Newsletter of the Canadian Unitarian Council Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

unitarianthe canadian

web edition

Let

ScientiStS

Speak

One of the core principles promoted by congregations of the cUc is a “free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” this is key to realizing the other principles, such as promoting

“the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process…”, “the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all”, and “respect for the interdependent web of all existence….” to make the search for truth and meaning effective, especially for such important issues as the preservation of our environment, biodiversity, and climate change, the public requires access to the best and latest results of scientific inquiry.

admittedly, scientific results are rarely if ever the final truth, and biased reporting is not un-common for research paid for by commercial interests. However, there is an established procedure in science, one involving peer review, verification and reproducibility of published results, and ample opportunity for scientific debate and challenge, that has proven an effective if not always efficient path to a reliable base for new knowledge and inquiry.

public institutions and governments are the main source of funding for untainted research, and research for which there is little prospect of direct industrial application. the public needs and deserves access to the scientists and their results involved in this research, and in this tech-nically-advanced society, that access should be immediate—not subject to weeks of bureaucratic review. increasingly common attempts by governments to constrain information that may run counter to political objectives, and to tailor scientific communication from its scientists to serve their agendas, are damaging and counter-productive.

in order to evaluate scientific reports and understand what constitutes peer-reviewed consen-sus, the public needs unbiased reporting that is free of political, commercial, and religious bias. in 2006, just months after the Harper government came into power, it advocated as its no. 1 policy statement for government communications (according to the treasury Board) to: “provide the public with timely, accurate, clear, objective and complete information about its policies, programs, services and initiatives.” Unfortunately, this policy has been counter-mandated by more recent directives and actions.

it used to be that government scientists were encouraged to share their results with the public, and journalists could simply call the scientists for clarification and elaboration. Furthermore, the 15 journals of the national Research council would issue regular

press releases about results of interest or concern to the public. However, that has all changed during the past three years, according to articles on the cBc news’

website and in several newspapers. in 2008, new government rules required that press releases have prior approval of the privy council, and carolyn

Brown, the former manager of nRc journals, reported that when submitted for approval, her routine press releases were being

rejected or delayed by months, so as to become use-less. after a few such frustrating experiences,

she decided it was not worth the effort to prepare the releases, and

she resigned her position.

http://www.cuc.ca/canuISSN 0527-9860

The Canadian Unitarian is the newsletter of the Canadian Unitarian Council. It is free to all mem-bers for whom the CUC has a current address.* The Canadian Unitarian reports on newsworthy events in the denomination, including the annual conference each spring. It attempts to reflect all segments of Unitarianism and Universalism in Canada. We welcome all submissions; however publication is based on the criteria of newsworthi-ness, relevance to readers, length, and balance. Signed letters to the editor will be included, after being edited for length and content.

* Non-members can subscribe to The Canadian Unitarian for $15 CDN or US. Send name, address, and cheque to CUC office.

Canadian Unitarian CouncilConseil unitarien du Canada

100-344 Dupont Street Toronto, ON M5R 1V9

Toll-free 1.888.568.5723Phone 416.489.4121Email info@cuc.ca

Opinions expressed in The Canadian Unitar-ian are those of the contributors. Sources and numerical values reported within articles have been verified by the authors.

Unitarianthe canadian

Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

Printed on Canadian-made, acid-free,

recycled paper (100% post-consumer fibre)

the case of natural Resources canada Geoscientist Scott Dallimore and the week-long delay in his permission to discuss results published in the international jour-nal Nature (about flooding in northern canada some 13,000 years ago) was widely reported. it was strongly criticized in Nature, itself, by kathryn O’Hara, president of the canadian Science Writers association. according to O’Hara, access to informa-tion requests showed a policy enacted in March 2010 that, “stipulates that all federal scientists must get pre-approval from their minister’s office before speaking to journal-ists who represent national or international media. the pre-approval process requires time-consuming drafting of questions and answers, scrutinized by as many as seven people, before a scientist can be given the go-ahead by the minister’s staff.”

O’Hara concluded in her Nature editorial, “there is a need to return to a procedure that served us well in the past. it means working without cumbersome and propa-gandistic media lines, and trusting that scientists, journalists and press officers know what they are doing, are good at their respective jobs and will not work from a script that restricts the spirit of inquiry or accountability. access to scientific evidence that informs policy is not a luxury. it is an essential part of our right to know.”

More recently, as reported in The Globe and Mail (February 2, 2011), water expert prof. Helen ingram resigned from the alberta oil-sands panel that was formed to monitor environmental concerns, partially because there were so few scientists on the panel but also because all communications from the panel had to pass through, and be cleared by, the office of environment Minister Rob Renner.

the present federal government has shown an almost fanatical drive to control all messages coming from its agencies, and to ignore or act contrary to the best advice of its professional civil servants. Other examples have been seen in its reversal of policies by the canadian nuclear Safety commission, Statistics canada policy on census long forms, the canadian Radio and television commission on internet providers, and actions contrary to advice of three national police organizations on gun registrations, to studies of drug addiction on safe inoculation sites, as well as to the preponderance of scientific research on correctional programs and rehabilitation, and ciDa advice on the funding of international aid organizations.

the muzzling of government-funded scientists has several detrimental effects.

it denies the public access to important information that they in fact funded, infor-• mation that may be critical in judging dangers of climate change, stem-cell research, use of gene manipulation, or the need to take action on a wide range of issues.

Since the reports that pass government screening are often politically manipulated, • at least in appearance if not in fact, the public has less faith in them and less motiva-tion to support government-sponsored scientific investigations.

it is a natural extension to assume that all scientific reports are politically manipu-• lated and that none can be trusted. they become viewed as mere opinions and the opposite conclusions may be equally valid. Media feel compelled to present a ‘balance’ of ‘both sides of the argument’ without regard to whether both sides are equally supported by evidence or scientific consensus. this enables funded special interest groups to raise doubts or cynicism about any damaging science reports. it blinds the public to the nature of the scientific process and represents a serious disservice to the search for truth.

the critical evaluation of scientific results is challenging but necessary for a well-functioning society. any message manipulation by government officials for political or profit incentive undermines the critical service that scientific research can provide to society.

Bill Baylis, for the Social Responsibility Committee

Unitarian Universalist Church of Olinda, Ruthven, on

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Canadian Unitarian CoUnCil Board oF trUStEES and StaFF

PresidentGary Groot

Vice-PresidentEllen Campbell

TreasurerJohn Michell

Secretary Glenda Butt

Social Responsibility Liaisonleslie Kemp

Curtis Murphy

rev. Jessica Purple rodela

Kristina Stevens

Minister Observerrev. Kathy Sage

Youth ObserverMicaela Corcoran

Executive Director Jennifer dickson

Congregational Servies Programmer, Central RegionHelen armstrong

Office AdministratorKaren Claney

Youth and Young Adult Programmerariel Hunt-Brondwin

Congregational Services Programmer, Eastern RegionKelly Mcdowell

Director of Resource DevelopmentKatheen Provost

Director of Finance Philip Strapp

Director of Congregational Services linda thomson

Communications DirectorBen Wolfe

Congregational Services Programmer, the West and British Columbia rev. antonia Won

tHE Canadian Unitarian

Editorraquel rivera

Graphic DesignerKim Chua

Issue ProofreadersWarren Scott, Stu Whitney

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Better representation at the United NationsCanadian UUs will be gratified to learn that the CUC has signed an agreement to play a bigger role in Unitarian influence at the United Nations.

the agreement between the Unitarian Uni-versalist association of Congregations (UUa) and the CUC allows for, among other things, a designated CUC staff person assigned to Canadian participation in United Nations

activities; Canadian-centred communications and a Canadian advsory Council; seats on a new advisory council for the new UU-UNo de-partment of the UUa; and control of Canadian financial matters.

as CUC executive Director Jennifer Dickson put it: “Canadian UU values and the values of liberal religion will have more impact in a world that needs them!”

although currently in the netherlands, i’ve belonged to various fellowships and churches in canada prior to 1998.

i very much enjoyed what executive Director Jennifer Dickson said about the responsibilities of fellowships and churches across canada in The CanU summer 2010.

author erich Fromm warned of the pitfalls of abandoning our own power and responsibility in his book, Escape from Freedom.

to have spelled out very clearly what the role of the cUc can be, versus the desires of some to enter a dependant relationship, can only set the stage for the long-term health of all involved!

Hank Hulsbergen

i have hopes that two sensibilities will be ad-dressed in [this issue’s] spread on canada’s relationship to natural resources:

a reminder that canada’s aboriginal sha-1. mans routinely honour that which is around us. a shaman begins a ceremony by directly acknowledging various elements. For exam-ple, “we name the bees, they who fertilize flowers bringing us fruit and who bring us honey.”

in leaving a legacy or donating to a conserva-2. tion fund, i’d like to be able to compare these funds. For instance i am interested in groups that set lands and waters aside to remain

undisturbed. But i do not know relative track records: successes, failures, percentages of overhead, other.

Mike Curtis,Vancouver, bc

in response to “Seed Saving to Feed the World” in the spring 2011 issue, i certainly admire the good intentions behind this and similar articles. However, such simplistic and polemical ac-counts of complex problems do a disservice.

claiming corporations and capitalism are the primary cause of mental health problems, and making primitive agriculture the answer to food security, are questionable propositions at best. i would hope we could explore issues with more balance, and sometimes even celebrate the ways in which our society is the best realization of our basic ideals that has ever existed.

Gary Duim,Peterborough, on

To be precise, the article claimed that massive farmer suicides in India could be blamed on the failure of genetically-engineered crops, and proposed that the loss of seed diversity was a threat to food security.

But we second your call for balance and welcome all submissions. --Editor

Letters to the editor

4 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

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Looking Upstream

When i was in my early twenties, i worked as a medical doctor in charge of a hospital in what was then Zaire—often treating illnesses that would be easily prevented in canada. i remember at one point being overwhelmed by huge numbers of newborns dying of tetanus. When i visited the region where the infections were coming from, i found that villagers had started putting cow dung on the umbilical stumps of all the newborns to make the cord fall off more quickly.

Finding the source of the neonatal tetanus and putting an end to it was my first ex-perience in what is known as ‘upstream’ work—finding the root source of an issue and changing the system to appropriately address it. Unlike much of the work i was doing in Zaire, my work with those villagers involved no dramatic surgeries or miracle medi-cations. in fact it didn’t even look like the normal practice of medicine. My job was to be patient, to observe, and to engage people in conversation. But the results were more effective and broad-reaching than the treatment of the individual cases that lined our hospital corridors. Systems matter.

churches and church organizations are systems too. at the same time as the day-to-day tasks need to be done, someone needs to take up the challenge of stepping back from the busyness of all that work to think ‘upstream’. that is the kind of work that the cUc Board is charged with doing. it takes patience—on our part and on yours—as we endeavour to know the diverse group that we serve. But like the preventative work in Zaire, the results can be significant—even transformative.

in Zaire, seeing small infants die of preventable illness was the impetus for me to look upstream to find out why. a deep belief in the value of our liberal religious tradition for our society today was the impetus for me to serve on the cUc Board—to look upstream in addressing our potential.

at the same time as you have seen (and will continue to see) the return of services to congregations with the hiring of new staff, your Board is looking upstream to try to discern needed improvements or corrections to these services. We must examine needs, but also how we address those needs as we work to fulfill our mission of “growing vital religious communities in canada”. We on the Board do not take this charge lightly and we know that it is something that we cannot do in isolation. Our job requires that we have patience, observe the system carefully, and engage people in conversation.

a significant part of this conversation will occur at the upcoming symposium on spir-itual leadership next May. We look forward to learning together what effective spiritual leadership might look like, and how that might re-align the priorities of the cUc. i ask everyone involved—both our ministers and the various lay leaders alike—to participate in our chorus of dynamic community building, both at the symposium itself and in conversations leading up to it.

i am in awe of the community we have as canadian UUs and the excellent work that has been done over the last 50 years in canada. i am confident that, with your help and patience, the canadian Unitarian council—our national organization—can and will serve to build on past successes and provide the necessary tools to ensure the growth of vital religious communities over next 50 years and beyond.

Gary Groot,president,canadian Unitarian council

President’s message

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message from the executive Director

Society and Spirit

this edition of The Canadian Unitarian demonstrates again the commitment to independ-ent thinking shared by Unitarian Universalists across canada and beyond. Our diversity of views reflects canada’s political reality, a concept we embrace, protect, and often work with courage and integrity to enhance.

i am by nature politically optimistic, and believe that we have in canada a broad culture and tradition of pluralism that equips us to contribute to the new world. and it is my view that Unitarianism brings spiritual vitality to this tradition, and might therefore bring to the world a more positive pluralistic vision of the future than we may have seen so far.

