Next gathering of #Unitarians in Ringwood and how you can get involved - Sunday 10th February 2019

The next gathering for reverence of Unitarians in Ringwood, and their friends, will be on Sunday 10 February, arriving around 9.45 a.m. for a 10 a.m. start, in the Ringwood Meeting House on Meeting House Lane, BH24 1EY.

Car parking is opposite (fees apply); and the Meeting House is also opposite a set of bus stops served by buses from Bournemouth and Salisbury, as well as local buses.

This gathering is the first in our sixth year of meeting together and we would welcome newcomers and first time visitors as well as those who have been coming before.

For the first time we are now able to accommodate young children accompanied by a parent or guardian, as the Meeting House Association have given us permission to use the paper and crayons they make available for their own visitors, and there is space for the children to be in the same room but slightly apart.  It would be helpful if the guardian could sit with their child during the seven minutes of silence that is held during the gathering, so that we have a maximum chance of achieving the silence that we aim for.  If you wish to bring a child or children we can sort out precise arrangements when you arrive.

The key point for this gathering is that we will be opening up our annual muster.  This is an opportunity for people over eighteen to decide and declare the relationship they would like to have with our group (“Didymus”) in the next twelve months.

This is because we have categories of annual membership:

Member - (solely through formal invitation by the Members from the preceding year) - to take a full share of responsibility for the Didymus society and how it is run

Associate - to be in an enduring and close relationship with the Didymus society, and to be consulted on how it is run, without taking responsibility for the running of it

Visitor - to be in an enduring but perhaps light-touch relationship with the Didymus society, kept in touch with what is happening and why

And of course it is perfectly accepted that many people would prefer to not make any statement at all about their relationship with Didymus; to attend and participate as they please.  For more details please see the tab on our website labelled "Extract of Constitution".

The muster opens in February and closes at the April gathering.  So people have a month or so to decide and tell us how they fit.