Greetings, CTU Members and Friends –
Our theme for March is ”awe”. Let’s explore together how we can experience more awe in our lives!
Let’s first be in awe of this Queer Pride Week! Hans is hosting a sleepover on Friday 1 March, followed by a “create your own Drag King/Queen” prep on Saturday morning just before we march in solidarity with our queer community at the Cape Town Pride March starting at 10:30 am in De Waterkant. Details below.
Given the success of February’s Create_Space activity, Hans will be hosting another one on 9 March. See below for details.
Finally, a huge thank you to all of our generous pledgers. We doubled our pledges from last year! Oh happy day!
With love and light,
Nima
nimajanettaylor@gmail.com // WhatsApp 076 024 9120
In This Issue of the Newsletter
Check out our events page to view our church calendar. This includes events posted in the building and outside of the building. If you would like your event added, please contact us at via email: community@capetownunitarians.org
Sunday Services
Calendar of Events: Somerset West Fellowship, Mid-week Meditations, Sleepover!, Drag Queen / King Prep Party!, Cape Town Pride March, Create_Space, Wardrobe Rejuvenation, Chalice Circle, Chalice Kids, Community Choir
Community Corner
Community Updates
UPCOMING SUNDAY TOPICS
Please note: All Sunday services are hybrid and start at 10:30 am
3 March – Awe as a choice: This will be our traditional service with songs from our songbooks! We might often think of awe as something that just happens. What if instead, we could cultivate a life where awe is more likely to happen? What if we actively sought out awe? Join Nima as we explore this powerful spiritual practice that can be experienced anywhere and anytime.
10 March – Quirky Spiritual(?) paths. Dude-ism, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, Pink Unicorns and other ways of celebrating living in different ways. Let’s take a giggly stroll with some off-beat sort of spiritual paths and what we might learn from them.
17 March - Archive of Kindness, with Jess Auerbach: Please join Jess Auerbach as she discusses her past book project; Archive of Kindness. As an idea that was sparked by the various acts of kindness witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, it chronicles how ordinary South Africans were able to spread small sparks of light in a dark time. Her talk will explore how making connections and sharing kindness is important to strengthening our shared humanity.
24 March - The many different holidays in the Abrahamic traditions: Nima will give an overview of the various holy days of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths. What can we learn from these various traditions that could benefit us in our everyday lives? How can we better support our friends who may be part of these various traditions as they practise their faith?
31 March - Music Sunday - Pure Imagination: Come enjoy a service where music meets memory, imagination, and faith. The choir is preparing special music both to participate in, as well as be embraced by. We hope you will join us for this special celebration.
The Somerset West Unitarian Fellowship will be meeting this Saturday, 2 March, at 10 am in the Vonke meeting room of Vonke House, 121 Lourensford Road. The guest speaker will be Reverend Berry Behr.
Rev. Berry is an ordained interfaith/inter-spiritual minister. She currently serves as Interfaith Ambassador for the Emissaries of Divine Light. She also serves as faculty at All Paths Divinity School, an online interfaith seminary based in California, which is opening a dedicated African Cohort to serve this continent's people. Rev Berry has qualifications in Neuro Linguistic Programming, Metaphysical Healing and journalism.
Her topic is Beloved Community based on Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr, who said "The end is reconciliation, the end is redemption, the end is the creation of the Beloved Community." Rev Berry says: "Together we can explore our separations – through beliefs, language and 'othering' as well as our opportunities to transcend these challenges and move beyond division to a place of harmonious coexistence where we reconnect with our Primal Spirituality, the connection to spirit and life that is our birthright."
COST: Free, as well as free light refreshments.
RSVP: Contact Dave Mayes at 021 850 0863, or davidjeanmayes@gmail.com
Mid-week Meditation - Online Only
Every Thursday, 12:30 - 13:00 SA time
Email Nima for the Zoom link
Join Nima for a gentle practice of breath awareness and guided meditations to shift our awareness to more fully present in each moment.
