Our Ministers

Rev. Ben Robins

Hi, I’m Ben, I’ve been the minister here since August 2024.

I have a physics background. I love asking why, why, why, until we get to the fundamental questions and the deepest mysteries. I love looking at life from every angle and rigorously checking my beliefs.

I lived at a dance retreat center for 5 years – it was improv dance, and it attracted a lot of earthy people, creative people, spiritual people. The practice of improvising and living in the moment attracted people interested in personal growth, community-building and making the world a better place.

I was very shy growing up. I like helping people to blossom and find their people, and I love being part of a community that makes room for difference and celebrates the many ways of being human.

My wife Tanya is a therapist. We have a golden retriever Henry and two cats Sam and Rosie.

If you’d like to say hello, I’m at minister@uuch.ca.

Monday is my sabbath and Friday is my writing day. I try not to check email on those days.

Intern Minister Casey Stainsby

Hello friends,

My name is Casey, I use she/her pronouns, and I am thrilled to be the Intern Minister for UUCH this year.

I am a Candidate for Unitarian Universalist ministry, and have been studying primarily at the Vancouver School of Theology since 2021. My background is in children, youth and young adult ministry including six years working for our Canadian Unitarian Council. Recently, I was a Spiritual Care Outreach worker with FIRST UNITED in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and a facilitator with Learning Through Loss, offering workshops on loss and grief in high schools across the Lower Mainland.

I believe that our religious communities can be places where we find solace from the overwhelm of the world and the courage to live our values boldly. They are also where we practice the essential skills needed to be in relationship with other humans, because we need one another, now more than ever. Ritual and spiritual practice (which can take many, many forms!) are important tools for anchoring ourselves in what matters most.

I love sci-fi and fantasy novels and how they help me imagine possibilities beyond the every day, while also helping me feel the magic that is present all around us right now. My favourite authors are Ursula K. Le Guin, N.K. Jemison, and Guy Gavriel Kay.