Issue 8067

THE

INQUIRER £1 | Issue 8067 | 16 September 2023

Inside this issue…

Turn faith to activism Unitarian spotting in the wild An affirmation of gratefulness

www.inquirer.org.uk

The voice of British and Irish Unitarians and Free Christians

If Doris ruled the (Unitarian) world Dorothy Haughton’s guide to being a practically perfect congregation

THE

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www.unitarian.org.uk Page 2 | Issue 8067 – 16 September 2023

Inquiring Words…

“Everyone can look inside his or her soul and decide what he or she can do to make a world at peace, to end this fighting that goes on every day around the world.”

Ruth Gruber

Choose Fairtrade

A hymn sung to the tune of ‘Suo-gan’ Tea, bananas, honey, coffee.

Change today and choose Fairtrade.

Poor producers all will tell you What a difference it has made.

Fairer prices, longer contracts, Extra payments help them plan.

Features of a fairer system That respects our fellow man.

Multinationals squeezing prices, Corporate insanity.

Do they really thing that this will really Benefit humanity?

All the trading rules and practice Testify to human greed.

Wanting change must make me willing To supply my neighbour’s need.

All my fathers may be guilty Of creating poverty.

All my children will inherit Fruits of inequality.

Noble words and abject sorrow Little difference has made.

We can help by taking action Keep campaigning, Buy Fairtrade.

Sue Good

Correction: An advertisement which appeared in the 2 September issue of The Inquirer for the upcoming National Unitarian Fellowship conference at Cross Street Chapel had incorrect registration information.

The correct details appear in a new version of the advert, which appears on page 8 of this issue.

Doris the columnist gets a few things off her chest

If I ruled the (Unitarian) world In order to be a practically perfect congregation, I have long believed that just putting ‘Freedom, Reason and Tolerance’ on your headed paper is not enough. I think that if you are a Unitarian, or indeed a Catholic or a Methodist or a member of the Church of the Sacred Kipper, you should regularly examine your faith and check that you are living up to it in every aspect of your life.

People say, ‘I don’t want to comFairtrade plain.’ But I do want to complain Anne Mills (our 2022-23 GA pres“You would have thought and I am going to complain. There ident) has been pointing out the might be the possibility that I could advantages of Fairtrade for years. that Unitarians would be thrown out of my church. HowSue Good has written a splendid have leapt on the green ever, I doubt anybody there reads hymn, printed on page 2, which is my articles. I may be safe. It is, of sung to the lovely tune, Suo-Gan, bandwagon with little course, perfectly possible that no that is not, I think, in any of our cries of joy. Recycling all one reads my articles though somehymn books but which is certainly times people comment on Upper on YouTube. their plastics as plant pot Pocklington – the fictionalised conNow, my church has a little notice liners.” gregation I frequently lampoon in which says ‘We are a Fair Trade The Inquirer. (Incidentally, I thought Temple’ beneath which I found a jar I had made this name up but there is of Nescafé. Now I haven’t bought a Pocklington, to the inhabitants of a Nescafé product since the breast which I now apologise. I do not mean you!) I have written, milk scandal some 50 years ago. ‘Child labour, unethical at the last count, 54 Inquirer columns. I try to be as obpromotion, manipulating uneducated mothers, pollution, jectionable as possible but to no avail. Perhaps this time I price fixing and mislabelling – those are not words you shall enrage some people enough to write in to the editor. want to see associated with your company. Nestlé is the world’s largest foodstuff company, and it has a history that would make even hardcore industrialists shiver,’ says Declutter ZMwE, a science news website (https://www.zmescience.

