Today’s talk was a reading from “A Dead Soldier Looks at the War” by Rev. David Rankin. Read by Rev. Max Moss.
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Today’s talk was a reading of “The Answer I Wish I’d Given” By Erika A. Hewitt
These questions can be answered either individually; or as a Unitarian Community; or as a wider society:-
Continue reading Because We Can!No recordings this week.
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David Hines © 28th August 2022
Read below, or download the PDF – to come.
When Shirin Caldwell learned the topic I had chosen, she asked, did I realise that she, Jonathan and Brenda had already covered it a few months ago. I did hear their report and it was excellent However, I believe this topic is so massive, it needs to come up frequently, and from all angles.
The angle I want to speak about today is strategy.
Which are the actions we could take that would be:
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Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.
Rachel Mackintosh © 21 August 2022
Burning Down the House was part of the soundtrack of my adolescence.
The song came out two years after the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand that had united a nationwide protest movement from across the political and socio-economic spectrum, where tens of thousands of us had marched together periodically in the year leading up to the tour, and twice a week from 19 July — my mother’s birthday and the day our family went to the airport at dawn to protest the Springboks’ arrival — to 12 September — the fourth anniversary of Steve Biko’s death from severe beating in custody and the date of the final test match of the tour. The second match — against the Waikato provincial team on 25 July — was called off after protesters invaded the pitch. Apart from that one match, the tour went ahead. The movement didn’t achieve its aim of stopping the tour.
The introduction to the subject of the tour on the NZ History website has the subheading, “A country divided”.
Continue reading Burning down the houseRead below, or download the PDF
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John DiLeo © 14 August 2022
I grew up in a rural part of Connecticut, in the northeastern United States. My home town, Plainfield, was small, the population was almost entirely white Europeans, and – as far as those in authority in my life were concerned – everybody was cisgendered and straight.
As was the social norm of the time, when someone we knew was gender non-conforming, we were all expected to act as though that fact didn’t exist. Our parents referred to their gay and lesbian relatives and acquaintances as ‘eccentric,’ and to their life partners as ‘roommates.’
We were indoctrinated to the “fact” that being cisgendered and straight was the one true “lifestyle choice,” in much the same way we were indoctrinated to believe our mainstream Christian sect was the one true religion.
Continue reading Am I Doing This Right?Welcome:- includes an adapted excerpt from “Come Whoever You Are” By Marilyn Falkowski
Chalice Lighting:- draws on “Every Endeavor Begins With a First Step” By Charles F Flagg
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Clay Nelson © 24 July 2022
Think back two and half years ago to the day before you heard of Coronavirus breaking out in Wuhan, China. Whatever that was like for you, that was normal. For me, I was a newlywed. I had not even learned what that new normal meant for me yet. I certainly hadn’t anticipated that we would spend most of two and a half years sheltering in place, just the two of us with Waldo for company, discovering what our normal was. So when I hear someone longing for life to return to normal, I’m not sure what their normal is. Perhaps, I should focus on knowing the future instead. Irony, apparently, is my forte.
Continue reading The idiot flight of butterfliesRead below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 17 July 2022
I would like to give you a peek behind the curtain to see one of the blessings, or possibly curses, of being in my line of work. If you have been doing it as long as I have, it is nearly impossible not to see the world continuously through theological lenses. It is not a conscious decision anymore. It is just my reality and as involuntary as breathing. Nothing I’m doing is exempt from theological reflection. It doesn’t matter if it is reading my Facebook feed, bingeing on Netflix, hearing music in many genres, holding Rachel’s hand, playing peek-a-boo with a grandchild, eating a Macca burger, playing fetch with Waldo, or walking on the beach after a storm. You get my gist. Bloody everything reverberates with theological discernment for me. Everything. It can be exhausting as it feeds my imagination to overflowing.
Continue reading Unconstrained ImaginationFollow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service.
David Hines © 3 July 2022
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Usually when I preach in church it’s because I’ve done some homework on a subject and think it might be useful to other people. Today I’m in the opposite situation. I’ve done a survey on Christian karakia. But the problem is more complicated than I realised, so I would appreciate your input before I come to a firm conclusion. As a second step, I would like to take your conclusions to other groups, such as atheists, Jews and Muslims, and then to the government.
Continue reading Christian karakia: do you think they are appropriate for state schools?