UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP OF OTTAWA Winter Issue Fellowship News December 2019 Infolettre UUFO This year the Inuuqatigiit Centre for Inuit Children, Youth and Families were INSIDE THIS ISSUE: happy to receive our Mitten Tree donations of mittens, Caring & Sharing 2-3 hats, and scarves for children in need of warmth A Season of Loss 4-5 Board Walk 6 Movie Musings 6 Our Heartwood Neighbours 7 Coin Français 8 Sharing Our Faith Journeys Religious Exploration 9 In January we begin the year with a big theme: Faith. Faith is one Social Action Cluster Focus 10-11 of those complicated words for Unitarians, hard to separate from more traditional, religious associations, and yet broad-reaching and Intersections 12 holding the potential for reclamation. Worship Cluster Notes 13 Our “Faith Tradition” is unique in many ways. In particular: we are welcoming of a wide range of theological beliefs, bound together Caring Circle Update 13 by shared values. As such, each UU congregation is different. Sharing and Articulating Our 14 We are also spread thinly across the country, and our connections Faith to fellow Canadian Unitarians can easily be overlooked or forgotten, as we worship in our own way, in our own Fellowship. Invitations 15 Each year in February, the Canadian Unitarian Council celebrates CUC month, encouraging congregations to reflect on our connections with one another. We are reminded that though we are one small Fellowship, we are part of an interconnected web of Canadian UUs, who are striving in their own ways to bring more justice, compassion, and love into this world. Look ahead to pages 14-15 for more about sharing our faith with Canadian UUs, invitations to UU gatherings and events, and a workshop opportunity coming up that may help you articulate your own faith experience a little better! Page 2 Winter 2019 Caring and Sharing Submitted by Pat Lucey Happy news from Allison: “Oskar who arranged hotels, city tours and accessible Donald Benjamin transportation. There were challenges but it is great Bradley, who turns to know that travel in a wheelchair is still possible. my son into a father, Isobel continues to recover from the hip surgery was born at 10:40, that happened at the end of September. She’s now November 17, 2019 walking with just a walking stick and getting ready (two weeks late), with Mark for a family Christmas in Scotland, and mother beautiful after then visiting her four sisters in the South. Isobel and 14 hours of difficult Mark have received huge support from friends, labour, father in neighbours and family through what has been a attendance, the baby weighing in at 8 lbs 4 oz. difficult time, but we always knew that the Fellowship He sneezes like I do.” was ready and waiting if we needed extra help. Chris’ foot is giving her some trouble again, I asked Enrique if he could give us an update on their and she’s back in a cast. “If you want to get ever-busy family, and he graciously agreed to fill us in. technical,” she told me, “it’s the 5th metatarsal Elisa graduated in April 2019 with a BA in Public that is fractured.” Here’s hoping for a speedy Affairs and Policy Management from Carleton and full recovery for you, Chris! University and finished her nine-month stint at Robin sent us the following update: “This fall Elections Canada as Junior Policy Analyst in the office I am the W. John Bennett Distinguished of the Chief Electoral Officer. Three days after Visiting Scholar at the Pontifical Institute for graduation, she went on a back-packing trip to Mediaeval Studies and the Centre for Medieval Southeast Asia with a couple of high school Studies at the University of Toronto, where I classmates. She has visited Vietnam, Cambodia, am finishing my book on the litany of the saints Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the in the early Middle Ages. Rock has been Philippines, where Evangeline joined her this holding down the fort at home in Ottawa. Avery November for three weeks. Elisa is on her way now to and Emerson have enjoyed their visits to Berlin and Paris for a couple of weeks. She will Toronto, and all the highlights you would proceed for another two weeks to New York City and expect. Some favourites have been the Toronto plans to be back in Ottawa just before Christmas (Dec. islands amusement park and the distillery 22nd). Her trip has been truly enjoyable and worked as district Christmas market (in other words, we she planned 95% of the time (the other 5% was losing love a good ferris wheel!).” her passport - without any negative consequence - and Laura: Laura and Jonathon enjoyed a minor eventualities). November springtime in Argentina. They, along Eduardo spent 5 weeks in Chicoutimi studying with