A Spiritual Feast For Each Person To Bring And Share Ideas And Experience

In order for us to fully engage with one another and be able to achieve this spiritual feast of ideas and experience we will have to be willing to 'give ourselves' in new ways which may feel alien to how we have related to church before. We may even have to review what we presently perceive worship to be.

Our time in communion with one another is extremely brief these days. At present, worship in most of our Unitarian communities, consists of an hour long service and then a cup of tea with a biscuit and off home. The time we give to listening to a service is 1 hour, but the time after the service rarely lasts more than 30 minutes, with individuals floating off as soon as cups are emptied. During this brief commune we may discuss the previous week, the week ahead, where we're going on our holidays and other snippets of our lives. What we don't tend to do is converse, as a group, about the worship that has taken place, the life of the church, our spiritual goals, needs or expectations. Strangely, these important areas of being 'church' are now, more often than not, left to church committees and councils to discuss behind closed doors, as if the rest of the community are programmed not to 'think' on such subjects.

Historically, the most bonding ritual known to humanity is the sharing of food and that is still the case. When sitting at a meal, there is a common purpose, to be nourished, and our distractions are limited. The people sitting around us are able to spend time in conversation with us. We learn about one another and the more we learn about each other, the stronger the bond is between us. Time is given to one another, in the preparation and the sharing. It is a wonderfully spiritual way of 'being together'. The ancients realised this and it became part of their spiritual ritual. Even Christianity, at its beginning, consisted of reading from the Gospel followed by a meal together. Both worship and communion were as important as one another. For us, it is the intended 'being together' which has diminished. In order to get that back, we may need to find new ways of coming together as a community, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a cooked meal.

It could be said that our chapels and churches hold events where we are able to socialise more intently with each other and the wider community, but do we discuss our hopes and dreams, our theologies and beliefs, the worship we've just experienced and our own takes on the subject, or do we place our concentration on the event at hand? Filling in the answers to the quiz, dancing with one another, watching and putting on plays together, days out, jumble sales, fairs and all the other events we host are wonderful and socially nourishing, but it is difficult to cultivate the community when there is the distraction of something else going on.

What is needed is for us to find ways of being together and this is where the 'giving' comes in. We need to give our time. We need to be willing to add at least another hour to the time we come together in church, as a church. This can be done in a multitude of ways; the sharing of food, a group discussion, an after worship presentation, or even, if space or pew-dynamics dictate, split into smaller groups each week to have set topic discussions (although it would be important to rotate these groups so that we don't establish cliques or give allowance to avoidances). Each church would need to find what works for them, what cultivates them as a community.

In order for our communities to be able to fully engage in a spiritual feast of sharing ideas and experience, we need to give ourselves and our time, and give it to one another. Sixty minutes is not much to ask of each other if we want to share the feast.

Rev. Shammy Webster
 

There For Everyone

What do you expect from a church or chapel? Over the years two people have given me an insight into what they expected and found.

Bertha Lee was a retired teacher living in the village of Stoke Row near Henley and she belonged to a small congregation in Reading but her roots were at Todmorden In Yorkshire. Bertha had many friends including the Maharajah of Benares (who had built a well in the village) and Muir Mathieson the composer and conductor but it was some lesser-known people that Bertha valued more than any others. One day she gave me a treasured photograph of her beloved church in Todmorden and on the back were thirty-six signatures. On giving me the photo her expectations of a church were made clear, "The church is where we find our real selves, it brings out the best in us". That's what Bertha expected, found and helped to create, a place where people could find their real selves without any pretensions, status or creed.

The second person was the Reverend Dudley Richards who in his later years kept asking the question, "What is the church?" In one conversation I reminded Dudley that when I was eighteen years of age he had given me the answer. He then described the church as, "The beloved community" and until he died well over ninety years of age Dudley belonged to our beloved community in Oxford with some members visiting him in his nursing home every week.

The answers given by those two people still sum up for me what a church should be and one of Dudley's favourite passages of scripture was Romans Chapter twelve which describes the ideal Christian as a person who uses his or her talents to the best of their ability, shares those gifts with the wider community and rejects all evil. Such people should, "rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep".

