eNews: January 23, 2024 – Issue 157

This Issue:

A Letter from Vyda: Into a New Year – Boldly
Vyda Ng, Executive Director

Happy 2024! Although this January eNews comes to you in February, we have lots of beginning-of-the-year news and updates for you.

In my December greetings to you, I stated that we would go boldly forward. This year, the Canadian Unitarian Council – which is all our congregations together – will be embarking on new paths and journeys. Let me share with you:

Decision Making Exploration

The Decision Making Exploration Team was formed in response to a desire to find inclusive decision making methods for the CUC. The team of young adults, led by Robbie Brydon, has tried out different ways of how we can arrive at decisions together. With dozens of you, they have explored some methods – majoritarian (Robert’s Rules), sociocracy, consensus, and gradients of agreement. At the most recent session about decision making for the CUC’s annual general meeting on January 13, the group pondered concerns, possible solutions, what is best for the CUC when making decisions together, what would be acceptable and not acceptable. 

Interested? Curious? If you’d like a say in how we make decisions together, I invite you to a test session on March 9 – read more and sign up in the Where Are We Going article below.  

Living into the Future: Emergent Sustainability (LIFES)

In the wake of the pandemic where so much of our world is changing in unexpected, innovative and exciting ways, we are collectively in need of a larger vision to guide us forward into the future.

The LIFES Crew will be working on just that. They are forming their relationships within the team now, and creating plans for engaging with you. In the months ahead, they will be reaching out with updates and times to connect. Questions? Email future@cuc.ca. 

Collaboration and Helping Each Other

In conversations with Unitarian Universalists across the country, staff are working with some common themes and questions that are emerging. Topics like survival and sustainability, financial and people resources, worries about the future of our faith, dwindling membership and volunteers, and how we can work together to tackle these issues.

Recently, your Congregational Life staff sent out a letter and survey to ask what your needs are, and the response to that ask has been swift and heartfelt. If you haven’t yet read the letter or responded to the survey, read on for more in the Congregational Conversations article below.

Goals and Strategic Priorities

Each year, the CUC Board sends out goals and strategic priorities for the coming year to congregations. These guide the work of the CUC staff, in service of our national faith community.

The proposed goal and strategic priorities will inform work for 2024-2026, while the LIFES Crew works on the longer term vision. The paths we are on aim to lead us to a future of thriving, relevant and engaging Unitarian Universalism in Canada. 

While the goals and strategic priorities will guide us, we are also using these to engage YOU in a larger conversation about how we make decisions together. Informed by the work of the Decision Making Exploration Team, we have designed four sessions to gather your feedback and to test some ways of deciding together. These will be of interest to leaders and change-makers, congregational delegates and those who are curious and would like a say in how we make decisions together. Read more and sign up in the AGM article below. 

Staff work with youth and young adult ministry, justice and equity, congregational life, lay chaplain and religious exploration support, and more, continues. We hope that you will engage with us and choose to participate in events so that we can know more about your congregation’s lives and hopes, and so that we can collaborate together.

In faith,
Vyda
vyda.ng@cuc.ca 

Congregational Conversations 
Revs. Anne Barker and Linda Thomson, Congregational Life

Your Congregational Life Team sent out a letter on Tuesday January 30th, to check in, connect, and ask how things are going – and – to invite you into collaborative gatherings, where we can support and learn from one another. 

After hearing parallel hopes, concerns, and needs across the country, we’re excited to help bring people together around common interests, to make connections, share resources, and ideally – to collaborate in support of one another.

If you haven’t seen it, you can read the letter here: CUC Congregational Conversations 2024 Survey

Or … you’re welcome to go right to this short survey – and please do share it with other leaders in your congregation. The more perspectives, the better! The survey closes on February 16.

And feel free to reach out to us directly, if that works better for you: anne.barker@cuc.ca / linda.thomson@cuc.ca 

CUC Annual General Meeting: We Want Your Feedback

The CUC’s online Annual General Meeting on May 25, 2024 brings together congregations and UUs to make decisions about matters that affect our collective national faith community. 

