Symon Hill, co-director of Ekklesia (the Christian think-tank) is doing a walk of repentance from Birmingham to London as a pilgrimage of repentance for his former homophobic attitudes and beliefs.

You can help by turning up to one of his talks and events, or inviting him to stay on his route, or inviting him to speak at your church. If it's not on the route, he can still speak on the issues involved at some time after the walk.

Unitarians have been welcoming LGBT people since 1970, and welcoming LGBT ministers since 1977, but it's wonderful to see other churches doing the same. (Recently the Church of Scotland announced that it will allow LGBT ministers.)

Hopefully Symon's walk will raise awareness in all churches of the need to be inclusive and welcoming of LGBT people. LGBT people have many spiritual gifts and creative talents, so it's downright wrong to exclude us. As Desmond Tutu pointed out, this is an issue akin to apartheid.

Rev Naomi King has started a tumblr blog with quotes from Unitarian, Universalist, Unitarian Universalist and Brahmo Samaj sources. It's a great place to find pithy quotes for your sermon or address.

There are many famous Unitarian poets and writers. Examples include:

• Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)
• Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
• e. e. cummings (1894-1962)
• Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
• Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865)
• Edith Holden (1871-1920)
• Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)
• Beatrix Potter (1866-1943)
• Kurt Vonnegut

Unitarian heritage in London

Pulse magazine has a page about a Unitarian heritage trail in London, which could do with postcodes and Google Maps to make it easier to find the places mentioned; but it's a good article. Sadly the photos which seem to have featured in the original article are not included on the web-page.  The trail includes Newington Green Church, Stratford Church, Hampstead, Bethnal Green Church, Richmond Church, Golders Green Church, Islington, Croydon Unitarian Church, Brixton Church, Lewisham, Kensington, Hackney, the Gravel Pit, the Priestley plaque and statue, Bishopsgate Chapel, Lindsey's Essex Street Chapel, Blackfriars, Stamford Street, South Place Chapel, Conway Hall, Stepney College Chapel, Dingley Place Mission, Putney Church, and Bunhill Fields Cemetery (the Dissenters' burying ground).

A Vindication of the Rights of Mary has a series of posts about places associated with Mary Wollstonecraft, mostly around Newington Green, where she attended the Unitarian church where Richard Price was minister. There is also a campaign to get a statue of Mary Wollstonecraft on Newington Green, called Mary on the Green.

Unitarian churches in Wales

There's an excellent Unitarian trail with a tour around the Black Spot (Y Smotyn Du), so called because there was such a concentration of Unitarian churches on the map that they formed a single blob.

Unitarian churches in England

Wikipedia has a list of pages about Unitarian churches in England, including:

• Billingshurst Unitarian Chapel, 1754, West Sussex
• Brighton Unitarian Church, 1820, built by Amon Henry Wilds
• Chowbent Chapel, in Atherton, Greater Manchester
• Cross Street Chapel, Manchester
• Dean Row Chapel, Wilmslow, Cheshire
• Essex Church, the first Unitarian church in England, moved in 1880s from central London to Kensington
• Fulwood Old Chapel, in Sheffield
• Newington Green Unitarian Church, North London
• Octagon Chapel, Norwich
• Rivington Unitarian Chapel, in Lancashire
• Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, Hampstead, North London; one of the biggest congregations nationally
• Todmorden Unitarian Church, in West Yorkshire
• Toxteth Unitarian Chapel, in Liverpool
• Unitarian Chapel, Liverpool
• Upper Chapel, Sheffield
• York Unitarian Chapel

Humanism's links with Unitarianism

The Humanist heritage website has a list of some Unitarian landmarks and people (mostly those which were connected with the early history of Humanism).

William Johnson Fox (1786-1864)
William Johnson Fox was a religious and political orator, born near Southwold, Suffolk.
He was trained for the Independent ministry, at Homerton College (then in London). He later seceded to the Unitarians, and in 1817 Fox became minister of a nonconformist congregation which subsequently went on to become the non-religious South Place Ethical Society.

Conway Hall, London
Conway Hall at at 37 Red Lion Square, Bloomsbury, is the home of the South Place Ethical Society and today is a landmark of London’s independent intellectual, political and cultural life.

Leicester Secular Society
By tradition the Leicester Secular Society dates its formation to 1851, although an earlier “Rational Society” branch is mentioned in No.9 of The Movement edited by G. J. Holyoake dated February 10th 1844.

