CUC eNews: October 6, 2020 – Issue 122

In This Issue:

Letter From Vyda

There is a crack in everything,
That’s how the light gets in. ~Leonard Cohen

There are many things I miss about pre-Covid life. Travel, relaxing in coffee shops, quick conversations that happen in an office setting, and hugs, just to name a few. There are also many things I am grateful for in our current Covid life – regular family Facetime gatherings, opportunities that have opened up to new ways of doing things, a new sense of honesty about how we are all coping in all areas of our life.

And please check out our list of upcoming events. There are so many ways to get connected and share your light with us. 

Be well friends,
Vyda Ng 

Plan to Attend Our National and Regional Fall Gathering November 13-15

Our team is hard at work coordinating events for our upcoming virtual National Fall Gathering in mid-November. We have a full slate of workshops and events. There’s something for everyone!

The weekend will include regional gatherings on the Friday evening, a conversation on our future hosted by the CUC Board of Trustees, a Coffeehouse, and a national Sunday service. Workshops will include sessions on racial justice and Truth Healing and Reconcilliation. Youth and those support them might enjoy our workshop on creating welcoming online spaces for youth and young adults, and our Congregational Life Team will be offering two workshops including one on Resilient Leadership and the other called What’s going on here?
It may be difficult for leaders and members in our communities to understand why people sometimes act and speak in ways that don’t seem to make sense. Rather than focus on the actions of a person or small group, it is often helpful to consider the bigger picture and ask what is going on in the overall organizational system that supports responses that seem illogical or out of proportion.
This workshop will consider congregations as emotional systems and will help provide leaders with some strategies for moving towards productive responses to sticky situations. aimed at developing awareness and strategies to address racism. 

In future editions of the eNews, we will highlight other sessions being developed, including ones being offered for and by our youth and young adults, and leadership workshops offered by our Social Justice Team. Watch in future eNews and on our website for more info, including registration details.

Join our National Social Justice Team

If you are passionate and well informed about specific areas of social justice and love to share your knowledge and insight, consider joining our National Social Justice Team.  The Team will help the CUC staff and members expand our knowledge base and respond to issues of importance.  We are looking for people who already follow specific issues such as climate justice, economic justice and poverty, gender equality just to name a few, to gather and share information about those issues.

Click here if you are willing to give 5-10 minutes of time each month to share in this way.  Deadline: October 31, 2020.

 Minister Profile: Rev. Fiona Heath

Fiona believes that Unitarian values need more amplification as they’re more important than ever in these times, and she believes they will become more relevant as Unitarians get better at sharing their stories.

UU Office at United Nations Unveils New Award

For many years, UU@UN, the UUA’s office at the United Nations, presented a “Blue Ribbon Award” for congregations that were engaged with this office. The office recently reimagined this award, giving it a new name. The new award recognizes

Plenty of Youth Events Planned for Fall

Congregations across Canada are collaborating with each other this year to offer programming for youth that is more connected and varied! Check out what’s going on in your region: 

BC Region – Survey for Youth
Several UU congregations in BC are exploring the possibility of hosting a BC-wide youth group. We’d love your feedback about this idea. We’d really appreciate it if you could answer the following questions and submit this form by  September 25, 2020. 

Western Region – Something for Everyone 
A whole bunch of awesome things are being offered for youth in the Western Region this year, including Popcorn Theology, a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, a shared Minecraft server, hangouts on a shared Discord server, exploration of World Religions, and a Super Group! Check-in with the youth coordinator at your congregation for the full schedule. 

Central and Eastern Regions – MUUlti City YoUUth GroUUp Games Day
Oct 4, 2020, 1:00 PM ET Join UU Youth from across Ontario and Quebec for a fun afternoon of online games – reconnect with CanUUdle friends and make new connections with UUs from other congregations. Junior and Senior youth are welcome to join us. Hosted by the Unitarian Church of Montreal, Grand River Unitarian Congregation, and First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto.
Join Zoom Meeting – Join by phone-Meeting ID: 879 1786 6498 Passcode: 1842

HalloUUeen Con

Canadian youth from across the country are invited to join our HalloUUeen Con, a one-day online event in the tradition of the Western Regional Fall Gathering Youth Con. The program is open to all Canadian junior and senior youth (ages 12-19) and advisors (ages 25 and up). 

This will be a time for us to dress up, Halloween style, be silly, and find some connection and distraction. And at the same time, we will honour the sacredness of this time of year, when the veil between the worlds is thinnest, and connections with our ancestors and those who have passed on are more present. There will be games, small groups to bond with, and of course, inspiring youth-led worship. Together we will find the perfect balance of acknowledging the times we are living through with plain old fUUn – the kind that UU youth do best! 

