ScandaloUUS: April 2023

We’re back! Welcome to the third edition of the acclaimed tabloid, ScandaloUUs, a supplement to the Canadian Unitarian Council’s (CUC’s) monthly eNews.

Sit back, relax, and keep reading if you want to know all the jUUicy tidbits. We are really going to “spill the tea.” (Psst . . . We’re always eager to know what’s going on. Send us everything you’ve got from your congregation or community. Anonymous contributions are welcome.)

In This Issue:

Reduce your Carbon Footprint at the 2023 Symposium

The Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) is looking forward to a greener future, especially when it comes to travel. It recently announced its partnership with Magic Carpet Industries, a company developing new technologies that would allow people to travel vast distances without burning fossil fuels. Executive Director Vyda Ng says: “We are confident Magic Carpet will unveil its new transportation system in time for the CUC’s national gathering in 2025.”

In the meantime, Unitarian Universalists (UUs) don’t have to choose between being green and attending the symposium in Ottawa, Ontario this spring (May 19 – 21, 2023). For the first time, UUs can attend the gathering in person or online. 

“As a virtual participant, you can attend the opening ceremony, banner parade, and Confluence Lecture from the comfort of your own home,” says Ng. You can also attend the keynote presentation, workshop streams, multigenerational worship service, and chalice circles online. To find out more, please visit the symposium website. 

CUC Executive Director Launches New Business Venture

Vyda Ng, the Executive Director of the Canadian Unitarian Council, is busy by day with her many duties and by night with her passion project of translating UU resources into Klingon. On top of all this, however, she’s somehow found the time to take on yet another project: running a food trUUck.

Reached by phone, Ng said she was initially hesitant to take on the additional responsibility associated with running the trUUck, but said the CUC’s board talked her into it by offering a special discoUUnt to UU customers.

“In these challenging economic times, the CUC can no longer rely solely on traditional revenue streams,” she said. “Instead, we have to get creative, and this is a great way of doing that.” 

The NUUdle Nerd trUUck is offering fresh, fast Asian-inspired food with a focus on nUUdles and an abundance of seasonal prodUUce. The menu also incorporates familiar favourites like bUUrgers, sUUshi and mUUshroom melts. Ng confirmed that all menu items are available in vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, and that the coffee the trUUck serves is fair trade and organic. All food and beverages come in compostable packaging; customers can also bring their own take-away containers.

Look for the purple and white trUUck with UUnicorn symbol in unexpected places! One future location has been confirmed – the NUUdle Nerd will be parked on the Algonquin College campus for the CUC’s National Symposium in May.  

Astronomers Discover Celestial Body Shaped Like a Chalice

Following on the heels of last year’s Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) board meeting in space, another exciting cosmic development has taken place: the discovery of a celestial body shaped like a chalice. The recent discovery was made by a group of astronomers using the newly developed HUUbble telescope, a device 10 times more powerful than its similarly-named counterpart.

Although it’s unclear whether the body has ever been hospitable to life, many Canadian congregations are already abuzz over the prospect of live streaming services to any of the body’s potential inhabitants. YoUUth are especially excited about this discovery, and view this as an expansion of their MycelliUUm project, a national youth body that upholds the 8 Principles and fosters youth engagement. The yoUUth dream of spreading the spores of their work to the new celestial space.

There are also reports the CUC board is considering another space mission to the body. Asked whether this expense would be practical, CUC Treasurer Joanne Green referred all questions to the newly formed Intergalactic Relations Committee.

Rare UUnicorn Sighting in Transylvania, Romania

Homoródújfalu, a small village in the Homorod Valley of Transylvania, is home to the oldest community of Unitarians in the world. It is also where you will find two members of a species once believed to be mythical: the UUnicorn. 

Adrien Szabó is a farmer in the close-knit agricultural community. On Tuesday, March 21, when he went to the pasture to check on  his sheep, he found two UUnicorns grazing with the flock. “I thought someone was playing a prank,” he says. “But they were real.” 

He returned to the pasture the next day with a wildlife biologist and a film crew but the unicorns were nowhere to be found. “They are very private, elusive creatures,” says Szabó. Seeing them, he says, filled him with awe and reminded him to look upon the world with wonder. “I wish everyone could experience that.”

The Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) has launched a campaign to ensure the UUnicorns, and other creatures previously thought to be mythical, are protected. “The last thing we want is to see these magnificent creatures caged in a zoo,” says President Chuck Shields.  Sign the petition here. 

UUs Got Talent

Do you love to sing? The producers of the hit TV show “UUs Got Talent” will be at  Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario from May 19 to 21, 2023. Show them how talented Canadian Unitarian Universalists (UUs) are: join the in-person Symposium Choir.

“No previous experience is required,” says choir director Susanne Maziarz. “Come, come, whoever you are.”

Read more about music at the 2023 Symposium. 

Listen to UU Tunes on Spotify

In.honour of April Fool’s Day, the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) has created a Spotify playlist featuring our favourite Unitarian Universalist songs. 

Check it out here.