Moncure Daniel Conway
(17 March 1832 – 15 November 1907)
Moncure Daniel Conway was an American abolitionist, Unitarian clergyman, and author.

Ullet Road Unitarian Chapel, Liverpool
The Ullet Road Unitarian Chapel is known as the English ‘cathedral of Unitarianism’. It was built between 1896 and 1898 to a design by the Unitarian architect Thomas Worthington and his son Percy.
Although founded as a non-conformist Christian faith, Unitarianism has historically been characterised by a rationalist and individualist approach to spirituality, which encompasses diverse religious views. In its anti-dogmatism, it has come to include atheist views, particularly under the banner of Unitarian Universalism in the twentieth century.

See also...

Pagans for Archaeology has a list of faith heritage trails

1.00 – 3:30 pm, 2 July 2011

Golders Green Unitarian Church
31 ½ Hoop Lane, London NW11 8BS

The World Congress of Faiths looks forward to having Karen Armstrong as our speaker at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, 28 St. Johns Wood Road, London, on the evening of 7 December, 2011.

As a preparatory event, we are co-hosting an afternoon on Karen Armstrong and the Charter for Compassion, 1.00 -3:30 pm, Saturday, 2 July. A representative of the Charter for Compassion is invited to a panel discussing the  charter.

The programme will open with a worship service at 1 pm led by the Rev. Feargus O’Connor.

Rev. Richard Boeke, Chair of the British Chapter of the International Association for Religious Freedom will give a sermon entitled The freedom to be compassionate, drawing on words of Martin Luther King, Jr, “I cannot afford the luxury of hate.” The panel will follow about 2 pm.

How would you apply Karen Armstrong’s book, Twelve Steps to Compassion, in your life? Should there be any additions to the Charter such as recommended in this 12 May 2011 resolution of the British Chapter of the IARF:

The Chapter Endorses the Charter for Compassion and Karen Armstrong's book, Twelve Steps to Compassion with the recommendation that there be an additional paragraph on "Compassion for Nature."
The story is told that after God gave Moses Ten Commandments, God realized the need for the 11th Commandment. “Listen.” In like manner, the Charter for Compassion is not complete without compassion for the interdependent web of which we are a part. The Charter for Compassion is largely drawn from the Abrahamic Traditions. The “Reverence for Nature” of the great Eastern Traditions is the great background to all human compassion. In those mystical moments when we are one with the All, we find again the “basic trust” which is the heart of compassion.

Bolton Unitarians have a video of Rev Bill Darlison talking about Walt Whitman - excellent. They also have videos of Stephen Lingwood's sermons, which are always excellent (he posts them on his blog Reignite too).

Walt Whitman (whilst not a Unitarian) was a key figure in the Transcendentalist movement, which emerged from 19th century Unitarianism.

He was a complex person, believing in the abolition of slavery but disliking the abolitionist movement for its extreme methods, and not believing that African Americans should have the vote.

He is chiefly remembered for his rhythmic poetry, which influenced later poets like Allen Ginsberg, and for his free and celebratory attitude to sexuality, both gay and straight.

By watching the video, you can also find out the connection between Walt Whitman and Bolton.

If your chapel or church does not have a proper system for users of hearing aids, or needs to replace its existing one, the best place to go for advice is the RNID, who have a team of researchers reviewing products for deaf and hard of hearing people, including loop systems.

The subject of marriage and what is legal and what is not is getting increasingly more confusing, especially since a Liberal Jewish synagogue was in the news recently for performing a same-sex marriage (which is recognised by Liberal Judaism but not by the state). Apparently Scotland is just about to begin a process of consultation about same-sex marriage. So here's a list of what is and is not currently legal:

Legal (permitted by law and recognised by the state):

• Opposite-sex church weddings (couple legally married and registered)
• Same-sex civil partnerships in a register office / registered premises for weddings
• Opposite-sex marriages in a register office / registered premises for weddings

The law allows, but there's no mechanism for implementing:

• Religious civil partnerships (civil partnership ceremonies in a religious building)

Not forbidden by law, but not recognised by the state

• same-sex blessings in a church / synagogue
• same-sex marriages in a church / synagogue where the marriage is recognised by the church / synagogue  but not by the state
• Pagan handfastings (weddings) in England & Wales - both same and opposite sex
• Pagan same-sex handfastings in Scotland
• Blessings of polyamorous relationships

Illegal (not permitted by law):

• Same-sex church weddings (couple legally married and registered)
• Opposite-sex civil partnerships in a register office / registered premises for weddings
• Same-sex marriages in a register office / registered premises for weddings
• Marrying more than one person

Another difficulty is that if a transsexual married to a person of the opposite sex to their original sex wants to change their birth certificate to reflect their new sex, they would have to divorce their partner (whereas if same sex marriage were legal, they could stay married).

