to all she continues to do.
On Sunday Karen will share a review of the current issues involved in the privatization of Ontario’s public healthcare system. She will invite all to learn more at the upcoming virtual Town Hall on Healthcare Privatization – May 17th – 7-8:30pm and encourage everyone to participate in the largest citizen led Referendum that has ever happened in Ontario. This Referendum will be an opportunity for everyone in Ontario to have their voice heard and to stand up for our national healthcare.

Nursery Care will be provided on site at 122 Harris St.

With whom do we stand?
2023-05-07 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
As Unitarians, social justice, equality and social action are close to our hearts. What better way to explore what we stand for, and with whom we stand, than through song? Join Janette, Rick and Seanna for a morning of music, with a special focus on the songs of Carolyn McDade.

Nursery Care will be provided on site at 122 Harris St.

Rehearsal for Sunday's Service (All welcome)
2023-05-05 19:00 - 20:30 | 122 Harris Street, Guelph, ON, 122 Harris St., Guelph, ON-Ontario, N1E5T1, Canada
Join Rick, Janette and Seanna as they rehearse the music of Carolyn McDade for Sunday’s Service.

May Day /Beltane
2023-04-30 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
This annual fire festival traditionally looks forward the bounty of summer. This year we will focus on some of the hardships we are leaving behind, so that we can open to growth more fully. As with every pagan service, we will highlight our belonging to the mystery and miracle of the universe. Come sing and dance with us. Blessed be. The Green Team are your service leaders: Rebekah, Diane, Janette, Christine, Lorna, Aspen, Rein and Linda. There will be nursery care and a special activity for kids on site at 122 Harris St. If you prefer to attend online, please email admin@guelph-unitarians.com for the link.

A "visit" to Unicamp (note: no need to gas or charge the car for this one!)
2023-04-23 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
It’s hard to describe Unicamp as anything other than magical. Unicamp is home to so many of us. Whether we grew up attending or recently discovered it, Unicamp is a place where many of us feel accepted and free to be ourselves; a place where we build lifelong bonds and a sense of community where we live out our UU values. Unicamp has Kids’ Camps (during July) and family and adult programming that anyone is welcome to join throughout the rest of the summer (from mid-May to mid-October). The land and the community are exceptionally bright and loving. This 50-acre valley, hidden near the small town of Honeywood, Ontario, takes care of us. It has a pond we can swim in, forests and meadows we explore and relax in, a communal dining hall, a spiritual center, access to Cowpie Hill with a beautiful view of Mulmur County, Sunday services (which are outdoors if the weather is nice), weekly dances (which always includes our classics: the Time Warp and Cecelia by Simon and Garfunkel), and so much more.
Join Joanna Barrington (Unicamp’s Director) and Kaitlyn McLay (Unicamp’s Children’s Program Director) as they talk about the magic of Unicamp and invite all who have never been to check it out!

Nursery Care will be provided on site at 122 Harris St.
Looking for more information on Unicamp? Check out their brochure.

Evil: God’s Problem (and Ours)
2023-04-16 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Many thoughtful people have wondered, why does God allow so much suffering in the world? Philosophers call this “the problem of evil” and it is this question that has led many to atheism, or to no longer believe in a traditional understanding of God. We will consider some different religious and non-religious responses. How do we wrestle with this question as Unitarian-Universalists living in the world today? Speaker: Hannah Schell
Service leaders: Margriet and Michael, with help from Janette, Seanna, and Brian.
Nursery Care will be provided on site at 122 Harris St.
Please email admin@guelph-unitarians.com for the service link.

Easter Memories
2023-04-09 11:00 - 17:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Join us for an informal chalice cafe in which we share memories (from silly to serious) of Easter. How do you mark the arrival of spring? If you have a favorite seasonal song or a beloved old hymn from this time of year, please bring it to share. Hosted by Hannah Schell. Please email admin@guelph-unitarians.com for the zoom link.

Chris Paul on transitioning
2023-04-02 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
We are happy to announce that Chris Paul has graciously agreed to speak to us again. This will be on April 2nd.
Chris Paul (Rainbows) is a Creative Director and Partner at Unicorn Rebellion, a creative agency working with good people to do good things. They are an author / illustrator, speaker, and queer activist.
In October last year Chris talked to us about being queer inclusion, belonging and the importance of using proper pronouns. This time Chris will be speaking about transitioning.
Chris is a very engaging speaker, and very funny as well!
Please check them out on line, and more importantly: mark your calendar for April 2nd.
Please email admin@guelph-unitarians.com if you require a Zoom link for this hybrid service.
Nursery Care will be available on site for this service.

Chalice Café: How we travel together
2023-03-26 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Last week we learned that the word “covenant” comes from covenir, to travel together. Some of us chaff at the religious connotations of the word covenant but embrace the significance of traveling together – in all its unavoidable messiness and challenges. We value sharing what matters to us, confidentiality and safety, thinking independently and coming together in community. And we want to face the future with honesty and integrity as we think about our “next steps.” Let’s gather and continue the conversation. Service put together by Blue Team (Michael Gilbertson, Hannah Schell, and Lorna Wyllsun).
Please email admin@guelph-unitarians.com for the Zoom link.
On site nursery care will be available during this service.

