949 West 49th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 2T1 Office: 604-261-7204
Category: Recent News
The monthly e-newsletter selects about 5 news posts with this category. Priorities are news relevant to a wide number of people and especially of interest to visitors or new folk.
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
― Kahlil Gibran
September offers many opportunities for our members and friends to participate in circle dance, ritual and labyrinth walking.
Start off the month off with our 1st Tuesday Earth Spirit Circle which will feature picking herbs for tea and sharing our stories about tea. (Tuesday, September 4 6-7pm).
Sacred Circle Dance returns after a semi-hiatus over the summer. The regular 1st Tuesday and 2nd Mondays will start up again (and this year, we’ll stick to the 2nd Monday schedule even on holidays in October and November.) As well, Mairy and Mary enjoyed introducing new folk to circle dance over the summer, so are going to continue to offer a gentle circle dance every 4th Monday 7 – 8:30 pm. These gatherings are especially for those who are new to circle dance or want some extra practice. We practice four dances each time and we repeat each dance three times. So it’s easy on the brain and the body.
In September and October, we’re planning outdoor Sunday afternoon events on the labyrinth with herbal tea and various activities. Come on Sunday September 16th and celebrate the autumnal equinox with us. These events are family-friendly. Bring your kids if you like.
Last but not least, the first session of Paganism 101 will be on Tuesday, September 28th. Louise Bunn who co-wrote the curriculum will be the lead facilitator.
Can you pitch in?
We always appreciate offers of help from spontaneous help with putting the chairs or such back in place or being part of a planning team to put together a ritual. Contact us if you’re interested by email or in person.
In a Globe and Mail article in 2000, Unitarianism was described as a “Pick and Choose” religion. Some people liked that descriptions; others not. Taking that theme, we invite you to “pick and choose” herbs from our labyrinth garden to make your own special blend of herbal tea. Here are some possible ingredients from the labyrinth and garden grounds. Sandy and Mary would love to talk with you more about this and introduce you to our gardens.
Maybe you’ve never thought to make lavender tea but its floral taste is amazing. A delicious cup of herbal tea you can make from lavender flowers that is sweet and fragrant in taste and is perfect for calming your mind, particularly recommended to reduce tension and alleviate headache.
Lavender grows well in full sun, in well drained soil.
Lemon verbena leaves are used to make tea. Consumption of its tea improves digestion, joint pain and helps in asthma.
Refreshing and sour, this lemon flavored plant is easy to grow. It needs full sun to thrive and doesn’t tolerate severe winters. Below 14 F (-10 C) the plant dies. It’s more suitable for subtropical and tropical climate, although you can grow lemon verbena in cold climate, but in containers.
3. Mint
Mint is a most favorite tea herb and popular among herbal tea lovers, it’s also one of the easiest plants to grow. Mint tea fights with digestive disorders, abdominal pain and stomach cramps. Besides this, it stimulates the appetite, reduces flatulence and is very refreshing in flavor. Mint is very robust plant and can even get out of hand in the garden if you don’t care to stop it. It grows in moist soil in full to partial sun.
We have several kinds including apple mint, peppermint and pineapple mint. And if you’d like some to take home, we will happily share a cutting or two.
Lemon balm plant is closely related to mint, but has a distinct lemon flavor. It gives flavor to herbal teas and ice creams and appears to be a useful fragrant herb in the kitchens.
Lemon balm grows well in dry soil and partial shade. If grown outside it dies in winter but regrow again in spring. Lemon balm spreads vigorously if grown in garden beds so it’s better to grow it in a confined space or in a container.
5. Ginger (not in UCV garden)
Ginger tea is popular, especially n (South and East Asia. Its roots and leaves can be used to make tea. Use of ginger tea is praised in ancient Chinese medicines and Ayurveda, it’s an antioxidant and contains antibacterial properties. It cures diseases like cold, flu, nausea and improves digestion and appetite.