Legal (permitted by law and recognised by the state) in Scotland only:

• Pagan opposite-sex handfastings where the celebrant says the required form of words (the same as for all other legal weddings)

Have I missed anything?

Congratulations to the following churches and chapels who now have shiny new websites.

• Bridport
• Gloucester
• Ross-on-Wye
• Scarborough
• Cheltenham
• Stalybridge
• Cardiff
• Chorley

Derek McAuley, Chief Officer, writes in the latest issue of GA Uni-News:

The deadline for responses to the Government's consultation paper on civil partnerships on religious premises is 23rd June 2011 and I would urge any congregation or individual wishing to respond to do so by this date.

It is important, even at this stage in the legislative process, for our views to be heard. I shall be submitting a response on behalf of the General Assembly based on our agreed position and general principles of freedom and equality but others will be most welcome.

I had the opportunity to meet with the civil servant conducting the consultation and we talked about the need to ensure that any proposals are practical and can be easily implemented. I indicated that I thought the cost of registration of £1500 for three years was excessive and that the comparison with secular commercial venues was invidious. We do not have the option of recouping the fee from sales of food and alcohol! Indicating the reality of finance for congregations may be useful in this debate.

I have recently also spoken to Stonewall, the organisation who worked closely with Lord Alli to secure the amendment to the Equality Bill to permit religious premises to be registered for civil partnerships. The support that we, with the Quakers and Liberal Jews, gave to the amendment proved very persuasive to parliamentarians in the free votes on this measure. Hopefully my views will influence their response.

We must ensure that this measure is implemented in a way that is effective and practical for our congregations. It is hoped that registrations can begin later this year.

Respond to the consultation paper

Derek McAuley, Chief Officer 

Rev Gill from Rochdale has started a blog called Living in the Question. The name comes from a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke:

'I want to beg you, as much as I can . . . to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves. . . . Do not seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.' -- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

I always enjoy reading her pieces in the Rochdale church newsletter, so I am sure that her blog will be equally full of gems!

The title also reminds me of the character George in Room with a View by E M Forster, who paints a question mark on the door of his room. And of the quip about Unitarianism being the religion where all your answers are questioned!

Members of Oldham Unitarian Chapel have launched a campaign to stop the deportation of two asylum seekers who are currently destitute and fear the consequences of being sent back to their own country.

The launch took place at 12pm on June 12th following the Sunday morning service and included a photo opportunity

The two refugees are: Abdoulaye Diabate from the Ivory Coast and Taha Ghasemi from Iran.

Abdoulaye fled the Ivory Coast after experiencing imprisonment and torture in 2006. His sister was caught up in the violence and raped. He does not know if she is still alive.

Taha Ghasemi is a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party who arrived in the United Kingdom in September 2006 following his imprisonment and torture at the hands of Iranian police and the security forces. As a known supporter of the Kurdish cause in Iran he faces immediate arrest and imprisonment should he be returned to Iran.

The campaign for Abdoulaye and Taha will include petitions, letters to MPs and other activities.

Both Abdoulaye and Taha are regular visitors to the Welcome Project sponsored by Oldham Unity. This voluntary support service for destitute asylum seekers takes place every Thursday at Oldham Baptist Church.

A social event for asylum seekers and their families takes place at Oldham Unitarian Chapel on the last Saturday of each month.

Media Links

• Oldham Advertiser: Church launches bid to stop asylum seekers from being deported
• Oldham Chronicle

Bob Pounder

Source: GA Uni-News

What do you love? brings together a variety of Google tools in one place to provide comprehensive information about a topic.

I tried it with the search term Unitarians and it works quite well.

The Lesbian and Gay Foundation have produced a booklet on faith and LGBT, wittily entitled Faithbook.

I was disappointed to see that it does not have a section on Unitarians, just a brief mention on page 43 in the listings section - and we are listed under Christian, which is not entirely accurate. This is a bit sad when we have been LGBT-welcoming since 1970.

Nor is there a section on the Metropolitan Community Church - which is weird when they are a major LGBT church.

I was glad to see it included Wicca (but why no other Pagan traditions?).

Oldham Unitarian Chapel

Saturday 9th July, 10.30 a.m. till 3.15 p.m.