The ideal church should be for everyone with people living in harmony, never being conceited and living in peace. They should feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty and provide hospitality. Similar thoughts appear in many scriptures of the world and Dudley who was a fine scholar knew that.

If we follow the advice of my two old friends and that from the author of Romans chapter twelve then we will create a place for everyone.

However I add two provisos. I don't want people telling me that I am wrong and that they have the only truth! Nor do I want people who only take, without giving something of themselves.

Only together can we create a beloved community where people can find their real selves, a place that will bring out the best in people. 

Rev Peter Hewis

Prepare For Our Children's Future

 One statement that got jotted up on the flip chart at the Vision Day was 'we need to prepare our children and young people for the rest of their lives.'

Reflecting on this I thought about the activities and themes we explore on Youth Programme weekends.

Our topics include self-esteem, leadership, exploration of gender and sexuality issues, meditation techniques, teamwork, listening skills, creativity and the building of rituals and sacred space. We all hope that these skills and experiences will help prepare our young people for valuable and happy adult lives in which they can find their voice, know some meditation and relaxation techniques, continue to develop an open, questioning faith if they wish and feel part of a supportive community. At youth weekends the youth leaders and young people have a great deal of freedom in choosing activities that seem relevant and we craft a kind of worship that feels fresh and engaging.

Many of our congregations have a rich tradition and history that holds and grounds them in the present. However, many of us know that it is this same rich heritage and church culture that can sometimes, paradoxically, prevent us from ensuring that the style of worship and kind of activities we offer are truly inviting and inspiring to local people who are seeking a vibrant, liberal faith and have yet to discover the Unitarian approach.

I believe we have a great deal to learn from our Unitarian young people. Our children and young people have a habit of speaking their truth, as many of us know only too well, and tend to have a preference for spontaneous exploration of the joys and challenges of today rather than the following old ways of doing things just for the sake of tradition.

Perhaps one could conclude that unless we make our weekly worship and mid-week activities more accessible to people of all ages, cultures and identities and truly keep our open minded, liberal faith alive and kicking and growing and really relevant for the needs of today's communities then we will inevitably watch our decline and slow transition from a dissenting, radical faith to a museum piece.
I believe it was a previous Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, who controversially predicted that the Unitarians would be the first religious movement in the UK to become extinct in the not too distant future. How can we collectively make sure that his fortune telling of doom does not come true?

So I would suggest that British Unitarians have a huge responsibility to continue to develop our work with children and young people for two main reasons.

Firstly, because our engagement with and investment in the younger generations has the power to transform lives.

Secondly, because unless we are proactive in bridging the gap between the way our young people want to put Unitarianism into practice and the way some of us want to protect our Sunday four hymn sandwich culture and other tried and tested ways of doing things then we may inevitably lose some of our relevance and vitality in today's ever changing society.

I would argue that we need to learn how children and teenagers' vision and ideas about our faith can prepare us adults for a more Unitarian, honest and vital future. We need to be more creative and proactive in seeking out this vision.

Greater involvement of young people in our decision making and governance would be a good step forward. Was it just a coincidence in the recent referendum on Scottish independence that young people of 16 and over were allowed to vote and the poll achieved one of the highest turn outs in recent history?

Recently, the newly formed Youth Strategy group made a formal proposal that an urgent priority for our Unitarian Movement should be to support a new position, preferably paid, to focus on engaging with and supporting the 18-35 age group.

For God's sake, or rather for the sake of ensuring that more people in Britain can find a welcoming, accessible liberal faith tradition when they look for it, let's invest more in our children and young people, not just financially but spiritually and politically.

Rev. John Harley GA Youth Coordinator

Harness Our Energy

How do we as a free religious tradition make best use of our energy? How do we ensure we optimise all that we are and all that we have to offer? How do we use the power that we have?

I have thought about this a lot in my time as both a congregational Unitarian who has chosen this tradition and as a full time minister. How do I make best use of my own energy and power? Who and what do I look to for inspiration? Are there examples to learn from, to not so much follow but to be inspired by? How have they harnessed their power?

