Issue 8083

THE

INQUIRER £1 | Issue 8083 | May 2024

Inside this issue…

Hibbert Trust seeks projects Irish minister joins GA roll Cork Unitarians dedicate a mural and seek support

www.inquirer.org.uk

The voice of British and Irish Unitarians and Free Christians

Why do we cross the road?

Aidan O’Driscoll writes of the suering hidden in plain sight

THE

INQUIRER The Unitarian and Free Christian Paper Established in 1842, The Inquirer is the oldest nonconformist religious newspaper.

“To promote a free and inquiring religion through the worship of God and the celebration of life; the service of humanity and respect for all creation; and the upholding of the liberal Christian tradition.”

Inquiring Words…

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the gure by the experience of sight, I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.

Theodore Parker

Faith and heart This is the devotion oered by Kyle McDonald at the Unitarian General Assembly meetings.

Advertise for £6 per column cm, on 3-col page, plus VAT or £7.50 per col cm, on a 2-col page.

A one-page supplement is £200. One column on a 2-col page is £100, on a 3-col page, £75.

A5 iers may be inserted for £100 plus VAT. Contact the editor for details.

This is only my second time at the Annual Meetings, and I am once again blown away by the many dierent views, dierent beliefs, dierent opinions and variety of cultures held within this event.

Despite all our dierences, including the many names and forms for what we call ‘God’, there is one thing that strengthens my personal belief, emboldens my condence in others and gives me the most sincere level of elation: that is knowing that we all meet under the banner of Unitarianism.

Because, to meet under this banner is to meet under the very foundation of our movement – the ministry of Jesus.

Through his ministry, our core values are the living concept and actions of liberty, of peace, of justice, of tolerance and above all, love.

There may be dicult days for some of us, there may be days that will test our faith, question our humanity and our belief in each other.

What we must remind ourselves is that there is so much good in this world – including all of us here today – and it’s worth ghting for. If we don’t ght for it… who will?

The most distant of stars still shine in the darkest of nights.

Do not let the darkness of adversity, in it’s many forms, consume you.

I am not important. I do not hold a lofty rank. I do not have high ideals. I do not have an expansive CV. But what I do have, is faith and heart.

I therefore beseech you to go forward with love in your heart, compassion in your mind, empathy in your listening, integrity in your spirit and kindness in your words.

May you always serve the God of your choosing with joy and sincerity. There is enough hate in this world – let us be a bastion of light and love in the dark.

Births, marriages and deaths: 50p a word + VAT.

Kyle McDonald

From the Object passed at the General Assembly of the Unitarian and Free Christian Churches 2001 The Inquirer is published fortnightly by The Inquirer Publishing Company (2004), Registered Charity 1101039.

Editor: M Colleen Burns MA 46A Newmarket Norwich Editor: M ColleenRoad, BurnsCringleford, MA NR4Newmarket 6UF T: 01603 505281 46A Road, Cringleford, Norwich E: inquirer@btinternet.com NR4 6UF T: 01603 505281 Proofreader: Sarah Reynolds E: inquirer@btinternet.com Cover: Proofreader: Sarah Reynolds Cover: Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash Articles express the views of their writers.

Submissions are welcome and may be edited for content and length. They should be emailed or typed and should be the writer’s original work or be attributed appropriately. £38 with discounts for Annual subscriptions are £46 bulk orders. Cheques payable to ‘The Inquirer’.

Write to: Steven Bisby 71 Earlesmere Avenue, Balby, Doncaster, DN4 0QD T: 07764 486711 E: admin@inquirer.org.uk

Find out more about Unitarians The General Assembly, Essex Hall 1-6 Essex Street, London WC2R 3HY T: 0207 2402384 E: info@unitarian.org.uk

www.unitarian.org.uk Page 2 | Issue 8083 – 11 May 2024

Rather belatedly, we have heard of the passing of the Rev Dr Jeremy Goring last year at the age of 93 (see his obituary in The Guardian: https://tinyurl.com/ GoringGuardian). Jeremy was minister at Lewisham, the Strand congregation, which met at Essex Hall, with the Rev Robert Taylor, and honorary minister at Lewes 19861994 . A fuller notice will appear in due course.

