Westwood's past services 2011/ 2012
NEW!! Audio recordings are now filed with past services.
For services before September 2011, please refer to the archives.
February 5, 2012 - Getting to No
We think of 'no' as a negative, a rejection, an objection to be overturned - but learning to 'say no' can be essential to well-being, and learning to 'hear no' can be equally as important. Join us for this service where we intentionally engage with 'no'.
Service leader: Terry Anderson
Speaker: Rev. Anne Barker
Musician: Steven Bell
January 29, 2012 - Chinese Spirituality
Chinese New Year falls within the following week!
Service leader: Colette Orieux
Speaker: Dean Chan
Musician: Karen Mills
January 22, 2012 - Rainbow principles (all age service)
We affirm and promote the Unitarian Universalist Principles ... well... we would, if we could just remember what they were!? Come learn a simple, fun method to remember the Principles, in this all ages Sunday service.
Service leader: Rev. Anne Barker and Kathy Lightfoot
Speaker: Rev. Anne Barker
Musician: Steven Bell
January 15, 2012 - Leaning into the Light
While the light is returning, January still holds 'the dark of winter'. This service explores personal, communal, and institutional ways we might 'lean into the light.'
Service leader: Susan Anderson
Speaker: Rev. Anne Barker
Musicians: Harmonia
*** This service includes a member recognition ceremony (joining and leaving) ***
January 8, 2012 - Bah Humbug
Bah Humbug: New Year's Resolutions - who needs them? Why burden yourself with a wish list for personal improvement? Why reflect at all about your life and your future? Why indeed? Come and share Mitch's annual reminder of the answers to these questions, and more ...
Service leader: Kevin Fitzgerald
Speaker: Mitch Waldon
Musician: Sheila Killoran
** There will be a 'Second Sunday Potluck Lunch' following the service **
January 1, 2012 - 11 am Pancake Breakfast
Share the first morning of the New Year with fellow Westwoodians, while enjoying Marc MacKenzie's traditional pancake breakfast. Note the start time of 11 am, to give us all an extra hour to recover from New Year's Eve.
December 25, 2011 - 2pm Christmas Service: "Stocking Up"
*** Please note time change***
Christmas is on a Sunday this year - so our Sunday morning service is
moving to the afternoon. Join us for a gentle hour of story & conversation, reflecting on the day.
*** There is also a potluck Christmas Dinner at 5pm ***
Join us for either or both -
and feel free to stay through the afternoon for movies & games, cookies & chai.
*** Wednesday December 21, 2011 - 7:30pm
Winter Solstice at City Hall ***
This year's Winter Solstice leans gently toward Celtic Tradition ... and we have a new parting gift for our guests! Bring your friends and family and we will see you at City Hall.
Speakers Rev. Anne Barker & Westwood Members
Musicians: Harmonia, with Gordon Ritchie on the harp
*** Warm Cider and snacks will be served following the 1 hour service ***
*** An offering will be taken for the
Bent Arrow Healing Society ***
December 18, 2011 - Hymns for the holidays
Our own Harmonia choir and Rebecca will lead the congregation in a service of music - let's get jolly and happy!!
Service leader and Musicians: Harmonia led by Rebecca Patterson
December 11, 2011 - Human Rights Day and 11th Annual AI Write for Rights Event
Please join us for a special Social Justice service to honour and celebrate Human Rights Day and the Amnesty International
Write for Rights Event. This year we shall integrate the letter-writing into the service and feature selected cases
and actions during the service. We shall have all materials ready for you, and if you don't like writing letters,
we'll have ready-to-mail letters and cards to sign.
It is shaping up to be a very special time...and we'll follow it with the regular 2nd Sunday potluck!
Service leader: Heather MacDonald
Speakers: Social Justice Committee
Musicians: tbd
** There will be a 'Second Sunday Potluck Lunch' following the service **
December 4, 2011 - What Is Your Spiritual Type?
We often talk about the ways Unitarians are similar to one another - but today we explore essential ways we might be different. Do you know your spiritual type?
Service leader: Dean Wood
Speaker: Reverend Anne Barker
Musicians: Sheila Killoran
November 27, 2011 - Creative Aging
"If not now, then when? What can they do do to me? What have I got to lose?" David Barnet, the artistic director of GeriActors and Friends, talks about creative aging through theatre.
Service leader: Heather MacDonald
Speaker: David Barnet
Musician: Karen Mills
November 20, 2011 - We are People First
What does it mean to serve a congregation - as partners in shared ministry? As we consider the different mantles members wear, and the accompanying shifts in identity, we need to remember - we are people first.
