Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

April 17, 2026

UPCOMING UUSS EVENTS

TOMORROW!!

 UU Salish Sea Monthly Service 
April 18th at 5:00pm
"Nourishing Nature"

We can experience spiritual healing through our engagement with nature, not just with our minds but in our bodies and hearts. As we nourish and help to heal our earth we are in turn nourished and healed. The love and connection we feel in community is enhanced by our connection to the interdependent web of life and can sustain us in hard times. Please join us as we practice healing ourselves and the earth through song, story and engagement with nature as we approach Earth Day. 

TOMORROW as well at 2:00
"Healing Together" 

Please join us for a Healing Together session on Saturday, April 18th from 2 pm to 4 pm at St. Margaret's Cedar Cottage. This event will offer us an opportunity to share our stories and be witnessed as well as offer some tools and practices that can help us process our unresolved impact. The session will be lead by Lindsay Hindle, Casey Stainsby and catherine strickland.

UUSS AGM will be held after the June Service on June 20th.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Meaning Making Project
April 2026

As Unitarian Universalists our interdependence calls us to love and justice. We begin from the knowledge that we belong to the earth, a truth both profound and mundane. Yet we often feel estranged from nature, disconnected from the connected web of creation.

Don MacKenzie, A United Church of Christ minister suggests this estrangement grates on us on some deep level, unsettles us. He says his grandfather, when feeling off, would say “If I could just walk across a newly ploughed field in my bare feet, and feel the dirt coming up between my toes, I’d know where I was.” https://orionmagazine.org/article/climate-and-creation/

I think we need the healing that comes from connecting with nature and I know the earth needs our help to heal and adapt to the climate crisis.

Spiritual resilience can arise in part through a visceral experience of the interdependent web of life, not just in our minds, but in our bodies and hearts. To find sanctuary in this blue green earth that is our home. This sense of love and connection can sustain us in the hard times, and these feel like hard times on so many levels.

My own spiritual practice to connect is simple – I go outside and sit under a tree – or I go outside and walk – or I just look out my window at the trees that I am so lucky to have around my home. I feel such gratitude to have all this green life just beyond my door, and every year I learn a little more about the trees and plants and birds and animals that share this land with me. I am beginning to know where I am.

I encourage all of you to find spiritual practices that connect you to the earth, from sketching a flower to singing a song outside to growing basil on the windowsill to hiking a mountain. Whatever lets you feel the way Mary Oliver feels in this excerpt from a poem:

  When I am among the trees
  especially the willows and the honey locust,
  equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
  they give off such hints of gladness. 
  I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

Find the way nature nourishes your spirit and find ways to nourish nature. It is these gifts of connectedness that help us all. 
Apr_2026_Theme_Packet_colour_with_discussion_guide.pdf

Hearts for Tumbler Ridge
Count for this week

Heart-Makers - 48
Made last week - 535
Made to-date - 826

Goal by August 15th = 2,400 

Join us for a warm, relaxing night of music and good company at the beautiful Vancouver Unitarians Sanctuary, on the corner of 49th and Oak on April 25. Doors open at 6:15 pm, and the music starts at 7:00.

Tables fill up quickly, so arrive early to pick your spot. The balcony is open, with a lovely view of the whole room, and great acoustics too.  Seating is not reserved/general admission only. Because the music happens in two different areas through the evening, feel free to turn or shift your chair whenever you’d like a better angle. 

Yummy Bits and Bites will be waiting on your table when you arrive, and drinks can be bought at the bar in the entry hall. You are welcome to bring your drink to your seat but please be careful with your food and drink in our beautiful space! 

Wayne Hanna's Celebration of Life
2pm Sat. April 25th at NSU
All are invited to attend Wayne's Celebration of Life Service at NSU with reception following in the Fireside Room.  

Brian Blann's Celebration of Life
2pm Sat. May 2nd at NSU
All are invited to attend Brian's Celebration of Life Service at NSU with a reception at 3:30pm at the West Vancouver Yacht Club. 

Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

April 10, 2026

UPCOMING UUSS EVENTS

NEXT SATURDAY at 2:00
"Healing Together" 

Please join us for a Healing Together session on Saturday, April 18th from 2 pm to 4 pm at St. Margaret's Cedar Cottage. This event will offer us an opportunity to share our stories and be witnessed as well as offer some tools and practices that can help us process our unresolved impact. The session will be lead by Lindsay Hindle, Casey Stainsby and catherine strickland.

Next Saturday as well

 Monthly Service directly following the Healing Session on
April 18th at 5:00pm
"Nourishing Nature"

We can experience spiritual healing through our engagement with nature, not just with our minds but in our bodies and hearts. As we nourish and help to heal our earth we are in turn nourished and healed. The love and connection we feel in community is enhanced by our connection to the interdependent web of life and can sustain us in hard times. Please join us as we practice healing ourselves and the earth through song, story and engagement with nature as we approach Earth Day. 

