Welcome to Bristol and Frenchay Unitarians
We are pleased you have found us.
We are small but busy loving community. Welcome if you are coming to us for the first time, and welcome still if you are visiting once or again. We’d like to let you know that our doors are open as you look to explore faith, spirituality, religion and belief. Welcome to you if have come from another faith tradition or from no faith tradition at all.
Bristol and Frenchay Unitarian community has two places of meeting: our inner city meeting just off the city centre, and our rural chapel situated in the beautiful surroundings of Frenchay Common and the picturesque Village of Frenchay, just outside of Bristol.
We as Unitarians believe that there is a search for the meaning of the divine, and that we seek the divine in all people together as we search for the answers. Here in our Unitarian community we are not a dogmatic or prescriptive faith. We search in a way best understood by you, and we welcome each other’s questions and hold in sacred value all that we find together.
Here is what we have open to you - not only do we have a Sunday form of gathering and worship - we have a little more than that, with the hope that all will feel that they can grow in religious and spiritual dignity.
We have a monthly in-person and on-line engagement group exploring spirituality, this is called the Rainbow Path. In this time together we hold a sacred space of enquiry and peace. We talk as a group about all that matters. This is led by two facilitators and a variety of co-leaders from both of our gatherings.
We believe that creating a time and space that is different and accessible from what we have on a Sunday is important for the growth of people, so we can broaden our spiritual realties. We also have a programme of different gatherings led by people from both of our meeting places. Whether it’s a discussion group, yoga, meditation or times of ritual and celebration from other traditions, we have something for you, we hope.
We also have an annual retreat in the beautiful and picturesque surroundings of the Llangasty Retreat Centre in South Wales. This is also led by facilitators from both our gatherings. We believe safe sacred space is important in all that our community is and can be, as we search for meaning together.
At Bristol Unitarians we believe everyone has a unique voice and a special vision. We are all different ages and backgrounds and all are welcome.
- The leaders of the sessions are experienced people who have not only been in the community for a long time, but some our members are also facilitators as part of their paid work and from teaching backgrounds within education.
- Some have come from other faith denominations and some from a ministry background.
- We have an inclusive ministry whereby we believe in embracing and nurturing faith one to another and being there to sow and cultivate a place of sacred hospitality.
- We are proud to a place where we celebrate same-sex union.
- We also have national events that are held around the country, where many congregations meet at an annual conference called the General Assembly. We have various meetings in different regions too. Our communities are part of the Southwest Region, known at The Western Union (nothing to do with money transfers).
- We also have a national Unitarian Conference Centre in Derbyshire called the Nightingale Centre. One annual event which takes place here is the Unitarian Summer School, which is a week of sacred community and engagement in a conference setting. We gather there together in an environment that is crafted to foster exploration and discussion in faith and belief. The conference centre is set in the picturesque countryside village of Great Hucklow in the Derbyshire Peak District.
Our governance
Unitarians as a group
The group is a joint committee of representatives from both meetings. All our meetings are open to observers. These meetings are part of the formal business aspect of finances, forward planning and the growth or our community and worship.
The chapels as individual meetings
Unitarian meeting Bristol and Frenchay Chapel are two separate charities. Therefore, we have several meetings during the year as we are a charity and handle money. Both charities are registered with the Charity Commission. Our accounts are published and submitted to the Commission.
Both chapels have a Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. This is a legal requirement to satisfy our charitable status . This doesn’t represent a hierarchy.
Trustees
We have a committee of trustees for both chapel buildings. Having trustees is part of the Charity Commission requirements. The trustees are there to ensure the buildings are kept up and maintained, kept in a safe state of repair and are kept in keeping with their listed status. This is also supervised where needed by English Heritage.
Chapel Committees
Both chapels have a committee to ensure the general running of the meeting and to oversee finances and guide the growth of the congregation, its worship, and its spiritual learning and development.
Safeguarding
We have a safeguarding contact in both congregations. If there was a concern, they are the point of contact.
Our Worship and Music
First and foremost we do not have a creedal or denominational practice, therefore we do not have a Vicar, Priest, Deacon or Bishop. We are a non-hierarchical community.
We have a gathering (service) every Sunday morning at 10:30am at Frenchay and on the 2nd and 4th Sundays in the month at 5pm at Unitarian Meeting Bristol (also known as UMB). Our gatherings (services) are not like a traditional Christian service or Mass. At Unitarians this is where we differ - our gatherings are usually taken on a theme for instance “stepping through faith – living in truth.”
This will be assembled by the leader for worship that day and might contain material from other faith traditions, and include a unitarian insight to make it tangible. Our gatherings (services) are taken by congregational members, visiting worship leaders from the region, or a current or retired Unitarian Minister. There are occasions where we have visiting speakers from other denominations, schools of thought and faith traditions too.
We have two hymn books: Hymns for Living and Sing your Faith. This is where we differ again - our hymn books contain a rich variety of Unitarian theology through song, as well as hymns from other faith traditions. They explore a variety of subjects, looking, for example, at nature and humanity. What might be familiar is the tunes - some will be familiar form schooldays or where you may have been to church before. Many of our hymns also have their own original tunes though. We have a variety sung responses, gathering chants and introits. These may be used every so often. We also have some music composed and hymns written in-house.
Engagement and discussion groups
Growth is something that is important to us. As mentioned above, there are separate times to Sunday worship throughout the month when various groups, which are led by members, help us to grow in our individual spiritual explorations as well as together as community. These groups will usually focus on a subject as a theme, for example “how does nature speak with us and our faith?”. Engagement groups are another way to connect with each other, and it is also a space for people to meet who cannot make or do not come to Sunday worship. It is important to us that us that we create and cultivate a place where all can access joining in community.
These times of meeting are held in a safe and gentle way, where you take part in as much or as little as feels comfortable. All of these are announced in the weekly email.
Text for this page was kindly written by our UMB Chair Karl Stewart, January 2024.