When I think of energy, in a human rather than spiritual sense, it is the power of example that has always inspired me. Not so much what people or institutions say, but how they are. There are Unitarian congregations throughout this land who have bucked the trend and breathed new life into their communities and drawn new people to them, inspiring them in a multitude of ways. They have harnessed what they have. Interestingly, it seems to have little to do with a particular theological approach or a type of community or leadership. They have though tapped into something present within the community and harnessed it appropriately. They have also used material resources wisely too. I have witnessed example of this within my own district.

The congregations at Chorlton and Oldham have breathed new life after years of struggle. This has been due to financial and other support from the district, commitment and energy from the few hands within the congregations and inspired and energetic leadership from the two ministers involved. This is an example to me and hope to others in our district and to Unitarians nationally.

I think the key to "harnessing our energy" is to understand who we are as communities and what we can offer to the world outside our windows.

I think the key is to not spread ourselves too thin. In many congregations, including the ones I serve, all too often gifted and energetic people are drawn out of congregational life to the centre. Hey, I did it myself and I saw this happen a lot during my time as a member of Cross Street Chapel in Manchester.

I think it is important to understand that we are congregational by nature and that our primary focus ought to be to the wider communities we serve, the people outside our windows. It is they who need to know who we are and what we are about and what we can offer to them, but we also need to learn to be better at what we say we are, "to do exactly as it says on the tin" as the old advert used to say.

How do we harness our power?

Well I do not think there is one single answer. That said, I will suggest somewhere to begin.

Look around at the examples close to home and further a field and uncover and further discover how they have "harnessed their energy".

Then look at the communities outside our own congregational windows and begin to understand who they are.

Then look within our own communities and the energy present and look at what we do and do not do and if we can do it better.

Finally commit to building from within our own congregations and communities for it is impossible to really harness that power if it is spread all over the land.

Oh, and finally, let the world know about what we are doing. Make appropriate use of all forms of media including social media, ie use it in a positive way. We don't need to travel the land these days to deliver the good news, we can do so from our living rooms. I have harnessed my energy this way. Several people have over the last few years have contacted me to tell me that they were going to attend Unitarian congregations due things I have put out there through social media etc. A national contribution without having to take any of my energy away from the congregations I serve.

How do we "harness our energy"?

Well I suspect that it begins by opening our eyes and ears. I suspect that it begins by taking a good look around us and by listening to the voices of inspiration both near and far.

Rev. Danny Crosby

Embrace New Technology

 Technology and Unitarianism - Oxymoron?

I think it's true to say that the idea of using more technology for any reason can evoke some pretty strong feelings in some people. Perhaps UK Unitarians are even worse than the average in this respect: maybe it's an age thing, I don't know. It seems to me that there are a number of reasons why technology gets invented: perhaps to meet a need or to make something easier or to automate a task. Indeed, perhaps the reason that scares people most is when technology is created to facilitate something completely new and foreign to our established ways of doing things - communicating on Twitter for instance.

Using Twitter seems to be more of a 'young person's game' - however you might be surprised to learn that apart from the quick, simple and free capability it offers for two or more people to have private conversations in 'real-time', sharing comments, pictures and other media, Twitter is also considered a vital part of the customer interaction strategy of many businesses. In fact, it's not just businesses; many other organisations (including churches) are getting in on the act because it's a quick (and mainly free) way to communicate information and respond to questions. The twittering population expects fast answers and because of the way twitter works, the tweets are usually public and easily searchable, so the organisations that use it take care to preserve their image and respond accurately and quickly. Some even scour the 'twittersphere' for tweets that mention their name so they can be sure they know what's being said about them. Please, if you haven't already, consider reaching out to someone who can teach you what Twitter might be able to do for your church or fellowship.

Within some Unitarian gatherings (particularly the more business orientated ones), tweeting what is happening live during the sessions, is not only allowed but usually encouraged. By this means, people that are not present can feel that they are connected to proceedings and can feel something of the enthusiasm or spirit of what is going on. It has even been suggested that this kind of live social media usage should be encouraged during regular Sunday worship and gatherings. Shocking right! Never mind the cries of 'put down your phone' to your kids; maybe it should be 'pick up your phone and tweet, tweet, tweet! - tell the world what a great place we have here and what brilliant things we do here'

Beyond Twitter, I think it's clear that almost everybody is engaging (willingly or otherwise) on Facebook. Unitarians are very active on Facebook. If you are not, I might tentatively offer that maybe you are missing an opportunity to engage with others in the wider (and nearer) Unitarian Movement and possibly even depriving said movement of your own unique and valuable opinion and insight.

