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Join us at 11am Sunday mornings

(23:00 UTC Saturday evening)

Our services include a talk from a different speaker every week, often followed by a discussion. Services feature Frank Chen on piano. We always finish with morning tea and opportunity for friendly socialising.

Join us on in person or via Zoom, link below:-

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8949163748?pwd=eU4vaXhzRXZJNkd5c3JIVmliSm1pZz09

Meeting ID: 894 916 3748, Passcode: 12345

you can also

Zoom into an 11:00am Wednesday morning tea and chat, with whoever else turns up.
Zoom details as above

Exciting Upcoming Service Themes and Speakers – stay tuned!!

Jazz is Life — What Music Means

Speaker:- Caitlin Smith

Celebrated local jazz singer/songwriter/poet

Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

11.00am Sunday 11th October

Flower Service

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Karn Cleary

11.00am Sunday 18th October

“The Flower Communion is based on a service developed by Dr Norbert Capek, the minister of what is now the Transylvanian Unitarian Church in Prague, during the 1930s. He wanted a ritual that would encourage the idea of a church as a community, whose individual people formed a greater whole.

For our service, each of you is asked to bring a flower that will be placed with everyone else’s into a vase during the service. The choice of flower is entirely yours, and Norbert Capek emphasised that they could just be something you found growing by the road-side – please don’t feel you have to buy flowers. If you can’t bring one, there will be plenty of flowers available in the foyer for you to choose from to use during the service.”

Famous writers who were UUs

Speaker:- Peter Lineham

Worship Leader:- Ted Zorn

11.00am Sunday 25th October

We will continue the year with further services that both help us to reflect on our values and principles and to consider these in action.

Follow this link to read the latest (October 2026) ANZUUA (Australia and New Zealand Unitarian Universalist Association) Newsletter. At the bottom of each newsletter is the opportunity to take out your own subscription – IT’S FREE.

Health and safety measures: We now have working air purifiers in the church, to help reduce the spread of any nasties.

Blessing of the Animals

Sunday Talks / Random Musings
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Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

Pets Welcome!

Video to come

Audio to come

Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.

Read below, or download the PDF

Rachel Mackintosh © 4 October 2026

The problem and Solution of Blessing

Today is St Francis of Assisi Day. Even those of us without much of a background in saints may know that St Francis is the patron saint of animals.

In honour of St Francis, this service is for the blessing of animals. But do we, Auckland Unitarians, find the notion of blessing problematic?

Continue reading Blessing of the Animals →

The Enchanted World

Sunday Talks / Random Musings
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Speaker:- Niki Harré
Worship Leader:- Ted Zorn

Religions have strange, implausible stories, that assume there is a secret depth that sometimes seeps – or bursts – into ordinary life. While I have never ‘believed’ in an enchanted world, people thrive when they see beauty and meaning in what surrounds them. And that’s a creative process that requires unknowns and surprises. This talk explores the role of enchantment in contemporary life.

The Enchanted World, with Niki Harré
The Enchanted World, with Niki Harré – Full Episode
Listen, or download the MP3
The Enchanted World, with Niki Harré – Talk Only
Listen, or download the MP3

Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.

Read below, or download the PDF – to come.

Niki Harré © 27 September 2026

Thank you for the invitation to speak today.

I am a community psychologist, and an atheist and in 2021 I undertook what could be called action research in which for a year I a) investigated Christianity and a) was a secular priest.

To be clear, it was a role I made up.

Continue reading The Enchanted World →

Spring Equinox Celebration

Sunday Talks / Random Musings
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Service Leaders & speakers:
Barbara Thomborson, Karn Cleary

Today we’ll celebrate the Spring. The Equinox happens on September 23rd. marking a moment of balance before we transition into summer with longer daylight hours. This is an opportunity to consider what we want to leave behind in the darkness of winter, and how we will grow our hopes for the coming summer.

Spring Equinox Celebration
Spring Equinox Celebration – Full Episode
Listen, or download the MP3
Spring Equinox Celebration – Talk Only
LIsten, or download the MP3

Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.

Read below, or download the PDF

Barbara Thomborson, Karn Cleary © 20 September 2026

How the Equinox is measured when the Earth is in Balance – Karn

This is going to be a very short talk, as I expect all of us know what the Equinox generally refers to, the day when we experience equal hours of daylight and dark.

Continue reading Spring Equinox Celebration →

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori

Sunday Talks / Random Musings, Treaty of Waitangi / Te Tiriti O Waitangi
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Speaker & Worship Leader:-
Maria Hayward

How empathy in language and culture can guide our humanity; and how good is your Te Reo? Some fun new ‘kupu’ (words) to learn!

Listen, or download the MP3 – Full Episode
Listen, or download the MP3 – Talk Only

Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.

Read below, or download the PDF

Maria Hayward © 13 September 2026

Today’s service honours Te Wiki ō Te Reo Māori and it is guided by our values of inclusion, justice and, if any of you are changed at all by the service, then also transformation! The value of inclusion is for that of the first people of this land, and the justice value is regarding the human right to speak one’s own language.

Introductory words

This week is Te Wiki ō Te Reo Māori and as an introduction to today’s service dedicated to this theme, I want to share with you the story of Karangahape Rd, or K’Rd, as it is commonly known.

