Capital Unitarian Universalist Congregation

What if sustainability isn’t just about how long we last — but about how deeply we belong to each other and to the future?

This service revisits Rev. Ray Drennan’s 2004 Confluence Lecture “An Idea of a Possibility” with insights from the UU Expressions research and other current UU practices.

Forum; Investiture of the 2025 Board

Eric Pittman has followed over 100 hummingbird nests from beginning to end. He has named his backyard and close by area as “Hummingbird Hill” where he has taken many videos and posted them to his site “Hummingbirds Up Close”. CBC Gem has done an award winning Documentary on him, “The Bird in My Backyard” and he will be presenting this topic in the June Ted Talks in Victoria.

Kate and Agnes have been friends for almost 40 years. Their lives span two generations and two countries of birth. Find out what cements such an enduring friendship between these two artists who grew up in such different ages; one in the Second World War Germany, the other in peace time Canada.

As Canadian Unitarian Universalists, one of our aspirations is to ‘strive to work joyfully for a just and compassionate society, experimenting with new forms of community.’ In this service we will explore what our active engagement with joy can teach us and how we can cultivate joy that will guide and fuel us in creating the communities and world we seek.

This pre-recorded sermon is part of the Meaning Making series.

Rev. Arran Morton (he/they) currently lives in Saint John, New Brunswick, though he is from Scotland and moved from the West Coast (Victoria, BC) to the East Coast this summer via a cross-country road trip with his family. His work has focused on love-based community building as well as training and facilitation on issues related to healthy relationships, sexuality, conflict resolution and restorative justice/practices.

Before moving to Saint John, Arran was the Minister at Comox Valley Unitarian Fellowship for two years and before that the Director of Spiritual Exploration at First Unitarian Church of Victoria. He is currently a Spiritual Director and part-time Executive Director of a small non-profit that supports trans and non-binary youth and their families.

Join Reilly for her final service of this fellowship year as we reflect on what “delight” really means to us. Let’s start this summer by deepening our capacity to cultivate delight even in the face of an uncertain future. Please plan to stay after the service for a workshop on member engagement at Capital, where we’ll collectively envision the ways that you would like to deepen the sense of belonging in your community, now and into the future.

Since CUUC was formed in 1996, the congregation has relied on its members and friends. Lay leadership has been shared with staff including pianists, bookkeepers, child care workers, lay chaplains, ministers and one administrator. Let’s celebrate the sacredness of our church work.

Peter Joined CUUC from Kingston a year after Amanda & Graham.

We stretch our physical bodies but how often have we thought about stretching our spirits. Join us to hear about Amanda’s inspirational visit to photograph Grizzly Bears in the Khutzemateen and how she hopes to provide tips for deeper connection with nature and spirit.

On our return to regular Sunday Services you are welcomed back with a Flower/Plant service brought to you by the folks who are behind the workings of Capital Unitarian Universalist Congregation.  We will start the fall with an uplifting service to focus on late summer and early fall growth (wild flowers, ferns, moss, late bush blooms).

Everyone is invited to bring: a small potted plant, a flower, or bouquet of flowers or green foliage to put on the altar, welcome table or coffee bar.  If you are out of town, we would love to see photos of your favorite flowers or foliage which may include you and your home or landscape in your area. Please send the photos to Pedro by Wednesday, September 3, 4:30 p.m.

There will be time in Pebbles to share your summer experiences, and in the Forum after the service to do the traditional telling of what bodies of water you visited.

Leigh Waters, Poets and Poetry Reciters of Capital – Art service

This popular yearly Art Service returns. A craft activity will be provided for those who wish to participate with visual art and the mic will be open for poetry and quotes to be made. What poem or quote have you found helpful, or beautiful, or expresses your concerns and worries. Many people bring original poetry for the art service. Suggestions for favorite songs from the teal hymnal will be sung as well. For those joining by zoom please show the craft you are making at home.

Reilly Yeo – Love in the Time of Polycrisis

Love in the time of the polycrisis involves a commitment to true love – not the passionate love between two individuals that we are taught is the pinnacle of love, but rather the compassionate love that sees through the illusion of the isolated self. We are all embedded in invisible webs of service and care; through Unitarian community, we weave those webs stronger. Come for this time to meditate on how you have experienced love in community. Come find an invitation and inspiration to keep weaving together the truer and more beautiful world we all know is possible. This service will be followed by an interactive workshop and collective brainstorm on deepening and expanding belonging at Capital.

Workshop: In a workshop at 11:15 a.m., we’ll discuss some of the key elements of a faith community from the UUA’s Map to Deeper Joy (the Bonding Harbour, Covenant Lighthouse, Forest of Affirmation, Tepid Bay, Cliffs of Exclusivity) and take stock of how these currently function at Capital. Then we’ll ask how we expand belonging at Capital – how might we reach (and more importantly, foster belonging) with those “UUs who just don’t know it yet?” Please bring your ideas and insights to this conversation – they are vital to your future flourishing.

POT LUCK LUNCH

Please bring finger foods for a potluck lunch following the September 28th service. The lunch will lead into Reilly Yeo’s workshop “Walking Together” that takes place 11:15-1:15.

We can build community by designing better public spaces! This talk introduces listeners to placemaking, and then provides detailed examples of how two forms of placemaking – little free libraries and road murals – can be used to build safe, connected, and resilient communities. Teale explores ways in which individuals, community groups, and municipal governments can support placemaking, and the role that visualization and data can play in promoting placemaking. Since 2017, Teale has been mapping, helping build, and stocking little free libraries around the CRD. They began with 111 in the region, and in September 2025 they celebrated the 1,000th LFL!  To date, their project has distributed over 126,000 books to LFLs across the CRD.

Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff is a Councillor in the District of Saanich, a researcher and a community organizer. He works as the Director of Research for OceansAsia, which tackles marine wildlife crime, and he is the world-leading expert on sea cucumber fisheries crime. Teale is the Chair and Co-founder of the AccessBC Campaign, which successfully advocated for free prescription contraception in BC. He also works as the Research Coordinator for the BC Humanist Association, which supports the separation of religion and government in BC and across Canada. His academic research examines the strategic use of international law by non-state actors and the strategies of marine conservation organizations. He is passionate about placemaking and in particular little free libraries, and enjoys playing hockey, board games, and kayaking.