Service Descriptions

Louise Penny has the great gift of empathizing with the characters in her murder mysteries. We will explore how real life empathy, love, hope, and forgiveness are shown in a variety of her characters. Kate Smith and Bill Marshall will provide their lively and meaningful music.

The service will be at 4 pm on July 14th in the exuberance of John Hagen’s backyard, 1834 London Street, New Westminster. It would be good to have a little social time after, so if you would like, you could bring a plate of appetizers to share, and please bring your own beverage.

Please contact Marilyn Medén if you wish more detail (contact details in the online Breeze directory).

Beacon Unitarian is once again participating in the New West Pride Festival. We are looking for 8–10 volunteers to hang out at the Beacon Booth and tell people about our Welcoming Congregation. There will be at least two people at our booth at all times. Shifts are one to two hours long, sometime between 2:30 and 8:30 pm—there is lots of flexibility and it’s always lots of fun. Please email David Kristjanson for more information.

Come join us for song and celebration under the trees. Bring your own lawn chair and perhaps snacks or a picnic lunch for afterwards. We will meet in Sapperton Park across the street from the Royal Columbian Hospital. Please invite a friend or neighbour. There is a playground and spray park for anyone who would like to bring kids and/or grandkids. Look for the Beacon Banner.

All ages and all levels of musical ability are welcome to join us for a morning of singing/playing at Peggy Lunderville’s home (8892 Armstrong Avenue, Burnaby. Call or text Peggy at 604-812-5939 if more information is needed). This gathering is a wonderful opportunity to connect as a community in the summer as we sing our favourite hymns from the charcoal and teal hymnbooks, as well as the “Joyce Poley” songbooks. Bring musical instruments if you wish to accompany. If you have a hymn you would like to be included, please contact Peggy Lunderville ahead of time. There will also be room for some requests at the service itself. Potluck lunch to follow (tea, coffee, juice and water will be provided). Our home is wheelchair accessible.

Pouring Our Energies Together: The Annual Water Ceremony
Rev. Meg Roberts

Beacon’s program year starts again with this special service. The annual water ceremony service is for all ages: we pour water from various sources into one common bowl, symbolizing the re-gathering of this community after a summer break. If you would like to bring water from your summer experiences to put into the bowl, please do (whether from a favourite place or from your tap at home)!

You are invited to a spirited review of our congregational process from this last year. This will be an opportunity to reflect on our experiences and look to our future. Join us at 10:20 am for a pre-service sing-along. In addition, the choir will sing today.

Food Bank Sunday (the 1st Sunday of every month) is when Beacon collects donations for SHARE’s food bank program. Your support is always very much appreciated. Click here to donate online.

Let’s worship the way plants do, starting as a seed in a quiet place, drinking in water and sunshine, and then bursting forth with leaves and flowers to bless those around us!

The choir performs, and there is a soup lunch after the service. Suggested donation for the soup lunch is $5 or pay what you can. Newcomers are invited to be our guests.

How do we help effectively across a culture gap? Drawing from more than a decade of personal experience, Liz James tells a story that has it all … Humour, thoughtful analysis, and confrontations with lions. Not a metaphor. Real lions.

Bio: Liz James is the founder of a 230,000-person online UU community called the Unitarian Universalist Hysterical Society (UUHS); half of The Cracked Cup podcast; and working on a book with Skinner House Press. Liz is based out of Saskatchewan, where she is building a tiny house with her own two hands. She believes in a Unitarian Universalism that is filled with meaning and joy, and that sees change as an adventure.

We have been so lucky this year to enjoy the music of our choir under the leadership of choir director Faith Veikle, accompanied by Ming-Xuan Chung. As the choir wraps up, this is a celebration of the choir and all it has brought to Beacon’s life and spirit.

Humanism in Our Lives
Rev. Meg Roberts, John Hagen and Marilyn Medén

As part of our sources series, we’ll explore how humanism affects our lives. Meg will put this in the context of our movement’s history, and Marilyn and John will share their stories. We’ll invite you to consider what humanist ideas you connect with.

Food Bank Sunday (the 1st Sunday of every month) is when Beacon collects donations for SHARE’s food bank program. Your support is always very much appreciated. Click here to donate online.

Join us as we hear Merrilyn Cook, the principal of Purpose Independent School, about their past year and the lunch program that Beacon is contributing to. We will be presenting them with our Sharing the Plate contributions from this last year.

Envirobee after the service.