There are many different ways to “do” ministry. The most tempting, though dangerous, is to go it alone. The hardest, but most important, is “to give the ministry away.”

In one congregation I served in my early twenties, the number one rule on staff was “don’t steal ministry from the members.”

As a staff person, there was nothing worse than getting caught doing something a member of the congregation could do instead. Our job was to do what only we could do. In doing so, we honoured the gifts and talents of the members and we conserved the congregation’s resources by dedicating our time to those things where we could most make the greatest difference.

When we’re functioning at our best, the work of our congregation is carried out by our members, who take up ministry in the choir and as ushers, on the coffee hour crew and on the board, teaching religious education for our children and working to pave pathways for refugees coming to Canada. In this way, our ministry is blessedly bigger than my work or the work of the staff. Our ministry is what we, together, take up and take on.

So, take coffee hour, for example. This time following worship each Sunday is an extension of the service, a time when the congregation engages one another in conversation, when we build relationships, when we strengthen the fabric of our community. Having coffee and tea available during this time is much appreciated by many. Yet, we struggle to find enough people to routinely help prepare these warm beverages and clean up afterwards. While many of us enjoy a cup of tea or coffee after the service, a small group bears this burden on the congregation’s behalf. To more equitably share this responsibility, we are asking everyone who attends coffee hour to take at least one shift a year in service to our community. You can find more information about doing so here.

Of course, coffee is the least of it. For VanU to thrive, each of us needs to help it become all that it can be. So, if you’re not already volunteering, I invite you to start thinking about your ministry—and of how you can to give it away by sharing the work with others.

In faith and love,
Shawn

There’s always been for me something about autumn, with its glorious foliage and crisp, cool air, that has summoned me to  feelings of deep gratitude, to an intense and abiding appreciation for the gift of simply being alive.

A feeling made all the more urgent, when everywhere about us, the leaves, who’ve done their good work, drift exhausted to the ground. Scattered about my feet, they remind me that nothing lasts forever and point to a paradox I’ve long struggled to understand: that in the dying season of the year, I find, without fail, new vitality and purpose. Over the years, I’ve decided the only meaningful explanation is traced to a gratitude born of knowing in my bones how very precious something is because it will not last forever.

Living now through my second gorgeous autumn in Vancouver, and after almost two decades of living in Canada, I’ve come to see Thanksgiving not so much as a special, single day, but as an extended season. Bracketed by the Canadian holiday on one end and, for me, the American one on the other, I’ve found these several weeks in between marked by a call to be mindful of everything for which I’m grateful.

Yet, it must be said, this isn’t always easy, especially in this season when anxiety seems to be hanging in the air for so many. And for good reason, what with the upcoming provincial and US elections, gut-wrenching wars raging around the globe, and the pace of environmental devastation accelerating to confirm some of our worst fears. The world is being reshaped around us, causing many of us to reevaluate our vision for the future in light of forces seemingly beyond our control. This autumn, more than most in recent memory, is reminding us that life is precarious. But, hopefully, it will remind us that it is precious, too. 
 
To focus on gratitude when so much is under threat may seem a luxury we cannot afford. I would, however, argue the exact opposite. The ability to give thanks is what strengthens our resolve to honour and protect what matters most—those precious things that command our deepest gratitude. Let not the lessons of this autumn, then, be lost on us. May they, instead, open us to a season of heartfelt thanksgiving. 

In faith, love, and gratitude,

Shawn

October 2024 Sunday Services

October 6^th – The Antiracist Heart: A Conversation between Dr. Roxy Manning and Rev. Shawn Gauthier

This Sunday, we are joined by Dr. Roxy Manning, a clinical psychologist, a leader in the field of Nonviolent Communication, and the author of The Antiracist Heart and How to Have Antiracist Conversations. Dr. Manning offers a meaningful framework for engaging across our differences with compassion and deep mutual regard. In the service, Rev. Shawn will invite Dr. Manning into a conversation about her work. In the afternoon, all are welcome to attend the workshop being offered by Dr. Manning. You can find more information and register here.

October 13^th – “Oh, We Give Thanks”: Thanksgiving Sunday & Harvest Communion

This Thanksgiving weekend, we pause to consider the many gifts of this life. Rev. Shawn will reflect on the deeper meaning of gratitude and then lead us in this year’s Harvest Communion ritual, as we taste with intention a slice of the earth’s abundance.

October 20^th – United Nations Sunday

This Sunday we honour United Nations Sunday by welcoming our friends from the UN Association of Canada, as they present this year’s John Gibbard Memorial Award to a young person in Vancouver working to build a better world. This year’s winner will be announced on Sunday and will offer a reflection during the service.

October 27^th – “We Remember Them”: Samhain and All Souls Sunday

In this service, we honour the memory and ongoing connection we feel with those we have loved and lost, drawing on the traditions of Samhain and All Souls, as practised in Unitarian and UU congregations. All are invited to bring forward moments or photos of their beloveds who have died to place on our Altar of Remembrance. Rev. Shawn’s sermon will reflect on the ways our dead continue to shape our lives.