You’ll see several consequential issues discussed in this edition of The CanU. the cover story calls for an effective and meaningful search for truth in the free discussion of results from scientific inquiry—especially critical for information on the preservation of our environment, biodiversity, and climate change. You’ll also see discussion on,

the legacy of uranium mining that continues to haunt northern communities•

stewardship and sustainability of natural habitats•

whether canada wastes its natural resources•

the connection between natural resource exploration and our demand•

and many other thoughtful articles and viewpoints on environmentally sensitive issues, generously shared by Unitarian Universalists and friends from across the country.

as well as these, we here at the cUc are approached directly with ideas and advocacy that appeal to our social consciousness and desire to help change challenging circum-stances. Recent requests for UU intervention include:

a request that canadian UUs speak up for positive change for canada’s factory-farmed • animals. agriculture and agri-Food canada is inviting canadians to comment on Growing Forward 2, their proposed policy framework that will define the future of agriculture in our country. Unfortunately they are still ignoring the very serious impact that current farming practices have on animals, your health, and the planet. this is an opportunity for Unitarians throughout canada to speak to agri-Food canada about our concerns around food production in our country. Fellow Unitarian Henry Bergh (1813-1888) was the founder of aSpca and the Society for the prevention of cruelty to children. Send a letter and stand up for farm animals now. the deadline for receipt of responses has been extended to September 30.

the Government of canada is looking for congregations (constituent Groups) to take • on available refugee sponsorships from iraq. they are willing to fast-track a number of these cases but they need sponsorship groups.

as well, the cUc has been awarded intervener status on two current appeal court cases, • one concerning the issue of free speech in relation to sexual conduct, and the other a constitutional challenge to s.241(b) of the criminal code (which currently penalizes assistance with suicide by up to 14 years incarceration).

as together and individually we consider, engage, refute, and address these and other examples of our ‘social responsibility’ commitments, let’s think about how they might (or might not) impact, be better supported by, and strengthen our local, regional, and national mission and purpose.

6 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

continued from page 5

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CUC Board of trustees

Front row, left to right:

Curtis murphy, Glenda Butt, Leslie Kemp, ellen Campbell, and rev. Jessica Purple rodela

Back row, left to right:

John “mich’ michell, Kristina Stevens, Gary Groot, Jennifer Dickson, and John hopewell

the cUc will convene its first-ever Spiritual Leadership symposium in Ottawa next May. Delegates, trustees, ministers, religious educators, youth, and young adults will examine and explore participation and leadership, as we reflect on our vision and mission.

Through our temporary lives the great currents of history run. Let us keep the channels open and free so not to obstruct purposes greater than our own. Let us keep our minds set upon the high goals that here bind us into one sharing fellowship of loving hearts. Amen.

Rev. Carl G. Seaburg

Jennifer Dickson,executive Director,canadian Unitarian council

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United in Learning in Halifax

Fifty people gathered at the Universalist Unitarian church of Halifax for the pastoral Visitor Workshop, Unity in Learning, last april 9. that fifty people chose to be at a church workshop on a beautiful spring day is one thing; that 80% of them were not UUs is a testament to their keen interest in the subject, and proof that there are points of convergence where faith lines become blurred and common themes and issues can be identified and discussed collaboratively.

earlier in the year, the caring committee of the UU church of Halifax applied to the West trust Fund for financial support to hold an interfaith workshop. We identified that lay pastoral visiting is an important aspect of church life and that church people everywhere encounter friends, family, and church members who are ill, grieving, dying, or struggling, and who need support. in addition, it was noted that many people are uncomfortable with the idea of hospital or pastoral visiting. “i don’t know what to do” and “i don’t know what to say” are oft-overheard comments in church circles everywhere. Hence, the idea was born and nurtured: to offer a venue where one could learn basic skills, network with others in a workshop setting, and allow seed-sowing for future educational events.

With news of our successful grant application, the work lay ahead to create a well-organized event which might raise the profile of the Universalist Unitarian church of Halifax, and demonstrate that we can offer meaningful hospitality to the larger community.

planning became key and no detail was overlooked: a spring date was chosen; two gifted and complimentary co-facilitators were approached and confirmed—Rev. Dr. Susan Macalpine-Gillis, pastoral theology professor and minister at cole Harbour-Woodside United church, and Fay Louch, staff chaplain with Spiritual care at Qe ii Health Sciences center in Halifax. a vig-orous publicity campaign was launched; a handbook was created to be a take-home resource for all workshop participants; other details were addressed, such as catering, preparing workshop packages, recruiting volunteers, web registration, etc.

While we had every hope that there would be interest in the community, we had no idea just how broad that interest would turn out to be. as the central contact for registration, i was overjoyed at the enthusiastic response; the list of participants grew. We determined that 50 was the maximum number we could reasonably accept; some people were turned away because of the demand: Fay Louch is now planning two additional workshops.

On the day of the workshop, a diverse group was gathered; people from many denominations and churches (catholic, an-glican, United church of canada, evangelical Lutheran, Baptist, Baha’i, Buddhist) as well as volunteers from hospitals and other community organizations.

Rev. Fran Dearman (interim minister, UUcH) and Rev. catherine MacDonald (minister, United Memorial) began and closed the day with an interfaith prayer. Fay Louch and Susan Macalpine-Gillis made a great team and kept things flowing in a responsive style, amidst enthusiastic discussion on topics such as active listening, body language, ‘good’ and ‘not-so-good’ pas-toral visits, grief and the dying, and development of lay pastoral teams. We realized going in that this one-day workshop could only briefly touch on the topics and issues, but might serve as a catalyst for future workshops and information sessions within the community.

My personal interest in inter-denominational and interfaith collaboration probably fueled this aspect of the workshop. i believe that one key to strengthening Unitarian Universalism in canada lies in creating and seeking opportunities where local churches find common ground, allowing us to work and learn together. this not only serves to raise the UU profile, it also helps heal negative perceptions of religious institutions in our increasingly secular country. i take my lead from Unitarian adlai Stevenson’s inspiring words:

… difference, in fact, is one of the healthiest and most invigorating of human characteristics without which life would become meaningless. Here lies the power of the liberal way: not in making the whole world Unitar-ian, but in helping ourselves and others to see some of the possibilities inherent in viewpoints other than one’s own; in encouraging the free interchange of ideas; in welcoming fresh approaches to the problems of life; in urging the fullest, most vigorous use of critical self-examination.

Helen McFadyen,Universalist Unitarian Church of Halifax,

seminarian for UU ministry at the Atlantic School of Theology, and workshop organizer

8 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

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author and economist David foot gives the keynote address. 1

Jane ebbern, Liz James, and John ‘mich’ michell, in conversation.2

Gorgeous smiles from marlo turner-ritchie and Kelly mcDowell, 3 during friday’s registration.

rev. Jessica Purple rodela, opens the aCm with her sermon, “we’re 4 going to need a bigger boat”.

Junior youth enjoy some quiet time with games and crafts.5

rev. Julie Stoneberg reads the recognition of Service on Sunday, 6 with Lorna weigand.

Signing in for the youth conference, CanUUddle XI.7

Call to Sunday service: the Bucket Drummers of the regent Park 8 School of music perform outside Convocation hall.

aCm choir practice at the Church of the holy trinity, behind the 9 eaton Centre.

Sunday service at Convocation hall, University of toronto down-10 town campus.

the Knight family: sponsors of the Knight award, recognizing vol-11 unteers who have furthered UU principles at the national level.

CUC founders Phillip hewett, ‘Bunny’ turner, and Charles eddis 12 blow out CUC’s 50th anniversary birthday cake.

Celebrating 50 years of the Canadian Unitarian Council!13

acM 2011: trust the Dawning Future

10 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

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the Unitarian church of Montreal’s minister, Rev. Diane Rollert, dreamed of hosting Ysaye Barnwell and her workshop, Building a Vocal community®, since she participated in one of Ysaye’s workshops a number of years ago. it was obvious this event had touched her deeply, as it does all of those who get the chance to experience Ysaye’s work.

But doing an event like this takes a lot of planning, patience and persistence. i joined our church in January of 2010 after moving to Montreal in the previous fall. a lifelong Unitarian from the US, i’ve been a cultural activist and musician, and have produced music and art events for many years. i took up the challenge of making this event happen.

We got through the first hurdle of scheduling, always a challenge with a performer like Ysaye Barnwell, who tours as a member of the renowned Sweet Honey in the Rock, an all-women, african-american, a cappella ensemble. We found a weekend—a year from then—squeezed between some exciting events that Sweet Honey in the Rock had planned.

a year of careful planning and organizational work paid off with the production of an exciting and inspiring three days of learning and singing over the first weekend in april. More than 90 people attended, from all over canada and a few from the US.

teaching in the oral tradition, Ysaye led us in singing rhythms, chants and traditional songs from africa and the diaspora, as well as a variety of songs from african-american culture, in-cluding hymns, spirituals, ring shouts, gospel, and songs from

the civil Rights movement. the historical, social, and political context of these songs provided a framework for a deep, com-munal experience.

the workshop participants sang in a wonderful Sunday service that was filled to capacity. When you feel the walls of your church resonate and vibrate with the richness of such a chorus, you know you have witnessed and taken part in some-thing special.

people come back again and again to work with Ysaye. Her musicality is exceptional, with a vocal range spanning many octaves. She carries a rich, resonating, powerful presence and projects great patience and acceptance. Her sense of humour is evident as she shares stories, songs and her life experience. She opens others to their own sharing, and to self-examination.

So what does it bring to your church to do an event like this? the covenant between those involved in the planning and management of the event is a wonderful model—how we do the work is as important as the endpoint. For the congrega-tion and participants, it brings fun, outreach, music, and some challenges—to shake up people’s thinking and enrich their lives. Music ministry has amazing potential to carry the word and the work of UUs through canada and the world. Yes, we do have beliefs to share with the world. Let’s sing about it!

Margo Ellis, Vice-President,Unitarian Church of Montreal

“Words make you think. Music makes you

feel. a song makes you feel a thought.”

Yip Harburg (1896-1981),

American poular song lyricist

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Dans le cadre de mon travail professionnel, j’ai la chance de pouvoir intégrer trois domaines de recherche qui me tiennent à cœur : l’insertion sociale, le développement communautaire et la formation des adultes. ces passions font que je cherche inlassablement à mieux comprendre ce qui mène à la promotion d’organisations communautaires et de groupes inclusifs, ouverts sur le monde. ce questionnement, je le partage avec beaucoup de collègues et souvent on se demande pourquoi, en dépit de nos efforts répétés, nous ne semblons guère progresser.

Une analyse des facteurs en jeu dépasse de loin la portée de cet article. Je tiens simplement à indiquer qu’en dépit de certaines avancées, il n’existe pas de formule incontestable ou de méthode infaillible pour promouvoir l’inclusion. avec mes collègues, je continue à explorer de nouvelles approches et pistes de recherche.

c’est dans cet état d’esprit que j’ai décidé de tester une nouvelle démarche au printemps dernier. plutôt que d’aborder directement les questions d’inclusion, je me suis dit qu’il serait intéressant de mettre l’accent sur le sentiment d’appartenance. après tout, les communautés inclusives sont supposées favoriser le développement d’un profond sentiment d’appartenance parmi leurs membres. De plus, j’ai pensé que cette entrée en matière permettrait d’établir un point commun entre les participant/es étant donné que nous cherchons en général, d’une manière ou d’une autre, à nous identifier aux autres.

non seulement ai-je modifié le thème de mon exploration, j’ai aussi cherché à ancrer cette recherche dans un nouveau

milieu. au lieu d’engager un organisme communautaire, j’ai décidé d’insérer cette approche dans un contexte spirituel en proposant un programme exploratoire à l’association unitari-enne de peterborough.

De braves bénévoles ont accepté de se joindre à moi pour cette aventure et nous nous sommes retrouvé/es lors de cinq séances de deux heures de mars à mai 2011. cet article est trop court pour parler en détail de la série. Je ne peux offrir qu’un simple résumé de l’approche suivie. J’ai envisagé la série comme un voyage anthropologique au sein d’une contrée peu connue de l’appartenance afin de découvrir les ingrédients es-sentiels au développement d’une culture et d’une structure de l’appartenance.

J’ai retiré deux enseignements majeurs de cette exploration. en premier lieu, le thème de l’appartenance permet de créer une vision claire et imagée de ce dont on parle. Les participant/es de la série ont affirmé que pour développer un sentiment d’appartenance à un groupe, il faut y « être vu/e, entendu/e, et estimé/e ». cette définition, riche en verbes, a généré de captivan-tes conversations. L’inclusion, par contre, a tendance à engendrer des définitions plus abstraites qui limitent la capacité de certain/es participant/es à imaginer ce qui les lie directement au sujet.

cette définition introduit une autre dimension qu’il importe de noter: le lien très intime qui existe entre appartenance et amour—lien confirmé par les recherches que j’ai faites sur l’appartenance. J’en ai déduit que l’appartenance est un sujet éminemment spirituel. ce n’est pas étonnant puisque la spiritu-alité porte, entre autre, sur notre rapport avec les autres. Qu’un groupe unitarien ait éclairé cette dimension de la question de l’appartenance est tout à fait révélateur.

