Message from Rev. Rita

Dear friends,
A monarch caterpillar is meant to transform into a monarch butterfly. It is the nature of its being. And that transformation can only take place within the womb of a chrysalis, where the cells of the caterpillar break down completely into a soupy mass. And in that mass, there are cells called imaginal discs, present in the body of the caterpillar but inactive until the breakdown, until the possibility of re-forming and transforming is ready. This is not a storybook transformation, where a toad kissed becomes the enchanted prince released. This is not magic but rather the beautiful reality of natural processes. The monarch caterpillar is beautiful, as is the monarch butterfly. The worm passes through what might be thought ugly and messy in order to become the butterfly that has always been latent and possible. The ugly caterpillar soup is really beautiful, too, life-giving and life-sustaining, necessary to the act of transformation.
 
Butterflies are good metaphors for congregational change, obviously. May we know that the past is beautiful. May we know that a future built from the past is beautiful. May we know that the act of transforming, though messy and heart-wrenching, is beautiful, too, because it is the way that a congregation keeps living by changing. It is the way a church meets the current needs of its community while deepening and expanding as a new church ready for the social and cultural, the religious and spiritual realities of the future. May we hold each other in compassion and companionship as we become anew.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/caterpillar-butterfly-metamorphosis-explainer/

Rev. Rita

Rev. Rita Away
Rev. Rita will be taking vacation November 22-24 for American thanksgiving. Please contact the office or Board Co-Presidents Alex Ferworn and Joan Hill in her absence. Rev. Rita will take a Study Leave November 27-December 1. She is available for emergencies and urgent business during that time.

Usually Rita plans to be at the Congregation Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10:00 am
to 6:00 pm. Appointments are encouraged. 

Meet our new Interim Minister!

Rev. Dr. Rita Capezzi is an American citizen, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, having moved to Buffalo, New York in 1994 when she was hired as an English professor at Canisius University. After a long and happy career involving teaching, administration, advising, and immersion-learning travel, Rita answered a call to Unitarian Universalist ministry, attending Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, Illinois 2015-2018 and serving the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Mankato, Minnesota 2018-2023. She was ordained in 2018 and reached Full Fellowship with the UUA in 2022.
 
Rita has been married to her spouse, Jeff Lowry, for 42 years and has two children, a son (33) who lives with his partner in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a daughter (29) who lives with her partner in Buffalo. The family includes six cats across the three households. They all enjoy camping, hiking, and cooking together. Both Rita and Jeff have extended family in the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania area. They are pleased to return to Buffalo and are busy closing on a house and making a home with many close friends nearby. Rita is thrilled to be serving UCM in this interim time of reflection, transition, and possibility.

Half-Timers

Do you feel you’re at the halfway point of your life and feel pulled by caring for aging parents and your family? Do you want to get together for dinner to build new connections? Come join the half-timer’s dinner. (This is pay your own dinner.)  We are meeting at 6:30 pm on Nov 30th. Restaurant in Port Credit to be confirmed. Please let Mara Bullock know so reservations can be made. Send a text to 416-464-1849 or email to mara@bullockuniverse.ca.
 
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/kristallnacht

2024 Canvass Update

The days are getting shorter and so too is the time left to complete the annual canvass. Since Canvass Sunday on November 5 most of our members have already responded generously. The Canvass target is $160,000 and we are now at almost 81% of this goal.

As of November 22nd the amount pledged was $128,842 from 55 members and families. Of these 21 are increases and 3 are new pledges. We thank all of you so much for your generosity and commitment, especially in this year of economic constraint and high inflation.

We expect approximately another 15 pledges. We politely request those members to please send them in as soon as possible. Every amount helps, large or small. We would be thrilled to close off the campaign by the end of November as the Finance Committee needs to finalize the 2024 budget.

Giving to UCM is one way to invest in our principles, to support our mission to deepen our spirit, nurture community and act for an equitable, sustainable world. Your operating pledge shows a pride in and support for this community. It ensures that all essential activities are provided for and we will continue to thrive into our 70th year.

We encourage everyone to read the Suggested Fair Share Contribution Guide when you are considering your pledge this year. Please pledge electronically using the on-line pledge form https://uucm.ca/pledge-operating-2024/ or mail/drop your pledge form off at the church. Payments are encouraged by pre-authorized debit or other bank transfers on line.

Pre-authorized payments - for those of you who donate monthly through a PAD, we request that you complete the 2024 pledge form, as we do not continue your payments into next year without your authorization. Please note if you pay by e-Transfer you will need to update your banking information to UCM’s new email: ucm.payment@gmail.com

If you have questions about Canvass please email donations@uucm.ca. We thank everyone for your financial contributions, your time spent volunteering and the talents you share with us.
Geoff Cliffe-Phillips, Canvass Committee

Donations to UCM

Please note that we have changed the email address for e-transfers to UCM.  It is now ucm.payment@gmail.com.  If you have sent e-transfers to UCM in the past, please update the e-transfer contacts section in your online banking website.

If.you.would.like to make a financial contribution electronically to UCM, please do so at: https://uucm.ca/donation/
or via bank transfer to ucm.payment@gmail.com

Please indicate whether these funds are for the current year or next year’s Operating Budget or for some other purpose. Thank you for your generosity.

Has Your Contact Info Changed?

Have you moved recently? Changed your email address or phone number? Please remember to let Tisa in the UCM office know so that we can keep such information current: admin@uucm.ca

The Transition Team

The team consisting of: Wendy Shusterman, Charmaine Ferworn, Sheila Bjarnason and Susan Haugen meet with Rev Rita every two weeks.

Communication is vital to the work of the team and updates will continue to appear in the Shining Chalice. We will also make use of the bulletin board and the website to ensure the congregation is “in the loop".
The board will hold an information session in the new year to provide details on forming a Settled Minister Search Committee, as per the UUA guidelines. Please direct your questions or comments to any member of the team.

Wendy Shusterman, Chair

Celebrating a Life Event?  

We have an exciting new section in our Shining Chalice. All are invited to let our Office Administrator Tisa know if you are celebrating a life event you would like to share with everyone. This could include but not limited to -  birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, school graduations, and births.  Details, such as age, are entirely up to you to include.

Send submissions to Tisa at admin@uucm.ca. Let's all share in our joy!

Special Events Checklist
Effective June 1st, 2023

The.Board.is pleased to announce that effective June 1st, there is a new special events checklist to use.

Please submit this form at least four weeks before any specials event being planned at UCM. This will help ensure that there will be enough time for the appropriate Committees to support your event, and therefore, for things to go smoothly. We are asking that requests for floats and cheques prepared for guest speakers be made at least three weeks in advance (not a few days before an event - this is not enough time).

Copies are available through Committee Chairs, and hard copies are in the mail room as well.

Thanks!
Brenda Poole

Safe Step

In.the.spirit of healing and growing, we would like to highlight the Safe Steps policy created by the Unitarian Congregation in Mississauga. If you feel like you need to speak to anyone about situations that have happened, the Safe Steps policy can point you in the right direction.

The Reverend Mark Mosher DeWolfe Sermons

We.have.created a collection of webpages on our UCM website featuring The Reverend Mark Moshe DeWolfe sermons. This is such a wonderful opportunity to showcase his sermons as many Unitarians all through Canada and the States admire him. You will be able to listen, read and see some annotated or handwritten sermons in PDFs. We have approximately 50 sermons to upload so come back and check frequently. Enjoy!
Please visit www.uucm.ca/mark-dewolfe-sermons/
Brigitte Twomey