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Clay Nelson © 1 March 2015
Last Monday I spent six hours at the Human Rights Commission in a mediation that ultimately seeks to abolish religious instruction in public schools. It is known as “Bible in Schools.” Continue reading Freedom from Religion
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Its Pride time! That means a festival and a parade and lots of parties and all sorts of festivities where LGBT people and supporters can take part and show their gay pride.
I have to admit, I’m not much of a parade person or, dare I say it, a ‘pride person’. I don’t get it. And I don’t feel guilty for not getting it. But since I’ve been invited to speak here this morning as part of those festivities, I thought I better find out how (or even if) I and my story might somehow fit into the grand pride narrative. Continue reading The Gay Experience in Faith Communities – 2
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https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/podcast/20150215JimMarjoram_TheGayExperienceinFaithCommunities1.mp3″]
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A little of my personal story to start with.
I was brought up in a very average middle class family in Sydney. The usual struggles and fun. Not perfect but I knew I was loved and safe. I was also gay. I knew I was different from quite young but couldn’t understand exactly how until puberty hit and I found that guys were who I was naturally attracted to and I simply had no desire what so ever towards girls. Continue reading The Gay Experience in Faith Communities – 1
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Clay Nelson © 8 February 2015
On your way to church this morning how many things did you see that weren’t there? It might sound like I’m checking on your mental health. Not at all, I’m not wondering if you are delusional but whether you use your imagination to see the world around you. For what else is imagination, but seeing what isn’t there. Continue reading It’s All in Our Imagination
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Sally shares highlights of the new science which is closely examining the substance of our interdependent web of life. Based on Lynne McTaggart‘s “The Bond.” We’ll look at some of the latest research which suggests that a will to connect rather than a drive to compete is the essential impulse of all life.
OPENING:
What is the difference
Between your experience of Existence
And that of a saint? Continue reading Surrendering to Wholeness in 2015
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https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/podcast/20141214RevClayNelson_ASubversiveChristmas.mp3″]
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Clay Nelson © 14 December 2014
We have lit the third Advent candle, the one for peace. It promises that the day is drawing near when we will once again hear the Christmas stories from the Gospels. In preparation for that I would like to give you my Christmas present early. Come Christmas Eve, I would like you to be able to actually enjoy and be transformed by the stories without having an internal argument with your rational side about Virgin births, moving stars, the birth of Saviours of the World, divine babies in human form, and whether or not any of it is history. Continue reading A Subversive Christmas
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Clay Nelson © 23 November 2014
Sometimes a chosen sermon topic doesn’t lead me where I expected to go. This is one of those times. When I committed to speak on “When is enough enough?” I had in mind that for Americans Thanksgiving is coming soon, a time of celebrating abundance represented by an overflowing cornucopia and loosened belts after the feast. I thought I would be putting forth the virtues of a theology of abundance. I did begin there in my thinking but that is not where it ended. So I’ve decided to share with you my journey from the sermon I thought I was going to give to the one I am giving. Continue reading When is Enough Enough?
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Clay Nelson © 16 November 2014
I would have nothing to thank George W. Bush for if it weren’t for his re-election. If various unscrupulous Republican tactics had not given Ohio to Bush, I would probably still be living in Sacramento, California. Adopting New Zealand as my home was my response to the U.S. moving further to the right; away from progressive values. After the most recent US election, Continue reading Surviving Being Progressive in a Conservative Era