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Capital
Unitarian Universalist Congregation
James
Bay, Victoria, BC
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Archive of
Past Sunday Services 2011
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Jan 2nd, 2011
Amanda Tarling
“Fire!”
Fire is both a creator
and destroyer and has
been used by humans
for 1.9 million
years. What does
the element of fire
have to teach
us? This
morning we will
celebrate a Unitarian
Fire Communion as the
first in a series of
"The Four Elements"
services.
Jan 9th
Anna Isaacs and
Friends
“Young Adult Led
Service”
Unitarian Young
Adults share their
fears, hopes and
experiences in this
vibrant service.
Jan 16th
Alan Dawson
“An Outstanding UU
Sermon”
There are so
many wonderful
Unitarian sermons
available on the web
that most of us never
get a chance to
read. Alan will
choose his favourite
to share with us.
Jan 23rd
Alex Campbell
"The Faith Journey:
Martin Luther King
Jr.'s Commitment to
Non-Violence"
Nearly fifty
years have passed
since the
assassination of
Martin Luther King Jr.
We will examine once
again his theological
underpinnings and
conviction, and see
how relevant his
example and message
are for us today.
Jan 30th
Sue Mckenzie
“The Little Prince”
Like many
children's classics,
Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry's
The Little Prince has
almost more to say to
adults than it does to
children. Inner child,
spirit, soul, E.T.,
fairy tale creature-
come and find out what
the little prince is
to you.
Born in Scotland, Sue
Mackenzie went back to
Europe to study French
literature at the
University of
Edinburgh and later to
volunteer with L'Arche
Jean Vanier and Les
Sœurs de Pomeyrol.
Feb 6th
Rev Francis Dearman
"Bridging Body,
Mind, and Spirit:
How might a humanist
work with the
concept of
spirituality?"
Rev. Dearman
has long been
intrigued at how
universal religious
and spiritual themes
keep popping up in the
living of actual
lives, however one
might choose to name
one's religious or
spiritual perspective.
This morning Fran
shares some thoughts
on what spirituality
might look like in
daily experience,
whether we name
ourselves as theist or
atheist, deist or
humanist, agnostic,
mystic, all of the
above, or none of the
above.
Fran Dearman was born
and raised on
Vancouver Island, and
went to school in
Victoria. Although
work and travel have
led her far and wide,
Victoria remains home,
in between adventures.
Feb 13th
Peter Scales
“St Valentine's,
Love and Weddings”
Who was
Valentine and why is
February 14 the
saint's day? If
romantic love leads to
a wedding, as it often
does, why must there
be a legal
contract? When a
Unitarian lay chaplain
performs a wedding,
what goes on?
Why did the Greeks
have several words for
love? Come and
be reminded of the
importance of love!
Peter is a historian,
and one of Capital's
two lay chaplains.
Feb 20th
Muriel Buchner
“Echoes from the
Past – Warnings for
the Future”
All around the
world traces of
ancient civilizations
have been found long
since abandoned and
forgotten. What
happened to these
people that impelled
them to leave what
were sometimes
centuries of their
building and culture?
Could the same thing
happen to us today?
Muriel is a member of
Capital and is
currently sitting on
the Board.
Feb 27th
Jessica Rourke
“Is forgiveness an
all-encompassing
phenomenon, or do
there exist
unforgivable acts?”
Jessica is a
Ph.D. candidate at the
University of
Victoria. She has
studied forgiveness
since 2002 and has
researched it from the
perspectives of both
the victim and
perpetrator.
March 6th
Brian MacDonald
“Songs from Our
Sources”
Come sing some songs
with us. Our selections today will
represent the numerous
Sources of Unitarian
Universalism.
The service
will be led by Brian
MacDonald, a member of
the congregation, who
loves to sing.
March 13th
Deborah Curran
“Sustaining
Sustainability:
Energizing Our
Existing Values”
‘Sustainability’ is
such a buzz word for
everything these days
that it has arguably
lost its original
meaning of
“development that
meets the needs of the
present without
compromising the
ability of future
generations to meet
their own needs”.
Using local examples
Deborah will discuss
how our values of
justice, equity and
respect for the
interdependent web of
all existence are
embodied in community
projects of
sustainability in
action.
Deborah Curran is a
Program Director with
the Environmental Law
Centre in the Faculty
of Law at UVic, and
has advised local
governments and
community groups
across B.C. on
sustainability law for
the past 15 years. She
lives in James Bay
with her family, which
sometimes includes
chickens.
