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Samantha Magnus Is CanUUdle Coordinator

We are delighted to announce that Samantha Magnus is the CUC’s 2014 CanUUdle Coordinator.  Samantha grew up in the Unitarian Church of Calgary and was actively involved in YRUU and Youth Conferences as a youth. She, and her young family, is currently settled in Victoria.  Learn more about Sam here CUC Board Confirms Executive Director Position

The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that Interim Executive Director Vyda Ng has accepted our offer of a three-year contract to serve as the Executive Director commencing May, 2014. We are looking forward to having Vyda continue to bring stability, and foster connections and communications among our UU communities, while attending to the implementation of the proposed shift in priorities being proposed by the Board for 2014 onwards. We anticipate that at the end of this contract there will be more clarity around the role of the executive director than we were able to achieve during the two year Interim period. Please join us in thanking Vyda for her exemplary work to date and extending to her our confidence in her ability to lead the staff team over the coming three years.
 
Gary Groot
President, CUC Board of Trustees Be Part of the National ACM Planning Team

In getting ready for the 2014 Annual Conference and Meeting in Montreal, we are reaching out to our national community for good, hard labour in planning the details and execution of the conference. We are looking for participation in program planning, technical and AV support, logistics, music, Young Fun and Junior Youth programming, and coordinating gatherings. Members of the National Planning Team who volunteer beyond a specific number of hours will be eligible for a complimentary registration.
 
If you would like to be part of the Planning Team, please fill out this short survey to let us know your areas of interest and expertise, and how much time you can share. We hope to see you in Montreal!

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What Charities Need to Know - New Canada Revenue Agency Guidelines for Political Activities

Many charities have questions about engaging in political activity – how much of an organization’s resources can be devoted to advocacy and public policy without it being viewed as political? How is political activity defined? How can a charity ensure that it can safely engage in its charitable work?

The Canada Revenue Agency has issued documents that include new guidelines and examples of acceptable charitable activities. Derek Ross, Director of Legal Affairs for the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, has decoded CRA information and written an article which helps to define the difference between charitable activities, acceptable political activities and unacceptable political activities.

Read Derek’s article here.

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Resolutions for Annual General Meeting 2014

The deadline to submit resolutions for the 2014 Annual General Meeting is December 15. If your congregation or community has been working on a resolution but hasn’t yet contacted the Resolutions Advisory Committee, please do so asap at resolutions@cuc.ca.
For more information, please refer to the Governance page of the CUC website under “Resolutions Process.”

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Lay Chaplain Learning Opportunities

Two lay chaplain learning workshops will be held in Montreal on May 15 and 15^th, 2014. Rev. Carole Martignacco will lead “Challenging Memorials” and Amanda Tarling will present the “Outreach for Lay Chaplains” workshop. These will be held just prior to the beginning of the Annual Conference and Meeting at the Sheraton Montreal Airport Hotel. More details and registration information will be coming soon!

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Spirit Play Conference In Seattle, WA, August 2014

Joy Silver, Spirit Play Trainer and Conference Coordinator

The University Unitarian Church of Seattle presents an exciting program for the Third Annual Spirit Play Conference at the University Unitarian Church of Seattle, Washington on August 1^st and 2^nd, 2014.
 
For those who are using the Spirit Play Methodology in Religious Education Classrooms, this conference will offer an exciting opportunity to:

• attend three workshops to fine tune your program
• share your original stories
• turbo-Charge your batteries to carry on
• attend an optional Saturday evening excursion to Tillicum Village, which includes a Puget Sound and cruise to Blake Island, a buffet salmon dinner, Native dance show and transportation to the waterfront.

Read more … Refugee Sponsorship in 2014
Would your congregation like to sponsor refugees in 2014?  As a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH), the CUC has been approved for a number of uncapped spaces, as well as a specific number of spaces for Syrian refugees. Follow this link for the latest information regarding the Syrian Refugee Crisis.
If your congregation would like to be involved in sponsoring a refugee, please contact the CUC’s Social Responsibility Coordinator, April Hope at april@cuc.ca. Youth/Young Adult

There are two exciting learning opportunities for youth and youth advisors coming up!

• Fundamentals of Fundamentals of Healthy Youth Ministry Training, January 10 – 12, 2014, hosted by the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg. This is a learning con about Youth Leadership, Empowerment and the Best Practices of Being a UU Youth Advisor. Hurry to register – early bird deadline is December 12, and registration closes January 2, 2014. More information about who should attend and program, and registration information can be found here.
• Spirituality Development Conference, February 28 – March 2, 2014, hosted by the Unitarian Congregation in Mississauga. Stay tuned for more details.

"YES, we do!"

