First Unitarian Congregation Of Ottawa

How can gratitude make a difference in our lives and the lives of those around us? Come explore how to develop an "attitude of gratitude". Sharmila Khare has been involved in Unitarian congregations in Canada, the United States and India for many years. She enjoys contributing to worship services.

For a long time, First Unitarian has been an official “Welcoming Congregation” to people who identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer. Are we still as welcoming as we want to be? For our newer members, let’s explore what that designation means for both our individual members, for the church, and for the wider community.

The British scientist JBS Haldane is credited with saying the universe is not only stranger than we imagine but stranger than we can imagine. Rev. Barnaby Feder, a former technology reporter for The New York Times, explores where such a perspective leads us when we consider the intersection of technology, faith and our UU principles. Rev. Barnaby Feder is a lifelong Unitarian from the San Francisco Bay Area. As a reporter, including 27 years at the New York Times, he often wrote about environmental, technology and business topics. He has been the minister of the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society in Middlebury, Vt., for the past three years.

While laughter is wonderful medicine, is mirth as a way to enlightenment or to our connection with the mystery? Come and join Amanda as we ponder ways to deepen our spirituality and connection through laughter. Amanda Tarling lives in Victoria and is an active member of Capital Unitarian Universalist Congregation. She is slowly working on courses at Starr King School for the Ministry with the eventual goal of becoming a Unitarian Minister. Amanda is the Lay Minister of the Salt Spring Island Fellowship working with them once a month in the pulpit and once a month for a coffee morning or workshop.

The possibility of using humour as a strategy to confront fear · small and large but particularly in the climate of fear of crime, terrorism promoted by recent events. Fear leads to overwhelm or paralysis and mitigate against rationality. Humour can also be a tool for social justice. Susan Tanner is an environment and social justice advocate, mother of 2 sons, 2 step daughters, 6 step grandchildren and a retired executive, lawyer, tribunal member, mediator, teacher, model, clown and cow hand.

Forget what you think you know about climate change - what causes it, and how we will solve it. This sermon tackles a problem so large it may mean the end of humans as a species; with roots so profound that it calls us to question how we live, how we love, and what we are willing to do to save ourselves - and even if we are worth saving at all. But if we are up to the task, climate change could be the opportunity we have been waiting for to change everything and create the world we want! Asha grew up attending church here and now lives in Guelph. She is an aspiring farmer and believes in the power of small-scale, sustainable farming to help create a post-carbon economy. She loves growing food, hanging out with pigs, and dreaming of a better world.

The guest speaker for our annual Sunday service celebrating National Aboriginal Day will be Gilbert Whiteduck, former chief of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Nation. Gilbert Whiteduck will speak about the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and on how we can nurture the opportunities that are now presented to all of us.

There are many ways to say goodbye and each time we move on in life, more ways are created. Each way implies their own shades of emotion. Sadness, happiness, reluctance, or a mixture of many things. As Jacob prepares to leave the congregation after 3 years there are many goodbyes to be said. Come hear the goodbyes and say goodbye yourself.

Caroline is a Quaker, author, poet, celebrator and visual artist. Educated in the USA, she volunteered and married an Englishman in South India, taught in England, and emigrated to Canada in 1973, where Evalyn Parry and Richard Reed Parry, both multi-talented artists themselves, were born. A freelance performer since young adulthood, Caroline emerged from the mid-life crisis of sudden widowhood into new roles, and was the Interim Director of Religious Education [Lifespan] at Ottawa First from 2002-05; she also held that role at the First UU Church of Columbus, Ohio, from 2006-08. This is the seventh and final year she has served the Unitarian Church of Montreal as part-time DRE. In 2013 she published her spiritual memoir, The Heron Spirals: A Commonplace Book; as well as giving the annual keynote lecture at Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends (Quakers). She will draw on both of these for her sermon. Caroline loves her Britannia home and looks forward to not-just-the-summers in Ottawa once a

Guest Speaker Susan Walsh is the Executive Director of the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada. Susan will inform us of the guiding principles and current projects of one of Canada’s most prominent international aid agencies, which happens to have been started in our church basement.

Can you name our national bird? If so, you are psychic! We don’t have one yet. However, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society is working to change that, and has set 2017, the year of our sesquicentennial, as its deadline. As we approach Earth Day, let’s consider how birds speak to our soul and character.

Ever second-guessed a career choice? Ever considered a dramatic change in your work? Wanda Morris is the CEO of Dying with Dignity, the national organization working to stop unwanted suffering at end-of-life. But before she became a social activist, she had a very different role: she was an ambitious young Chartered Accountant intent on making it in the corporate world. If you want to know how dying with dignity ties into our Unitarian values, or if you are wondering about your own life’s work, come and be enlightened, informed and inspired!

Rabbi Elizabeth Bolton, of the Or Haneshamah Jewish Reconstructionish congregation, shares her perspective on the existence of God. The OrH, as a member of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, hosts bi-monthly Shabbat services under our roof on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month, September through June.

The life of Henry David Thoreau provides inspiration in a multitude of perspectives. As we transition out of 2014 and move toward 2015, how might his example and his wisdom inform us?

Chaque année, nous presentons une service francaise au chandelles â 22h, sur la Veille de Noël.

Starting in 1985, Child Haven has helped several thousand formerly destitute children, while trying to follow six Gandhian principles: Non-violence, vegetarianism, no recognition of caste, boys and girls equal, simple living, no religious conversion. He will tell stories about the children.

Peter Dinsdale is COO of The Assembly of First Nations. AFN is a national advocacy organization representing First Nation citizens in Canada, which includes more than 900,000 people living in 634 First Nation communities and in cities and towns across the country. Here, Peter briefly discusses the reconciliation and reconstitution of First Nations people.

Ann Eriksson is a marine biologist and novelist. Gary Geddes is a poet. They live together on Thetis Island, British Columbia. Their literary work is engaged in questions of how our comforts are provided and at whose expense. Gary writes: For me, poetry is a healing art, an art whose rhythms and images somehow fly beneath the radar, nest in the ear and make their way into our bone marrow. I also agree with Lao Tzu that we need to speak to the wound in each other, if sharing and healing are to take place in any meaningful way. This year Ms Eriksson published her fourth novel: "High Clear Bell of Morning". Mr. Geddes latest book of poetry, What Does a House Want?" was also published this year.

We know what we have to do, but we·re not doing it. Why not? What is stopping us? Is the problem out there·with the politicians? Or is it within ourselves? If we are committed to spiritual growth, what spiritual characteristics do we need to develop in order to face the challenges of climate change and the political and economic state of the world?

Join us to explore themes of forgiveness, acceptance, and grace in the parable of The Prodigal Son through the voices of its three main figures.