Author: Mary Bennett

Third Thursdays – Make It a One-Day Retreat

July 20, 2018 • Mary Bennett

This month you could plan a one-day spiritual retreat at UCV.

Come by 11 am for circle dancing; stay for contemplative collage; and then participate in Patrick’s Rhythm Meditation workshop 7 – 9 pm. Third Thursdays always include the first two events, and several people attend both.

First there was GLAD with an hour of circle dance because Darlene and Mary wanted to dance more–and share circle dance more.

Then Laurie and Mary added “contemplative collage” from 2-4pm. So, of course, a few people found they liked both events so some of us brought lunch or bought sushi from across the street. And Mairy who’d joined the GLAD team often stayed for lunch and then gardened.

So by July 2018 (three years after GLAD began), there are a few of us who spend most of the day at UCV with focused but flexible activities.

We danced all nine of the World Circle Dance Day link up dances from 2016, 2017 and 2018. All nine within just over an hour.

GLAD (Gathering for Labyrinth, Art and Dance) includes art and labyrinth walking as well as circle dance.

All welcome to all or any of these events:

11am – 1 pm GLAD

1-2pm – informal lunch with whoever’s there

We placed our rainbow rocks in the inner courtyard labyrinth. Two corners down. Two to go! #prepareforpride

2-4pm – collage with Laurie and sometimes Mary (in the summer Mary tends to stop to say “hi” and then go outside to tend the gardens

Beautiful centre to celebrate World Circle Dance Day. Wild Women cards from Elizabeth MacLeod by way of Karen B.

Prepare for Pride

July 9, 2018 • Mary Bennett

We’re preparing for pride. The Vancouver parade is Sunday August 5th.

UCV is showing our colours. We’ll hang a rainbow flag outside and paint rocks in rainbow colours.

Perhaps we’ll decide to re-certify as a “Welcoming Congregation” or offer the “Living the Welcoming Congregation” program.

Contact sharingucv@gmail.com if you’d like to join the email list of the ad hoc team working on this.

More about the Welcoming Congregation program here.

Did you know that

UCV officially certified as a Welcoming Congregation in 1995
there’s a program called “Living the Welcoming Congregation”
the Canadian Unitarian Council was an influential and strong voice in the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada
there’s a “transgender” flag
the communications committee is working with Buildings and Grounds to proudly display a rainbow flag during Pride week
99% of Canadian Unitarian congregations are certified as Welcoming Congregations
At the 2006 Annual Meeting, a Gender and Sexual Diversity resolution was passed, updating an earlier resolution on “gay and lesbian rights”. http://cuc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Gender-and-Sexual-Diversity-Resolution-2006.pdf
At the Hamilton national Unitarian conference in 2005, five youth from Calgary unfurled a 500’ rainbow banner. A spontaneous offering raised funds to send them to Ottawa to show their colours. Parts of the banner have been left with various individuals, the CUC and the Calgary congregation.
Martha Saunders has donated a flag and we’re looking for a great spot for it
There’s a growing collection of rainbow-coloured rocks on the inner courtyard? (rocks welcome—we’ll paint them for you!)
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has a list of ten things we can do for Pride https://www.uua.org/lgbtq/witness/pride
The UUA recommends renewing the Welcoming Congregation every five years
The original “gay flag” design had eight colours including pink and turquoise and blue and indigo were combined to be “royal blue”, so they usually have six rainbow colours not seven.
Each colour had a meaning attached to it:
- life (red)
- healing (orange)
- sunlight (yellow)
- nature (green)
- harmony/peace (blue, and
- spirit (purple/violet).
- The removed colors stood for sexuality (pink) and art/magic (turquoise).[wikipedia link]

OWL – Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society

July 4, 2018 • Mary Bennett

Outreach Opportunities Fund Recipient

The Outreach Opportunities Fund will be collecting for the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL) from June to September. OWL is a non-profit organization whose staff and volunteers are dedicated to public education and the rehabilitation and
release of injured and orphaned raptors.

A portion of the Sunday service offering goes to an organization selected by the OOF committee.

About OWL

From Melody Mason on behalf of the Outreach Opportunities Fund Committee.

Would you like to visit? http://www.owlrehab.org/visit-owl/

3800 – 72nd Street
Delta, BC, Canada, V4K 3N2

Summer – July to August

Sunday – 10am to 3pm
Monday – 10am to 3pm
Tuesday – 10am to 3pm
Wednesday – 10am to 3pm
Thursday – 10am to 3pm
Friday – 10am to 3pm
Saturday – 10am to 3pm
Holidays – CLOSED

OWL offers guided tours for the public to come and visit our permanent residents. Hours are listed below.

You can visit us at OWL and see many of our permanent residents (hours are listed below). We operate on a guided tour basis only. You will learn how they came to be at our facility, the jobs they preform at the facility, and about the different species of raptors you can find in British Columbia. This portion of the tour is outdoors and occurs rain or shine, so don’t forget to dress for the weather!

Our tour also includes a walk inside through our Wildlife Museum and Gift Shop. The many exhibits and displays were made possible by dedicated OWL volunteers Sharon Pilkey, Gerry Powers, Colin Iverson, and Christina Hamberger.