Qu’en conclure? cette observation me fait dire que, peut-être, ce qui manque aux travaux sur l’inclusion au sein des organismes communautaires, c’est une discussion ouverte et engagée de la dimension spirituelle du sujet. il est possible qu’en l’absence de cet aspect, on ne puisse réellement progresser. On se voit alors limité à des avancées superficielles, sans jamais pouvoir entrer dans le vif du sujet… est-ce le cas ? peut-être… c’est définitive-ment une nouvelle hypothèse qui m’interpelle.

Joëlle Favreau, Cheffe des services communautaires et du centre de

formation Compass à la YWCA Peterborough

CUC friends are special

people who help the organi-

zation meet its annual goals

through direct financial gifts.

Will you become a friend?

http://www.cuc.ca/friends

support the CuC, become a friend!nameaddresscity province postal code

I would like to donate $ Please send me more information

Thank you for your supporT

Clip and send with donation to: CUC, 100–344 Dupont Street, toronto, on, m5r 1v9

« etre vu/e, entendu/e et estimé/e »

12 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

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For me it all started when my father asked me to help him sell chocolates for the Lions’ club. it’s not the selling of chocolate that i remember; it is how it made me and others feel. i was happy to sell the chocolate because i knew what the funds raised would do for needy families; and those buying the chocolate felt like they were doing something important to help. My father was a generous man and this was one of his gifts to me.

Fundraising is the activity of soliciting and gathering con-tributions, as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. though people have fundraised for centuries, there was no course of study for fundraising when i was at school. i graduated from McGill University with a B.a. in po-litical science and a certificate in public Relations.

My real education in fundraising was acquired in the not-for-profit sector. Fundraising was an emerging profession, and i worked with professional firms who devel-oped some of today’s tools and science of fundraising. i worked with board members who challenged my thinking. all of these people gave me the gift of inspiration throughout my career.

i will always cherish the post-it note left for me by one ex-ecutive director, after a lengthy debate on methods, which also touched on my own concerns and self-doubts. to this day, when-ever things get difficult i pull it out. it simply reads, “Y not U”.

it was after managing and organizing golf tournaments, direct mail programs, and capital campaigns that i realized the idea behind fundraising is ‘philanthropy’, which directly translated from Greek, means “love of mankind.” i realized my daily work was about creating opportunities to have the same feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment as i once had when i was selling chocolates.

i became a certified Fund Raiser executive, one of the few thousands in the world. My career path took me everywhere. i managed a $15 million campaign for conservation, when ‘being green’ was very new. i raised funds with some of Quebec’s most prominent women for the YWca. i had the privilege of working with some of canada’s renowned politicians and corporate lead-ers, and raised funds for international aid at caRe canada.

You see, acts of philanthropy take many forms. they might include donating money to a charity, volunteering at a

local shelter, or raising money to donate. What is im-portant is the result. How does the person making a donation feel? How does the person asking for a donation feel? and how does the person receiving the donation feel?

i feel privileged to be a fundraiser, being able to play a role in bettering humanity. and not only do i do

this as a profession, i also strongly believe in doing it as a volunteer. So i remain involved on boards of not-for-profits,

fufilling roles over the years such as volunteer solicitor for the Soup kitchen, and volunteer Deputy national commissioner–Development with Scout canada.

i am honoured to be able to share this passion with the ca-nadian Unitarian council, its member congregations, and each individual UU. i think that together, we can continue to share our gifts and show our love by taking part in the betterment of humanity.

Kathleen A. Provost,

Director of Resources Development, Canadian Unitarian Council

Fundraising is not a profession; it is a gift i was given.

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Far left to right:

• a typical house or one-room school requires 100 batches of hand-mixed cement over the course of a two week trip.

• Building two additional classrooms for a primary school in horconcitos, honduras.

• In Guatemala and honduras, construction is considered men’s work. Seeing Canadian women building inspires the local girls, and sometimes women, and gives them licence to participate in a non-traditional activity.

Two week trips: January 14–28; February 11–25; and March 10–24, 2012Teams of 12 from across Canada.

Anyone in reasonably good health; 18 to 75+; youth under 18 travel with parent or guardian.Construction skills and Spanish not required

Work comparable to do-it-yourself renovations; requires some stamina. Billeting at the headquarters of our local partner. Warm showers, tasty meals, safely prepared, and safe water.

Costs: $2,000/person for: room, board, local transportation and construction materials.Airfare additional (typically $900 – $1,300).Costs eligible for tax receipts.

Applications available by e-mail or through the World Accord web site.$1,200 non-refundable deposit.

More Information:Richard Kirshrichardkirsh@sympatico.ca416-767-5837www.firstunitariantoronto.org/centralamericawww.worldaccord.org

Building Schools in Guatemala and Honduras

Construction Expeditions to Central America

the First Unitarian congregation of toronto has facilitated de-velopment projects in central america since 1997, with the goal of building understanding between people and improving the social, economic, and living conditions of people in the poorest areas. We do this primarily by helping with the construction of community facilities that have been requested by indigenous nGO’s in Guatemala and Honduras.

Since 1999, toronto First has worked in a rewarding partner-ship with World accord, a Waterloo based charity, and the community of christ, learning that what we have in common is more important than our differences.

to date, over 400 canadians have participated in construction expeditions, including over 100 Unitarians from 22 congregations (Saint John to Vancouver), contributing over 1,000 person-weeks of volunteer labour and $300,000 in donations for construction materials.

Volunteers have had fulfilling, first-hand experiences, working with local people in mountain communities. they’ve built more than 50 schools, training and community centers, and homes. they’ve carried and laid more blocks, mixed more cement, sifted more sand, and bent more re-bar than they thought possible. they’ve worked with the warm sun on their backs, to the sound of happy, chattering children playing —and sometimes helping too.

participants experience conditions in remote mountain com-munities where people live much like they did hundreds of years ago. they witness the difference that effective international assistance makes in people’s lives. they have the opportunity to visit the ancient Mayan city of copán. they experience deli-cious local dishes, lovingly prepared by our cook, featuring: rice, beans, tortillas, plantain and stews; juicy, field-ripened pineap-ples and tree-ripened mangos, and fresh juice. the evenings

are set aside for relaxing and enjoying the company of fellow-volunteers from across canada (who often be-

come close friends). these are quiet times, for reading a book, playing a friendly game of cards, or heading outside to enjoy the absolute night—the blackness and the sky full of stars. construction expeditions volunteers usually go to sleep early and easily.

this winter construction expeditions is planning three more family-friendly excursions, to make a positive

difference in the lives of others—and in our own.

Richard Kirsh,First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto

14 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

March 12, 2011

Victoria Times ColonistLetters to the editor

Dear Editor,

Re: No Tankers—Keep BC’s Coast Oil Tanker Free

--------------------------------------------

Hello, we are upset and concerned about the proposed

Enbridge Northern Gateway project that will bring oil

tankers to our north coast. We are afraid that an oil

spill will affect our home—the wildlife, fishing indus-

try, tourism—threatening our ecosystem.

We are the junior youth class at the First Unitarian

Church of Victoria (ages 10-13). We are the generation

that will inherit this land, and we don’t want a waste

land that is impossible to clean up.

We, the youth group, raised $360 for the Dogwood

Initiative, and are collecting signatures for their pe-

tition. Please go to the Dogwood Initiative website to

sign the petition online: http://dogwoodinitiative.org

Sincerely yours, Junior youth group, First Unitarian Church of Victoria

(Lini John-Henderson, Sean van Gessel, Timilu Fast,

Tuli Porcher, Emma Lentz, Aaron Brimacombe,

Spencer Quayle, Marin Hoh, Georgia Alexander,

Arjun Niranjanan, Keiran Marrett-Hitch)

We have wonderful teachers in our children’s program at the First Unitarian church of Victoria. Last year, when the planned curriculum for our nine to 12 year olds was not working, the teach-ers sat down with the children and asked each of them what they wanted to do at church. their answers: learn more about mythology, do crafts, explore environmental issues, go outside, and more. at first it seemed difficult to put it all together, but there was one idea that could be made to link with all the others: learn more about the ocean.

We began to weave together a new curriculum. it was multi-disciplinary, based on our Seventh principle, and woven with components from our various sources, including our Judeo-christian roots and other world religions. the group transformed; suddenly there was enthusiasm!

the Oceans project began late last church-year and was so successful, we continued it this year. in January, when the church’s environment committee decided to create a display about the enron pipeline that threatens the health of our local ocean, the Junior Youth class got involved. to learn more about it, the class hosted members of the com-mittee as well as a guest speaker from a local environment group, Dogwood initiative.

the children decided to raise money for the cause. With the help of a multi-generational crew of volunteers, they prepared sandwiches and other goodies to sell at the congregational Meeting, earning $360 in the process. the following Sunday, the Junior Youth were proud to present a cheque to a representative from Dogwood initiative during time with the children. it was an inspirational moment for everyone, and felt very much like multi-generational magic!

the Junior Youth wanted to raise more awareness, and composed a letter to the editor of Victoria’s daily newspaper, which was published on March 15.

With the enron experience, we were all reminded that working for change takes determination and a great deal of courage. Sometimes it can be over-whelming. it’s important to maintain a strong sense of hope. For inspriration we looked to ‘eco-heroes’ —people working to make the world a bet-ter place. there are all sorts of great stories about canadian eco-heroes on planetFriendly.net (www.planetfriendly.net/heroes.html#a).

after working on ocean health, we brought our focus home. Our church kitchen is full of amazing volunteers who serve delicious snacks and meals. Sometimes people don’t eat every-thing on their plate, and i was bothered by the amount of food that was going into the garbage. i asked the Junior Youth if they could help me with my personal dream of creating a composting system at our church. they agreed!

that’s when more multi-generational magic began. no sooner did we announce the plan during an-other time with the children, then the environment committee offered their support to us. through a series of conversations, a little research, and a lot of goodwill, progress was fast. Within two months, our church became the proud owner of a composter that can accomodate cooked food, without tempting pests. Someday we hope to grow a few vegetables in that compost!

Faye Mogensen, Director of Spiritual Exploration and Learning for Children and Youth,

First Unitarian Church of Victoria

Multi-Generational Magic

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victoria uu young adult camping retreatcamp pringle, shawnigan lake, vancouver island, bcseptember 23rd to 25th

Community building,relaxing and spiritual deepening at beau-tiful Shawnigan Lake, partway between Victoria and Nanaimo. Just bring a sleeping bag.

Bring your own skill or interest, to make this weekend special. a contemporary worship workshop will be held on Saturday afternoon. Young adults who wish to bring their children, contact us for details.

Costs (to cover food, which we will make ourselves): $60 early-bird rate by end-august, $65 in September. Saturday-only day rate: (lunch, dinner and workshop) $20early-bird rate by end-august, $25 in September. Bursaries available—just ask!

there will be one pickup from the Vancouver-Victoria ferry, and pickups in Victoria out to Shawnigan Lake.Contact young-adult@victoriaunitarian.ca or register online through the facebook event:http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200050746681924

At left: eva Jordison (right) and Doug enneberg with Becca cloe at theologicOn 2009.

Young Adults (ages 18–35): Still T

ime to Sign Up!

4th annual young adult weekendunicamp, honeywood, onseptember 16th to 18th

a weekend of fun and connecting. every year has been a little different, but in past years we’ve thrown dance parties, trad-ed clothes, played pseudo-sports, and held small services. Naturally we also enjoy the splendor of the Unicamp site by going swimming, apple-picking, hiking, roasting marshmal-lows, and exploring the caves. Significant others and children are welcome, contact us for more details.

Cost: $65 (covers the cabin fees and food, which we enjoy cooking together). Bursaries are available if finances are a barrier for you.

Contact Dayvid racette-Campbell ddc402@mail.usask.ca or 416-929-2647 or register online through the facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=223298127699359

Eva Jordison is nearing the end of her two-year term as Co-Chair of the bc region’s Youth-Adult Committee (BC YAC). the canadian Unitarian asked her to free-associate—on the job and what it’s meant to her.

