For congregations to thrive in today's digitally oriented world, it is important to understand how DIGITAL MINISTRY differs from SOCIAL MEDIA and MARKETING.

The digital ministry shift is a move from using social media solely to promote ministry opportunities to actually doing ministry on social media. 

Yes, we need to promote and market events. That's true.  But to harness the power of social media we need to go further!   

In this episode, I share a concrete example related to educating and orienting newcomers.  That's right...  How to move your welcoming and membership ministry online using social! 

Watch or listen below. 

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Episode Notes

Social Media

Think about all the different social media platforms we have. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.  Video posting platforms, audio hosting platforms. Generally, they allow us to share some kind of content -- photo, video, audio, and text.

We are able to put out some kind of content, some kind of message, and we have the ability to comment, reply, and interact around that message.  So there's sharing content and there's interaction. 

Social media gives us this amazing power!   What we do with it is up to us.   Think of it as raw capacity.

Marketing

With marketing, which can be done via social media, we are generally communicating in an effort to raise interest, awareness, curiosity, or some emotion related to something we want people to do, attend, or engage with.

Very often, when it comes to congregations, it's sharing announcements.  Here's a picture, here's a meme, here's a graphic related to some event or opportunity.  We're trying to get people to go to an event, such as attend a worship service or do something.

That's the majority of content congregations in the United States are generating on social media -- marketing-focused announcements. 

Digital Ministry

Now, what about digital ministry?  This is when we move from trying to promote events or opportunities via social media and start using social media platforms, or other digital tools, to actually DO ministry online.

Here's an example that I use in my Digital Ministry Academy and Video Ministry Academy trainings for religious professionals, staff, and volunteer leaders. 

Interested in training for your professional group, conference, or denomination? Contact me for live online trainings, seminars, and keynotes.

Congregations often hold events for newcomers designed to educate and orient them.   Think about how you are presently accomplishing this task.  

We can design an event to welcome and orient newcomers that is held offline in a building or online via a Zoom meeting. In either case, it is a discrete event that we want to get people to go to.

We could use the power of social media -- that raw capacity to share and interact -- to post announcements and other content promoting this event.  Our goal? To get newcomers to attend!  That's marketing.

To use social media to actually DO ministry in this example, we can shift where the orienting is happening.  Instead of some other event, we can answer questions directly on social media.

This could take the form of posting a photo of your connections team and a prompt for people to share questions they have.

We could go a step further and have a member of the team share a video where they share a welcome, some basic information, and ask people if they have questions.

Want to go next level?   Schedule a live Q&A session online with your team.  Invite people to share questions and join you live at the scheduled time!  Answer the questions shared in advance, questions shared live, and help people get welcomed, oriented, and connected right there on social media. 

What about the value of the event NOT on social media?  Well, if you can get people there, it is great!   But more and more people want that intro level content to be available when they are doing their research BEFORE they are ready to engage with your congregation.    

Live Stream Q&A

I use Stream Yard (referral link) to live stream to multiple social media platforms at once.  For example, I'll do live ministry strategy sessions with the live broadcast going to my YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter account, and one or more Facebook groups.  I love having the power to be on multiple platforms live all at once!

You could schedule a live Q&A session with your team using Zoom and broadcast the video to a scheduled YouTube live video (read how to via Zoom blog).  That video player could be shared in advance across your social media channels, email, and embedded on the newcomer page of your website!

Zoom is Digital, I know...

Okay, you may be thinking "Peter, Zoom is online and it is digital so a newcomer event held on Zoom is digital ministry." You are right!   For simplicity, I didn't bring that up in the video. Moving offline newcomer events online via Zoom is a great step.  For events that are geared for people who are curious and looking for more info but not ready to attend an event, the live stream option is great.   

These times call for collaboration and rapid innovation!  I think a monthly crowdsourcing session would be good.  Not just on multi-platform worship, but a wide range of issues.  

Is your congregation considering new tech staffing?  This is for you!  Please share this with any congregation you know who is in discernment on this issue. 

Here's the question I keep getting, often when the process is far along and jobs are being threatened....

Question:

Peter, should we downsize our existing program staff and invest in a full-time tech person?

Quick Answer:  No! In my professional opinion that's a horrible idea for most congregations.  Better to invest in your existing staff & volunteers, cultivate new volunteers, see how far you can go and grow together, adding tech & media skills and associated tasks to portfolios of your staff and volunteers.  If there are tech tasks that you must have covered, start with temporary contracts to supplement your existing team.

Watch this for my long answer:

All congregations need to be working to develop their media and tech capacity. But this shouldn't be implemented as knee-jerk actions throwing money at staffing. I know it is easy to want to fix the problem by hiring a new staff person. 

Some day you may need to, but if you are in an emergency "Ah!!!! We need to go hybrid / multi-platform, and I can't do one more thing lets hire a new staff position" state, that isn't fair to your team, your congregation, and isn't a responsible use of funds.     

I hear staff saying that there are no volunteers so they have to hire staff ASAP!  

Well, congregations that haven't been talking about vision, mission, their calling, the future, and the role of social media, technology, and other aspects of digital life won't have tech and media volunteers hanging around. They haven't been needed or appreciated.

Hiring tech and communications staff, especially if budgets are tight, should follow a process that highlights the importance of media and technology and the building of an associated volunteer & ministry capacity.

What, there are no volunteers in this area? If you have never done a THING before, of course, you have no associated THING volunteers around. But if you start talking about why that THING is so important, all of a sudden the people who are good at that THING and LOVE your congregation are like to show up.

It is also important to recognize that we are being called to integrate our ministry and technology. For most congregations, this means not thinking of technology as a separate role from other staffing, volunteer, and ministry roles but an integral part of them — a part we need to carefully and intentionally cultivate.

