Congregational Conversations Fall Schedule

All fall Conversations will be at 10am PT / 11am MT / Noon CT / 1pm ET / 2pm AT

• Saturday September 14 or Wednesday September 18 - Emerging Needs (repeat session - pick 1)
  Join us for a conversation about your needs:  What’s going on for you right now and what do you most want to connect around this fall?
• Friday October 25 - Pastoral Care for Lay Led Congregations
  Open to everyone, this session will focus specifically on the unique challenges of pastoral care when there is not full-time professional ministry available. What are your strengths? What help do you need? Where can help be found? What creative options have you tried
• Wednesday October 30 - Congregational Conversations: Hard Conversations: Hard Practices
  A Healthy community anticipates there will be hard conversations.  Join us as we consider challenges and best practices.
• Wednesday November 20 - Communications Needs & Resources
  Communication tools can help your congregation to build community, be more visible in the wider community, and make a difference in the lives of others. What’s working, what’s challenging, and where can you find help?
• Saturday November 23 - Congregational Conversations: UU Expressions
  Have you been listening to the UU Expressions recordings? Join us to share Insights, questions, and possibilities.
• Wednesday December 4 - Challenges of Being a Congregational Leader
  The more you do, the more complicated your congregational experience and relationships can become - and we don’t always notice it happening until it becomes a problem. Join us for a conversation about some of the unique challenges of congregational leadership.  
• Saturday December 7 -Success stories
  To close the calendar year, let’s celebrate our successes, large and small. We will highlight a few stories and invite you to share yours.

Register Here

2024 Congregational Conversations Living Resource Guide

The 2024 Congregational Conversations Living Resource Guide contains the collaborative wisdom of participants in the CUC Congregational Conversations project. Themes include Thriving, Surviving, & Sustainability, Volunteer Bandwidth, Burnout and Reimaging, Financial Planning & Income Streams, and more! The Guide will be updated as conversations continue and more resources are known. 

Got a great resource? Please share to: congregationallife@cuc.ca. Or better yet, join us for the next conversation! 

The Congregational Conversations Project was created following a 2023 survey, designed to help us better understand the current congregational and community climate. Find the Living Resource Guide here. 

CONNECT & DEEPEN … is moving to Saturdays

All sessions: 1pm PT / 2pm MT / 3pm CT / 4pm ET / 5pm AT  (90 minutes)

Same time … new day! 

Looking for connection?
Connect & Deepen is an online community for adults interested in meaningful reflection, conversation, and shared ideas for living our values. This welcoming space encourages spiritual, philosophical, and practical exploration. The intent is to deepen our experiences of Unitarian Universalism, enriching our own lives with thoughtful meaning-making - so that we live grounded in our UU values. 

Meetings begin with a time for connection – sharing joys and concerns – before moving into the theme of the day. We examine a wide range of topics - this year leaning into “Intentional Action”. 

Fall 2024 Connect & Deepen Themes: 

• Saturday September 21: CARING
  What does it mean to be a Caring person? Or a Caring community? Reflecting on our 8 Principles, 5 Aspirations, and other UU inspirations, how does being UU impact our experiences and ideals of Caring?     Host: Anne Barker
• Saturday October 26: CONNECTING
  When you think about Connecting, what comes to mind? What does being a UU have to add? How’s it going for you? What do you need?     Host: Anne Barker
• Saturday November 16: LEADING
  Leading can be a challenging concept - bringing up our ideals, our insecurities, and a host of other things. How is UU Leading different from other styles? What are your experiences and thoughts around Leading?     Host: Anne Barker
• Saturday December 21: REFLECTING
  Reflecting can be an intentional practice, an accidental occurrence, and many other things. What important roles does Reflecting play in your life? What practices help you to do it?     Host: Linda Thomson

Winter & Spring 2025 Dates:

• Saturday January 18 - Host: Linda Thomson
• Saturday February 15 - Host: Linda Thomson
• Saturday March 15 - Host: Anne Barker
• Saturday April 19 - Host: Linda Thomson

Register here

Meaning Making: Roots of Resilience

If you participated in last year’s Meaning Making in Liminal Times sermon series, or if you’ve heard others talk about it, you’ll be glad to hear that Rev. Karen Fraser-Gitlitz has made plans for a 2nd year. Changes include a new theme, more services, and optional monthly Canadian theme packages.  More information is available.