Significance of the BC Youth-adult committeethe Bc Yac has provided me personally with opportunities to develop my skills and comfort in leadership positions, which is invaluable. i don’t think i could have learned that in such a safe and encouraging environment elsewhere. For that alone, i personally thank the Bc Yac.

in terms of regional importance, in a recent Bc Yac discussion, we were talking about how empowerment of youth (as well as adults, especially youth allies), communication between youth throughout the region, providing resources to those youth, inspiring them, and reflecting our UU principals were what we considered our main goals to be. For a group of youth, a young adult, and a few adults to come up with—and commit to—those goals is, in and of itself, inspiring.

Feats, exploits, and other accomplishmentsi was excited to be part of getting trainings happening (such as the Leadership Development conference this past March) and have also had the honour to be on staff and planning for large regional/district conferences, including the american pacific northwest District (pnWD). What i’m really looking forward to at the moment, is being a co-Dean for the bc Fall Regional Gathering, as well as being on staff this summer at the pnWD GoldMine Leadership School, which bc youth attend.

teamwork with fellow co-chairDoug [enneberg] and i have actually only been working together for a couple of months now. He’s responsible and totally on top of what needs to be done, when i’m not always quite there. We’ve been pushing hard together, even to have summer Bc Yac conference-call meetings, when some churches don’t even meet over the summer. We’ve got this.

Getting involvedbc youth are the bomb. there’s no avoiding it. What is the lesson learned from that? Move to bc. Or instead… the fact that bc youth are actually involved in creating events and a culture in which we want to be, is why we’re awesome. Which means that the key to awesomeness is getting involved, making the decisions about what you want to do and/or learn. Getting involved, even just attending youth conferences that are filled with cuddling and safe space, makes you even more awesome than you already are.

16 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

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can be ordered from www.lulu.com/buy. price: US$ 19.95

Book Review of Stephen Frichtman:the american Unitarians and communism, by charles W. eddis

even a casual glance at the history of the movement to which we belong shows how many skir-mishes there have been over religious and political issues, either with external antagonists or between internal factions. Both are graphically illustrated in a fascinating new book by charles eddis, Minister emeritus of the Unitarian church of Montreal, who himself participated in part of the story he describes, and later undertook several years of detailed research to provide a complete and balanced picture.

Stephen Fritchman: The American Unitarians and Communism covers a period during and after World War ii. although the action took place south of the border, and charles was one of very few canadians to be directly involved, there are several reason why readers in this coun-try will relate easily to the story. at the time in question the Unitarian movement in canada, such as it was, was closely integrated with the american Unitarian association and tied to its fortunes. One illustration of this is that the youth organization at the toronto church to which charles originally belonged was called american Unitarian Youth (aUY). the Boston-based executive director of this organization was the Rev. Stephen Fritchman, who was also editor of the denominational magazine, The Christian Register. Fritchman was accused of following a

communist line in both these capacities, which prompted his dismissal from the editorial post, reaffirmed after a bitterly divided debate at the aUa annual meet-ings in 1947. this division of feeling continued for many years, with Fritchman being seen by his partisans as a victim of witch-hunting.

the questions raised here are still very much a part of the scene with which we have to deal today, as they have been for centuries. the Unitarian stance has been both liberal and radical, but the two are by no means synonymous. a radical approach can be either liberal or illiberal, and in taking such an approach Uni-tarians have often had to work uneasily or more happily alongside individuals or organizations that are in fact illiberal and dogmatic, though professing common ideals. Such common ideals were professed by communists in the thirties and forties of the last century, and unwary liberals could be easily co-opted to their totalitarian means of pursuing them (i too write from personal experience, having had to wrestle with the same issue in england during the same period).

the basic issue is one of whether the end justifies the means. the Stalinist form of communism which had emerged was completely ruthless in its means, but some liberals closed their eyes to this in the interest of their concern for social justice. One could cite more recent examples of the same process in our relations with other bodies; eddis mentions but does not elaborate on events twenty years later when it was at the Los angeles church, where Fritchman was then minister, that the Black caucus came to birth and adopted similar procedures.

Stephen Fritchman: The American Unitarians and Communism depicts sincere but fallible persons on all sides trying to deal with a situation in which a real threat was seen by some as primarily a threat to the established order of society and by others as a threat to the basic values that have always been at the core of a Unitarian approach to life. in recounting the scene out of which these opposing interpretations emerged, charles eddis has performed a real service.

Rev. Phillip Hewett Minister Emeritus,

Unitarian Church of Vancouver

a Unitarian controversy

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Meditation on Space by Kate Marshall Flaherty

Modern science now knows what sages of old have always known: that, in the body, there is more space than matter.

—Tony Murdock, Towards Stillness

I consider the space between the atoms,then think of the gaps in things. My thoughts leaping across the riftbetween synapse and dendrite,my breath playing through emptiness,chasms in communicationwhen no words bridge the dividebetween us. What do I make space for in my life? Reflection:filling of my pauses with pondering.

Sleep: the dreamscapewhere my images can floatin a vacuum of nonsense and memory. Walking in nature:in open fields under endless sky,I see pockets of forest in the dense and droning city. Silence:the pause at the top of my breath—longing for the inhalation to escape,to sing out a breathy tone:exhale, let go, makeeven more spacefor meditation on space.

please send your submissions of short poems to the poetry editor, poetry@cuc.ca

Kate marshall flaherty guides Golden rule retreats for youth, leads writing as a Spiritual Practice workshops, was a founding mem-ber of the Children’s Peace theatre, and lives in toronto with her family. where we are going is her fourth book of poetry.

“meditation on Space” is reprinted from Trust the Dawning Future (Ca-nadian Unitarian Council, 2011), a poetry chapbook released for the 50th anniversary aCm 2011. Copies are available from the CUC office in toronto, on.

18 The Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011 19

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Building the new sanctuary for Victoria First: part of the photo show commemorating the congregation’s 50th anniversary in june.

Lefttoright:

• Brides to-be ride in pride, on the UU float in edmonton’s Pride Parade. rev. Brian kiely of the Unitarian Church of edmonton ‘officiates’.

• Fabulous faces from all ages’ time in re, at the Unitarian Congregation of Saskatooon.

• huronia Unitarian Fellowship hosts a Canada Sings! neighbourhood singalong series.

New Ways of Worship at PEIThe Unitarian Fellowship of Prince edward island looks forward to returning to our regular biweekly format in September.

inspired by the local Baha’i group, we started using a devotional format, where people bring readings, music, or whatever, and group-participate rather than all lay-led complete services. This has worked really well for us, and allows a small group to maintain its existence. we hope, in time, to regain our population.

however lay chaplaincy is very active. i am a lay chaplain with the Fellowship, and performed a wedding at Christmas, will do three more this summer, and have another booked for next year!

ChrisVessey

North Hatley WOWs ‘em allafter three years of cancellations of weaving our wor-ship workshop in our region, the Unitarian Universalist Church of North hatley decided to host a one-day version in early june, called the wow of worship. we invited folks from around the region and over the bor-

der. in the end we were 22 participants from five con-gregations, and six attended a supplemental Saturday evening session on Creative writing for worship.

it was a nice little cluster, but it feels like we only scratched the surface, and some of us are looking for-ward to sequels and complementary sessions at future gatherings, such as at eastern regional Fall Gathering in Fredericton, nb.

KeithBaxter

Lakeshore is Moving!after 25 years of renting space in a large west island United Church building, lakeshore Unitarian Univer-salist Congregation in montreal is moving to a new location. it is now renting space from the Norwegian Church association, which owns a former Presbyterian church in the montreal borough of lachine. They of-fered a lower rent, for a huge sanctuary and a large hall.

This presents an array of new challenges. it moves us further east, although most of our current members are more concentrated in the west. we have to find a way to project warmth and welcome in the large space. But it has a good aura, and wonderful acoustics—so we are beginning a new adventure!

SusanCzarnocki

Kingston: so near, yet so farThe kingston Unitarian Fellowship is moving only two doors down the street, while moving into a wonderful new stage of its existence. This spring, the Fellowship purchased a 15,800 sq. ft. building, which it will reno-vate to accommodate the growing congregation. Now the congregation is awash with activities necessary to sell its current building—and develop the commercial rental space in the new building that will help to pay the mortgage.

The success of the spring capital campaign allowed us to begin transforming the building, which was built as the Steelworkers’ union hall. members are looking forward to a spacious sanctuary, re area, kitchens, of-fices, and even a living room—a place where we can continue to host the local jewish reform congregation and Quaker meetings.

JeanPlfeiderer

Peace Pole at Toronto Firstour traditional September water service marking the

beginning of the new worship year, will also include a dedication of the new Peace Pole at the First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto, a project of its Social justice Committee.

The Peace Pole, which contains the message “may Peace Prevail on earth” in six languages, has been in-stalled in the garden near the front door. it symbolizes the oneness of humanity and our common wish for a world at peace. Peace Poles are the creation of the world Peace Prayer Society, an affiliate of the United Nations.

on September 11 Toronto First is holding a Peace encounter, where leaders of the Buddhist, hindu, is-lamic, jewish, and mennonite (Christian) communities

will join rev. Shawn Newton in examining how reli-gious communities address barriers to peace-making. The audience will reflect the diversity of the speakers. holding the event on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 is motivated out of a desire to transform this date. ideally, this event will be one of a series, so that the conversa-tion that begins on 9/11 will deepen over time.

FayePerkins

Huronia Sings-4-Itwhile the huronia Unitarian Fellowship in Barrie , on, is among the smallest of UU congregations in the CUC, we are seeking constructive engagement with the community around us by offering our energies for the common good.

music director Sandra ruttans signed up huro-nia for Canada Sings!, so that every few weeks we are hosting a neighbourhood singalong at our downtown location. This collaboration links us with a recognized network of informal choral events Canada-wide; we provide free, healthy entertainment, helping others to

enjoy golden oldies as well as familiar melodies used in the Unitarian songbooks. we promote these events with a sidewalk sandwich board, and on our website and the Canada Sings! website.

This musical project echoes the Go-4-iT campaign created some years ago by CUC past-president kalvin drake; “Go oN! Go deeP! Go UP! Go oUT!” Going out means, for us, creating synergistic partnerships outside of the denomination to maximize our collec-tive strengths and to extend our reach toward common purposes.

QenneferBrowne

Reaching Out (and Going Up) at Waterlooat our june 26 service, the First Unitarian Congregation of waterloo joyfully welcomed a refugee family from

Colombia, whom we sponsored through the federal government’s private refugee-spon-sorship program. This journey began with a call from liliana Castaneda, asking for help for her sister and family, for whose safety she feared. The Board-approved sponsorship provides financial settlement assistance to the family for one year.

At the end of a process that began in January 2010, it was a very moving experience to finally meet Soffi and Julian and their sons Camilo and Santiago in June. The congregation sang “Spirit of Life” in Spanish to welcome them. We also hosted a baby shower—Soffi was expecting—and a healthy baby boy arrived just a few weeks later. The family is now settling into life in Kitchener with the help of sister Liliana.

another big event for our congregation was the re-ceipt of a $75,000 grant from the federal government’s enabling accessibility Fund, to install an elevator in our building. The amount is about half of what we will need to complete the renovation, so we will be looking

to raise additional dollars internally. an architectural firm is drawing up plans for us.

MargaretInsley

Spaces for Sharing at WinnipegThe First Unitarian Universalist Church of winnipeg started the summer with the dedication of its new deck and patio, with access onto the backyard. a fes-tive spirit prevailed as Board president Craig edwards and rev. millie rochester cut the ribbon. The church stands on the bank of the assiniboine river; during the dedication it was running as high and as fast as anyone could remember.

another big development this spring was the forma-tion of two new Chalice Circles,

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continued from page 19 or small group ministries. one is a daytime group, specifically aimed at the needs of people who cannot attend evening gatherings. the other is aimed at the needs of the growing young adult population in the church. more group formation is expected in the fall.

Roger Rochester

New Sundays for Saskatoon Prompted by the high ratio of kids to adults, as well as the demand for more small group activities, the Lifespan Learning team has planned an enriched Sunday Service format at the Unitarian Congregation of Saskatoon, taking inspiration from a US congrega-tion.

on Sunday mornings starting this fall, all ages will gather in the Sanctuary, for half an hour of multi-gener-ational worship time. the kids will then have their own group circle during the sermon. after a snack, all ages will be invited to re: the kids will go to their usual colour groups, and the adults will choose between three dis-tinct adult re streams. we have moved congregational response out of the service into one of the re streams (a forum), and will work to offer another stream that

is more academic, and a third that is more spiritual or action based. we are excited to try something new, and learn more about ourselves in the process!