Sleepover!
1 March Friday, 5pm onwards
64 Hout Street, CTU Building
“We’re all born naked, the rest is drag.” -RuPaul
Hans will be hosting a sleepover in the building on Friday 1 March to build excitement and fun for the Pride March the next day. The sleepover will not include alcohol and will be family-friendly! Bring any games to play and food/beverages to share.
Drag Queen / King Prep Party!
2 March Saturday, 8:00 am - 10:00 am
64 Hout Street, CTU Building
We will craft queer friendship bracelets for gifting, finalise our placards for the parade, and gather in community, to ponder, to reflect and to share our understanding and to illuminate new learnings of the diverse, inclusive and expansive queer experience. The following morning, we will assume our drag personas with full make-overs, and proceed as a CTU group towards the parade route.
We invite members to participate in a communal effort of time, talent, and treasure, by kindly donating any fun fashion accessories and wardrobe items for dressing up, and if possible, food and beverage items for bring and share. Please bring your own bedding and personal sleep gear.
Kindly RSVP and reach out to Hans via WhatsApp +27 72 127 6496, if you have any questions. As the Queen herself, RuPaul, states: “If you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?” Let’s gather our CTU caravan of love and take it on the road ~ Can I get an, Amen? 🙏🏾
Cape Town Pride March
2 March Saturday, 10:30 am
Meet at Prestwich Primary School in de Waterkant
(Call Nima when you arrive, or meet at the church no later than 10 am)
Everyone is invited to march for the Respect that everyone deserves! We’ll be marching with the Inclusive and Affirming Ministries.
Create_Space
9 March Saturday, 9am through 4pm
64 Hout Street, CTU Building
Every 2nd Saturday of each month, you are invited to Create_Space: to unplug from your daily obligatory duties and demands, to make yourself a priority, by gifting yourself a moment to engage in a creative, mindful, exploratory fun activity of your choosing!
Arts and crafts, haberdashery, board games, a comfy cosy reading nook or group storytelling, playing your vintage LP records or any creative hobbies, or maybe that pet project that has been on the back-burner a little too long … you are encouraged to utilise our spiritual home as a metaphoric ‘blank canvas’, a space for sharing creative passions and to build connective community. Feel free to come chill for the day, or pop in for a few hours to say “hi”, it’s completely up to you, how you wish to connect with yourSelf, and with your tribe 💜
While we will have some basic arts & crafts supplies and gear to start us off, we appreciate any support from your time, talents and treasure to share in the community. Have some fun homely decor items that can help curate a homely ambiance, please get in touch. Baked some fresh cookies or marshmallow rice krispie treats for the kids, and miraculously there is a spare batch left? The pizza coupons in your drawer are about to expire, and you’re thinking wherever could you still use them? Any treats to fuel and feed the creative brood would be greatly appreciated 😋🙏🏾 After all, there is no place like home 🥰
Please contact Hans via WhatsApp +27721276497 if you have any ideas or creative contributions to make create_space be the best it can be! Thank you for your support 🕯️🌈🙏🏾
Wardrobe Rejuvenation will be part of Create_Space!
9 March Saturday, as part of Create_Space!
64 Hout Street, CTU Building
Wardrobe rejuvenation sessions led by Annie Akinyi Kamya consist of knowing the basics of sewing. Machine stitch can be taught if you provide your domestic machine. The main skills will be hand-stitching (basic, blanket, secret, cross); crochet; knitting; embroidery; pattern reading and making; and basic tailoring (hemming, etc.).
Cost: R100 per lesson
RSVP: Email missaakamya@gmail.com
Please bring your own machine if you have and the item(s) you would like to repair or knitting needles, Crochet hooks, etc. to practise.
Chalice Circle - Online Only
19 March Tuesday, 19:00 - 20:30
(Meets the Third Tuesday of Each Month)
Email Nima for the Zoom link
Each meeting includes a check-in, time for each person to share about the theme, and a check-out. The theme in March will be “Awe”. Contact Nima to be added to the group and receive the monthly packet.
