Speaker & Worship Leader:- Viv Allen

I’m reading a talk written by Erika Hewitt entitled; The Answer I Wish I’d Given (winner of the 2009 Stewardship Sermon Award). Erika wrote a personal, heartwarming story about ‘giving’ which for her is both a statement and an expression of her faith. This story is very relevant to the old 19th century concept of ‘deserving poor’ where government employees make value judgements about who can receive help and who should be punished by withholding this help. This is very topical as now our government has announced plans for social welfare reform in NZ.

Meditation / Conversation starter

• How do you handle homeless beggars and car beggars?

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

Reading / Meditation:- words from Kahil Gilbran

Main talk:- “The Answer I Wish I’d Given” by Erika Hewitt

Extinguishing the Chalice:- “Daring Vision” by Maureen Killoran

Closing Words:- “Thank you for the stories” by Lizzie Kingston Harrison

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Viv Allen

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Viv Allen © 25 February 2024

I had intended to read one of Clay’s talks entitled, Why should we learn another language? From Sept 2020 in its entirety but after I read it I realised that a lot of it was about Clay’s personal journey. I have experience with my own journey regarding this topic so I’ve added some of my own thoughts and picked out parts of Clays’ speech that are relevant and added some from other sources,

What has this topic got to do with any of our Unitarian principles? A lot.

Viv Allen led a service centred around a reading of a Clay Nelson sermon from February 2020

Speaker & Worship Leader:-
Viv Allen

Meditation / Conversation starter

• What piques your curiosity?

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Vivienne Allen

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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.

Is it OK to pick and choose religious beliefs and practices?

with Viv Allen.

Also, here is today’s ‘Time for all ages’.

© 2019 Vivienne Allen

I start with a Unitarian joke – apologies if you’ve heard it before.

At a great international interfaith gathering at a major convention hotel, five delegates found themselves waiting and waiting for the elevator following one of the sessions. To break the monotony and silence, one of delegates suggested they play a little game: “Let’s see if we can explain our faith in the time it takes the elevator to go from here to the first floor!” Although they would have to travel up and down several times, the delegates agreed.

Viv Allen

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Viv Allen © 22 January 2017

Only through love can hatred come to an end – Buddha

The reason I chose the topic of ‘conflict’ for my talk was because I read a story in the UU magazine that interested me. It was written by a gay woman Gail Geisenhainer about when she was a new member of a Unitarian congregation and long before being ordained as a Unitarian minister. She was apprehensive about whether the congregation would accept her. These are her words. Continue reading Only through love can hatred come to an end →

By Viv Allen

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Viv Allen © 18 October 2015

Lately I’ve been watching the world news about the Syrian refugee crisis with a mix of emotions including surprise, pity, empathy, horror and fear ……..

It has got me thinking about how we Auckland Unitarians might respond. We will have time after my talk for a short discussion.

Consider the comments of Continue reading How might Unitarians respond to the Syrian refugee crisis? →

by Vivienne Allen

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If you were given a test that exposed the real you, what secrets would it uncover? So, here’s the question… Are you fattist? What about racist? Hands up if you’re homophobic? Do you think a woman’s place is in the kitchen? You would not be alone if your response was an indignant and vehement NO. First, because you may really believe you don’t hold prejudiced views and, second, because you know you’d have to be an idiot to say yes.

Vivienne Allen

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