Many years ago Neville Kenyon (former Unitarian Gencom). Don’t take my word for it. Check it for yourself. eral Assembly (GA) president) inveighed against dirty My church now has large-sized cans of Clipper coffee, caff churches stocked high with old rotten curtains, out-ofand decaf. (Other Fairtrade brands are available.) Fairdate hymn books (Hymns of Worship Blue Revised, anytrade sugar is easily available so that is my next target and body?) which was a pretty fair description of my church then I’ll go for the tea. if you add to the mix unopened letters from the GA and Is your church Fairtrade? If not, why not? We used to numbers on the hymn board that were yellow with age. I have a lovely little Fairtrade shop just up the road from hope lots of you looked round and cleaned up. the church from which I occasionally brought food and Continued on page 6 > www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 3

Julio Torres says it’s time we got organised

Turn good intentions into powerful action John Haynes Holmes and James Luther Adams were both revered Unitarians who spoke about community organising for the betterment of all people (http://tinyurl.com/LutherAdams), spoke explicitly about the power of voluntary organisations in a democracy, and how a religion should play its part. ‘It is through group participation that sensitivity and commitment to values are given institutional expression. It is through groups that social power is organised. It is through groups that community needs are brought to the focus that affects public policy.

‘It is through groups that the culturCitizens UK campaigns. We Unitaral atmosphere of a community and a ians are – to a large extent – a privnation is created.’ ileged group. We are in a position “Unitarians need to There was one famous religious figto use every ounce of our resources ure who attended Unitarian services (human, financial and spiritual) to be a part of change and considered becoming a Unitarhelp make change throughout the that directly impacts ian Universalist: the Rev Dr Martin nation.

Luther King Jr. He listened to peoUnitarians need to be a part of the lives of people – ple to hear what issues they faced, change that directly impacts the not just by passing and gathered groups around the US lives of people – not just by passing to form the Poor People’s Camresolutions. We need something resolutions. ” paign. He worked towards the Ecomore ongoing, monthly or more nomic and Social Bill of Rights. It frequent engagement. We must was a spiritual engagement with the ask ourselves: what problems do we political, but remaining non-partihave as individuals? What problems san, an effort to influence politicians and corporations to do our neighbours have? When we come together with support a human rights narrative. our neighbours, we can see what it takes to make the I believe we Unitarians need to engage more widely in change. systemic change to bring about long-term impacts for all residents in the UK – starting with the poor, and the Build power in alliances oppressed. We need to listen to refugees (who may ask We must build up power that is in alliance with other faith for child support or more frequent ESOL classes for those groups, non-profits and charities which align with our who have English as a second language), to homeless values. That’s called relational power which is different people (who need an address to access most government to traditional dominant power as seen in the police, the funds and charities), to those with inadequate housing or wealthy and other power structures. It promotes the value bad landlords (who have mould and ineffective insulation, of ‘love in action’. That love which moves us to end povercausing serious health issues and sky high energy bills). ty, racism, sexism, war, and the climate crisis (the major effort of the Poor People’s Campaign in the US). To make this change without revolution requires democratic Listen first power across all lines of identity. To be effective, we must We need to listen to all of those unable to make a real, embrace community organising. We must plan and make living wage and afford basic living costs. concrete demands of those in power. With one voice (as I attended a Citizens UK workshop in North London and a faith group and with those we are allied with) we can these examples were all brought up by people who know demand changes of existing policy, legislation and norms. and experience them. Nationally, these are reflected in Page 4 | Issue 8067 – 16 September 2023

Shown above: Poor People’s Campaigners marched in 1968.

Photo by Warren K Leffler via Wikimedia Commons

We organise grassroots (bottom-up) as we demand topdown change.

As Citizens UK said in their membership proposal for London Unitarians: Citizens UK is a national charity which uses community organising methods to create local, regional and national change. From the Living Wage to migration and refugee projects, to supporting parents in the community, from green jobs to community-backed housing, we work on issues which our members are affected by and care about. Over the last thirty years we have won £1.6bn in additional wages for low paid workers, ended child detention for immigration purposes, secured an amnesty of ‘legacy cases’ for 160,000 asylum applicants as well as winning many victories at the local and regional level. We build power with people so that together we can move from the world as it is towards the world as it should be.

