Sunday services begin at 11:00 a.m. in the Kiwanis Room at the Lochiel Kiwanis Centre at 180 College Ave. N., Sarnia

(enter by the Forsythe St. main door).

Sept. 4: NO SERVICE in observance of Labour Day

Sept. 11: “Water/Ingathering Service” - Sharon MacKay

We begin our new program year with this traditional Unitarian “Ingathering” service where we speak of our summers away from each other. Please remember to bring a little water symbolic of your summer journeys and be prepared to share its significance in your life. The waters will be blended together signifying community.

Sept. 18: “When we Bumble, Are we Humble?” – Rev. Lori Kyle

Part of the human experience is to muddle things up from time to time. While many of us intellectually recognize that these blunders can be vehicles for growth, often our response reflects denial, defensiveness or shame. Today we will explore the blessings of blunders and the healing of humility.

Sept. 25: “Autumn Equinox”- Wendy Starr

In this pagan circle service, we will honour the second harvest and give thanks for the bounty that our Earth provides for us. This is also a time of balance, daylight and nightdark are held equally at this moment and we prepare ourselves for the shift to rest and introspection.

IT’S ALSO SOUP SUNDAY TODAY!

… a refreshing alternative for religious explorers

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

1 September Services

2 Refugee Update

3 President’s Reflection

4 Unitarian Ingathering

5 Events

6 Our Sources

7 In Gatherings

“Anybody can create

community with people

who believe just like they

do. The true test of

community rests in the

ability to create it with

people who disagree

with us.”

- Lee Barker, Unitarian

Universalist Minister

September 2016

Unitarian Fellowship of Sarnia & Port Huron 180 College Ave. N. Sarnia, Ontario

www.uusarnia.com

The Flaming

Chalice

September Services

The stained glass chalice in the header hangs in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Salem, OR.

Page 2 The Flaming Chalice

After many months of fund raising, committee work, housing preparations,

completing forms and WAITING, we were offered a Syrian refugee family on July

6th, 2016. We accepted the Mohammad family and our sponsorship was approved

by the Federal Government’s “Matching Centre”.

This Syrian family of 5, born in Haska, Syria, are Arabic speaking. The couple are

in their 30’s with a 13 year old son, 6 year old daughter and 2 year old son. They

are considered to be “travel ready” and have no known medical issues. Their

Blended Visa Office Referred application comes from the Ankara, Turkey Visa

Office.

Upon our receipt of a cell phone number for the family, Najah Shuqair from the

Sarnia Muslim Association and an Arabic speaker initiated contact. We have

learned the following:

the family has been in Turkey for 5 years living in a rented house in

the city of Batman

they applied to the UN in January 2016 ... on May 15th, the UN

transported them by bus to Ankara, put them up in a hotel and

the next day they saw “the Canadian Ambassador”... they

agreed to be either government or privately sponsored and were

told it would take 3 – 6 months ... then the UN transported them

back to Batman. August 1st, someone called and told them that

all the paperwork including visas was ready

they are ready to leave whenever they are told that plane tickets

have been arranged (please note that we have been told it can

take up to four months and that recent events in Turkey could

result in further delays).

Najah has written a welcoming letter in Arabic. The letter and

pictures of Sarnia-Lambton have been sent to the family

electronically. We have also received pictures of this very

attractive family. Unfortunately, for security reasons, these

cannot be shared at this time.

In the meanwhile, we are enthusiastically resuming our preparations!

In Fellowship,

Ann

.

Sarnia Interfaith Refugee Partnership Update

By Ann Steadman

L – R: Dwayne O’Neill, Aruba

Mahmud, Fatima Haffejee, Najah

Shuqair, Ann Steadman

The Flaming Chalice

Page 3

F

Presidents Reflection: What Informs Our Spiritual Practice?

Do not dwell in the past,

do not dream of the

future, concentrate the

mind on the present

moment.

Buddha

Presidents Reflection:

From Celebrating Our Past to Creating Our Future On June 18th, we enjoyed a wonderful anniversary celebration, as described in the Summer Newsletter and also in an article in the Canadian Unitarian Council eNews. During this, our 2016-17 program year, your Executive and Program Teams will be providing opportunities for us to explore together, as a Fellowship, how we envision our future. As has been stated by the CUC’s Rev. Linda Thomson, Congregational Development Lead for the Central and Eastern Regions, “People are more likely to join a congregation that understands its purpose and which has a clear vision for itself.” All Unitarian congregations across Canada have been asked by the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) to integrate and actualize the new CUC vision statement locally.

As Canadian Unitarian Universalists, we envision a world in which our interdependence

calls us to love and justice.

While most of us are quite familiar with our seven “Unitarian Principles”, we are less aware of the six “Sources” upon which our “Living Tradition” is based. And now, the CUC has added five “Aspirations” to guide us in living out our faith.

Seven principles guide our choices, Six sources nourish our spirits, Five aspirations help us grow.