At the heart of any viable hybrid future are staff and volunteers (with appropriate skill & strategy training) who are actively BUILDING relationships, FACILITATING conversations, and ENGAGING with members, friends, and newcomers in digital and physical spaces.

Instead of rushing to hire a new staff person to handle all the tech, keep in mind that you can't outsource ministry. Yes, you can hire AV people to run cameras, and hire Zoom worship associates to do the logistics, but at the heart of our ministry is relationship.

We can teach existing staff and volunteers new skills and strategies! 

• How to engage with newcomers in digital spaces! 

• How to run amazing Zoom-based connecting events that out-perform anything you've done offline for newcomers to date!!!

• How to use social media video to tell the story of your congregation.

• How to use multi-platform streaming tools like StreamYard allowing you to reach more people, more spaces, and do it all LIVE like a digital rock star! 

• How to use small groups to make your ministry more relational, meaningful and transformative while being able to move between online and physical gatherings with ease!

• And more.... 

But it is much HARDER to get a turn a tech staffer into a minister, a membership coordinator, a pastoral care associate, a passionate member, and a new-found friend.

⁠⁠I know many of you feel the urge to GO BIG with tech staff because you need the help making whatever is going to come next happen. 

I understand. I get it. 

But rushing in this direction while cutting other positions and failing to do the visioning, leadership, and volunteer development work is not the way forward.

Instead of new tech staffing, invest in your existing staff & volunteers, cultivate new volunteers, see how far you can go and grow together, adding tech & media skills and associated tasks to their portfolios.  If there are tech tasks that you must have covered, start with temporary contracts to supplement your existing team.

Hope this helps!

I'm talking with leaders about regathering their congregations this Fall.  One of my recommendations? Think about it like we are RELAUNCHING our congregations.   That's the kind of spirit and energy I think we need to bring to our regathering efforts. 

Not just gathering again, but a full relaunch.  New energy, new models, new opportunities -- new and exciting!!!  

I know that's a lot.   But I think that's what we need to bring people back and to welcome new members in.

This is serious business, especially with the pandemic accelerating declining attendance trends. Enough to make me put on my serious face... 

But it is also incredibly exciting!

Our challenge?

To reconnect our communities -- including outreach to newcomers -- we need more effective communication, leaders using social media and video in ways that build relationships and deploy intentional strategies to help people take their next steps in congregational life.

That's a lot to figure out.

So my recommendation is to NOT try and figure it out all on your own. Let me help you. I've been working on this for years.   

Unitarian Universalist congregations (my home denomination) are invited to join my new UU Digital Ministry Academy program!

Our first live training is coming up Saturday.  For those who can't make it, there will be other repeat sessions plus on-demand video content available.

Members of the program get access to all program live trainings, strategy sessions, implementation events, and replays and other content on-demand.

To learn more and join us visit: http://www.digitalministryacademy.com

PS -- Short on time?  Below is a 90-second explanation of UU Digital Ministry Academy. 

Friends,  here's a quick update on what's coming this Summer 🌞

This is just a preview.  Training topics include digital ministry, social media, small groups, and membership development.  That and lots of time to talk strategy and issues related to re-gathering and re-launching this Fall. 

I'll share the full details, dates, and open registration after  July 4th.

I know some of you are taking a break, others are leading Summer services and programming, and others working hard on preparing for the Fall.  My goal is to be there to support you whenever you are ready! 

 

PS -- Watch to the end for my sea monster impression. 🐉

🚀 SUBSCRIBE HERE for free content, online training event invitations, and more for Unitarian Universalist religious professionals, staff & volunteers!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Based on your survey feedback and resulting conversations, I'm launching a 100% redesigned Unitarian Universalist Digital Ministry program.

Here are some features of the new program:

• Open to all UU congregations
• Offers ongoing digital ministry strategy, skill training, and support
• For teams: volunteers, staff, and religious professionals
• On-demand content
• Live strategy sessions via Zoom
• Additional live stream Q&A sessions in response to your questions
• Monthly subscription affordable for congregations of all sizes and budgets

Do you like the idea of our doing Unitarian Universalist DIGITAL MINISTRY together? I can't wait! I'll be sharing much more shortly.

This is just a quick "I listened! Change of direction..." update.

What about the other program?  I'm following up with those who expressed interest in that program.

Thanks to all who completed the survey. I greatly appreciate your sharing your ideas, insight, and support needs with me.

Questions, comments, ideas?
I'm working hard at adapting to the needs of our congregations as conditions shift season by season. If you have ideas or special requests, I'd love to hear from you.  Contact me.

Update: Based on your feedback I'm 100% redesigning my training programs!  Make sure you sign up to get training updates. Details are coming out the week of June 23, 2021.

Friends, here's an overview of my new Digital Ministry Accelerator program, DMAX for short.  It is a 12-week program for Unitarian Universalist parish ministers (this round) and their congregations.  Interested ministers, I'd love your feedback! 

Please complete this brief program survey: SURVEY COMPLETED

Your responses will help me finalize the program design and the day and time we'll hold our weekly strategy sessions.    Thank you!

Friends, recently I had the opportunity to be a guest on the new Unitarian Universalist podcast "The Flame" by Roddy Biggs!

Grateful for the chance to reflect on a range of issues related to UU life, ministry, media, and the pandemic through this conversation.  Thanks, Roddy!  

If you'd like to have future episodes delivered to your device, subscribe to The Flame podcast.

About the podcast

The Flame is a Unitarian Universalist faith-centered podcast offering voices and stories of hope, love, resilience, and community. Witness real conversations, ones that sometimes tackle challenging topics but safely and bravely. Whether you are a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, new to the faith, or this is the first time you are hearing of the Unitarian Universalist faith, I welcome you just as you are.