Build power for change That last line is key: building power to make change. As Unitarians, we have voiced our stance on matters of social justice. Our flaming chalice is a symbol which stood against fascism, and many of our congregations do our part to build a better world. Community organising is a powerful way to go about this. The success with Citizens UK is evident in their victories as well as growth from an East London organisation in 1989 to the influential nationwide group it is today.

The economic and social bill of rights demanded by the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr and the Poor People’s Campaign made six concrete asks to the US at a national level, which included (http://tinyurl.com/PoorPeoples): 1. A meaningful job at a living wage for every employable citizen.

2. A secure and adequate income for all who cannot find jobs or for whom employment is inappropriate.

3. Access to land as a means to income and livelihood.

4. Access to capital as a means of full participation in the economic life of America.

5. Recognition by law of the right of people affected by government programs to play a truly significant role in determining how they are designed and carried out.

In this country, the organisation I find seeking a similar level of change is Citizens UK. At a local level, county level and national levels, they make demands on business owners, landlords and corporations. They have a lot to teach us. The five steps of community organising are

listening (your local congregations and neighbourhood), research, planning, actions and negotiation. It’s a cycle.

And while we Unitarians have been good at research and individual action, we don’t come together often as a national-level entity, except for our General Assembly’s annual meetings.

Citizens UK could be a partner Joining Citizens UK requires a financial contribution; it requires us to engage with one to three of their campaigns as a congregation; requires us to engage with our local community; and – with a general election coming up – requires a nationwide campaign to influence political manifestos to reflect the demands of the poor and oppressed.

Jesus was all about grassroots organising. ‘Blessed are the poor, for the realm of sky is theirs’ as said in the gospel of Thomas (54:1). In Luke’s gospel – it’s good news to the poor, liberty to the captives and freedom to the oppressed (4:18-19). A solid anti-imperial agenda which is still relevant in post-empire Britain. The universe may, indeed, in its long arc bend toward justice (the Rev Theodore Parker, Unitarian minister), and at the minimum we know that all humans deserve a decent quality of life. I ask you all to look into Citizens UK: www.citizensuk.org.

New Unity, Unitarian congregation in Lewisham, is hosting a meeting to discuss London Unitarians involvement with Citizens UK on 21 September at 7pm. All are welcome to attend to learn more about our involvement with Citizens UK and hear from organisers. Please contact Julio Torres at juliouu4equality@gmail.com if you would like to attend in person or on Zoom. Reach out to me if you have questions, and join us on Zoom with Citizens UK. In the spirit of this publication, I hope you all inquire about Citizens UK and how your congregation can join. (For those curious about a theology of community organising, check out this article: http://tinyurl.com/UUorganising)

Julio Torres Julio Torres is minister with Lewisham Unity, a London Unitarian congregation. (Unitarian General Assembly photo)

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 5

The wisdom of Doris the first Continued from page 3 >

Policies When I was a teacher, policies “If you say that your became the in thing. You had language policies, handwriting policies, church is open to all, child-safety policies. You could not Resist plastic (and ‘give a crap’) it must not only be put up a poster saying, ‘We are a Another front on which I am atFairtrade Temple’ or anything else; tacking is plastic. I am replacing accessible. People need you had to have a policy. Policies cleaning stuffs with bio-degradable to be able to hear/see/ are not, you understand, rules. They options. Try ‘Peace With the Wild’ are guidelines; they say, ‘This is how or ‘conscious cleaning’. (Others go to the toilet/have a we do it here.’ So important were are available, etc, etc.) Oh yes. coffee.” policies that we had a policy expert And how long has the Rev Claire come to talk to us and tell us how MacDonald been telling us about to do it properly. Now you can have a fairer, cleaner world in her Rising one person draw up a policy or sevGreen column? You would have eral people draw up a policy but it must be no longer than thought that Unitarians would have leapt on the green one side of A4 and there must be a section at the bottom bandwagon with little cries of joy. Recycling all their plaslaying out when, how often and by whom the policy is to tics as plant pot liners. be assessed.