It is our intention to dive deeply into both the six Sources and the five new Aspirations over this program year. Hopefully, at the 2017 Annual General Meeting, we will be ready to adopt a forward looking Vision and revised Mission Statement for our Fellowship. I look forward to exploring and visioning together with you over this coming year!

Respectfully, Ann

The Five Aspirations:

Deeply Connected

Radically Inclusive

Actively Engaged

Theologically Alive

Spiritually Grounded

Page 4 The Flaming Chalice

Thoughts On Our Ingathering Water Communion

It is so easy for our ingathering ceremony, in which people bring water and pour it into a communal bowl,

to turn into a “what I did on my summer vacation” recitation, which can make the ritual obliviously exclusive of those who don’t have summer homes, or summer vacations, or the money for airfare, or the

luxury to stop working for even one week out of the year. What a shame; it’s so opposite of what the Water Communion can be.

The core symbolism of the Water Communion is that we all come from water: as a species on a planet where life began in the ocean, as mammals who float in amniotic fluid as we are readied for birth, as

beings whose cells are mostly water. And yet we are separate from each other, and we have been apart–

since there tends to be a slowing-down, a different rhythm in the summer months, even in churches that have services and religious education right on through the summer–and now we are reuniting. We are

separate and together, the way water scatters into rain and streams and clouds and springs and ponds and puddles and yet flows together again and again, one great planetary ocean. Not only is no drop of water

superior to any other; all water comes from the same place.

... “We are separate beings and yet all one” is one of the profoundest truths we try to encompass.

https://sermonsinstones.com/2013/06/13/lifting-water-communion-above-privilege-and-trivia/

The Flaming Chalice

Page 5

Regular Events

Book Club: Continues to meet on the 3rd Sunday of every month at 9:15 am at ‘Parkside Perk’ on Front St. On September 18th, we will be reviewing the book Still Life by Louise Penny. Everyone is welcome to come out and join the discussion, whether you’ve read the book or not. Future selections are discussed at the meeting.

Men’s Group: The Men’s Group plans will be announced as they become available. Please speak with Allan McKeown or Dwayne O’Neill for further information.

Women’s Circle: Everyone is welcome to attend. Future events have yet to be decided.

Small Group Ministry: Members meet every other Thursday afternoon at chosen locations. All are welcome. Contact Betty Learn for info at: 519-337-4039.

Refugee Sponsorship Info Session / Q & A

Following the service on Sunday, September 11, 2016

Everyone is welcome to participate…

Page 6 The Flaming Chalice

Just What Are Our “Sources”?

Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience. These are the six sources our congregations affirm and promote:

1. Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us

to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;

2. Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and

structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;

3. Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;

4. Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as

ourselves;

5. Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science,

and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;

6. Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

Rev. Kathleen Rolenz said, “Throughout history, we have moved to the rhythms of mystery and wonder, prophecy, wisdom, teachings from ancient and modern sources, and nature herself.”

http://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/sources

The Flaming Chalice

Page 7

IN GATHERINGS

By Marta I Valentin

In gatherings we are stirred like the leaves of the fall season

rustling around sacred trees, tossed hither and yon

until we come to rest together, quietly, softly . . .

We come to gather strength from each other. We come to give strength to each other.

We come to ask for strength from the Spirit of All That Is and Is Not. When our hearts sing or when they frown

it is the way of compassion telling us to give. It is the way of peace telling us

to share our gifts, for we are happiest and most powerful

when Love is made apparent in and through us.

Spirit of the circle that is Love, as we twirl in this dance that is life

we give thanks for reminding us each day of our task of ministering to each “other”

with a searching glance, a safe touch,

a generous smile, a thoughtful word...

Thank you for reminding us that we are always building our beloved comunidad.

Thank you for reminding us that through our covenant with you

we covenant with each “other” and are made whole.

In gratitude, we celebrate with open hearts and minds.

We discover who we are, separate from each other and within one another.

In this circle that holds all life may we ever work toward widening its boundaries

until there are none.

Amen. Paz. Blessed Be.

Page 8 The Flaming Chalice

Please consider sharing this newsletter with a friend and invite them to a service. Every Sunday

is “Bring a Guest” Sunday!

Each issue of the “Flaming Chalice” newsletter is printed by the Organization for Literacy Lambton (OLL): helping every person acquire the gift of literacy.

Newsletter Editor: Wendy Cornelis

To unsubscribe to this newsletter at any time, please send your request by email to:

wendycornelis55@outlook.com

“Because of the role that religion has historically

played in denying gay, lesbian, bisexual and

transgender people their full humanity, I believe

that we now have a special calling to reach out

to our GLBT sisters and brothers. We need to

offer an explicit welcome, because the world can

still be a very unwelcoming place. We need to

offer radical acceptance, because neither family

nor society can always be counted on to be

accepting. We need to offer unconditional love,

because Love is at the heart of religious

community.”

— Allison Barrett, Canadian UU Minister