22 May is the U.N. International Day for Biological Diversity

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Kate Lewis

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Kate Lewis © 25 May 2025

Tomorrow is Memorial Day in the U.S. It is traditionally a day to remember fallen soldiers. But this year, it feels like a memorial for something more: for a vision of the U.S. that, just six months ago, held more hope than it does today. It feels, to some, like a kind of death. Also I want to honour the many people around the world who are dying because of the actions of the current administration. I hope people in the U.S. will use it as a time for inspiration and call to action.

But today, I want to turn our attention not to political change, but to something even older and more enduring: the natural world. Today we are thinking about the importance and wonder of our interconnected web of life.

I struggled to write this talk because once I decided to write about biodiversity I convinced myself that I was writing about nature in general. I’ve been thinking for weeks that somehow I needed to convey all the wonders of nature and bring you onboard with me in 12 minutes. How can I talk about biodiversity without talking about all the animals and plants and fungi that I love? And then I heard Clay’s voice – when people are new to preaching the most common mistake is to do too much. You can do another talk. Keep each one focused and keep to the point.

So today we are talking about biodiversity because Thursday was the International Day for Biological Diversity, the day founded by the United Nations to promote not only nature in general but specifically biological diversity. Our seventh principle is Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. This principle doesn’t just invite us to care for nature generally. It calls us to recognize, celebrate, and protect the diversity of life—the intricate systems that support the very possibility of existence.

Speaker:- Maria Hayward
Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

A more in-depth look at sexist and racist language and a brief examination of affirming language for other minority groups such as refugees, neuro diverse and disabled communities. Reference to UU values will be made (again!)..

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Maria Hayward © 11 May 2025

This is part 2 of the conversation on the language of reverence. You may recall from my first talk on this topic, I suggested that reverence may exist both in the feeling of respect that we have towards others, as well as in the language we choose to adopt. I also suggested that reverence might include the welcoming of Te Reo in our kōrero and in the acceptance of changes in language – such as the change to non-sexist or non-racist terms. And I mentioned that learning about reverence in language needs to mostly be about minority and marginalised groups such as the rainbow community – (they are the most vulnerable and anyway, the majority already know how to revere their own group or tribe).

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

Violence and harassment in the world of work affects us all.
What is the spiritual moment we need to address it?

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Rachel Mackintosh © 4 May 2025

I begin this talk by reciting a speech I gave at the International Labour Organisation’s 2019 Conference in Geneva, when I was the Worker Representative for New Zealand and when a new international labour convention was passed, creating a new human right – the right to be free from violence and harassment in the world of work:

In this convention, we have a vision of a different and better world for all people.

Speaker:- Maria Hayward
Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

This talk will discuss the language of reverence – what this means and what non-racist, non-sexist and queer-friendly language might look like. Connections are made to the UU values of transformation, plurality, interdependence, generosity and of course, love.

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Maria Hayward © 13 April 2025

Our values and the language of reverence

I’d like to start with the UU value of transformation or change. Language changes or transforms. We invent new words all the time, or we use words differently. A simple example of a word used differently is the word ‘cool’, which mostly doesn’t have anything to do with temperature. ‘Cool’ has stayed in fashion for a long time, but apparently even this word now is dated, and teenagers instead might use: ‘slay’, ‘rizz’ (short for charisma), and there’s the kiwi ‘chur’ which means something like: ok or thank you. Society, too, changes: our understandings may grow – as Unitarians they should, with our continuous search for truth and transformation. As part of this growth process, changes in attitudes occur and language that might once have been acceptable – might become unacceptable.

About 50 years ago, feminism changed language; and so did increasing social diversity in its many forms – but especially with respect to ethnicity and gender identity or orientation. In the 1990’s, this new language was labelled politically correct, or PC, then that was criticised (“PC gone mad” became the catchphrase of people not wanting to be PC). Later, we became ‘woke’, then suddenly it was “too woke to give sushi to kids for school lunches” (as the Hon David Seymour said). And now, Winston Peters – like Donald Trump, is fighting a “war on woke”. Actually, being PC or being woke – and let’s be absolutely clear about this – both were just about being respectful. Woke comes from the African American: “be awake to social injustice, racism and bigotry”. And being politically correct or being woke is being respectful in our thinking and speaking about and to minority or marginalised groups in particular, although obviously not exclusively so. Language can include or exclude people; it can be affirming or hurtful. We choose our words.

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Ruby Johnson

The ocean is an object of both wonder and fear. Its rhythm clears the mind and soothes jangled nerves. But underneath its glassy surface, whole ecosystems go about the business of eating and being eaten. What can this contradiction tell us about the nature of being human

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