Updates from your
Worship Circle

The Worship Circle has been working on planning our last three services our year. We are enjoying our last month of collaborating with Casey Stainsby as she finishes up her time with us. April's service will explore our community's healing journey while celebrating our nourishing relationship with the Earth. Our May service will look at how the liberating power of love is at the centre of our faith and how we can work for peace in our world. In June we will honour the many colours of our world as we celebrate Pride month and enjoy our year-end flower communion. The Worship Circle would welcome ideas for services and are looking forward to starting to plan our next year.

There is a Metro UU cross border support Google group just starting up. For anyone interested in joining a discussion about how we can support UU's in the States, especially our LGBTQ+ friends, please contact Cara.

UUSS AGM will be held after the June Service on June 20th.

May 3: “Question Storming” with Jessica Motherwell
June 7: with Casey Stainsby

SOCIAL JUSTICE

From Dogwood: On April 12, bands take over the Cobalt in Vancouver for a high-energy fundraiser, supporting Indigenous land defenders fighting the MAGA billionaire-backed Ksi Lisims LNG terminal. Get the details...

From Seniors for Climate: In a world rocked by war and climate chaos, Canada is doubling down on fossil fuel megaprojects—using public dollars to fund projects that harm our health, climate, and Indigenous rights. The “LNG: Not in Our National Interest” campaign is pushing back, demanding investment in clean energy instead. Show your support for this campaign by showing up at Housing Minister Gregor Robertson's MP constituency office Saturday, April 18 at 1pm.

Make energy efficiency a national priority! More here.

From Avaaz: Israel has just passed a law that will allow them to hang Palestinians.  The EU is Israel's largest trading partner - this is how we make Netanyahu listen. Sign and share this global call to EU leaders to suspend the EU–Israel trade agreement now.

If you believe in a Unitarian Universalism that is multiracial, just, and spiritually alive—this is a moment to act, not just affirm. DRUUMM’s annual Public Worship on May 14, 2026 is an invitation into that vision:“We Ride at Dawn: Showing Up, No Matter What.” Led by Rev. Summer Albayati and Rev. Verdis L. Robinson, this online service centers the leadership and spiritual traditions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in our faith. The service is open to all. We invite you to attend—and to engage your congregation or organization in visible, material support. We hope you will personally attend—and we invite you to encourage your congregation, ministry, or organization to become a visible sponsor of this work.Sponsor form.Deadline: April 15

Special Announcement

"The CUC Board of Trustees is pleased to share that Michael Jodah has been selected  as the new Executive Director of the Canadian Unitarian Council. Michael will join on a part-time basis beginning April 13, working alongside current Executive Director Vyda Ng through a shared transition period until June 15. Vyda's last day with the CUC will be June 30, closing a chapter of dedicated service to Canadian Unitarian Universalism.

Michael brings significant experience in executive leadership, community-building, environmental sustainability, and education. A Guyanese-Canadian social entrepreneur and academic, he has dedicated his career to building spaces where people belong, where young people are genuinely invested in, and where communities are strengthened from within. He also brings a personal connection to Unitarian Universalism, having served as a board member in a UU congregation.

Throughout the search process, Michael stood out for the grounded and collaborative way he approaches leadership: clear in his vision, attentive to people, and genuinely motivated by the growth of progressive communities across Canada. He is particularly inspired by the possibility of growing Unitarian Universalism among younger generations and deepening the role UU spaces play as places of real connection and shared life.

"I'm excited to take on this new challenge and to work alongside communities across the country," Michael shares. "I'm an action-oriented person, and I look forward to building momentum together, finding ways to grow progressive communities and strengthen the role UU spaces can play in people's lives."

Members of the Search Committee and Board expressed strong confidence in Michael's leadership, noting his experience, energy, and forward-looking vision for Canadian UUism.

Current Executive Director Vyda offers her welcome: "I welcome Michael to the CUC and the use of his skills and experience on behalf of Canadian Unitarian Universalism. I also want to extend deep appreciation to the Search Committee for their many hours of thoughtful work in this process."

We step into this next chapter with confidence in what our communities have built, and in the leadership Michael brings to what comes next."

Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

April 3, 2026

UPCOMING UUSS EVENTS

Healing Together 

Hello Beloveds,

Many of us still carry trauma and distress from the experiences that led us to leave NSUC. And while this resulted in us creating our wonderful UUSS community, we continue to be impacted and possibly limited by these experiences. 

Please join us for a Healing Together session on Saturday, April 18th from 2 pm to 4 pm at St. Margaret's Cedar Cottage. This event will offer us an opportunity to share our stories and be witnessed as well as offer some tools and practices that can help us process our unresolved impact. The session will be lead by Lindsay Hindle, Casey Stainsby and catherine strickland.

Next Saturday Service directly following the Healing Session on   April 18th at 5:00pm
"Nourishing Nature"

We can experience spiritual healing through our engagement with nature, not just with our minds but in our bodies and hearts. As we nourish and help to heal our earth we are in turn nourished and healed. The love and connection we feel in community is enhanced by our connection to the interdependent web of life and can sustain us in hard times. Please join us as we practice healing ourselves and the earth through song, story and engagement with nature as we approach Earth Day. 