Liz James

Edmonton: 36 years of Same-Sex Weddingsmembers of both the westwood Unitarian Congrega-tion and the Unitarian Church of edmonton played a large role in this year’s Pride week events. Inspired by an idea from the halifax congregation last year, about 30 of us marched and staged a same-sex wedding on a beautifully decorated float while wedding guests handed out ‘invitations’, for anyone who might wish to have their wedding with us. edmonton Unitarians were celebrating 36 years of performing such services. the wedding kiss was very popular with the crowd and was an oft-repeated part of the ceremony. the couple—two young women—plan to be married for real next summer.

Days later, rev. anne Barker and rev. Brian Kiely participated in a religious diversity panel discussion at the University of alberta. the purpose was to show positive religious alternatives open to GBLt people.

Rev. Brian Kiely

Two New Emeriti for Ottawa First

Rev. David Pohl was conferred the honour of Minister Emeritus by the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa on April 13, 2011. Rev. Pohl served the congregation from 1961 to 1971, as a dynamic preacher, able admin-istrator, and beloved pastor. It was during his tenure that the congregation relocated from a small sanctuary in central Ottawa to a six-acre campus on the west side of downtown Ottawa, with a much larger sanctuary and enough land to eventually locate an apart-ment complex for seniors and a daycare center for pre-schoolers.

Rev. Pohl preached the Sunday sermon on May 8, in which he recalled that 40 years ago, the press still covered sermons deemed newsworthy, or controversial:

“When I preached on The Ethics of Civil Defence, criticizing the promotion of back-

yard bomb shelters in a nuclear age, the city’s civil defence director called to express not only his disapproval, but outrage.

“In the late 1960’s, a diplomat from the US Embassy attended a service here in which I reiterated my condemnation of the Vietnam War. Learning that I was an American citi-zen, he drew me aside at the coffee hour and accused me of being ‘a traitor.’”

Rev. Pohl closed with the observation: “In this glorious and free land, in this beautiful capital city on the route of the voyageurs, and in this house of cedar and glass that shelters a free religious community, may you continue to honour your congregation’s legacy even as you dream new dreams for the ever-changing future and the children who succeed us.”

A farewell ceremony and service was held on June 5, 2011, celebrating Director of Music Jane Perry’s 11-year tenure. In recognition of long and meritorious service, she was named Director of Music Emerita.

During the ceremony, Margaret Linton and Barry Read paid tribute. Margaret Linton recalled her work with the Steinway fundraising committee. “She arranged a special fundraising concert series, draw-ing on her extensive connections with the

professional musical community and her persuasiveness… and was always a willing participant in our sometimes crazy efforts to raise the profile of this project.”Barry Read noted, “Jane is a professional of the highest degree with great expectations for her choirs. But she also has an approach-ability that belies [her] strength, rigour, and integrity… making beautiful music of the highest quality.”

While Jane will be deeply missed, we are glad that she will remain part of our larger UU movement as she assumes the role of Director of Music at the Unitarian Church of Calgary, Alberta. We hope to honour Jane’s legacy here by maintaining a high standard of excellence in our music program.

Rev. John N. Marsh, Minister

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the Unitarian Congregation of Saskatoon celebrates a service dedicated to procuring funds for a well in masai mara, Kenya.

Lighting the rainbow candles during Children’s worship at the Unitarian Congregation of Saskatoon.

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winter holiday service at thea Unitarian Church of montreal, celebrated in the tradition of a mexican Posada. their maria was truly pregnant and truly named maria, and gave birth to her baby on December 28.

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Certified Green Kelowna hosts BC Fall Gatheringafter a three-year effort, the Unitarian fellowship of Kelowna is celebrating its certification as a Green Sanctuary. Kelowna is the fifth congregation in Canada and the first in British Columbia to be certified by the UU ministry for the earth.

the fellowship received a generous bequest from rev. rob Brownlie last year. the congregation voted to use some of the money for our church building,

improving its energy efficiency, as well as updating he sanctuary and the children’s re rooms. we have also renovated our website! Check out our new dynamic web pages at www.unitariancongregation.org/wordpress/.

and we cordially invite all to join us for the bc fall Gathering october 21 – 23, 2011, hosted by the UfK in cooperation with the Kamloops fellowship. threads we are planning include contemporary worship and music, homelessness, financial

This has been a busy year at the Unitarian Church of Montreal. We’ve welcomed eight new babies into our midst. Families with young children have been helping to set up new initiatives, especially in Religious Edu-cation. We’re also excited to see our Young Adult group coming together under new leadership.

Our redesigned website is bringing in many newcomers on Sundays, and our en-ergetic Hospitality Committee keeps things hopping after services. Our new Music Ministry Collective has been planning con-certs, hosting workshops (such as last April’s amazing weekend of singing, history, and heart with Ysaye Barnwell), raising funds to replace the hammers in our famous Laliberté piano, and increasing music’s presence in all aspects of congregational life.

In fall 2010 we hosted the Eastern Re-

Lively Times at Montreal

eral Meeting in June, the congregation agreed to a second trial year as we begin to work on policies and changes to our by-laws.

Our Social and Environmental Concerns Committee has been actively supporting a local day centre for the homeless, and keep-ing its eyes on international projects as they arise, such as supporting Haiti.

The congregation raised nearly $7,000 for Oxfam last January and recently received a framed certificate from the organization for its efforts. We’ve hosted an Empty Bowls event that raised more than $10,000 this year, as well as a Fair Trade Fair. We also have been named a Blue Ribbon congregation by the UU-UNO.

Significant milestones for us this year include the retirement of Nicoline Guerrier who has completed her six-year term as a lay chaplain. Nicoline is working on her studies for the UU ministry. We are very proud of Curtis Murphy, a member of our Young Adult group and our Youth Programme Co-ordinator, who was elected to the CUC board in May as the representative for the Eastern Region. Curtis has just begun his studies for the UU ministry.

Rev. Diane Rollert

gional Gathering. It was an action-packed weekend and great fun to welcome fellow Unitarian Universalists from across the re-gion. In May, more than 20 of us attended the CUC Annual Conference and Meeting. Participants brought back much inspiration, which will carry us through the coming fall. As minister of the UCM, I was honoured to deliver the ACM Confluence Lecture.

We’ve completed our first trial year with a new governance structure, developed with Dan Hotchkiss’s book, Governance and Ministry in mind.

Changing governance is no easy task and there are many people engaged in the process. We are learning as we go. At our Annual Gen-

22 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

continued from page 21 stewardship, a concurrent ses-sion for owL training, and a youth conference. hope to see you there!

Wayne Broughton

Kamloops Sings Praisesa Sharing our faith Grant was awarded to the Unitar-ian Universalist fellowship of Kamloops, which was used to assist with the newly formed choir. Under the leadership of Choir Director margaret waldon, they spent several months rehearsing for regular worship services as well as a special musical service which was presented to their congregation on may 1.

the program consisted of popular songs from the Unitarian Song Books, Singing the Living Tradition and Singing the Journey. It included a special ar-rangement of “Sakura #177”, in remembrance of the people of Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. also a couple of choral pieces: “Song, circling all the earth” and “Deep in our hearts” from Wind of Change. the choir members shared their reasons for singing and love of music, and their particular favourite UU song.

we are a small congregation of around 30 members, and one third of us sing in the choir, including three couples!

thank you to the CUC, and other congregations for contributions to the annual Sharing our faith collection.

Heather Stefanek

Biggest Numbers for North Shoreannually in may, North Shore Unitarian Church in Vancouver holds a goods and services auction to raise funds towards the church’s operating expenses. In keeping with this year’s mission goal of “welcoming all to our caring community” and in awareness that ‘radical inclusivity’ is one means toward that goal, the auction organizers succeeded in making fUNdfeSt a more multi-generational and celebratory event than ever before.

they sought out offerings that would appeal to young families—such as a beach party for parents and children—in recognition of our many new

young families that have been visiting regularly this year. In this spirit, one church member made

a cash donation to fUNdfeSt to be used by members who might not be able to participate for financial reasons. although the recipients were never disclosed, the

congregation as a whole was very moved by this gift.

Perhaps it was these factors, and the the hard work of the committee, that allowed it to be

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The Unitarian Congregation of Guelph (UCG) was presented with a Green Sacred Space (GSS) Award during Transition Guelph’s Resilience 2011 event on March 26.

The Green Sacred Space Award recogniz-es the contributions that faith communities make toward creating a sustainable environ-ment. In order to win the GSS Award, UCG met three stringent criteria:

Completed practical actions—we com-1. pleted a lighting retrofit, and built a pol-linator garden.

Engaged in numerous local sustainabil-2. ity and energy conservation educational

Guelph wins Green!

events—we hosted regular speakers on environmental topics such as the Transi-tion initiatives.

Involved in outreach programs in the com-3. munity at large—we provided space for community meetings and had members participating in the annual Guelph Speed River Clean-up.

Weekly e-bulletins and e-newsletters also help bring the environmental message home. UCG partners with various environmental organizations and encourages tool and car-sharing cooperatives, Freecycle initiatives and Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) programs.

UCG is also reaching toward the sun. By September 2011 we will have installed solar panels (and have launched the sale of debentures to finance this project), and are continuing to travel further along the path to becoming an official ‘Green Sanctuary’ (a program similar to the EcoSchool program in the Unitarian Universalist tradition).

The Green Sacred Space Award sponsor, Guelph Hydro Inc., was joined by repre-sentatives from the Trillium Foundation and Greening Sacred Spaces Waterloo/Welling-ton/Dufferin for the presentation.

To us, The Green Sacred Space Award means we’re being supported to do this work—in our own congregation and together with other earth-honouring congregations who recognize the interdependent web of which we are all a part.

We know our living planet’s ecology is a wonderful metaphor for our individual and complex spiritualities and this award gives us even more incentive to do more greening of our sacred space in the coming year.

Helen Prinold

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first Unitarian Church of Victoria’s rev. melora (left) and rev. Shana, wearing their new stoles made by quilters Liz Graham and Pat Kinrade, and weaver Kjerstin mackie.

the newly-formed Kamloops Choir, of the Unitarian Universalist fellowship of Kamloops.

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our most financially successful auction ever, and an enjoyable evening for the largest number attending in many years.

another event was that our Purchase and Sale agree-ment fell through on march 31 after more than three years of hoping, but congregants are not disheartened; we maintain our resolve to continue seeking a purchas-er for our property. the majority of members remain committed to becoming a more visible and accessible church in some as-yet-to-be-found location.

Rev. Stephen Atkinson

Victoria First: New Ministers and 50 Years-Old the first Unitarian Church of Victoria held the installa-tion of our new co-ministers, revs. Shana and melora Lynngood on march 4, 2011. rev. John millspaugh from winchester, mass. preached the sermon, rev. Stephen epperson from Vancouver gave the Charge to the minis-ters, and rev. antonia won of the CUC gave the Charge to the Congregation. the Chalice Choir and Children and Youth choirs provided the music. Special guests included rev. Jane Bramadat, minister emerita, rev. Don Vaughn-foerster, our Interim minister, rev. Phillip hewett, our Interim minister in

Currently the Greening Sacred Spaces lo-cal network comprises more than 100 faith communities in Waterloo, Wellington, and Dufferin Regions. Network members are invited to free quarterly training meetings, have access to free downloadable resources, receive information about energy-efficiency and energy audits, funding opportunities, and upcoming environmental events.

10 GSS awards are granted in areas across Ontario where Greening Sacred Spaces programs are active (Waterloo Region, Wel-lington County, Toronto, Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, Hamilton, and Peterborough). For more information or to join the free Greening Sacred Spaces Network, go to www.greening-sacredspaces.net.

Transition Guelph is Canada’s second official Transition Initiative, joining Peter-borough, on, in May, 2009. Transition towns commit to reducing their carbon footprint, embarking on a joint journey to a lower energy future. The transition movement continues to grow in Canada and around the world, with over 275 official Transition Initiatives worldwide. For more information go to www.transitionguelph.org.

Nanaimo: Tag a Fish, Trace an Oil Slick

Changing the world can begin with some-thing as simple as discussion over a slow meal of potluck dishes—and a salmon caught by a local fisherman.

That was the idea behind the first in a series of Potlucks for Progressives held this February at the First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo (FUFON).

Tasha Sutcliffe of Thisf ish and Eddy Carmack, organizer of the Bottle Drop and Mosquito Fleet, joined potluck participants in roundtable discussions during the event.

Thisfish is a tracking system that lets you trace the fish you buy—back to who caught it and where, where it was processed,

and the restaurants and retailers who stock these fish.

The Mosquito Fleet is a team of small fishing boats that will monitor the changes in the ocean ecosystems as global warming occurs, while the Bottle Drop will show where oil spills could flow.

These projects are designed to connect fishermen, urban dwellers, and scientists who study climate and the ocean waters off the bc coast, explained renowned ecologist Buzz Holling, one of the potluck organizers and a member of FUFON: “We want to implement identifiable actions that will help our children and grandchildren adapt to the large economic, environmental and social changes that are coming.