Ginger is such an easy to grow and forget it plant that you’ll definitely like to grow. It is hardy in USDA zones 9 – 12 and grows best in filtered sunlight and moist soil in a spot that is less windy.
6. Thyme
Thyme is an effective herbal tea ingredient that calms stomach problems and sore throat. Use its leaves to prepare tea, if there are flowers, add them too.
Thyme grows well in full sun but also tolerate partial sun and is an ideal herb that is very low maintenance.
We have a couple of varieties. Thyme corresponds to the West Direction so look in that direction.
7. Chamomile (not in UCV garden)
Beautiful daisy like flowers that smells mildly fruity like an apple, chamomile is a useful medicinal tea herb. It’s traditionally used to induce calm and sleep. You can prepare its tea with small white and yellow flowers rather than the leaves. There are two kinds of chamomile (German and Roman), Roman chamomile offers strong flavored tea.
Chamomile likes sandy soil and lots of sun and it needs a lot of water during the summer. It’s hardy under USDA Zones 4 – 9.
8. Jasmine (not in UCV garden)
Jasmine flowers are suitable to make tea, for this you need to pick some fresh flowers. Dry and mix them with green tea, you can also steep them alone to make jasmine tea.
Jasmine vine thrives in full sun and needs a trellis or a support to climb. It’s not suitable for harsh winter climates, so if you want to grow it, grow it in container that can be moved inside.
9. Stevia
Stevia leaves are sweet and can be steeped to make tea. It’s a safe and natural sweetener, used in place of sugar in an infusion and good for diabetics.
Stevia grows in USDA Zones 9 to 11, it doesn’t tolerate cold. Still, you can grow it in more colder zones in a pot so that it can be brought inside when winter comes.
10. Marjoram
This culinary herb has a fruity and sour flavor with a hint of mint. Marjoram tea cures various digestion and stomach problems including poor appetite, liver disease, gallstones, intestinal gas, and stomach cramps.
It grows well in full sun but can tolerate light shade, it needs loose and well drained soil.
11. Cilantro (not in UCV garden)
Commonly used for cooking, cilantro is also suitable for tea. Its tea resembles aroma similar to Lady Gray tea. Mix honey in it to soothe the acidity and constipation. It also clears toxins from the body and prevents indigestion.
It grows in both the sun and partial shade and is an ideal herb for pots. Cilantro grows diversely as annual herb in almost any climate, it can be grown under USDA Zones 3 – 11.
Rosemary tea improves digestion, promotes cognitive function and acts as an antioxidant, protecting the body from heart disease and cancer. Rosemary plant prefers full sun, light and well drained soil.
At the south entrance to the labyrinth we have a rosemary plant. You can snip some to take home any time.
13. Fennel
Fennel seeds are used to prepare its tea. Fennel tea is very beneficial for digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome, bloating and flatulence. Fennel grows in USDA zones 4 to 10 in moist and fertile soil in full to partial sun.
You can also snip the leaves to add to tea.
14. St. John’s wort (not in UCV garden)
It is a very effective remedy against nervous disorders: insomnia, depression, anxiety etc. However, it also has some side effects.
It grows very easily without special care. It can be grown on the ground or in pots.
To learn how to grow St John’s wort read this.
15. Sage
The antiseptic tonic of sage enables to provide an effective remedy for ailments as varied as: mouth ulcer and sore throat. Sage tea also helps in depression and Alzheimer. Take 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves and 1 tablespoon dried sage leaves and steep it for 3 – 5 minutes in boiling water. Strain it and mix honey in it for taste. Your sage tea is ready.
It can be grown either in the ground or in pots. If grown in pots it’s important to water sage regularly.
We have golden sage, “ordinary” sage and pineapple sage. We’ll be adding purple sage soon.
16. Viola tricolor (not in UCV garden)
Often referred as wild pansy, it’s a common European flower that grows wild as a short lived perennial. Viola tricolor is known for its medicinal properties. It contains flavonoids, saponins, anthocyanins, carotenoids that helps in fighting myriads of human diseases like cancer, various skin diseases, allergies and sore throat. You can use whole plant to make tea.
