Sunday Services: 11:00 am949 West 49th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 2T1Office: 604-261-7204 |  |
Using religion as a moral cover for shoddy thinking and bad behaviour is not new to our age; it’s a complaint thousands of years old. So why bring it up now? It may be worth considering why we’re still ‘religious’ and what we’re religious for. Should anyone care? And speaking of which, where are the “millennials” (and others)?
Spread across continents and centuries, the story of Unitarianism is vast, maddening and thrilling. We explore its main outlines, themes, characters, and issues. All in one worship service? Let’s see what we can do—a story that we can understand, value and carry with us on our journey.
What is art for? How do we value it? Can it be a source of spiritual regeneration? Inspired by Lewis Hyde’s The Gift, Steven considers how gifts of art (and other things) pass from hand-to-hand and how that act may enliven the work, the artist, and those who receive it. We take a special look at the art and story of Canadian artist Mary Riter Hamilton.
So often, we struggle for things to stay the same—relationships, jobs, identity; and for good reason—letting go is hard. We cling to what is and often fear the unknown of what may be. As the season of Autumn winds down and Winter approaches, are there things we can learn from Nature and each other about accepting and embracing change?
Ursula LeGuin was one of the literary greats of the 20th century, a wise, radical trailblazer who, across more than 50 books—novels, poetry, translations and criticism—expanded and deepened the boundaries of science fiction and fantasy literature. This sermon is an exploration of one of her greatest works—The Farthest Shore.
Feeling awe is a foundation for what makes us human and a source of what enables individual spirituality and religion to be enduring and vital in our lives. We’ll raise up the experience of awe through ritual, music, and parable.
Rev. Christine Boyle weaves together the theology of Mr. Rogers, faithful interpretations of who we think of as our neighbour, as well as inclusion and exclusion in the history of city-building. Plus radical love, and a hint of climate justice.
Christine is a first-term City Councillor with OneCity Vancouver. She previously did national multi-faith climate justice organizing, including at COP21 and at the Vatican. Christine is a community organizer, a climate justice activist, and an ordained United Church Minister. She has an MA in Religious Leadership for Social Change from Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California. She’s married to Seth Klein, and has two kids.
It’s the season of Samhain/Halloween/Day of the Dead. For the fifteenth time, we summon eminent ancestors from our Unitarian Universalist history to experience their stories.
Emily Howard Jennings Stowe (1831-1903) – Diane Brown,
John Haynes Holmes (1879-1964) – Stanley Tromp,
Hone Tuwhare (1922-2008) – Michael Scales,
Margot Adler (1946-2014) – Rev. Laura Imayoshi
The Lay Chaplains share stories and lessons working with couples, families and friends at times of transition, creating rites of passage.
Cheryl Amundsen has been a member of UCV since 1998 and has just finished her first year as a lay chaplain. She is a recently retired Professor Emerita at Simon Fraser University.
Laureen joined UCV in 2017 and became a lay Chaplain in 2018. She is an engineering technologist by day, an instructor at BCIT by night and an occasional photographer, walker, and knitter in her free time.
Louise Bunn is a long-time member of UCV and is beginning her 3rd year as a lay chaplain. She is also involved with the Youth Group and the Earth Spirit Council.
We celebrate BC/World River’s Day by paying our respects to Canada’s official emblem and symbol of our nation’s sovereignty—Castor canadensis: the beaver. We may think they’re just cute (or a nuisance), but the fact is beavers sculpted our landscapes and provided flourishing habitat to myriad life forms; they are one of Nature’s keystone species. Hounded to near extinction at the end of the 19th century, they’re making a significant comeback and we’ll explore just why that’s so important.