This year, motions include proposals to defund fossil fuels (Vancouver Unitarians), to add Terra Nullius to the CUC’s 2023 Doctrine of Discovery resolution (First Toronto congregation), and CUC Goals and Strategic Priorities 2024-2026 (CUC Board).

Before the AGM, from February 15 – March 15, join in hosted conversations to share your feedback on the motions. We will be experimenting with some ways for discussion and decision making during these sessions, based on discoveries from the work of the CUC’s Decision Making Exploration Team. 

These conversations are of interest to congregational delegates, leaders, young adults, anti-racism/dismantling barriers advocates, ministers and to those interested in how decisions are made.

Each session will cover the same ground, offering several dates so you can choose the date and time that suits you – register at the links below:

Find the motions here, and more options on how to share your feedback. 

To register your congregation’s approved delegates, please fill out this separate form by May 1, 2024.

Register in THIS FORM to attend the online AGM on May 25th, 2024. After you complete registration, you will receive information about attending the AGM. Delegates also need to fill in this general registration form. 

Decision Making Exploration: Where Are We Going?

Do you want to have a voice in the direction of the CUC? Do you want to try out a new mechanism for making decisions together? Join us on March 9 as we use a formal consensus process to assess the proposed goal and strategic priorities for the CUC over the next two years. At this session we will: 

    1. Consider the proposed CUC goals and strategic priorities for the next two years.
    2. Test a new mechanism for deliberating and/or amending motions prior to the Annual General Meeting.

This session is a test: if the group reaches consensus, changes will be recommended to the Board, but will not be binding upon them.

The workshop will run for 2.5 hours – join us for this testing ground! Register here by March 6, 2024.

Meet a Minister: Rev. Dr. Rita Capezzi

Rev. Dr. Rita Capezzi is currently serving as the interim minister for the Unitarian Congregation in Mississauga. Previously an English professor in Buffalo, New York, for many years, Rita was spurred to start attending the local Unitarian church on the advice of some friends when she experienced a personal crisis and nothing else seemed able to address it.

“It turns out  it was exactly the right place for my life at that time,” she says. “And it still continues to be a great source of comfort to me and pleasure as well as inspiration.”

After about 11 years as a congregant in Buffalo, Rita decided to enroll in seminary, and was called to a congregation in Mankato, Minnesota, which she served until deciding to return to Buffalo in 2023 and began serving UUCM that fall. Experience as an English professor prepared her well for ministry.

“I was very interested in stories and in storytelling and in the ways that language conveys multiple meanings at the same time because the readers of words, the speakers of words, come from different points of view, subject positions, experiences, histories,” she says. “And that richness of storytelling and the importance of more than one story is something that I take into congregational life.”

Rita appreciates the opportunity ministry offers to “tap into” the holy in congregational life. While it may take different forms for people, she believes this is an important part of everyone’s journey.

“Through formation and spiritual practice and learning I feel, without being a theist, the presence of something larger in life,” she says.

Acknowledging that ministry can also be challenging, Rita notes that despite Unitarian Universalism being a relational faith tradition, conflict is inevitable as a result of human nature.

“Robust and healthy relationship is the foundation,” she says. “(But) human beings are a lot more complicated and they find it to be troublesome and difficult sometimes to be in good relationship with each other.”

In a world she sees as prioritizing homogeneity, Rita believes Unitarian Universalism can remain relevant if it embraces diversity. But she notes that while the faith often values diversity, it isn’t immune to the larger cultural forces that shape people’s perspectives on it.

“ I think that our faith Is one that emphasizes differentiation and its value,” she says. “And so I think that makes us very relevant. If we are able as congregations to move into those spaces and to really celebrate different different experiences, different identities. But sometimes we’re even afraid of that too, just like the big world is, our smaller worlds are sometimes fearful of that as well.”

