Pride Camp 2025 is Coming!
Summer Camps at UUCoV:
June 30-July 4th 2025 (no camp on July 1 stat)
Camp for Youth:
Uniquely U: a radical inclusion camp
Camp for 5-10 years
Wonder Camp
Camps runs 9 am to 4 pm each day and is held on the beautiful Unitarian Universalist building and grounds on traditional WSAANEC territory.
Our camp divides into two groups: WONDER CAMP for youngers (5 to approx 10 years) and UNIQUELY U camp for young youth 10 to 16 years. Final grouping will be decided by camp directors depending on the # and age composition of who enrolls (and also by interest; we welcome your requests). We ask that all campers be of school age.
Cooking and eating lunch together will be a wonderful and special part of the camp experience. We also ask that you send a hearty snack with your child each day.
*** We will do our best to create lunches that everyone enjoys, and will also ask that campers be willing to try new foods. If your child/youth is particular in what they like to eat, please be prepared to send lunches from home as needed.
Each year our UU community participates in the Victoria Pride Parade, which happens this year on Sunday July 6. We warmly invite your family to join the fun! Please know that while UU parade leaders will be there to support, we cannot be officially responsible for your child at the parade– they must attend with a guardian who is ultimately responsible for their comfort and safety.
Camp fees are on a sliding scale basis of $100 – $200 for the week.
Our Philosophy
We are big believers in embodied learning– an approach which recognizes that knowledge isn’t just stored in the brain but is also formed through our interactions with the world and our bodies. Our programs and activities emphasize the role of physical movement, interaction with the environment, and sensory experiences in learning and fostering wonder.
We believe that a UU church community is an important space for intergenerational connections. This is a place where children and youth can feel seen, safe, and cared about as they grow. It is also a place where children & youth learn (by doing) that they are an essential part of community, and can help to create beauty, wonder and justice in the world.
Monthly Themes
Our activities change with the seasons. We incorporate monthly themes into our hands-on activities – themes like Trust, Inclusion, and Joy.
Pride Camp
For one week in early summer, the children and youth take over the UU buildings and grounds. We cook together, play games, make lots of art, explore nature, and get ready for our grand finale in the Victoria Pride Parade that same weekend. Along the way, we create art and have discussions that honour our authentic selves. Unitarian Universalism values individuality and solidarity, and there is plenty of both at this inclusive and joyful camp. The 2025 camp dates are June 30 to July 3 (not including the July 1 Stat holiday), and the Victoria Pride parade is July 6 (optional for families).
Wassailing
Ancestor's Shrine
Singing & Music
Messy Church
World Religions
Youth Leadership
Past Activities
Remembrance Day Service
Thursday, Nov. 11, 10:30 am – Remembrance Day – Peter Scales, homilist – Remembrance Day is a time to remember those who died in wartime,
Cutting the Ties that Bind?
Sunday, Nov. 7, 10:30 am – Cutting the Ties that Bind? – Rev. Melora Lynngood, homilist – A lot has been said about how to
Masks and Honesty
Oct. 31, 2021 – Masks and Honesty – Rev. Shana Lynngood with worship associate Lynne Bonner – On Halloween we’ll reflect on the masks we
Unconscious Bias
Oct. 24, 2021 – Unconscious Bias – Rev. Melora Lynngood with worship associate Emily Tietz – “You don’t have to be racist to be biased. Unconscious bias
Transforming Relationships
Oct. 17, 2021 Transforming Relationships – Rev. Shana Lynngood with worship associate Casey Stainsby, One of the many interviews I explored during our sabbatical was a conversation
Giving Thanks through Music
Nicholas Fairbank, Director of Music, with worship associate David Vest – For the past year and a half we have been living in times that we
What is the Shape of Your Ministry?
Rev. Melora Lynngood with worship associate David Tietz – Ministry is not only something done by professional ministers; ‘ministry’ in the more general sense is anything
Reckoning with Reconciliation and Race
Rev. Shana Lynngood with Fran Pardee, Worship Associate – While we were away the headlines continued unabated: the many lives lost at residential schools whose
Embracing Possibility?
Rev. Melora Lynngood with Fran Pardee, Worship Associate – What is your emotional response when you hear the word, “possibility?” Excited? Wary? Hopeful? Cynical? Tired? When someone
Returning: Changed and the Same
Rev. Shana Lynngood with Worship Associate Mollie Twidale – Our annual Homecoming Sunday, the first Sunday after Labour Day when we officially kick off a
The Role of Faith Institutions in Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency
Seth Klein with worship associate Casey Stainsby – How can we align our politics and economy with what the science says we must do to address
The Risk of Living
Rev. Shana Lynngood with worship associate David Vest – Being alive is inherently risky. The pandemic made the risks that we choose and choose to ignore
Be Calm. Be Kind. Again. Still.
Rev. Melora Lynngood with worship associate Mollie Twidale – As we prepare to transition out of the pandemic and begin to figure out how to do
Promoting a Death-Positive Culture
Tracey Thompson with worship associate Victoria Barr – Tracey is a trained death doula from the Institute of Traditional Medicine. She desires to create and hold
Letting Go
Emily Tietz with worship associate Lynne Bonner – Winter yawned into spring, then spring roared into summer. It might be hard to imagine now but, before