Speakers: Committee on Shared Ministry with Rev. Anne Barker
Musicians: Harmonia
November 13, 2011 - Using the Arts to revitalize Community
Christy Morin sits on the Board of "Arts on the Ave" which is comprised of visual and performance artists, literary and film artists, photographers and musicians who collaborate and create in the 118th Avenue District. The Society's goals are to create opportunities for all individuals to experience the joy of artistic expression and to nurture creative environments. Please join us and hear Christy share a story of how a distressed community found hope through the arts.
Service leader: Colette Orieux
Speaker: Christy Morin
Musician: Steven Bell
**There will be a 'Second Sunday Potluck Lunch' following the service**
November 6, 2011 - Why? (... are we here?)
Why... are we here? What is our purpose? Personally and institutionally, it really is the essential question. WHY?
Service leader: Kaitlin O'Brien
Speaker: Reverend Anne Barker
Musician: Kevin Kornelsen
October 30, 2011 - Halloween for all ages
A Halloween themed service for children and adults.
Service leader: Kathy Lightfoot
Musicians: Cherilyn Michaels and Jacob
October 23, 2011 - A Faith for All Seasons
To everything, there is a season. How do Unitarians respond to the changing seasons of life, and living? This service is a tender look at suffering and loss.
Speaker: Reverend Anne Barker
Musicians: Toot Ensemble, Jacqueline Willette
October 16, 2011 - Western Region Fall Gathering - 11am at UCE!!
Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For
Service at Unitarian Church of Edmonton, 10804 119 Street.
Westwoodians of all ages are travelling to join UCE and visiting guests from across the Canadian Unitarian Council Western Region. Let's fill their sanctuary!
Speakers: Reverend Brian Kiely & Reverend Anne Barker
Musicians: WRFG Choir including Harmonia, Chorealis & friends from across the region
***Note: time and location change!!!***
FRIDAY October 14, 2011 - Western Region Fall Gathering "In-Gathering & Banner Parade"
Service at Unitarian Church of Edmonton, 10804 119 Street.
All Westwoodians are invited to attend the conference ingathering service (and the potluck prior); regardless of conference registration.
Speakers: Reverend Brian Kiely & Reverend Anne Barker
Including: WRFG Planners & Edmonton Congregational Representatives
Musicians: Harmonia
October 9, 2011 - Welcome Home: Addressing Homelessness in Edmonton
The Inter-faith Community in Edmonton is responding to the 10-year Plan to End Homelessness. Come and learn what this can mean for Westwood and beyond.
Service leader: Kevin Fitzgerald
Speaker: Reverend Anne Barker
Musicians: Harmonia
October 2, 2011 - The Fit Between The Enneagram and Unitarianism
The Enneagram is a system of human development that studies nine basic types of people. Each with their own way of thinking,
feeling, and acting. The Enneagram explains why we behave the way we do and how the nine personality types relate to each other. The
roots of the Enneagram go back two thousand years to the Middle East. "Ennea" is Greek for nine, and "gram" means
a figure or something written. The Enneagram is represented by a diagram of a nine-pointed star within a circle.
Studying the
Enneagram helps us understand our own strengths, areas that need development, and inner motivations. The system provides direction
for personal, professional and spiritual growth. It encourages acceptance and compassion for self and others and teaches
that we are not wrong for being different.
Dona-Kaitlin studied with Helen Palmer and Dr. David Daniels and became a Certified Enneagram Teacher in July 2010.
Speaker: Dona-Kaitlin Beitel
Musician: Steven Bell
September 25, 2011 - A Lay Chaplain's Journey
The Lay Chaplain's role, in a Unitarian Congregation, is an opportunity offering rich experiences, complex challenges, and a spiritual growth opportunity bar none. Westwood's current lay chaplain, Colette Orieux, will reflect on her journey thus far.
Service leader: Rev. Anne Barker
Speaker: Colette Orieux
Musicians: Cherilyn and Jacob Michaels
September 18, 2011 - In The Beginning
Every religion has a creation story, retold and reinterpreted over time. Come and hear ours ... (or is it really ours?!) ... and be sure to bring your critical thinking hat!
Speaker: Rev. Anne Barker
Musicians: Harmonia
** Children's downstairs program begins today **
September 11, 2011 - Ingathering: Calling all to come together!
Join us this Sunday, where we install the 2010/11 Board of Trustees, share summer stories and renew our commitments for the
coming year. You are invited to bring water, representing summer experiences and places we have been, or small items for the
chalice table.
Note: this service tends to run long!!
This Sunday also marks the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center & Pentagon bombings.
Remembrance and reflection will accompany our communion.
Service leader: Westwood Board of Trustees
Speaker: Westwood Board of Trustees, Rev. Anne Barker, and You!
Musician: Steven Bell
**Children will be upstairs this week - participating in the service**
**There will be a 'Second Sunday Potluck Lunch' following the service**