In May 2013, delegates to the CUC’s Annual Meeting voted “YES!” to the recommendation that we develop an electronic communications platform.  Lots of UUs at the meeting were excited about the idea.  Now it’s time for us to fundraise to make it happen.  If you are keen to see Unitarians build connections across the country … if you want to see us improve our presence on the web and become more interactive … and if you want to be part of a group that gets this message out in a way that is fun, creative, and social-media savvy … contact Vyda Ng vyda@cuc or Karen Fraser Gitlitz karen@ucsaskatoon.org to get involved.  This is a one year commitment, December 2013-December 2014. Leadership Development Update

Rev. Linda Thomson, Congregational Development – Central and Eastern Regions

In the past year, CUC staff been doing some thinking about how we best support congregations in leadership development.  We knew that after eight years of Canadian UU Leadership (CUUL) School, and approximately 500 participants, that it was time for a change.   We also have heard that there is a wide variety of leadership development needs, which made a ‘one program’ approach too limiting. Our goal of providing multi/intergenerational solutions also demanded a look at our past practices.  People have told us that the value of networking, being with others and doing personal reflection is valuable, and we know that those experiences, are not, strictly speaking, leadership development.  Leadership Development literature reminds us that leadership capacity grows in team settings and in real situations.  All of this seems to point to a need for some new approaches.

Read more … Bequests: A Distinctive Way To Give

By Maury Prevost

Over 90% of estate gifts in Canada, both in number and dollar value, are in the form of bequests. Leaving a bequest to your UU congregation and/or the CUC in your will can be a powerful gift for the future.
Three basic types of bequest:

• Specific gives a specific amount of money (e.g.$50,000) or specific property, such as securities.
• Residual gives all or a fraction (e.g. 35%) of what remains (the ‘residue’) after all debts, taxes, administrative expenses, and specific bequests have been paid by the donor’s estate.
• Contingent gives all or a fraction of an estate in the event of the prior death of other beneficiaries (e.g. a spouse) or if certain conditions have been met.

Read more … Northern Lights

Northern Lights is a joint initiative between the UU Ministers of Canada (UUMOC) and the CUC. Through direct donations from individual UUs, Northern Lights provides funding to congregations for growth projects.
To sign up as a Chalice Lighter donor or to apply for funding, please go to the Northern Lights page on the CUC website, or email northernlights@cuc.ca for more information. To be eligible, congregations must have and maintain at least 20% of their membership enrolled as donors in the Chalice Lighter program. Sylvia Krogh of Edmonton Honoured with Project Ploughshares Lifetime Achievement Award

Sylvia Krogh, long-time Unitarian and member of the Unitarian Church of Edmonton, was recently honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Project Ploughshares. Read the introduction to Sylvia at the Awards by Helen Ready here. Congratulations, Sylvia! Renew United Nations Commitment!

Rev. Norm Horofker called upon the prime minister to take his place at UN General Assembly. Read Norm’s Letter to the Editor of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald here. Volunteer Opportunities

Photographers wanted to take good, high quality photos at UU events and of UUs (with their permission) at play, at worship, at the work of building community. We’d like to use engaging and vivid photos in our communications. Please contact executivedirector@cuc.ca if you’re such a photographer. Microsoft Discounts For Registered Charities

Courtesy of Christopher Wulff

Microsoft's charitable discounting program used to exclude religious organizations, but this is no longer the case. Deep discounts are now available on Office or Windows and other Microsoft products. Richard Kirsch from the First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto notes that the software can be installed on church owned computers and staff owned computers as long as the church undertakes to get the software back when staff leave; the discounts are not available for computers owned by volunteers. More information available here. England-Bound: An Invitation From Kingston Unitarians

By Jean Pfleiderer

Join a group of Kingston and other Unitarians on a pilgrimage to England! We will tour sites significant to Unitarian history: the Lake District, York, Cambridge, Oxford, and in the east, Norwich and Ipswich, both great centres of Unitarianism. We will also see sites of more universal interest: Stone Circles, Blenheim Palace and Beatrix Potter's house to mention only a few. Services at, or meetings with, local congregations will be arranged whenever possible. We leave July 2 and return July 14, 2014 so we will enjoy the long days of summer.

An escorted bus will meet us at Manchester airport and accompany us for the tour. Most meals, the hotels, the escorted bus and transfers are included. We will stay 2 or 3 nights in most centres to minimize the stress and effort of packing and traveling every day. For more information visit www.kuf.ca and click on 'Exploration'. The price is very reasonable $3630 per person, double occupancy.
  Share Your Story

How did you come to Unitarian Universalism? Why do you stay? What energizes you about your UU community? What would you like your UU world of the future to look like?

We’d like you to share your UU story with us and with others. Send your stories to communications@cuc.ca, spell-checked, no more than 600 words.

And if your congregation or community has done something you feel proud of or would like to celebrate, let us know! Send to communications@cuc.ca, as above. Photos are especially welcome! Happy Holidays

"Let us stop the rush and allow the spirit of the season to enter our being. Let us clear our vision and deepen our concern. Let it move us away from an isolating concern for self to a relationship of love and care and wonder and joy with all of life around us.” - Donna Morrison-Reed

With warmest holiday wishes from the Board and Staff of the Canadian Unitarian Council.

The CUC office will be closed Dec 21 – Jan 1 inclusive.