As we enter year two of the pandemic, uncertainty is a core aspect of our ministry context.  How can we lead when so much is unknown? 

Leaders and their congregations must have great clarity of mission and the vision they want to work toward.  To work toward a clear mission-driven vision,  facing the unknown as a community together is the path. 

We can't have productive conversations about models, approaches, and staffing if we don't have clarity on our mission in 2021 and a powerful vision specific to our present ministry context.

YouTube video chapters
(0:00​) Welcome
(3:19​) Covid19 Year One. 
(7:28​) Covid19 Year Two?
(9:16​) Leadership, Clarity, and Uncertainty

In this interview with the Rev. Christana Wille McKnight, minister of First Parish in Taunton, MA , we discuss the principles and strategies that helped this Unitarian Universalist congregation move from being at risk of closing to becoming a thriving small congregation playing a major role in Taunton’s revitalization efforts.  

Get the "Playbook"
Rev. Christana Wille McKnight has kindly shared a Google Doc on the 11 points we discussed in this interview.  To get the playbook, click here to open the Google Doc and then hit the add to drive icon to save a link to it in your drive.

WATCH

VIDEO  CHAPTERS
(0:00​) Countdown
(0:43​) Welcome
(2:00​) Overview of Transformation
(6:00​) Rev. Christana Wille McKnight's "playbook"'
(6:25​) 1. Live Invitational Culture
(9:29​) 2. Use Accessible Language
(12:05​) 3. Put Your Words into Action
(17:15​) 4. Create Intentionally Welcoming Community
(19:20​) 5. Reflect Your Community and Context.
(20:48​) 6. Understand that Every Person Who Comes to Your Church Will Change It
(25:18​) 7. Know Your Community’s History, Culture, Demographics and Needs Deeply
(32:25​) 8. Create the Infrastructure to Help the Church You Want to Become Thrive
(37:35​) 9. Create a Multicultural Worship Experience
(39:45​) 10. Talk About Racism, Classism and the Injustices in the World in Meaningful Ways and Work to End These Unjust Constructs
(45:10​) 11. Understand That Unitarian Universalism is a Theology, Not Culture.
(53:45​) Wrapping up!

•  Due to internet issues we had to use a cell phone for an internet connection. We decided to go forward as is instead of rescheduling.  There some resulting audio pops. Sorry for the glitch.   

• You may watch here as well as on my Unitarian Universalist Youtube Channel and Facebook Page.   

LISTEN

Listen to this interview via my podcast below. You may subscribe here and have new episodes automatically delivered to your device.  

On Sunday 3 October, Bridport Unitarians ordained their new minister Rev. Elizabeth Harley at The Chapel In The Garden, Bridport, Dorset. Elizabeth recently completed her ministry training with Unitarian College and has served as Bridport Unitarians’ ‘Lay Person In Charge’ for 8 years. Speaking about her ordination, Rev. Harley said:

“There have been Unitarians in Bridport for over 350 years so it felt like a piece of history to be welcomed as the first Unitarian woman to be Minister at the chapel. Interestingly, there have been Unitarian women Ministers in the UK since 1904 but Bridport somehow missed out.

Ministry training with Unitarian College has been a really wonderful opportunity to deepen my faith and to get to know this congregation even better. Even during Covid we organised Zoom services but it means so much to me to have this service here in the Chapel, with so many of my family, friends and members of the congregation here to share this day with me.”

You can read about the ordination in the local newspaper, Bridport & Lyme Regis News.

The post Bridport Unitarians ordain new minister, Rev. Elizabeth Harley appeared first on The Unitarians.

• Letter signed by Board of Deputies of British Jews, Muslim Council of Britain, the Church of England and others, urges government to ‘think again.’
• Concerns the Bill will have a ‘chilling effect’ on aspects of practicing faith.
• The Bill is declared ‘unacceptable in a democratic society.’

The Unitarians have joined other religious, faith and belief groups in calling on the Government to rethink the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, set to return to the House of Lords this week. 

In a scathing letter, published in The Independent and online, dozens of leaders, ranging from the Muslim Council of Britain and Board of Deputies of British Jews to the Church of England and Network of Sikh Organisations, warn of the ‘chilling effect’ the Bill could have on ‘millions who put their faith or belief into practice’ and declare it ‘unacceptable in a democratic society.’

Part 3 of the Bill gives the police wide ranging powers to restrict the right to protest, including being able set noise limits. Faith leaders fear this could criminalise a range of religious activities including street preaching and chanting. There is also concern the Bill could lead to disproportionate policing on public acts of worship or prayer vigils as was the case with the Sarah Everard vigil earlier this year.

Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, Zara Mohammed said: “This Bill threatens to impinge greatly upon our rights to freedom of assembly and expression, as well as the public’s ability to hold the Government to account. It will exacerbate pre-existing disparities in policing and the criminal justice system. These inalienable rights are essential components of any functioning democratic society and must be preserved.”

The Bill passed unamended through the House of Commons despite high-profile critics including former police chiefs and former Prime Minister Theresa May who cautioned Priti Patel on the ‘fine line between being popular and being populist.’ In the House of Lords, the Bill received widespread criticism including from Dr David Walker, the Lord Bishop of Manchester, who compared the noise from a pop concert to a campaign for injustice: ‘Both events may cause nuisance, but it is a strange set of priorities that make it less lawful to protest than to party.’

In signing the letter, the Lord Bishop of Manchester added: “Much in this Bill is both unnecessary and disproportionate. Existing laws already provide adequate remedy for when protests get out of hand, or are likely to lead to violence. This proposed legislation would also allow sweeping discretion for government ministers to define and change its interpretation to suit passing political whim. They will exercise their powers at the expense of ordinary citizens’ rights to make their voices heard. Debate will be stifled and progress prevented on some of the most important and contentious issues of the day.”

