The First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa

This service is the first of several opportunities for reflection, conversation, and listening as we consider this important step in the life of our congregation, and will mark the official beginning of our congregational discernment process as we listen together for the wisdom, hopes, and commitments of our beloved community. Click here to view the service in full Use the 34:56 timestamp to jump directly to Fish Stark's Reflection.

Two hundred fifty years ago, Thomas Paine wrote that "we have it in our power to begin the world over again." The scientist Stuart Kauffman gave us a newer name for the same hope: the adjacent possible — the better world that already exists in potential, hovering at the edge of this one, waiting for us to take the single step that makes it real. Humanists have never believed that a better world descends from on high or arrives all at once. We believe it is built, here, by ord

Canada's Black History Month is a time to honour the leadership, and contributions of Black communities across Canada. It is also a time to reflect on the systems that continue to shape the lives of Black Canadians today. Click here to view the service in full Use the 43:10 time stamp in the description to jump to Reverend Lara's sermon.

Our UU Fourth Principal states that we are all entitled to our own "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". For a covenantal faith, with deeply held shared values, but no expectation that everyone in a given congregation will have the same beliefs about the nature of the cosmos and their place in it, the "Free" part of our Fourth Principle is self-explanatory. But what is a "Responsible Search"? How do we discern what makes truth true or what makes meaning meaning

The great Sufi poet, Rumi, believed that before we speak, our words should pass through three gates. Each gate asks a simple question, yet each one carries weight. Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind? These poignant questions aren’t meant to restrain us, but to become invitations to awaken and grow conscious of what we release into the world. ​ Click here to view the service in full Use the 41:11 time stamp in the description to jump to Reverend Lara's sermon.

What do you do when the life you’d imagined for yourself is stuck in committee? Join us for the story of the UU Hysterical Society - a story of feeling lost, finding yourself, and UUism-outside-the-box with UUHS founder Liz James. ​ Click here to view the service in full Use the 35:15 time stamp in the description to jump to Liz James' Reflection