We are holding our Harvest Festival services on Sunday 3rd October. 10.30 at Frenchay and 6.00pm at Unitarian Meeting Bristol.
Please bring contributions of fresh food (for sale - then the proceeds will go to homeless organisations) or non-perishables such as tins etc and/or financial contributions towards hostels for the homeless in Bristol.
We look forward to seeeing you.
Services
October 2010
Sunday 3 October
Frenchay 10.30 am — Rev Lindy Latham
UMB 6.00 pm — Rev Lindy Latham: Harvest service
Sunday 10 October
Frenchay 10.30 am
Sunday 17 October
Frenchay 10.30 am — Rev Lindy Latham
UMB 6.00 pm — bring and share service
Sunday 24 October
Frenchay 10.30 am
Sunday 31 October
Frenchay 10.30 am — Yvonne Aburrow (All Souls / Samhain)
UMB 6.00 pm — congregational service
September 2010
Sunday 5th September
Frenchay 10.30 am — Rev Lindy Latham
UMB 6.00 pm — Rev Lindy Latham
Flowers - Sylvia Bartlett Teas - Mrs S Wildman
Sunday 12th September
Frenchay 10.30 am—Arthur Brown
UMB 3-5 pm—Bright Lights
Sunday 19th September
Frenchay 10.30 am — Rev Lindy Latham
UMB 6.00 pm
Sunday 26th September
Frenchay 10.30 am—Yvonne Aburrow
Arnos Vale 12:00 noon - a celebration of the life of Mary Carpenter,
with Carla Contractor and Rev Lindy Latham
Sunday 3 October
Frenchay 10.30 am — Rev Lindy Latham
UMB 6.00 pm — Rev Lindy Latham: Harvest service
Sunday 10 October
Frenchay 10.30 am
Sunday 17 October
Frenchay 10.30 am — Rev Lindy Latham
UMB 6.00 pm — bring and share service
Sunday 24 October
Frenchay 10.30 am
Sunday 31 October
Frenchay 10.30 am — Yvonne Aburrow (All Souls / Samhain)
UMB 6.00 pm — congregational service
September 2010
Sunday 5th September
Frenchay 10.30 am — Rev Lindy Latham
UMB 6.00 pm — Rev Lindy Latham
Flowers - Sylvia Bartlett Teas - Mrs S Wildman
Sunday 12th September
Frenchay 10.30 am—Arthur Brown
UMB 3-5 pm—Bright Lights
Sunday 19th September
Frenchay 10.30 am — Rev Lindy Latham
UMB 6.00 pm
Sunday 26th September
Frenchay 10.30 am—Yvonne Aburrow
Arnos Vale 12:00 noon - a celebration of the life of Mary Carpenter,
with Carla Contractor and Rev Lindy Latham
Women’s League
We plan to have a Bring and Buy Sale at the chapel on Wednesday 20th October and will keep the table open until Sunday 24th. Proceeds will go towards the National Women's League project, the Margaret Barr Children's Village in India. Donations welcome.
Pilgrimage
If you went on a pilgrimage, where would you go? I consider all travel that involves engaging with the landscape, culture and/or people to be a form of pilgrimage.
Some of the more consciously pilgrimage-like travel I have done, though, included going to Down House where Darwin lived and walking along the gravel path where he thought about evolution, and having a conversation about evolution. I think the re-enactment element was important there.
Another example was going to Canterbury Cathedral. I am not a Christian, but I find the story of Thomas a Becket moving, and I like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Jean Anouilh's play Becket.
Visiting stone circles always feels like a pilgrimage to me. They are beautiful and numinous places, and some archaeologists think they were made to represent a microcosm of the landscape.
Landscape itself, the wild places, are a place of pilgrimage for me; that’s where I go to feel renewed and refreshed.
I also think that places where people have made a connection with the numinous are special. As T S Eliot wrote in Little Gidding,
Yvonne Aburrow
Some of the more consciously pilgrimage-like travel I have done, though, included going to Down House where Darwin lived and walking along the gravel path where he thought about evolution, and having a conversation about evolution. I think the re-enactment element was important there.
Another example was going to Canterbury Cathedral. I am not a Christian, but I find the story of Thomas a Becket moving, and I like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Jean Anouilh's play Becket.
Visiting stone circles always feels like a pilgrimage to me. They are beautiful and numinous places, and some archaeologists think they were made to represent a microcosm of the landscape.
Landscape itself, the wild places, are a place of pilgrimage for me; that’s where I go to feel renewed and refreshed.
I also think that places where people have made a connection with the numinous are special. As T S Eliot wrote in Little Gidding,
You are here to kneelOf course, I also regard visiting Unitarian churches as a pilgrimage—they are shrines of religious freedom, a testament to the courage of our Unitarian forebears.
Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more
Than an order of words, the conscious occupation
Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying.
Yvonne Aburrow
Reflecting on the Bible
Recently the Unitarian Christian Association held a seminar on “Bible poverty” - reflecting on the fact that many Unitarian communities no longer refer to the Bible as a source text. This is a shame, because it is part of our heritage, and we need to reclaim it from the fundamentalists and conservatives who have hijacked it in recent decades.
