Unitarian Congregation of Guelph

REV. BECKETT (KINGSTON UNITARIAN FELLOWSHIP)
2022-09-04 10:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
Rev. Beckett (Kingston Unitarian Fellowship) will lead the last of our Summer Sundays this morning.

GROWING IN SPIRIT
2022-08-28 10:30 UTC | Zoom
Rev. Fiona Heath
(Unitarian Congregation of Mississauga). In troubled times our inner light struggles to shine, in need of tending. Rev. Fiona speaks to the three things our spirits need to shine.

STORIES FROM A HOSPICE COUNSELLOR
2022-08-21 10:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
Susan Briedall (Neighbourhood UU Congregation) will share stories from her work as a hospice counsellor.

LGBTQ+ PRIDE: FINDING BELONGING IN OUR COMMUNITIES & OURSELVES
2022-08-14 10:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
(Unitarian Congregation of Mississauga) We all deserve to be loved and accepted as we are, however we identify, whoever we love, this is an expression of our first principle – the inherent worth and dignity of every person, as they are. This Sunday we celebrate LGTBQ+ Pride with speakers Devin Kreuger & Nim Poland sharing queer stories of community and resilience.

A FAMILY SERVICE
2022-08-07 10:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
A family friendly service for this summer morning.

WHOLLY / HOLY ... AND THAT'S NOT A PUN
2022-07-31 10:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
The first “source” named by our Living Tradition is the human experience of mystery and wonder that renews the spirit and upholds life. Let us explore the ideas of wholeness and the holy….and sit for a while in the quiet of that mystery.

CAN I FIND GOD HERE?
2022-07-24 10:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
A stranger arrives at the Kingston Unitarian Fellowship or any Unitarian church on a Sunday morning and asks, “Can I Find God Here?” How would you answer this question? Today’s talk is a brief look at one person’s history, KUF’s history, and Unitarian history with God. Hopefully an answer to the stranger’s question can be found that invites everyone to stay.

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN CLIMATE JUSTICE AND PEACE WORK
2022-07-17 10:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
This service by Neighbourhood UU Congregation’s Kasha Slavner will discuss youth engagement in climate justice and peace work.

MATT DAMON AND HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
2022-07-10 10:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
Unicamper Greg Carter ( Grand River Unitarian) shares some hard-won lessons about relationships inspired by a chance encounter with actor Matt Damon.

WOVEN IN A SINGLE GARMENT OF DESTINY
2022-07-03 10:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
“Woven in a Single Garment of Destiny” a UUA service hosted by Rev. Jess (Grand River Unitarian). We’re all connected: an interdependent whole. Therefore, says UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, “covenant is our religious response to our fundamental interdependence.” We make promises about how to be together, and how to be in the world. We also fall short of honoring those promises, inviting us to repair and strengthen the strands of community. The choice to mend broken strands of the web is an act of faithfulness. This service, designed by Rev. Erika Hewitt (UUA Minister of Worship Arts), features a range of UU leaders and features 2 original songs composed just for this service.

FLOWER COMMUNION
2022-06-26 10:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
Join us this Sunday as we part temporarily for summer with one of the rites we share with Unitarians worldwide: The Flower Communion, which started in 1923. 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 our two Lay Chaplains, Rebekah Jamieson and Carey McDonald.

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UNITUNZ REUNION!
2022-06-19 10:30 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
“We resist transition not because we can’t accept the change, but because we can’t accept letting go of that piece of ourselves that we have to give up when and because the situation has changed.” (William Bridges).

Join us Sunday for a musical exploration of navigating life changes and transitions. Hosted by the UCG Unitunz musical group, back for the first performance in a very long while!

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES IN A TIME OF CLIMATE CRISIS
2022-06-12 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
As we face the ongoing challenges of living in a time of climate crisis, let us consider together the spiritual practices that will keep us connected to and caring of our one and only Mother Earth. How do we engage active hope for sustenance?

Rev. Dr. Michelle Walsh, PhD, LICSW is a Unitarian Universalist community minister who is a certified Internal Family Systems therapist/practitioner and trained spiritual director with a private practice known as Sacred Play Explorations. She brings a wide variety of lived experiences with urban, parish, and academic ministry to her preaching, writing, and work with individuals and groups.

THE WELL EARTH COLLABORATIVE
2022-06-05 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Central to the Well Earth Collaborative is the idea that we cannot heal ourselves until we have healed the planet and we cannot heal the planet until we heal ourselves.. It is not enough for doctors to look at the biological and psychological aspects of health, but also the social environment that people live in and the spiritual meaning of their lives.

Dr. Riina Bray has been Medical Director of the Environmental Health Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine for over ten years. She was Chair of the Environmental Health Committee of the Ontario College of Family Physicians for ten years.

Dr. DavidFancy is a professor of drama at Brock University. David has an extensive creative practice as a playwright and director.