A flurry of amendments [265 to date] have been proposed for the Bill with many relating to part 4 on encampments. A national shortage of suitable sites and stopping places means Gypsies and Travellers are left with no places where they are permitted to stop. The Bill would for the first time make such activity a criminal offence and could lead to members of the Gypsy and Traveller having their home seized.

Mia Hasenson-Gross, executive director of René Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights said: “This is a critical moment for communities of faith and belief to stand together and secure our rights to public worship and protest in the face of marginalisation. We must not stay silent as our rights to protest are disregarded, and our Gypsy and Traveller friends, with whom we share a history of persecution in Europe, are criminalised and robbed of their culturally nomadic way of life.”

It is hoped that amendments are proposed and approved before the Bill returns to the House of Commons later this year.

Signatories:

• David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, Church of England
• Marie van der Zyl, President, Board of Deputies of British Jews
• Lord Singh of Wimbledon CBE, Director, Network of Sikh Organisations UK
• Zara Mohammed, Secretary-General, The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB)
• Jamie Cresswell, Director, Centre for Applied Buddhism
• Rabbi Leah Jordan, Kehillah North London
• The Right Reverend Andrew John, Bishop of Bangor and Senior Bishop of the Church in Wales, The Church in Wales
• Paul Parker, Recording Clerk, Quakers in Britain
• Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director, René Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights
• Paul Rochester, General Secretary, Free Churches Group
• Revd Clare Downing, Moderator of General Assembly, United Reformed Church
• Elizabeth Slade, Chief Officer, General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
• Revd Sonia Hicks, President of the Methodist Conference, Methodist Church of Britain
• Barbara Easton Vice-President of the Methodist Conference, The Methodist Church
• Revd Lynn Green, General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain
• Neil Thorns, Director of Advocacy and Communications, CAFOD
• Revd Martin Burrell, Chair, Churches Network for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma (CNGTR)
• Olivia Fuchs, Chair, Eco Dharma Network
• Elizabeth Arif-Fear, Founder and Director, Voice of Salam
• Sue Claydon , Chair, Anglican Pacifist Fellowship
• Shanon Shah, Director, Faith for the Climate
• Isobel Ingham-Barrow, Head of Policy, Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND)
• Naomi Green, Staff, Belfast Islamic Centre
• Raheel Mohammed, Director, Maslaha
• Revd Dr Darrell Hannah, Chair, Operation Noah
• Scot Bower, CEO, CSW
• Jonathan Herbert, Reverend Canon, Church of England
• Dr. Narapa Stephen Johnson, Buddhist Chaplain, Buddhist Healthcare Chaplaincy Trust
• Joseph Mishan, Member of Organising group, Extinction Rebellion Buddhists
• Graeme Hodge, CEO, All We Can & Y Care International

The post Faith leaders unite to rebuke Policing Bill appeared first on The Unitarians.

Local organisations in Leeds came together on Friday 22 October for a vigil and gathering at Mill Hill Unitarian Chapel in the city centre to support refugees and asylum seekers, protesting against the government’s new Nationality and Borders Bill.

Rev. Jo James, minister of Mill Hill Chapel, said: “The Refugees and Asylum Seekers Conversation Club (founded in 2016 at Mill Hill Chapel and working towards safely re-starting after lockdown threw the very popular community resource into disarray) organised an ‘Orange Heart’ event as a symbol of compassion for refugees and to oppose the government’s Nationalities and Borders Bill. Mill Hill regular Ann Callarman worked with Leeds Asylum Seekers networks to invite local officials and we were pleased that the Leader and Deputy Leader of the council and Lord Mayor Asghar Khan showed up as well as 30 plus friends and supporters including many refugees. As Liz Slade (Unitarian Chief Officer) was visiting Yorkshire Unitarians this week, she was delighted to join us too. Events like this serve to demonstrate compassion, support and solidarity as well as strengthen individual links and community resilience.”

Volunteer at Leeds Conversation Club and organiser of Friday’s gathering Dot Reed said: “Volunteers at Conversation Club regularly see the misery caused by the Home Office’s current self-declared ‘hostile environment’. We see people living in limbo, sometimes for years on end, unable to work or contribute to society, living in constant fear of deportation back to their countries, from which they fled in fear of their lives.

This Bill’s aim is to make life even harsher for these unfortunate people, including criminalising them simply for the way they arrive in the UK, when often they have no choice. It is inhumane and goes completely against the values of this country.”

You can read more about the event in the Yorkshire Evening Post here.

You can view more photos from the event here.

The post Leeds Unitarians hold refugee vigil to protest ‘Nationality and Borders Bill’ appeared first on The Unitarians.

We are delighted to welcome Lizzie Kingston Harrison to the General Assembly staff team, in the role of Congregational Connections Lead.

Lizzie will be connecting with individuals and congregations across our movement to help share knowledge and experience, so that more people can benefit from the good practices and innovations that have been developed locally, building on the work done by the previous Congregational Connections Lead, Rev. Bob Janis-Dillon.

Lizzie loves building authentic and meaningful connections with people and creating spaces where ideas can be shared freely and creatively. She cares deeply about Unitarian principles and left her career in teaching to contribute to this loving and vibrant community. Her role is to find new ways to connect our congregations so that we can share resources, serve our communities, and inspire each other. Lizzie’s doctoral thesis is on the eighteenth-century Unitarian dissenter Joseph Priestley, and she has a deep respect for the radical and liberal values on which the movement is founded. Lizzie grew up in Norwich and now lives in Suffolk with her husband and daughters. The beautiful coastal countryside and the grounded and welcoming community at Framlingham Unitarian Meeting House have helped her to find a spiritual home.