“The causes are global, but the impacts are local, and it’s on the local level that we can effect change.”

Kathryn-Jane Hazel

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Clockwise from top left:

• the first Unitarian fellowship of Nanaimo welcomes their newest lay chaplain, anne morrison. howard rose, Chair of the lay chaplaincy committee, led the installation.

• rev. Katie Stein Sather dedicating Beacon Unitarian Church’s newset member, Jacob Stroecel.

• Gathering after the service, at the first Unitarian Universalist Church of winnipeg.

1991, and rev. marvin evans, the first minister of our church 50 years ago.

on June 17, we celebrated our 50th anniversary with a ceremony and a multi-generational dance. During the ceremony, we featured special music by all the choirs, funny stories from the past, and the four change points in the life of the church.

the four change points were: buying our first church building in the 1960s; lifting that building and excavating underneath to create rooms for the religious education program; carrying the flame in a hurricane lantern, in a relay-walk from our downtown church all the way out to our new church property, led by the church secretary, who carried the membership book for the entire five-hour walk; and building our new sanctuary. we illustrated the change points with power-point photographs and re-enacted the carrying of the flame.

the ceremony also included recognition of those who have been members for more than 40 years, elders, ministers, past-presidents, lay chaplains, re directors,

and music directors. the sanctuary was decorated with paintings and fabric art by 17 members of our church who are artists.

Suellen Guenther

Beacon bids goodbye, but keeps a fun tradition Beacon Unitarian Church in Coquitlam, bc, said good-bye to rev. Katie Stein Sather on July 19th, after eight years of her ministry. we will miss her. we are in the process of searching for a part-time contract/develop-mental minister to start in January 2012. this year will be one of change and possibility for Beacon. we enter it with a mix of hope and trepidation.

on a more joyful note, Beacon hosted another fabu-lous family Camp at Sasamat Lake in June, with lots of kids, families, and friends from all the Lower mainland churches. we sang, ate, swam, canoed, roasted marsh-mallows and wieners and generally had a great time. we look forward to continuing this annual tradition for many years to come.

Sue Sparlin

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Canada’s Bounty: nature and natural rescources

the alteration of nature in canada often results in the loss of forests, marshland, fertile agricultural areas, depletion of fish stocks, the damming of rivers and the destruction of migrating species. canada Yearbook 2010 reports that alterations of natural waterways provide 65% of our hydro en-ergy. Land-based uranium mining provides 15% of nuclear-based energy (in Ontario that figure jumps to 53%). the tar sands contribute 44% of total do-mestic oil production. about 68% of oil is exported, mostly to the USa (20% of its consumption). all aspects are currently an indispensible part of the economic health of canada.

We need to better understand the impact of this. apart from the ecological consequences of the explored materials themselves, we need to distin-guish short-term and long-term consequences on the natural environment.

in this author’s opinion, exploration for resourc-es (mining) will, in the very long term, still allow the earth a chance to establish a new ecology. the exploitation of nickel near Sudbury has destroyed the surrounding area, but major reclamation is successful. coal mining areas in the USa and Germany have been reclaimed. the tar sands kill huge areas (not to mention the significant social damage they cause), but Suncor claims that of the 530 square km, 65 had already been reclaimed in 2009. the alberta Government holds reclamation securities from industry.

(at the same time we must also recognize the effect of urban sprawl. For example, the land dis-turbed by oil sands by 2009 is only half that of the agricultural land that has been subsumed by the city of edmonton, according to canada Yearbook 2010.)

to complain about explorations is not sufficient unless at the same time we agitate even more strongly for the reduction of our demands on these same fronts. We are conflicted by incompatible business and ecology models. On the one hand, the discovery of a major oil field is celebrated, while on the other, it is understood that more oil will cause an even faster decline in the existing environment.

energy and mining is vital for canada’s econ-omy: the government budget depends on these incomes and the associated employment. accord-ing to the canada Yearbook 2010, of the Gross Domestic product’s 1,233 billion dollars, natural resources account for 12% (energy 6.8%, miner-als 3.3%, and forest 1.9%). these three resources

employ over 680,000 people, and contribute to the trade balance $75.5 billion, $25.8 billion, and $20.1 billion, respectively.

in canada, an enormous amount of resources is invested in the traditional business of resource development—at the expense of technologies that will serve us in the future. according to The Globe and Mail (June 30, 2011) canada’s rank in R&D spending is lower than Sweden, korea, Finland, Japan, Switzerland, the USa, Denmark, Germany, France and austria, and our ranking is dropping.

a completely new business model for society would need to be developed to maintain what we consider our standard of living, and at the same time improve environmental regulations and enforcement.

no democratic government can be expected to do that unless business and the population demand it. a White House recommendation in June 2011 called for drastically higher gasoline mileage for cars. The Washington Post (June 26, 2011) reported that response from industry was that “we need to preserve affordability, vehicle choice, jobs and safety as we improve fuel economy.”

Finally we need to consider the enormous waste of resources. the feeding frenzy on oil reserves is ecologically and strategically indefensible. it should be unacceptable to massively burn hydrocarbons—creating carbon dioxide and global warming—the way we do. Hydrocarbons are a high-energy source for life. they are an inexpensive raw material for plastics, pharmaceuticals, and new biological ap-plications under development. instead, we choose to burn them up to feed inefficient engines or buildings—to sustain a distorted sense of comfort or necessity.

exploration for resources serves our collective human greed for growth. the business community

—which means directly and indirectly most of us—needs this growth to pursue our concept of what is a proper standard of living. We need glo-bally persuasive forces to stimulate a new collective spirituality.

Fred Lautenschlaeger,First Unitarian Congregation Toronto

(and part of the urban sprawl)

energy and Mining: canada’s Bedrock?

26 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

Local development. community consultation. corporate social responsibility.terms such as these have recently become a key component of pR strategies for any interna-

tional mining company seeking a social license to operate. in today’s globalized mining industry, several of canada’s most well-known and robust mining companies are vocal signatories to various international declarations on transparency and accountability. Many are listed on sustainability indexes and are recommended holdings for ‘socially responsible’ investors. they promote their voluntary contributions to community development, which include such initiatives as building wells, running drug awareness programs, and providing jobs for local people.

But despite this shift in image—from cold, hard corporations that seek only high profits for shareholders, to caring, community-oriented enterprises, improving the lives of local people—grassroots resistance to canadian mining companies operating internationally has only become louder and stronger. We need to listen to these voices in order to get an accurate picture of canada’s international mining industry.

in Guatemala, Vancouver-based Goldcorp’s Marlin Mine has severely contaminated the water, resulting in serious health impacts on the municipalities of San Miguel ixtahuacan and Sipakapa. the crackdown on local resistance movements has shown total disregard for human rights; at-tempted assassinations, threats, and other violent reactions to peaceful protests, tear at the social fabric of the community.

in the philippines, thousands of fishing families were devastated when the canadian-owned Marcopper mine dumped 200 million metric tons of tailings into the calancun Bay, destroying the fishing industry and resulting in record-high levels of mercury and lead in the local population.

in tanzania, toronto-based Barrick Gold has been found complicit in the shootings of several artisanal miners that were trying to access the mineral deposits in waste rock on which they depend for their income.

evidence of the environmentally, economically, and socially destructive impact of canadian mining can be found all over the world. But we can find hope in the resistance of community groups that are tireless in their efforts to hold canadian mining to account.

in 2005 in Sipakapa, Guatemala, the absence of meaningful consultation seeking the consent of indigenous people, resulted in community groups holding a popular referendum (known as a consulta) on the mine. thousands of residents cast their vote, and over 98% of voters made it clear that they did not support mining on their land. this movement of communities taking ownership of their right to self-determination through popular democracy is growing, and now over 50 communities in Guatemala and several communities elsewhere have found their voice through the consulta.

across the globe, resistance takes the form of mass protests, lengthy blockades, legal action, issuing complaints to international bodies, calls for international solidarity, and countless other creative actions that aim to bring attention to the impact of mining on local communities, the environment they depend on, and our obligation to support these efforts by calling our companies to account. these communities have alternative visions for their own development—but we all need to do our part in tearing down unjust structures that stand in the way of their realization.

Let us never surrender our critical mindset when faced with false development schemes that seek to distract us from the cries of those that refuse to let destructive and unjust mining prac-tices become their only option. For true local development comes not from a foreign-imposed operation but from an empowered people. community consultation is not sufficient if it does not recognize the right of a community to say no to mining. and corporate social responsibility is no replacement for accountability, justice, and genuine solidarity.

Kaitlyn Duthie-Kannikkatt,Eastern Region Coordinator for

the Student Christian Movement of Canada, has just finished an internship with MiningWatch Canada

www.miningwatch.ca

Mining abroad: the Ugly canadian?

Canada’s Bounty: nature and natural rescources

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Mining abroad: the Ugly canadian?

Stewardship and sustainability are ‘ecobuzz’ words that are rapidly becoming mainstream as canadians think more about fresh water resources. thank goodness!

We are accustomed to hearing that one-fifth of the world’s fresh water sources are located within our boundaries, but less comfortable with the fact that only 2.6% is in southern canada where most of us live. We know that rivers were the highways for voyageurs and explorers that resulted in a vast country of 2,000,000 lakes, bordered by three seas and the american land mass. But few of us realize that 22,000,000 people live in watersheds, where at least 10% of the local water flow is critical to their lifestyle, according to canadian Geographic’s web sec-tion on watersheds.

Rivers and lakes are important reservoirs of fresh water but it is estuaries that most directly reflect the Unitarian principle of

“respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part”. estuaries are nodal points, the most fertile spots on the planet. these brackish bays, in which fresh and salt waters mingle, host insects, plants, bushes and trees, tadpoles and ma-ture fish, small and large wild animals, migrating birds—and families of people—because they are bountiful and beautiful places.

We are estuary residents who live along the courtenay River estuary, at the base of one of the 595 watersheds in this country. Only three kilometres long, the courtenay River is one of the world’s shortest navigable rivers. the comox Glacier dominates our Vancouver island Valley from its position in the Beaufort mountains. two major watershed rivers join near the northern condensory Bridge at 1st Street in the city of courtenay; the moveable bascule 17th Street Bridge is the southern crossing near comox Bay.

in this small urban area, a heart-shaped estuary has supported life for millennia. it is the second most important estuary in Brit-ish columbia, after the huge Fraser River, with some geologists arguing that it comprises the northern boundary of that massive outflow. in the middle part of the last century, this was one of the prime sports fishing destinations in canada.

British columbia has 442 estuaries, but only eight are consid-ered class 1. the classification is based on habitat size, intertidal biodiversity and use by fish and waterfowl. the courtenay River estuary provides habitat for 145 bird species (more than 70,000 birds), 218 plant species, 29 fish species (including all five spe-cies of pacific salmon) and innumerable species of intertidal animals (clams, worms, and microbes). it is the major stopover for migrating trumpeter swans.

the comox Valley project Watershed Society has been con-cerned with restoration of all local watersheds, but for the last five years has focused on the estuary. an environmental stewardship group, it works with local governments and the community to

preserve and restore a beauty of nature that is primed for a return to abundance (www.projectwatershed.ca). Major industries along its shores, contributors to a steady decline during the past 75 years, have been removed. One example is a large sawmill near the bridge with log storage where the estuary met the ocean at Goose Spit. a large, obsolete cement tower along the western shoreline road, has also been removed.

in 2010 five local governments—a city, town, village and two rural districts—adopted a new comox Valley Regional Growth Strategy plan that received a 2011 provincial award for its sustain-able management component, including the estuary, to insure future protection.

and now we know that pre-contact aboriginal populations liv-ing along the shores managed this highly productive estuary for centuries. a major archeological study is being prepared by two local workers for publication. it demonstrates that the courtenay River estuary possesses the remains of thousands of wood stakes, comprising a coordinated system of fish traps, that utilized the tides. two distinct intertidal fish trap types have been identified: the Winged Heart and the Winged chevron. this suggests that the ancient inhabitants of this area had an extensive fishery using passive fish trap systems. the researchers (who wish to remain unidentified for the present, during their final work on their manuscripts) conclude that harvesting was based on knowledge of fish behavior, understanding and replication of sophisticated engineering principles, and an appreciation of sustainability that operated for more than 1,300 years. this significant study stimulated the formation of a community committee to propose national Historic status for these trap systems. the project Watershed Society has assembled stakeholder representatives and sponsors the committee. UneScO World Heritage status might also be an achievable goal.

British columbia has more than 25,725 coastline kilometers. the courtenay River estuary is one of the most precious nodal points. From a biodiversity perspective, it is threatened but not lost. if these 21st-century stewards achieve their dream, they honour an aboriginal tradition that sustained life throughout many seasonal rotations. the legacy for all canadians, including other species in the interdependent web of existence, will sustain abundant life for future millennia of diverse inhabitants.