Updates from your Planning Team

The Planning Team meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month gathering status from all of the other teams (circles soon?) and monitoring the administrative aspects of helping keep UUSS going.Here are some updates from the last meeting on March 26:

• We are working on getting UUSS to be a charitable society.  We have submitted our packet after much work to the CUC and are awaiting their feedback
• This is Casey's last month with us for her practicom. Her last planning team meeting with us is next month.  She has been primarily working with Worship Team and Sociocracy and most recently helping with the Healing Journey planned for April 18th.
• Cares and Concerns will be scheduling another Stitch Witches event to make more hearts in support the Heart Ministry.  The target is 2400 hearts to be delivered to Tumbler Ridge.
• For Social & Environmental Justice, Robyn has been representing us on two different projects that focus on one where different agencies opposing federal government funding for pipelines: BC Climate emergency campaign and Mother Tree Leaders Program, organized by Sierra Club.
• Financially, we are running a good balance to cover expenses.
• In Communication, Ryan and Cynthia welcome James as a major contributor to our services. Enews has changed its format a bit in the last few week's for better accessibility. We currently have 55 Facebook followers and 140 Instagram followers.  Please use our hashtag @uusalishsea when posting.
• Metro UUs are starting a chaplaincy support committee for all metro congregations who have chaplains and maybe not enough people to form support committees for chaplains. 
  
  

UUSS AGM will be held after the June Service on June 20th.

NO GATHERING THIS SUNDAY
due to the date falling on
Easter Sunday

There is a Metro UU cross border support Google group just starting up. For anyone interested in joining a discussion about how we can support UU's in the States, especially our LGBTQ+ friends, please contact Cara.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Join the Metro UUs Ecochallenge! The Team is named Metro-Van-Unis - JOIN the team!

From 350.org: Demand powerlines not pipelines 

From Amnesty International : Urgent action - Call Call on the US to drop charges against journalists for doing their job.

From Action Network: Tell Carney to join other leaders in opposing Israel's  inhumane Prisoners Execution Law.

From LeadNow: Tell our Canadian Pension Plan to stop funding ICE

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS FROM CUC!
Click here for more April 1 fun!

“Unitarian Universalists: The MUUsical”
Coming to a Congregation Near You

Congregations are in for a treat this spring with the CUC’s national service. Starting April 2, 2026, a recording will be provided to all congregations who request it of the smash Broadway hit: “Unitarian Universalists: The MUUsical.”

“Unitarian Universalists: The MUUsical” was written by a group of musically gifted UU young adults who hoped to give Unitarian Universalism a publicity boost similar to that which “The Book of Mormon” gave to that faith.

In keeping with the living tradition that has long guided UU’s, the musical puts a fresh spin on old classics. Audiences will find themselves singing along with “The RuuM Where It Happens”, a spoof of the song from “Hamilton”, about the hidden world of UU board meetings, and “Oklahoma”, which has been rewritten as a gospel tune featuring the choir of Tulsa’s All Souls Unitarian Church, one of the world’s largest UU congregations.

While the recording of the musical is being provided to congregations free of charge, tickets for live performances are hard to come by: seats for the Broadway show have been packed for months.

Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

March 27, 2026

UPCOMING UUSS EVENTS

Healing Together 

Hello Beloveds,

Many of us still carry trauma and distress from the experiences that led us to leave NSUC. And while this resulted in us creating our wonderful UUSS community, we continue to be impacted and possibly limited by these experiences. 

Please join us for a Healing Together session on Saturday, April 18th from 2 pm to 4 pm at St. Margaret's Cedar Cottage. This event will offer us an opportunity to share our stories and be witnessed as well as offer some tools and practices that can help us process our unresolved impact. The session will be lead by Lindsay Hindle, Casey Stainsby and catherine strickland.

After the Healing session, we will offer a light snack before the start of our monthly Worship and potluck dinner starting at 5 pm.  The Worship service will provide opportunities to reflect on and integrate the work done in our Healing session.

We hope you will join us!
warmly, UUSS Healing Team

Tumbler Ridge Heart Ministry – Community Update

The Unitarian Universalists of the Salish Sea are honoured to serve as the host sponsors of a growing outreach effort to support the people of Tumbler Ridge as they cope with the aftermath of the recent tragedy in their community. What began as a small gesture of care has quickly grown into a powerful circle of compassion.

Volunteers have been gathering to sew handmade hearts—one for every member of the Tumbler Ridge community. Each heart is a simple reminder that people far away are holding them in love and solidarity during this difficult time.

Here is where the project stands so far:
Over 40 volunteers are already helping by sewing hearts, cutting fabric, preparing ribbons, and assembling materials. Together we have created more than 130 hearts, with a goal of 2,400 hearts so that every community member can receive one. The project is spreading through word of mouth. Neighbours, friends, members of volunteer groups, local merchants (including Michaels and a sewing shop), and even people Joy meets while out shopping have offered support. Ron McKinnon, MP for Coquitlam–Port Coquitlam, has offered to contact the Member of Parliament representing Tumbler Ridge to help connect our effort with the community there.

Deadline: To make this gesture of care possible, all hearts need to be completed by August 15 so they can be prepared and delivered to the community by the beginning of this school year. This project is growing quickly, and there are many ways people can help.