Perhaps you do. Please write in and let us know. It would All churches, I am sure, have policies that are either imbe wonderful if in the next edition The Inquirer reported posed from above or self-evident. You need some form of 100 letters from congregations all proclaiming the fair trade, plastic-free message. Some, (Yippee!) adding things maintenance programme if the building is not to fall down and you must have some sort of protection policy usually I hadn’t thought of. with a safeguarding officer. Many churches have expanded I do hope you and your church are all using ‘Who Gives their safeguarding policy to include all congregants, peoA Crap’ toilet paper. Yes, it’s a horrible name but, which ple with disabilities – visible or invisible – people of differother toilet paper supports toilets worldwide? ‘We started ent races or creeds.

“Who Gives A Crap” when we learnt that 2.4 billion peoIf you say that your church is open to all, it must not ple don’t have access to a toilet (now 2 billion – yay for only be accessible. People need to be able to hear/see/ progress!). That’s roughly 40% of the global population go to the toilet/have a coffee. Again, most churches have and means that around 289,000 children under 5 die probably got this sorted though they may not have writevery year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That’s almost 800 children per day, or one ten it down. You should. And there should be a bit at the bottom about when and how often .But you do need other child every two minutes.

‘We thought that was pretty crap. So in July 2012, Simon, policies.

Jehan and Danny launched “Who Gives A Crap” with a crowdfunding campaign… Simon sat on a toilet in our Bullying draughty warehouse and refused to move until we had Many years ago Jane Dwinell, a Unitarian Universalist raised enough pre-orders to start production. Fifty hours minister and author of Big Ideas for Small Congregations, and one cold bottom later, we’d raised over $50,000.’ published an article on how to welcome newcomers. She wrote, ‘permit no bad behaviour’. At the time I wrote, ‘Ask gifts and cards to sell. They had a very good ‘sale or return’ policy. Do you do that?

Page 6 | Issue 8067 – 16 September 2023

the congregation to consider what such behaviour could be and then discuss how such behaviour could be dealt with in a way that will not make the offender feel that they are about to be excommunicated.

‘If the church is to deal with bad behaviour it is important that it is clear that the behaviour – not the behaver – is at fault. An open discussion like this should help, if someone has to be asked to change their behaviour, to mitigate feelings of resentment and hurt.’ You need – at least – to have a discussion. And, of course, it is not just bad behaviour. I remember with considerable fondness a member of the congregation who could not wait for the kettle to boil so we were served lukewarm coffee and tepid tea when her turn on the refreshment rota came round. We should have told her but, ‘We don’t like to criticise’. It is not criticism but it is easier to say, ‘Nancy darling, please let the kettle boil,’ if you have previously discussed inappropriate behaviours.

Oh yes we do Sheila Martin gave the Unitarian General Assembly’s John Relly Beard lecture on bullying of ministers by the congregation. Afterwards the Rev John Clifford, gave a sermon on the subject at the Glasgow Unitarian church.

He said of the lecture, ‘It was a look at uses and abuses of power in congregations from the perspective of abuse of ministers, but the actual abusive practices were also done by ministers and between lay people. An abusive practice is not a one-off event, but a pattern and worryingly, several familiar patterns were mentioned, patterns I’ve seen at all levels of Unitarian practice over the years.’ My friend Liz and I tried to get churches interested in talking about bullying with a singular lack of success. We are Unitarians.

We don’t do such things. Oh yes we do. I was bullied in my church and know others, including ministers, who were bullied in theirs. You really, really do need a section to include bullying.

