The UU Church of Olinda is a welcoming congregation
September 5th, 2014 . by William Baylis
You are welcome here!
You are welcome to attend our Sunday Services
April 3rd, 2014 . by William BaylisServices begin at 10:30 AM on Sundays and last about one hour. Children are invited to attend religious education classes during the service. Weather permitting, we meet every Sunday between Labour Day and the end of June and once a month in July and August. Services are usually followed by good tea, coffee, and conversation. Please see the monthly newsletter on this site for scheduled sermons, speakers, and musicians. We welcome atheists, agnostics, and theists, pagans, humanists, Christians, members of other religious faiths and from LGTBQ communities!
Martha Munson Dies
July 3rd, 2017 . by William BaylisRev. Martha Munson, who was ordained in 1980 and served as minister of the UU Church of Olinda from September 1982 through July 1987, passed away on the morning of July 2, 2017, after a long illness. Her most recent full-time position was as Interim Minister of the First Universalist Church of Rochester, NY, from 2011 to 2014. A memorial service will be held for her at 10 AM on July 15 in the Rochester church.
June and Summer 2017 Newsletter
May 24th, 2017 . by William BaylisClick here to view or download our newsletter. Enjoy!
June and Summer 2017 Sunday Services
May 20th, 2017 . by William Baylis| Date | Speaker | Title | Musician(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 4 | Rev. Fran Dearman | Call and Inspiration: Some Call on their ministers for Inspiration; some ministers find Inspiration in a sense of Call. What might that look like? Sound like? Feel like? | Indian Village String Quartet |
| June 11 | Rev. Fran Dearman | Intergenerational Service: Norbert Capek and Flower Festival In the city of Prague, in the 1930’s, Unitarian minister Norbert Capek looked for a new way to symbolize what it might mean to be a beloved community. And so, as summer’s fullness approached, he invited the people to bring a flower to share–a festival of bloom. People would bring a flower to place in a vase, and at the end of the service each person would take home a flower that someone else had brought–a symbol of how we enrich one another’s lives. | Toni Janik |
| June 18 | Rev. Fran Dearman | Fathers’ Day: Lord of the Rings Fran reflects on models of fatherhood found in Tolkein’s “Lord of the Rings.” | Baylis-Butzen-Stone quartet |
| June 25 | Tracey Ramsey, MP Essex | People, Power and Politics. Howard Pawley memorial talk. | Lorie Lyons |
| July 16 | Derek Parry | Religion: Usefulness and Reason | Carabel Ringrose |
| Aug. 6 | Bill Baylis and Ray Stone | Music and Spirituality Music is a key component of the spiritual element of Sunday Services. Bill and Ray will discuss and demonstrate properties of good music that make it so successful. | Baylis-Stone Trio |
| Sept. 10 | Rev. Fran Dearman | Ingathering and Water Ceremony: Welcome back after the summer break! You are invited to share some of your experiences with the congregation. | tba |
Memorial Service for Gypsy Carroll
April 29th, 2017 . by William BaylisLong-time member Gypsy Carroll passed away Wednesday night, April 26, 2017, at 11:10 pm. When her cancer proved intractable, she decided to decline further treatment and was in palliative care for the past few weeks. Gypsy was involved in the congregation in numerous capacities, including her work on the archives and library, and bookkeeper. Her bright spirit, love of animals, and joyful presence will be deeply missed.
A Memorial Service for her is planned on May 13 at 1 PM in the church. Her obituary, as published in the Windsor Star on April 29, 2017:
CARROLL, Gypsy
On Wednesday, April 26, 2017, a bright light flickered out and Gypsy’s spirit left this world. Left to mourn her loss are her two loving daughters, Christie Arenburg (Stephen), Virginia Mercer (Stuart), her precious granddaughter Mackenzie Sandra Gypsy Mercer, sister Sandy Wright (Don Tomes), brother Tod Wright (June), and many friends including her two furry ones, Ollie and Balou. She was predeceased by her parents, Jean and George Wright, her brother and sister-in-law, Jeff and Patty Wright, and her baby son, Patrick Carroll. Cremation has taken place and a memorial service will be held at Olinda Church, 2953 Olinda Side Rd., Ruthven on Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 1 p.m. In her memory please do one kind thing for another person. In lieu of flowers if you so wish a donation to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Olinda would be appreciated. Cremation arrangements entrusted to
SIMPLE CHOICE CREMATION CENTRE
(519-254-2585) Online condolences and cherished memories may be shared with the family at
www.simplechoicecremation.ca.