We are currently looking for:
- People willing to sew hearts
- Volunteers to assemble heart kits (cut fabric, ribbons, stuffing, etc.)
- Donations of sewing supplies
- Hosts for small sewing gatherings
- People willing to spread the word to friends, neighbours, and community groups

Small acts of care can travel a long way. Each heart carries a message: you are not alone. If you would like to participate or donate supplies, please contact us. Together we can surround the people of Tumbler Ridge with a visible sign of compassion and community.The Unitarian Universalists of the Salish Sea are grateful to everyone who has already stepped forward to help grow this circle of care.

NO GATHERING IN APRIL due to the date falling on Easter Sunday.           
May 3: “Question Storming” with Jessica Motherwell

A reminder to keep our wonderful very own Lay Chaplain, Barb Moore, in mind when planning weddings, life celebrations, child dedications and more. She crafts ceremonies to cater to the individual circumstances, taking faith, values, sexual orientation and gender identity, and cultural differences into consideration.
Learn more about Barb here.

There is a Metro UU cross border support Google group just starting up. For anyone interested in joining a discussion about how we can support UU's in the States, especially our LGBTQ+ friends, please contact Cara.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

No war! No ICE! No Tyrants!

TOMORROW!!

Lets have a UUSS showing at the No Tyrant's Day on March 28, starting at 11:00 at the Vancouver Public Library downtown and marching to Jack Poole Plaza. This event is sponsored by Indivisible Vancouver and Democracy Rising. The threat to the globe by the current administration in the US is increasing daily. Let's raise our voices against the insanity and show up in force! Please reach to Cindy if you want to go.  More info.

CUC 

Register Now! CanUUdle XXVI is happening in Vancouver, BC from May 15-18th, 2026! 

CanUUdle is the annual national conference for Unitarian Universalist youth (ages 14-19) and their adult advisors (25+). 

​​It’s a beautiful weekend where youth and adults create an amazing community, worship together, grow as spiritual beings, and join in multigen activities. CanUUdle attendees stay overnight at the Vancouver Unitarians Congregation from Friday to Monday. 

Don’t delay in registering! We require a minimum of 30 participants registered by April 15 for the event to go ahead.

Congregational Conversations: Shifting from Problem to Opportunity
April 16 & April 18  10:00 am 

Dismantling Barriers: Positionality and Economics
April 23 4:00 pm

Workshop: UUism and Social Enterprise with Shaun Loney
April 25 10:00 am

Upcoming AGM Update

CUC Annual General Meeting 
Saturday, May 23 | Online and in person in Toronto

This is how congregations shape the national direction of Canadian UU life: through voting, dialogue, and shared governance. Delegate registration deadline is May 10. An updated bylaw motion will be circulated in early April
  Register your delegates now.

Seeking a Parliamentarian
The CUC is looking for someone well-versed in Robert's Rules of Order to guide our democratic process at the AGM. This is a meaningful volunteer role. Know someone who'd be a great fit? Applications are due April 15. See the full Terms of Reference.

Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

March 20, 2026

TOMORROW!!

Upcoming Saturday Service is on March 21 @ 5:00pm
"Discerning Truth"
St Margaret’s Cedar Cottage
1530 E. 22nd

In this service we will explore two different kinds of truth: the kind that emerges from our own deepest knowing within our selves, and the kind that is revealed when perspectives other than our own are considered. These two ways of knowing truth are both spiritual practices in their own way. Together we will practice touching these different ways of knowing through song, word, embodied awareness, and silence. All are invited to stay for a community potluck after the service. 

Here is this month's Make Meaning packet that accompanies our March service. 

Healing Together April 18, 2:00

Hello Beloveds,
Many of us still carry trauma and distress from the experiences that led us to leave NSUC. And while this resulted in us creating our wonderful UUSS community, we continue to be impacted and possibly limited by these experiences. 

Please join us for a Healing Together session on Saturday, April 18th from 2 pm to 4 pm at St. Margaret's Cedar Cottage. This event will offer us an opportunity to share our stories and be witnessed as well as offer some tools and practices that can help us process our unresolved impact. The session will be lead by Lindsay Hindle, Casey Stainsby and catherine strickland.

After the Healing session, we will offer a light snack before the start of our monthly Worship and potluck dinner starting at 5 pm.  The Worship service will provide opportunities to reflect on and integrate the work done in our Healing session.

We hope you will join us!
warmly, UUSS Healing Team

Thank you to the members of the Unitarian Universalist of the Salish Sea Church for their Gift Card donation in December.

Your kindness and generosity made the holiday season brighter and brought joy to our North Shore neighbours in need. In 2025, the Christmas Bureau supported more than 2,700 people, including over 930 children.

With sincere thanks,
Family Services of the North Shore Christmas Bureau

Social Justice

No war! No ICE! No Tyrants!

Lets have a UUSS showing at the No Tyrant's Day on March 28, starting at 11:00 at the Vancouver Public Library downtown and marching to Jack Poole Plaza. This event is sponsored by Indivisible Vancouver and Democracy Rising. The threat to the globe by the current administration in the US is increasing daily. Let's raise our voices against the insanity and show up in force! Please reach to Cindy if you want to go.  More info.