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CHALICE CAFE: SHARING OUR BELIFS
2022-05-29 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Unitarian-Universalism conscientiously makes room for a wide variety of religious and spiritual beliefs. Like our many gifts and talents, the variety of our beliefs is worth celebrating, yet we don’t often talk about what we believe in a way that brings the differences to light.
Join us via Zoom or in person at 11am Sunday for an enlightening and fun conversation, facilitated by Hannah Schell.
For the Zoom link, please email admin@guelph-unitarians.com.

NEGOTIATING OUR PLACE AS THE EARTH TRANSFORMS
2022-05-22 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Human activity has now resulted in crossing four of nine planetary boundaries. These are: 1) excess flows of nitrogen and phosphorus, 2) loss of diversity, 3) excess impact of novel entities and 4) excess variability of access to green water. In addition, the probability of staying below a 1.5C increase in average global temperature is now less than 10%. There are possible pathways for humans to adapt, within the limits of Earth Systems. Negotiating our place will require appropriate understanding and responses to real limits, in real time, in the context of increasing inequalities.

Biography: Ralph C. Martin grew up on his family farm in Wallenstein, ON. After 4-H, his formal education includes a B.A. and an M.Sc. in Biology from Carleton University and a Ph.D. in Plant Science from McGill University. His research and teaching began at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, in 1990, and he realized students teach him too. In 2001, he founded the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada www.dal.ca/faculty/agriculture/oacc/en-home.html to coordinate university research and education pertaining to organic systems, across Canada . In 2011, he was appointed as Professor and the Loblaw Chair in Sustainable Food Production at the Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph. In 2019, he retired and published his book, Food Security: From Excess to Enough

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CUC NATIONAL SUNDAY SERVICE
2022-05-15 13:00 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
Enter a sacred communal space in your own time, engage with it however feels right to you, and deepen into the experience for as long as you feel you need to. Using your breath as a way to return to yourself, over and over, you are invited to a National Sunday worship service like no other. Less focus on words, more on communal experience. Less information, more contemplation. Less rigidity, more spaciousness.

It’s been a rough couple of years and we hope you will find some solace here. We’ve accomplished much together in these trying times. Let’s appreciate our inclusion work, express gratitude, and pause as a community.

Come with curiosity, and catch your breath with us.

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FIBERS OF LOVE: CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF KATHLEEN ERSKINE
2022-05-15 11:00 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
This Sunday we celebrate the contributions made by Kathleen Erskine, a true gentlewoman, seamstress and friend in our community. Join us as we look back on the stitches she wove into the tapestry of our community and our hearts. If you have a favourite memento of Kathleen, whether it be something that she made or otherwise, please bring it to the service or have it on hand.

Please join us online or in person for this celebration.

GIFTS DIFFERING
2022-05-08 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
As we proclaim in our UU principles, we are part of an interdependent web. But how do we manifest that in our appreciation of our gifts and recognition of the variety of different gifts that we have and share with each other? Under an industrial worldview, we tend to applaud the “number of widgets” someone produces. But what if we considered this through a more agricultural lens, and thought about our gifts as seeds, the sun, the rain, the soul, and various microorganisms – all the components that contribute to growth and blossoming?

Join us for a service about celebrating and appreciating our gifts as a community.
This service will also include a brief ceremony to formally welcome our newest Lay Chaplain, Carey McDonald.

BELTANE
2022-05-01 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Beltane is the Celtic name for this traditional fire festival. The fires signaled a cleansing, getting ready for crops and livestock to bring forth abundance. Join us as we prepare for the abundance of the year ahead, ready to commit to what we want to bring forth personally, as a congregation, and as a wider community.

THE TURKEY, THE RABBIT AND IDIOT COMPASSION
2022-04-24 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
What if we were to get over ourselves? Then what? What would be left? Who would be there?

Join Mel for a series of stories, poetry and reflection, as we explore our minds, inner motivations and hearts.
Please pack your sense of humour.

CONNECT WITH NATURE
2022-04-17 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | Ignatius Jesuit Centre
You are invited to gather at Ignatius Jesuit Centre for an exploration of the Stations of the Cosmos and walk facilitated by Paul Smith and Andrea Scapinello. We hope to link those who are not able to attend in person through the phones or mobile devices using data. Those who are comfortable are encouraged to carpool. There is a bus which goes to the corner of Woodlawn and Hwy 6 but this would involve quite a hike to reach the meeting place.

LESSONS LEARNED ALONG THE WAY
2022-04-10 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
It is said that the true pilgrimage begins when you get back home. Join Lorna Wyllsun as she shares stories from her journey along the Camino de Santiago through the lens of transformation.