In her spare time, Rita enjoys gardening, painting, and spending time at her family’s cabin in rural Pennsylvania.

First Unitarian Church of Hamilton Conducts Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Audit

The First Unitarian Church of Hamilton recently completed an equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) audit. Former president Barb Wallace says the idea first arose when the congregation participated in the Widening the Circle program in the spring of 2020. One of the program’s recommendations was for congregations to conduct EDI audits, which Wallace never heard of before but found intriguing.

“In my mind, it seemed to make really good sense that if we had somebody from the outside come in and look at all of our documents, interview some of the people in our congregation and get an outside perspective by somebody who knew what an EDI audit was all about and worked in that field of anti-oppression work that we would have a starting place,” she says.

Although finding someone to conduct the audit proved a time consuming process, the congregation eventually succeeded in this, and the auditor issued her report in the fall of 2023, after conducting a congregational survey and reviewing its bylaws and other documents. The congregation is now in the process of implementing the recommendations.

Recommendations arising from the audit included amending the bylaws to make a stronger statement in support of the congregation’s commitment to anti-racism, creating a working group to advance the congregation’s adoption of the eighth principle, and making the congregation’s services less Christocentric. Wallace believes the whole process will still take some time and may not show immediate results but is worth engaging in nonetheless.

 “We still want to make sure that we are known as a welcoming congregation in the bigger sense of the word, not just the LGBTQ sense,” she says.

Wallace isn’t aware of many other UU congregations that have conducted EDI audits, but she recommends they engage in the process themselves.

 “To me it seems like a solid place to start,” she says. “You get concrete stuff and you’ve got knowledgeable people who are saying this is what your church looks like and this is how you can improve, and I think that was so important.”

Lay Chaplains Chat 

The National Lay Chaplaincy Committee recognizes that many of our Lay Chaplains are working in isolation and many have asked for ways to stay connected throughout the year. We are offering the opportunity to do that through our new Lay Chaplains Chat series. We invite all Lay Chaplains, new and seasoned, (as well as LC Committee members and those considering Lay Chaplaincy) to a recurring Lay Chaplains Chat event hosted on line via Zoom on the following dates and times in 2024: 

Mon. May 6, Mon Oct. 7 2024
4:30 pm PT / 5:30 pm MT / 6:30 pm CT / 7:30 pm ET / 8:30 pm AT / 9:00 pm NT

This will be an opportunity for the National LC Committee to provide updates regarding upcoming trainings and gatherings but more importantly this is an opportunity for all of you to meet other Lay Chaplains from across Canada and with various levels and years of experience. Lay Chaplains Chat will be hosted by members of the CUC National LC Committee members. 

All are current or former Lay Chaplains from across Canada.

Let’s gather to share stories and successes and challenges as we move through this journey.

Right Relations With Indigenous Communities Q & A

Wed. March 27, 2024
4:00 pm PT / 5:00 pm MT / 6:00 pm CT / 7:00 pm ET / 8:00 pm AT / 8:30 pm NT

How can settler and non-Indigenous people be in right relations with Indigenous communities? This Question and Answer session features reflections and teachings from our Elder in Residence, Sharon Jinkerson Brass and traditional teacher, Dave Skene.

This session will present challenging scenarios that have been encountered in real life with the intention of learning how we might approach relationship building when the path forward is not clear.  

Register here by March 27, 2024.

Sharing Our Faith 2024

The Sharing Our Faith fund is a program of the Canadian Unitarian Council, supporting projects that enhance ministry, growth, and outreach for congregations and for the Unitarian Universalist movement in Canada. It is designed to encourage greater associational awareness in our congregations, the fostering of relationships, and a sense of community and connection among and between our member congregations and communities.

Each year, this fund is renewed with money collected by congregations at special dedicated services, and from a Foundation Fund administered by the First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto. These donations are sent to the CUC to be distributed as grants to congregations applying for projects they may not otherwise afford.