So, please don’t say it doesn’t happen. It does happen and it happens in Unitarian churches. It happened to me. In my church I learnt that a previous minister had been driven to a nervous breakdown and forced to retire. I learned that the contest for leadership had led, almost, to fisticuffs over coffee. I learned that a greatly loved minister had left because s/he could no longer bear the tension. And then I arrived. I tried to embed myself in the congregation, determined to do my all to help preserve and promulgate the movement that I loved. I came home week after week in tears and my husband said: “I thought Unitarianism was a religion?” One day I found myself on the pavement outside the church sobbing and left. And when I wrote, but more discretely, about this in a Doris Column, I received emails from people who had been through the same traumatic process. Do something now!

All churches – and indeed societies, social groups, etc,

anywhere where people gather, can have problems with bullying. Just do a bit of Googling. There are stories, books, best practices available for churches. And, Sheila Martin’s book, A Guilty Secret: The bullying of ministers in the church is a good place to start.

Welcoming I also remember Helen Mason, director of Unitarian College, asking us ‘What you would do if, suddenly, 20 extra people started coming on a regular basis: 15 adults – one blind, one using a wheelchair, one hard of hearing, three children aged 6, 9 and 13, two babies?’ Your congregation does have large-print hymn books I hope? And a toy basket? Do you need, if not a policy, then at least a discussion?

Some churches have greeters who may well serve on a rota like refreshment organisers and flower arrangers.

Does your church have a greeter or a greetings policy?

My mum was brilliant. She found out the name of the new person and where they were from. She pointed to my dad and said, ‘You can sit anywhere in the church but if you like you can sit with us. That’s my husband over there.’

She would then introduce them to other people over coffee.

I remember someone getting very aerated about the casual way in which service leaders suddenly introduced The Lord’s Prayer without checking that everyone actually knew it. Perhaps you could put it into the hymn books along with Spirit of Life or anything else you are wont to sing.

A very good place to start But, now, back to where I started: compared to much of the above, a Fairtrade policy is simple: We shall always use Fairtrade coffee, tea and sugar.

Mrs A is responsible for buying it.

Mr B for checking when new supplies are needed.

Ms C will look into the possibility of a Fairtrade stall.

Mx D will organise a Fairtrade bake-off .

Sorted.

Dorothy Haughton Dorothy Haughton writes a column for The Inquirer as her alter-ego, ‘Doris’, a congregant of the imaginary Upper Pocklington Church, where members don’t always meet Doris’s high standards.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 7

The National Unitarian Fellowship One-Day Conference Programme 10.00 - 10.30.

10.30 - 11.00.

11.00 - 11.30.

11.30 - 12.30.

12.30 - 13.30.

13.30 - 14.15.

15.15 - 15.30.

15.30

Registration and coffee Welcome to Cross St Chapel and opening devotion Introduction to the NUF Workshop ‘Sharing how we Unitarians inspire and share our values’ Helen Mason, Director, Unitarian College Lunch Teaching ethics, religion and morals in a post-church age.’

Linda Woodhead, MBE. FBA F.D. Maurice Professor - Head of Department Theology and Religious Studies Kings College, London Closing session Epilogue

Cross Street Chapel Manchester, M2 1NL Saturday 7th October 2023 Cost £10 Includes buffet lunch and refreshments.

Pay online or at the door.

Registration necessary Email: nuf@nufonline.org.uk (If you attempted to register on the NUF website, please also send an email to the address above.)

Sponsored Page

Spotting Unitarians in the wild The view from our kitchen window is of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, the longest in Britain. Almost every day children are taken there to feed the swans and mallards.

Canals have been transformed from drab, industrial back alleys into 2,000 miles of pleasant, healthy paths and waterways where we can freely walk, jog, cycle or chug along in a narrowboat. Concern is growing about government budget cuts to the Canal & River Trust, with the hope that volunteers will step in. Ministerial colleague Jeffrey Bowes is one such, and Celia Midgley (my wife) recently lamented the cuts in a letter published in our local paper.