If you do not currently use Facebook and are even slightly interested in what you might be missing, might I urge you to reach out to someone that does use it and find out how and why it works? If you can't find someone to assist, call me - or even better come to the Unicoms conference at Hucklow in November and there will be many willing hands to get you going.

OK - so that's all I'm going to say about this new-fangled social media stuff: yes there's a lot more out there that we could be using (and some are) but if you can understand and master Twitter and Facebook and actually use it either for personal connection and growth and / or better still for connection with and growth of the wider organisation, then we are all already winning as a result!

While I think about it, let me just interject two words: 'smart phones'. I'll come back to this, but I will say that with a 'smart phone', you can use just about every tool that I will discuss in this article...

So what about older technology that we could be using? This is the stuff that is perhaps too old and uncool for our kids to be using but that maybe has already passed us by or that we do not see the use of. What could I be talking about?

The first is Skype, the second is Google Hangouts. Both do the same thing in essence and that is to provide a way of having a telephone meeting (conference call) with one or even many people, without having to have everyone physically in the same room. This sort of technology is used every day by most companies across the globe but still the benefits of being able to do this are unknown by many, many people.

Both Skype and Google Hangouts are free programs (also available as free apps on all smart phones). They depend on the user's computer or smart phone to be connected to wi-fi to work. Actually, they can also work over a 3G or 4G mobile data network as well but before doing this, users need to be sure that they have enough data allowance on the mobile plans.

Once a potential Skype user has registered (within the Skype program itself), they can connect to any other Skype user, anywhere in the world, free. All that is required is a network connection and a microphone connected to the computer. Similarly, a user with Google Hangouts can connect to any other Google user worldwide. By the way, any person who has a google account (i.e. gmail account) implicitly also has the capability of using Hangouts).

So what does 'connect' mean in this context? It can mean any or all of three things: messaging, audio or video.
• Messaging simply means typing text messages to the other party (or parties) that you have connected to and receiving their text responses. Rather similar to SMS messages on our phones, except for the fact that you can be connected to multiple other people simultaneously, who all see the conversation on their computer or phone at the same time.
• Audio means that you can connect to one or more people and use your microphone on your computer or phone to talk to those people simultaneously (and they back to you and / or the group also). Unlike dialling one or two people using your phone dialler and the public phone system, such audio sessions on Skype or Google Hangouts are actually being sent over the data network provided by your wi-fi. Because of this, no phone charges are applicable. By the way, you can even use either Skype or Google Hangouts to act like a regular phone and dial other phones (rather than computers or smart phones on a data network) anywhere in the world, but this feature does incur some charges, although these are very reasonable.
• Video (in the same way as audio) means that you can connect to one or more people and use the microphone and WebCam on your computer or phone to both see and talk to those people simultaneously (and they to you and / or the group) - again for free. This means that you are able to actually see who you are having a meeting with and they can see you, almost as if you were face-to-face. This can be very effective and amazingly, is still offered free by both Skype and Google Hangouts. The only real caveat with using these services to do a video meeting is that everyone on the call needs to have a good broadband / network connection or else the quality of the sound and video can be poor and also sometimes people tend to get disconnected from the meeting and have to re-join.

Why have I gone through the above in such detail? The reason is that I want everyone to know that you do not have to have your congregational or other meetings physically in the same room anymore. Using Skype or Hangouts, those people who couldn't get out to any given meeting can still join it remotely, or maybe nobody physically attends it at all and everybody joins in to the meeting from their home computers instead.

Finally, here's a 'Marmite' topic to think about: Use of audio / visual equipment as part of your services and gatherings. Have you considered using a computer, PowerPoint and other media as part of your services? Hook up to a projector and audio system of some description and you have the means to include all sorts of material into your worship. I'm thinking of stuff like pre-recorded hymn tracks (perhaps with film of singers too). Or maybe music/video footage such the Pete Seeger 90th birthday conference rendition of 'We shall overcome' available on YouTube - moving indeed. Recently, I have been to many services that actually have almost all of the service displayed on the screen. This has included appropriate pictures and iconography setting the scene or supporting the theme, music if there is no organist, video for stories or illustrations, responsive readings that all present can see and read together and music / concert videos bringing variety and focus to services / gatherings that simply could not be done any other way.

