NEIGHBOURHOOD Unitarian Universalist Congregation

From Our Minister, Rev. Wayne Walder:

Hello. I’m Wayne Walder, the minister of our new congregation, chartered in 2000. Although I have been interested in religion all my life, I became a Unitarian Universalist about 25 years ago. I have been part of congregations in Elmira and Buffalo, New York, as well as in Toronto. I have worked with the staff of the Canadian Unitarian Council, our national organization, offering advice to congregations about their building and their growth plans.

I grew up a Roman Catholic and have travelled through several countries and several religious traditions on my way to Unitarian Universalism. I have studied with Zen Buddhists, helped open the Hindu temple in Gangotri India, and have studied Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, while traveling with the “Pir”, Vilayat Khan through Europe and India. None of these religious traditions had offered me both true religious freedom and community like the Unitarians did. So when I met them and married my wife Joan in the Buffalo Unitarian Church, I knew that I had found a home. On the twenty second of March, 1998, I was ordained and became a minister of the Unitarian Universalist tradition. My wife Joan and I live in the Beach area of Toronto and have three grown sons.

About Wayne:

Wayne has a Masters Degree in religion from the University of Toronto, loves religious anthropology, and will often play the Native American flute at services. While travelling, he plays the flute in the echoing buildings of every faith and in caves along the way. He has met and worked with many spiritual teachers, including Pir Vilayat, Carlos Nakai, Yogi Bahjan, Swami Rama, David Mcbride, Thomas Moore, Fool’s Crow, the Dalai Lama, Sharon Saltzberg, and Walter Bruggeman.

Wayne teaches meditation with a combination of humor, reason, and respect for religious traditions. He understands meditation is only a tool, useful to help us become more aware of a personal human life and to develop the courage required to live it with others.

He has loved religion and spirituality since he was a child. After helping to build the Neighbourhood Congregation, he realized there wasn’t a liberal and respectful practice of going deeper into culture and religion while travelling. So, Wayne has led pilgrimages to India, Santa Fe, Peru, Turkey, and Belize. See Unitarian Journeys

Note: Our congregation has produced a CD called.“deMystifying Meditation” with words by Rev. Wayne Walder and music by Vivianne LaRivière. click here