VanU Partner Church Team This Sunday, come celebrate the near-completion of the church we built with our Burundian partners! Our celebratory service will include talks by our own Burundian refugees, a song by our choir in Burundi’s national language and a rendition of the Burundi’s moving national anthem. There will…
Rev. Shawn Gauthier It’s been five years, this week, since Covid-19 shut down much of the world around us. Five years on, much has changed, some for the better, and some for the worse. We now find ourselves in a new period of heightened anxiety over the present state of…
Rev. Shawn Gauthier As Unitarians, we often take a bit of pride in our aversion to proselytizing. But why is that? And is our aversion serving us—or the world—well? On Sunday, Rev. Shawn will be speaking about why it’s important that we live our faith out loud, especially in these complicated times.…
Rev. Shawn Gauthier This Sunday, Rev. Shawn gathers with a number of the elders of our congregation to reflect in conversation about the highs and lows across their many years at VanU. This circle of elders will speak about when they’ve been proudest of the congregation, when they’ve been most…
Casey Stainsby When the world is turned upside down, how are we to respond? It’s understandable to feel that big upheaval requires an equally big response, but the truth is, there are an infinite number of responses available to us. One that is perhaps counter-intuitive is to tend to the…
What Do We Owe Our Children? Rev. Shawn Gauthier This Sunday we will gather to celebrate the role of children in our lives, and especially in our congregation. Rev. Shawn will lead us in a double child-dedication ceremony for Rowan and Benjamin Wulff. Rev. Shawn’s sermon will reflect on our…
Rev. Shawn Gauthier This Sunday, we celebrate Easter from a Unitarian angle. Rev. Shawn's sermon will explore the meaning of redemption for Unitarians. Kiersten will tell the story of The Rainbow Fish. And the choir will bring us Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Bob Marley's "Redemption Song." Download the Order of Service…
Forest Bathing In this year’s Earth Day service, Tamiko Suzuki, longtime Environment Team member, will talk about Shinrin Yoku, or Forest Bathing, and her journey to becoming a Forest Therapy Guide. The walks she leads aim to reconnect participants with themselves and with Nature. In this Earth Day service, she…
Flower Communion We return to this beloved, ritual-based service to celebrate both the unique gifts of every person and the rich diversity of our congregation. Rev. Shawn, Kiersten Moore, and Laureen Stokes will lead us in the ritual, while we welcome Brent-Alan Huffman to the piano. All are invited to…
Rev. Shawn Gauthier & Gerta Moray We celebrate Asian Heritage Month with a series of three services focussed on the many connections between Unitarianism/Unitarian Universalism and various Asian religions. Rev. Shawn and a small group of VanU members have spent the past year exploring our fascinating but sometimes neglected history to better…
Rev. Mwibutsawineza Ndagijimana, Rev. Shawn Gauthier Every day can be an opportunity to start anew, to be true to our values and build an identity that helps us deal with the challenges we face on our human journey. This Sunday, Rev. Mwibutsawineza Ndagijimana (formerly Fulgence Ndagijimana) will speak about the importance of constant new beginnings…
Mei Jia Lam, Hisako Masaki and Rev. Shawn Gauthier We continue our celebration of Asian Heritage Month with the second of three services focused on the many connections between Unitarianism/Unitarian Universalism and various Asian religions. Rev. Shawn and a small group of VanU members have been exploring our fascinating but…
