Capital Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World. While this suggests singing the praises of accomplished women, let us remember the influence of those women who are less frequently spoken of. Join us to get an inside look at the life of an Iranian woman.

Sepideh Heydari is a recent graduate of the University of Victoria. She moved to Victoria in 2012 from Iran and started attending Capital UU on International Women’s Day in 2019.

For link please email Our Director of Congregational Life Amanda Tarling

There’s been a lot said over the years about authenticity, but most of us still opt to fit in rather than flaunt our differences. We’ve been taught how to behave and how to get along – how to be safe and not stand out. We push our authentic selves down in favour of the common denominator or the common good… But what if we’ve had it wrong all this time? What if being true to ourselves is not only good for us, it’s good for everyone else as well?

Dar Gareau-Levy is a trans non-binary queer, an ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) survivor from a working poor family, and a true blue UU who’s faith has lead them on a personal and spiritual quest for wisdom, justice and healing.

For link please email Our Director of Congregational Life Amanda Tarling

Amongst the strife and anxiety of everyday life, we often forget what a miracle it is to be alive. Join Brian on a journey of exploration of just how marvelous we all are. Despite Covid, wars, racism and climate disasters, never forget that we live in a magical time and place.

Brian Short is a retired Electrical Engineer who has always marvelled at how things work both in the engineering world, and the biological and psychological world. He resides in Nanaimo with his wife, Glenda and has been a UU for almost 35 years. His 3 children currently reside on Vancouver Island with 2 grandkids in Victoria. When not with family, Brian can be found sailing, swimming, biking or involved in Environmental Activism

For link please email Our Director of Congregational Life Amanda Tarling

Katrina Pavlovsky was born in Toronto. In 1977 she met Fransesca, a spiritual teacher who greatly influenced Katrina’s life. She wrote “Fransesca A Remarkable Life” in 2020 which is a tribute to Fransesca’s deep connection with the inner self. The focus this morning will be on some of Fransesca’s teachings which include techniques for meditation and visualization, clearing, discipline and being of service.

For link please email Our Director of Congregational Life Amanda Tarling

Jesus, Easter and the Unitarians: What lessons do we continue to take from the Galilean carpenter, in his life, death and after-death? How did his call for reinvigorated Judaism get turned into a different religion, i.e. Christianity? Is Unitarianism today a home for Christians?

Email our Director of Congregational Life for the link

“My home is me, and I am it. It is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams” In a society where disrupting a neat street can cause ostracism, let us learn from Mr Plumbean as he teaches us how to live our dreams and help others do the same.

Join us to hear our Sunday Service Director’s First homily for Capital!

For Zoom link please email our Director of Congregational Life.

Join Westwood Unitarian Congregation’s Director of Religious Education, Ilara Stefaniuk-Gaudet, as they relive their close encounters with death. Lifelong kidney disease and a vivid dream life combined bring a unique and personal twist to Ilara’s story. May you leave feeling as uplifted as they did while penning their story to share!

Ilara Stefaniuk-Gaudet is a visual artist, poet, and story teller. They are a lifelong UU, even before they knew it! They have spent their years advocating for people with disabilities, Inter-faith initiatives, and LGBTQ2S+ humans, and following synchronicity to wherever it guides them. Ilara loves gardening, anything crafty, and being a student of life.

If you would like the link please email Amanda

The Moose Hide Campaign is a grassroots movement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous men and boys who are standing up against violence towards women and children. Wearing this moose hide signifies your commitment to honour, respect, and protect the women and children in your life and to work together to end violence against women and children. The campaign is rooted in Indigenous culture and has a vision of handing out 10 Million moose hide pins across Canada and 1 Million Canadians Fasting together to create a country where all women and children are free from all forums of violence.

David Stevenson is CEO of the Moose Hide Campaign. David has worked in Indigenous social wellness for over 25 years-from Native youth outreach worker in Vancouver’s Downtown East End to executive positions in government leading reconciliation initiatives. He is of Irish, French and Haudenosaunee ancestry and lives on the side of Pkols Mountain in Lekwungen- speaking people’s territory with his partner and 2 daughters.

For Zoom link please email Amanda

The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience,” wrote the poet Emily Dickinson. Anne shares her difficult journey of leaving a fundamentalist religion as well as insights from her whirlwind year of experimenting with two dozen spiritual practices—from singing to solitude to going to a witch camp and heading out on a pilgrimage—and how they taught her to live more attentively and authentically in the world. All of us are on a spiritual journey yet so often we neglect this essential aspect of our lives.

Anne Bokma is an award-winning journalist and author of the award-winning memoir, My Year of Living Spiritually: One Woman’s Secular Quest for a More Soulful Life, published by Douglas & McIntyre in 2019. She is also the founder and host of Hamilton’s popular 6-Minute Memoir live storytelling event and online writing workshop series. She is a member of the First Unitarian Church in Hamilton.

Julia Ward Howe (above) and Anna Marie Jarvis (below) are the two women who founded Mothers’ Day and never knew each other.  One was Unitarian and the other wasn’t a Mother.  Come and hear how their stories are relevant during a she-cession and pandemic.

Now more than ever we need to be grounded in connection, in hope, and in love. As the cycles of the seasons teach us the gifts of the dark as well as the light, we still need energy — a spark — to fuel living into our aspirations and values no matter the season, the struggle, or the celebration. This Sunday service will celebrate how our UU faith and our connections are crucial to sustaining and amplifying that spark.

All are welcome to join us at our Sunday Worship Service.

The Sunday service will be live-streamed on Zoom at http://bit.ly/NationalWorshipMay16 – Meeting ID: 885 0018 9706 Passcode: 595025 and will be closed captioned, and on the CUC’s YouTube Channel.

(There will not be a service at Capital today)

Hundreds of Humans projects worldwide share stories of local people. Humans of the Salish Sea was started on March 25, 2020 and shares stories of those who call this part of the world home. Our goal is to build a Salish Sea community through our stories. We will look at our own community as well as other Human projects and talk about the philosophy of community building through storytelling.

Gail Richard is an American educator specializing in Cross Cultural Communications, Language Acquisition, and Language Learning Methodology. After earning an advanced degree she moved onto a second career in Interpretation of Nature and Heritage. As an interpretive trainer Gail has worked internationally focusing on cross cultural interpretation communication. Her passion for the Humans project derives from her involvement as an interviewer for Humans of Christchurch Otautahi (New Zealand). Upon her return to the Salish Sea she was inspired to begin this project of collecting stories of the many wonderful Humans who live right here! Gail is also happily a member of CUUC.