Service: Readings & Carols
2024-12-22 10:30 - 11:30 (America/Halifax)
A quiet moment for reflection in the midst of the holiday rush, with readings and carols around our Christmas tree.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
2024-12-24 15:00 - 16:00
Like many traditions at this time of year, Christmas bears witness to the birth of something new. Gather in hope, gather in gladness, gather by candlelight: A child is born.

Service: Another Freedom Christmas
2024-12-29 10:30 - 11:30
Irene will tell a story of a Christmas past that brings out the spirit of the season.

Service: A New Hope
2025-01-05 10:30 - 11:30
We are a hopeful people in complicated times. Together, we consider our hope for the new year: Using water-soluble paper, we write in a word or two what we want to let go of, or intentionally bring into the new year, and then dissolve the paper in our water bowl.

Lunch Bunch
2025-01-08 12:15 - 13:30
Bring-Your-Own Bag Lunch get-together.
No agenda, just ‘how’s your spirit today’ check-ins and a conversation topic. We’ll start with weekly gatherings and see how that schedule works for the group.

Service: The Process of Change
2025-01-12 10:30 - 11:30
Rev. Carly Murlor (formerly Carly Gaylor) returns to reflect on the process of change, with a focus on building the community we hope for for ourselves and our congregation.

Service: The Love That Overcomes
2025-01-19 10:30 - 11:30
One of our former ministers, Rev. Fred Gillis, wrote “May the love that overcomes all differences, that heals all wounds, that puts to flight all fears, that reconciles all who are separated, be in us and among us, now and always.” Sounds good.

Service: The Time That is Given
2025-01-26 10:30 - 11:30
Gandalf said to Frodo, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” What shall we decide?

Service: If I Had a Second Chance
2025-02-02 10:30 - 11:30
The second time you align your bike chain (or host a potluck, or get a puppy) can go more smoothly than the first; but sometimes in life your first try is all you get. Today, in honour of Groundhog Day, we explore our relationship with second chances. A special welcome to visitors coming as part of Halifax’s Interfaith Harmony Week. Stay afterwards for a tea blend and a discussion of UU parenting. Babysitting is available.

Service: A Life of Service
2025-02-09 10:30 - 11:30
On Sat Feb 8th, we have a retreat with our regional CUC staff person, Rev. Linda Thomson, to consider how a democratically-run congregation can best share or divvy up the work, to fulfill our mission. Who – be it the congregation, the volunteer leaders, the minister, or anyone who has an idea or sees a need – is responsible for what? On Sunday morning we celebrate a life of service, and consider how to make service part of a balanced and shared life. Stay afterwards for hot chocolate and the final session of End-of-Life Issues.

Service: Cunard Navigates Anti Black Racism
2025-02-16 10:30 - 11:30
Nova Scotia-born Samuel Cunard helped run companies for transatlantic passenger travel by ship in the 1800s. We will tell stories of how Black passengers were treated on those ships in the century that finally ended slavery in the Empire and in the US. Stay afterwards for warm apple cider and the monthly Humanist discussion. Presented by the members of the Reconciliation and Dismantling Racism team.

Service: What Are We Rooted In?
2025-02-23 10:30 - 11:30
Sum up your life in seven words. This might be your principles, your vision, or where you find meaning. Now do it in three words. Now one word. Today we consider what we are rooted in, what fires we gather round or tend, what is our north star. This month, add your words to our big new white board in the ballroom. Stay afterwards for mulled cranberry punch and the No Prep Book Club.

Service: Committing to Climate Action
2025-03-02 10:30 - 11:30
If you are unsure what you can do about the changing climate, this service is for you. Kate Brooks, Community Climate Activator with the Ecology Action Centre will speak to us about the Climate Commitment Badge program.

Service: National Women's Day
2025-03-09 10:30 - 11:30
National Women’s Day was first observed in the US on March 8, 1909. Inspired by labor strikes, Clara Zetkin proposed making it an international movement in 1910, leading to the first International Women’s Day in 1911. A 1917 women’s strike in Russia sparked a revolution. The UN recognized it in 1971, and today it honors women’s resilience worldwide.

Sunday Service: Infinity in a Grain of Sand
2025-03-16 10:30 - 11:30
In this service we inhabit a mystical worldview, inviting awe, wonder, and an opening to the unknown. This is part 1 of a 3-part series exploring mysticism, naturalism and theism.