From 350.org:
Bill C-15 is about to go for a final reading in the Senate and we need all hands on deck calling on senators to remove the so-called Henry the VIII clause. Send your letter now.

From Open Media:
Canada's political parties are DAYS away from permanently exempting themselves from the privacy laws every other organization must follow. If we don't act now, political parties walk away with a permanent free pass to invade our privacy. Tell your MP to stand with Canadian voters and Canadian democracy!

Join Dogwood’s digital action squad, as we turn up the pressure on MPs to halt taxpayer subsidies to the American-owned Ksi Lisims LNG terminal. Sign up now.

Burrard Inlet dredging important deadline for input: March 22

A proposal to dredge parts of the Burrard Inlet in order to increase the capacity of TMX tankers is moving forward at a fast pace. If you value healthy waters, thriving ecosystems, and accountable decision-making, please consider adding your voice.

Background material:
Second Narrows Dredging Works

Please send input and cc and also your MP

From My Sea to Sky: 

FortisBC has been failing to meet the conditions of its waste discharge permit for over a year, discharging double the volume of wastewater into Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound, and exceeding Federal and Provincial water quality guidelines for copper and aluminum. Send a message to the B.C. government letting them know this is unacceptable and must be stopped. Send your message.

Webinars of interest:

Generating Futures: How First Nations are leading the clean energy shift in B.C. March 24, 2:00pm, hosted by The Narwhal

Through Orca’s Eyes: Impacts of oil tankers on the B.C. coast March 31, 6:00pm, Sierra Club BC

Here comes the Sun: Driving a Renewable Energy Revolution Bill McKibben, April 8, 3:30pm, hosted by Seniors for Climate

Food for thought:

A father explains why he decided to spend his son's first birthday getting arrested:https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/17/opinion/rbc-sit-in-fossil-fuels-civil-disobedience

Justice as relationship: 
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2026-03-18/eclipse-living-in-the-shadow-of-injustice/

Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

March 13, 2026

NEXT SATURDAY

Upcoming Saturday Service is on March 21 @ 5:00pm
"Discerning Truth"
St Margaret’s Cedar Cottage
1530 E. 22nd

In this service we will explore two different kinds of truth: the kind that emerges from our own deepest knowing within our selves, and the kind that is revealed when perspectives other than our own are considered. These two ways of knowing truth are both spiritual practices in their own way. Together we will practice touching these different ways of knowing through song, word, embodied awareness, and silence. All are invited to stay for a community potluck after the service. 

Here is this month's Make Meaning packet that accompanies our March service. 

Mark Your Calendars for
upcoming Sunday Gatherings

May 3: “Question Storming” with Jessica Motherwell
June 7: with Casey Stainsby

NO GATHERING IN APRIL
due to the date falling on
Easter Sunday 

Congregational Conversations

Planting, Pruning, & Bearing Fruit
March 19 10:00 am
March 21 10:00 am

Dismantling Barriers:
Assessment and Accountability
March 26 4 vvvbv  v  4:4

Understanding the Canadian UU Ecosystem and Our Place In It
March 21 12:00pm

Social Justice

No war! No ICE! No Tyrants!

Lets have a UUSS showing at the No Tyrant's Day on March 28, starting at 11:00 at the Vancouver Public Library downtown and marching to Jack Poole Plaza. This event is sponsored by Indivisible Vancouver and Democracy Rising. The threat to the globe by the current administration in the US is increasing daily. Let's raise our voices against the insanity and show up in force! Please reach to Cindy if you want to go.  More info.

From 350.org:
Bill C-15 is about to go for a final reading in the Senate and we need all hands on deck calling on senators to remove the so-called Henry the VIII clause. Send your letter now.

From Open Media:
Canada's political parties are DAYS away from permanently exempting themselves from the privacy laws every other organization must follow. If we don't act now, political parties walk away with a permanent free pass to invade our privacy. Tell your MP to stand with Canadian voters and Canadian democracy!

From LeadNow:

Now is the time to demand that your MP stand up for homes, not pipelines for Canadians. Call on your MP to stand with us, not Big Oil. 

Join this March 21 Musical Fundraiser for Indigenous Water Protectors at Vancouver Unitarians featuring the Allouette Sisters, Hollie Arntzen and the Left Coast Labour Choir!  Tickets here.

From Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice:
Endangered Democracy by Bruce Knotts

Free webinar Sat, March 28, at 10:00. Register in advance.

Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

February 27, 2026

THIS COMING SUNDAY
"Joined By Song" 
with Lindsay Hindle

March 1st, 2026 @ 11:00am
Molly Nye House, 940 Lynn ValleyRd
North Vancouver

Come feel more alive, more at peace, and joyfully bonded as we gather to be Joined By Song on Sunday March 1st. Together we will create an energizing, safe and sacred space to sing inspiring songs and healing chants. Did you know singing releases oxytocin, endorphins and lowers cortisol? The perfect remedy for troubled times. No matter if you’re a seasoned singer or someone just beginning, all are welcome to come find freedom in their voice and expression. Lindsay will be teaching easy songs to learn and tracks to sing along to. Feel free to bring a frame drum, rattle or a friend!