Also called as heartsease, viola tricolor grows in partial shade in slightly acidic to neutral soil. It’s hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9
17. Basil
Basil especially holy basil or ‘tulsi’ is best to make basil tea, you can also add honey and ginger in it. Other varieties of basil are also used. Basil is stress reliever and if used with honey and ginger it helps in asthma and cough, cold and influenza. Consumption of basil tea lowers the blood sugar level and helps in heart diseases. Basil tea is also a good cure of mouth problems and bad breath.
Holy Basil loves warm exhibition, it’s a tropical plant, hardy in USDA Zones 10, 11 and grows best when temperature stays around 70 – 86 F (20 – 30 C).
18. Catnip (not in UCV garden)
Mildly sedative and calming, catnip tea is excellent treat after an exhausting day. It helps in digestive disorder like diarrhea, relieves headache and insomnia and if you’re going through nicotine withdrawal, it alleviates the stress. Both the leaves and flowers are used to prepare tea.
If you know how to save your catnip plant from cats for your use growing it is easy. It’s hardy in USDA Zones 3 – 8 and prefers well drained soil that is sandy, although catnip grows in variety of soil types. Keep your plant in full to partial sun.
19. Lemon Grass (not in UCV garden)
Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) is used to make herbal tea, in soups and other dishes. This lemony scented tea herb also repels pests like white flies away from garden.
Grow lemongrass in warm and sunny spot and do regular watering. Lemongrass is hardy in USDA Zones 9 – 11, however if you like to grow it in colder climate you can grow it in a pot and bring that indoors or in a greenhouse in winter.
Additions welcome
We invite anyone who has herb plants to share, to add them to the labyrinth. We especially would like more thyme and succulent or drought-resistant groundcovers for the courtyard labyrinth — hens and chicks etc.
Your Windowsill Herb Garden
Here’s a video showing you how to grow herbs in a jar of water.
Harry Potter Camp at Vancouver Unitarian campus was a huge success this summer. How do I know? Mainly because the kids were talking about “next year at Hogwarts” at the end of day one and were still talking about it at the end of the week. They also arrived each day with smiles and excitement bubbling up and together built a real sense of community. They worked through conflict and resolution as well as through games, classes, and creativity.
Sorting Ceremony
We had 20 attendees who came from the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, North Shore Unitarian, and others who were drawn to the “Hogwarts” page on the website. New friendships were formed, and old friendships strengthened.
Theatre in Action
We approached the camp with the intent to create an immersive theatrical experience for the kids from which they could explore real, pertinent, issues and develop their own power, abilities, and agency. The kids reveled in the opportunity to let their imagination of the Hogwarts world come to life, being sorted into Houses, the decoration of the Great Hall, and the re-naming of rooms—Dormitory of Democracy, Room of Retirement, Chamber of Choice. They were initiated into a chapter of Dumbledore’s Army and, through dotmocracy, chose to focus on fighting the Horcrux of Waste. The theme of how to approach zero waste will be carried through our Sunday activities this fall.
Herbology, Prof. Kiersten
Shape of the Week
Classes were held throughout the week, taught by both our local UCV Professors and local Guests:
Herbology—with Professor Kiersten, exploring the UCV gardens and grounds for “magical” medicinal plants and creating a healing salve from plantain and calendula with olive oil and beeswax.
Potions—with Professor Jannika, creating a Cold-Away Potion from echinacea and an Elixir of Euphoria from Orange Blossom Essential Oil.
Potions with Prof. Jannika
Charms—with Professor Douglas, exploring acting skills through Professor Douglas’ own charms: Interiofocus (stilling the mind and focusing inward), Accion (finding personal power in action), and Connectisaurus (connecting with another person and working together).
Special Guests
Quidditch—with guest Quidditch players and Kidditch instructors from the Vancouver Vipers Quidditch Team.
