Calendar of events

Here you will find all of our congregation’s Sunday Services, Board and Committee meetings and other events. Use the calendar controls to see events for past or future dates. For a quick look at recent Sunday Services, click here!

Mar
17
Sun
Rachel Cleves “What, Another Female Husband? The Pre-History of Same-Sex Marriage in America”
Mar 17 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am

Now that the Gay Rights Movement has led to the legalization of same-sex marriage in nine states and the District of Columbia, it is time to re-examine the history of this practice and recover past precedents.

This talk examines diverse evidence of the existence of same-sex marriages in North America from the 16th century through the twentieth century. Unfortunately memory of this history of marital variability has been erased, owing in part to the tendency of contemporary descriptions to describe such unions as “impossible.” The rhetoric of impossibility allowed communities to accommodate couples who transgressed the rule that marriage should be cross-sexed, without redefining the category of marriage.

Rachel Hope Cleves is Associate Professor of History at the University of Victoria. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America (Oxford University Press, 2013), which examines the lives of two ordinary women who lived in an extraordinary same-sex marriage in Vermont, from 1807 to 1851. Originally from New York City, Cleves is a happy transplant to B.C.’s beautiful capital city.

 

Mar
21
Thu
Capital Coffee Cove @ James Bay Coffee and Books
Mar 21 @ 10:00 am – 11:20 am

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.

Mar
24
Sun
Dana L Seaborn “Celebrating Spring” @ James Bay New Horizons
Mar 24 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am

What came first: the chicken, the egg, or the Easter Bunny? Join us as we resurrect the sources of our European spring festival traditions!

Mar
28
Thu
Capital Coffee Cove @ James Bay Coffee and Books
Mar 28 @ 10:00 am – 11:20 am

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.

Mar
31
Sun
Rev. Master Meiten McGuire “Zen Buddhism and the Human Predicament”
Mar 31 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am

In Buddhism, one begins with the human predicament in order to grow into a more satisfying life.

“When one studies Buddhism, one studies the self; when one studies the self, one forgets the self; when one forgets the self, one is enlightened by all things.” Great Master Dogen (1200 – 1253 AD)

Rev. Master Meiten McGuire was originally a clinical psychologist and educator in both the US and Canada. She has been a Buddhist monastic in her Soto Zen order for 33 years and teaching on Vancouver Island for the past 10.  She is a member of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives, and a Resident Teacher of the Vancouver Island Zen Sangha.

Coodinator: Amanda S Tarling

Apr
4
Thu
Capital Coffee Cove @ James Bay Coffee and Books
Apr 4 @ 10:00 am – 11:20 am

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.

Apr
7
Sun
Dr Andrew Rippin “Islam in the Modern World”
Apr 7 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am

Dr Rippin is a Professor of Islamic History at the University of Victoria, he is a specialist in the Qur’an and the history of its interpretation.  Dr Rippin authored the textbook “Muslims: their religious beliefs and practices”.

Apr
8
Mon
Sunday Service Committee Meeting
Apr 8 @ 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm
Apr
11
Thu
Capital Coffee Cove @ James Bay Coffee and Books
Apr 11 @ 10:00 am – 11:20 am

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.

Apr
14
Sun
Karina Strong “Bringing Joy to Burmese Refugee Children”
Apr 14 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am

As part of SPARK! Circus, Karina Strong, founder of VestaFire Entertainment, travelled to Thailand in 2012 with her family (Kevin, Jenna (8) and Caden (3)) to bring a circus experience to Burmese refugee children. Using multi-media, Karina and Kevin will share the stories of this mission to bring a little joy and playfulness to underprivileged children they met and the impact it had on her own family. Karina is a member of First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo.

Apr
18
Thu
Capital Coffee Cove @ James Bay Coffee and Books
Apr 18 @ 10:00 am – 11:20 am

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.

Apr
21
Sun
Peter Scales “When Unitarians Gather”
Apr 21 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am

We make community on Sunday mornings.  Unitarians also make community at dinners, regional gatherings, summer camp, and the national gathering each May.  Come and learn more!