Alan Ruston

Aidan O’Driscoll asks why we avert our gaze from the pain of others

Suering that hides in plain sight In the parable of the Good Samaritan in the New Testament, a traveller is attacked, stripped of his clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. First, a Jewish priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. They pass to the other side of the road. The injured man’s condition is of little or no concern to them. For both the priest and the Levite, the man’s suering is not apparent, goes unheeded, is hidden, but hidden in plain sight. when pain and cruelty happen. ‘It’s Have you ever ‘crossed to the not my business… It’s the way of the other side’ to avoid engagement world… And anyway, life must move with a situation where there might “We must ask why, in on…’ be distress, discomfort, even pain To give the poem some context – to another? I certainly have. I am the face of cruelty and Auden was only 31 when he wrote not very proud to say it. And it has pain, do people choose the poem ‘Musée des Beaux Arts’ in nagged my conscience. But we 1938, but he was already considered can often rationalise our choice in to ignore, avert their the major poet of his generation. certain ways. ‘We have oered help gaze, and pass to the (See: https://english.emory.edu/ on other occasions… Let others do classes/paintings&poems/auden. so now…’ Ignoring seems a very other side?” html) He travelled extensively, natural thing to do. But is there an visiting Spain and China during underlying moral dilemma at issue? the late 1930s and writing of the For example, we come out of a wars and tensions he witnessed. supermarket and see in front of us The preoccupations of his work during this period were a young homeless woman begging. Do we engage with an interested hello and perhaps a donation? Or do we quickly social and political – the rising threat of authoritarianism, the evils of capitalism, and fears of a wider European pass on, reasoning that there are charities that cope with conagration. In December 1938, he was in Brussels this situation? This reasoning can become more troubled where he visited the city’s Royal Museum of Fine Art. and complex if we come across a tent on the street with He wrote his poem after walking through several rooms a destitute person, or perhaps a refugee, living in it. On containing Old Masters’ painting, including the Brueghel. another occasion we are asked to assist the victims of The poem is one the most famous ever written about a some catastrophe in a foreign land. Is this really relevant work of art. Here are the four opening lines: to us?

About suering they were never wrong, The theme, and title, of my address are the result of The old Masters: how well they understood reading a thoughtful essay by Elisa Gabbert, published in Its human position: how it takes place The New York Times titled ‘A poem (and a painting) about While someone else is eating or opening a window or just suering that hides in plain sight’. The poem was written walking dully along.

by WH Auden and was inspired by a Brueghel painting.

Auden’s subject is a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder Both the poem and the painting challenge us to reect on titled Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. The painting depicts how people often refuse to take notice and are indierent Continued on page 4 > www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 3

“Engagement with someone else’s pain and suering is very dicult for most of us, unless the someone else is close family.”

Shown left: Fall of Icarus, 1560, by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Continued from page 3 >

a typical Brueghel landscape with people involved in many everyday activities. It foregrounds a farmer ploughing and a sailing ship in the nearby sea. At the bottom-right edge of the canvas, almost unnoticed, we see Icarus plunge into the sea not far from the ship. But nobody seems to pay any attention to this amazing sight of a boy falling out of the sky. The farmer continues to plough with head down.

The sailing ship, that might have saved Icarus, ‘sails calmly on’.

Relationship between attention and catastrophe The painting – and indeed the poem – are a comment on the fraught relationship between attention and catastrophe. Something’s only a catastrophe if we notice it. Can we choose not to notice? Can we become complicit in others’ misery? Do we spare a thought for the suering, or sail calmly on like the sailing ship in the painting? Elisa Gabbert, the author of the essay I draw on, suggests that there is a moral imperative at times to look and to engage.

Auden’s angst about 1930s Europe proved prescient.