Defense Against the Dark Arts—with guest artist and actress Professor Bailey, exploring how to face our fears through humour using poetry and spoken word.
Charms lesson with Prof. Douglas
Two Guest theatre artists turned the ground floor of Hewett Centre into Diagon Alley and made appearances as familiar ghosts Moaning Myrtle and Nearly Headless Nick. Together they delved into the complexity of what to do when public art lifts up one culture and ignores oppressions.
Patronus Workshop—with Professor McGonagall, exploring core aspects of their personality and identifying a strength of their own that brings something positive into the world.
Finale
The week ended with a Feast and Sharing with family and friends of all that they had been doing and learning—including spells, skits, games, and a haunted house of their own creation.
Slytherin House Rocks it!
Hufflepuff
Ravenclaw
Gryffindor
Diagon Alley
The Sorting Hat
Floating Candles
Creating Magic
1st Day
Sorting Song
Wandmaking at Hogwarts Theatre Camp Summer of 2018.
Those of us who tend a veggie plot on the north side of Hewett Hall are enjoying the produce–and enjoying sharing the abundance with others.
Two of our young families took over a plot (38″ square). Here are Jeonga, Goan and Haram with their first vegetable garden. They’re amazed at what’s come up including the tomato plant they didn’t plant! I love introducing people to gardening.
Photos: Mary Bennett with Goan and Haram in front of their plot.
Jeonga, Goan and Haram all pointing to their favorite vegetable
There is (at least) one more plot available for one of our families. Just send me a note or approach me on Sunday about it if your family would like to garden at UCV. It’s not too late to plant spinach–and some plants bought as starters!
Monday, August 20th at noon
The Canadian Unitarian Universalist Women’s Association (CUUWA) is sponsoring a free online presentation, and we’re all invited!
Presented by Catherine Strickland, a Non Violent Communication (NVC) practitioner, this session will apply the NVC lens to privilege in its broadest sense, covering the ways in which we create power-over dynamics and systemic oppression. After her presentation, the group will be open for discussion among participants.
Contact Catherine with questions. To join the presentation via Zoom, go HERE a few minutes before the presentation with your device’s sound turned on.
Here are some resources if you want to do some (optional) reading in advance
UUCC (you you see see) – UCV’s National & Global Connections Committee
Update – 5 July 2018 – from Keith Wilkinson, Committee Chair
This posting summarizes some of the national and global activities in which Vancouver Unitarians have been engaged over the years. Activity in various areas ebbs and flows as members and issues change. If you are curious about possibilities in this wider UU community, these entries can serve as starting places.
Vancouver has participated actively in national Unitarian work for many decades. Our Bylaws require that we be part of the national movement and we have had many members serving on board and staff of the CUC including:
Founding member, the late Rev Dr Phillip Hewett in the 1960s;
Mary Bennett, Executive Director, 2000-2008;
Leslie Kemp, Board member, 2009-2015;
Keith Wilkinson, Board member 2015-2018, and immediate Past President.
Following in this tradition of involvement, UCV’s Director of Religious Education, Kiersten Moore, has just begun her first three-year term as a CUC Board member (2018-2021) and is serving as CUC Board Secretary. Rev Debra Thorne, a former UCV member and Lay Chaplain and now Parish Minister at Beacon Unitarian Church in New Westminster, is UUMOC’s Minister Observer to the CUC Board.
Read more about the CUC Board, see their pictures, and read about the May 2018 Conference in the June 2018 CUC eNews.
COMING UP NEXT:
2019 CUC AGM – The UCV Board will need to select and prepare delegates for the 2019 CUC AGM. This will be conducted person to person in Toronto and online across Canada using zoom. Typically, the CUC Board will meet in Toronto with Greater Toronto congregational delegates who wish to attend in person. Others across Canada can sign in electronically. UCV will be entitled to 7 or 8 voting delegates depending upon official membership numbers in September 2018. If you’re a UCV member and would like to be considered to attend as an official delegate, please speak to someone on the UCV board.
