Capital Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.

Now that the Gay Rights Movement has led to the legalization of same-sex marriage in nine states and the District of Columbia, it is time to re-examine the history of this practice and recover past precedents.

This talk examines diverse evidence of the existence of same-sex marriages in North America from the 16th century through the twentieth century. Unfortunately memory of this history of marital variability has been erased, owing in part to the tendency of contemporary descriptions to describe such unions as “impossible.” The rhetoric of impossibility allowed communities to accommodate couples who transgressed the rule that marriage should be cross-sexed, without redefining the category of marriage.

Rachel Hope Cleves is Associate Professor of History at the University of Victoria. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America (Oxford University Press, 2013), which examines the lives of two ordinary women who lived in an extraordinary same-sex marriage in Vermont, from 1807 to 1851. Originally from New York City, Cleves is a happy transplant to B.C.’s beautiful capital city.

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.

What came first: the chicken, the egg, or the Easter Bunny? Join us as we resurrect the sources of our European spring festival traditions!

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.

In Buddhism, one begins with the human predicament in order to grow into a more satisfying life.

“When one studies Buddhism, one studies the self; when one studies the self, one forgets the self; when one forgets the self, one is enlightened by all things.” Great Master Dogen (1200 – 1253 AD)

Rev. Master Meiten McGuire was originally a clinical psychologist and educator in both the US and Canada. She has been a Buddhist monastic in her Soto Zen order for 33 years and teaching on Vancouver Island for the past 10.  She is a member of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives, and a Resident Teacher of the Vancouver Island Zen Sangha.

Coodinator: Amanda S Tarling

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.

Dr Rippin is a Professor of Islamic History at the University of Victoria, he is a specialist in the Qur’an and the history of its interpretation.  Dr Rippin authored the textbook “Muslims: their religious beliefs and practices”.

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.

As part of SPARK! Circus, Karina Strong, founder of VestaFire Entertainment, travelled to Thailand in 2012 with her family (Kevin, Jenna (8) and Caden (3)) to bring a circus experience to Burmese refugee children. Using multi-media, Karina and Kevin will share the stories of this mission to bring a little joy and playfulness to underprivileged children they met and the impact it had on her own family. Karina is a member of First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo.

Attention all Visitors, Members and Friends! Please come for ‘coffee’ and conversation in the alcove at James Bay Coffee and Books at 143 Menzies St. The coffee and topic are as you like it.