Lizzie said: “I am delighted to be the new Congregational Connections Lead and to serve our loving, free-thinking, and inclusive community. My research on the origins of Unitarianism gave me insight into the principles on which the movement is founded and when I started attending services, I was excited to find that those values live on in a compassionate and vibrant way. In this new role, I am so glad to have the opportunity to build fresh and dynamic connections and create new ways for us to share ideas and inspiration.  I am keen to listen and hear your priorities for congregational connection so if you would like to get in touch, please email me.“

Find out more about our staff team here.

The post Welcoming our new Congregational Connections Lead, Lizzie Kingston Harrison appeared first on The Unitarians.

Rev Kate Dean of Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, Hampstead, appeared in the Camden New Journal recently to highlight the lack of options in the borough for same sex couples who wish to have a spiritual or religious marriage ceremony. Just 4 out of 86 non-conformist churches in Camden offer same-sex weddings.

“It is so difficult to find places that will allow same-sex couples who want to express their love for each other in a religious setting… In such a diverse borough, it may be that LGBTQ couples do not realise the opportunities that some churches offer” – Rev. Kate Dean

Read the full article which appeared on 30 September 2021.

The post Hampstead Unitarian minister calls for more same-sex religious weddings appeared first on The Unitarians.

Photo: Rev. Michael Allured, Rev. Alex Bradley (Tutor) & Rev. Robin Hanford

This year, two students have completed their training at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and been accepted onto the Roll of Ministers. Rev. Michael Allured and Rev. Robin Hanford had their Valediction Service at the College’s chapel in June, with a small congregation of tutors, family and friends present in line with covid-19 guidance. Now, Michael and Robin share some of their feelings about completing their training during the pandemic and their future ministries:

Rev. Michael Allured said:

“I am honoured to become a Unitarian minister and proud to join my husband Feargus on the GA ministerial Roll. Thanks to him and everyone who has encouraged and supported me on a journey that began at Golders Green Unitarians in 1989. To be a minister of religion is a tremendous privilege and I’m deeply conscious of the responsibility that this role carries. I shall do all I can to live up to that honour in the coming years as I walk alongside fellow pilgrims in times of joy and sorrow. May we encourage each other in our continuing explorations and attempts to make sense of life’s ultimate questions and what we are called to do for each other and for this precious and fragile world. It was joyful to share my valedictory service at Harris Manchester College, Oxford  with Rev. Robin Hanford. Robin and I spent a year training together and I missed not joining him for his second year. So although I graduated in 2020 the 12 month wait for my valedictory service because of Covid-19  was worth it to celebrate in person with Robin and his family.”

Rev. Robin Hanford said: “The last few years have been something of a whirlwind! I can still remember my interview at Harris Manchester College, and that feeling of euphoria when I was told that I had been accepted to train for ministry in the Unitarian and Free Christian Churches. In fact, it feels like it was only yesterday! That said, a lot of training has been crammed into two years. Training for ministry while living in Harris Manchester College and studying for a University of Oxford Postgraduate Diploma and being President of the college’s Middle Common Room was a very busy but ever such a special and rewarding experience. One of the things I believe to be harder than training for ministry during a pandemic must be training a minister during a global pandemic! I owe huge thanks to all at Harris Manchester College for their support. I am also hugely grateful to the Oxford Unitarian congregation who could not have been more supportive of my student pastorate with them. Sharing a valediction service with Rev. Michael Allured was a very moving experience. Michael has been a huge source of support for me throughout my training. I know that we will continue to support each other as Ministers of Religion as much as we did when we were students.“
Congratulations Michael and Robin and all the best for your future ministries!

The post Two new ministers from Oxford appeared first on The Unitarians.

Unitarian Chief Officer Liz Slade has taken part in an online conversation about assisted dying, hosted by Tim Wyatt for Religion Media Centre, with Rabbi Jonathan Romain, founder of Dignity in Dying, Dr Sarah Foot from the Christian Medical Fellowship, and Dr Hina Shahid from the Muslim Doctors Association.

The Unitarian movement voted in 2013 on the issue of assisted dying. In our recognition of the worth and the dignity of all people and their freedom to believe as their consciences dictate, members voted to support the principle that individuals should have the right to seek support for assisted dying in certain circumstances, and that legislation should respect this choice and allow them compassionate assistance without fear of prosecution of anyone involved. Many Unitarians are passionately in favour of a change in the law, while recognising the need to allow a diversity of voices to be considered on this important moral issue. In June 2021, we welcomed the launch of new Religious Alliance for Dignity in Dying.

You can watch the video in full here.

Make your voice heard during the Second Reading of the Assisted Dying Bill by joining this demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament.

The post Chief Officer discusses assisted dying with medical and faith leaders appeared first on The Unitarians.

Ipswich Unitarians held a celebration on Saturday 25 September to mark the reopening of Ipswich Meeting House, one of the oldest non-conformist chapels in the country, after the completion of a huge renovation project supported by English Heritage costing £750,000.

Tessa Forsdike, the secretary of the trustees of the Meeting House, said the restoration work should guarantee the future of the building for at least the next 100 years. She said: “This is a very important day for us. It gives us the chance to show off what has happened here and show what makes this such a special place.”

You can watch a video of the celebratory events here.

You can find out more about the renovation project here.

You can read more about this story in the local press here.

The post Ipswich Unitarians celebrate reopening of historic Meeting House appeared first on The Unitarians.

We are delighted to have reached an important milestone as Hale Chapel in Hale Barns, Cheshire, becomes the 100th Unitarian place of worship to register to conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies. The chapel’s minister Rev. Jeff Gould conducted their first same-sex wedding in August.

