Archive for category: Sermon

Guest Speaker: Joan Carolyn, CUC Congregational Life Team Lead
As Beacon celebrates a new shared ministry relationship, Joan Carolyn invites us to a morning honoring who we are and where we might go. Imagine an enjoyable time, sitting well around a fire, like a hearth, openly sharing hospitality. As we gaze into the fire, what images of love and care experienced at Beacon come to mind? Where might we want to improve or move in some new directions? How do we remain open to other ways of knowing, seeing and experience? If we can learn to live well with the fires of relationship, we will grow to places beyond our dreams.

Guest Speaker: Rev. Dr. Barbara Wells ten Hove
The work of the church can be messy but it is powerfully meaningful and important. Our guest preacher, the Rev. Dr. Barbara Wells ten Hove, who has been a UU minister for 35 years, will share her thoughts on how congregational life empowers us to build a better world.

Guest Speaker: Comedian Ryan Guenther
Charity and volunteering are almost always framed as altruistic actions, with all the focus on how someone else will benefit from our good deed. In fact, we often feel guilty about deriving pleasure from something which is supposed to be selfless. This is completely backwards, doing good should feel good because it’s good, and it’s okay to admit it. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, but a stairway to heaven can be built from selfish acts.
Ryan Guenther grew up in a log cabin on an island near Prince Rupert. He started attending the Unitarian church at age 10 when his family moved to Victoria, and he’s sung in the choir, edited the newsletter, managed the website, and is currently serving as a Sunday Service Associate and on the Board at North Shore Unitarian Church in Vancouver. He started doing stand up comedy in 2010 and has performed at clubs and festivals from Prince George to Orlando, Florida.

Endings and Beginnings
Rev. Debra Thorne
Exactly seven years ago I arrived on your doorstep, an eager new minister excited to serve Beacon. That day I brought my suitcase and unpacked it, today I’ll do the reverse. With your help I will pack my suitcase with all the moments of experience and gifts that Beacon has given me. We will release the Covenant of our Ministry, and create a Covenant for the Future.

Staying Open to the “Other”
Nancy Rupert
As Unitarians, we value diversity, but what does this mean in practice? How can we learn to become more aware of our assumptions in order to stay open to others?