Service: Spring Equinox
2025-03-23 10:30 - 11:30
This multigenerational service will include poetry, story, and music for all ages as we explore
the themes of transformation and growth moving into spring! Dig into a morning of earth-based spirituality with us. This is part 2 of a 3-part series exploring mysticism, naturalism and theism.

Service: I Felt a Presence
2025-03-30 10:30 - 11:30
We explore a theistic worldview, that there is a divine presence that exists outside of time. This is part 3 of a 3-part series exploring mysticism, naturalism and theism.

Moral Agency and Mental Illness
2025-04-06 10:30 - 11:30
As much as we aspire to be responsible for our beliefs and our actions, the human mind doesn’t always cooperate. From the Involuntary Treatment Act to using mental disorder as a criminal defence, we explore inherent worth and dignity at the limits of moral agency. Ben invites your thoughts in advance, especially if you have relevant experience yourself or with a loved one – minister@uuch.ca
Ben Robins with Lars Osberg

Question Box
2025-04-13 10:30 - 11:30
What questions do you have about life, the universe, or anything else? Send your questions to minister@uuch.ca by Tues Apr 8th and a selection will be answered in the service. Ask the kids in your life what their questions are – their questions are welcome too.

The Creative Impulse
2025-04-20 10:30 - 11:30
Cats are curious, dolphins are friendly, and humans are driven to create. Not everyone, not always, but still the impulse is there, it’s wired in. Today we explore the creative impulse in the human condition and perhaps in the universe itself. This service launches a series on the blossoming of spring, and on this Easter Sunday we also celebrate maple communion.

Service: Earth Day
2025-04-27 10:30 - 11:30
On this Sunday following Earth Day, and the day before our federal election, let us reflect on the interdependent web of life and some of the leaders of our climate action movement. Presented by the Climate Crisis Team

Yes, And... (with a New Member Ceremony)
2025-05-04 10:30 - 11:30
“Yes, and…” means saying yes to opportunities that arise in life, while adding your own touch. This is part of a series on the blossoming of spring. During the service we will have a new member ceremony.

Planting Seeds
2025-05-11 10:30 - 11:30
On Mother’s Day, we’ll explore the active hope found in planting seeds and creating the new.

Laws of New Life
2025-05-18 10:30 - 11:30
Kevin Kelly edited the Whole Earth Review and then Wired Magazine. We’ll explore his “9 laws of god” for creating new ecosystems, whether in the natural or the human world.
Plan for extra time to get here due to the Bluenose Marathon.

From the Depths (stay for soup & the AGM)
2025-05-25 10:30 - 11:30
Joe Britto will be back from visiting Poland, having done a walking tour of “Jewish” Krakow, visiting Auschwitz, and praying in synagogues. He will reflect on the experience, anticipating that he might touch upon the human spirit and what it means to be human.
Stay after the service for soup and our AGM.

Spirit Circle
2025-05-25 18:00 - 19:00
A more informal service inviting openness, peace, reflection and connection to something larger. Happens on the last Sunday of the month.

Fresh Starts (Flower Ceremony)
2025-06-01 10:30 - 11:30
Bring a flower (or we will have extra) for our annual flower ceremony. From the flower ceremony itself (created in Nazi territory) to the Tower card in tarot, to Bob Dylan on being busy being born, we will consider the cycle of death and rebirth in cultures, in systems, in institutions, and in life itself.

This is My Credo
2025-06-08 10:30 - 11:30
Several participants in our Building Your Own Theology workshop series will share part of their new credos – their statements of belief on such topics as the nature of the universe, human nature, ethics, the meaning of life, and how their spiritual journey or journey of belief weaves through it all.

Boyhood, Challenge & Adventure
2025-06-15 10:30 - 11:30
With many boys and men being drawn to unhealthy social and political movements, on Father’s Day we consider how to make more space in our communities, schools, and the larger world for healthy masculine drives that are too often constrained.

True Reconciliation and Human Rights
2025-06-22 10:30 - 11:30
June 21st is National Indigenous People’s Day as part of National Indigenous History Month. Our speaker will reflect on the significance of both from her perspective as a member of the Nova Scotia’s Human Rights Commission. Speaker: Angela Doyle-Faulkner