Chalice Cafe: Covenanting Together
2023-03-19 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Join us Sunday for our Chalice Café, where we’ll be discussing Covenanting Together. Many of us have different reactions to hearing about Covenanting.. However, it’s an important facet to how we agree to come together, and maybe more importantly how we agree to disagree. Come with your ideas, opinions and suggestions on how we covenant within our congregation and the wider community! Childcare will be available on site for this service. For the Zoom link, please email admin@guelph-unitarians.com

Trans-Inclusive Women's Day service
2023-03-12 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Please join us via Zoom or in person at 122 Harris Street Guelph for this trans-inclusive Women’s Day service with jei tiffin (they/them) where we will honour the strength of women!
Childcare will be available during this service.
Email admin@guelph-unitarians.com for the service link.
(Don’t forget daylight savings time!)

A Life of Virtues: Wonder
2023-03-05 10:30 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Join us this Sunday at 10:30am as we venture (Virtually) to Grand River Unitarian:
A Life of Virtues: Wonder. Introducing our Sabbatical Minister, Rev. Victoria Ingram. With music by the Spirit of Life Choir, Directed by Rich Hrytzak. We try to live a good life in the time we have on Earth. Sometimes we are virtuous, sometimes we give way to our vices. In this series, Rev. Victoria explores the ways we might choose to be more principled and honourable in our day-to-day life. Today, we start with opening ourselves to curiosity and awe.
Once the service is done, likely at 12:00 PM please feel free to join us at the sanctuary or online for our own joys and sorrows, and discussion
Note Special Time of 10:30am!
Please email admin@guelph-unitarians.com for the service links.

Songs of Joy and Hope
2023-02-26 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Join with us to sing songs that lift our hearts and bring light during this dark season. There’s even a rumour of requests if we have time!

Hope in the Dark
2023-02-19 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
How do we maintain hope during times of challenge or crisis? How is hope different then optimism? On what do we pin our hopes when all seems lost? Borrowing inspiration from Rebecca Solnit’s book, Hope in the Dark, we will reflect together on the elusive but important idea of HOPE. Service Leaders: Hannah Schell & jei tiffin, with help from Maureen Blackwood and others.
We are happy to announce that onsite childcare will be provided for this service!

AGM
2023-02-16 19:00 - 20:00
Members and friends are invited to join us in person or via Zoom for our AGM.

The Revolution will not be "Telev... Zoomed"
2023-02-12 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
February is Black History Month. As Unitarians we go into this month with much to be proud of: Our newly adopted Eighth Principle, a long history of fighting for justice and equality, our own martyrs and heroes in the struggle for Civil Rights. But what are the practicalities of the Long Walk to Freedom, in fighting the scourge of racism? Would we be prepared for that brave new world? Where we deal not with abstract ideals but with new realities, new joys, new freedoms and new challenges. Join us on Sunday for “The Revolution Will Not be Telev…..Zoomed” a talk about our ideals as Unitarians and their possibilities and challenges. Email admin@guelph-unitarians.com for the link.

"Coming Out as UU"
2023-02-05 11:00 - 12:00
Join us online or in person for a “chalice cafe” style gathering. Our topic this week will be how we inhabit our UU identity – is it something you share with people? What do you say if someone asks about it? Because we believe in freedom of belief, we tend to be non-evangelizing and this might lead to saying nothing at all, even when our UUism is relevant. This informal service will include lighting the chalice and sharing our joys and sorrows. Please email admin@guelph-unitarians.com for the service link.
We are happy to announce that onsite childcare will be provided for this service!

Second Aspiration: Radically Inclusive
2023-01-29 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Join us as we link up virtually with our fellow Unitarians at the Unitarian Congregation Of Niagara for their service led by speaker Brian Jones, with the topic: “Second Aspiration – Radically Inclusive”. View via Zoom at home or at our sanctuary at 122 Harris Street Guelph. After the service at 12:15 we will have our own Joys and Sorrows and Discussion Circle through our Sunday Service link.
We are happy to announce that onsite childcare will be provided for this service!
The link will be sent with the Sunday Service link this week to everyone who receives our newsletter.

Movement and Meditation for Grief with Yogi Shaninder
2023-01-22 11:00 - 12:00
Join us Sunday morning for this service led by jei tiffin and Margriet Van Haren with guest Yogi Shaninder.

Write For Rights
2023-01-15 13:00 - 14:00
Every year around Human Rights Day (December 10th but we’re doing it January 15), Amnesty International supporters around the world take part in our Write for Rights campaign — sending millions of letters, emails, tweets and petitions in support of people whose human rights are being denied. And every year, we change lives.
Amnesty International is accepting letters until the end of January 2023. Will you join UCG in learning more about the plights suffered by people worldwide? Will you join us in writing letters of support?
The letter writing bee will take place after the service on January 15 at 1pm via Zoom and in person. Vegetarian soup and refreshments will be offered.

The Ideal of “Beloved Community”
2023-01-15 11:00 - 12:00 | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Canadian and American Unitarian Universalists sometimes invoke the ideal of the “beloved community” but it’s not always obvious what we mean, and we risk it becoming a meaningless platitude. Exploring this ideal, where it comes from and what it means, challenges us to better attend to our community and the larger, wounded world. Join us on Sunday morning for a service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. whose legacy is celebrated this week in the U.S.
Note that childcare will be offered during the service, and soup will be available, with donations going to Child Haven International.