Chalice Kids - IN PERSON
Email Nima for meeting details
We have a robust Chalice Kids education project every month. If you would like your child to participate, email Nima at nimajanettaylor@gmail.com. She will help you choose the right group for your kid(s) and share the homes where we are meeting.
COMMUNITY CORNER
ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
BY HANS MOOLMAN
“There is no house like the house of belonging.”
~ David Whyte
“Just to be … is a blessing. Just to live is holy.”
~ Rabbi Abraham Herschel
“As I express my gratitude, I become more deeply aware of it. And the greater my awareness, the greater my need to express it. What happens here is a spiralling ascent, a process of growth in ever-expanding circles around a steady centre.”
~ Brother David Steindl-Rast
As we conclude our ‘month of love’ celebration, and widening the circle of our community, here are a few spheres of appreciation to members within our community.
Thank you to Nima for holding space, for inclusive community building, and for fostering peace to our queer family, at the recent Queer Faith Collective, Pride-associated event at the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation, where over 60 queer participants could reflect and interact in a multi-faith space.
Thank you too, to volunteers, Cele, Christian and Pius for your service and helping to contribute towards the success of this event! 💜🕯️🙏🏾
Thank you to Melanie and Karin, who recently hosted their Soul Carer AGM in our building. It is an honour that graces our spiritual home, for a special gathering of these compassionate, kind and noble individuals to visit and bless our space. Soul Carers provides support, companionship and spiritual care to those who are at the end of life 💜🕯️🙏🏾
Thank you to Altaira for wellness tea! 💜🕯️🙏🏾
Thank you to Camille for your ongoing service and active support role towards our CTU newsletter publishing and social media efforts 💜🕯️🙏🏾
Thank you to the O’ Brien Wilson family for clothing and shoes donations to those in need. Thank you Erin for uplifting and brightening someone else’s world!
Thank you to Annie for her gift of her sewing machine skills and her creativity to our community.
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AfrikaBurn Update
Our CTU AfrikaBurn family, the Unitarian Unicorns, is gearing up for our adventure at the end of April! So soon! This has included volunteer days, ranger training, and even a team building party last month. Whether you are attending the burn this year or not, we invite you to follow the adventure with us! Additionally, if you want to be more involved without actually going, feel free to contact Hans, Altaira, or Nima to find out how you can help our crew. We are looking for borrowed camping gear, shade cover, tarps, some assistance purchasing fuel for a generator, and fun costumes and E lights. Otherwise, feel free to enjoy our YouTube channel updates from the crew!
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Rev. Victor Carpenter's sermon on Apartheid sometime around 1965
You can continue to read this incredibly powerful sermon on our website.
COMMUNITY UPDATES
Council meeting
Next Council meeting will be Sunday, 17 March 12-2 pm. All are welcome. Contact Nolu at Community@capetownunitarians.org if you are attending and want the documents sent to you.
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Our Successful Pledge Drive
We set an ambitious goal of 200,000 rand for our pledge drive. Thanks to the combined efforts of long-time pledgers and new pledgers, we achieved a significant pledge amount of 102,952 rand.
Of course, everyone is welcome to pledge at any point in the year. You don’t have to be a member. You don’t have to pledge a fortune. Even 20 rand a week makes a significant difference for our humble community.
As we wrap up this specific pledge drive, we will hold a raffle for all participating pledgers in March and send thank yous for all pledgers. Until next year, congratulations again to our sweet community on a very successful pledge drive!
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Volunteer Opportunities - Please Share Your Time and Talents with CTU!
Our (Growing!) The Communications Committee is always looking for people who can write, edit, photograph and create graphics. Contact Altaira or Camille on WhatsApp at +1 831 345 6128.
Join the Social Justice committee by contacting Cele on 082 433 8815.
Help with events by contacting Hans on 072 127 6497.
Have questions or comments for Council? Please email us at community@capetownunitarians.org.