Another opportunity many of us are missing is to record our worship or gatherings and make them available over the Internet - perhaps on YouTube or even more radical, to stream them live over the Internet as they happen. How many more people could benefit from your messages and participate in your worship if you did this? Unfortunately, I simply do not have space to address these topics here.
So I will leave you with two thoughts: firstly, embracing technology can help you grow by reaching out to and appealing to new audiences that might never otherwise have heard your message.
Secondly, if you don't already have one, get yourself a smart phone (it doesn't have to be expensive). Install Facebook, twitter and other tools on it and join in with the wider Unitarian organisation online. Everyone will be the richer for it.

Finally, if you need help with any of the things I have discussed, call me or send me an email and I'll try to help. Better still, come to Unicoms at The Nightingale Centre in November and have your questions answered in person by any of the 'tech-savvy' helpers who attend and run it. Have fun!

Julian Smith

In Response

From: Dorothy Haughton

As communication is made more and more by email it has to be the responsibility of each congregation to find someone who is email savvy to receive communications and pass them on to the appropriate person. Similarly someone who uses Facebook could print out anything of interest from there. The idea that only one person 'the SECRETARY' is responsible for all forms of communication is outmoded. In some cases the new media person does not even need to be a member of the congregation.

Acknowledge Contribution and Success

What is the point of working for no pay? We all do it for various reasons, in our congregations or in other areas of life. A frequent complaint from those trying to keep their congregations going is that they struggle to recruit volunteers. We need to ask ourselves if we actually acknowledge volunteer contributions and appreciate them enough when they do finally put up their hands.

It's important to remember that some people will have very different motivations for volunteering to you, and so you have to think of different ways to appeal to them.

During a Sunday worship service at Rosslyn Hill Chapel, Hampstead, the separate Children's Programme lights the chalice for their session with the following words:

'We are the chapel of the open minds, the loving hearts and the helping hands.'

One way of looking at people's motivations to volunteer is to think in terms of head people, heart people and hands people. Roughly speaking, head people like to plan and organise; heart people care deeply about the people they work with; and hands people see a job needs to be done and they get stuck in. Which are you?

Now think about how you might appeal to someone in a different category. Although head people care, they will want to know exactly what's expected of them, the time commitment and the goals. Hands people might be willing to help out with doing a reading in a service or a stint on the tea rota but not if they have to fill out a complicated spreadsheet first! Heart people will want to know how their work is going to help those in need.

Try to put yourself in the shoes of someone in another category and see what it takes to appeal to them. It might help to speak to friends and colleagues about their motivations for doing things; if they turn out to have a different viewpoint from you, they will be able to teach you a lot. What friendly advice would they give to someone trying to appeal to them as volunteers? Finally, here are some general tips* on encouraging members of your congregation to get more involved:

Don't ... just try to fill a vacant position.
             make assumptions about the person and their interests.
Do ...    connect the role or task to the mission of the congregation.
             show why this way of serving their community is a good fit for them.
            explain how it will benefit them.
            give an accurate role description showing expectations and time commitment.
            offer support, give feedback and ask for it!

When we get things right, it makes sense to celebrate our successes. How you acknowledge someone's contribution also depends on his or her personality. Some people will appreciate a special ritual in a community worship service whereas others would prefer a simple thank you card. People may volunteer for many different reasons but unless we acknowledge their contribution and celebrate group successes, we risk putting them off next time. Working together on common goals can build thriving Unitarian communities, so let's get going!
Kate Dean

*From the Central East Regional Group, UUA 'Recruiting volunteers Do's and Don'ts' Video - search YouTube.com
Thanks to the participants of the Hands Up! Why Volunteer? workshop at FUSE 2015 for their contributions,

Empower Individuals

I am a member of the Bolton Socialist Club. It is one of the oldest in the country and is still active, supporting and campaigning on issues for the 'common man' - but it is not a church. Unitarians most often also support and campaign on issues for the 'common man', they are a church.

