Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the tragic death of Rev. Rodrigo (“Rod”) Emilio Solano-Quesnel, who died at age 42 in a traffic accident early on the morning of Tuesday, July 11. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and those who knew and cared for him, especially his beloved partner Sarah Wert, who was with him at the time of the accident and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

We also extend our love and support to congregants at the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church of Olinda, where Rev. Solano-Quesnel served as settled minister since August 2018. 

Originally from Mexico City, Rev. Solano-Quesnel moved to Canada in the early 1990s. While attending Carleton University he was introduced to Unitarian Universalism. He became an active member of First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa and felt called to UU ministry.

After going to seminary at the Montreal School of Theology (affiliated with McGill University), Rev. Solano-Quesnel served as Intern Minister at First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto, where he met his partner Sarah. 

After his internship, he and Sarah joined Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation, which ordained him in 2016. 

Rev. Solano-Quesnel then served as the half-time Developmental Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa for two years, alternating weeks between both Toronto and Ottawa, and calling both places home before moving to Leamington in Essex County, where he was honoured to share ministry with the vibrant and historic UU community in Olinda. 

Rev. Solano-Quesnel’s impact extended far beyond his congregations. He was actively engaged in the national UU community, serving as a Director on the Canadian Unitarian Council’s Board of Trustees for the last several years, and had just stepped into the role of Secretary. He brought levity, insight, level-headed wisdom, and compassion to his work on the Board. He had been a member of the Pastoral Care team for young adults, was a facilitator for the CUC’s Men’s Inclusivity Action Group, and had facilitated several dismantling racism and inclusivity forums. Rev. Solano-Quesnel was instrumental in crafting the CUC’s 8th Principle. His loss strikes at our hearts and he will be deeply missed.

Rev. Linda Thomson, the CUC’s Congregational Life Lead for the Eastern Region, will lead a service for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Olinda, as their members mourn, on Sunday, July 16. We will announce other opportunities for remembrance and community care as they are planned.

~ From Sarah Wert and the CUC’s National Voice Team: UU Ministers of Canada President, Rev. Samaya Oakley; CUC Board President, Kiersten Moore, and CUC Executive Director Vyda Ng

What a week it has been! I left for Ottawa last Wednesday to attend the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) gathering, AGM, and Symposium on Living into the 8th Principle. It was an uplifting, challenging, inspiring, and generative weekend. I was pleased to see a few other Vancouver Unitarians in-person and online for the first national multi-platform conference made possible by multiple owl conference cameras (including ours–thank you!)

I have been the CUC Board Secretary for the past five years, and I agreed this year to stand as President. It is with humbleness mixed with excitement and trepidation that I step into this role for my last year on the Board.  The people working at the national staff and Board level are kind, courageous, thoughtful, compassionate and dedicated to the thriving growth of our denomination. And we cannot do this work without you. 

To thrive as Unitarian-Universalists in Canada we must reach out beyond the boundaries of our individual congregations and see each other as part of something bigger. As one of the largest congregations in Canada we are positioned to be a pillar of leadership, a mother tree in a forest ecosystem. In my role as President I hope to bring the humanity of the CUC and the reality that we are a community of communities home. 

I understand that there was a deeply meaningful listening circle held here this past weekend focused on hearing and understanding each other in relation to the 8th Principle adoption. Out of that circle came a desire for UCV to create its own statement of purpose around antiracism and anti-oppression work. Our youth see the 8th Principle as the action principle–the doing, building, and getting down to work Principle. And it will be healing to work in circles of consensus to define how we, as a congregation, will manifest our work and dedication to a more just and peaceful world. It has been 7 years since we undertook a visioning process and now is an auspicious time to take up this work; re-forming ourselves in a post-lockdown time and preparing to welcome a new settled minister. I hope many of you will take the opportunity to participate. 

There have also been many conversations around how we govern ourselves, how we make decisions, and how to do so in a way that lives into our values and includes voices that are often left out. The CUC Decision Making Exploration Team is holding a series of workshops between now and January for people to practice different forms of decision making such as consensus building and sociocracy. I hope our Board and anyone else interested in new ways to generate participatory democracy will attend and help shape the CUC and Vancouver Unitarians into the future. People are asked to participate in at least three of the year’s events in order to join the January workshop on drafting a preliminary proposal for the CUC’s annual general meeting. 

Mark your calendars for June 10th, 10 am Pacific for practicing Sociocracy together: https://cuc.ca/events/practicing-together/ 

I look forward to seeing you in National U*U spaces!

–Kiersten Moore

CUC President and BC Region representative

Vancouver Unitarian member and Director of Lifespan Faith Development was elected to be President of the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) at its Annual General Meeting on 19 May 2023. Congratulations to Kiersten!! 

The hybrid meeting lasted 4 hours and included approximately 50 delegates online via zoom and a similar number face to face in Ottawa. At the time of registration CUC was comprised of 41 congregations with 3,845 members with 114 delegates.

Some highlights of the meeting:

• Approved various Bylaw Amendments as presented.
• Postponed Indefinitely the motion to approve proposed 2023 Goals and Strategic Priorities.
  This was preceded by extensive discussion of this complex document. The Board will seek more input on it and bring forward a revised document at a future date TBA.
• Approved a motion to repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery and implement a related action plan.
• Approved an update of the 2023 budget and a preliminary 2024 budget, with some concern expressed due to volatile investments and larger than usual planned deficits.
• Appointed auditors and approved the audited financial report for 2023.
• Thanked staff and volunteers for their dedicated work on behalf of CUC member congregations over the past year.
• Noted that Rev Anne Barker (Edmonton) has been hired as the new full time CUC staff person – Congregational Life: Lead, BC and West Regions (replacing Joan Carolyn who retired recently).
• Appointed Nicole MacKay as a Chaplain to the Canadian Military.
• Noted that Rev Samaya Oakley (South Fraser/Calgary) has been elected as President of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers of Canada (UUMOC) for 2023-24.
• Elected and installed a new CUC Board for 2023-24 comprised as follows:
  • President: Kiersten Moore, BC Region
  • Vice-President: Margaret Kohr, Central Region
  • Co-Treasurer: Yvette Salinas, Eastern Region
  • Co-Treasurer: Margaret Wanlin, Western Region
  • Secretary: Rev Rodrigo Solano-Quesnel, Central Region
  • Member at Large, BC Region: Rev Debra Faulk, BC Region
  • Senior Youth Observer: Artemisia Frolic-Smart, Central Region
  • Minister Observer: Rev Shana Lynngood, BC Region

Meeting background documents can be found here.

Thanks to the six Vancouver members who volunteered to be UCV’s delegates at this year’s meeting: Emilie Adin, Lynn Armstrong, Marg Fletcher, Leslie Kemp, Tamiko Suzuki and Keith Wilkinson.

Report by Keith Wilkinson.