I like the thought that canals constitute a linear national park. Among those who promoted their construction in the 18th century was Unitarian pottery-maker Josiah Wedgwood. He recognised their value as a smooth, pothole-free means of transporting chinaware. Which leads me into… * * * Unitarian spotter’s corner: 1 I’m sure many Unitarians have visited the delightful gardens owned by the Royal Horticultural Society. Dipping into the biography, Emma Darwin by Edna Healey (2001), I was fascinated to explore the complex family network of Charles Darwin and its links to the Wedgwoods. She describes how Josiah’s family, ‘his children, grandchildren (including Emma, who married Charles Darwin) would carry on Josiah’s fight for humanitarian causes, in particular for the abolition of slavery; they all inherited the family’s Unitarian beliefs, traditions and attitudes.’

Josiah’s eldest son John was a keen gardener, and wrote to William Forsyth, gardener to King George III, suggesting the formation of a Royal Horticultural Society. ‘There is a society for the encouragement of the arts, and another for agriculture, but none for horticulture.’ In March 1804, the inaugural meeting of the RHS took place in the bookseller Mr Hatchards’ house in Piccadilly, with the 38-year-old John Wedgwood in the chair. Today, his portrait hangs in the RHS’s handsome headquarters building. *** Unitarian spotter’s corner: 2 Thanks go to the Rev Dr Ann Peart for this. In the early 20th century, the Votes for Women campaign was gathering momentum by encouraging women to boycott the 1911 Census. At a meeting in Halifax, Emmeline Pankhurst argued that it was a farce to talk about representative government and act as if women rank as people in the full sense of the word, when they are denied the vote. Therefore, they should ‘refuse to be numbered among the people and advise other women to join them in this protest.’ Emmeline’s speech won enthusiastic support but it also prompted a local Unitarian minister to rise and challenge her ethical argument. ‘In view of the tremen-

FUNNY OLD WORLD

By John Midgley

dous moral and social significance of a correct census, was it moral to withhold information that later might do good for legislation?’ Mrs Pankhurst rebutted him robustly: ‘The greatest moral wrong I know in modern civilisation is the tyranny exercised over women!’

The minister was the Rev WL Schroeder, from the nowclosed Northgate End Unitarian Chapel, Halifax. Unitarian College Manchester, where Ann Peart was principal, has a Schroeder Memorial Prize. So, I wonder, which side would Ann have taken in the Census versus Votes for Women debate? * * * Unitarian spotter’s corner: 3 We like to count Paul Newman as one of us, so here’s number 3. Some say it is apocryphal. But it has been told in Unitarian pulpits and – on one occasion – by his daughter. So, I found it irresistible.

A Michigan woman and her family were vacationing in a small New England town where Paul Newman and his family often visited. One Sunday morning, the woman got up early to take a long walk. She then decided to treat herself to a double-dip chocolate ice cream cone.

There was only one other patron in the ice cream parlour: Paul Newman, sitting at the counter having a doughnut and coffee. The woman’s heart skipped a beat as her eyes met those famous baby-blue eyes. The actor nodded and the star-struck woman smiled demurely. Pull yourself together! she chided herself.

The clerk filled her order and she took the ice cream cone in one hand and her change in the other. She left, avoiding even a glance in Paul Newman’s direction.

When she reached her car, she realised she had a handful of change, but her other hand was empty. She wondered; where’s my ice cream cone? Back into the shop she went.

No ice cream cone was in sight.

She looked over at Paul Newman. His face broke into his familiar, warm, friendly grin and he said to the woman, ‘You put it in your handbag.’

Editor’s note: The story also appeared in: Hometown Humour, USA: Over 300 Jokes and Stories from Porch Swings, Barber Shops, Corner Cafes, and Beauty Parlours of America, by Loyal Jones. (August House, 1991)

Letter to the Editor A Unitarian in a coronet

Bert Clough Oxford Unitarians

I was most interested in Frank Walker’s article on coronets (Inquirer, 2 September). There might, however, be a leading Unitarian who wore one at the Queen’s coronation in 1953.