The official CUC AGM will probably be on the weekend before the Victoria Day long weekend, that is, on Saturday 11 May 2019. (Victoria Day is 20 May 2019.) AGMs are open to all members and friends, but only formally appointed delegates can speak to and vote on resolutions.
There will probably also be an informal sharing of ideas at a Cross Canada Dialog on the Friday evening of 10 May 2019. These dialogs are open to all members and friends and are often lively and respectful exchanges of views about controversial, critical, and emerging national and global issues. These sessions are sometimes set up as resolution plenary sessions if formal resolutions are being presented at the AGM.
The CUC’s National Conference in 2020 will take place in Halifax, Nova Scotia from May 15 – 17, 2020. Once again, the 2020 AGM will be available face-to-face or globally online.
(Note that CUC AGMs in even years are usually on the Victoria Day weekend and in odd years are on the weekend preceding the Victoria Day weekend.)
The Parliament of the World’s Religions was created to cultivate harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions in order to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world.
To accomplish this, we invite individuals and communities who are equally invested in attaining this goal.
UU-UNO Spring Conference New York City, 11-13 Apr 2019.
The UU-United Nations Office is a program that connects the UUA to United Nations work. Canadians have been participating in a variety of ways including donations and youth visits to the UN.
LONGER RANGE OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT
ICUU – International Council of Unitarian Universalists
Organized under the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)
Encourages emerging UU groups globally. Approx 30 members and emerging national groups from Africa, Australia, Europe, India, Phillipines. Canada has had members serving on the Executive for many years.
Last gatherings were in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2016 and Kathmandu Nepal in 2018; next gathering TBA
The CUC makes charitable donations annually for ICUU work that meets the requirements of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Vancouver Unitarians have a special relationship with the UU congregation in Brassó, Romania and often arrange to visit that congregation. For info about the UCV Partner Church Committee contact Alison Pearson alisonpearson1@shaw.ca
The Vancouver Partner Church program is one of 186 partnerships facilitated by the UUA’s Partner Church Council.
The central organization for the Unitarian Universalist (UU) religious movement in the United States. Over 1,000 member congregations.
In 2001 the CUC and the UUA agreed that many services for Canada should be organized through the CUC. (An important exception is the training and certification of UU ministers.) A few Canadian congregations remain members of both the UUA and the CUC.
UUA continues to develop many resources that can be of value to Canadians. In 2016 the CUC Board identified these as opportunities CUC should pursue.
UU-UNO – A program that connects the UUA to United Nations global work. In past decades, Canadians have been active participants in this program and the CUC still makes charitable donations annually for designated global projects that meet the requirements of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The next UU-UNO Spring Conference in New York City is 11-13 Apr 2019.
Regional gatherings – The CUC is organized into four regions, currently BC, Western, Central, and Eastern. A range of gatherings are regularly scheduled for different age levels and interests.
Check the websites of BC’s 12 congregations or the other 34 congregations across Canada for local events. Visit them when you travel.
CUC Background:
The CUC was formed in 1961 operating with support from the American UUA.
On 1 July 2002 the Canadian Unitarian Council became the main association and service provider for Unitarians and Universalists in Canada.
In 2018 there were 46 member congregations of the CUC.
Visit the CUC website to learn more about the programs and services supported by the CUC.
Funding for CUC’s operations come from the following sources:
Annual Program Contribution (APC) from all members congregations – currently based on membership size, but an alternative may be recommended in 2019.
Approx CUC income in 2017 from this source: $366,000 (43%)
Donations toFriends of the CUC and tospecial CUC projects and joint projects of CUC and other groups like the UU Ministers Association of Canada (UUMOC). Special projects in recent years have included Sharing Our Faith, Northern Lights, Shining Lights, and the Theological Education Fund. Approx CUC 2017 income from this source: $314,000 (37%)
Investment income – the CUC has reserves invested in ethically and environmentally screened enterprises. Approx CUC 2017 income from this source: $126,000 (15%)
Event registration – Many CUC programs and conferences include a revenue component to help them be self-sustaining.
