Widening the Circle of Concern: Canadian Perspective
Four dates with 2 sessions on each date: March 12, March 26, April 9, and April 23, 2022
Session I: 9:30 am PT / 10:30 am MT / 11:30 am CT / 12:30 pm ET / 1:30 pm AT (1.5 hours)
Session II: 11:45 am PT / 12:45 pm MT / 1:45 pm CT / 2:45 pm ET / 3:45 pm AT (1.5 hours)
What’s next for you and your congregation after the 8th Principle Vote? Widening the Circle is an eight-session series from March 12 – April 23 which invites leaders and aspiring change-makers to engage with the work of finding new ways of being together that challenge our current ways of thinking. Reflect honestly and have bold conversations together about where oppressions reside in yourself and in your congregational practices. Provide leadership as your congregation co-creates a new way forward.
Join us for a Canadian UU exploration to broaden our understanding of social justice and its implementation within our communities. Your congregation and/or group is invited to send a team of lay leaders, religious professionals, and aspiring change-makers – those who have a demonstrated commitment to dismantling racism, systemic barriers to full inclusion, justice, and equity, and who are interested in changing systems. We aim to equip these participants with the tools to be facilitators of change in their congregations and communities.
This Canadian version is based on the UUA’s study guide, Widening the Circle of Concern.
We intend for you to come away with:
- A clear set of prioritized actions that you can begin to put into place in your congregations
- A team of people in your congregation who are engaged in the process
- A community of peers where you can support each other in doing the work in your congregations
Online via Zoom
Facilitators
Beverly Horton has been a Unitarian Universalist for 20 years and a member of the First Unitarian Church of Hamilton for nearly as long. She has been active in leadership at her congregation most squarely focused on music ministry and has extended that leadership to the broader denominational context, serving as the co-chair of the Nominating Committee for AUUMM (the Association of UU Music Ministries) and co-chair of the CUC’s Dismantling Racism Study Group. Delivering sermons and crafting services UU congregations, speaking at the Hamilton branch of the UU United Nations Organization, and facilitating workshops at CUC conferences and gatherings, Beverly actively advocates for our individual and collective commitment to dismantling racism and achieving racial justice made manifest in the Beloved Community.
Diana Smith
A thru-line of my life experience is my Unitarian grounding, living the 8 principles in action. I’ve contributed to UU congregations in Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria and Guelph, where I now live, and to the CUC in a variety of roles/relationships. My spiritual quest has deepened my inquiry into Who Do We Choose To Be For These Times? as a Warrior for the Human Spirit, since 2015. I’ve been exploring varied perspectives ona contemporary understanding of spirituality as expressed in daily life, most recently as a Community Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Religion and Society in 2020 at UVic. In this, the ‘third act’ of my life, I contribute to the community to create the ‘structures of belonging’ so vital to our future, serving as a mentor, a facilitator, a learning designer, a citizen. I offer my leadership experience with dialogue, planning, learning, and inquiry to build capacity, beyond our limiting beliefs. I’m active with 10C, a social innovation hub, and the Guelph Arts Council.
Janet Pivnick 
is a member of Beacon Unitarian Church and a Unitarian ministerial aspirant. For over twenty-five years, her work has focused on culture change, researching and supporting people through the challenges that arise when they attempt to step into new perspectives, new worldviews, new ways of being. She currently works at Simon Fraser University, supporting faculty with work on anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion, and decolonization and indigenization of curriculum. At Beacon, she has been Chair of the Worship Services Committee, Secretary of the Board, and a co-facilitator of the Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Reflection Guides for adults.
Kiersten E. Moore 
has served the Unitarian Church of Vancouver as the Director of Religious Exploration for Children and Youth since 2016. Beginning this fall, she expands her scope to include all ages as Director of Lifespan Faith Engagement. Kiersten grew up with First Universalist Church of Minneapolis and has been active in Unitarian Universalism at many levels of leadership. She currently holds the position of Secretary to the CUC Board as a representative of BC. Kiersten’s work has focused on creative collaboration, lifelong learning, the importance of community connections and belonging, and the power of speaking truth. Her professional growth as a religious educator has focused on antiracism, effective communication and empowering radically inclusive communities.
Reverend Shana Lynngood grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Penn. and holds an undergraduate degree in religious studies from Guilford College in North Carolina. Her Masters of Divinity degree is from Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, Calif. She has served congregations in Madison, Wisc. and Washington, D.C.
Rev. Lynngood currently serves as one of the co-ministers of the First Unitarian Church of Victoria.
The Rev. Samaya Oakley
serves as the Minister for the South Fraser Unitarian Congregation. After attending the North Shore Unitarian Church, she quickly became active continentally through the Youth Office of the UUA. She also is a facilitator for all levels of the Our Whole Lives program, and a trainer for the Elementary and Youth trainings. She became a part of the Canadian Unitarian Council’s Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Reflection Guides – five age-appropriate reflection guides for use in Canadian UU congregations.