Calendar of events
Here you will find all of our congregation’s Sunday Services, Board and Committee meetings and other events. Use the calendar controls to see events for past or future dates. For a quick look at recent Sunday Services, click here!
Diana will argue that our conscious reality is largely shaped by suggestion and habit, but that conscious reality is not who we are! From the moment we’re born we are taught how to perceive the world, and from then on our beliefs and assumptions are shaped by family and culture. Our thoughts directly impact our physiology, hence the placebo effect and related phenomena. The reverse is also true. The body directly influences the mind. It is possible to change our minds and physiology dramatically. I shall propose some simple techniques to break damaging habits of thought, feeling and behaviour and provide more useful suggestions for ourselves and others.
Diana writes: “I’ve always thought there’s more to consciousness than brain and yet I was trained as a biochemist and did research in Neurochemistry at a time when the prevailing assumption in science was that mind and brain were indistinguishable. I was a pretty incompetent neurochemist anyway so I left and worked in Environmental Science for several years before moving into complementary therapies, most notably music therapy and entertainment for elderly people and then hypnotherapy. I was a professional hypnotherapist in England for 12 years before emigrating to Canada last year. I still treat clients in the UK by video call and am now starting a practice here in Victoria. My work convinces me that consciousness is infinitely more mysterious and complex than our current understanding.
Mary Oliver instructs us, “Attention is the beginning of devotion.” We will bring our attention to a selection of her poems, and allow her to lead out attention into the realm of prayer. This service is in honor of Mary Oliver’s September 10th birthday.
Michelle Poirier Brown is a poet and photographer who has brought numerous homilies to the pulpit at Capital. For more information, visit www.skyblanket.ca
Dr. John Pullyblank will talk about a selection of strategies to promote withstanding what life throws at us, including considering the responsibilities of the individual for their resiliency, versus society for creating a healthy environment.
John has given homilies on resilience in 2006 and 2014, and now will provide an updated version for 2019.
With over 700 members, they offer a unique neighbourhood food centre model, providing opportunities for people to: prepare and share healthy meals together, access nutritious food, work together to grow food and build gardening skills, and connect with other community resources and become resources for one another. In this talk, you will hear fun and wonderful stories about food and community, and learn how how multiple, diverse faith groups and community organizations joined together to found the organization and the exciting collaborative network that continues to support their work.
Let’s take the taboos out of religion. How can we begin to approach this immensely significant part of human behaviour in a different way? We will look at how we can use the tools of science to help us to begin to understand what religion actually is.
Dr. Sara Comish is a Psychologist who has been a Unitarian for so long that makes her feel old, so we won’t say how long.
Learn about the work of the organization CRFAIR (Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable) that serves as the Capital Region Food Security Hub. Our speaker will discuss food advocacy and their personal journey that drew them to be involved in this work.
Em Bellinger is Communications and Engagement Coordinator at CRFAIR. In their spare time Em gardens and volunteers on a farm, leads a queer bike club, plays roller derby and explores by bike.
“Who Rescued Who?’ Is a common bumper stickers among folks who have adopted pets from various rescue centres. It highlights that the ‘rescue’ is often a two-way street, with the animal offering as much or more than the human! This Thanksgiving weekend come and explore the myriad of ways animals can be allies in our liberation.
Send your favorite photos of yourself or loved ones with pets or other animals by Oct 5th to contact.capital@unitariancongregation.org to be included in a slide show shown during the service.”
Arran moved to Victoria from Toronto (though he is Scottish) with his partner, Gen, to be near the ocean and the trees. Arran is the Director of Spiritual Exploration and Learning at First Unitarian Church of Victoria and is doing a Masters of Divinity, focussing on earth-based spiritualities, at Cherry Hill Seminary. Arran is a member of Capital and one of our Lay Chaplains.
“Hold fast to dreams”, said the poet. Unitarians dream of building a land where we bind up the broken. Let’s look at the ways we can inspire one another to action on this celebration of Louis Riel’s 175th birthday Oct 22nd!
Dana Lynn Seaborn is a Métis elder. This homily is adapted from a sermon by Rod Richards of the San Luis Obispo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
Our Unitarian principles lead us to work for social justice in many ways. One way is to sponsor refugees fleeing war and destruction in their former homeland. Members of the First Unitarian Church of Victoria’s Refugee Resettlement Committee, of which Capital’s Colin Nelson is a member, will describe their recent experiences sponsoring refugees from Syria. Inshallah, one of the people we’ve sponsored will tell of his own experiences, and will talk about the difficult plight of his parents and brother, who fled their home for refuge in Jordan, and whom we hope to sponsor next year. We will also acknowledge and thank members of Capital, without whose donations and support the resettlement efforts would not have been possible.
There is a growing body of evidence which links the experience of awe or wonder to an increased sense of purpose and meaning in one’s life, as well as improved health and well-being. In this short talk, storyteller and mindfulness teacher Margo McLoughlin will present a number of pathways for awakening a sense of wonder in our daily lives.
Margo McLoughlin is a Community Dharma Leader with the Victoria Insight Meditation Society. She is also a board member of the BC Association for Living Mindfully. For more about Margo, please visit margostoryteller.net
Remembrance Day is a time to remember those who died in wartime, and to consider the Big Questions surrounding war and peace.
Comedy and religion are polar opposites in terms of tone, but often serve the same fundamental purpose: to help us deal with the parts of life that are horrible. This will be a serious discussion of comedy, a light-hearted look at religion, and an exploration of the many ways the two overlap.
Ryan Guenther started attending the First Unitarian Church of Victoria at age 10, and he’s sung in the choir, edited the newsletter, managed the website, and is currently serving as a Sunday Service Associate and on the Board at North Shore Unitarian Church in Vancouver. He is an award-winning comedian and has appeared in the Just For Laughs Northwest Comedy Festival and Comedy Waste Festival. He has toured a five-star show to fringe festivals across North America and was runner-up for Best Comedy at the Victoria Fringe.