Frederick Marquis (shown left), a businessman and minister for food during the Second World War, was ennobled in 1939.

At first, he wanted to be made a marquis. But the powers that be felt it would be a little confusing to be a ‘Marquis Marquis’. So he then opted for the title of Lord Windermere, but his wife objected to this as she didn’t

MINISTERIAL OPPORTUNITY Merseyside Unitarian Ministry Partnership seeks a suitably able and enthusiastic Minister or Lay Person in Charge to serve Park Lane Chapel (in Bryn near Wigan), Cairo Street Chapel (in Warrington) and Matthew Henry Chapel (in Chester).

The appointee will contribute to and be supported by the local District and the Ministry Partnership of six churches which has now been working together for eighteen years. Although serving primarily the three chapels above, the appointee will be supported by, and sometimes collaborate with, the Partnership Minister serving the other three Partnership congregations - Ullet Road Church, Liverpool, Southport Unitarians and Wirral Unitarians.

On appointment a Minister will be paid the GArecommended stipend + 10% with manse allowance. Lay appointees will receive an attractive negotiated package based on their qualifications and experience. Help with removal costs will be available if needed.

To express an interest, Minsters should contact Simon Bland at the GA (sbland@unitarian.org.uk). Lay persons should express an interest by contacting our Secretary, Richard Merritt (richardandhelenmerritt@hotmail. com). An Information Booklet will then be provided, which will include how to make a formal application. All communication will be treated in strictest confidence.

want to be associated with Oscar Wilde’s play Lady Windermere’s Fan. So Frederick agreed for his barony to be linked to the Liverpool suburb where he resided, becoming Lord Woolton. He was then upgraded to be a viscount in 1953 and to an earl two years later.

Editor’s note: See a 1953 photo of Viscount and Viscountess Woolton in their ceremonial robes with coronets here: https://tinyurl.com/ ViscWoolton) Shown left: First Viscount Woolton. Photo

by Yousuf Karsh via Wikimedia Commons

The National Unitarian Fellowship Dorothy Archer Memorial Prizes - 2023 The NUF would like to honour the life and work of our late president, Dorothy Archer. The following information and details regarding annual competitions have been donated from the estate of a well celebrated and generous woman.

The Prize fund has been increased for 2023 Prize £500: Digital innovation on the theme of ‘Technical religion’.

For example, technology supports or substitutes in religious practice, from the rosary bead to the hymn words projected on screens to Zoom and YouTube worship. This prize is offered to an individual or group who can best show how Unitarians can enjoy worship and information whether as individuals in the home or as a community through technology.

Prize £250 A poem, prayer or hymn which best demonstrates Unitarian values in worship Entry is free. Entries should be accompanied by an application form which can be downloaded from the website <nufonline.org.uk/DorothyArcher>

Closing date for entries: 30 November 2023

Note: The National Unitarian Fellowship may use the entries in its publication News & Views and on the NUF website.

For more information email: nuf@nufonline.org.uk

Feargus O’Connor on pleas for peace and humanitarian support

Ukraine needs us

Shown above: Red Cross workers providing aid in Kyiv. Photo

by Maksym Trebukhov for LB.ua/Ukrainian Red Cross

How much blood must still flow for us to realize that war is never a solution, only destruction? In the name of God and in the name of the sense of humanity that dwells in every heart, I renew my call for an immediate ceasefire. Let there be a halt to arms, and let us seek the conditions for negotiations.

Pope Francis

We support the interfaith humanitarian peace appeal, endorsing this urgent plea for peace by Pope Francis and initiated by US peacemakers, including Religions for Peace USA, Pax Christi USA, the American Friends Service Committee, the Quaker United Nations Office in New York and numerous interfaith representatives in the US, and now endorsed by many diverse interfaith voices in the UK and worldwide, including Religions for Peace and Pax Christi International.

