Unitarian Universalists of the Salish Sea

Mark your calendars: 
Saturday, Sep 21st at 5:00pm
"Water Communion"

Please join us for the first service of our new church year. We will celebrate with a Unitarian Universalist water communion homecoming ritual in a service lead by your Worship Team.  Please bring some water from your home or from your summer adventures. We will enjoy food and fellowship at a potluck after the service.

And on October on the 19th at 5:00pm:
"Celebrating the sacred circle of life - 
The interdependent web of all existence after death"

Life depends on death. Everything alive and vital depends on the death of other things to survive. It is a key part of the interdependent web of life. Lay chaplains Barb Moore (UUSS) and Laureen Stokes (Vancouver Unitarians) present how helping our clients deal with the death of a loved one has shaped our ideas on after death planning and care.  For the grieving, and the deceased.  Laureen will speak on how Terramation - a new method of body disposition - creates new ways to care for our deceased as we grieve, and reconnect us back into the web of life. 

Did you know they were Unitarian?

Tim Berners-Lee (1955 - )

Tim Berners-Lee is a British computer scientist generally credited as the inventor of the World Wide Web, HTML, the URL systems and HTTP. He is a professorial research fellow at University of Oxford and professor emeritus at MIT. In 2004, he was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II and the inaugural Millennium Technology Prize (€1 million) by the Finnish Technology Award Foundation.

In 1998, he wrote:
"People have often asked me whether the Web design was influenced by Unitarian Universalist philosophy. I have to say that it wasn't explicitly, as I developed the Web well before I came across Unitarian Universalism at all. But looking back on it, I suppose that there are some parallels between the philosophies. 

If you're used to other religions you might be confused by UUism being called a religion, but it qualifies I think. Like many people, I came back to religion when we had children. Happenstance had our family living in the Boston area, where UU churches abound, and we were lucky enough to hit on a great one, with a great minister.

Unitarian Universalists are people who are concerned about all the things which your favourite religion is concerned about, but allow or even require their belief to be compatible with reason. They are hugely tolerant and decidedly liberal. The fundamental value and dignity of every human being is a core philosophy, and they have a healthy respect for those whose beliefs differ. They meet in churches instead of wired hotels, and discuss justice, peace, conflict, and morality rather than protocols and data formats, but in other ways the peer respect is very similar to that of the Internet Engineering Task Force. Both are communities which I really appreciate.

The is one other thing that comes to mind as common between the Internet folks and the UUs. The whole spread of the Web happened not because of a decision and a mandate from any authority, but because a whole bunch of people across the 'Net picked it up and brought up Web clients and servers, it actually happened. The actual explosion of creativity, and the coming into being of the Web was the result of thousands of individuals playing a small part. In the first couple of years, often this was not for a direct gain, but because they had an inkling that it was the right way to go, and a gleam of an exciting future. It is necessary to UU philosophy that such things can happen, that we will get to a better state in the end by each playing our small part. UUism is full of hope, and the fact that the Web happens is an example of a dream coming true and an encouragement to all who hope."

Volunteer to make our Second Monthly Community Event Happen!  

Monday Aug 26 was the first meeting of the Second Monthly Event circle. Our community is keen to offer two regularly scheduled UUSS events to help build community and support us to deepen into our faith. If you are curious or interested in joining the circle that will organize the second event every month, please contact Allyson Yee

. Planing for the second meeting is underway and if you are interested, please fill in this Doodle survey.

Did you know that almost 300 congregations are hosting a UU Climate Justice Revival!

On September 28-29, congregations will host UU Climate Justice Revivals to collectively reimagine a spirit-filled and liberatory future. Through conversations, worship, and advocacy, congregations will work together to realize climate justice and collective liberation in our communities. Congregations will receive everything they need to host a revival in their communities, including discussion guides and materials for all ages, training, worship resources, and advocacy actions designed to transform our communities through climate justice.

At the Revival, congregations will:

• collaboratively create  representation of the challenges of climate change
• Identify a vision for a flourishing future and actions we can take to make that vision a reality
• understand their role in the interdependent ecosystem of creating climate justice and collaborative liberation

VanU is Hiring a Head Nursery Staff Person *New!*

Casey Stainsby is moving into the new Middle Years Coordinator position, taking over leadership of Crossing Paths and other programming for ages 10-12. Casey has been wonderful as our Head Nursery staff over this past year and now we need to fill that position with someone new!

Our infant and toddler members need supportive, open, and loving care while their parents and older siblings attend service and classes. Our youngest members need to feel safe to explore their burgeoning sense of wonder, joy, awe, and love of the world and beings around them to build trust in this place and its people.

Are you interested? Contact Kiersten Moore at kiersten@vanu.ca  You may check out the job description here.

2 Adult Volunteers Still Needed for the BC Fall Youth Gathering *Updated!*

Welcome Rory Brimacombe as our BC Fall Con Coordinator! Rory came up through UU youth culture in Vancouver through the early part of the last decade and is now back in Vancouver after completing a masters at UBC. They are excited to be able to bring their experience and knowledge to a new generation of youth!

These adult roles are less task focused and more support oriented, they do require a time commitment nonetheless. We need everyone to commit to meetings starting in early September and probably an hour a week of work, ramping up as we get closer to the conference.

The roles will be almost identical to the CanUUdle staff system, with the exception of online components that we do not do.

• Advisor’s Advisor (1 adult)
• Peer Chaplains (1 adult)

Thank you everyone! Can't wait for another successful weekend! You are invited to submit an application online here.