Continue reading Te Wiki o te Reo Māori →

When Music Takes Our Breath Away: The Sounds of Reverence

Arts & Sciences, Sunday Talks / Random Musings
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Speaker & Worship Leader:- Ted Zorn

Music matters spiritually because it can interrupt us, open us, and connect us—to our own inner lives, to other people, and to something larger than ourselves.

When Music Takes Our Breath Away: The Sounds of Reverence
When Music Takes Our Breath Away: The Sounds of Reverence – Full Episode
When Music Takes Our Breath Away: The Sounds of Reverence – Talk Only

Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.

Read below, or download the PDF

Ted Zorn © 6 September 2026

Each Sunday including this one we take the opportunity to share our joys and concerns. For me, this talk is an extended joy. I’m no expert on music. I am not here to lecture you on the technicalities of music because I don’t really understand them myself. Instead I want to share the joys that music brings to me and try to explain why that is, and the role that it plays in my spiritual life. My hope is that some of it will resonate with you and that it provides an opportunity for you to reflect on music in your life and share some of the joy I feel.

Continue reading When Music Takes Our Breath Away: The Sounds of Reverence →

Plunging into Wonder

Arts & Sciences, Sunday Talks / Random Musings
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Speaker & Worship Leader:- Kate Lewis

After a month of daily cold-water swimming and meditation, Kate will reflect on the physical, emotional, and spiritual effects of these disciplines. Understanding the science behind the practices does not reduce them to dry and rational explanations but adds to our experience of awe and wonder.

Video to come

Audio to come

Read below, or download the PDF – to come.

Kate Lewis © 30 August 2026

To come.

Meditation / Conversation starter

  • To
  • Come

Jubilation Choir – Singing with Soul!

Arts & Sciences, Sunday Talks / Random Musings
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Worship Leader:- Shirin Caldwell

Video to come

Audio to come

Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.

Jubilation A Capella Gospel Choir

A vibrant, Auckland-based a cappella choir with a gospel heart and a rock ‘n’ roll soul (so says their website). Founded in 2000, this 30+ strong ensemble brings together people from all walks of life—It was founded 26 years ago by Jean McAllister and the late NZ blues legend Rick Bryant and a number of others who are still in the choir. They love their rehearsal space – our Unitarian Church – where they rehearse weekly. A very warm welcome to Jubilation Acapella Gospel choir.

Meditation / Conversation starter

  • What is the first song you remember singing as a child?
  • Were you ever in a choir?
  • How did it make you feel when you all sang together?

Links

Music and Being Human

Arts & Sciences, Sunday Talks / Random Musings
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the beat and the borrowings / the song we become

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Alix Geard

Exploring music as a development of pulse, breath and vocalisation, and also as a way of building culture through repetition, borrowing and repurposing.

Music and Being Human / the beat and the borrowings / the song we become
Music and Being Human / the beat and the borrowings / the song we become
Listen, or download the MP3 – Full Episode
Music and Being Human / the beat and the borrowings / the song we become
Listen, or download the MP3 – Talk Only

Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.

Read below, or download the PDF

Alix Geard © 16 August 2026

Friends,

I invite you to begin with something so ordinary that we rarely notice it.

Take a breath.

Feel your heart.

Before we learn language, before we develop beliefs, before we choose identities or communities, we live inside rhythm. The pulse in the womb and the rise and fall of our lungs are among the first music we ever know.

We are rhythmic creatures.

Continue reading Music and Being Human →

Seeking Meaning

Sunday Talks / Random Musings
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Speaker & Worship Leader:-
The Revd Dr Ralph Catts

Ralph Catts is a Unitarian minister based in Melbourne, and it will be a privilege to have him lead one of our services, as he is the only Unitarian Minister in the South Pacific. He is the Learning & Development Coordinator for the Australia and New Zealand Unitarian Universalist Association (ANZUUA).

Follow this link to see the Order of Service.

Seeking Meaning: A Theology for Seekers
Seeking Meaning: A Theology for Seekers – Full Episode
Listen, or download the MP3
Seeking Meaning: A Theology for Seekers – Talk Only
Listen, or download the MP3

Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.

Read below, or download the PDF

Ralph Catts © 9 August 2026

Address: A Theology for Seekers

Our fourth principle is a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This approach contrasts with most of the major world religions where canon and a scripture from thousands of years ago proscribe what followers are to believe.

Hans le Grand, a European minister who is a friend of mine, has recently completed a Doctorate in Theology, in which he develops a Seeker Theology. His starting point is an agnostic approach to the mystery of existence and our place within the complexity of existence which, he suggests, is beyond our full comprehension (Le Grand, 2023, p. 46), The elements of a Seeker theology include

  • human thought as the source of ethics,
  • diverse sources of inspiration,
  • spiritual growth,
  • a world view,
  • the role of community and
  • a perspective on what happens after death (Le Grand, 2023, pp. 36 -37).

In all these dimensions he argues that rational analysis and personal discernment are the arbiters of reality. This distinguishes Seeker Theology from the canon of Christian theology.

Continue reading Seeking Meaning →