It is now feared that over 500,000 Ukrainian and Russian troops have been killed or seriously injured in the war in Ukraine. The exact number of civilians who have lost their lives or suffered life-changing injuries is not accurately known, but is numbered in hundreds of thousands. More than 13,000,000 Ukrainians have fled their homes, millions internally displaced and millions of others living as refugees.

Numerous homes, schools and hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. Water, electricity and other essential facilities have been badly disrupted. Landmines and other devastating weapons are killing many innocent civilians, including innocent child victims.

In response to this unprecedented international crisis endangering so many lives the Unitarian Peace Fellowship, supported by many prominent fellow Unitarians, launched an emergency appeal to succour the victims of war. As the days and weeks pass the humanitarian crisis has becomew ever more urgent.

By donating to the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal you will help Ukrainian victims of war by giving desperately needed aid to hospitals and primary

healthcare facilities, fire fighters and civil protection units, help the Red Cross repair homes, schools and community centres and enable the rebuilding or replacement of Ukraine’s vital infrastructure damaged or destroyed by this devastating war.

If you wish to respond to this urgent appeal please: Call 0300 023 0820 Visit redcross.org.uk/Ukraine Or, send a cheque made out to the British Red Cross and post it to British Red Cross, 44 Moorfields, London EC2Y 9AL. (Please kindly earmark it for the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal.)

Unitarian General Assembly (GA) signatories to the appeal: Vince McCully, GA president Elizabeth Slade, GA Chief Officer The Rev Michael Allured, Joyce Ashworth, the Rev Jopie Boeke, the Rev Richard Boeke, the Rev Alex Bradley, the Rev Jim Corrigall, the Rev Joy Croft, the Rev Laura Dobson, Rev Dr Peter Godfrey, the Rev Winnie Gordon, Dorothy Hewerdine, the Rev Peter Hewis, the Rev Anna Jarvis, the Rev Eric Jones, Dr Lizzie Kingston-Harrison, the Rev Margaret Kirk, the Rev Art Lester, the Rev Kate Brady McKenna, Anne Mills, the Rev Feargus O’Connor, the Rev Dr Ann Peart, the Rev Lynne Readett, the Rev Lewis Rees, Alan Ruston, the Rev Sue Sinnamon, the Rev Dr Arthur Stewart, the Rev Julio Torres, the Rev Geoffrey R Usher, the Rev Charles VanDenBroeder, the Rev Martin Whitell, Prof Jacqueline Woodman, the Rev Sue Woolley

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 11

Affirmations

Based on “My Amended Creed of Life (August 1973) by Imaoka Shin’ichiro (1881 -1988), Minister of the Tokyo Unitarian Church I am alive in the midst of countless other creatures who are alive.

I am grateful to be alive and value the share of life that I have. In me there is a creative power that I rely on that enables me to make something good out of my life however simple and basic it may be.

I am not alone. I am surrounded by countless other lives on whom I am dependent and I must respect these lives. Just as I rely on the creative power in me to think and act, so I must also rely on the creative power in others, my neighbours. I depend upon their lives and work, so I must value my neighbours just as I value myself. I rely on the creative flow of life in which all beings find themselves.

Whilst we confess that humans are selfish, greedy, foolish and murderously destructive, we believe they are also capable of cherishing and trusting what is true and beautiful.

I live in society, and all members of society must help and respect one another if life is to go well. Without this grateful cooperation we may destroy ourselves. So I myself, my neighbours and the cooperative society we fashion for ourselves are all bound up together in the great bundle of life.

A church can be a living example of a cooperative society. Through our meetings with others we establish and celebrate being fellow workers in creating the good life.

Although we live now in the new global era we may still draw strength from a specific religious tradition that we inherit, while at the same time acknowledging that other religious traditions than our own may also have great value. No one tradition is exclusively ultimate.

At the same time we try to find and cherish all that is universal, trying to approach the universal through what is particular and specific.

Frank Walker, minister emeritus, Cambridge Unitarian Church www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 12