another couple, enjoyed exploring the French during the summer and then he learned to grand streets of Buenos Aires, the huge Iguazu drive, first a bit with his dad, and then through a falls and the wine region of Mendoza. Most of driving school. He’s now the happy holder of a G2 the trip was planned using a local company driver’s license and enjoys the convenience of visiting familiar with travel for people with disabilities his girlfriend without the need of using public transportation. He’s in third year at Carleton University studying Industrial Design. At times it is stressful, but so far he has managed well, being able to keep good grades and his scholarship. Evangeline, after 30 years of absence, went back to the Philippines. It was a time to reconnect with many family members and friends. With her sister Elizabeth and Elisa, she visited Manila, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Boracay, where they had the chance to visit (Continued on page 3) Fellowship News Page 3 (Continued from page 2) beaches, volcanos, and eat lots of Notes from Membership fruits and local delicacies. Evangeline also showed Elisa some the places and Welcoming where she grew up and studied, and was able to take home a treasure trove of old family pictures. She heard very The Welcome and Membership Cluster interesting perspectives on the current had its first planning meeting on August president’s efforts (Rodrigo Duterte). 23, 2019. There are already some new names added Teresita is always in good spirits, which is to our email list since the beginning of September remarkable given that her capacity to walk and and we plan on organizing our Newcomers’ remember continues to decline steadily, albeit Gathering/Luncheon early in the new year. slowly. She still attends a Day Program for One goal for this year is to gather better statistics on adults on Wednesdays and spent 10 days at a newcomers, attendees at newcomer’s gatherings, Guest House while Evangeline was abroad. new members and also those who have left our Enrique’s high school classmates celebrated congregation, or passed away. Sarah in the office in Costa Rica on November 16 their 40th has been working with us to keep our database up-to graduation anniversary and sent lots of pictures -date. of the event with their warmth to him. He continues to work happily at the Perley Rideau You may have noticed a small “welcome table” set and was very fortunate to be with his niece up near the back entrance of the sanctuary. More Valentina in mid-September. Valentina came people actually use the back “parking lot” entrance to Ottawa after attending the presentation of rather than the front entrance so we wanted to make her second short film in the TIFF, Lucia en el sure the Orders of Service, temporary nametags, and Limbo. The short film has made its rounds at donation envelopes are also available at the back. numerous film festivals including the Cannes, Our Welcome and Membership Cluster also plans on Mexican, Australian, Costa Rican and Belgian getting coloured nametags to identify our cluster film festivals. team a bit more easily. We want to thank Fran Mowbray, Laurie-Ann Muldoon, Allison Calvern and all those who organized the Engagement Sunday on September 29, and thanks to Carolle Séguin who represented the Welcome and Membership Cluster. It was a very lively and positive experience! The updated Fellowship Directory is now ready thanks to Lucie-Marie Castonguay-Bower and Sarah Baxter. If you have not received your copy of the directory, they are available either at the welcome table or near the nametags in the meeting room or Birthday girl, Liz Griffis shared from Lucie-Marie herself! these photos of Fellowship Once again, we want to thank our set-up teams and friends joining in her birthday the entire congregation for being so warm and celebration in August welcoming to visitors and newcomers each and every Sunday! If you feel you have a special talent or interest in welcoming people we would love to have you on the Welcome and Membership Cluster. Please talk to any one of us on the committee. Lucie-Marie Castonguay-Bower, Carolle Séguin, Hoppy Roy, Andrea Young Page 4 Winter 2019 A Season of Loss Indigo Holley In September we lost one of our liveliest and most energetic Fellowship friends, Indigo Holley, who passed away very suddenly from a heart attack, at the relatively young age of 59. We have such vivid and colourful memories of her! When Indigo spoke, it was with a strong voice and forthright words, and the courage of her own convictions. When Indigo laughed, it was with a hearty and contagious belly laugh which filled the room. And when Indigo cared, it was with her heart, her spirit, and her whole being.