tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976443330354511403.post1214590910225197960..comments2015-11-19T08:53:15.119-08:00Comments on A Vision for Our Future: Connect to People EverywhereDerek McAuleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09076664847232870186noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976443330354511403.post-16668366550889824292015-11-19T01:39:08.085-08:002015-11-19T01:39:08.085-08:00Unitarianism is a very verbal form of religious ac...Unitarianism is a very verbal form of religious activity. Outside of a lecture hall where else might you be expected to listen to one person discourse for an hour ? Like it or not, modern media have accustomed us to a short attention span ; almost every TV / radio programme has at least two presenters - even if it's only half and hour in length.Kenneth Robertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04019358588683483026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976443330354511403.post-5768567698876768452015-06-23T10:38:36.939-07:002015-06-23T10:38:36.939-07:00(I should note that my final simple message is a r...(I should note that my final simple message is a riff on the Washington-Andover Avowal and Rev Dr Elizabeth Strong's version of it for young people)TJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03344452668227311407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976443330354511403.post-37884685459798257212015-06-23T10:08:06.376-07:002015-06-23T10:08:06.376-07:00We have to be able to communicate well. Everythin...We have to be able to communicate well. Everything discussed in the contributions so far comes to naught without being able to communicate well. The Unitarian and The Inquirer are pretty much internal communications, which is fine. They do their jobs very well, despite their lack of internet presence. But is it all about the internet? No. Taking out ads on the Underground and bus shelters would be expensive but it might help. People pay attention to them and even if they don’t act on them immediately, they nestle in the back of the mind. <br /><br />Communication also has to happen in our congregations. Do we encourage people to leave their finished copies of The Inquirer or The Unitarian on the bus or café? If you are one of those who keeps their back copies in a box for posterity, ask yourself, as Nasrudin would, 'To what end?' Do we have engaging posters in our wayside pulpits? And, most importantly, have we armed our members with the words to express their faith? There is no better way of passing on the message than word of mouth but with such a nebulous faith, some people find it difficult to talk about in a coherent way. <br /><br />So, I have several simple messages, in house messages first. One of them is that we have to be better at saying hello to the world. That’s obvious. Another is that in a community where you decide what you believe, you have to be able to speak generally so that a stranger can understand. Our previous motto was perfect for that: freedom, reason, tolerance. <br /><br />Our simple message should be that we are a faith where you listen to and with your heart, use your brain and open your hands. We proclaim love, whoever you are.<br /><br />My simple message to the world is that I am a Unitarian (Universalist). I believe in a loving God who resides in everyone, the spiritual leadership of Jesus, that God is still speaking and s/he speaks through you and through me, that we can never know everything and we should never stop the search for truth, that good works are required of us to live our faith and, at the end of it all, we are loved, loved, loved.<br /><br />Tristan Jovanovic (member, Kensington Unitarians)TJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03344452668227311407noreply@blogger.com