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Worship Survey

Our worship associates, minister, and the Management Committee are planning for the congregation’s future worship needs.

To assist us please take this brief survey that is gathering information about people’s practice and preference for worship, recognising that our congregation has expanded throughout Aotearoa and internationally.


Read the latest ANZUUA (Australia and New Zealand Unitarian Universalist Association) Newsletter March 2023


Sunday Services

Next:- 11:00AM Sunday 2nd April
(23:00 UTC, Saturday 1st April)

Topic:- Gratitude

Speaker:- Martin Lewis (Via Zoom)
Worship leader:- John DiLeo (in the Church)

You can attend ‘live’ in the church, or join via zoom, link below:-
Meeting ID: 894 916 3748, Passcode: 12345

you can also

Zoom into a midweek (Wednesday 5th April) morning tea and chat, with whoever else turns up,

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

Dealing with grief

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Speaker & Worship Leader:- John DiLeo

Dealing with grief
Listen or download the MP3

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

John DiLeo © 26th March 2023


Today, I’m reprising – nearly in its entirety – a service I led in September 2019. At that service, our guest speaker, Jean McElhaney, presented a talk titled “How can awareness of death enrich life?”

We reached out to Jean, to see if she might be willing to join us again today, but we were unable to get in touch. I considered simply playing the recording of her talk from our website, but ended up going in a slightly different direction: I’ll be playing a recorded TED Talk from 2016, on a similar topic.

What makes life worth living in the face of death” by Lucy Kalanithi
given at TEDMED 2016

Links

Welcome:- “Sanctuary of the Soul” by David R. Chapman

Opening words:- Spirit of Life and Hope” by Clarke Dewey Wells

Chalice Lighting:- In the Mystery of Life About Us There is Light” by George Kimmich Beach 

Song:- “Spirit of Life” by Carolyn McDade,
Performed by TheGWVibes DC, USA.

Time for all ages:- The Invisible String” by Patrice Karst

Meditation:- Living Brings Us Closer to Dying” , by Helen Lutton Cohen

Closing words:- The Purpose of This Community is to Help Its People Grow” by Erik Walker Wikstrom 

Walking together in relationship: A personal journey of integrating Te Tiriti values

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Speaker:- Dan Te Whenua Walker,
Worship Leader:- Ted Zorn

Walking together in relationship: A personal journey of integrating Te Tiriti values
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Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.

Dan Te Whenua Walker © 19th March 2023

Links

Opening words:- ‘When I First Asked For My Whakapapa’ by Miriama Gemmell,
Commentary on this by Essa May Ranapiri in the Spinoff.

Opening Song:-We Would Be One” STLT#318
Video from Starr King Unitarian Universalist Church, Hayward, CA, USA.

Reading:- excerpts from Dame Anne Salmond’s “What is the future of Māori-Pakeha relations?” 

Second Song:-There Is More Love Somewhere” – First Unitarian Brooklyn Choir, NY, USA
Closing Song:- ‘Nothing Like a Good Friend‘ in te reo Māori and English,
Video by Feel Brave

Closing words:- Dana Worsnop“I Want to Be with People” 

Making the invisible visible

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Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

Making the invisible visible
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Read below or download the PDF

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

Rachel Mackintosh © 12th March 2023

A father and son are in a horrible car crash that kills the father. The eight-year-old son is rushed to hospital in critical condition. ED staff prep him rapidly and take him to an operating theatre where the surgical team is waiting. Just as he’s about to go under the knife, the surgeon says, “I can’t operate — that’s my son.”

How can this be?

I opened the service with this riddle. 

You may have heard it before.

You may have been confounded or you may have found the answer obvious.

