Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Durham

"My neurodiversity has brought me challenges... it has also shaped my sense of self and the interconnectedness of all things."

This past Sunday, our own UUCD member Kimberly Coley shared with us her deeply personal and beautifully heartfelt reflections on her journey of self discovery and "Spiritual Journeying with a Neurodiverse Brain."

About the challenges and changes experienced through life, Kimberly writes: "We don't always get a happy ending.... what we do get is to experience our story through a unique vision, no matter what that story entails, or how it ends."

Kimberly describes herself as a pantheist, believing in the divinity of the universe, with a special affinity towards the Earth Mother, nature spirits, and the Ancestors. She is a neurodivergent mother and wife navigating life with her fully neurodivergent family. She also serves on our Worship Committee. We are so grateful to share this journey with her!

Last week our congregation came back together after our summer break and this week our weekly Religious Exploration children's programming resumed!

Welcome back to our UUCD members, friends and families! These first few weeks are filled with warm reunions and stories shared.

Last week we celebrated our ingathering with our yearly "water communion" ritual, where we share stories of our summer travels, adventures, joys and sorrows, along with small samples of water that is meaningful to us. The combined water is symbolic of our shared faith coming from many different sources, and serves as a beautiful metaphor for our shared community that sustains and renews us.

Young and young at heart are looking forward to another wonderful year together of learning, growing, nurturing and expanding our spiritual selves and shared community.

Curious to learn more about UU? Why not come check us out one of these Sundays? We meet each week at 10:30am. We look forward to welcoming you!

Hard to believe it's been three weeks since our end of year picnic at Heber Down Conservation Area.

We had such a lovely time sharing delicious food, playing games, bird-watching, blowing bubbles, and sharing stories and plans for the summer months.

Our lay-led congregation takes a break over July and August but we hold our community in our hearts during that time and the potluck picnic left us with full tummies and full hearts.

See you in September!

Looking for UU connection this Summer? Check out Unicamp.

Get off the screen and into the green!
𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝟓𝟎% 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒!
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There are still spots available in Weeks 2 & 3 of Kids Camp, and Junior Youth Week!
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Kids Camp Week 2: July 12 -18
Kids Camp Week 3: July 19 - 25
Junior Youth (Jouth): July 25-31
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For more info and to register, visit www.unicampofontario.ca
To claim the 50% children's camp discount for new campers, please email [email protected]

We intentionally chose to combine our celebration of Fathers, with our Flower Communion.

💐Flowers transcend gender, and
psychology studies have shown that men who receive flowers feel happier and more connected. Sounds good to us!

Thank you to the fathers and grandfathers in our congregation who shared their heartfelt reflections with us last Sunday. We appreciate you!

Our picnic is coming up this Sunday June 28 at Heber Down, and then we break until September ⛱️

This Sunday, join us in the sharing UU tradition of Flower Communion, a reminder of our unique gifts, interdependence, and shared chosen fellowship.

Whether it's from your own garden, the store or side of the road, bring a flower to share, and come home with something new 🌷

We will also be celebrating dads and all they do!

10:30am at the Brooklin Community Centre, 45 Cassels Rd. East, Whitby.

☀️

This week, our wonderful long time member and current technical admin Kailee Bryant shared a very thoughtful and illuminating presentation on the importance of words, particularly in honouring the identities and experiences of our members who identify as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

We learned about how to respectfully honour pronoun choice, and a bit about the meanings behind various identity labels.

Ultimately, it is about honouring each individual's inherent worth and dignity, which is, of course, our first UU principle!

What pronouns do you use?

Happy Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈

Love is the spirit of this community
and service is its gift.
To dwell together in peace.
To seek knowledge in freedom.
To serve humanity in harmony with the earth.
Thus do we covenant together.

Welcome to our new members who joined our congregation this week!

Our community is already stronger for your presence. We are so happy to share this journey together!