March 20th
Gordon O'Connor
“Vancouver Island is
Not For Sale”
A campaign by the
Dogwood Initiative
which is working for
progressive land use
planning initiatives
that enable
communities in the
Capital Regional
District to fend off
the encroachment of
commuter subdivisions.
The Dogwood initiative
is a supporter driven
nonprofit that helps
communities organize
themselves for a
sustainable future.
Gordon is a Vancouver
Island Campaigner for
the Dogwood
Initiative. He has
worked on a number of
other campaigns to
link environmental
concerns with economic
and First Nations
issues.
His work is informed
by a background in
Environmental Science
and Critical Pedagogy
and also by extensive
experience as a
wilderness guide in
the forests of British
Columbia and around
the world.
March 27th
Nikki Wright
“Our Relationship
with the Oceans”.
Do we have the notion
of a reciprocal
relationship with the
sea and what that
would mean in our
daily lives?
SeaChange Marine
Conservation Society
is a non-profit
charitable society
with a focus on marine
education,
conservation and
restoration and Nikki
is their Executive
Director.
Nikki Wright has been
the Executive Director
of SeaChange since
1998 and Co-Chair of
the Seagrass
Conservation Working
Group since 2001. She
is focused upon and
enthused about
supporting coastal
communities in
protecting and, in
many places along the
coast, bringing back
the wealth of the
nearshore marine
world.
April 3
Ben Dolf
"Ursula
Franklin: Clear
Thinking for
Troubled Times”
Ursula Franklin,
metallurgist and
physicist, educator,
researcher and author
has talked and written
lucidly about the
enormous changes in
our way of life and in
our view of the world.
Gentle of persuasion
and never dogmatic,
her clarity of thought
helps us to find
answers to the
pressing questions
facing our generation.
Ben is a member of the
Sustainability
Committee and an
active member of
Capital for many
years.
April 10
(note: start time
10:15am)
“All Island
Service – Live!”
This morning the All
Island Service will be
held at First
Unitarian Church of
Victoria (FUCV) and we
will be streaming the
service live.
Come and be in
community while we
share elements from
our own service and
then watch the
service broadcast from
FUCV at 10:30am:
Community
and Connection
One
of the primary
motivators for
joining a
congregation is the
hoped for sense of
community. We
hope to create and
build meaningful
connections beyond
our own family tree.
The power in these
ties can’t be
underestimated.
What difference does
it make in our
lives? This
year we host the
annual coming
together of all of
the Unitarian
communities on
Vancouver
Island. We are
excited and
delighted to welcome
members of the
Nanaimo, Comox
Valley, Salt Spring
Island, and Capital
Congregational
communities.
April 17
Rita Wittman
“If I Should
Wake Before I Die”
Zen Buddhism has put
down roots in Canadian
and American Unitarian
Universalist
congregations.
Find out how UUs on
the Noble Eightfold
Path combine Buddhism
and the seven
principles.
Rita Wittman is a UU
Buddhist and longtime
member of Capital.
April 24
Carol
Sherwood
“African AIDS
Angels”
African AIDS Angels
facilitates generosity
at home with good
works abroad, in order
to advance the cause
of social justice.
Volunteers in Victoria
and other communities
make small colourful
angels which are
exchanged for
donations. Funds
raised support four
programs in three
countries of southern
Africa, assisting
children and families
who are affected by
HIV/AIDS.
May 1st
Rita Wittman
“Flower
Communion”
Come and celebrate
spring at our annual
Flower Communion and
bring a flower to
contribute to our
communal
bouquet. Our
bouquet would not be
the same without each
individual flower just
as our community would
not be the same
without each of us.
This will be an
intergenerational
service.
May 8th
Jim Rogers
"It takes a
village to raise
child.”
Each generation faces
new and significant
challenges. Today’s
children are
tomorrow’s leaders and
they need all of us in
the global village to
provide them with the
tools to adapt to a
changing and
challenging
world. What will
our gift to them be?
May 15th
Rosemary
Kinley
"Community in
Poetry and Music"
Who are we? Why do we
come together and what
do we get out of this?
What does needing
community say about
us? Come and
join Rosemary as we
delve into songs to
answer these
questions.
May 22nd
Anna Isaacs
and Friends
"How Do We
Make Our Way to
Church"
A potentially mundane
trip to church can
also be a journey of
contemplation and
insight. This service
will feature a collage
of members'
experiences in making
their way to church by
various means of
transportation.
May 29th
Rev. Melora
Lynngood
“How to Want
What You
Have.”
