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Summer Theme:
Affirming Our Affirmation
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Upcoming Services - 10:30 AM at Westwood
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Summer Serendipity Services
| Our summer serendipity services follow the small group ministry format; an idea or a reading will be provided by the service leader followed by some time to think and some questions to get conversation going. Everyone is invited to join in or individuals can simply sit back and listen. Each one-hour service begins with introductions around the circle and a brief "check-in" on a topic provided by the service leader. |
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Summer Serendipity: Sources of Strength
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Topic: Sources of Strength
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Each of us has, or is in need of, Sources of Strength. Come learn about some, and share your own.
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Service Leader: Claire Edwards
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Summer Serendipity: A facilitated discussion on a selected topic
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Summer Serendipity: Just Say Yes
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A key principle of improv is to ‘Say YES to everything’. What would happen if you ‘Just Say Yes’?
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Service Leader: Lisa Stein
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Summer Serendipity: A facilitated discussion on a selected topic
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Summer Serendipity: Spiritual Medicine
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Topic: Spiritual Medicine
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Medicine is a tool for emergency treatment, a support for health maintenance, and sometimes even an agent of healing. Today we’re talking about ‘Spiritual Medicine’.
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Service Leader: Heather MacLean-Smith
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Summer Serendipity: A facilitated discussion on a selected topic
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Summer Serendipity: Rest, Grow, SERVE
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Our Westwood Purpose Statement says “Rest, Grow & Serve the World”. What does it mean, in your life, to Serve?
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Service Leader: Ilara Stefaniuk-Gaudet
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Summer Serendipity: A facilitated discussion on a selected topic
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Summer Serendipity: Sharing the Light - Summer Edition
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Topic: Sharing the Light - Summer Edition
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Our Winter Solstice service is called "Sharing the Light". What does it mean to 'share the light' the rest of the year?
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Service Leader: Bruce McWhirter
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Summer Serendipity: A facilitated discussion on a selected topic
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Summer Serendipity: Love Languages
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“The Five Love Languages”, by Gary Chapman, names 5 distinct ways we experience &/or demonstrate love. Which ones matter most to you?
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Service Leader: Lisa Stein
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Summer Serendipity: A facilitated discussion on a selected topic
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Summer Serendipity: One More Step
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When everything seems hard – or even impossible – Hope may help us take one more step. Join us this morning for stories of Hope.
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Service Leader: Ilara Stefaniuk-Gaudet
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Summer Serendipity: A facilitated discussion on a selected topic
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Summer Serendipity: Power of Presence
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Sometimes, when there is nothing to be ‘fixed’ or ‘done’, there is simply ‘be’. Come reflect on the Power of Presence.
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Service Leader: Sally-Ann Mowat
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Summer Serendipity: A facilitated discussion on a selected topic
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Summer Serendipity: Amplifying Voices
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When systems, cultures and/or practices make it hard for a minority voice to be heard – it becomes our work to help amplify the silenced voices. Come, talk about getting out of the way, for others to be heard.
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Service Leader: Claire Edwards
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Summer Serendipity: A facilitated discussion on a selected topic
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From the Minister’s Study…
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I hope this summer season is full of light and love for you. I plan to be close to home, doing some exciting studies and enjoying the local sites and festivals. Our youngest son is moving back to Edmonton in July – so that means both boys will be here. We haven’t all lived in the same city, at the same time, for about a dozen years!
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We have some exciting things in store for you next year. Work is underway for a shared reflection on ‘direction, intention and future action’. We’re calling it “Westwood … what’s next?” You can expect a roll-out in early September.
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In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the Summer Serendipity Services – a less formal, discussion-based service in a circle. This summer’s services carry on the theme of “Embracing Our Affirmation”. They’re a great way to get to know some folks, and to explore topics with more depth, detail, and participation. There is no children’s program over the summer, but you are welcome to bring young ones with you to Summer Serendipity, if that works for your family.
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Before I head off … let me leave you with next year’s themes … so you can look forward to what comes next:
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2018-2019 Westwood Theme: Seasons of Change
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Kootenay Lake Widerness Camping
Are you ready for another dose of that soothing Kootenay Lake camp feeling? It’s only two short months to camping season.
Now is the time to tell friends about Camp… promote it to anyone who might enjoy it.
Be sure to tell everyone about the website: Kootenaywildernesscamping.org
We also want to tell you about an urgent issue. Want to avoid the sound of chainsaws in the forest?
There is a campaign now to protect the mountainside, lakeshore to mountaintop, from Argenta to Johnson’s Landing from logging and industrial development. As you can see this is the last piece in the puzzle of the Purcell Wilderness. The Wilderness Society Board has voted to support the campaign, and is making a donation. You can too. Did you know we were instrumental in lobbying to create the Purcell Wilderness in the 70s???
