Upcoming Services
WINTER 2024
February 23, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. “Covenant and Community: The Annual General Meeting.” Rev. Jess and Board President Wendy Martin. GRU members are encouraged to arrive early this morning to sign in and receive a voting packet. A short celebratory service will begin as usual at 10:30 a.m. and our Annual General Meeting will start at 11:00 a.m. Everyone is invited to participate in the meeting, though only members may vote. Childcare and nursery has been extended until 12:30 this morning. This morning’s service will not be livestreamed.
March 2, 2025. “Welcoming Inclusivity.” Janis Collins with Worship Artist Joyce Reesor. One of the barriers to a group becoming more inclusive is the concern that it will change the nature of the group. Let's parse that out a bit. Is it our customs, our beliefs, or something else we don't want to lose?
March 9, 2025. *DAYLIGHT SAVINGS BEGINS* “Coyote Loses His Music.” Rev. Jess, Jay Moore, and the Spirit of Life Choir, directed by Rich Hrytzak. Margaret Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science, writes: “We gain courage from learning we’re part of a choir. We sing better when we know we’re not alone.” Come sing with us this morning in this story-based, song-filled Sunday service (but don’t forget to move your clocks ahead one hour or you’ll be late!).
March 16, 2025. “The Spirituality of Johann Sebastian Bach.” Raymond Stone with Service Leader Charlotte Innerd. This talk explores the history and character of the great composer and attempts to provide some sense of who he was, what kind of person he was, and why he became such a towering figure of classical music. He was very much a product of his historical and social contexts. My thesis is that his spirituality was central to his character and achievements and his life story offers opportunities for us to learn and reflect on our own spirituality.
March 23, 2025. “Liberating Love.” Rev. Stephen Atkinson with Service Leader Wendy Martin. Here’s a worship theme that made me think: Liberating Love. I wondered, “Is love liberating us? Or are we liberating love?” Either way, these are powerful questions. I must admit that, for much of my life, “liberating” is not a word I’d link with “love.” For me it would have been more like ^%@!&*$#!!, if you remember old comic book language. Now, though, we must find out how love and liberation go together. We need to know it. The world needs to know it.
The Rev. Stephen Atkinson is glad to be speaking for us again this morning. Currently, he’s a retired minister enjoying guest preaching at congregations in southern Ontario. His previous parish ministry was for North Shore Unitarians in West Vancouver, and prior to that he practiced psychiatry in Toronto focusing on the 2SBGLTQIA+ communities.
March 30, 2025. “The Spirituality of Money.” Rev. Victoria Ingram with Service Leader Brenda Moen. It's been said that you can tell what's important to a person by reviewing their bank account transactions. What does yours say about your values? In this week's experiential service, Rev. Victoria looks at the significance of money in relationship to our values, what we buy, what we support, and how we make decisions about spending our monetary assets.
April 6, 2025. Today GRU member Jay Moore welcomes members of Interfaith Grand River for our third annual multi-religious Sunday service celebration.
April 13, 2025. “Forward, Through the Wilderness.” Rev. Jess & the Spirit of Life Choir, directed by Rich Hrytzak. Alice Blair Wesley writes: “When we move forward, sometimes we do ‘walk on dry ground through the sea.’” But then what do we do with our new freedom?