Betty Donaldson, Professor Emerita, University of Calgary, and

Paul Horgen, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto,

serve on the Project Watershed Board of Directors. Betty Donaldson is a member of

the Comox Valley Unitarian Fellowship.

the courtenay River estuary: Rich past, Hopeful Future

28 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

the good old days weren’t always that great. past mineral resource extraction practices have left us with a witches’ brew of environmental problems that continue to haunt northern communities.

consider, for example, uranium mining in northern Saskatchewan dating back to the 1950s. Uranium ore, when brought to the surface, contains a mixture of compounds of uranium and its various radioactive decay products that have accumulated over the millennia, as well as several chemically toxic elements such as arsenic.

Uranium238 has a very long radioactive half-life (four and a half billion years). it is constantly throwing off alpha particles that leave it transformed into thorium, which is itself radioactive. this sequence continues through 14 successive decay steps before a stable, non-radioactive isotope of lead is reached. So uranium ore contains a mixture of all of these radioactive materials, the bulk of which need to be removed before the uranium product is shipped away for refining. the ore is crushed and milled close to the mine, and the unwanted contaminants are left on site as tailings, in the form of a fine sand-like material. the problem then arises—what to do with these tailings, which still contain radioactive materials with half-lives of hundreds of thousands of years.

a sad example of how tailings were handled fifty years ago is the Gunnar mine site, close to the shore of Lake athabasca. Uranium was mined there from 1955 to 1963, initially from an open pit and subsequently from underground workings. the rim of the pit was separated from the lake only by a narrow ridge of bedrock. Over 4 million tonnes of tailings were created during the operation of the mine and mill. at first these were dumped in a nearby depression. When this was full, a new, shallow dumping site was used. Unfortunately, from there, tailings flowed or drifted into Langley Bay, a narrow arm of Lake athabasca.

in those days uranium mines did not have to be licensed (although their product, as a strategic material, was certainly regulated). When the mine closed in 1963, little or no de-commissioning took place. the mine pit was flooded by blasting a narrow trench in the rock that separated it from the lake. Water flowed into the pit and eventually also flooded the underground workings. the channel was then blocked with waste rock. and this was how the site was abandoned, and still remains, with wind-blown radioactive tailings spread over a fairly large land area and drift-ing into the lake.

the owner of the mine, which operated without environmental restrictions, is no longer in existence, and the site is designated as an orphan site. this means that dealing with the problem falls back on government and taxpayers. But it isn’t at all obvious how the site should be treated. there are questions about whether disturbing the lake sediment, where contaminants have ac-cumulated, would actually cause more problems than it would solve. Some of the tailings could be put into the mined-out pit, but there isn’t room for all of it. the Saskatchewan Research council has been contracted to develop a reclamation plan for Gunnar and several other similar sites. it will be costly and difficult, and there isn’t consensus about what degree of clean-up is acceptable. project cLeanS’ (cleanup of abandoned northern Sites) website, at www.saskcleans.ca, reports on this process.

We should note that the modern uranium industry is highly regulated. However it is still dealing with extremely long-lived radioactive waste materials which need to be kept isolated for periods of time far exceeding the experience of human history.

Ann Coxworth, Unitarian Congregation of Saskatoon, volunteers as

Research Advisor to the Saskachewan Environmental Society (SES)

Ghosts and Orphans: the legacy of uranium mining

Canada’s Bounty: nature and natural rescources

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teztan Biny (fish Lake) is important to the tsilhqot’in Nation, who place great emphasis on preserving their culture and their way of life.

taseko Mining still wants to develop prosperity Mine—and bc’s premier, christy clark, publicly declared she is in favour of it. taseko revamped their previous proposal in February 2011, renamed it new prosperity, and announced their intention of re-submitting their proposal to the canadian environmental assessment agency (ceaa).

if the new prosperity mine is approved, it will provide ap-proximately 375 direct jobs, with an annual payroll of $30 mil-lion, in the economically depressed Williams Lake area in the interior of bc,. per taseko’s website, new prosperity has proven reserves of 5 million ounces of gold and 2.4 billion pounds of copper. these are products that each of us use every day in our industrial civilization. every time we flip on a computer, tea kettle, air conditioner, or microwave, the electricity is delivered through copper wires. Gold is used for various industrial pur-poses as well as for jewellery. So this revised proposal is a good thing, right? not so fast.

talk about destroying nature to acquire natural resources: teztan Biny (Fish Lake) is a sacred place for the tsilhqot’in, who have fished, hunted, and gathered medicines on it and around its shores, just as their ancestors did long before British co-lumbia was settled. taseko Mining proposed to drain it in their original plan. their new and improved proposal surrounds the trout-filled lake with an open pit mine and tailings dump. the original prosperity Mine proposal was roundly rejected by the ceaa and by the conservative federal cabinet as it was extremely destructive to the environment and to the traditional lands and lifeways of the tsilhqot’in nation.

the tsilhqot’in nation doesn’t see new prosperity as an improvement on prosperity Mine. the cBc news’ website

(June 10, 2011) quoted the tsilhqot’in as saying: “this equally damaging proposal was submitted with zero consultation with the tsilhqot’in nation, who in fact received the submission after it had already been sent to both governments.”

perhaps more of us should oppose the new prosperity mine. prosperity Mine would have needed a huge subsidy from Bc Hydro to be economically viable, and there is no reason to be-lieve that new prosperity will be any different. as Bc Hydro is a crown corporation, this subsidy would come from you and me. Simon Fraser University faculty member Dr. Marvin Shaffer estimated in The Tyee ( July 9, 2010) that the cost could be as much as $20 million annually. those 375 jobs also come at the cost of a First nation’s lifeway, a grizzly bear habitat, the loss of fish and fish habitat —and, generally, with colossal destruction of the environment.

Why doesn’t premier christy clark choose to subsidize envi-ronmentally friendly projects instead? (i’d like to propose terra preta—a human-created soil additive made from charcoal and compost that is incredibly fertile and—even better—sequesters carbon.) Do we, as a society, believe that we can ignore natural limits to growth?

a paradigm shift is possible; if we change ourselves, and work to make a change in the world with loving kindness, we are not doomed to destroy nature and consequently, ourselves.

Tuula Helin, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Kamloops

Visit tuula Helin’s blog: www.connexionsandcontradictions.blogspot.com, or email her at the-cap@shaw.ca

teztan Biny: a Sacred placeGhosts and Orphans: the legacy of uranium mining

30 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

imagine the area of about 1,200 soccer fields and you have a size similar to that of the proposed mega-quarry near Melancthon, north of Shelburne, on, and only three kilometres away from our 55-acre Unitarian summer Unicamp, in Honeywood, on. if the proposal goes through, prime agricultural land will be dug up to create the biggest open-pit mine in canada, and likely the second biggest in north america.

How did it come to this? about four years ago a hedge-fund operated company based in

Boston, the Highland companies, bought 7000 acres of prime agricultural land with the supposed intention of farming, grow-ing, and processing potatoes in the township of Melancthon. about three years ago they announced an interest in extracting limestone. this would be accomplished by digging a pit of 2300 acres, going deeper than 200 feet below the water table.

there are a number of concerns should the mega-quarry go ahead. Drilling into the aquifer will likely affect the quantity and quality of water supplying local wells, springs, as well as the headwaters of rivers such as the nottawasaga, Saugeen, and the Grand River, which reach millions of people in Ontario. a whopping 600 million litres of water would be used every single day to minimize dust. every single day 4000 trucks would drive over the mostly gravel roads in the area, and the noise level of ongoing blasting to extract the limestone would likely have quite an impact on the quality of life for residents.

in response, the north-Dufferin agricultural community taskforce (nDact) was formed by the local citizens, alerting the friends of Unicamp about the proposed quarry. We spread the word to UU congregations in Ontario.

the Highland companies demolished over 30 homes, which they had let go derelict, and removed many old-wood lots (“normal farming practice” they claim). according to their promotional video they intend to plant new woodland around the quarry.

i’ve attended the Melancthon town council meeting every month since September 2009, and was present when we heard that the Highland companies finally filed their application on March 3 of this year. now the nDact, Unitarians, the council of canadians, conservation groups, First nations, and many more can take action.

the government needs to hear that Melacthon does not want a mega-quarry. Ontario’s Minister of natural Resources, Linda Jeffrey, showed support for the mega-quarry when she told Melancthon Mayor Bill Hill that he, “should get the community

potatoes vs. an Open pit

together and calm down and appreciate that they might get a golf course out of this.” Mayor Hill wrote a letter of concern and complaint to premier Dalton McGuinty in response. the deadline of april 26 for official letters of objection to Highland and the Ministry of natural Resources was then extended to July 11. Over 2,000 letters were sent.

the Highland companies have two years to reply to every letter. if their response is unsatisfactory, it may be rebutted with another letter to this effect, copying the Minister of natural Re-sources. Be assured this powerful US-based company will fight hard for their perceived rights to the valuable Ontario limestone. it is that same limestone that makes the land prime potato land, providing great drainage, and preventing the potatoes from rotting. this fact alone should give us a hint that restoring the land on the bottom of the quarry after extraction—as has been promised—will not in any way bring it back to its orginal prime and class-1 condition, nor will it be suitable for growing potatoes.

the international online petition organization avaaz has col-lected over 100,000 signatures to put pressure on the Ontario Minister of natural Resources. Despite past deadlines, there is still an opportunity to keep the pressure on: sending letters to your Mp and Mpp, and organizing events and protests will get the attention of the media. this is a fight for years to come, unless laws are changed by the government and the people of Ontario, to give priority to valuable agricultural land over mineral extraction.

Ellen Papenburg,past president of Unicamp

moderator FriendsOfUnicampStoptheQuarry egroupjoin us ellen@wightman.ca

Related links: www.ndact.com www.stopthemelancthonquarry.com miningforthetruthinmelancthon.blogspot.com www.melancthontownship.ca search on facebook for “Stop the Quarry”

Background info from the other side: http://www.highlandcompanies.ca/index.php/site/

Canada’s Bounty: nature and natural rescources

31

Human activity is having profound consequences on the earth. Our overuse of many natural resources is leaving a much-degraded planet for future generations. For many in religious and environmental groups, this can only be tackled by a profound change of values.

another perspective on how we can take better care of the earth comes from the economics-based notion of efficiency. anyone who has managed a household or business knows that being efficient means putting ones resources to their best use and minimizing waste. For example, a congregation using a coffee pot so leaky that 10% of the coffee spills onto the counter each Sunday, wastes coffee and human resources (those who clean up the mess). in economics, we would call fixing the leaky coffee pot an example of a pareto improving action: one that makes some people better off and no one worse off; it’s an easy decision.

efficiency can guide the stewardship of the earth’s natural resources too. Water is one example (but the arguments apply equally to other natural resources). if we look at how water is priced and consumed in canada we can conclude that we use water very inefficiently. Water prices are far too low and, as a result, water is wasted.

according to economist Steven Renzetti, in his report Wave of the Future: The Case for Smarter Water Policy (c.D. Howe institute-Institut C.D. Howe, 2009), it is costly to supply clean water to people. there is the building of infrastructure to bring water to homes, the monitoring and checking of water quality, the cost of treating water so that it can be safely consumed. Municipal water agencies collect revenues to pay for these costs through various charges levied on custom-ers. However the amount of revenue collected from these charges does not cover the basic costs of supplying water to users. in 2007, revenues collected by water agencies in canada covered only 70% of reported costs. in addition, most canadian cities have failed to maintain and replace aging water supply networks, which causes losses through leakage and signifies future repair costs. Finally, the reported costs put no dollar value on the water itself.

One important economic principle: resources will be used inefficiently if they are not priced to reflect their true costs. a comparison of water prices across nations shows that canadian water prices are much lower than in many european nations. the most recent comparison available is for 1999, which shows average water prices in Germany of about $2.16 per cubic metre compared to canada’s average of about 31 cents. in Germany, consumption of water in liters, per person per day, was about 125 compared to a figure for canada of 325 litres per person per day. in addition, a significant number of canadian households (about 35% in 2004) pay a flat monthly rate for water, no matter how much they use. Studies have shown that moving from a flat fee to a price per litre consumed can cause household water consumption to fall by half. When the true cost of water is included in the price, many people would stop watering lawns, for example, and businesses would find ways to reduce water consumption.

the economic efficiency argument holds that charging a price for water which reflects the true cost of using the resource is the surest way to ensure that we will not waste it. the payment should cover the cost of delivering water resources to homes and businesses, and a user cost to reflect the scarcity of water in particular regions.

charging a higher price for water is not as easy a decision as replacing a leaky coffee pot. What about people who can’t afford to purchase water at what would be considered an efficient price? Our UU principle of justice and equity calls on us to ensure that everyone has access to food, clean water, and shelter. Rather than subsidize water consumption as we do now, i’d advocate for better income redistribution so that everyone has enough to purchase necessities including water, food, and shelter. it is also possible to establish an escalating price rate on water, beyond a certain mimimum of units needed to meet a household’s basic needs. this can help eliminate the impact of increasing water prices on those who can least afford it, while promoting conserva-tion and wise use of the resource for all.

to use the earth’s resources wisely we must use them efficiently.