Since its inception in 2001, through the generosity of our congregations and Canadian UUs, the Sharing Our Faith program has awarded over $200,000 in grants.

This year, the Unitarian Universalist Ministers of Canada, through Rev. Beckett Coppola, has created a new 2024 offertory message for the Sharing Our Faith collection available in both print and video formats.

Read more about creating a Sharing Our Faith service in our December eNews.

CUC Searching for a Communications Manager

An opportunity to create the stories. To build content. To reach thousands. To live out the values of love, justice and interdependence. 

If you are a communicator and a savvy collaborator, check out the job ad for the Communications Manager. Apply by March 15, 2024.

 

New CUC Board Member

The CUC’s Board of Trustees recently welcomed James Garland as a member for the Central region. James will serve as a trustee until May 2024, filling the vacancy created by the death of Rev. Rod Solano-Quesnel. James is a civil engineer who has worked in consulting engineering and municipal government delivering infrastructure projects including roads, bridges, sewers and watermains in southern Ontario.  He grew up attending the Unitarian Congregation in Mississauga and has been a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Durham for 25 years. 

His fifteen years as a youth advisor and OWL facilitator have provided many opportunities to visit other UU congregations across Canada and attend many CUC national and regional events.  He has also served on his congregation’s Board and on ministerial search committees.

CUC Leadership Opportunities for You!
From the CUC’s Nominating Committee

“A deeply enriching and inspiring personal experience.”  “Enormous satisfaction and feelings of accomplishment.” “An opportunity to give back a little for having been given so much.”

These are just some of the testimonials past CUC nominating committee and board members have offered about serving in these roles. And fortunately, this can be your experience as well by filling one of the upcoming board or nominating committee vacancies starting this May. If you want to grow as a leader while making a difference to the wider UU community, now is the time to consider this opportunity. 

The following vacancies on the Board and the Nominating Committee are upcoming in May 2024. 

    • New Trustees from the BC, Central, and Western Regions (one each)
    • One new Nominating Committee member from the Central or Eastern Region (for the Central/Eastern position) and one new member from the Western Region

Read this update from the Nominating Committee for more information.

Southern Ontario UUs Gather for “Church of the Imagination” Workshop
By Kristen Wilson, Office Manager, Grand River Unitarian Congregation

On December 9, 2023, leaders from four southern Ontario congregations gathered at Grand River Unitarian Congregation to participate in a workshop called “The Church of the Imagination.” Liz James of Mirth and Dignity (best known for the UU Hysterical Society and fundraising for Flaming Chalice International) led the workshop, reminding participants of how we have adapted to change in the past and how to embrace flexibility in the future. Members of the Unitarian Congregation of Guelph, the Unitarian Fellowship of London, and the Stratford Unitarians joined GRUsters in Kitchener and everyone agreed that the three hours flew by!

Liz used various examples from congregational life and everyday life to explore things that create change and growth and mindsets that hold us back. 

After reflecting on our own stories about what it means to be a UU, Liz challenged us to consider possibilities for the future.  In a fast-paced game, small teams competed to generate ideas from a set of missions and resources.  The game primed us to consider the resources that exist in our own congregations and how we might steer into potential “viral changes” that promote sustainable community-building purposes beyond the traditional ways of thinking about congregational structure and organization.  

Young Adults & Beyond Community Conversation Series

Let’s talk about the young adult age range (and beyond)! 

Currently, the CUC provides programming and services to young adults ages 18-35. While this community is a wonderful source of UU connection and spiritual sustenance for many, we’re also aware of some gaps. For example, the emerging adult range (18-24) does not seem to be well served by our current offerings. On the other end, there is also a desire for continuing YA-style community for those who are over 35.  

Over the next few months, we will be hosting a series of conversations with groups of people who are most directly involved with the current and future young adult community, such as current young adults, youth, religious educators, and others.