Reflecting on the day, Rev. Gould said: “The congregation of Hale Chapel was delighted to host its first same-sex wedding in the middle of this past August. The couple who celebrated their marriage at the chapel had recently moved into a house that adjoins the chapel’s garden and cemetery.  Their research revealed that a Unitarian house of worship would be the ideal venue for their inter-faith wedding, as one partner is Christian and the other is Jewish. I was delighted to officiate at a ceremony that involved elements of both religious traditions. The congregation is grateful that their first same-sex wedding couple will have a continuing relationship with the chapel, and look forward to welcoming other couples whose profiles reflect the diversity and richness of the local community.”

Unitarians have long supported lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, and we are proud to provide marriage ceremonies for all couples. In fact, we were one of the the first churches to offer same-sex marriages. Find out more here.

The post Hale Chapel becomes 100th Unitarian church to register for same-sex weddings appeared first on The Unitarians.

Cotswolds Unitarians are supporting Active Peace Education in local schools, organised by Malvern Quakers. Rosemary Webb (pictured), who co-leads local Unitarian youth group the Malvern Transformers, is delivering the sessions ‘Rights for Kids’, ‘Six Hours to Change the World’ and ‘All Are Welcome’ in local schools, together with Quaker educators. Click here to find out more here.

Photo: Bosbury Primary School

The post Cotswolds Unitarians help deliver peace education to local schoolchildren appeared first on The Unitarians.

What is a blog?

What do people like about some of these blogs?

• Snappy title
• A title that is understood and if not, an accessible explanation for the title
• Visually attractive, not too busy, no strong image under the writing, not to detract from the writing. If images attached to posts they should be attractive - copyright-free from  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page and http://creativecommons.org/ 
• Style - not too much jargon and complex language, accessible style. An open and honest approach, not being too dogmatic.
• Short pieces like poems which invite the reader to think.

What people don’t like

• To many visuals, too busy, image beneath the text
• Posts are too long
• Too many bees in their bonnets
• Too much political and religious ranting
• Overly complex language, jargon and abbreviations that are not common (OK to use common abbreviations like OK and BBC)
• Too long - not the place for sermons - consider setting up a personal website

Issues

• Confidentiality, writing about other people
• Archiving blogs which are not being added to 

For own blog

• Who is the audience?
• What do they want to know/what do you want to tell them? Information? Advice? Personal stories?
• How do they want this - words, pictures, podcasts, video?
• How often will you blog? Once a week? Once a month?
• How long will each post be?
• Will you allow comments and will you respond to these?

Blog and blogposts

• Your blog will have a title
• Each post will have a title - titles should offer a benefit, promise news or arouse curiosity.
• Do not have long, dense paragraphs
• Perhaps have sub-headings?
• Bulleted lists
• Can use contractions like don’t and can’t - this is not an English exam
• Have an easy style
• Use the word ‘you’ rather than ‘we’
• Explore different blog hosting services

Setting up a blog 

• Google account. To get to your blog sign into your Google account, search fro blogger and your sites will become visible.
• Privacy setting
• Lay-out, including gadgets
• Design
• Adding content - need to save it but until it is published it will not be viewed
• Copyright issues
• Links - use a gadget
• Polls - use a gadget
• Email new post alert - gadget
• Time zone - language and formatting under Settings
• Can write a post and set the time and date when it will be published 
• Labels for pages - determine which labels you want and list them under post settings 

Promoting your blog

• Linking to other sites e.g. UCCN, local congregation, districts
• Asking sites to link to your blog - as above
• Facebook and Twitter - can link via Blogger

• ‎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 

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

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

• 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

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

Media Links

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

'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

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 

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

• 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

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

• 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

• 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

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

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.

Unitarian heritage in London

Unitarian churches in Wales

Unitarian churches in England

• 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

See also...

• 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

It started with a service delivered by a man called Julian.

His presence was gentle, you could feel the kindness in his heart just from the way he stood, smiled and welcomed you as a stranger without looking like he’s trying to work you out. Genuine friendliness is always refreshing when you live in a city.

Faith charities delivering public services 'could increase discrimination'
By Kaye Wiggins, Third Sector Online, 16 May 2011

Contracts should be awarded only to groups that have demonstrated commitment to equality, Unitarian body warns Public Administration Select Committee

Giving more responsibility for delivering public services to local faith charities as part of the big society agenda could result in increased discrimination against marginalised groups, according to the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.

Derek McAuley, chief officer of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, told Third Sector he was concerned that gay and lesbian public sector staff who were moved to local faith charities under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations might face discrimination by other staff at those charities.

His submission to the PASC says: "Non-religious people and those not seen to confirm to the dominant ethos of a religious body, such as being in an unmarried relationship or divorced and being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered, could find themselves subject to discrimination.

"Contracts should therefore only be awarded to faith-based organisations that have a public commitment to, and can demonstrate compliance with, the promotion of equality in line with the commitment of recent governments."

The "Big Society", a policy much promoted by the Government, and built around social action, public service reform and community empowerment, needs to be inclusive. You cannot have a "Big Society" and then implicitly or explictly exclude and marginalise some groups. Unitarians have long worked to promote social justice and led many initiatives for social improvement. We have never applied religious tests to our work.

We need joined up policies. One risk is that encouraging faith groups to be more active in delivery of public services could in some cases lead to a conflict with equality and diversity policy.

James Martineau

James Middleton (Kate Middleton's brother)

 

Are they by any chance related? Yes they are. James and Kate Middleton are descendants of the Martineaus, a prominent family of Unitarians.

