Unitarians & Universalists of the Eastern Townships
Les unitariens & les universalistes de l'Estrie
We are a Welcoming Congregation
201 Main Street
North Hatley, Quebec J0B 2C0
Telephone
819.842.4146
Welcome!
Greetings from the Unitarian Universalist Church of North Hatley, a
congregation established in 1886, which celebrated the 100th
anniversary
of the dedication of our church building in 1995.
WHO ARE WE?
For over a century the bells in our white steeple
overlooking Lac Massawippi have rung out over these beautiful hills and
valleys of the Eastern Townships with a call to religious freedom.
Unitarian and Universalist roots go back to the time of the Protestant
Reformation in Europe, and grew out of theologies present at the
formation of the early Christian church. Open to people of whatever
age, faith or ethnic background, we celebrate with all liberal
religious people who seek an understanding of universal sacred truths.
We share a vision of the holy that is creative and life affirming and
draws from the world’s great religious traditions. Requiring no creedal
assent for membership, we are guided and governed in our community life
by a set of equitable Principles and Purposes, adopted by all member
congregations of our national association, the Canadian Unitarian Council. We provide a
religious home where each is free to explore a life of meaning in a
community of love and hope.
How to get here:
North Hatley is a small village located around the north end of Lake
Massawippi, about 15 minutes drive south from Sherbrooke, and 30
minutes
drive north from the U.S. border at Derby Line, Vt.
From the west (Montreal) take autoroute 10 East to autoroute 55
South. From the south (Vermont) take I-91 north to the border where it
becomes autoroute 55 North.
From autoroute 55 take the exit for St. Catherine de Hatley, route
108. Go east on route 108 until you reach North Hatley. Follow the
roads around the lake (on your right) past the stores and over a
bridge,
until you reach the church, standing above Main street on your left, at
the corner of Gagnon. If you start going uphill again, you have missed
it.
Minister
Our minister is the Rev. Carole Martignacco, who joined us at the
beginning of 2003. She comes from Minnesota, so winter is "no problem"
for her. Carole now resides in the parsonage, next to the church.
(She does not read her email daily)
Carole has just been hired by Canadian Unitarian Council to
develop a new contextual theology project, Building Our
Identity. She served as Minister/Resident Theologian for the
first ever Canadian U * U Leadership (CU*UL) School in Ste. Catharine,
ON in July 2004.
She is curently president of UMOC (UU Ministers of Canada)
Carole is a poet, curriculum writer, and author of an
award-winning book, The Everything Seed: A Story of
Beginnings, published by Beaver's
Pond Press, Minnesota,
2003.
Rites of passage are performed by both our minister and a lay chaplain,
and are easily arranged by calling our church office or minister. For
these important life passages, in keeping with our liberal religious
tradition, we work with couples and families to provide ceremonies
expressing the faith and spirit of those involved, recognizing that all
life is sacred, in its beginnings, its living and loving, and in its
endings.
Weddings
- we do Equal Marriages - see Rev. Martignacco's letter to the editor,
"Towards a Just Society"
Child naming ceremonies and dedications
Funerals and memorial services
For any of these rites of passage, please contact Rev.
Martignacco, or our Lay Chaplains,
Jane Pankovitch or Keith Baxter, email:
Services are at 10:00
Sundays throughout the year, with a break during the last week in
December and first in January. From April through November our
services are held in the historic sanctuary, and during winter months
in Stoddard Hall on the lower level. Members and visitors enjoy a
time of fellowship with coffee, tea and refreshments following each
service.
Religious Education
Our RE coordinator is Jane Gowman.
Children are welcomed every Sunday,
from 10 to 12.
Our program is based on the UU 7 principles, mainly
emphasizing the inherent worth and dignity of everyone.
The morning curriculum is inspired from 2 sources:
We Believe: Learning and Living Our UU
Principles
Edited By: Ann Fields, Joan Goodwin and Circle Round from Starhawk.