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Looking forward to another unsp0iled summer on Kootenay Lake.
Keith Wiley,
Board Secretary, for the Board of the Northwest Wilderness Society.
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Singers Register Now!
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Westwood is pleased to host a series of voice workshops with David Wilson.
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For singers, and would be singers, of all abilities:
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Designed to assist people in singing to the best of their ability. David combines physical and vocal warm-ups with free breathing and internal awareness exercises.
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Attend one workshop or several for even greater benefit.
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Location: Westwood Unitarian Congregation 11135 65 Ave, Edmonton
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Registration is limited to 20 participants
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What to bring: yoga mat, water bottle, loose stretchy clothing, balance ball (optional but useful)
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Sounding Board 2018-06-11
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- new member and Social Justice chair, Maggie Davidson.
- Leigh Bornn, our newest Board member, and Susan Anderson, who is returning to the Board after a year off.
Thank you and much appreciation to this year's retirees
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- Brenda Jackson who retires from the Board this year after four years as President and one year as Past-President.
- Long-serving committee committee chairs Brenda Niska-Aro, CYRE, and Edda Loomes, Social Justice.
Upcoming special Events: mark your calendar now and invite a friend
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- Welcome Back Barbecue August 26. Thanks for hosting again this year, Lorian.
- Open House September 2
- Posters will be available for distribution at summer serendipity services
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3.Ingathering September 9. Be sure to collect a small sample of water to represent a special place or moment in your summer.
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Other News
Rev. Anne is off for the summer as usual and returns on August 15
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Elaine, our wonderful office administrator, is on holiday June 29 to July 20. Messages left on the office phone or email will be monitored periodically by a Board member.
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Board meetings have changed dates this year so check the calendar each month if you wish to present or send information for a meeting.
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Save the date and start thinking about what you might offer February 23 2019 FUNdraiser Goods and Services Auction returns.
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Wishing everyone the best possible summer.
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Nasra Adem (They/Them) Sept. 28 at Westwood!
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Save the Date Sunday Sept 28!
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NASRA is a queer, Muslim, Oromo artist and organizer, living in Amiskwaciwskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory. As festival director of Black Arts Matter - Alberta's interdisciplinary Black arts festival and director of Sister to Sister - an artistic showcase by women & femmes of colour - Nasra advocates for liberating and intersectional creative spaces. Click for printable poster
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Seeking Nursery Staff
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Westwood Unitarian Congregation is looking for a responsible, open-minded, compassionate individual who enjoys spending time with babies and young children.
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The position would be for Sunday mornings from 10am-12pm, beginning the first Sunday in September.
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Summer Reading for the Westwood FreeThinkers’ Book Club
2018-19 Schedule
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The FreeThinker Book club meets in the basement of the Westwood Unitarian Church at 7:00 PM on the last Wednesday of the month from Oct-March. The format varies but typically begins with a round table check-in and first reactions to the book. This is followed by a free ranging discussion, triggered by questions from other members.
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All are welcome – atheists, humanists, agnostics, and theists and of course ‘free thinkers!!
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The club members have chosen the following texts for this coming season.
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In a groundbreaking historical work that addresses religious conversion in the West from an uncompromisingly secular perspective, Susan Jacoby challenges the conventional narrative of conversion as a purely spiritual journey. From the transformation on the road to Damascus of the Jew Saul into the Christian evangelist Paul to a twenty-first-century “religious marketplace” in which half of Americans have changed faiths at least once, nothing has been more important in the struggle for reason than the right to believe in the God of one’s choice or to reject belief in God altogether.
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If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science.
Far from being a naïve hope, the Enlightenment, we now know, has worked. But more than ever, it needs a vigorous defense. The Enlightenment project swims against currents of human nature--tribalism, authoritarianism, demonization, magical thinking--which demagogues are all too willing to exploit. Many commentators, committed to political, religious, or romantic ideologies, fight a rearguard action against it. The result is a corrosive fatalism and a willingness to wreck the precious institutions of liberal democracy and global cooperation.
With intellectual depth and literary flair, Enlightenment Now makes the case for reason, science, and humanism: the ideals we need to confront our problems and continue our progress.
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The problems with the Bible that New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman discussed in his bestseller Misquoting Jesus—and on The Daily Show with John Stewart, NPR, and Dateline NBC, among others—are expanded upon exponentially in his latest book: Jesus, Interrupted. This New York Times bestseller reveals how books in the Bible were actually forged by later authors, and that the New Testament itself is riddled with contradictory claims about Jesus—information that scholars know… but the general public does not. If you enjoy the work of Elaine Pagels, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and John Shelby Spong, you’ll find much to ponder in Jesus, Interrupted.
