Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Summer Sundays at Gimli Unitarian Church

Gimli Unitarian Church will open for the summer season on Sunday, July 6, 2014, continuing on the first and third Sundays of the month until the final service of the season on Sunday, August 31. 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 6 The Possibility of Purpose“From this belief in the possibility of purpose in my own life,” wrote Frederick May Eliot, “I go on to the belief in the possibility of introducing purpose into the social life of groups and communities and nations.”  Have you considered the purpose of your life lately?  And if you have, does your life’s purpose have something important to say to the community?  Rev. Stefan M. Jonasson

July 20 Radical ModerationThe late Elliot Richardson declared, “I am a moderate — a radical moderate.”  The very phrase seems like a contradiction, but is it really?  Amidst the shrill pronouncements of radicals and ideologues, public discourse might benefit from some radical moderation — in religion, in politics, and in everyday life.  Rev. Stefan M. Jonasson

August 3 And If We Fail?Risk is a part of living. In a world where insurance, security systems, and RRSPs are promoted to give you peace of mind, no one likes to talk about the fear of failure. This sermon looks at risk, reward, and failure — in school, in business, in relationships, as issues in religious living — and  since it's Festival weekend, we'll have to include a look at Iceland's recent experience with economic disaster and rebound for life lessons.  Rev. Wayne Arnason and Rev. Kathleen Rolenz

August 17 The Affirmative Life – “To live the affirmative life is to adopt a positive attitude towards the whole of existence,” wrote Horace Westwood. “Our affirmations must bear some relation to what is real or what may become real.”  As heirs to the ages of the past, yet belonging to a future yet unknown, we are called to affirmative lives.  Rev. Stefan M. Jonasson


August 31 Beyond the Reach of Tides – Henry David Thoreau was a saunterer, not a sailor.  Pondering the ocean depths and the fate of shipwrecks, while strolling along the beach, he yearned “to place my gains beyond the reach of tides.”  Are we ever really beyond the reach of life’s tides and trends?  Should we even want to be?   Rev. Stefan M. Jonasson