KJPhoenix Joy & Sally Mabelle
No text this week.
KJPhoenix Joy © 13 November 2016
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Sunday Talks / Random Musings
The Waiting Place according to the Gospel of Dr Seuss
Rev. Clay Nelson
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Rev. Clay Nelson © 6 November 2016
Twenty-six years ago Dr Seuss published his last book and it became an instant success as a graduation gift — Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
Continue reading The Waiting Place according to the Gospel of Dr Seuss
El Dia de Los Muertos
Rev. Clay Nelson
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Rev. Clay Nelson © 30 October 2016 Continue reading El Dia de Los Muertos
Flower Communion
Rev. Clay Nelson
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No script this week.
Rev. Clay Nelson © 23 October 2016
Reflections on the Sea of Faith
Rev. Clay Nelson
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Rev. Clay Nelson © 16 October 2016
I gave up having a Plan A or B or even C a long time ago. The old joke is they just make God laugh anyway. But the real reason is repeatedly in my life I have watched myself travel from point to point without benefit of an itinerary and yet get to some fascinating and unexpected places that seem unrelated on the surface, but which, in retrospect, were all connected. With the advantage of hindsight, they looked like a well-thought out plan or at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. In truth, each place led to a new place I could not have booked in advance. None were foreseen or could have been planned for.
Continue reading Reflections on the Sea of FaithKansas to NZ and Living the Dream
Be careful we’re not in Kansas anymore?
Michael Jones, Willem Laman-Trip
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Michael Jones, Willem Laman-Trip © 9 October 2016
Being Grounded
Rev. Clay Nelson
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Rev. Clay Nelson © 2 October 2016
Being grounded doesn’t always have the best connotation, especially if you are a teenager being restricted after misbehaviour, but in religious terms it captures the spiritual revolution that is transforming religion. Last week, in discussing the evolution of Unitarianism, I touched on this revolution when I said many of today’s Unitarians are rejecting Kant’s “religion within the bounds of reason alone” as lacking any mystical or spiritual dimension. They are embracing what has been described as “ecstatic naturalism.” They seek an experience that is beyond the capacity of words to describe, except perhaps in poetry and music. Continue reading Being Grounded
Who knew? Unitarians Evolve!
Rev. Clay Nelson
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To read Clay’s sermon from July 2006 referred to in his opening words, follow this link to the St Matthew-in-the-City website.
Rev. Clay Nelson © 25 September 2016
Two weeks ago I shared the story of my evolution from an orthodox theistic liberal Christian to a heterodox non-theistic progressive Christian to simply a follower of Jesus. That is a lot of evolving in a short time. It is like evolving from being a Neanderthal to a Homo sapiens in one 67-year lifetime. Social Philosopher William Irwin Thompson has said, “For the first time in human evolution, the individual life is long enough, and the cultural transformation swift enough, that the individual mind is now a constituent player in the global transformation of human culture.” I’m not sure how much my mind has transformed Christianity, but lots of folk thinking like I do have. Continue reading Who knew? Unitarians Evolve!
Spring Cleaning
Kurt Payne and David Rohe
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David Rohe © 18 September 2016
My prepared talk is blissfully short. I intend it to be an introduction or stimulus for open discussion when I finish.
Spring Cleaning
It’s Spring, season of renewal. The earth and all its inhabitants are enlivened. Many of mankind’s institutions are reinvigorated as well, like churches, eh? Like this church, bringing UU principles to Auckland and environs these past 114 years. New people, new programs, old and new issues receiving appropriate attention.
Except, there may need to be some Spring cleaning to clear our space of the remnants of the elephant in the room. There is one, you know, an elephant – in the room. Who here does not know what this saying means? Continue reading Spring Cleaning
Why Unitarians need to Save Jesus
Rev. Clay Nelson
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Rev. Clay Nelson © 11 September 2016
As someone who has self-identified as a “progressive Christian,” for more than a decade, I have often been asked why I needed that modifier. My answer is that I can’t say, “I’m a Christian” without choking. I explain that I used to think of myself as a liberal Christian, but while liberal Christians are usually on the right side of history regarding social justice and human rights issues, they still adhere to the traditional liturgies, creeds and doctrines of the church, which too often have perpetuated the abuse they oppose. A time came when my consciousness was raised. I could no longer adhere to them with integrity. A progressive Christian is willing to let go of those traditions and formularies to seek new ways of being the church. But after nearly ten years of exploring that avenue while at St Matthew-in-the-City and nearly thirty years of following scholarship on the historical Jesus, I’ve come to accept that the institution as it is cannot permit such deviation from the company line and still maintain control. It would prefer to die than change. Continue reading Why Unitarians need to Save Jesus