Whatever we have, we
can always want
something more,
something
better. Left
unchecked, this
tendency can be
exhausting and
dispiriting.
This sermon, based on
the book of the same
title, will give us
insight into how to
stop that cycle—“how
to want what we have.”
June 5th
Mavis Butlin
"Why?"
Why do we go to church
every Sunday or only
occasionally? What is
it that motivates us?
What do we find so
pleasant, appealing,
important? Why every
Sunday? Why just
occasionally? There
are many reasons to
attend church, perhaps
as many as there are
people! Mavis will be
considering the “why”
of going to church.
June 12th
Ben Dolf
“The Spice of Life:
Quotes, Cartoons and
Sayings UUs Live by”
This is a challenge to
existing and aspiring
Unitarian
Universalists: Are we
as deep, funny, and
eccentric as we are
reputed to be? Are we
really masters of
flights of fancy,
jugglers of whimsy and
poets of the elusive?
Is our daily grind and
groan illuminated by
the stories and images
we treasure? We shall
see!
June 19th
Rev. Shana Lynngood
“The Most Important
Things.”
All too often
in the rush and
commotion of our lives
we find we are focused
on things that upon
further reflection we
see as insignificant.
We get caught in the
trite and petty. What
are the most important
aspects of our lives
and how can we stay
focused on them? When
focused on the
significant, can the
"mundane" be less so?
Rev. Shana Lynngood is
a lifelong Unitarian
Universalist from the
Philadelphia
area. She has
served congregations
in Madison, Wisconsin
and Washington, DC
before beginning to
serve First Unitarian
Church of Victoria
with her partner in
September.
June 26th
Robert Brooke Taylor
“Unitarianism in
Transylvania”
This Sunday we
will honour the roots
of our faith
tradition, and the
country that is our
direct link to our
ancestors in belief.
July 3rd
Amanda Tarling
"Urban Spirituality"
We acknowledge our
part of the
interdependent web of
all existence but how
does living in an
urban environment
affect our
spirituality and our
place in the web?
July 10th
Dàna Seaborn
“When the Love Boat
Hits the Identity
Iceberg”
A sermon by California
Unitarian Minister,
Greg Ward, will be our
topic today. As
HG Wells once said,
“Our history is a race
between education and
catastrophe.”
Can we let go of the
facile assumptions
that we often make
about our neighbours
on this planet, and
find common
ground? Let's
find out....
July 17th
Samantha Walrafen
“The Purpose of
Suffering”
Raised in the Calgary
UU church, Samantha
holds a degree in
Biology from UVic.
She lives on Salt
Spring Island with her
husband Daniel and
their son Luke.
She enjoys a life of
hobby farming,
entrepreneurship and
blissful domesticity.
July 24th
Dick Jackson
"Soaring Summer
Singing"
Our hymn selections
will often include a
balance of the upbeat
and the more
contemplative songs.
Not today: it's all
upbeat! Come and help
us raise the roof with
songs of energy and
joy befitting the
middle of summer.
July 31st
Ben Dolf
"The Vancouver
Island Banquet”
What would be on the
table if we only
bought food produced
on Vancouver Island?
On July 31st a group
of volunteers will
present the fruits
(and vegetables) of
their research for
your - hopefully not
too critical -
appreciation.
August
7th
Allison Benner
"Reflections on the
Slow Movement"
In this homily,
Allison will discuss
the importance of
slowing down as a
prerequisite to
leading a fulfilling
life, along with the
many pressures we face
to "speed up" to meet
our society's often
self-defeating
understanding of
productivity.
Allison has been
attending the Capital
Unitarian Universalist
Congregation for over
three years and is
currently serving as
the congregation's
treasurer. Allison
works as a linguist
and a communications
consultant.
August
14th
Jim Rogers
“You Can’t Get There
From Here” by F.
Everett
Morris.
A read sermon
investigating death,
dreams, reincarnation
and visions.
August 21st
Peter Scales
“Perils of Unitarian
Life”
The Unitarian
lifestyle is
challenging because it
does not allow one to
follow the dictates of
a preacher or holy
book. With the
UU principles as
guidance we each
choose our own
theology, and then are
challenged to live up
to our vision of our
best selves.
August 28th
Peter Scales
“Who Edited the
Bible?”
Moses did not write
the Torah; Jesus did
not write the New
Testament; Muhammad
did not write the
Quran. There
were many writers and
dozens of editors of
these human
documents. Can
we accept that and
move forward?