The Bible is a book (or better, a collection of books) with different authors, all of whom seem to have had very different ideas about God, and what God wants. The earlier books of the Bible have YHWH demanding blood smeared on the horns of his altar; then the prophets bemoan the hard-heartedness of Israel and their inability to just be nice to people for a change (see Amos 5:24 for example). The theology expressed by Jesus is quite different from that of Paul, which is different again from James and Peter. All this is well-documented by liberal biblical criticism.
Even Richard Dawkins says we should regard the Bible as a work of literature. Quite right - it is a work of literature, and has just as many insights into human nature as any other pre-modern work of literature.
I do not literally believe the cosmological accounts given in the Bible. They are metaphors, just as Pagan creation myths are metaphors. I also don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus, but I do think his mythology is a version of the stories of other Middle-Eastern dying-and-resurrecting vegetation gods, and if you read it as mythology, it is a good account of the archetypal experiences of the human psyche (the death of the ego and resurrection of the greater self, as outlined in the Hero Journey).
The method I use for interpreting the Bible is to compare it with the wisdom texts of other spiritual traditions. If you read what Jesus and other prophets said in the light of what the Buddha said, or what Lao Tsu said, it makes a lot more sense. Personally I find it easier to read the Buddha and Lao-Tsu, because I don't have to filter out the noise of conservative interpretations of Jesus' thoughts that I was brought up with. But this doesn't mean that the Bible is worthless. It means that if you're going to read it, you should read it carefully to see if its ethical guidance resonates with your own experience. And if it doesn't, then reject it. It's not a supernaturally inspired book, it's a document of the spiritual journeys of its authors, and should be read as such.
As the Buddha said,
The Bible is a book (or better, a collection of books) with different authors, all of whom seem to have had very different ideas about God, and what God wants. The earlier books of the Bible have YHWH demanding blood smeared on the horns of his altar; then the prophets bemoan the hard-heartedness of Israel and their inability to just be nice to people for a change (see Amos 5:24 for example). The theology expressed by Jesus is quite different from that of Paul, which is different again from James and Peter. All this is well-documented by liberal biblical criticism.
Even Richard Dawkins says we should regard the Bible as a work of literature. Quite right - it is a work of literature, and has just as many insights into human nature as any other pre-modern work of literature.
I do not literally believe the cosmological accounts given in the Bible. They are metaphors, just as Pagan creation myths are metaphors. I also don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus, but I do think his mythology is a version of the stories of other Middle-Eastern dying-and-resurrecting vegetation gods, and if you read it as mythology, it is a good account of the archetypal experiences of the human psyche (the death of the ego and resurrection of the greater self, as outlined in the Hero Journey).
The method I use for interpreting the Bible is to compare it with the wisdom texts of other spiritual traditions. If you read what Jesus and other prophets said in the light of what the Buddha said, or what Lao Tsu said, it makes a lot more sense. Personally I find it easier to read the Buddha and Lao-Tsu, because I don't have to filter out the noise of conservative interpretations of Jesus' thoughts that I was brought up with. But this doesn't mean that the Bible is worthless. It means that if you're going to read it, you should read it carefully to see if its ethical guidance resonates with your own experience. And if it doesn't, then reject it. It's not a supernaturally inspired book, it's a document of the spiritual journeys of its authors, and should be read as such.
As the Buddha said,
“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”Yvonne Aburrow
Bristol Interfaith Group
‘Bristol Celebrates’
A Festival linking Faiths, Cultures and Communities
Bristol is home to a vibrant range of communities, each with their own unique customs and cultures, celebrations and history. ‘Bristol Celebrates’ will bring together the different cultures and faiths that make Bristol such a special place to live. There will be an exciting and diverse programme of workshops, guest speakers, music, performance, exhibitions, displays and food on offer throughout the day.
The venue is The City Academy, Russell Town Avenue, Lawrence Hill, Bristol, BS5 9JH.
More details (PDF)
A Festival linking Faiths, Cultures and Communities
Bristol is home to a vibrant range of communities, each with their own unique customs and cultures, celebrations and history. ‘Bristol Celebrates’ will bring together the different cultures and faiths that make Bristol such a special place to live. There will be an exciting and diverse programme of workshops, guest speakers, music, performance, exhibitions, displays and food on offer throughout the day.
The venue is The City Academy, Russell Town Avenue, Lawrence Hill, Bristol, BS5 9JH.
More details (PDF)
Harvest
On fields o'er which the reaper's hand has pass'd
Lit by the harvest moon and autumn sun,
My thoughts like stubble floating in the wind
And of such fineness as October airs,
There after harvest could I glean my life
A richer harvest reaping without toil,
And weaving gorgeous fancies at my will
In subtler webs than finest summer haze.
by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Thoreau was a Transcendentalist, a member of the group of writers whose impact on 19th century Unitarianism was profound and, at the time, controversial. Subsequent generations of Unitarians embraced Transcendentalist views of the Divine.