The Holocaust involved the industrial-like killing of millions of Jews. It could not have happened as eectually without the complicity of many people in Germany and surrounding countries. While explanation of this collusion is fraught, a lm that won the Best International Feature Film Oscar, captures chillingly the way many ordinary humans can rationalise their association with continuing cruelty.

The Zone of Interest, made by British director Jonathan Glazer, follows the quotidian, and apparently serene, life of the commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, Rudolf Höss, his wife Hedwig, and their children. She runs the family household in a home situated at the very camp’s edge, while he attends to the bureaucracy required

Page 4 | Issue 8083 – 11 May 2024

for the mass murder of the camp’s population. In the lm, we never actually see the horrors inside the camp, just occasional gunre and cries of agony in the near distance.

The lm’s clinical approach does not attempt to nd the ‘why’, but instead focuses on the banal ‘how’, on the mental accommodations made by the couple to ignore utterly the horrors they have nurtured, literally on their very doorstep. The female lead, Sandra Hüller who plays the wife, has been praised for being able ‘to extinguish her inner life to portray the basic lousiness of someone who has fully normalised the suering of others.’ The Zone of Interest does not easily allow us to look away.

When I was a very young boy, I remember my mother bringing me regularly to Dun Laoghaire in south county Dublin on the 46A bus. We would pass an imposing institution on our way where my mother once told me bad boys were kept. Carriglea Park was, like Artane, an Industrial School run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers. The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, also known as the Ryan Report, conrmed in 2009 that ill-treatment and cruelty did occur in these Industrial Schools.

People in power were silent My mother, and indeed most of the population, could not have known the extent of this abuse and suering. But a signicant number of those in positions of power, and close to power, must have known and chose to remain silent. In the case of the mother and baby homes and the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, such complicity, and indeed suering, were many times greater.

We must ask why, in the face of cruelty and pain, do people choose to ignore, avert their gaze, and pass to the other side? ‘Well, it’s not my problem… How much is to be expected of me...? I already have my own family and

“But nobody seems to pay any attention to this amazing sight of a boy falling out of the sky. ”

Shown left: Detail: Fall of Icarus, 1560, by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Only the boy’s legs are visible as he falls into the sea.

nancial issues… It’s for the government to intervene… I am no hero… There is risk involved… Whatever I do will not change things… The world is basically unfair…’

These answers are not unreasonable. They reect the reality of the human condition. Engagement with someone else’s pain and suering is very dicult for most of us, unless the someone else is close family. And if we begin to feel that our non-engagement looks like it will make another’s suering even worse, that we might become implicated, we begin to build mental walls in order to hide this pain from ourselves.

Othering denies humanity We dismiss those with whom we don’t want to engage as Other (spelt with a capital O) in a way that suggests their humanity is somehow less than ours. We strip them of their full diversity and richness as human beings.

We deny the plurality of their identities and feelings.

Instead, we label them in a false, one-dimensional way as a hated, threatening Other. We compartmentalise them as dierent from us based on a narrow, single dimension like race, ethnic origins, religion, gender, culture, sexual orientation, physical disability, and so on. It then becomes easier to normalise their suering. Historians call this process ‘otherising’ or totalising.

The philosopher and political writer Hannah Arendt’s classic work The Origins of Totalitarianism, published in 1951, explains how such totalising thinking played out in the Holocaust and in the Gulag. Arendt’s much quoted phrase ‘the banality of evil’ suggests that evil is often not just carried out by tyrants and fanatics but is facilitated by the everyday collusion of so-called normal people.

Yet intriguingly, the place where Arendt nds solace and hope is in love. She came to believe that the most eective antidote to totalitarianism is to love the diverse reality of humankind and its world so much as to summon the courage to defend it. She wrote: ‘We’d like to convince ourselves that those thin threads of love are able to hold together what remains of our world.’

