unitarianfellowshipregina

Amnesty International

May 28th marks the 45th anniversary of the beginnings of Amnesty International in 1961 by its founder, Peter Benenson.  Today, Bill Rafoss, a member of the national board of Amnesty International Canada (English Speaking Section) spoke to us about how human rights has developed as a concept over the years and how we must continue to be vigilant and not expect governments to lead the way on human rights development without our encouragement and input.

Blogging: Presentation/Pathfinding

Presenter: David Thompson

--

Blogging and blog-following can enrich your understanding of other people and cultures in positive and challenging ways. While presenting compelling images, David explores some of the beautiful, thoughful blogs he has encountered. He weaves in examples from his own blogs and examines issues such as self-image, prioritizing, time commitments, changes of direction and ‘pathfinding’.

Note from Jim:  find David's Blog page by clicking here.  Come back here and start the podcast.  Go back to David's Blog page and advance the pictures as you listen. I tried it and found it quite easy to do.

BASIC INCOME

Presenter: Victor Lau

--

 
Victor Lau  explains the Basic Income concept and how it could help provide better outcomes for low wage earners and people who struggle to provide the most basic needs for their families. He finishes his talk with a youtube video.  Click here to see the video

Medicine Chest

Presenter: Gary Groot

--

One of the agreements of the treaties was that the Settlers would provide “A Medicine Chest” to Aboriginal peoples. What that means in spirit is that medical care would be provided. Surgical Oncologist Dr. Gary Groot began to realize that in his medical practice, this wasn’t happening to the extent that he would have liked. Gary talks about his exploration of coming to realize that the medical care he was providing to some of his Aboriginal patients needed to change to meet their unique culture and perspectives—and his own process of personal and spiritual growth. We are all treaty people, but what that means for each of us is a profoundly personal and ever changing story.

We are all Treaty People

Presenter:  Sheena Koops

--

Sheena is not of First Nations lineage, but she has many First Nations students at Bert Fox School in Ft. Qu'Appelle where she teaches.  She tells us about her journey of discovery and understanding of how treaties affect us all.

A Journey of Surprises: From Blue Collar Immigrant Family Life to Retirement

PRESENTER: Alex Taylor
--
Alex tells us about the "surprises" or co-incidences that removed excuses or roadblocks along the way to his calling as a minister of the church and as a minister of the crown.

I Will Help Regina

Presenter: Naomi Ness Creek

-
Naomi describes what happened when she decided to see if she could organize a community response to community needs and how this has expanded to be part of the effort to help newly arrived refugees.

Rolling away the stone

Presenter:  Rev. Karen Fraser Gitlitz

It has been said that religion is a human response to knowing we will die.  This seems particularly true of Christianity which has as its founding story a man who died a horrible death in his 30s leaving his followers reeling in the aftermath. Jesus spoke about a new life, a new way of being. What can we learn from his followers about death and grief and living? what is there to celebrate this morning?

Forever MicroRanch Sanctuary

Presenters: Alex Pinfold & Jenn Boland

Forever MicroRanch Sanctuary is home to animals who have come, through various circumstances, to live out their full and natural lives free from harm here.  We are committed to promoting the wellbeing of animals, providing our farmed animal residents with optimal quality of life, and supporting the happiness and health of all beings.  We understand that our wellbeing as individuals is directly connected to the kindness we extend to animals, people and the environment around us, and we are dedicated to promoting a space of safety and comfort for all at the Sanctuary.

Race Relations " The struggle of light and darkness" in Canada and the USA.

Presenter:  Reggie Newkirk

In today's presentation, Reggie actually took us back to a more basic equality issue, discrimination against women and we got a bit of a history lesson in which he described aboriginal societies in which women played leadership roles.  He notes, in the course of his discussion, that when one looks at the behavior of the "discoverers" of the new world, these colonizing groups from Europe could be more aptly be described as "savage".  Interestingly, the 13 colonies borrowed from the governance model of the Iroquois federation when they became the United States of America.  Unfortunately, that borrowing did not include the participation of women in affairs of state.