Margaret Insley, First Unitarian Congregation of Waterloo and

Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Waterloo

economic efficiency and canada’s Water

32 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

Message from UUMoC

Symptoms and Soul

Religion in the ecological epoch will need to be based on a sense of deep communion with all beings—through empathy, through the power of the heart, through our deepest intuition of the sacred pulse of life and the sacred nature of the cosmos. It will be a religion in which heart and mind combine. It will be a religion of celebration and joy.

Henryk Skolinowski, a Sacred Place to Dwell

So often these days I hear us asking the ageless religious questions: who are we, what is our calling, how shall we define our mission and vision? Soul questions. and while we search for answers as individuals and as congregations, I believe we are called as a religious movement to respond to the soul needs of our age. to remember that the ‘anima mundi’—the spirit of our times—along with the scarred and sacred earth, is equally in need of healing.

a strong commitment to environmental justice is a natural for Unitarians and Universalists. as individuals and as faith communities, we typically express our longing for environmental and social justice with social and political action on many fronts, locally and in every region of Canada, extending our concern to all corners of the globe. a religion of celebration and joy?

faced with the enormity of the mandate to save an entire planet, the miracle is how many manage to not only retain joy but avoid burnout. what inspires us, keeps us going, restores us in the face of daily frustrations, set-backs, defeats, justice denied or delayed?

I believe it is our encouragement of each other in com-munity, doing the inner work that sustains the outer work. maintaining hope by celebrating what Buddhist teacher and activist Joanna macy calls a basic “gratitude for the gift of life… the primary wellspring of all religions.”

we would do well to intentionally integrate more spiritual renewal, a reawakening of wonder, reverence and awe for the sacred earth into our environmental activism. writing in The Huffington Post after the failed initiatives of the 2010 UN

Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee reminds us that in western culture, “the core of Spiritual ecology is an understanding that our present outer ecologi-cal crisis is a reflection of an inner spiritual crisis… a lack of awareness of the sacred within ourselves and within all of life [that] has created an inner wasteland as real as any outer landscape. we cannot redeem our physical environment” he asserts, “without restoring our relationship to the sacred.”

we live in ‘interesting’ times: times of radical transition, amidst early evidence of a global consciousness shift. the uniquely relevant theology of our Seventh Principle, as rev. David Bumbaugh wrote (UUa world 1995), “calls us to reverence before the world—not some future world but the miraculous world of our everyday experience… It bespeaks a world where—because all things impinge on all other things—everything matters.”

So we work to clean up pollution, protest the tar sands, protect endangered species, lobby to pass legislation declar-ing water a universal human right, attending in myriad ways to the symptoms of a pervasive, systemic spiritual crisis. as wise religious activists, let us not become so busy we neglect what empowers us for sustained action and renews our spirits for the long haul. healing the spiritual malaise of our age calls us in ‘celebration and joy’ to savour the world we seek to save. this is work best nurtured in supportive, multi-generational community.

In the words again of Joanna macy, “It is a privilege to be alive in this time when we can choose to take part in the self-healing of our world.” Could it be that our Seventh Principle ,

“respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part”, points us toward balancing and integrating our work for eco-justice with an authentic eco-spirituality? may it be so!

rev. Carole martignacco, Unitarian Universalist Church of North hatley

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David Song and Hongmei Lu share their religious practices and their experience with the Unitarian Fel-lowship of London.

there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Falun Gong practition-ers David Song and Hongmei Lu finished speaking. they had come at the invitation of the Reverend Myron andes, minister of the Unitarian Fellowship of London (UFL), for one of the year’s Social Justice Sunday sermons. this sermon was titled “Falun Gong: a practitioner’s experience in the people’s Republic of china”.

David and Hongmei related how loss of jobs, false arrest, harassment, imprisonment, and torture—all at the hands of the chinese government—are among the possible fates awaiting a Falun Gong member who refuses to give up the faith.

What started off as a small sect in 1992, initially embraced by the chinese government, now has more than 100 million practitioners throughout china. With such large numbers, it is rumored that the Falun Gong’s membership exceeds that of the chinese communist party by 30 million.

contrary to politburo beliefs, Fa-lun Gong members have no politi-cal agenda, wishing only to be left alone to practice their three main tenets, truthfulness, compassion, and Forbearance. Unfortunately, the chinese government believes them to be a destabilizing threat to the social order. as a result, since July of 1999, the govern-ment banned the practice and has waged a ceaseless campaign to discredit and ultimately wipe out the group.

David and Hongmei have both been victims of government op-pression and spoke openly about their respective experiences. David served three years in a government prison, and Hongmei was arrested, held, and questioned by security police for a short period. David told the assembled congregation about life in one of the three chinese prisons in which he was incarcer-ated. a light was on 24 hours a day in his small cell, which he shared with as many as 20 other prisoners at a time.

He and the others were forced to do labor for 12 to 15 hours a day, in some cases making products for western markets. Before his spellbound audience, David lamented his experience mak-ing ‘cargo’ pants under unbearable prison conditions. David explained that, “ …cargo pants are those long pants that can be converted to short pants that many of the western people seem to be wearing in canada…” David warned us that some chinese products are produced by chinese prison slave-labor and that is why the product can be sold so cheaply. Somebody, somewhere is paying a very high price.

Before the children of the UFL went off to their separate religion education classes, David and Hongmei demonstrated a simple Falun Gong exercise that children and adults could do. Spontaneously, all the members of the congregation stood up and joined in. Young and old members all stretched and swayed and moved in unison.

When asked what we can do to help stop the persecution of Falun Gong members, David and Hongmei suggested the we speak out about the plight of amnesty international political prisoner, Zhisheng Gao (高智晟). in 2001 Zhisheng Gao was named one of china’s top ten lawyers by the Ministry of Justice for his work defending victims of medical malpractice and farm-ers whose land had been seized for redevelopment. But in 2005 Zhisheng Gao began defending members of unofficial christian churches as well as adherents of Falun Gong. after accepting these highly controversial cases, his license to practice law was

suspended, the chinese govern-ment shut down his 20-member law firm, he was harassed, unjustly detained, and tortured by the chi-nese secret police.

Since then, over the years, Zhish-eng Gao has been arrested, prohib-ited from publishing or speaking out, imprisioned, and tortured.

in February 2009, he was taken away again for interrogation by the chinese secret police and was not seen until he resurfaced in the Shanxi province of the people’s Republic of china in March 2010. Several days later he disappeared, and as of this date, his whereabouts remain unknown.

David and Hongmei circulated a letter of concern on behalf of amnesty international political prisoner Zhisheng Gao (高智晟). and after such a passionate pres-entation, members of the UFL eagerly signed on. Hongmei says,

Zhisheng Gao is a true hero to members of the Falun Gong community, more people should know about his plight and do something to help. She urged members of the international com-munity to call on the chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release Zhisheng Gao, and David added “… and stop the persecution of the Falun Gong members!”

then, with a bow to their audience, David Song and Hongmei Lu finished their presentation to thunderous applause.

Mark Konrad, Unitarian Fellowship of London

London hosts Falun Gong practitioners

34 the Canadian Unitarian Newsletter • Vol. 53 • No. 2 • Summer 2011

Contact: David Rain1-800-565-6872 x 231rain@usc-canada.org

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Survival!of our

Designing your congregation’s new Website

at the UU Fellowship of kamloops, we’ve redesigned our website: www.uukam.bc.ca. Our three month project was accomplished by a team of volunteers and a professional.the completed design specifications and text were handed over to a professional web designer, who completed the website in three weeks for a very reasonable price, and now updates our website once a month.

Here are some tips we learned along the way:

Research web design. the best internet source i found was called the Best Damn • Web Marketing checklist. With this, i was able to highlight all the areas where we needed to make changes.

Visit every UU website in canada, and as many as you can in the US. along the way • you will get design ideas and menu names . it is a good idea to treat any website as copyrighted, even if it doesn’t say so—another reason why it’s best not to draw too heavily from only one website.

Who is going to design and maintain the website? a volunteer, a professional, or a • combination of both? We decided to hire a professional to design the site and update it monthly, while we supply the content. We felt that this would ensure a profes-sional look to the website, plus it would avoid future problems with maintenance volunteers moving, taking holidays, or burning out.

if you must update more frequently than once a month, it would probably be ad-• vantageous to have a content Management System. this costs more to install, but then a trained volunteer can easily update the website.

photos. Whatever you do, make sure that the photos are of the highest quality with • good composition and lighting, and they send the desired message. if you don’t have a decent photo, then do without. it is also best to obtain permission from people in the photos before posting them to the website.

Graphics. For free chalice graphics, go to UUa chalice art, and cUc Logos & • Fonts.

i hope you find some of this helpful. enjoy the journey!

Anne Neave,

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Kamloops

tips & tricks:

35

Designing your congregation’s new Website

InformAdvise Advertise Put your business or service message in The Canadian Unitarian and reach Unitarian Universalists across Canada and into the United States, in print and online. Contact the Canadian Unitarian Council at: info@cuc.ca or 1-888-568-5723 for more information.

book design & layout

brochures, posters, calendars…

design for print & web | digital media

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kim@sitedish.com | (514) 257 6785

tribute to kathryn ‘kay’ cook

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kathryn (kay) cook was widely known as a wedding officiant in toronto. appointed a chaplain by the congregation of First Unitarian church in 1973, she quickly gained popularity among couples seeking non-traditional wedding ceremonies.

Buttressed by the feminist movement and the liberalization of canada’s divorce laws, she began her career by offering an alternative to the conventional church wedding. She believed that committed couples deserved the sanctity of marriage in spite of differ-ences in ethnicity, race or religion. She conducted commitment ceremonies for gay couples long before the Ontario court of appeal eliminated the ban on same-sex marriage in 2003.

from the Lives Lived Column of The Globe and Mail

(Oct 28, 2010)

i met kathryn cook in 1977. as a Unitarian lay chaplain, she officiated at my first wedding. i was so impressed by her ability to make everyone feel relaxed as she conducted our ceremony with such grace. it was at this ceremony that i became intrigued with the idea of becoming a chaplain myself. i let the idea simmer in the back of my mind and carried on with my career as an arts/educator and performer.

For my second marriage, my fiancé and i asked kay to officiate (i’ve often joked that she gave me a discount the second time as the first marriage didn’t take). this second wedding was an intimate ceremony and kay helped to make our living room a sacred space as she blessed our union with words of wisdom and inspiration on our special day.

a few years later i was asked to help team-teach a drama workshop for children. My partner was kay cook. We had a wonderful time teaching the class together and i told her of my dream of becoming a chaplain. She mentioned how much it helps to have a theatre background to do the ceremonies. She helped me brainstorm ways that i could get licensed.

inspired, i decided to start a church called the Music church in the hope that after a few years the congregants might elect me as chaplain. Our creed was, no Dogma just great karma. We sang uplifting music and gave thanks. We had some amazing musical guests and we traveled to restaurants and through people’s homes for about two years. But i began to burn out, as i was doing almost all the duties of keeping the Music church alive. i was too busy to give a thought to chaplaincy work.

When i felt the calling to do services again i had a brochure made and kay helped me find source material and gave me a copy of a book she wrote to help couples plan their own wedding. kay helped me officiate my first wedding at the north York wedding chapel on Valentine’s Day. it was such a thrill to perform this ceremony with my mentor.

a couple of years later kay told me about a new Unitarian congregation starting up in the Beaches neighbourhood of toronto that would be needing lay chaplains. So i visited and i fell in love with the neighbourhood Unitarian Uni-versalist congregation and its fabulous minister, Rev. Wayne Walder, and i have been there ever since.

after shadowing Wayne and taking training sessions, i became their first lay chaplain. One Sunday i was giving a talk on how i became a lay chaplain and i invited kay—i wanted her to know how grateful i am to her for helping me achieve my dream. after the service so many people came up to her to say hello and tell her that she married them and many of their friends.

i was so shocked to hear that kay passed away last year. i never got a chance to say goodbye and thank her for guiding and nurturing me to do this wonderful work. She was unique and special, and i will always remember her in her beautiful gowns, speaking words of wisdom and love.

thanks kay.

Naomi Tyrell, Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist

Congregation