Take a look at the schedule of conversations, fill out the survey, and help us spread the word to anyone who might want to be part of this conversation. Questions and thoughts can be shared with young-adults@cuc.ca anytime. 

YaYA Staff Update

Alex Okrainetz and Camellia Jahanshahi will be serving as coordinators respectively for CanUUdle and Chorus, the CUC’s annual youth and young adult cons.

Alex Okrainetz

Alex (she/her) lives on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh peoples and attends the Unitarian Church of Vancouver.  She was introduced to Unitarian Universalism through ‘bring a friend’ Sunday as a young pre teen and it has felt like home ever since!  

Alex holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from UBC.  Since finishing her undergraduate degree she has worked in health care and shares her time between Long Term Care and a community eye clinic.  

Alex brings many years of experience being part of and working with youth communities to this role as the CanUUdle Coordinator.  She was the past CanUUdle Coordinator in 2020 and continues to be an active Youth Advisor and Con attendee with the youth from Vancouver Unitarians.

In her spare time you can find her thrifting with her sisters, hosting dinner parties, and singing anything that comes to mind.  Her favourite meals are red lentil coconut curry, and something called ‘egg roll in a bowl’. If you ask she would be happy to share recipes!

Alex is thrilled to support a team of wonderful youth and adults as the CanUUdle Coordinator. She found support and strong community in CanUUdle and other Con’s when she was a youth and looks forward to supporting youth in continuing this tradition!

Camellia Jahanshahi 

Camellia Jahanshahi (she/her) is a queer, Iranian-American woman, a multidisciplinary artist, cook, witch, anti-o educator and religious professional. She holds a B.A. and M.A. both from Concordia University in the field of Religions and Cultures as well as a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace from Cornell University. Her academic work centered around navigating contemporary identity politics from a faith perspective, specifically, looking at how vulnerable communities use faith and religion to fight against systematic oppression. She has been actively working with families and young adults for the past 10 years leading both worship and workshops alike within various Unitarian Universalist spaces, academic conferences, nonprofit institutions and coop spaces.

Her work focus both in and out of UU spaces has primarily been centered around youth activism, QTBIPOC solidarity, and community engagement where she finds ways to support youth and young adult voices in a variety of different projects. She is very excited to be on a team to help create a beloved space with and for you all as we navigate ways of knowing and connecting together. 

Did You Know?

CUC’s Refugee Sponsorship Program: Helping refugees build new lives

Since the early 2000s, Unitarian Universalists across Canada have welcomed refugees from over a dozen countries, including Syria, Iran, and Eritrea. It costs about $10,000 to bring just one person to Canada. Donating to the CUC’s Refugee Fund helps the efforts of sponsoring groups around the country, and gives newcomers access to health services, education, food and shelter.

Make a donation today.

What’s Making Us Smile

For most homeowners, mice are a nuisance. But not for Welshman Rodney Holbrook, who’s been fortunate enough to have a mouse organizing items in his garage at night.

CUC Events from January 23, 2024  to October 7, 2024

Share what’s going on in your congregation. Contact communications@cuc.ca

Gathered Here
Feb. 9: 11:00 am PT | 12:00 pm MT | 1:00 pm CT | 2:00 pm ET | 3:00 pm AT | 3:30 pm NT

AGM Motions Feedback
Feb. 15: 4:30 pm PT | 5:30 pm MT | 6:30 pm CT | 7:30 pm ET | 8:30 pm
Feb. 17: 9:30 am PT | 10:30 am MT | 11:30 am CT | 12:30 pm ET | 1:30 pm AT
Feb. 27: 4:30 pm PT | 5:30 pm MT | 6:30 pm CT | 7:30 pm ET | 8:30 pm
Mar. 6: 9:30 am PT | 10:30 am MT | 11:30 am CT | 12:30 pm ET | 1:30 pm AT

Connect and Deepen
Feb. 18: 1:00 pm PT | 2:00 pm MT | 3:00 pm CT | 4:00 pm ET | 5:00 pm AT 

