Kingston Unitarian Fellowship

The new day-to-day reality we are living is a rapidly changing and frequently heartbreaking one. And there are ways even now, so early in the tragedy of a global pandemic, to both find and build silver linings. Let’s come together in community, create some alchemy while we create community, and be reminded that the interdependent web has many incredible gifts which will help us through difficult times.

What does it take, as individuals and as a community, to welcome wisdom? Cultures change, norms change, language changes… but where is wisdom in all this? Naguib Mahfouz wrote, “You can tell whether one is clever by their answers. You can tell whether one is wise by their questions.” Let’s throw open the doors of our hearts to questions, and think about how we can use this wisdom gift to live into our dream of a world community where peace, liberty, and justice are available to us all. [Please also check the videos section of our Facebook page for a recording of the message via FB Live.]

We teach the Golden Rule to children, because that is when we began to understand this important concept. And there are situations where the Golden Rule is the best option, but what about those moments when it isn’t? Join KUF Sunday morning to explore the idea of the platinum rule, and what it means in a community grounded in stories, relationships, promises, and, perhaps most importantly, aspirations towards a better world. [Please also check the videos section of our Facebook page for a recording of the message via FB Live.]

KUF joins congregations across Canada in marking International Women’s Day. How can we together see both how far we’ve come and the work that remains? What is our work to do as we move through what we’ve inherited and build  a new way of being? As Unitarian Universalists how do we use our commitment to always search out truth and meaning in this work? (Rev. Beckett Coppola and Frances Koziar speaking)

Our faith calls us to create a world with ever increasing justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. What are the causes and conditions we need to cultivate to build the resilience we need to practice beloved community in this work?

On this special Sunday we will celebrate KUF’s musical history and the contributions of our long-time volunteer Music Director Phyllis Robbins, who is retiring 31 December. Special musical guests and musical gifts will be partnered with reflections on the gift of music itself in the context of a community making meaning together.

As a community that is seeking wisdom our 3rd source calls us to look to the world’s faith traditions in order to inspire and deepen our capacity for both the ethical and the spiritual in our lives. As we prepare to move into the holiday season, let’s turn our attention to what inspires us to become the best individuals we can be, and lights a fire in us to make the world more peaceful, just, and loving.

Nations, faith communities, and all human systems carry the stories of their pasts whether they pay attention to them or not. It is our stories that shape our understanding of ourselves and lay the walkway to the future. Let us gather for Remembrance Day taking time to honour our stories, and as always to pay attention to these tales for the benefit of tomorrow.

The Unitarian Universalist Sixth Principle calls us to come together to work for a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. This United Nations Sunday service will delve into what it means to be a world community in the context of intersectional gender equity. How do people of faith answer the call to defend human dignity and rights?

We belong to the world around us, and to each other, in ways that will take an entire lifetime to fully explore. Our respect for the interdependent web of all existence, and our work to be responsible stewards within it, is one way we manifest our belonging. When have you experienced a sense of belonging? Who is sitting just outside our circle and needs to be welcomed in?

We approach conversations of generosity from many angles within our faith, which can be a difficult topic due to how individuals, generations, cultures, and families are profoundly different. Let’s gather together for an enriching time in the community seeing the bounty of the whole, and the ways we can each give wholeheartedly to this precious network of mutuality.

When reconciliation is mentioned in the media these days conversation typically revolves around helping non-Indigenous settlers understand the impact that past colonial policies have had on Indigenous Peoples. Very little, if any, attention is given to how colonization is continuing today, the privilege we would need to relinquish to end it, and how we can approach the emotional healing-work required to create meaningful change. In this talk Erin Horvath will share her personal experiences of decolonization over the past 22 years with the hope of helping other settler-Canadians engage in the tough personal work that true reconciliation requires. Our special guest today is Erin Horvath, the Canadian Unitarian Council’s Social Justice Lead. Erin is a Canadian-settler whose family immigrated from Hungary, Scotland and Switzerland. She has lived in Ontario her entire life, and currently resides in Huntsville, on the traditional territories of the Wasauksing and Shawanaga First Nations and which is covered by the Williams Treaty. Erin has two Indigenous sisters who came to live with her family as a result of the sixties scoop and so, from a young age, her life has been intertwined with these issues. The majority of her adult life has been spent living and working alongside Indigenous peoples within Northwestern Ontario and the Muskoka/Parry Sound on issues including: mental health; addictions; sexual violence; land use planning; education; and community development. In addition to serving as the Social Justice Lead for the  CUC she is also the co-founder of New Vision Unlimited, a community development organization that supports people in creating grassroots change.

Our annual ingathering and water ceremony celebrates our formal re-entry into another year of gathering, working, and welcoming work in the community. This Sunday we celebrate where our paths have taken us, and how all of the gathered waters from our individual journeys nourish our roots and help us grow. Please bring a small amount of water from your home, or elsewhere, representing your summer break, and these waters will be combined to become the living waters of a living tradition. This year we will also be formally welcoming back into our beloved community your Minister Emerita, Rev. Kathy Sage.

How does faith formation impact our evolution and connections as a community? Join Rev. Beckett and our shared ministry teams for the second Sunday of our 2019-2020 congregational year for some playful exploration in theory and engagement.

When we participate in community we can choose do so with a stance of hopeful expectation. What does it mean to allow this stance to become an inspiration towards our life together in community? And how can we begin to look at the ‘Why?’ of community through this lens? Join Rev. Beckett and many others for our first service of the 2019-2020 congregational year, and leap with us into this year’s conversations with old and new friends.

 Today we close one congregational year and cast our attention forward toward the next. This is a moment for reflecting on all the gifts and joys that community brings into our lives, and we will even have some special guests sharing their gifts with us. After Sunday Service we will gather for food and conversation before heading out to the summer season.  

 Kingston Unitarian Fellowship is once again planning to participate in the Kingston, ON Community Fair & Pride Parade 2019 next Saturday, 15 June. During this service we will be both lifting up and welcoming diverse voices as we celebrate our aspiration to radical inclusion and love in our world. #KUF #YGKPride #UUFaith   (Speaker: Rev. Beckett Coppola) 

You are invited to bring a few of your favourite flowers as we gather in our annual celebration of beauty and community. You will go home with a different flower from the one you brought, and hopefully with a new memory, a new friend in the KUF community, and some new ideas taking root. This year’s service will be multigenerational, with all ages gathering together for service followed by a shared meal. (Speaker: Rev. Beckett Coppola)

Have you ever conducted experiments with curiosity? Perhaps an investigation of thoughts, stories, or reactions to specific people? Or specific experiences? The intention here is to infuse hope and play and forgiveness into investigations, so that we can evolve a capacity to be curious even when we find ourselves in hard conversations and the work of making a world offering peace, liberty, and justice for all. (Speaker: Rev. Beckett Coppola)

What does it mean to be a people organized in religiously pluralist communities oriented towards a living free faith? Join Rev. Beckett and the KUF community this morning for a Sunday dedicated to our finding ourselves more and more deeply each year thanks to the benefits of belonging. (Speaker: Rev. Beckett Coppola)