July 6 – Reflections on
Discernment Speakers: The Board of Directors, First
Unitarian Church
Service Leader: Mel Webber
Music: June Caskey
In mid-2007 our Church made a commitment to
undertake a discernment process as a congregation. We have
just finished a series of congregational retreats that
started in December. What is the purpose of our journey and
where is it taking us? Your Board will present this service
in an effort to contribute to transparency and bring clarity
to the discernment process.
July 13 – All I Really Know About
Being a Universalist I Learned From My Dog
Speaker: Mark Zenchuck
Service Leader: Roy Dahl
Music: Mark Zenchuck and Roy Dahl
Some of us identify strongly with the Universalist side of
our faith’s duality, yet it receives little press in
comparison to our Unitarian pedigree. Today, Universalism
gets the spot light and what better educators on the subject
could we possibly find then our own canine companions? When
it comes to walking the talk here, perhaps we should all be
more like those people whose dogs take them for a walk.
Please bring your dogs as they will be an integral part of
this service!
July 20 – Happiness as a Spiritual
Practice
Speaker: Don McFadyen
Service Leader: Jennifer Kaye
Music: Jim Barrett
What is happiness? Does it depend on circumstances? Does it
come from inside? This service will explore the idea that
the practices relevant to the pursuit of true happiness
parallel those practices essential to spiritual development.
We will discover that happiness is an engaging and
accessible spiritual pathway.
July 27 – Is There Nothing You
Would Die for?
Speaker: Bill Johnston
Service Leader: Leslie Kaye
Music: Cathy Grisé, Joanne Dear and The
Hamilton First Summer Choir
This question comes from James Reeb, one of hundreds of
Unitarian Universalists who risked their lives in 1965 to
join Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama, to march for
voting rights for African Americans. Robert Hemstreet, one
of our former Hamilton First ministers (1964–68), was among
them. Two brave UUs were murdered before the march ended.
Through the story of this extraordinary moment in UU
history, we'll explore core values, ultimate commitments and
moral courage.
August 3 – Change Yourself, Change
Your Community, Change the World
Speaker: Kevin MacKay
Service Leader: Jennifer Kaye
Music: Pamela Marques Sky Dragon Co-Op
Founder and Mohawk College professor Kevin MacKay focuses on
how we can take responsibility for the life and world we
want. Kevin combines theories of social change with personal
experiences as an activist and community organizer. Through
discovering responsibility, creativity and solidarity, Kevin
will demonstrate how we can be catalysts for positive
change.
August 10 – Learning to Live More
Simply
Speaker: Karen Trollope-Kumar
Service Leader: Pat Dickinson
Music: Tim Versteeg
In this service, Karen Trollope-Kumar explores the
voluntary simplicity movement that is inspiring millions
worldwide to examine their lives and to pare away the
non-essential. As we embrace a philosophy of living more
simply, we allow space for lives of greater depth and grace.
August 17 – From Racovia to Walden
Pond: Unitarians and Utopias
Speaker: Tim Versteeg
Service Leader: Michelle Corbeil
Music Ministry: Mary Ann Forbes and Jim Barrett
In 1569, during a period of religious tolerance in
Poland, a group of Unitarians founded the town of Raków,
which for almost a hundred years was a centre of progressive
religious thinking in Reformation Europe. Almost 300 years
later, in 1845, Henry David Thoreau began his experiment at
Walden Pond, the story of which still inspires Unitarians
and non- Unitarians alike. As Unitarians we are called to
make the most of our lives and our world. These two stories
from our history illustrate how collectively and
individually we have attempted to make our “heaven” on
Earth.
August 24 – Harry Potter: A How-To
Guide on Speaking Truth to Power Service
Leaders: Professors Kulcher,
Miklos, Silverglen and
Steinbergs
Music: Voices and Songs of Freedom from Across the Globe
This Intergenerational Service will explore our
relationship with power by examining how J.K. Rowling's
Harry Potter saga speaks directly to our Unitarian
principles of justice, equity, liberty and democracy. Come
dressed as your favourite Harry Potter character or real
life freedom fighter. Arrive early so the Sorting Hat can
assign you to your Hogwart's School House. Bring an amulet
of power to place in our cauldron for a special ritual. Hear
inspirational stories about real children and youths who
have valiantly fought against abuses of power.
August 31 – Music For Its Own Sake
Music Minister: Rachel Derry
Service Leader: Beverly Horton
Music: Various members, adherents and friends of the
congregation
This is our special end of summer all music service, where
the many musicians in our community share their many gifts.
If you are interested in participating in this service
please contact Rachel Derry, our church’s Music Director, at
rachel@firstunitarianchurch.org by no later than August 24.
|