Speaker and author: Rev. Bill Darlison, will talk about his book, The Gospel and the Zodiac.

In The Gospel and the Zodiac, Unitarian minister Bill Darlison demonstrates that the Gospel of Mark - considered the primary document of Christianity - is deliberately structured around the signs of the zodiac. Darlison argues that the Gospel was originally an esoteric rather than a historical text, and that its stories were never intended to be interpreted in a literal sense. Rather, they are dramatic representations of stages in spiritual development, and repositories of arcane wisdom.

Light lunch and refreshments available.

All are welcome!

Ring to reserve your place: 0161 339 6740 (preferred) or just turn up.

Location: King Street / Connaught Street, Oldham, OL8 1EB

Details:

10 am arrive for coffee / tea

10.30 am presentation The Gospel and the Zodiac

12.30 pm lunch

Afternoon Session

1.30 pm The Gospel and the Zodiac

2.45 pm questions and discussion

3.15 pm coffee / tea

Close.

If you could bring a copy of the Bible for reference to Mark's gospel it would be helpful to you.

Register for this event

Rainbow, the group for LGBTQI Unitarians, now has a website. It explains why there is a need for such a group, lists forthcoming events, and has a resources page with links to similar groups.

It's great to see this group, though I hope it will soon become a national organisation, as there are LGBTQI people in other regions than London and the South-East. However, they do welcome people from other districts.

Of course, there's nothing to stop LGBTQI people in other districts starting their own groups.

The Unitarian Society for Psychical Studies Annual Conference is on 24th September at Warwick. Cost £17.

Just saw this article in UU World: Sound Systems for Better Sunday Worship

It makes some good points about why proper sound and video systems help with a sense of community and inclusion.

Darling Buds is the blog of Nelly Hench, from Octagon Unitarian Chapel in Norwich. She blogs about life, spirituality, home education, church services and much more. She is also a fan of Julian of Norwich, it seems.

What's a favicon?
In some browsers, it appears before the web address in the address bar; in others, it appears on the tab where your blog is displayed. It also appears next to the name of your blog if it is listed in someone else's blog-roll.

Making your favicon
You will need a graphics package such as Gimp to do this.

1. Find or create a square image - usually your logo. 
2. Reduce it in size to 16 by 16 pixels.

For accessibility reasons, it's best to have high contrast text on a non-patterned background.

However, if you must have a fancy background, or you need a widget to turn off the styling of other people's sites, here's a neat bookmarklet that you can drag to your browser toolbar.

B on W

(via 456 Berea Street)

There are also browser add-ons for accessibility that you can get to help you test the contrast of a page.

Report by Sue Woolley

Lifespan Religious Education Conference 2011
Star Island, New Hampshire, 16 – 23 July 2011
Report on Social Media Workshop by Sue Woolley

Thanks to the generosity of the Manchester Academy Trust and the Hibbert Trust, I was able to attend this conference. The basic structure of our own Hucklow Summer School is based on this Unitarian Universalist conference, so many elements were familiar to me: the morning devotions, the daily theme talk, the compulsory morning workshops, optional afternoon activities, and lantern-lit procession to evening worship.

The morning workshop that I attended was led by the dynamic Peter Bowden, who is a “church growth consultant and Unitarian Universalist change agent” (to quote himself) who has dedicated his life to helping UU congregations to understand social media and to use them effectively. His blog (which is well worth looking at) is UU growth. I am writing the workshop up without much comment, as the things he was telling us are just as relevant to Unitarian congregations in the UK as to UU congregations in the US, if not more so.

Read the rest of the report →

Hen Dŷ Cwrdd, Alma Street, Trecynon, Aberdare
10 Sep 10am talk and walk around three sites in Trecynon

Hen Dŷ Cwrdd Unitarian Chapel, Cefn Coed y Cymer
10 Sep, 2pm-4.30pm; 11 Sep, 2.30pm-7pm (service, 6pm)

Yr Hen Gapel, Llwynrhydowen, Llandysul, Ceredigion
18 Sep 3pm-6pm (talks and choir; refreshments at Alltyrodyn Arms)

More details and photos of the Welsh churches

The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship now has a Facebook page.

It's a great idea to have a Facebook page or group for your affinity group or society - that way, members can link together; you can raise awareness of your group and the issues you care about.

I'm a member of the CUUPs group (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans) on Facebook, and it has some quite active discussion topics.

