We are gathering in person and on Zoom this Sunday at 10:30am!
We are closing out our active season of congregational life with a bang! The Friendship and Healing weekend begins Friday at 7:00pm with a time of Healing and Remembrance for children who attended residential schools, commemorated with the planting of a butternut tree on our property. Saturday we light the sacred flame, visit indigenous vendors and enjoy the spectacular drumming and dancing of the All First Nations Dancers and end on Sunday with the service and vendors on the lawn. Our eighth principle calls us to accountably dismantle systems of oppression and this event is a small step in working with our indigenous neighbours to promote better ways of being together.
At our Sunday service at 10:30am, we will offer smudging to people as they enter the Great Hall. Smudging is a traditional form of spiritual cleansing, using smoke from white sage. If you are unable to participate in the smudging, an alternate entrance is available. Barry Gilbert will offer insight into the wisdom of Tecumseh and i will speak to UU points of connection with Tecumseh’s words.
Sunday Services Zoom Link
Time: 10:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88155648070
Meeting ID: 881 5564 8070
Phone In via: 647-374-4685
The YouTube livestream of the Service will also be available to subscribers to the UCM channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD8jh9eDfIPsl51oMKSpqPw?view_as=subscriber
Please be aware our livestream is public. Although it is unlikely for you to appear, if you want to ensure you are not visible please keep your video off during the service.
Family Service this Sunday
On Sunday (June 19th), the story is Spirit of the Corn shared by Barry Gilbert.
Below are some additional resources focusing on similar themes. I encourage families to view these resources while keeping principles 1, 2, and 7 in mind.
Principle 1: The inherent worth and dignity of every person/Everyone is important
Principle 2: Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations/Everyone should be treated fairly and kindly
Principle 7: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part/We must care for our planet Earth, the home we share with all living things
- Origin Stories from Canadian Museum of History (Exhibition)
- Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Website)
- The Story of Chief Tecumseh from CBC (Video)
- Lumaajuuq (Animation)
We encourage all families to attend in-person this Sunday. Come and enjoy a service that honours local Indigenous culture. Junior youth and youth will head out after the service for a closing spiritual activity and return to the Great Hall at 12:15. Junior Youth will be in the Meditation Room with Cassandra Ferworn. Youth will be in the Barn with Neal denHollander.
Friendship Weekend: You are Invited!
A design for the Pride Bench has been decided on! You are invited to take part in transforming the bench and setting up the Little Free Library on Saturday, June 18th. This activity will be taking place in the corner of the parking lot near the Barn. Feel free to drop in and paint between 10 am and 3 pm.
Caitlyn
This is our last in-person service for this year. We are at rest next Sunday, and then resume services on-line with our sibling Ontario congregations.
I look forward to being together this Sunday!
Blessings,
Fiona