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One of America's leading anthropolgists offers solutions to the perplexing question of why people behave the way they do.
Why do Hindus worship cows? Why do Jews and Moslems refuse to eat pork? Why did so many people in post-medieval Europe believe in witches?
Marvin Harris answers these and other perplexing questions about human behavior, showing that no matter how bizarre a people's behavior may seem, it always stems from identifiable and intelligble sources
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How Does an Atheist Respond to the Question, What Is the Purpose of Life?
For a Christian, it is faith that gives their life purpose. In his best-selling book The Purpose Driven™ Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?, Rick Warren says, “You must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”
But as a non-believer, your purpose resides in yourself; it is yours alone to discover and develop. It’s about choosing to live your own life for your own reasons. No one can dictate your purpose. You decide.
This book will help you understand and appreciate why freely choosing to help and cooperate with others is the true path to finding purpose. Life does not need purpose: Purpose needs life. To punctuate this point, The Good Atheist includes inspiring biographies of humanity’s true heroes—men and women who did not waste their lives as slaves to a God, but rather found purpose in enhancing life on this Earth for all of us.
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April 24 – Book or video from emergent wishes of the club!
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For more information or if you have trouble locating a copy, email freethinker @ westwoodunitarian.ca
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The Canadian Unitarian Council is pleased to unveil a new website. Check it out! https://cuc.ca/
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SHARING OUR FAITH
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From CANADIAN UNITARIAN COUNCIL ENEWS | JUNE 2018
Please see the full issue here
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Sharing Our Faith grants for growth and outreach initiatives are awarded annually to congregations which apply and meet the criteria. Funds are gathered by congregations holding Sharing Our Faith Sunday services, and from the Percy Simpson Bailey fund administered by the First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto.
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Four congregations received grants in 2018:
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- Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Durham ON: $4,500 towards part-time consulting ministry, and to grow family interactions and attract new families through enhanced programming
- Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Kamloops BC: $4,500 to rent a permanent space for more visibility and outreach
- Comox Valley Unitarian Fellowship BC: $4,116 for support staff to increase the congregation’s capacity for outreach and communication through quality engagement with children, youth and their families
- Salt Spring Island Unitarian Fellowship BC: $4,580 towards developing a children’s religious exploration program; there are currently no other faith- based children' s programs on the island
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Unitarians do Pride Parade Proud!
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Thanks Lorian for some great photos and to all Unitarians who marched (or cheered on) our members and friends in the 2018 Edmonton Pride Parade.
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Lorian welcomes you to check out her photo album from the parade here
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COMPASSION BANK ~ Summer offerings
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Trials & tribulations can happen anytime.
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Westwood's Bank has assembled a banker crew to respond to requests over the summer.
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Time sensitive requests may prove challenging because bank donors have visitors, gardens & travel plans....
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Cassie, Linda or Sara will respond.
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Child Haven International 15th Annual East Indian Dinner
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Sunday, October 28, 2018 at 5 pm.
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Inspired by the ideals and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, Child Haven International is a registered not for profit charity founded in 1985 by Unitarian Minister Reverend Fred Cappuccino and his wife, Bonnie. Child Haven International assists children and women in developing countries, who are in need of food, education, health care, shelter and clothing, emotional and moral support. Child Haven has five homes in India, one in Nepal, one in Tibet in China and one in Bangladesh. Further information is available at www.childhaven.ca
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The Annual Edmonton Child Haven dinner will be held on Sunday, October 28, 2018 at the Meridian Banquet Centre, 4820 – 76 Avenue NW, Edmonton at 5 pm. Adult tickets are $60, Children 5-12 years are $20 and children under 5 years are free. Bonnie and Fred Cappuccino will be in attendance and show slides of some of the children. There will be a bazaar, silent and live auction, children’s craft table and auctioning a painting created during the event by artist Lewis Lavoie. We hope you will join us. Tickets are available from Sylvia Krogh at skrogh@shaw.ca, phone 780-454-6216.
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Sylvia Galbraith is having a garage sale in July and all proceeds will be donated to Child Haven. Sylvia Galbraith lives at 10728-125 Street NW, Edmonton. If you have any contributions – they would be appreciated. If you are not able to deliver the donations she will pick them up if you contact her at 780-455-6741.
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The next Social Justice committee meeting will be held Wednesday September 5 at 7:15pm in the basement at Westwood. This is a change from our regular date on Thursdays. Anyone interested in social justice issues is welcome.
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How Was Your Summer? - BBQ
| Mark your calendars NOW so you don't miss it! The "How Was Your Summer? BBQ " will be on Sunday Aug. 26, at Lorian Kennedy's home at 4:30. |
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