May 2017 Sunday Services
April 25th, 2017 . by William Baylis| Date | Speaker | Title | Musician(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 7 | Rev. Stephen Atkinson | The Sunny Hill. Life calls us to meet its challenges, and further, to attend carefully to the signs we receive that guide us toward our highest purpose and greatest task. This applies to us as individuals and to our congregations. Sometimes the task is obvious; sometimes difficult to discern, but the way to our deepest fulfillment is to work towards our highest goal. | Lorie Lyons |
| May 14 | Rev. Fran Dearman | Mothers’ Day. | Baylis-Stone Trio |
| May 21 | Rev. Fran Dearman | Walking to Santiago: Fran Shares Some Memories of Walking the Old Pilgrim Trail, El Camino de Santiago de Compostella, in Northern Spain. | Lorie Lyons |
| May 28 | Rev. Del Stewart | Does God Have a Future? Traditionally, religions have provided answers to God-questions. But in the times in which we now live, the credibility of these (traditional) answers is being questioned, and the validity of religion itself challenged. How might the current intensifying of ‘God-questions answered/God-answers questioned’ impact faith-understanding and faith communities in the 21st century? | Toni Janik |
| June 4 | Rev. Fran Dearman | Call and Inspiration: Some Call on their ministers for Inspiration; some ministers find Inspiration in a sense of Call. What might that look like? Sound like? Feel like? | Indian Village String Quartet |
April 2017 Sunday Services
March 19th, 2017 . by William Baylis| Date | Speaker | Title | Musician(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr. 2 | Rev. Fran Dearman | Poetry Month: Singing the Body Electric. With a little help from the poet Walt Whitman, Rev. Fran reflects on rhythm and rhyme and the flesh that bears them along. In particular, Fran reaches for an understanding of what it means for a body to be born transgender. | Baylis-Stone Trio |
| Apr. 9 | Rev. Fran Dearman | Atonement and Icelanders: The day they locked the doors at Gimli. Palm Sunday | Toni Janik |
| Apr. 16 | Rev. Fran Dearman | Easter Sunday. | Baylis-Stone trio |
| Apr. 23 | Bill Baylis | Science & Religion for UUs. Science and religion are not antagonistic for UUs. Indeed, science is part of the UU religion, an essential piece of the search for truth. | Lorie Lyons |
| Apr. 30 | Sharon van Abbema | Wisdom from Unitarian Poets. | Lori Fithian & Jean Chorazyczewski |
| May 7 | Rev. Stephen Atkinson | The Sunny Hill. Life calls us to meet its challenges, and further, to attend carefully to the signs we receive that guide us toward our highest purpose and greatest task. This applies to us as individuals and to our congregations. Sometimes the task is obvious; sometimes difficult to discern, but the way to our deepest fulfillment is to work towards our highest goal. | Lorie Lyons |
Congratulations, Buster and Carabel!
March 16th, 2017 . by William BaylisHector and Carabel Ringrose celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on March 8. They have been the heart and smile of the church for decades. Hector, known to most of us as Buster, has been the regular greeter, always with a smile and good sense of humour, while Carabel has graced the church with lovely piano music. Both have been deeply involved in church activities. Congratulations to you both from the entire UU Olinda Church!
Hector and Carabel Ringrose Windsor Star March 11, 2017
Hector and Carabel were married on March 8, 1952 in Leamington. They have three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. This image is from the Windsor Star, Saturday, March 11, 2017, p. C4.
Big Sing 2017
March 13th, 2017 . by William BaylisThanks to the super-talented Choir Master Glen Thomas Rideout and the First UU Congregation of Ann Arbor, members of our Choir at UU Olinda were able to join other choir members from Michigan and Indiana in the Big Sing on March 11 and 12 2017, in Ann Arbor. The theme of Welcoming and unity in diversity was a bright, joyous UU beacon in the face of separatist, racist, xenophobic, and homophobic attitudes on ascendancy around the world. Here’s a photo of Olinda participants after the concert:
From L to R: Sue Markham, Jane Innerd, Bobbye Baylis. Stuart Miller, Bill Baylis, and Karen Andersen Miller
