Our B&G Team has been busy this summer!

Our Building & Grounds Team has been hard at work this summer!  Here's a list of their recent accomplishments:

  1. Brian Welwood and family members Kay and Clayton dismantled the Kuddles shed (which was crushed by falling cottonwood branches) and took it to the dump.

  2. Brian McConnell, Brian Welwood and David Pratt dismantled and reinstalled the skylights on the preschool building.

  3. Brian McConnell and David Pratt are getting quotes on repairing two roof patches on the preschool roof.

  4. Mark Rosario completed the upstairs washroom re-installation this week. 

  5. Timberline Tree Services will remove the cottonwood this week (as its falling branches destroyed a shed and pose a safety hazard).

  6. Removal of the cedar hedge will follow soon.

  7. Brian Welwood completed a walk-around with a rep from our insurer (this hadn't been done since 2016). 

  8. Work by Mark Rosario on the southwest corner will begin next week.

Special thanks to Brian Welwood for coordinating all of this work!

Summer Outreach: North Shore Women's Centre

This summer, we’re raising funds to support the work of the North Shore Women’s Centre.

During June, we raised money for their Empowerment Camps. During July & August, we’re continuing to collect funds to help support the other programs of the North Shore Women’s Centre.

Please mark your donations as “Outreach” so we apply them correctly.

Learn more about the Payment Methods we accept HERE.

Summer Hours for the Church Office

During July & August, Janni will work in the Church Office several days each week, and from home the rest of the week.  On all week days (except vacations and holidays, which are marked on the Church Calendar) she is available by church phone and email from 7am - 2pm (604-926-1621, info@northshoreunitarians.ca).  

If you’re planning to stop by the church unannounced, please phone ahead to make sure someone is there.

“Butterfly Garden Parties” in July & August

Drop in to a "Butterfly Garden Party" hosted by the Environmental Action Team on 4 Monday afternoons this summer. We'll be weeding, trimming, and watching for pollinators fluttering by. Bring your own lawn chair -- we'll serve the tea.  Donations of goodies to share are always welcome; participating in garden maintenance is optional. On rainy days, we'll meet inside the church. Each session will feature a different environmental conversation starter. Join us from 1 to 3 pm on July 8, July 22, August 12, or August 26.

2024 Volunteer Awards

In 2011, Mary Segal, a beloved founding member and long-time volunteer at North Shore Unitarian Church, passed away.  In her honour, we established a prestigious award that is given annually to an outstanding volunteer or group whose service has had a significant impact on the church.  The volunteer may have contributed a considerable length of time, or volunteered for a variety of tasks, or have demonstrated effective leadership in our Church community or in the community at large.

On June 23, 2024, we presented the Mary Segal Award to our Sunday Services Team, pictured below.

From left to right: Rebecca Lindley, Alison Nixon, Kerry Burke, Sue Forbes, Leslie Whyte, Bruce Grierson, and (not pictured) Dennis Cooper.

We also presented Service Certificates to Dianne Hicks, Malcolm Mallory, and Ruth Sherwood, (pictured below) for their many years of volunteer service to NSUC.

Reconnecting to Life: A Weekend Retreat - postponed to the fall

How do we live with the enormity and urgency of today’s intertwined crises?  Vancouver Unitarians invite you to this weekend retreat with Heather Talbot and Olive Dempsey this fall at the Vancouver Unitarian Church (949 West 49th Avenue) in their Fireside Room. (Watch the eBulletin and our website for details as the time gets closer).

Through experiential practices of reflection and ritual, we will open to the grief we carry for our planetary home, deepen our gratitude and respect for the gifts of life, explore ways of knowing, and renew our connections to ourselves, each other and all of life. Together, we will cultivate courage and resilience for facing this moment with clarity and purpose, and we will strengthen our commitments to bringing our unique gifts more fully into the service of life.

The Work that Reconnects (WTR) is an interactive and evolving group process, first developed by Joanna Macy, in cooperation with many colleagues, over several decades. The WTR draws on a range of foundational teachings, including systems thinking, deep ecology and deep time practices, along with wisdom traditions and a commitment to undoing oppression.

Lunches, tea and coffee provided.

About the facilitators:

Heather and Olive have been students and facilitators of the Work that Reconnects framework for more than 15 years. Together, they bring decades of experience in justice-oriented group process facilitation and therapeutic practice, which they integrate into the containers they create to support meaningful and connected participant experiences. As non-Indigenous practitioners living on the territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish peoples, they are each walking a path of grounding this work in practices of decolonization.

Monday Meditation Sessions

11am to noon
in the Sanctuary
Mondays starting September 9th

(NOTE:  We will take a break December 23 and 30, 2024, resuming again on January 6, 2025).

You’re invited to these free drop-in sessions led by Dianne Hicks.  These sessions will be in the Vipassana tradition starting with Meta (loving kindness) followed by a silent meditation and a reading with discussion.  The only requirement is to be able to close your eyes and breathe.

Sign-up HERE or on the bulletin board in the stairwell — or simply drop in when you can.

Contact Dianne Hicks or the Church Office with questions.

New Boiler!

This week, we replaced the original boiler (from the 1960s when this building was built). Here are a few pictures of the new one, which will be much more energy-efficient than the old one (saving significantly on our utility bills and reducing emissions by 40%).

Special thanks to Brian McConnell and Brian Welwood, who were both instrumental in obtaining quotes and supervising the installation. We're looking to a bright, shiny and warm future. 

Fire Drill Notification

In responding to a fire, preparation is everything. 

Soon, we will conduct a “surprise” Fire Drill during a Sunday Service.  The purpose of this drill will be to practice exiting the building in case a real emergency ever happened that required us to evacuate.  

During the drill, you will be given clear instructions as to what you need to do, and where you should exit.  Ushers will be available to help anyone needing assistance, and we will also have the use of two wheelchairs.