Sunday, December 19, 2010 - Christmas!

Sunday, December 19 at 11:00 a.m. – LEARNING NEW WAYS FROM THE OLD – In her playful Yuletide song, "The Christians and the Pagans," folk musician Dar Williams sings, "Lighting trees in darkness / Learning new ways from the old / Making sense of history / And drawing warmth out of the cold." We will celebrate the life of the present moment while making sense of the crazy history of this magical season! As is our custom, we invite those joining us for this service to bring gifts for The Mitten Tree—clothing, nonperishable food items, toys and gifts—to be passed on to the Arborg Cheer Board. Rev. Stefan Jonasson will preach.

Sunday, November 21 at 11:00 a.m. – GOD WHISPERERS – In recent years, the popular imagination has been introduced to "horse whisperers" and "ghost whisperers," individuals who seem to enjoy a mystical relationship to creatures and phenomena around us. My personal favourite is the "dog whisperer," Cesar Millan, whose television program and books provide fascinating insights into the behaviour of our canine friends and who seems personally capable of making any dog behave itself, no matter how aggressive. It got me wondering: Are there any God whisperers? There are certainly many aggressive expressions of religion in the world, so how is it that some have come to emphasize a God of love over and against more violent images of the divine? Rev. Stefan Jonasson will preach.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sunday, October 17 at 11:00 a.m. – ISLAM: BEYOND THE HYSTERIA – Between the recent threat to burn the Qur'an by an obscure and delusional pastor in Florida and the public furor over the building of a Muslim community centre near "Ground Zero" in New York City, much public discourse about Islam has tipped decidedly in the direction of bigotry and irrationality. While I find the teachings of Islam to be no more compelling than those of other orthodoxies in religion, the anger and antipathy of too many people is grounded in ignorance and fear. Our aspiration for global community and world peace demands that we seek to understand Islam, whether or not we are convinced by its teachings. Rev. Stefan Jonasson will preach.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sunday, September 19 at 11:00 a.m. – THE CASE FOR RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY – Theodore Parker called upon the church to be "a means of reforming the world." While he challenged nearly every religious assumption and convention of his day, Parker held that religious communities could be invaluable institutions in nurturing the spiritual life of individuals and promoting the welfare of society by examining each in light of conscience, reason and universal ends. Rev. Stefan Jonasson will preach.

Summer Sundays at Gimli Unitarian Church

The Gimli Unitarian Church will open for the summer season on Sunday, July 4, 2010, continuing on the "odd" Sundays of the month (1st, 3rd, 5th) until the final service of the season on Sunday, September 5. Services are at 11:00 a.m. in the congregation’s landmark building at 76 Second Avenue. Dress is casual -- after all, it's cottage season!

July 4: Looking Earth in the Eye – “A lake is … earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature,” wrote Henry David Thoreau. In ancient times, many people believed they could look into others’ souls by gazing deeply into their eyes, while today some people believe they can measure another’s health in the same way. If we gazed into the world’s lakes and oceans, what would they tell us about Earth’s health? And what might change if we gazed upon the earth as its lovers? Rev. Stefan M. Jonasson

July 18: Deep-Sea Unitarians – An active Unitarian lay leader and incurable lover of ocean cruises (not to mention a few lakes and canals), Don McKinnon will reflect on what he has learned while on the high seas and while safely anchored at port. What inner yearnings lead a person to sea? Or to church? Don McKinnon

August 1: Living on the Volcano – Although the Icelandic volcano has been off the front pages for a while now, it lives as an archetype and ever-present reality in the consciousness of Icelanders. The unpredictability of the natural world, which is our home, has long caused Icelanders to ask "on what can we depend?” Rev. Wayne Arnason & Rev. Kathleen Rolenz

August 15: Half Measures – We’ve been taught to think of half measures negatively, as though they are always of a “cup half empty” variety. But what if our half measures were a reflection of abundance and generosity? In their book The Power of Half, Kevin and Hannah Salwen invite us to consider our power to change the world if we invest half of something we treasure—anything!—for the benefit of others. Rev. Stefan M. Jonasson

August 29: The Restless Imagination – “The imagination is always restless and suggests a variety of thoughts,” wrote John Locke. Advocating the quest for knowledge, mass education, and loving truth for its own sake, Locke saw how we make incoming knowledge our own by reflecting on what we learn with restless imaginations. Rev. Stefan M. Jonasson

September 5: Living Along the Back Roads – The poet of the autumn spirit, Robert Frost, spoke for all who travel the back roads of life when he wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by.” In travel and in life, leaving the superhighway to stroll along the side streets and back roads can indeed make all the difference. Rev. Stefan M. Jonasson

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Sunday, June 6 at 11:00 a.m. at Hnausa Unitarian Camp – THE JOY OF THE PRESENT MOMENT – "Does the sun shine on me today that I may reflect on yesterday?" asked Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. "That I may endeavor to foresee and to control what can neither be foreseen nor controlled—the destiny of tomorrow?" Should we not strive to live in the present moment and savor its joys? There is no better day to reflect upon this question than the one on which we gather for our annual picnic. Come to have your spirit fed; material sustenance and fellowship will follow! Rev. Stefan Jonasson will preach.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Sunday, April 18 at 11:00 a.m. – OUR GLOBAL MOVEMENT – Unitarianism is not a major religious tradition, although it is a global one. We will look at our thinly-spread and diverse tradition as it is manifested around the world—its commonalities and its differences. Rev. Stefan Jonasson will preach.

Easter Sunday 2010

Sunday, April 4 at 11:00 a.m. – PILGRIMS ON THE EMMAUS ROAD – There will be a special Easter service on the first Sunday of April, after which we will return to our new pattern of meeting on the third Sunday of each month. Drawing from the writing of James Freeman Clarke (who was born 200 years ago on this day!) and Paul Trudinger, we will look at the story of Jesus’s encounter with his disciples along the Emmaus Road on the day he is reported to have been resurrected, looking for new meanings for modern times. Rev. Stefan Jonasson will preach.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sunday, March 21 at 11:00 a.m. - METRE-MAKING ARGUMENTS – In his essay, “The Poet,” Ralph Waldo Emerson declared that “it is not metres, but a metre-making argument, that makes a poem,—a thought so passionate and alive, that, like the spirit of a plant or an animal, it has an architecture of its own, and adorns nature with a new thing.” On World Poetry Day, we will reflect upon the nature and value of the poetic spirit, from the ancient psalmist to the modern lyricist. Rev. Stefan Jonasson will preach.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sunday, February 21 at 11:00 a.m. - THE COURAGE TO LOSE - When I look despairingly at some leaders—whether in politics or business, labour or other public institutions—I am heartened to remember that the behaviours and attitudes that most trouble me have been around since the beginning of history. More than a century ago, Brooke Herford pointed out that the greatest shortcoming among political leaders was that they “seldom have the courage to be defeated.” Herford believed that in the “courage for present failure and defeat lies the surest pledge of ultimate victory!” Maybe, maybe not—but how we win or lose is more important than success itself. Rev. Stefan Jonasson will preach.