Claire Keegan’s much praised novel Small Things Like

These is set in a small Irish provincial town of some 40 years ago, where the Catholic Church and conservative values hold strong sway. There is a commercial laundry operating with the unpaid toil of girls and young women in the local convent, and this convent may also function as a mother and baby home. Whatever suering that might occur there is quietly ignored by those of inuence in the town. The hero of the novel, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant, married with ve daughters, decides to challenge the status quo with an act of kindness, an action he clearly knows will have consequences. The story is ‘a moving reection on moral choice’, according to the journalist and writer, Fintan O’Toole.

If not love, understanding I return to the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus uses the parable not only to celebrate the Samaritan’s compassion, but to argue that it is necessary to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. For Jesus, our neighbours include those who might do us harm, even our enemies.

If head-on love towards our supposed enemies seems overly dicult, we can at least try to understand them, to walk a mile in their shoes, not seek ‘to otherise’ them, but to consider them as wonderfully diverse and sometimes awed human beings, just like ourselves. If Jesus tells us to love our enemies, and the philosopher Hannah Arendt can recommend love in the face of the Gulag and the death camp, perhaps it behoves us to try a little harder on occasions.

Aidan O’Driscoll Aidan O’Driscoll is a member of Dublin Unitarian Church.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 5

Derek McAuley asks, how can the Hibbert and John Gregson Trusts help you?

Supporting Unitarian development Raising money to support development is a perennial problem for congregations and individuals and this is where the Hibbert and John Gregson Trusts might be able to help. We have recognised that we need to publicise what we do and what we could support nancially. This is partly prompted by the reduction in applications, which may be linked to the pandemic. We can no longer assume that key Unitarian leaders know about what we oer and we also want to widen the range of applications for our limited grant funding.

The ‘Hibbert Trust’ is actually the ing responsive. name that we use to cover various Key to our aspirations are the de“We are keen to activities and funds with dierent velopment of partnerships with like purposes. Whilst this could be conminded bodies for greater impact. support innovative straining, it also gives the trustees The trusts would encourage projects projects as well as the opportunity to be creative and that bring Hibbert and Case money support innovation: together with that of John Gregson seeing ourselves as • Hibbert Trust – the spread to support new ways of doing things. a ‘think tank’ for the of Christianity in its most Finally, we will have less money in simple and intelligible form future, and we are quite prepared Unitarian and wider and the unfettered exercise to say ‘No’ to applicants. Details of liberal religious world. ” of private judgment in mathow to apply are available on our ters of religion. website www.thehibberttrust.org.uk • Case Fund (within HibWe are required to keep our aims bert) – promotion of Free under review in a Policy Scheme Thought and the search after Truth, and of unand in November 2023 we agreed that for the next seven fettered learning and frank utterance on matters years we will focus on: connected with religion and culture.

• Development of excellence in ministry in all its • Stephanie Saville Fund – unrestricted legacy forms (within Hibbert).

• Adult education in religion and spirituality • John Gregson Trust – a separately registered • Improving our communication to promote the charity concerned with the maintenance and repurposes of the trust pair of places of worship of historical or architec• Promoting religious education for children and tural importance on the Roll of the General Asyoung people in the wider community sembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches • Developing global Unitarian and Free Christian connections I would like to emphasise that we are not a Unitarian and • Developing academic research and development Free Christian Trust and, whilst we do support Unitarian • Exploring the legacies of slavery and liberal religion causes, we also fund and welcome applications from a The ways in which we will do this will include supporting diverse range of groups and individuals. We are keen to ministry and lay leader education and training, scholarsupport innovative projects as well as seeing ourselves as ships, research and development, talks and conferences, a ‘think tank’ for the Unitarian and wider liberal religious religious education and international work. world. We want to do what others are not able to do or A key area of challenging and dicult work remains the fund and sometimes we take the initiative rather than bePage 6 | Issue 8083 – 11 May 2024

“Key to our aspirations are the development of partnerships with like minded bodies for greater impact. ”

Projects recently funded by the Hibbert and Gregson Trusts Hibbert

legacy of slavery arising from our founder’s involvement as an owner of enslaved people. We have set aside £2OOK in a designated fund within the Hibbert Trust pending nal decisions on how reparation might be made in Jamaica and perhaps the UK. We have begun conversations with the Jamaican Centre for reparations research. We are also in contact with ‘Heirs of Slavery’ a group established by former BBC journalist, Laura Trevelyan, for the descendants of people who proted from slavery. We need to do more work on tracing the origins of the money in the Case Fund.