Mid-August greetings, one and all!

I hope you’re having a wonderful summer, taking in all the gifts of renewal this time of year has to offer. As I return from my summer break, I’m deeply grateful to have had time over the past few weeks to recharge my own battery and discover the charms of summer in BC, from Bowen Island to Revelstoke. I’m excited about the year ahead at VanU, and I hope you are, too!

We had previously planned to celebrate Olivia Hall’s nine years of service on our staff this coming Sunday, but we have opted to postpone the festivities until October, when more of the congregation, and especially children and youth, will be able to take part in honouring Olivia’s ministry at VanU. 

Finally, a reminder that our Water Communion Ceremony will take place on Sunday, September 8^th. As always, you are invited between now and then (if you haven’t already done so) to gather a bit of water from someplace meaningful to you, be it from afar or near to home, to share in our annual ingathering ritual. 

See you soon.

In faith and love,
Shawn

As I write these words, I am mindful that it has been exactly one year since you called me to be your minister on 30 April 2023. Anniversaries are incredibly important to me. Each year, on my wedding anniversary, I read and reflect on the vows I made to Bob when we said, “I do.”

Every June 10th, I read and reflect on the vows I took the day I was ordained a minister. And every May 5th, for years to come, I will take time to read and reflect on the vows that we — that you and I — will make to one another at next Sunday’s Service of Installation.

Some three decades ago, one of my most important mentors gave me guidance that has served me well: “Make promises you can keep. Keep your promises. And your promises will keep you.” To me, these words are a reminder that enduring relationships require both intention and ongoing commitment. Fortunately, the routine maintenance they demand and deserve is, more often than not, repaid in the blessings and benefits of happy, healthy relationships. This is my deepest hope as we make our promises to one another.

The text of the Act of Installation can be found HERE. These words draw heavily on earlier words spoken between the Vancouver Unitarians and its previous ministers at their installation services, going back almost a century. The Board has reviewed and approved these words on the congregation’s behalf. We share them with you now, in advance of Sunday’s ceremony, that you might read and reflect on them before we exchange these promises in our sanctuary at 4:00pm, next Sunday, May 5th.

The installation service will feature an array of great speakers, including Rev. Shana Lynngood, co-minister of the First Unitarian Congregation of Victoria, who will deliver a sermon titled “Present Moment, Future Moment.” Rev. Anne Barker, from the CUC, will return to VanU to deliver “The Charge to the Congregation.” And the “Charge to the Minister” will be delivered by four of my closest friends and colleagues, all classmates from Harvard Divinity School and part of an ongoing collegial study/support group that we founded almost twenty years ago; for nearly two decades, we have met monthly and for a retreat annually, to reflect on the work of ministry and our calling to serve the well-being of our beloved liberal religious tradition.

These and the many other colleagues who will be with us on Sunday sustain, encourage, and challenge me, and I’m so deeply honoured they’ll be here with us to celebrate. And I’m delighted that you will get to meet them, and they you. In addition to wonderful speakers, our choir and Chalice Ensemble will be singing three of my favourite anthems. It’s going to be a great occasion.

Now, you may well wonder why we’ve waited a year for this Service of Installation. My hope is that this past year has given us the time required to develop a deeper sense of one another, so that in making our promises to this shared ministry, we might do so in a more meaningful and informed way. After all, the hope is that these promises will keep us, for many years still to come.

I am excited for all that our future holds, and I look forward to celebrating our promises to this possibility next Sunday.

In faith and love,
Shawn

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Sunday Services Coming up in May

May 5th (11:00am) – “Creativity Constrained”

Rev. Claire Feingold Thoryn

Shawn’s dear friend and colleague, and one of Unitarian Universalism’s finest preachers (who
now teaches preaching at Harvard Divinity School), will deliver the morning sermon. Rev. Claire
will speak about how our perceptions/what our eyes see is not always the truth, and how
sometimes we are more creative when our creativity is constrained.

May 5th (4:00pm) – “Present Moment, Future Moment”

Rev. Shana Lynngood

Rev. Shana, the co-minister of the First Unitarian Congregation of Victoria, will deliver the
sermon during the Service of Installation. She will challenge us to live out our shared ministry in
the here and now, while building for the future.

May 12th – “Waging Peace”

Rev. Shawn Gauthier

Rev. Shawn’s sermon will reflect on the worrying state of wars in our world, drawing on what the
origins of Mother’s Day can teach us about labouring in the cause of peace.

May 19th – “A Celebration of Stories”

Our IPA Team (IBPOC Plus Allies) will lead this service, inviting us into the stories that make us
who we are. The service will feature guest musicians and the opportunity for the congregation to
begin learning to sing “Spirit of Life” in Mandarin.

May 26th – “Is There Unity in Our Diversity?”

Rev. Shawn Gauthier

Sometimes, given our great diversity of views, one has to wonder if we can find common ground.
Rev. Shawn’s sermon will explore what we share and what keeps us together.