May 30, 2021
Commitment for Community Can’t Be Quarantined, Nor Infected
Commitment for Community Can’t Be Quarantined, Nor Infected
Rev. Csongor Benedek, introduced by Michelle Poirier Brown, with worship associate David Vest
As a Unitarian minister of a small-town congregation in Transylvania, Rev. Benedek reflects on the importance of church connections – and the “accumulated need” to get back to our beloved communities again after the pandemic.
He will share what it is like to live with this longing for community among his parishioners in Sovata, and his sense of the recovery we will see when we can come back together.
Rev. Benedek writes: “I am a Unitarian minister in Transylvania, Romania. I have been serving all together for three and a half years as a Unitarian minister in four small churches (different congregations). After graduating high school I studied English for one year and geography and tourism for five years (as a first degree) and then I immediately turned to Theology (my father being a Unitarian minister as well) and studied for six years in the Institute of the Protestant Seminary in Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania, Romania.
“I visited different UU congregations in the U.S., I also preached in St. Paul, Minn., once. I feel really connected to Unitarian Universalists and their 7 principles. I am delighted to be in touch with Canadian UU’s through my great friend Michelle Poirier Brown.”
Send an email after 9 a.m. Sunday to obtain the entry code. Then join us online at 10:15 a.m. for the worship service.
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May 23, 2021
Practising Grief: Lessons for Everyday Life
Practising Grief: Lessons for Everyday Life
Asha Philar with worship associate Fran Pardee –
With so much hardship around us, it is more important than ever to cultivate the active practice of grieving – finding simple
ways to validate and carry our feelings of loss and sadness. 
Asha will share some key lessons she has learned, and skills she has developed, through experiences of grief and loss, from the profound and philosophical to the silly and surprising.
Asha Philar is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist who lives in Kitchener, Ont., and works in social services, managing community support programs for families and individuals. During the pandemic, she is finding solace in cooking, gardening, playing piano and trying to make meaning out of this strange time.
Send an email after 9 a.m. Sunday to obtain the entry code. Then join us online at 10:15 a.m. for the worship service.
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May 16, 2021
Sustaining Our Light
Rev. Meghann Robern, homilist for the Canadan Unitarian Council annual conference (10:00am) –
Now more than ever we need to be grounded in connection, in hope, and in love. As the cycles of the seasons teach us the gifts of the dark as well as the light, we still need energy – a spark – to fuel living into our aspirations and values no matter the season, the struggle, or the celebration.
This Sunday service celebrates how our UU faith and our connections are crucial to sustaining and amplifying that spark.
This service will be the culmination of the CUC Online National Conference, May 14-16. Participants are welcome to register for the whole conference or just attend the Sunday service. Speakers will feature Unitarian Universalist clergy and lay people from across the country including Rev. Meghann Robern, of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg.
The Sunday service will be live-streamed on Zoom at http://bit.ly/NationalWorshipMay16 – Meeting ID: 885 0018 9706 Passcode: 595025 and will be closed captioned, and on the CUC’s YouTube Channel.
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May 9, 2021
Telling Our Stories
Telling Our Stories
Arran Liddel with worship associate Casey Stainsby –
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
Come join us for stories and music.
Arran Liddel is our Director of Spiritual Exploration and Learning for Children and Youth and also a seminary student and candidate for UU ministry.
Send an email after 9 a.m. Sunday to obtain the entry code. Then join us online at 10:15 a.m. for the worship service.
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May 2, 2021
Hysterical Women
Hysterical Women
Rev. Anne Barker & Liz James with worship associate Lynne Bonner –
Hysteria is a word with many meanings. Uncontrollable sobbing, raucous laughter, and unmanageable women. Join us for a service that touches on and/or embodies all three.
Liz James comes from a family with a proud tradition of expressing love through practical jokes. In 2015, as a part of a practical joke gone right, she founded the UU Hysterical Society, which has grown to 70,000 members and is now part of a not for profit called Mirth and Dignity.
She lives in Saskatoon, where she writes, preaches, and co-hosts the UU comedy podcast The Cracked Cup.
Rev. Anne Barker was co-opted into Liz James’s family’s proud tradition of practical jokes.
She is the minister at Westwood Unitarian Congregation, the president of the UU Ministers of Canada, and is the 2021 Confluence lecturer.
Rev. Barker lives in Edmonton where her hobbies include writing, knitting, and co-hosting the UU comedy podcast The Cracked Cup.
Send an email after 9 a.m. Sunday to obtain the entry code. Then join us online at 10:15 a.m. for the worship service.
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April 25, 2021
Unfolding Life
Unfolding Life –
Rev. Shana Lynngood with worship associate Fran Pardee –
The season of Spring reminds us that becoming often looks like unfolding.
We lean out into life and learn things along the way, adding detail and 
colour and growth into the mix.
How do we allow the unfolding rather than force it? How do we ensure that we notice the lessons and the beauty along the way?
This will be the final Lynngood Sunday for a few months (until August 22) as we unfold into the renewal of sabbatical before (we hope!) we resume in-person services in the fall.
Send an email after 9 a.m. Sunday to obtain the entry code. Then join us online at 10:15 a.m. for the worship service.