To journey without being changed is to be a nomad. To change without journeying is to be a chameleon. To journey and to be transformed by the journey is to be a pilgrim. Mark Nepo

ANOTHER TASTE OF WELLSPRING
2022-04-03 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
In the January Sunday Service, we introduced you to the fundamentals of Wellspring – a UU curriculum program that meets twice a month to learn about our 6 UU Sources and to practice deep listening and sharing. There was so much enthusiasm that we’re offering another experience for you to come and see what it’s about. The service will have some of the same aspects people enjoyed last time with new pieces added in. We look forward to sharing a taste of this amazing program with you.

Our new mode of operating Sunday Services is to offer this in a hybrid fashion – zoom and in-person at the UCG…. your choice.
Join us either virtually or in-person for this hybrid service.

A PROBLEM. A TEAM. A TRANSFORMATION: ORGANIZING TO SUPPORT SCHOLARS AND STUDENTS IN CONFLICT ZONES
2022-03-27 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
Karen Balcom explains how a small team formed at McMaster University to support students and faculty of the Women’s and Gender Studies MA program at Kabul University. Anyone connected to the programme was and remains at severe risk in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover. Seven months later, we are connected to campus and political communities across Canada, we are delivering material support to scholars in Afghanistan, and creating an employment-based immigration pathway as a model for other universities. And (as of March 10th, 2022) we have convinced the President, Provost and Deans at McMaster to commit $800,000 for a wide ranging programme in support of students and scholars at risk from any country in crisis. This talk will also include basic information about Afghan refugee support networks forming in Guelph.

Karen Balcom is an Associate Professor of History and Gender & Social Justice at McMaster University, where is also the Academic Director of the Office of Community Engagement. She is a somewhat lapsed member of this congregation, who was grateful to raise her daughters (now 17 and 20, YIKES!) in this community. She will be speaking today about her work with McMaster’s Committee on Scholars and Students in Crisis.

Click to view the Video ►

SPRING EQUINOX
2022-03-20 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | 122 Harris St / Zoom
We are stepping away from the magical dark into growing light. What pivot do you want to make? What possibilities have you discovered in pandemic constraint? Is a new passion emerging? Let’s explore in community, because, like geese, we fly farther when we fly together.

Join us either virtually or in-person for this first hybrid service.

Note that the Sunshine Room after the service will take place via Zoom only.

Click to view the Video of March 20 service ►

BRIDGING CULTURAL DIVIDES FOR COLLECTIVE LIBERATION AND TRANSFORMATION
2022-03-13 10:30 UTC | Zoom
Encounters with different cultural ways of being and belief systems have the potential to stir visceral discomfort and deep reactivity. In the ongoing polarizing challenges of these times – from COVID to the climate crisis amidst profound inequities – how can we as Unitarian Universalists embrace a deeper, more rooted call and spiritual practices for engagement? This sermon builds on a series of sermons with which the guest minister has been traveling for the past few years, alongside her lived experiences and writings.

Rev. Dr. Michelle Walsh, PhD, LICSW is a Unitarian Universalist community minister who is a certified Internal Family Systems therapist/practitioner and trained spiritual director with a private practice known as Sacred Play Explorations. She also has worked as a scholar activist for many years in urban contexts, teaches as a Lecturer at Boston University, and is the author of Violent Trauma, Culture and Power: An Interdisciplinary Exploration in Lived Religion as well as chapters in other volumes.

DREAMING, DEMYSTIFYING, DECOLONIZING, DEVOTING
2022-03-06 10:30 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
Join us for a celebration of International Women’s Day, with a montage of music, pictures, and words of wisdom and inspiration, drawing upon the Canadian UU Women’s Association service from 2021. The service will feature singing by Wendy Luella and a talk by Rev. Kathy Sage (minister emerita from the Kingston UU congregation), with original animated artwork by Ilara Stefaniuk-Gaudet. We will also enjoy a video of the women of UCG.

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Tolerant or Inclusive - Are We Living Our Principles?
2022-02-27 10:30 - 12:00 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
At the start of our services we state that we “strive to be a diverse community of mixed ages, genders, sexual orientation and race’. That is a cornerstone of our faith. But what if diversity isn’t enough? Are we truly living our faith through inclusion?

Join us as we explore the idea and challenges of true inclusivity, and ask the question: What does true inclusivity look like?

LESSONS IN MYTHS
2022-02-20 10:30 - 12:00 UTC | Zoom
There is magic in the wisdom of myths, wisdom that is still resonant today. What if myths were not just for putting children to sleep, but for waking adults up?

Mel Horvath-Lucid, is the former Director of Congregational Life at UCG. She is a current student at Haden Institute, studying Spiritual Direction, and is trained as a Mediator, and through the UUA, as an Interim Ministry Specialist, and as a Healthy Congregations facilitator. Mel brings a passion for exploring the many transitions and changes we experience in life, with a focus on who we wish to be and how we wish to be, during those transitions. As a human, Mel is a wild creative, Mama to five children, and currently works as the Community and Volunteer Engagement Coordinator for Community Justice Initiatives, an organization committed to Restorative Justice.