Because people see things in the Facebook feed, having a Facebook page boosts the numbers who are interested in your group - but only if you post things (comments and articles) regularly on your wall.

Find out more about Unitarian societies and UU societies.

I recently spotted this article, Sound Systems for Better Sunday Worship in UU World and notice that Oldham Unitarians have just installed a video screen.

I thought it would be a good idea to improve sound systems in our chapels and churches, so I asked if there was a fund to support this.

Apparently the Millennium Fund is still in existence and could be a source of funding support. It does cover “fittings, furniture and equipment following developmental work eg audio loop systems” Any congregation interested in making an application should contact Derek McAuley.

Scottish Unitarians participated in a press conference at the offices of the Scottish Youth Parliament in Edinburgh. The Scottish Youth Parliament has been campaigning alongside the Equality Network, LGBT Youth and NUS LGBT Campaign for marriage equality. Leaders and representatives from the Quakers, Liberal Judaism, Unitarians, Metropolitan Community Church and Pagan Federation want the law changed to allow them to preside over same-sex marriages. A 14-week consultation asks if marriage in Scotland should be allowed for homosexual people through a civil or religious ceremony.

• Coverage in The Scotsman   
• There was a good photograph of Rev Maud Robinson and Rabbi Mark Solomon of Liberal Judaism at the press conference 
• A Press Association article released before the event was carried on several websites  
• And from BBC Scotland   
• Derek McAuley's response

Derek McAuley

• ‎The Unitarian Life: Voices from the Past and Present by Stephen Lingwood - a collection of pieces written by various Unitarians through the centuries; gives a good overview of Unitarian thought on many different topics. 
• The Larger View by Vernon Marshall - the history of how Unitarianism became open to other faiths.    
• Unitarian - What's That? by Cliff Reed - another overview, in the form of a Q & A 
• The Unitarians: A Short History by Leonard Smith - gives history of development of Unitarianism (but omits the Earth Spirit strand and most of Transcendentalism)
• Being Together: Unitarians Celebrate Congregational Life - edited by Matthew F. Smith 
• Unitarian Perspectives on Contemporary Social Issues - edited by George Chryssides 
• Unitarian Perspective on Contemporary Religious Thought - edited by George Chryssides
• Elements of Unitarianism by George Chryssides - overview plus potted history. 
• A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism by John A Buehrens and Forrest Church. 
• Love and Death: My Journey through The Valley of the Shadow by Forrest Church 
• The Cathedral of the World: A Universalist Theology by Forrest Church 

You can buy some of these from the UK Unitarian website.

Unitarian Engagement Groups and Small Group Ministry 

Unitarian Engagement Groups - How to start and facilitate groups

Unitarian Christianity 

• David Doel, The Man they called the Christ 
• David Doel, That Glorious Liberty 

Unitarian Earth Spirit 

• Unitarianism and Druidry by Alastair Bate
• Pagan and pantheist tendencies in Unitarianism by Yvonne Aburrow

How to market your brand / book / website on social media:

Set up a Facebook page and/or group where you will post regular news items (from your site and those of other relevant sites). Attract attention to it by posting it in other related Facebook groups (search in Groups for related keywords for your topic). Keep it updated regularly.

Set up a Twitter feed where you will post regular news items (from your site and those of other relevant sites). Attract attention to it by following other similar Twitter accounts (search for related keywords for your topic) and retweet and reply to their tweets. Keep it updated regularly.

Set up a blog where you will post regular blogposts about topical items in your subject area. Attract attention to it by adding other similar blogs to your blogroll (search for related keywords for your topic) and post comments on their blogs. Keep it updated regularly.

If you don't "get" Twitter, there's a remarkably succinct and clear summary of what it is and how it works in today's verdict on the Twitter joke trial. (PDF)

Using HootSuite (a paid service), you can also automatically send your blogposts to Twitter and Facebook.

 A new novel, Agents of Reason, by John Issitt, explores the life of Jeremiah Joyce, a dissenting minister in the 1790s.

Jeremiah was a London radical. He and his associates gave themselves to the cause of freedom - a cause that was always dangerous and compromised.

When the Bastille fell in 1789, English radicals like Jeremiah saw the promise of freedom, but by early 1793 the French Revolution had turned into madness as Robespierre and the guillotine had produced a blood-bath.

In England the fear that the revolution might spread across the channel provoked reactionary responses and the years of William Pitt’s terror began. Radicals were hunted down. Some found themselves in Botany Bay, others charged with sedition or treason, languishing in Newgate and the Tower.