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Staff team – Co-Deans: May Elspeth and Eric James
Social Media Coordinator: Sian Kilpatrick
Community Captain: Rowan Fichtner-Jack
Activities Coordinator: Siobhan Fichtner-Jack
Advisors’ Advisor: Alex Okrainetz
Youth Peer Chaplain: Sian Kilpatrick
Small Groups Coordinator: Anthony James Worship Coordinators: Linnea Granberg and Fiona Butler 

Dates/ time: Saturday, October 24, 12 pm-8 pm ET
Fee: $10-$20-$30-$40 sliding scale, with “other” payment option
Registration deadline: Sunday, October 18 (midnight ET) 

Registration notes
Youth must be accompanied by congregationally approved adult advisors at a ratio of 8:1 for senior youth (ages 14-19) and 6:1 for junior youth (ages 12-13). Congregations are responsible for sending vetted adults to accompany their youth. If this is not possible, contact Casey Stainsby (casey@cuc.ca) to make alternate arrangements. 

Register Now for HalloUUeen Con

Unicamp Annual General Meeting

Unicamp’s Annual General Meeting took place on Saturday, September 5th. Responding to the challenges presented by Covid-19, the meeting was a hybrid of both in-person and online participation. Onsite delegates and observers practiced social

What’s Making Us Smile 

It’s hard to dispute that we’re living through times where we could all use some more love. But what exactly does that mean? The best answer may be, as is often the case, out of the mouths of babes. Asked what love means to them, a group of 4 to 8

 

 

Upcoming Events (online via Zoom.)

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

Featured Events

Save the date!

The CUC 2020 National Fall and Regional Gathering will take place from Friday, November 13 to Sunday, November 15.
Join us for regional conversations on Friday evening, interesting workshops on everything from anti-racism and social justice, to peer pastoral care, and leadership and conflict management. There will be an open conversation with the Board and CUC staff about our QUUest vision and we will cap it off with a national Sunday Service.  On Friday our Regional Gatherings will happen at the following times:

    • British Columbia: 7:00-8:30 pm PT
    • Western (Albert, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Thunder Bay, ON): 7:00-8:30 CT / 6:00-7:30 pm MT
    • Central (Ontario, except for Kingston, Ottawa and Quebec): 7:00-8:30 pm ET
    • Eastern (Kingston, Ottawa, Quebec, Atlantic provinces) 7:00-8:30 pm AT

Watch for more details and registration information for the Regional and National Gathering coming soon!

Our HalloUUeen Con is being planned for  Saturday, October 24, 12 pm – 8 pm ET  and is open to youth and advisors all over Canada. Fee: $10-$20-$30-$40 sliding scale, with “other” payment option. Registration deadline: October 18, at midnight PT

Congregational Conflict Levels & Interventions Strategies, Saturday, October 17, 9 a.m. PT | 10 a.m. MT | 11 a.m. CT | 12 p.m. ET | 1 p.m. AT (6.5 hours) Learn how to understand and assess various levels of congregational conflict, manage emotions and responses when conflict arises using strategies from a Strengths-Based Perspective, develop intervention strategies using insights gained through practice and case studies, and determine when and how to seek additional assistance and resources to effectively deal with conflict. Maximum of 30 participants, individual (sliding fee scale $10 – $40) or group registration available. Register now (deadline October 13)!

Internalized Racism: How do we recognize and dismantle it?  October 21, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm ET
Part of the CUC’s ongoing series on anti-racism, this session of guided reflection and small group discussion is designed primarily for white people who want to better understand internalized racism towards People of the Global Majority (People of Color). Together we will explore how racism reveals itself in our lives,  how to acknowledge it without shame, and how to confront and neutralize it. Please visit cuc.ca/events for more info.

Regular Online Events

Gathered Here: Young Adult Check-In (all times ET)
October 8 – 2 p.m. ET

Connect and Deepen – Virtual Gathering
Sunday, October 11 & 25, 1 p.m. PT |2 p.m. MT| 3 p.m. CT| 4 p.m. ET| 5 p.m. AT  Please register in advance.

Leaders Roundtable, Saturday, October 31, 9:00 a.m. PT | 10:00 a.m. MT | 11:00 a.m. CT | 12:00 p.m. ET | 1:00 p.m. AT Congregational leaders are invited to gather monthly to share ideas and insights with each other and CUC staff. Zoom: https://bit.ly/2EUMhsD