Continue reading Making the invisible visible

My passionate journey from naivety to despair to hope

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Speaker & Worship Leader:- Vivienne Allen

My passionate journey from naivety to despair to hope
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Read below or download the PDF

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

Vivienne Allen © 5th March 2023

I have always been drawn to trees. Until I turned 10 I spent most of my spare time climbing trees on our farm. Back then I divided all trees into two categories; good and bad; the good ones were those great for climbing such as Pohutukawa, some Lawsons, oaks and others with wide low branches. The bad ones which were not good for climbing were trees like Lombardy poplars that were too upright or didn’t have low branches. Luckily our sharemilkers had 7 children for me to play with and our favourite activity was to climb trees. We even used to enjoy climbing the nectarine trees in the orchard in summer, sitting up in the branches munching nectarines on a hot day.

Continue reading My passionate journey from naivety to despair to hope

A Still Small Voice: Listening for the divine, when you’re certain the no-one is speaking

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Speaker & Worship Leader:- Ruby Johnson

A Still Small Voice: Listening for the divine, when you’re certain the no-one is speaking
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Read below or download the PDF

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

Ruby Johnson © 26th February 2023

I think that a lot of people are attracted to Unitarianism because they were cast out by, or have left, other faith-based communities. The fourth principle of Unitarian Universalism is that we engage in “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning”. Those of us who have come to this church as cast-offs from other faith traditions will attest that free inquiry is not necessarily a hallmark of organised religion.

Continue reading A Still Small Voice: Listening for the divine, when you’re certain the no-one is speaking

Cyclone Gabrielle

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How can we help?

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, the devastation it has caused, and the terrible impact this ex-cyclonic storm has wrought on our people and our land in Aotearoa, New Zealand. We are witnessing huge amounts of strength and sadness, and the media pictures portray the huge scale of this disaster.

How can we help? The need now is primarily for financial help in the recovery and rescue stage. Here are a couple of links to websites where donations can be made.

There are many people and organisations raising funds to help with this disaster, and if you haven’t already, please do help by contributing – every bit helps .

Our hearts go out to all.

Socks and songs: making and mending in the face of despair

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Speaker & Worship Leader:- Alix Geard

Socks and songs: making and mending in the face of despair
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Read below or download the PDF

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

Alix Geard © 19th February 2023

Sometimes you choose a theme for a service and then life throws you complications.

I had planned to take my text today from that most varied and human of sources, the microblogging site Tumblr. Every so often in my craft or philosophy groups some words turn up from the person known on Tumblr as higgsboshark:

The thing about knitting is it’s much harder to fear the existential futility of all your actions while you’re doing it.

Like ok, sure, sometimes it’s hard to believe you’ve made any positive impact on the world. But it’s pretty easy to believe you’ve made a sock. Look at it. There it is. Put it on, now your foot’s warm.

Checkmate, nihilism.

From <https://www.tumblr.com/higgsboshark/179475660451/the-thing-about-knitting-is-its-much-harder-to>

There are several hashtags that follow this. My favourites are #the sock is not a metaphor for anything #it’s just a sock #that’s all it needs to be.

Continue reading Socks and songs: making and mending in the face of despair

Is there Other Life in the Universe?  Implications for Unitarians

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with Jonathan Mason

Extra Terrestrial Life and Unitarianism
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Read below, or download the PDF

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

Jonathan Mason  © 12 February 2023

The question of whether there is life in the universe is one of the big questions of the 20th and 21st century. Movies such as ET, Contact, Arrival and Interstellar have explored these issues along with alien invasion movies such as Independence Day. I remember growing up watching the night sky with a sense of wonder, In my search for the mystery in life, Unitarian Principle #4, I have found the question of whether there is other life in the universe to be one of the profound mysteries that I reflect on. The answer to this question may also impact Unitarian Principle #7, on the interdependency of humans with our world, in ways that I’ll discuss later. In the following talk, I’ll go over the prevailing science on Extra terrestrial life and then discuss its implications for our world and Unitarianism. This is a personal talk giving my views on issues, apologies for those who have different views.

Continue reading Is there Other Life in the Universe?  Implications for Unitarians