Hope to see lots of folks there!

Come feel more alive, more at peace, and joyfully bonded as we gather to be Joined By Song on Sunday March 1st. Together we will create an energizing, safe and sacred space to sing inspiring songs and healing chants. Did you know singing releases oxytocin, endorphins and lowers cortisol? The perfect remedy for troubled times. No matter if you’re a seasoned singer or someone just beginning, all are welcome to come find freedom in their voice and expression. Lindsay will be teaching easy songs to learn and tracks to sing along to. Feel free to bring a frame drum, rattle or a friend!

Hope to see lots of folks there!

Mark Your Calendars for
upcoming Sunday Gatherings

April 5: “German Reconciliation” with Michael Watson

Memorial Services at NSUC

Sheila Letson's Celebration of Life:

next Saturday, March 7th at 1:00pm

Obituary

Social Justice

Stop the pipelines

Last November, Prime Minister Mark Carney made a damaging deal with Alberta to fast-track a new diluted bitumen oil pipeline while rolling back environmental protections. This pipeline would lock Canada into deeper dependence on a declining, high-polluting industry. It would put ecosystems and coastal First Nations livelihoods at risk from increased tanker traffic and catastrophic oil spills.

There’s still time to stop this pipeline ploy and choose a fossil-fuel free future.

Message Carney and ask him to reject Alberta's pipeline ploy.

New Research exposes Bug Tech's AI climate hoax: 74% of industry's claims about AI's climate benefits are unproven

The big tech industry’s claims about the climate benefits of artificial intelligence are a hoax, according to a new report released earlier this week by Stand and partners.

A piece by Stand Climate Finance Program Director Richard Brooks, The questions Canadians should be asking amid hype over LNG projects, was published by the Vancouver Sun, and another by our esteemed colleagues Mark Kahlega of IEEFA and Olaf Weber of York University Business School, The world has too much LNG—so why is Canada fast-tracking more?, ran in The Hill Times.

Tell banks to end LNG expansion.

Congregational Conversations

Planting, Pruning, & Bearing Fruit
March 19 10:00 am
March 21 10:00 am

Dismantling Barriers:
Assessment and Accountability
March 26 4:00pm

Check out our social media!

Check the calendar on our website for more events!

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www.uusalishsea.ca      2026

Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

February 20, 2026

TOMORROW!!
"Imbolic Tools"

Sat, February 21st @ 5:00pm
St Margaret's, 1530 E. 22nd
Bring your tools!

Join us once again for our Imbolc Tool Blessing on February 21st! 

In person and on Zoom

For our tool blessing, we invite you to bring the “tools” of your life. In this service we will celebrate and ‘bless’ one another's tools, in an act of resilience and community care to prepare our tools and ourselves to persevere through the work of the coming year. 

For this participatory ritual the tools you bring could be anything you use to make your mark on the world, and do your work (paid or not). We especially welcome tools you might use to help further the mission of the UUSS, supporting us to "become a multigenerational spiritual community where love and trust guide us, where all who seek to connect with the mystery, joy, and wonder of life feel wholly welcome, and that contributes to a more just and interdependent world." We recommend choosing tools that are relatively small and portable, or a smaller object to represent a larger tool that you can’t bring with you. 

Examples of tools include: pens, notebooks, musical instruments, a laptop, sewing tools, protest signs, paintbrushes, construction or power tools, books, manuals, sports equipment, a chalice or other spiritual tools, keys to a vehicle or piece of machinery, cleaning tools, spreadsheets, backpacks, activity sets (like Spirit Play boxes or fidget toys), seeds and gardening tools, lesson plans, petri dishes, tarot cards, workshop materials, cooking tools, mobility aids, safety gear, theatre costumes or props… anything you consider the tools of your life!

Next Sunday Service is on March 1
"Joined By Song" 
with Lindsay Hindle

March 1st, 2026 @ 11:00am
Molly Nye House, 940 Lynn ValleyRd
North Vancouver

Come feel more alive, more at peace, and joyfully bonded as we gather to be Joined By Song on Sunday March 1st. Together we will create an energizing, safe and sacred space to sing inspiring songs and healing chants. Did you know singing releases oxytocin, endorphins and lowers cortisol? The perfect remedy for troubled times. No matter if you’re a seasoned singer or someone just beginning, all are welcome to come find freedom in their voice and expression. Lindsay will be teaching easy songs to learn and tracks to sing along to. Feel free to bring a frame drum, rattle or a friend!

Hope to see lots of folks there!

Come feel more alive, more at peace, and joyfully bonded as we gather to be Joined By Song on Sunday March 1st. Together we will create an energizing, safe and sacred space to sing inspiring songs and healing chants. Did you know singing releases oxytocin, endorphins and lowers cortisol? The perfect remedy for troubled times. No matter if you’re a seasoned singer or someone just beginning, all are welcome to come find freedom in their voice and expression. Lindsay will be teaching easy songs to learn and tracks to sing along to. Feel free to bring a frame drum, rattle or a friend!

