Samhain and All Souls

A service at Frenchay Chapel, Bristol.

In ancient times, Samhain was a festival of liberation from oppression; nowadays it is celebrated as a festival of ancestors and is viewed as a time when the veil between the worlds is thin. It is influenced by the Christian festival of All Saints and All Souls, also known as All Hallows, from which Hallowe'en gets its name - the Eve of All Hallows.

You are invited to think of a loved one who has passed on whom you would like to remember. It would be great if you could bring a photo of them to place on the altar, and a brief reminiscence about them to share. Candles will be provided to light for them.

Spiritually, the onset of winter is a time for introspection and reflection.

The service will start at 10.30. Coffee will be served afterwards.

October Newsletter

From the Minister

Dear Friends,

I have recently returned from a walking holiday in Northumberland and Yorkshire. I shared this time with a friend of mine who is a Baptist minister in Mansfield. Although our beliefs and faith are expressed differently in some of the language we use, and the way we conduct worship, there is something so basic and good that informs our core values and principles. The bottom line: How we live our lives and support each other (those we know and don't know) through love and action.

During this shared time we stayed in two very different Christian retreat communities/houses. One was way out in the wilds where people came to stay for personal retreat time or to help out in the garden/kitchen. Prayers in the wooden chapel four times a day provided a gentle, simple and “holding” routine for those who had come to rest and renew.

Although clearly “Mainstream Christian” in the worship and language used (which I sometimes found challenging), this time reminded me that it is not so important what we believe as how our beliefs inform the way we live in relationship with each other. Good Unitarian principles, I know. But I need to be reminded of this to prevent my sometimes over-critical mind getting in the way of seeing the person behind all the barriers we can construct..

Looking forward to being with you all this Autumn.

Lindy

Pilgrimages

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,

You are here to kneel
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.

Of 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.

Yvonne Aburrow

Women’s League

Several members met at the chapel on Wednesday 18 August for a cup of tea. It was good to see June, who  was finally able to take a break from marking exam papers. Glen talked of the need to build up the flower fund.  Flower providers are entitled to claim reimbursement - loose change is always welcome on Sundays. Olga has now  moved to Kelvedon, Essex. We all wished her well.

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.

~ Susan Wildman