Unitarian Universalists of the Salish Sea

Unitarian Universalists
of the Salish Sea

Weekly Update
January 3, 2025

THIS WEEKEND on SUNDAY!

The January Sunday Gathering: "Exploring spirituality through literature -
what is your holy book?

Sunday, January 5 at 11:00am

Molly Nye House, 940 Lynn Valley  Road, North Vancouver

This is a gathering for connection  and conversation. January's theme:  Exploring spirituality through literature-what is your holy book?  You are invited to bring a book that has shaped your spiritual journey or simply spoken to you in a profound way. 

Soup lunch to follow discussion. Please RSVP to Barbara.Moore@vch.ca so we know how much soup to have on hand! 
 

While the purpose of this gathering is to provide in-person connection, we understand that some homebound folks may also want to participate. If you are unable to attend in-person, please contact Barb (see above) to receive a zoom link.

Parking Directions:

Mollie Nye House is at 940 Lynn Valley Road.  We are in the basement, entrance on the south side.  We can't park in the Hillside Baptist lot as they are using their lot Sunday morning.  The best parking option is at the Karen Magnussesn Rec center.  It's a little walk.  If you have accessibility issues you could be dropped off at Mollie Nye and then the vehicle can be moved.

Also coming up in the new year - we need your review!!

We will be looking for your input on the following: final logo, Covenant, and Mission & Vision.

Vision and Mission sPlease watching your email and also the Member section on the website for the surveys.

AAAAA  Amnd first up is input on our UUSS Covenant. An email went out on December 24th with feedback due by next Friday,  January 10. Let us know if you didn't receive the email for any reason:info@uusalishsea.ca 

A reminder that our Covenant is the thread that joins us together, in a web of interconnection. The practice of promising to walk together is how we build beloved community. To create consensus around a shared vision and direction requires people to be in relationship with each other. Covenants are tools for setting guidelines and building trust so that those relationships can flourish. 

Our Covenant is one of a series of documents that we will create as a community to define who we are, what we will do, where we hope to go and how we will get there. The other documents to be created are:

Our Vision: Will articulate the world we want in the future.

Our Mission: Will articulate how we will contribute now to building the future we seek.

Our Covenant of Right Relations: Will spell out what we will do when we fall out of Covenant with each other.

Our Bylaws: Will articulate various details of our governance system and the processes we will use to guide us in our work.

Message from Lynn Sabourin

Lesley Giroday reached out to ask if there is anyone that might be interested in serving on the CUC nominating committee as the Western rep (replacing her) for a three year term starting May 2025. Someone interested in the wider movement with computer skills who "plays well with others" would be ideal... It is actually a good way to get involved nationally and find out about and help support our wider movement! The job is relatively easy as it is an exceedingly well-run process (set up and administered for many years by Maury Prevost from Ottawa) with excellent existing resources and only 6-8 1.5-hour (sharp!) meetings held over the year, most between September and March. If there is anyone there, young or old, that would suit,  please email Lynn at lynnsabourin51@gmail.com.  Thanks for turning your mind to this for her and the CUC writ large!

To the UUSS Community, if you have any joys and/or sorrows to share, please reach out to our wonderful Cares and Concerns team .

Calls to Action

Support The Emissions Cap: Send a Letter Before January 8.

The federal consultation on the emissions cap gives us one more chance to tell our government to make the emissions cap stronger and to implement it now. Don't let our voices be drowned out by fossil fuel lobbyists - send a letter before the consultation period closes on January 8!

Send a letter

You are invited to join an Antiracism Learning Circle this winter/spring. It’s on Zoom, so you can join from anywhere!  First Unitarian in Portland is the organizer. The first Circles start the week of January 16th. 

Full descriptions, schedules & registration information are HERE.

In the last four months, 10  people have been killed at the hands of the police in Canada – and the media has barely reported on it. Police brutality in Canada is a glaring epidemic for First Nations people that is unacceptable to turn away from. Together, this is our opportunity to raise our voices and demand change. Will you add your name to support the Assembly of First Nation’s call for an inquiry into racism and policing in Canada?

Canadian Wellspring 
2025 Cohort
[program starts January 13]

Love at the Center: UU Values and Covenants is a transformational program that will explore the enduring love that is at the core of Unitarian Universalism. You will explore the related values and covenants through the lens of abiding love, building community, acting in faith, rooting in growth, and transforming in love.

As a part of the Canadian religious professionals cohort, we will also be exploring the interplay between Love at the Center and our CUC theological statements: 8 Principles, 6 Sources, and 5 Aspirations. By having this conversation in a heart and spiritually centred structure, we hope to come away with clarity and inspiration on how to lead these conversations amongst Canadian Unitarians and UUs.

The 11-session “Love at the Center: UU Values and Covenants” originally grew out of the work of the Article II Study Commission. It has grown to encompass resources and reflections that will allow each of us to nurture our values and share our experiences and stories to explore and strengthen our faith.  

The facilitators for your program are Revs. Arran Morton and Samaya Oakley. We will be meeting on every second Monday (skipping May long weekend) January 13th through Jun 9th at 1:30pm for 2 hours on Zoom.

Our UUA has created a number of images to celebrate and lift up our new UU values. They have also encouraged UUs to use their creativity to create and share other images and graphics to bring our new values to life.

​Inspired by these imaginative efforts, our own Soul Matters membership director, Susan Arnold, recently created an image to express her excitement about our new UU values. It is rooted in the idea of love manifesting itself in the world through the other six values. And she is generously sharing her image with all UU congregations to use in any way that is useful!
 

You can download her main image and its variants by going to the Members Page on our website. Here is the direct link: https://www.soulmatterssharingcircle.com/values-graphics.html 

You will notice that Susan has created three versions of the image, so be sure to download them all.

You do not have to credit Susan or ask permission to use the images. But if you want to send Susan a thank you, you can email her at susan@soulmatterssharingcircle.com

Finally, here is how Susan describes her vision for the image:
"Inspired by our faith's bold embrace of loved-centered values that will lead us into the future, I kept thinking about the idea of a flame of love with the values as the light spreading out into the world. This graphic grew out of that idea. It's my small attempt to support our faith's effort to bring more love to our world, which is desperately needed right now."  -Susan