If you're having trouble viewing this email, you cansee it online.
Humanist Happenings Keeping You Connected to Humanist Events
October 2025
Winter Gathering & Human Light Celebration
📅 Sunday, December 21st 🕖 1:00 – 3:00 PM EDT
You are invited to the 2025 Human Light Celebration, taking place virtually on Sunday, December 21st at 6 PM EST. The event will be hosted by Chaplain Ian McMillan and Be Ceremonial Co-founder Megan Sheldon, welcoming attendees to celebrate our common humanity through candle lighting and festive performances.
Human Light provides a positive, secular holiday alternative in the December season, centered on humanist ideals such as reason, compassion, and hope. It promotes a vision of a better future built through cooperation, justice, and shared human values without any religious or supernatural beliefs, resonating deeply with secular, non-theistic, and humanist communities.
We will be celebrating the coming of winter—embracing the season’s spirit of reflection, light, and renewal. Participants are encouraged to bring a candle or small light source (real or symbolic) and an object that connects them to the winter season. This gathering offers a meaningful way to honor both humanist values and the natural rhythms of the season.
🎙️ The Voice of Canadian Humanism - Episode 25 : An Interview with Daniel Dacombe and Phil Zuckerman.
Humanist Canada's Daniel Dacombe sits down with sociologist and author Phil Zuckerman.
Phil Zuckerman is a sociology professor at Pitzer College, where he studied the lives of the nonreligious for years before founding a Department of Secular Studies, the first academic program in the nation dedicated to exclusively studying secular culture and the sociological consequences of America’s fastest-growing “faith.”
🎧 Listen now on Spotify and share to continue the dialogue.
Making Your Values Count Today: A Humanist’s Legacy Journey
Humanist Canada’s Legacy Giving Program is about turning your humanist values into meaningful action during your lifetime, not only through your will. It invites members and supporters to consider how their financial resources can actively advance human rights, secular education, and a more just, compassionate society right now.
One inspiring example is Craig, a 73-year-old humanist who has embraced “giving while living” by pre-distributing his charitable gifts instead of waiting to leave them as an inheritance. Since 2021, Craig has donated about $90,000 to organizations he cares about, including $30,000 to Humanist Canada to support chaplaincy, publications, courses, and operations, and has pledged an additional $10,000 toward the 2026 Humanist Congress in Ottawa.
Guided by careful planning for his family’s needs and by the tax benefits of charitable giving, he sees charity as moral education and ethical action, and encourages fellow “Humanist Boomers” to make their dollars active now in service of a better future.
Registration Opens for the 2026 World Humanist Congress
Registration is now open for the World Humanist Congress 2026, taking place in Ottawa from August 7 to 9, with early bird rates available until February 28, 2026.
We will be bringing together humanists, activists, and ethical leaders from around the world for three days of connection, reflection, and action. We invite our partners and affiliates to help spread the word within their communities and networks to ensure a strong, diverse turnout.
There will also be opportunities for collaboration in Ottawa, including having a presence at the event through booths, volunteering, and other activities. If you or your organization would like to get involved, please reach out or fill out the volunteer form so we can explore how to work together to maximize impact and engagement.
Applications for the 2026 Congress Scholarship Fund are open!
Humanists International has launched this fund to help ensure that activists and leaders from every region of the world can take part in the 2026 World Humanist Congress in Ottawa. The scholarship program is designed to support those who might not otherwise be able to attend, strengthening the global diversity and reach of the humanist movement.
On November 20th, a group of 14 local humanists gathered in Edmonton for a meet-and-greet with Martin Frith. Many of those present were meeting each other for the first time!
It was a wonderful opportunity to connect and get to know each other and for those new to the organization to learn more about Humanist Canada.
The group looks forward to meeting again in the near future!
Rejoignez-nous en ligne pour vous connecter en français avec d’autres humanistes, rester au courant des dernières nouvelles, partager vos préoccupations et vos accomplissement, ou simplement pour nous dire à quoi vous pensez ces temps-ci.
📍 Nos discussions hebdomadaires ont lieu tous les mardis de 19h00 à 20h00 HNE.
📌 Cet événement s'adresse aux membres d'Humanist Canada seulement.
LWR is a monthly peer support group for those who have left their religion, are considering leaving their religion, and/or are encountering challenges with friends, family, classmates or co-workers due to religious differences. If you're already comfortable leading a secular lifestyle, you can also come to offer emotional support or advice, or just to enjoy a sense of social community that religions often offer.
Local member gatherings are informal meetings of humanists - a simple idea with big results.
Liking What You See?
Let’s make it official.
For just $50 a year, you can become a Humanist Canada member and unlock all the events, perks, and warm fuzzy feelings of supporting humanist values across the country.
Keep track of all our upcoming events and meeting times in one convenient place. There’s always something exciting happening—be sure to stay in the loop!
We value your membership, volunteer efforts, and financial support. Together, we’re fostering a vibrant community, advancing Humanist values, and creating meaningful change.
If you’d like to make an impact, consider making a donation today. Your support helps us sustain our programs, expand our reach, and grow our shared vision for a better future.
%20(1100%20%C3%97%20500%20px)%20(1100%20%C3%97%20500%20px).jpg)
.png)