Hope to see lots of folks there!

Mark Your Calendars for
upcoming Sunday Gatherings

Memorial Services at NSUC

Sheila Letson's Celebration of Life: Saturday, March 7th at 1:00pm

Social Justice

Support for Minneapolis

Focus on helping trans and immigrant refugees with rent, groceries, medical expenses, infant and children's items, and rides. on First Universalist Church of Minneapolis, select Sanctuary and Resistance Fund to ensure that every dollar goes directly to people who need it and not to church operations. 

Where Do We Go Next? A Climate Conversation with Steven Guilbeault
Wed, February 25, 2026. 630pm

Join Steven Guilbeault and Seniors for Climate on February 25 for a timely conversation about climate action and leadership, part of Seniors for Climate’s unifying theme for 2026: Break Through the Climate Silence. Register.

UUSS Ecosystem Research Circle Looks for Curious Explorers

Are you curious about what other liberal religious and progressive communities are doing to remain relevant and viable in today’s rapidly shifting culture? Join the Research Circle and help uncover stories, experiments and initiatives (successful or not) that we can all learn from. Visit the link for additional information, including time commitments and contact info.

Join Fair Vote Canada letter writing team for proportional representation!

Research is clear. Proportional representation can make Canada stronger. Countries with proportional representation are less politically polarized. They have higher economic growth, healthier populations and stronger environmental protections. Countries with proportional representation systems outperform countries with winner-take-all systems on every measure of democracy. Politicians need to hear that Canadians want action on PR.

Sign the Petition to support the use of Renewable Energy in Canada

With Canada aspiring to become an energy superpower, MP Elizabeth May will be presenting Petition e-7114 in Parliament later this spring, encouraging our Federal Government to support the development of renewable energy sources by matching dollar-for-dollar any federal financial suppOort of hydrocarbon infrastructure development.  

If you support this vision for a clean and prosperous energy future, you are invited to add your name to Petition e‑7114.

Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

February 13, 2026

Three days ago, one of the worst tragedies in Canadian history struck British Columbia. We grieve with Tumbler Ridge.

Our thoughts are with those who have been affected as well as their families, friends and the community who are coping with unimaginable loss at this heartbreaking time.

A week from tomorrow
"Imbolic Tools"

February 21st @ 5:00pm
St Margaret's, 1530 E. 22nd

Join us once again for our Imbolc Tool Blessing on February 21st! 

For our tool blessing, we invite you to bring the “tools” of your life. In this service we will celebrate and ‘bless’ one another's tools, in an act of resilience and community care to prepare our tools and ourselves to persevere through the work of the coming year. 

For this participatory ritual the tools you bring could be anything you use to make your mark on the world, and do your work (paid or not). We especially welcome tools you might use to help further the mission of the UUSS, supporting us to "become a multigenerational spiritual community where love and trust guide us, where all who seek to connect with the mystery, joy, and wonder of life feel wholly welcome, and that contributes to a more just and interdependent world." We recommend choosing tools that are relatively small and portable, or a smaller object to represent a larger tool that you can’t bring with you. 

Examples of tools include: pens, notebooks, musical instruments, a laptop, sewing tools, protest signs, paintbrushes, construction or power tools, books, manuals, sports equipment, a chalice or other spiritual tools, keys to a vehicle or piece of machinery, cleaning tools, spreadsheets, backpacks, activity sets (like Spirit Play boxes or fidget toys), seeds and gardening tools, lesson plans, petri dishes, tarot cards, workshop materials, cooking tools, mobility aids, safety gear, theatre costumes or props… anything you consider the tools of your life!

Next Sunday Service is on March 1
"Joined By Song" 
with Lindsay Hindle
March 1st, 2026 @ 11:00am

Molly Nye House, 940 Lynn ValleyRd, North Vancouver

Come feel more alive, more at peace, and joyfully bonded as we gather to be Joined By Song on Sunday March 1st. Together we will create an energizing, safe and sacred space to sing inspiring songs and healing chants. Did you know singing releases oxytocin, endorphins and lowers cortisol? The perfect remedy for troubled times. No matter if you’re a seasoned singer or someone just beginning, all are welcome to come find freedom in their voice and expression. Lindsay will be teaching easy songs to learn and tracks to sing along to. Feel free to bring a frame drum, rattle or a friend!

Hope to see lots of folks there!

Sheila Letson's Celebration of Life:
Saturday, March 7th at 1:00pm at NSUC

There will be a honouring long-time NSUs Member Sheila Letson, who passed away last October. Obituary 

Social Justice

Women’s Memorial Walk – February 14, 12-3pm.

Walk with fellow Unitarians to honour the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirited people.  We will meet at noon at the NW corner of Main and Hasting (in front of OWL Drugs). 

The stakes of Bill C-233, the No More Loopholes Act, have never been clearer. And with the critical vote coming up at the end of February, we have just a few more weeks to flip as many MPs as possible to VOTE YES.