Youth Advisor Training
Feb. 24: 12:00 pm PT | 1:00 pm MT | 2:00 pm CT | 3:00 pm ET | 4:00 pm AT  | 4:30 pm NT (2 hours)
OR
Feb. 29:  4:00 pm PT | 5:00 pm MT | 6:00 pm CT | 7:00 pm ET | 8:00 pm AT  | 8:30 pm NT (2 hours)

Designing and Leading Rites of Passage: Basics Training for Lay Chaplains
Feb. 24: 9:00 am PT | 10:00 am MT  | 11:00 am CT  | 12:00 pm ET  | 1:00 pm AT |  1:30 pm NT
Feb. 25: 11:30 am PT | 12:30 pm MT | 1:30 pm CT  | 2:30 pm ET  |  3:30 pm AT  | 4:00 pm NT
Mar. 2: 9:00 am PT | 10:00 am MT  | 11:00 am CT  | 12:00 pm ET  | 1:00 pm AT  | 1:30 pm NT

Where Are We Going? Considering the proposed CUC goals and strategic priorities for 2024 – 2026
Mar. 9: 10:00 am PT | 11:00 am MT | 12:00 pm CT | 1:00 pm ET | 2:00 pm AT | 2:30 pm NT 

Gathered Here
Mar. 12: 5:00 pm PT | 6:00 pm MT | 7:00 pm CT | 8:00 pm ET | 9:00 pm AT | 9:30 pm NT

Connect and Deepen
Mar. 17: 1:00 pm PT | 2:00 pm MT | 3:00 pm CT | 4:00 pm ET | 5:00 pm AT 

Right Relations With Indigenous Communities Q & A
March 27, 2024: 4:00 pm PT | 5:00 pm MT | 6:00 pm CT | 7:00 pm ET | 8:00 pm AT | 8:30 pm NT

Rising Together: Unitarian Universalists of Colour
Apr. 10: 4:30 pm PT | 5:30 pm MT | 6:30 pm CT | 7:30 pm ET | 8:30 pm AT | 9:00 pm NT (1.5 hours)

Gathered Here
Apr. 12: 11:00 am PT | 12:00 pm MT | 1:00 pm CT | 2:00 pm ET | 3:00 pm AT | 3:30 pm NT

Connect and Deepen
Apr. 21: 1:00 pm PT | 2:00 pm MT | 3:00 pm CT | 4:00 pm ET | 5:00 pm AT 

Lay Chaplains Chat (Online)
May 6: 4:30 pm | PT 5:30 pm MT  | 6:30 pm CT  | 7:30 pm ET  | 8:30 pm AT   | 9:30 pm NT 

Connect and Deepen
May 19 : 1:00 pm PT | 2:00 pm MT | 3:00 pm CT | 4:00 pm ET | 5:00 pm AT 

CUC Annual General Meeting 2024
May 25: 9:30 am PT | 10:30 am MT | 11:30 am CT | 12:30 pm ET | 1:30 pm AT

Gathered Here
Jun. 11: 5:00 pm PT | 6:00 pm MT | 7:00 pm CT | 8:00 pm ET | 9:00 pm AT | 9:30 pm NT

Connect and Deepen
Jun. 16 : 1:00 pm PT | 2:00 pm MT | 3:00 pm CT | 4:00 pm ET | 5:00 pm AT 

Rising Together: Unitarian Universalists of Colour
Jul. 10: 4:30 pm PT | 5:30 pm MT | 6:30 pm CT | 7:30 pm ET | 8:30 pm AT | 9:00 pm NT (1.5 hours)

Lay Chaplains Chat (Online)
Oct. 7: 4:30 pm | PT 5:30 pm MT  | 6:30 pm CT  | 7:30 pm ET  | 8:30 pm AT   | 9:30 pm NT 

Enews Prepared and Formatted by Brigitte Twomey, Website Specialist