Capital Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Speaker: Paula Stone Williams, TED Talk

Paula speaks with humor and compassion about the differences in her life from the time she was a man and those when she transitioned to a woman. She worked in religious organizations as a man, and was let go by those organizations once she became a woman. She also relates that, “she thinks a lot about her brown skinned daughter and daughter in law and what do they know that I am clueless about?” Paula says  “what do any of us really know about the shoes in which we have never walked”.

Speakers: Joy Huebert and Congregants

Enjoy a quiet service on the presence of darkness and light in our lives. Dale Hitchcox, Jeffery Freed, Lee Tuley and Sarah Weaver will present songs, music, poetry and a reflective homily to welcome the turning season.

Speakers: Ilara Stefaniuk-Gaudet, Westwood Unitarian Congregation

The practice of community care: how do we ensure that care is integrated into our ways of being together? “It’s through an orientation toward healing and repair for ourselves and others that we recover our capacity for feeling, for relationships, and, with that, the ability to strengthen our bonds and work together.” Prentis Hemphill.

Diana Clift will share some of her experiences as a hypnotherapist which have convinced her that focussed imagination can be life changing.

Forum: There will be a forum after the service and coffee. Di will be in attendance.

Naturalism is the belief that only natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural ones) operate in the Universe. The modern story of our origins – the Big Bang theory – offers ways of understanding ourselves and our worlds.

Bio: Terry Findlay is the webmaster and an officer of the Religious Naturalist Association (RNA), an international group formed about ten years ago.  He was born in Victoria, taught Grade 7 for 33 years in Keremeos, and moved back to Victoria in 2014.  The RNA likes to say, “We take nature to heart.”

Forum: There will be a forum after the service and coffee. Terry will be in attendance.

During the Humanist Enlightenment of the 1700s, humanistic ideas emphasized reason, science, and individual rights over religious dogma. This era fostered new philosophical, social, and political ideas that shaped modern thought and promoted values such as tolerance and liberalism.  In our non-dogmatic, principles-based religion, Unitarian-Universalists continue that enlightenment into 2026.  Where do we look for authority?

Bio: Peter Scales is a semi-retired historian who likes to learn and teach about UUism.

Forum:  There will be a forum after the service and coffee. Peter will be in attendance.

Unitarian Universalists have never required a single answer to life’s biggest questions.  We love mystery. We honor science. We respect doubt. We embrace metaphor. And we leave room for the miraculous—even if we may not all agree on what that word means. Our faith tradition does not have the absolute answers to those big questions. We do offer responses – ideas about the big questions that help us understand life and its meaning.

Bio: Rev. Debra Faulk, Minister Emerita, now lives in an intentional community on Vancouver Island on the traditional land of the lək̓ʷəŋən People, known today as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. She is walking distance from two and a ferry ride from the other three grandchildren. She contributes as a volunteer serving on the CUC Board and as a coach for other UU ministers. Debra continues to do consulting work and guest preaching. Other delights include gardening, cooking and wondering.

Forum: There will be a forum but the speaker will not be in attendance.

Speaker: The story of John Craven Jones, read by Leigh Waters

In 1859 the Governor of BC invited a group of Black people in San Francisco to come to BC and receive a free grant of land. John Craven Jones took up a parcel of land on Saltspring Island. Having neither school house nor teacher there, John began teaching at two locations on Saltspring. He taught 6 days a week and spent one day working on his wild land to meet the government requirement of improving the property within two years of its acquisition. Indigenous elders of our area tell us, you must know the history of the land you walk on. February is Black History Month, let’s learn about one of BC’s early Black settlers. And think about the effects of isolation from their communities that many settlers and immigrants face.

Speaker: Karla Thomson, UUCV

At some point in our lives we will be a caregiver or care receiver. From personal experiences I will try to help you understand and cope with some of the challenges dementia presents.

Speaker: Heather Stefanek reading a talk by Melanie Davis

Sexuality Through a UU Lens.  OWL, or “Our Whole Lives” is a progressive, comprehensive lifespan sexuality education program which has been offered by many UU congregations since the year 2000. It addresses the Unitarian Universalist Association’s commitment to sexual justice and inclusivity, incorporating the values of Self-Worth, Responsibility and Sexual Health. Learn more about the program through this service which was created by Dr. Melanie Davis, PhD, and is provided free to UU congregations.  Her talk will be read by Heather Stefanek. 

Bio: Melanie Davis is a Certified Sexuality Educator and CSE Supervisor, a professional development provider, consultant, and human sexuality adjunct professor. She is the co-president of the Sexuality & Aging Consortium at Widener University. A lifelong UU, she is manager of the OWL program for the UUA, and author of “Our Whole Lives: Sexuality Education for Older Adults”.

Speaker: Rev. Wayne Walder (part of the series MMiLT)

Truth is often a belief system we use to make sense of the world.  ‘Practicality’ means we are aware of what works. When we confuse these two, we lose the essence of both.  Wayne speaks to us by video, in this year’s Meaning Making series, “Meeting this moment with love and justice.”

Bio: Rev. Wayne Walder retired 3 years ago from the Neighbourhood UU Congregation in Toronto, a congregation he helped start with 5 people and $50.  Ministry was his second career. He has 3 children and has lived with his wife Joan for almost 40 years.  Each day he sits quietly for about an hour hoping to learn more about enlightenment.

Speaker: Sarah Weaver with Lee Tuley.

Music Team: jazz pianist: Attila Fias, song leader: Zorah Staar

Our first principle says we, as a congregation, ‘affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person’. This week our homily is a conversation in which Lee Tuley engages with Sarah Weaver to explore how we can embrace this principle through examining the nature of our judgements, and developing curiosity as a way of more deeply connecting with life and each other.

Bio: Lee is a Counselor specializing in Integrative Body Psychotherapy, Health and Spirituality – all of which are at the center of her personal life, along with creative writing. She also has had two interview talk shows, one in community radio, and one at KSFO in San Francisco. She comes to Capital for the special community of people here.

Forum: Sarah and Lee will be in attendance for the forum.