1. Comment on other bloggers' posts - if your comment is interesting and polite, they might drop by to read your blog
2. Add other blogs to your blogroll - they may return the favour (but never ask to be added to someone's blogroll, it's really tacky)
3. Follow other bloggers and add them to your Google Reader
4. Get yourself added to Unitarian Universalist and Unitarian blog aggregators
5. Have a Twitter account, link it to HootSuite and have HootSuite update your Twitter and Facebook accounts automatically whenever you publish a new blog-post

• Alan and Beth: RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution)
• Alan and Beth: NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children)
• Alan and Beth: Royal British Legion

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do."

Communication – Communication – Communication

UUA Presents "It Gets Better" Video

The UUA Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries recently released a video in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, encouraging them to seek out UUism as a welcoming faith community that affirms each person's worth, regardless of race, creed, gender, or sexual orientation.

The "It Gets Better" project is a collection of videos produced by people across the globe aimed to offer hope and inspiration for LGBT teens.

Watch the video now.

• Christianity in Talmud and Midrash
• Memorials of Stand Chapel
• The Prophecies of the Captivity (Isaiah XL - LXVI)
• The Pharisees
• Pirke Aboth: the ethics of the Talmud : sayings of the fathers
• Talmud and Apocrypha: a comparative study of the Jewish ethical teaching in the rabbinical and non-rabbinical sources in the early centuries
• Pharisaism, its aim and its method
  
• What the world owes to the Pharisees
  
• The Effect of the Fall of Jerusalem Upon the Character of the Pharisees
• Judaism in the New Testament Period 
• The truth about the Pharisees 

"The Kingdom of God, as the rule of God in the heart, the love and service of him, and the consequent love and service of all men as children of the one Father, that is not limited by any doctrinal definitions. No one but a Christian ever did, or ever could, work for the Church. But all can work for the Kingdom of God, not Christians only but all who consciously own God, whether Christian or Jew, Mohammedan [sic] or Brahmin, or any other of those to whom God has revealed himself "by diverse portions and in diverse manners" (The Idea of the Kingdom of God, R. Travers Herford, Lindsey Press 1929 p. 13).

• Hoax-Slayer
• Snopes

• McAfee virus info
• Virus Hoaxes
• Symantec security response
• Symantec A to Z listing of threats

• "Palestinian child brides" - remember even if there are photos included, there could be an innocent explanation
• "Starbucks refuse free coffee to soldiers"

• Belize postal scam
• PDS phone scam

• Plastic water bottles cause cancer
• Plastic water bottles contain toxins

• Heart attack experience in women

This blog has started from my desire to see the development of Unitarian communities in the UK. Many of the approaches that have been suggested recently take a marketing approach where Unitarianism is a product and if we only marketed it differently we would 'sell' more of it. The model adopted in this blog is one which sees local Unitarian communities as just that - communities - which most community members are committed to developing.

This blog is born out of a desire to make a positive contribution to UK Unitarians' continued discussions (or not) about how good governance works and to offer some hints and wrinkles about how to make it work for Unitarian communities wherever they are, however big or small.

• A Preview of HTML 5 , by Lachlan Hunt
• HTML5 (W3C), ed Ian Hickson

I am happy to answer any questions posted as comments on the original blog post.

In addition, I will be highlighting online those congregations that have made progress along the steps of the scheme. Congregations, please let me know if and when you have reached any particular level. I will then add you to an online honour roll, which will also help seekers to find the congregations that are keen to have them!

New President - Neville Kenyon

Friendly and forward-looking Neville Kenyon, a life-long Unitarian who lives in Bury, Lancashire, was installed as the President of the General Assembly for 2010-2011 at the Annual Meetings in Nottingham on 11 April. He is emphasising the openness and flexibility of Unitarianism, and his wish to encourage the quest for spiritual understanding and innovation, by choosing 'Nurture Your Freedom' as his theme.

Both practical and imaginative, Neville has a long history of energetic service to the denomination. He joined the Unitarian Young People's League in the 1950s and was its President in 1961. He has been a member of the General Assembly's Council and served from its inception on the successor body, the Executive Committee, until he was elected Vice-President in 2009. He is passionate about publicising Unitarianism and is a member of the General Assembly's Communications Commission and a Director of the Board of the Inquirer Publishing Company (2004) which produces the Unitarian paper, The Inquirer. He is chairman of the congregation of Bury Unitarian Church. Among his many achievements is the adoption by the General Assembly of a colour-scheme, typography and imagery which gives the Movement a 'consistent identity'. He is a steadfast supporter of any cause he takes up, is unfailingly genial, and, with a flair for selecting silk ties and elegant suits, is very possibly the best-dressed man in the Movement!

Neville recognises that Unitarians are in an ideal position to provide, in the 21st century, a home for those who have a spiritual hunger but are repelled by the creeds and dogmas of more orthodox faith groups. He says "We are in an ideal position, to reflect a growing imperative for a spirituality unfettered by narrow creeds and dogmas." He wants to encourage social networking between the newer members throughout the country. "People come to us from a myriad of backgrounds", he says "but they have all made a journey to find their spiritual home with us. The mutual support provided by networking on the web adds a valuable communication dimension for newcomers stretching beyond their local congregation".

» Read more

New Vice President - Rev Dr Ann Peart

The Reverend Dr Ann Peart, a distinguished Unitarian scholar and leading woman minister was appointed as vice-president of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches at the close of the Denominations Annual Meetings in April 2010 in Nottingham. She is looking forward to visiting Unitarian congregations and other groups both in Britain and overseas. "I am particularly interested" she says, "in exploring what keeps such a diverse collection of groups and individuals together."

» Read more

• Promotional activities: posters; exploiting new methods of communication (eg this blog); reviewing national advertising and appropriate media; reviewing use of the travelling display which was launched at the 2009 annual meetings.

