Join us on Zoom: viuf.org/sunday
If prompted to use a password, it is: 2020

For this multi-cultural youth and family led service, we will be looking at “luminosity”, radiant electromagnetic power, via the practice of lighting candles during this season.  The celebrations of Diwali, Advent, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa bring hope, intention and inspiration with the tradition of illuminating divas, advent wreaths, menorahs and kinaras.  Guest speaker, Seattle Umoja (unity in Swahili) member, Shari Shepard, will speak about the 7 candles and principles of the Kwanzaa celebration. Youth will provide music, stories and readings about the other traditions for the service.   Q & A with Shari will follow the service.

***We ask that those who join the service bring a candle to light!

Shari (she/her) has been a resident of WA state for a combined 9 years and currently lives on the traditional lands of the Puyallup and Coast Salish peoples, popularly known as Tacoma. She has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge in the realm of ancestral research in the African diaspora. Her self-directed explorations have led her into the worlds of intuitive plant medicine, traditional herbalism, and ancestral healing. She is currently studying to become a clinical herbalist and ancestral healing practitioner to support her community’s wellness in the continued fight for equality and social justice in the West.