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 ImaginationUpon reading a copy of the book Sir Lloyd Geering said that “Norman Murray Bell deserves to have his life recorded” and he had “enjoyed reading it and seeing the grand collection of photos.”
Agenda – Launch will take no longer than one hour.
When the army called Bell in 1917, he flatly refused and was imprisoned for two years with hard labour. As one of New Zealand’s 2,320 military defaulters from the First World War, his civil rights were curtailed for ten years. This book details Bell’s peace activities as well as his leadership in the Unitarian movement.
The stories of our peace heroes and anti-war activists, are an important but neglected part of New Zealand and world history. Thankfully some are being documented, even though they are not given the attention they deserve by society.
Graham Murphy, writer and reviewer for Faith and Freedom, Oxford says; Wayne Facer’s biography details family history, school career, and the lasting effects of Bell’s devotion to peace. Consistent with the author’s earlier work, A Vision Splendid, this book is a fascinating read.
Laurie Ross, New Zealand Nuclear Free Peacemakers says; Prophet at the Gate is a major contribution in the documentation of NZ peace history. Peaceworkers continue the noble tradition of cultivating civic pride in higher social values of humanity and the spiritual struggle for human goodness, truth and beauty.
you can order your copy of the book here whether you attend the Zoom meeting or not – Details of pricing and options below;
This book is essential reading for anyone who has an interest in New Zealand’s early history, Unitarianism, trade unionism, worker’s education and the fight for secular education.
In a world where religion is increasingly associated with hatred, bigotry, fanaticism, violence and misogyny, Jellie’s story provides an alternative – a vision splendid – where values rooted in the liberal religious tradition are the ones helpful in promoting social justice, protecting the powerless and reducing social and economic inequality. It is a story we can turn to for inspiration as we continue to work for fairness in society, equality of opportunity, and the enrichment of the human spirit.
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Topic: Prophet At The Gate
Time: Aug 20, 2022 17:00 Auckland, Wellington
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Follow 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?Read below, or download the PDF
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Clay Nelson © 26 June 2022
Welcome this morning to history. This is the first public celebration of an indigenous peoples’ holiday in the world. Matariki, sometimes referred to as the Maori New Year, has become a celebration for all New Zealanders. It centres on a cluster of stars that in the west were known as The Pleiades or Seven Sisters. They are 410 light years away and are part of the constellation Taurus.
The Maori named them after the brightest of nine stars called Matariki, the mother of the other eight. Each star is honoured for a specific thing.
Continue reading It’s written in the starsRead below, or download the PDF – to come
Follow this shortcut to the bottom of the page for the various readings, videos, etc. shared in the service, plus many informative links embedded in the main text below.
Shirin Caldwell, Brenda Bendall, Jonathon Mason © 19 June 2022
In November 2021 Clay delivered a service called ‘COP26 Blah, blah, blah‘. He began by saying: Greta Thunberg has been teaching us how to speak truth to power. She has resisted being a token voice used by governments lacking political will and by global companies seeking to monetise efforts to stop killing the planet while doing their best to protect their financial interests in extracting carbon.
19 June 2022 © Rev Rex A E Hunt. MSc(Hons)
A supernova explodes in some far-flung corner of the universe.
Billions of years later, driving to work, your memories are recharged listening to jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong performing What a Wonderful World.
As I continue this reflection I want to offer a quotation from one of my mentors, Bernard Eugene Meland. He wrote it in 1931 just home from post graduate studies in Germany and still formulating his ‘mystical naturalism’. Subsequently, it has helped shaped much of my thinking and living religiously within a naturalistic framework.
Continue reading THE SACRED ‘WONDEROSITY’ OF NATURE…