September 4th
Dana Seaborn
“Hymn Sing”
Come join us as we
raise our voices in
song!
September
11th
Amanda
Tarling
“Homecoming”
As summer slips into
fall we begin to spend
more time indoors.
What is it to come
home, to return to
ourselves and our
abodes? This
morning we will
contemplate those
places where we find
refuge, peace, comfort
and rest.
Sept 18th
Anna Isaacs
“Teach our
children well”
What is a Unitarian
Universalist family?
Learn about how we
answer this question
and what Unitarian
Universalist faith
means for family.
Sept 25th
Rita Wittman
“The Tao of
Pooh”
The principles of
Taoism will be
explained through
Winnie the Pooh. Rita
will read this
delightful sermon
written by Gary Wood.
Oct 2
Brian MacDonald
A read sermon by
Rev. Brian Kiely "A
Fair Country- JR
Saul"
(Rupert
Downing's service
postponed due to
illness)
Oct 9th
Ben Dolf
“Gregory Bateson,
Masanobu Fukuoka and
Unitarians”
These authors come
from very different
backgrounds, but they
demonstrate in writing
and in practice how we
can think and act in
better harmony with
the world. How can we
make better sense of
the turmoil in the
world? How can we give
more concrete
expression to our
principles? Where do
we start? Ben Dolf
talks about two
writers he has
rediscovered at the
right time.
Oct 16th
Muriel
Buchner
“Clubhouse or
Lighthouse?”
As a congregation, are
we so interested in
our potlucks and
socials that we
sometimes ignore the
more spiritual side of
our faith? This
homily explores how
UU's have been a light
to the world for a
very long time, and
how it has come down
to us personally in
our small but united
congregation today.
Oct 23rd
Rosemary
Kinley
“Food for
Thought”
How do our food
choices impact upon
our body, mind and
spirit, as well as the
environment? Join us
as Rosemary shares an
inspiring homily.
Oct 30th
Vanessa
Hammond
“The concept
of ‘anam
cara’.”
Anam cara is a
ministry of attentive
listening, careful
observation, honesty
of words and actions,
all combined with love
for the person but
detachment from
results.
Nov 6th
Michelle Brown
“Out: an inside
look”
In our search for
truths and meanings,
some truths can stand
between us. This
homily will look at
one of the more
difficult inclusions
in our weekly welcome:
sexual orientation.
Nov 13th
Rita Wittman
“Singing for Peace”
If there is
something to be
changed in this
world, then it can
only happen through
music. ---
Jimi Hendrix. Join us
as we raise our voices
in peaceful song.
Nov 20th
Jackie
MacDonald
“Transition
Victoria,
celebrating a
different way of
doing things.”
Come and hear about
this global grassroots
movement that supports
citizen action toward
building local
community resilience
and ecological
sustainability. Jackie
will share some
personal perspectives
of her rich learning
journey with
Transition Victoria.
Nov 27th
Amanda Tarling
“Embracing the
Dark.”
Before we rush into
the season we will
slow down and take the
time to honour the
dark, to pause and
reflect on how the
short days can
nurtures us and our
congregation.
Dec 4th
Peter Renner
“Living and Dying
With Eyes Wide
Open.”
How do we as
individuals and
members of a community
support people who are
dying? Drawing on his
experience and
training in end of
life care Peter will
explore with us the
notion of ‘being with
dying’. Peter Renner
Ed.D. has lived in a
Zen monastery, trained
in end-of-life care,
and volunteers with
people living with
cancer and near death.
Dec 11th
Rupert Downing
“Community Social
Planning
Council: 75
years of Leading
Community Action.”
The Community Social
Planning Council of
Greater Victoria is in
its 75th year of
mobilizing and
supporting citizen-led
approaches to social
issues. This
presentation will
outline emerging
issues for our
communities, and
action underway to
address poverty,
housing affordability,
community economic
development and social
sustainability. Rupert
Downing is the
Executive Director of
the Council and has
worked in community
development in Canada
and other countries
for over 30 years.
Dec 18th
Dana Lynn Seaborn
“Metaphor: Stories
& Songs of
Spirit”
Dana will share
original songs from
her CD, and discuss
her book, Magic
Monkey: A Modern
Look at an Ancient
Myth.
Dec 25th
Amanda
Tarling
"A
celebration of
music.”
Let's create memories
together on Christmas
morning as we sing our
favourite carols and
songs.
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© Capital
Unitarian Universalist Congregation,
Victoria, BC, Canada, 2000 - 2006. All
rights reserved
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