On 11th August we gathered as Unitarians and friends in the Meeting House in Ringwood, built in 1727, as we usually do on the second Sunday of each month.
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| Unitarians together in 2014 - in a setting similar to our gatherings |
As we don’t have a Minister, all our services are led by one of us, who takes the lead without having had any special training. We have found it very helpful to adopt a framework for our gatherings that originated at the Kensington congregation, and it is known as the “heart & soul” style service.
There’s a format provided - and with about an hour’s preparation, searching on the www for suitable prayers and words, and some more time with our green hymn book, finding hymns that we can sing because we know them, our leaders manage to curate very satisfactory experiences when we meet. There’s an emphasis on collaborative engagement and participation to make the gathering work, so the format works well for small congregations that don’t have Ministers.
The theme on Sunday was the presenting of Unitarianism as the challenging of the accepted narrative and the daring to speak out when that narrative is found wanting.
The research by our president for the day had brought to light the story of St Oran, who was a follower of St Columba. Oran had volunteered to be buried alive under the foundations of a new church being built by Columba, because it seemed that some form of sacrifice was required to stabilise the ground (the new building kept tumbling down while under construction). But for some reason - perhaps this sacrifice was too much for Columba’s conscience - some days later, Columba ordered that Oran should be uncovered again. And when he was uncovered, Oran shocked everyone by speaking, saying that there is no such great wonder in death, and that the descriptions of Heaven and Hell did not measure up. He finished with a whisper to Columba, “The way you think it is may not be the way it is at all.” At which point, Columba backtracked yet again and ordered Oran to be re-buried. There’s still a saying in the Gaelic-speaking world which is used to silence uncomfortable subjects of conversation: “Throw mud in the mouth of St Oran.”
The children’s story that was read as the second reading was The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson.
The words of our second hymn included the words, “From honest doubt we shall not flee / Nor fetter the inquiring mind / For where the hearts of all are free / A truer faith we there shall find,” written by John Andrew Storey.
We had a secondary emphasis in our gathering of being committed to each other in community. This was developed through a combination of music and words. The music included our first hymn, which said, “ O let us live with humankind / As sisters, brothers, true / We’ll share our joys, our sorrows share / Becoming as we do,” written by Doris Jeanine Stevens. And there was a wonderfully relevant musical interlude in the form of a song by Ben Platt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDeNQNtW1f8 Grow As We Go
On the same theme of growing and committing in community, and sourced from the www, were the opening words from Rev Dr Linda Hart and chalice lighting words from Rev David Usher.
Everyone is welcome for the next gathering, which is on 8th September at 10 a.m.
(Early notice: there will be no gathering in November).