Arms Embargo Now is planning a day of action on February 17.  If you are interested in helping organize a visit to your local MPs office, contact Robyn.  If you have just a few minutes, call or write to your MP. 

From Avaaz

Please take a minute to call on the Canadian government to defy Trump's flagrant violation of international law, by selling oil, food and medicine to the Cuba.

From Sierra Club - Prayers for Burrard Inlet

The waters of the Burrard Inlet are under threat. The Vancouver Port Authority plans to dredge near the Second Narrows Bridge later this year  to allow more oil to be shipped from the Westridge Marine Terminal (part of the Trans Mountain pipeline facility).

Rueben George of Tsleil-Waututh Nation is inviting people to join him in prayer and action for the inlet. 
When: Feb 21st , 2PM, St Andrews Wesley United Church (1022 Nelson St)
Contact Barb or Robyn if you would like to participate.

Annual General Meetings 2026 Conversations

The CUC Board has brought forward proposed updates to the CUC Bylaws regarding how the CUC’s foundational documents – Principles, Sources, Aspirations and Vision – are amended. This begins a period of national discernment, during which people across the country are invited to reflect, ask questions, and offer feedback.

The hour-long CUC-hosted conversations are open to you, and are designed to answer questions about the AGM, solicit feedback for the motions, and to invite curiosity and engagement; each conversation will be similar in format and content so come to either one. 

February 21: 10:00 am
February 25: 4:00 pm

Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

February 6, 2026

TOMORROW
Saturday Feb 7, 11-2

Community Dialog on
Accessibility and Inclusion

In Person at Laura McNaughton's Co-op Common Room
5085 McHardy St., Vancouver, BC
(Near Joyce-Collingwood Skytrain Station)
or on Zoom
(note new Zoom link for tomorrow)

We hope you will join us for our first Community Dialogue of 2026! We will be exploring Inclusion and Accessibility from a broad perspective to see how we can be more welcoming to all who are drawn to be part of our community. Our work will be anchored in our Mission, specifically:

"Creating the conditions for people of diverse beliefs, backgrounds and identities to feel fully welcome in our congregation and the broader Unitarian Universalism tradition by experimenting with systems, structures, practices and rituals that challenge the status quo."

This event will be fun and interactive and includes a potluck lunch. Please bring something to share. We hope to see you there! If you have any questions, please reach out to catherine at cstrickland@shaw.ca.

Next Saturday Service
"Imbolic Tools"

February 21st @ 5:00pm
St Margaret's, 1530 E. 22nd

Our February 21st service is our annual Imbolc Tool blessing, in which we come together to prepare and bless the tools we use for the work we are called to do for the world. Start thinking about which tool(s) you will bring to be spiritually strengthened by our community!

Mark Your Calendars for
upcoming Sunday Gatherings

March 1: “Gather in Song” with Lindsay Hindle
April 5: “German Reconciliation”with Michael Watson
June 7: “Portugal” with Catarina Gomes

May 3: “Question Storming” with Jessica Motherw

Thanks to everyone who joined us this past Sunday for "The Things We Call For Love " with Rev. Shawn Gauthier from Vancouver Unitarians at the Molly Nye House. And a special thanks to our kitchen crew who coordinated a delicious soup luncheon and to all who shared their bounty with all of us.

Social Justice

February is Black
History Month 

I encourage you to find out more here.   I also highly recommend the book Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard.  ~Robyn Newton, Social and Environmental Justice Circle.

Opportunities for action:

Urgent Action From Amnesty International: Demand Accountability for Deadly Immigration Enforcement»

Sign the Petition to support the use of Renewable Energy
in Canada

With Canada aspiring to become an energy superpower, MP Elizabeth May will be presenting Petition e-7114 in Parliament later this spring, encouraging our Federal Government to support the development of renewable energy sources by matching dollar-for-dollar any federal financial suppOort of hydrocarbon infrastructure development.  

If you support this vision for a clean and prosperous energy future, you are invited to add your name to Petition e‑7114.

Information From RAVEN Trust: What We Know to Be True: Unpacking the Recent DRIPA Decision

Congregational Conversations

In 2026, we invite you into a renewed season of Congregational Conversations—spaces where UU leaders and seekers gather not simply to learn, but to practice the spiritual work of community.

Each session is an opportunity to pause, breathe, reflect, and reconnect with the deeper purpose of congregational life. When you attend, you are not only nurturing your own leadership—you are offering a gift to your congregation and to our wider movement. Your presence helps strengthen the ecosystem of Unitarian Universalism across Canada.

These conversations are moments to ask:
What is emerging in our communities? What is being asked of us now? How can we lead with courage, imagination, and care?

Together, we cultivate wisdom that no congregation could generate alone.
  

Annual General Meetings 2026 Conversations

The CUC Board has brought forward proposed updates to the CUC Bylaws regarding how the CUC’s foundational documents – Principles, Sources, Aspirations and Vision – are amended. 

The hour-long CUC-hosted conversations are open to you, and are designed to answer questions about the AGM, solicit feedback for the motions, and to invite curiosity and engagement; each conversation will be similar in format and content so come to either one. 

February 21: 10:00 am
February 25: 4:00 pm