Approx CUC 2017 income from this source: $36,000 (4%)
Other income – Approx CUC 2017 income from this source: $17,000 (2%)
CUSJ describes itself as “A national faith-based organization that supports Unitarian values through action”. It has a number of very active campaigns and publishes a newsletter regularly.
CUSJ is a not for profit non-charitable national organization that operates independently from the CUC so that it can take political action beyond what would be allowable for the CUC as a charitable organization.
CUSJ was formed in 1996 has regional chapters including Vancouver Island & Gulf Islands, West Coast Region, Southern Alberta, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Ottawa, and Quebec.
Mission:Encounter promotes religious literacy and informed understanding of cultural diversity.
Approach:Encounter is an educational organization that blends academic and experiential learning to foster encounters with the four P’s of religious communities: their people, places, practices and philosophies.
Operates from Guelph Ontario. Has conducted sessions at CUC Conferences.
Thanks to Keith Wilkinson for these photos of the labyrinths taken Sunday, June 10, 2018.
Courtyard Labyrinth Sunday morning.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..Penguins on the labyrinth!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.
May 6th dawned bright and warm. I felt a flutter of nervous excitement carrying armfuls of flowers to church, an unusual three block walk to get across the marathon using 49th street. This was the culmination of Vancouver Unitarians first experience with the UU Mystery Pal letter exchange tradition and I wanted to create a beautiful backdrop for it to unfold.
Twelve pairs ranging in age from 4 to 80 were matched up by at least one common interest and had spent the month of April exchanging letters, drawings, and emails not knowing the identity of their pen pal. As the orchestrater of the exchange I had the pleasure of hearing the excitement and curiosity as pals discovered their letters each week. I heard from parents how much their children were enjoying the exchange and from adults having fun comparing notes on how fascinating, bright, and fantastic their pals were. Everyone tried to guess who exactly their pal was of course. My own four-year-old wasn’t sure he wanted to participate because it would be scary to sit at a party with someone he didn’t know. He didn’t want to be left out though so I told him I would sit with him at the party. As it turns out…
The day of the Big Reveal.
I had tables set aside in the Hall Annex with flowers, fruit, and snacks that pals brought to share. Place settings were marked with the famous Unitarian Universalists that each pair had been connected through—find your famous UU, find your pal, eat and talk together. After the whole congregation worship service, “The Work We Do”, let out Pals started to find their place and find each other. My four-year-old who was sure he wanted me to sit with him? He chatted easily with his Pal for more than half-an-hour; a month of writing letters had taken away the layer of strangeness that he would usually feel with an adult not in the family.
I looked around at the smiles, conversation, and earnest engagement unfolding and found it nothing short of magical. I’m sure some Pals will stay connected more than others, but everyone found a new friend at church. The length of time Pals spent together that morning showed real, meaningful, personal connections were made during a time we often talk to the same people within our age or interest cohort each Sunday.
For all those who missed participating this time around, we will do it again next year!
Unitarians, Rev. Debra Thorne and Janet Pivnik of Beacon Unitarian, wearing CUC T-shirts “INTERDEPENDENCE – LOVE – JUSTICE”, making happy protest of Federal Government buying Kinder Morgan at Science World Tuesday, May 29. Many UCV’ers also attended.
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.
Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Two of our young families took over a plot (38″ square). Here are Jeonga, Goan and Haram with their first vegetable garden. They’re amazed at what’s come up including the tomato plant they didn’t plant! I love introducing people to gardening.
UUCC (you you see see) – UCV’s National & Global Connections Committee
famous Unitarian Universalists that each pair had been connected through—find your famous UU, find your pal, eat and talk together. After the whole congregation worship service, “The Work We Do”, let out Pals started to find their place and find each other. My four-year-old who was sure he wanted me to sit with him? He chatted easily with his Pal for more than half-an-hour; a month of writing letters had taken away the layer of strangeness that he would usually feel with an adult not in the family.
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.