Guided tours are by donation, are approximately 30 minutes long, and leave on the half hour, with the last one going out at 2:30pm. Bookings are required for groups of 10 or more, so please call or email us in advance so we can arrange a tour for you.

The Garden Path and Courtyard Labyrinths in June

June 11, 2018 • Mary Bennett

Thanks to Keith Wilkinson for these photos of the labyrinths taken Sunday, June 10, 2018.

We often paint rocks at GLAD, Gathering for Labyrinth, Art and Dance.

Start from the doors that open from Hewett Centre. Walk on the grey to the centre and back..

Feel free to pick calendula. It just makes it come back with more flowers. It’s name relates to calendar as it grows year-round.

Look carefully. You might find a strawberry ready for plucking. Do it!

Lambs Ears. Part of the mint family. Not an edible but does well with herbs that are. Drought-resistant.

Rock with 3-circuit labyrinth painted on it. Take a rock. Leave a rock. We’re OK with that.

World Circle Dance Day 2018

June 7, 2018 • Mary Bennett

In July, 2018, we joined with circle dancers around the world to dance three “link-up” dances–one choreographed by Bernard Wosien, the founder of sacred circle dance; a traditional Greek dance and one choreographed by Gwen Peterdi, who organizes the Mexico Circle Dance event.

Below are videos of the three link-up dances.

Learn more about World Circle Dance Day here:

https://globalcircledance.com/world-circle-dance-day

Watch House Unitarian Service

May 10, 2018 • Mary Bennett

Many UCV folk went to Burnaby Mountain for the Unitarian Service near the Watch House on Burnaby Mountain. It was great to be welcomed by Will George and the keepers of the Watch House and have five of the lower mainland ministers share leadership of the service. People attended from all four congregations, plus a couple from Nanaimo Unitarian Fellowship

Photo from the Metro Vancouver Unitarian Community facebook page.

Read about the Watch House here.

Want to Try Out Circle Dance?

May 9, 2018 • Mary Bennett

Summer is a time for adventures and if you’re on a stay-cation or visiting Vancouver from elsewhere, we invite you to these gatherings especially for those who want to try out sacred circle dance, either for the first time or because you’d like to learn or practice some of the basic steps.

Mary Bennett and Mairy Beam have collectively been circle dancing for over 30 years and they each bring their own story to why it’s become an important part of their spiritual lives.

Vancouver Unitarians have been hosting sacred circle dance events open to all for 15 years.

People come with a variety of backgrounds from “always loved dancing” to “three left feet.”

Sacred circle dancing in this form comes from the Findhorn Foundation about 40 years ago initiated by Bernard Wosien.

We’ll answer any questions you have and enjoy sharing our enthusiasm in a gentle way.

First Tuesdays in July and August 7:30 – 9 pm.

Mary and Mairy are both members of the Vancouver Unitarians Earth Spirit Council. Email for other events.

Here’s the worship service they led in 2017 about their experience with circle dancing.

Photo used with permission from D. Rainbow.

A Weekend of Celebration

May 8, 2018 • Mary Bennett

A Weekend of Celebration

On Friday, April 6th, the Vancouver Unitarians celebrated their first Passover Seder/Dinner in a long time bringing together 42 folks from across the lower Mainland. The seder (or service) was brilliantly led by Rob Dainow, a self-declared JewNitarian.

“I grew up in a Jewish family and now make my home in the Vancouver Unitarians community. We always celebrate the main Jewish holidays in my family and it was very nice to share the Passover holiday this year with so many at our UCV seder. Passover is a celebration of the Jews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt in ancient times; the importance of observing it every year is to tell and retell this story so that we will not forget that we were once slaves and that people continue to be enslaved in many ways today. I was especially happy to share this event and its meaning and traditions with so many who were participating in a seder for the first time.”

Vivian Davidson, one of the key organizers added, “Indeed it was such a great event, attended by so many remarkable people, where wonderful food, stories, communion were shared. Everybody did such a great job who helped plan and execute that event that I know many people appreciated having attended including me. I really treasured being able to be part of putting it together.” For many, like Vivian, it was their first experience of a seder.

Mary Bennett went on to say, “That was just my second passover seder ever and I really appreciated all the efforts put in by so many. Ever since joining the Unitarians and learning…a bit and then a bit more…about Jewish customs, I’ve been quite drawn to them. I like ceremony and ritual and “living traditions” – I love that I now know that people treat the Hagaddah (the book which guides the service and tells the Exodus story) as a changeable script open to new examples and traditions.”

Friday’s celebration of freedom led the way to an intense weekend of fostering connections. The lead-up to the following day’s Lower Mainland conference. A most uplifting and joyous event!

Submitted by Sheila Resels (on behalf of the Passover Planning Team/Jewish Holidays Planning Team).

Labyrinth Update May 2018

May 7, 2018 • Mary Bennett

We had a lovely World Labyrinth Day event. Here are some photos. Thanks to all who showed up for: World Labyrinth Day, Opus Outdoor Painting Challenge and Jane’s Walk!

Tea Recipes from Sandy