Bishops University Campus Ministry
Soulful Sundown evening gatherings are offered regularly on the
Bishop's University campus, Lennoxville, led by our minister, Rev.
Carole Martignacco and our Lay Chaplain, Keith Baxter, who is also a
Bishop's faculty member. We serve an ever changing but always searching
group of openhearted and questioning young adults. With informal
worship in words, silence and song, we share ideas, dreams and hopes,
seeking meaning in a spirit of freedom and fellowship.
Our congregation is proud to have been one of a few Canadian churches
working to protect the lives and rights of refugees by offering
sanctuary and support during the summer of 2003. Continuing our
commitment to the refugee cause, we support efforts to effect systemic
changes in refugee determination.
Health and Literacy in Bangladesh –
Members of our church, a pediatrician and psychologist husband and wife
team, have been active in a 3-year project, along with McGill and Dhaka
universities and Plan International, to deliver nutrition systems and
develop early childhood learning readiness in a country where poverty
and malnutrition keep many children from reaching adulthood. Their work
in the global community is an example of our deepest values in creating
a just world.
Social/Environment Concerns
This task force brings urgent justice issues to the attention of the
congregation and the community.
Human Rights Issues
As a member congregation of the Canadian Unitarian Council, an
association of Unitarian and Universalist congregations in Canada, our
community participates actively in speaking for human rights and
promoting change on major social, political, economic and environmental
issues that affect our world nationally and globally.
Community Activities
We welcome community activities in our church. As a result of major
renovations several years ago, our lower level is well insulated and
handicapped accessible. It includes Stoddard Hall, kitchen, RE room,
and
minister's office. Many benefit
concerts are held in our warm, wood-paneled upper-level sanctuary
with excellent acoustics. Activities held here recently include
Sanctuary for refugees
Women's Choir, Choro Mundo
Bridge Club of University Women's group
Tai Chi
Storytelling afternoon, dedicated storytellers from all over the
Townships and beyond
Cooking workshops
Benefit Concerts
Interviews with parents for the school les Enfants de la
Terre.
If you have an activity that could use this space
(see pictures), please contact a
board member or call the church and leave a message.
We are a liberal religious community who covenant together to uphold
the inherent worth and dignity of each person and the pursuit of
justice in the world..
Having no dogma or official creed, we believe in freedom of religion.
Every individual is encouraged to develop his or her own personal
theology, and to openly present religious opinions and questions
without fear of censure or reprisal.
We believe in religious tolerance. All genuine religions, in every age
and culture, not only possess intrinsic merits, but also are valid
paths to the sacred. Our faith includes respect for the inherent worth
and dignity of every person, the pursuit of the just community on
earth, belief in the democratic process, and respect for the
interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
We believe in the ethical application of religious principles. Religion
finds true fulfillment in social and community involvement. Therefore,
we are committed to social action and social justice as an expression
of our faith.
Finally, we believe that the governing principle in human relationships
is love, which always seeks the welfare of others and never seeks to
harm, coerce, or destroy.
You can now make donations on line:
These pages have been accessed times since 20 July 2006
Last modified
15 March 2010
Document prepared by Lin Jensen
Mail the
church at
We are a Welcoming Congregation
For over a century the bells in our white steeple
overlooking Lac Massawippi have rung out over these beautiful hills and
valleys of the Eastern Townships with a call to religious freedom.
Unitarian and Universalist roots go back to the time of the Protestant
Reformation in Europe, and grew out of theologies present at the
formation of the early Christian church. Open to people of whatever
age, faith or ethnic background, we celebrate with all liberal
religious people who seek an understanding of universal sacred truths.
We share a vision of the holy that is creative and life affirming and
draws from the world’s great religious traditions. Requiring no creedal
assent for membership, we are guided and governed in our community life
by a set of equitable Principles and Purposes, adopted by all member
congregations of our national association, the Canadian Unitarian Council. We provide a
religious home where each is free to explore a life of meaning in a
community of love and hope.
