Hello! My name is Ann Klinck and I am currently serving my third year on the Unitarian Fellowship of London Board of Trustees and my second year as President.
I grew up a few hours down the highway in Windsor where I learned the value of hard work at our family’s garden centre and fruit farm. I attended school and worked in Windsor, London and Waterloo before settling in London in 1990.
I learned about Unitarian-Universalism from a classmate in Waterloo. When my partner Patrick and I moved back to London we began attending the UFL. We were married by a UFL Chaplain. Our children grew up in this religious community and I believe the UFL shaped who they are today, both through the UFL’s Religious Exploration program and from connections with the UFLers who became part of our “village”.
I’ve been active at the UFL in various areas over the years including Children’s RE, COM, Grounds/Gardens, and most recently Rentals. I served on the Board from 2014-2018. I agreed to join the Board again just prior to retiring after 34 years at the Children’s Hospital.
At the UFL I have found a welcoming, loving community as well as opportunities to learn, grow spiritually and develop new skills. In our uncertain world, I find hope in being part of an organization that works toward a more compassionate and fair world.
Serving on the Board has shown me how the UFL exists only because of the efforts of our past and present members and friends. I am honoured to play a small part in the co-creation of this community.
On October 25 at our regular Sunday service, led by the Social Justice Committee, we will learn about the organization called SeedChange. Sally Humphries, a board member of that organization, is coming from Guelph to speak to us in person.
SeedChange has a very interesting history, which began in 1945 when it was called the Unitarian Service Committee. The founder was a Czech woman, Lotta Hitschmanova. She was born into a moderately comfortable Czech Jewish family. During WWII, her parents were rounded up, put into a holding camp, and died on route to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Lotta Hitschmanova fled to Paris where she worked assisting refugees from the war. She eventually immigrated to Canada where she continued her work with refugees. In 1945, she helped organize the Canadian branch of the Unitarian Service Committee (USC). It was affiliated with the Unitarian Church in Canada, but not part of that faith organization. In 1948, USC became an independent organization giving aid to the thousands of refugees in war torn France and Czechoslovakia.
Lotta Hitschmanova toured across Canada raising funds and collecting clothing for war refugees. Previous London Unitarians used to tell stories of meeting with Lotta Hitschmanova and helping with her cause. She wore a military uniform and was very demanding as the passionate leader of USC. She knew how to get media attention. Between 1945-1984, the USC raised almost $129 million.
In 2019, USC Canada morphed into SeedChange. Its new focus was on sustainable agriculture promoting and strengthening local food systems and healthy seeds. It is now active in seven countries worldwide.
Please put Sunday, October 25 in your calendar. Service at 10:45 AM, followed by a luncheon of soup and buns. Donations will be received going to support SeedChange. To ensure that we have enough food, please RSVP using the sign-up sheet in the sanctuary or email Jeff by clicking here.
Pride Celebrations Committee (PCC) 2026
The 2026 UU Pride Celebrations were successful once again. For the third year, there was a joint Pride Worship Service with Christa Duvall of Pflag Canada and Elliot Duval of Trans*London. This year, on July 12, their BBQ on the Meeting House grounds was held after the joint Worship Service.
From July 17-19, the U U Pride Booth was held in the Victoria Park Festival in our congregational tent instead of the community tent. The Booth was set up by Ann Klinck, Thomas Breault, Imran Atta and Bill Ratcliffe. There are initial concerns about less interaction with Pride Festival attenders due to them rushing by the booth, although weather might have been a factor. The booth was affected by poor air quality due to smoke from forest fires in the north on Friday and storms on Saturday. The latter required closing down the booth two times during the day and closing up early in the evening. At least, we avoided the hail at the north end of Victoria Park! The Proud Anglicans had a booth next to us. There was continued interest in our engaging booth with bead bracelet crafts, packaged flower seeds, tattoos & stickers, Rocket handouts (shared with the Pride Parade – about 1/5 of the over 900 total candies), a QR code, several attractive informative U U points/ programs signs, and various U U pamphlets with Kay Rehbergen’s colourful Pride sheet as a backdrop. Mark Konrad’s Global Importune with its letter writing campaign for unjustly imprisoned members of the 2SLGBTQA+ communities, was an important part of the booth for the second year. Many volunteers staffed the booth for the three days. The Booth was taken down by Raghul Ramakrishnan, Mark Konrad, Lauira Scott and Bill Ratcliffe. The Booth staff connected with many people who were interested in Unitarian Universalism. Many of those were probably Unitarian Universalist without knowing it!
The briefer Pride Service before the 30th Annual Pride Parade, on July 19, started at 10:00 am. Again the unusual early start was initiated to allow time for walkers in the Parade to gather in the staging area, before the 12:00 pm start. Staging in the Western Fair District parking lot went well, although being close to the end, we missed seeing the floats, nearer the beginning. This year, the driver and shuttle service worked out very well with two vehicles being parked close to Victoria Park. A thank you goes out to Jeff Dixon and Imran Atta. Thanks to Linda Ratcliffe there were refreshments prior to walking. Fortunately, unlike Friday and Saturday the weather was beautiful. Twenty-seven U Us walked in our 24th Pride Parade with white “Unitarian Universalists Answer the Call of Love” t-shirts or the purple UFL ones or wearing Pride flag capes, waving Pride flags. Rocket hand outs continued to be well received and unlike usual, they lasted to the last turn of the route. Thanks to Raghul, Lori’s parade vehicle was covered in Pride signs and butterflies which for a change stayed on the vehicle! The speaker on top of Lori’s parade vehicle blasted out Pride anthems which energized some of the walkers to break into spirited dance moves which entertained those lining the parade route.
Unitarian Universalists continue to be long time allies of the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Thank you to all who participated in the very successful 2026 U U Pride Celebrations. A special thank you goes out to the Board who has authorized funding of these valuable U U Pride Celebrations.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Dixon; Ann Klinck, Mark Konrad, Bill Ratcliffe (Chair), Ragrhul Ramakrishnan, Lori Turner-Otte and Jerrod Whitman
2026 Pride Celebrations Committee.
or
click link: https://adobe.ly/4w4xFLa
The London Movie Night Outreach Project (L.M.N.O.P) invites you to come out and see:
Good Fortune (2025)
Rating: Rotten tomatoes 79% Tomatometer and 80% Popcornmeter
Storyline: In Good Fortune, a well-meaning but rather inept angel named Gabriel meddles in the lives of a struggling gig worker and a wealthy venture capitalist. Rated R for some drug use and language. Runtime 1h 37mins.
Tagline: Need a miracle?
Trivia: After the suspension of his first directorial project “Being Mortal” at Searchlight Pictures in 2022, Aziz Ansari moved forward with his next planned production, “Good Fortune”. Keke Palmer and Seth Rogen were cast in that film along with Ansari, and Ansari was able to retain both for this film.
Content rating:
Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: Moderate
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Moderate
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild
Event details:
At the UFL Building on Saturday August 22, 2026. Pizza, popcorn, snacks and soft drinks will be provided free of charge. Doors open at 5:30pm, Pizza arrives at 5:45pm, and the movie starts at 6:00pm. There is no cost for admission but free-will donations are accepted, with all proceeds going to the UFL.
Please submit any information to the office email by the third Friday of each month to be included in the next edition of the Chalice.