• Promoting the consistent identity and its use: commissioning merchandise, eg mugs, car stickers, bookmarks; supporting local congregations, eg via notice board grants.

• Providing communication expertise and support: advice and support for local congregations; producing press packs about the President and Vice-President; supporting the online worship project being undertaken by the NUF; reviewing internal and external communication strategies.

• Leaflet development: reviewing the range of leaflets available; reprinting and commissioning new leaflets in liaison with other commmissions and societies.

• Liaison with denominational periodicals.

• Internal communication: optimising messages and modes of communication.

The Rev Alex Bradley, of the Unitarian Christian Association, said: "Different people see Jesus in different ways. Everyone to some extent has an image of Him, and writers and artists should be free to form their own interpretation.

"Religious freedom remains indivisible, and freedom of expression remains a core value of democratic civilisation."

I was talking to some fellow Unitarians on Sunday and we all said how much we are looking forward to reading Philip Pullman's new book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, as the ideas in it sound very Unitarian. We also remarked that the Unitarian concept of God is far closer to Dust than to the Authority, since many Unitarians are pantheists or panentheists who believe that the Divine is immanent in the world.

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (May 10, 1900 – December 7, 1979) was an English-American astronomer who in 1925 was first to show that the Sun is mainly composed of hydrogen, contradicting accepted wisdom at the time.

Cecilia Payne wrote a doctoral dissertation, and so in 1925 she became the first person to earn a Ph.D. in astronomy from Radcliffe (now part of Harvard) for her thesis: "Stellar Atmospheres, A Contribution to the Observational Study of High Temperature in the Reversing Layers of Stars". Astronomer Otto Struve characterized it as "undoubtedly the most brilliant Ph.D. thesis ever written in astronomy". By applying the ionization theory developed by Indian physicist Megh Nad Saha she was able to accurately relate the spectral classes of stars to their actual temperatures. She showed that the great variation in stellar absorption lines was due to differing amounts of ionization that occurred at different temperatures, and not due to the different abundances of elements. She correctly suggested that silicon, carbon, and other common metals seen in the Sun were found in about the same relative amounts as on Earth, but that helium and particularly hydrogen were vastly more abundant (by about a factor of one million in the case of hydrogen). Her thesis thus established that hydrogen was the overwhelming constituent of the stars. When her dissertation was reviewed, she was dissuaded by Henry Norris Russell from concluding that the composition of the Sun is different from the Earth, which was the accepted wisdom at the time. However, Russell changed his mind four years later when other evidence emerged. After Payne-Gaposchkin was proven correct Russell was often given the credit.

She published several books including:
"Stars of High Luminosity" (1930),
"Variable Stars" (1938),
"Variable Stars and Galactic Structure" (1954),
"Introduction to Astronomy" (1956),
"The Galactic Novae" (1957)
"Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin : an autobiography and other recollections" (1984) ed. Katherine Haramundan)

Payne-Gaposchkin was a many-sided personality known for her wit, her literary knowledge, and for her personal friendships with individual stars. She became the first woman in the history of Harvard University to receive a corporation appointment with tenure, and the first woman department chair in 1956. 

Jana Sims of the Institute of Education in London spoke on Mechanics' Institutes in Sussex and Hampshire. The leafy counties of southern England aren't normally associated with Mechanics Institutes, but as Jana revealed there were plenty of them, in places like Brighton, Lewes and Winchester, many founded by members of the Unitarian church. The coastal ones ran classes in navigation, and any ideas of southern softness were dispelled by 5.30am classes in science and philosophy. Music played an important part in most Institutes, dispelling the myth of Engand as a non-musical nation, and although the early 19th century saw resistance to womens' attendance, that was largely resolved by the 1840s.

William Johnson Fox became minister of the congregation in 1817 which in 1824 it built a new chapel in South Place. This the Society occupied for 102 years and the name is still commemorated in the title of the Society, although it moved from South Place in 1926 to build its present home in Red Lion Square which was opened in 1929.

In 1831, Fox bought the journal of the Unitarian Association, The Monthly Repository, of which he was already editor; for five years this was virtually the first ancestor of the Ethical Record. Verse was contributed to it by both Tennyson and Browning -- the latter always spoke of Fox as his"literary father" ; the contributors of articles included John Stuart Mill, Leigh Hunt, Harriet Martineau, Henry Crabb Robinson and a fearless iconoclast, William Bridges Adams, whose outspoken series of articles on marriage, divorce, and other social questions split the South Place congregation again. So came about another evolutionary step that included severance from the Unitarian movement and established South Place as the centre of advanced thought and progressive activity. Among the causes with which Fox identified himself and the Society were the spread of popular education and the repeal of the Corn Laws. In 1847 he entered Parliament whilst remaining minister at South Place for several more years.

The most outstanding of Fox's successors in that position was an American, Moncure Conway, after whom the society's present home is named. He had adopted an uncompromising anti-slavery position at home and came to England in 1863 on a speaking tour. He settled at the South Place Chapel from 1864 until 1897, except for a break of seven years (from 1885 to 1892) during which he returned to America and wrote his famous biography of Thomas Paine. During that interval, in 1888, under the leadership of Stanton Coit, the name South Place Religious Society was changed to the South Place Ethical Society.

Please join us on March 24 for Ada Lovelace Day
Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging (videologging, podcasting, comic drawing etc.!) to draw attention to the achievements of women in technology and science.
Women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines, whatever they do. It doesn’t matter how new or old your blog is, what gender you are, what language you blog in, or what you normally blog about – everyone is invited. Just sign the pledge below (click ‘pledge’ after you have completed the reCaptcha) and publish your blog post any time on Wednesday 24th March 2010.