Lit by the harvest moon and autumn sun,
My thoughts like stubble floating in the wind
And of such fineness as October airs,
There after harvest could I glean my life
A richer harvest reaping without toil,
And weaving gorgeous fancies at my will
In subtler webs than finest summer haze.
by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Thoreau was a Transcendentalist, a member of the group of writers whose impact on 19th century Unitarianism was profound and, at the time, controversial. Subsequent generations of Unitarians embraced Transcendentalist views of the Divine.
Floods in Pakistan
For many of us, the reality of the disasters affecting so many in different parts of the world are beyond our understanding. It is easy to feel so helpless in the face of the enormity of world tragedies. I am reminded of the words of Edward Hale:
I am only oneYou can donate to charities helping to relieve the suffering in Pakistan at www.dec.org.uk
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.
Great Hucklow in the Summer
24 to 26 June 2011
Many of you know that the Unitarians have a national conference and holiday centre in Derbyshire; the Nightingale Centre. For the last two years the Bristol Unitarian Group has had a weekend outing (Friday – Sunday). This was an important time for those who came to spend a relaxed time together as well as meeting Unitarians from other parts of the country. But it is a weekend a long way from here and so together with the cost of the accommodation [full board] and coach, this can come to around £150. Those of us who have been for a few times know that this is money well spent! We are hoping that more of our chapel members would like to come next year. The weekend is a very relaxed affair with good food, log fires if necessary, meeting Unitarians from different parts, optional activities including a trip to a local attraction/stately home, games and conversation, etc.
Many of you know that the Unitarians have a national conference and holiday centre in Derbyshire; the Nightingale Centre. For the last two years the Bristol Unitarian Group has had a weekend outing (Friday – Sunday). This was an important time for those who came to spend a relaxed time together as well as meeting Unitarians from other parts of the country. But it is a weekend a long way from here and so together with the cost of the accommodation [full board] and coach, this can come to around £150. Those of us who have been for a few times know that this is money well spent! We are hoping that more of our chapel members would like to come next year. The weekend is a very relaxed affair with good food, log fires if necessary, meeting Unitarians from different parts, optional activities including a trip to a local attraction/stately home, games and conversation, etc.
From the Minister
Time Flies By
I can't decide whether the seasons have changed since I was a child, or is it just my perception of them? Walking around, even now in mid August, I seem to be shuffling through fallen leaves and seed heads from trees, and sensing that Autumn chill and perfume in the air. Yet as a child, August was summer time – holiday time - which seemed to go on forever. This feeling of autumn and even winter is encouraged by visiting my mum in her care home. Recently she has been making Christmas cards in a craft group.. help! And I have just phoned The Nightingale Centre to find out prices for our summer weekend away next June..[24th -26th] Details inside… I do hope that many of you will be able to come...especially as two of our much missed friends, Alison Short and Olga Jennings are hoping to join us. I hope they are settling well into their new lives.
Perhaps you too are thinking ahead, making plans and deciding what different paths to take in the future months...... Perhaps we as a church need to start thinking differently about the way we do things… A certain supermarket has as its slogan; “Try something new today.” I wonder if this is an appropriate message for us when looking at our community life… our future together…
Andy Pakula, minister at Newington Green has written these words:
I can't decide whether the seasons have changed since I was a child, or is it just my perception of them? Walking around, even now in mid August, I seem to be shuffling through fallen leaves and seed heads from trees, and sensing that Autumn chill and perfume in the air. Yet as a child, August was summer time – holiday time - which seemed to go on forever. This feeling of autumn and even winter is encouraged by visiting my mum in her care home. Recently she has been making Christmas cards in a craft group.. help! And I have just phoned The Nightingale Centre to find out prices for our summer weekend away next June..[24th -26th] Details inside… I do hope that many of you will be able to come...especially as two of our much missed friends, Alison Short and Olga Jennings are hoping to join us. I hope they are settling well into their new lives.
Perhaps you too are thinking ahead, making plans and deciding what different paths to take in the future months...... Perhaps we as a church need to start thinking differently about the way we do things… A certain supermarket has as its slogan; “Try something new today.” I wonder if this is an appropriate message for us when looking at our community life… our future together…
Andy Pakula, minister at Newington Green has written these words:
“May we have the insight to recognise that our work lies not in preservation but in renewal Not in perpetuation of old ways, but in new incarnations of eternal values Not in controlling and confining our tradition, but in giving it wings to fly.”See you all soon.... warm wishes... Lindy
Meditation Group
The meditation group meets fortnightly at Frenchay Chapel
6.15 to 7.45 pm—all welcome
11 October 2010
25 October 2010
8 November 2010
22 November 2010
6 December 2010
20 December 2010
3 January 2011
6.15 to 7.45 pm—all welcome
11 October 2010
25 October 2010
8 November 2010
22 November 2010
6 December 2010
20 December 2010
3 January 2011
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