What is the difference?

Many years ago one of my colleagues suggested our churches were more like social clubs, that they were meeting places for middle class, like minded people who met up on a Sunday morning for an unchallenged hour of singing and listening. It was also suggested we were the irrelevant last hurrah of a great reforming religious movement when the name itself identified a person as an influential game changer.

It is indeed a great legacy but visit many of our congregations where there is only a handful of members and it does seem to be a legacy which is almost spent. It makes me ask: What we Unitarians can offer in today's world that others do not? Do we still have a unique selling point?

I learnt a lesson many years ago when the congregation decided to have a flower festival in the Chapel. Someone suggested that as well as the main theme we invited displays to represent the interests of our members. To my surprise these filled a very large section. The Bolton Equality Council, the Women's Refuge, Save the Children, United Nations Association, all founded by present day Unitarians and there were about fifteen other organisations in the display that people supported.

But no one said, 'I do this work because I am a Unitarian'.

They simply did it from the goodness of their hearts and they also happened to be Unitarians but never said so. After that I gave everyone a chalice lapel badge to wear. It made me realise that we are still more than the legacy of our past.

It is just that help is given in an unsung modest Unitarian way. It is not our unique selling point either, charity shop workers and interfaith supporters don't just come from the Unitarians. They come from all walks of life, all faiths and no faiths. I am not sure whether the worship we offer, even the rights of passage we offer, can be claimed as a unique selling point either. I have been to other churches just as happy as ours. I have been to non religious funerals just as sensitive as ours, and weddings.

There are two things we need to do to continue our existence as a church that matters in the world. First we need to transform ourselves into a living tradition and secondly we need focus on meeting the spiritual needs of the modern individual. The Living Tradition is about modifying our worship, using our space and extending our ministry.

Worship should be a joyful, happy experience open to participation and with a message that can be discussed openly. We don't need to be tied to the wheel that is the hymn sandwich. Our space should be an open space where other than worship groups can meet - meditation, yoga, fringe faith groups, support groups and discussion groups.

We shouldn't be afraid of collaborating with other faith groups for the mutual advantage of the wider communities we seek to serve.

Our ministry should be about leadership, not just spiritual leadership, but groups leadership, community leadership. We should not expect to find all these leadership skills invested in one person but be prepared to facilitate training of our own members and to work collaboratively with other churches and organisations.

In the communities around our churches there are many, many individuals who feel lost and isolated. Loneliness is an issue, meeting and socialising with other people is an issue, age is an issue, mind, body and spirit are issues. We have to ask ourselves as a church if we provide space and comfort for people to address those simple questions of, 'Who am I?', 'How can I feel better about myself as an individual and a participator in life?'

I often hear people say, 'But that is about counselling!' I say this is different. It is about spiritual development, finding the confidence and the place to explore those questions of identity and relate them to an overarching reason to belong in the world. Add to that a sense of being in a community where you feel you belong and yet you are still an individual.

How are we to achieve all this? It requires a change of direction, moving away from being just a worshipping community based on a Unitarian tradition. It requires developing a web of interdependence between individual Unitarians, congregations, districts and Essex Hall. We need to share experiences of what works and what doesn't. We need to financially support the training of leaders and the delivery of courses and resources.

We need to share templates for worship and personal spiritual development. We need to promote ourselves - wear the badge and the fly the flag that says who we are and what we stand for.

Above all we need to share a new vision for the future that meets the spiritual and emotional needs of the searching individual. We need to support, enable and empower our own generation to do great deeds because they have found a faith that speaks the truth of life to them?

When we are talking about empowering people it means giving them the opportunity to travel forward in life the way they would wish, being offered opportunities and being able to take them. By encouraging participation in worship we give opportunity to engage in discussion on content and to feel able to volunteer to take part in leading worship. And by offering training and opportunity people can develop skills if they want to. By collaborating with other churches and groups we reach a wider constituency and that gives opportunity in the community where none might have existed before.

Spiritual development gives people the opportunity to know themselves better and the confidence to be involved in the whole of life. I suppose empowerment to me means providing opportunity that allows people to give power to themselves and their life paths.

This is how I believe we can best serve the present age as Unitarians.

Rev. Tony McNeile