Gimli Unitarian Church

Since 2012, the Gimli Unitarian Church is the only Unitarian congregation in the Manitoba Interlake still holding regular services. It meets on the "odd Sundays" of the summer months and generally holds a Yuletide service on the Sunday before Christmas. For service details, please go directly to the Gimli Unitarians webpage.

Gimli Unitarian Church

76 Second Avenue near Centre Street

Gimli, Manitoba

Sunday, December 20, 2015 – A Time for Sweet Surprises

Sunday, December 20, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. – A Time for Sweet Surprises – The poet Margaret Sangster described Christmas as “the time of the year for the sweet surprise.” With the passing years, it becomes harder for many to feel surprised as the Yuletide approaches and yet we wait and hope. And with some luck, sweet surprise and delight may yet visit us. Rev. Stefan Jonasson

A Celebration of Candlelight and Carols. All are welcome. Refreshments will follow the service.

Gimli Unitarian Church is located at 76 Second Avenue, near Centre Street.

Sunday, September 6, 2015 – The Good We Seek for All

Sunday, September 6 at 11:00 a.m. – The Good We Seek for All – “The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain,” claimed Jane Addams, “until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” On Labour Day weekend, we do well to reflect upon what a good and just society looks like. Rev. Stefan Jonasson

Services are in the Gimli Unitarian Church's landmark building at 76 Second Avenue, near Centre Street. Dress is casual — after all, it's summer!

Sunday, August 30, 2015 – From Chaos to Creation

Sunday, August 30 at 11:00 a.m. – From Chaos to Creation – “Invention,” according to Mary Shelley, “does not consist of creating out of void, but out of chaos.” The old mythologies teach us to believe in creation ex nihilo – out of nothing – but is creation not better understood as the emergence of order out of chaos? Rev. Stefan Jonasson

Services are in the Gimli Unitarian Church's landmark building at 76 Second Avenue, near Centre Street. Dress is casual — after all, it's summer!

Sunday, August 16, 2015 – Faith in Things Unseen

Sunday, August 16 at 11:00 a.m. – Faith in Things Unseen – The most precious things in life are intangible for most people and our deepest values stand upon beliefs we cannot prove and experiences we often cannot articulate. Even those of us who fancy ourselves humanists and materialists have a faith in things unseen. Rev. Stefan Jonasson

Services are in the Gimli Unitarian Church's landmark building at 76 Second Avenue, near Centre Street. Dress is casual — after all, it's summer!

Sunday, August 2, 2015 – May I Change Your Mind?

Sunday, August 2 at 11:00 a.m. – May I Change Your Mind? – Some years ago a Buddhist magazine, Tricycle, sponsored “Change Your Mind” Days across the country, involving meditation events in public places. The title was a pun on the usual way we think about “Changing Your Mind,” which usually means changing your opinions. It turns out the changing your opinions may be even harder than changing your mind through spiritual discipline. In fact, it turns out that changing your mind by changing your opinions takes a special kind of spiritual discipline. Rev. Wayne Arnason and Rev. Kathleen Rolenz

Services are in the Gimli Unitarian Church's landmark building at 76 Second Avenue, near Centre Street. Dress is casual — after all, it's summer!

Sunday, July 19, 2015 – Surprised by Joy

Sunday, July 19 at 11:00 a.m. – Surprised by Joy – “Life is a series of surprises,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson, and it certainly seems to be true. And while it’s also common to hear people, especially bosses, say, “I don’t like surprises,” I’ve been surprised by joy so often that I relish the surprises that come my way. Rev. Stefan Jonasson

Services are in the Gimli Unitarian Church's landmark building at 76 Second Avenue, near Centre Street. Dress is casual — after all, it's summer!

Sunday, July 5, 2015 – Stumbling into Heaven

Sunday, July 5 at 11:00 a.m. – Stumbling into Heaven – Heaven has been the topic of several books in recent years, from imaginative volumes like The Five People You Meet in Heaven to the wishful thinking of pop theology like Heaven is for Real. The Universalist showman P.T. Barnum insisted that heaven isn’t a place at all, but rather a state of being right here on earth. Rev. Stefan Jonasson

Services are in the Gimli Unitarian Church's landmark building at 76 Second Avenue, near Centre Street. Dress is casual — after all, it's summer!

A slice of heaven: Spruce Sands, Manitoba (Photo by Stefan Jonasson)

Summer Sundays at Gimli Unitarian Church – 2015

Gimli Unitarian Church will open for the summer season on Sunday, July 5, 2015, continuing on the first and third Sundays of the month until the final service of the season on Sunday, September 6. 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 5 – Stumbling into Heaven – Heaven has been the topic of several books in recent years, from imaginative volumes like The Five People You Meet in Heaven to the wishful thinking of pop theology like Heaven is for Real. The Universalist showman P.T. Barnum insisted that heaven isn’t a place at all, but rather a state of being right here on earth. Rev. Stefan Jonasson

July 19 – Surprised by Joy – “Life is a series of surprises,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson, and it certainly seems to be true. And while it’s also common to hear people, especially bosses, say, “I don’t like surprises,” I’ve been surprised by joy so often that I relish the surprises that come my way. Rev. Stefan Jonasson

August 2 – May I Change Your Mind? – Some years ago a Buddhist magazine, Tricycle, sponsored “Change Your Mind” Days across the country, involving meditation events in public places. The title was a pun on the usual way we think about “Changing Your Mind,” which usually means changing your opinions. It turns out the changing your opinions may be even harder than changing your mind through spiritual discipline. In fact, it turns out that changing your mind by changing your opinions takes a special kind of spiritual discipline. Rev. Wayne Arnason and Rev. Kathleen Rolenz

August 16 – Faith in Things Unseen – The most precious things in life are intangible for most people and our deepest values stand upon beliefs we cannot prove and experiences we often cannot articulate. Even those of us who fancy ourselves humanists and materialists have a faith in things unseen. Rev. Stefan Jonasson

August 30 – From Chaos to Creation – “Invention,” according to Mary Shelley, “does not consist of creating out of void, but out of chaos.” The old mythologies teach us to believe in creation ex nihilo – out of nothing – but is creation not better understood as the emergence of order out of chaos? Rev. Stefan Jonasson

September 6 – The Good We Seek for All – “The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain,” claimed Jane Addams, “until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” On Labour Day weekend, we do well to reflect upon what a good and just society looks like. Rev. Stefan Jonasson