We are also collaborating with the American Unitarian Universalist Funding Panel on developing a shared approach to supporting international Unitarian and UU work. In the past, this has been focused on a few groups with little account taken of the power dynamics arising from money inherent in these global relationships. It also involves the Leadership and Design team for new global collaboration.

Finally, we are also seeking new trustees. The Trust Deed prohibits ministers from serving so it is for lay people. We meet two or three times a year; once in person overnight usually in November. There is occasional email contact and an induction is provided. We want to widen our geographic spread and be more diverse in terms of background; particularly relating to our engagement with the Caribbean. Please contact me if interested in nding out more on DMca123@aol.com

Derek McAuley Derek McAuley is chair of the Hibbert and John Gregson Trusts

1. International U/UU/FC conference in Prague ‘Leading into the Future’ (£20k).

2. Ministry in the Making for prospective, current students and probationary ministers – many years of support with review in July 2024 immediately after this year’s event (£10k per year).

3. Scholarships: travel grant to a UUA minister for research in the UK for a theological text for major academic publisher. He also investigated Robert Wedderburn, rst Unitarian minister of black heritage and presented to the UU study network conference 2024.

4. Student Christian Movement: £600 for scholarships for attendance at annual conferences 2023 and 2024.

5. Harris Manchester College, Oxford: support for forthcoming summer school to enable a more diverse participation (£4k).

6. Unitarian College: to set up a bursary fund for advanced lay leadership course (£4k).

7. Support for annual conference of the British Association for the Study of Religion (£5k).

8. Culham St Gabriel’s Trust: £5k support for an RE teacher recruitment campaign – part of ongoing development of relationship and support for religious education in schools.

9. Lecture by the Lunar Society in Birmingham (£3k).

10. Cape Town Unitarians: £15k over two years for leadership development and support for pan-African training.

11. Malvern Festival: £600 grant.

12. The Centre for Reconciliation: £5k for a faith-awareness programme in Lincoln including multifaith library.

13. Feast Youth Project: £5k for Living Well with Difference youth programme in Tower Hamlets.

14. One Body One Faith: £2k for a retreat for LGBTQ+ Christians.

John Gregson Trust

1. Survey reports: £600 each.

2. Specic grants – such as Shrewsbury Chapel to remove pews to help create a more useful space for a range of activities.

3. Emergency grants.

Derek McAuley www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 7

Marking the rst anniversary of the coronation, Jenny Miller looks at its foundations

Mysticism below the throne A year ago this month, the coronation of Charles III took place on the famous Cosmati Pavement, in Westminster Abbey. The Cosmati Pavement was carpeted over for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, but revealed in all its glory for the crowning of King Charles III. The coronation of a king or queen, as the symbolic ‘head of state’, more deeply symbolises the centuries-old tradition of ‘royal priesthood’, as was mentioned, if not fully explained, during the actual coronation service. (exclusively male) priestly hierarchy At the anointing ritual of the of pope, cardinals, archbishops, coronation service, the monarch “This ancient tradition bishops and priests, replicated becomes crowned as king, heralded the Roman political hierarchical by the king’s royally yet priestly of the combination of structure of Rome’s Caesar and anointment behind private screens, crown and priesthood hierarchy of (exclusively male) to the musical glory of Handel’s senators. The esoteric knowledge ‘Zadoc the Priest’. The archbishop deserves more respect of the crowning within the royal of Canterbury then kneels before than a post-modern priesthood is further revealed by Dr the monarch in recognition of his Margaret Barker, biblical scholar position of service to the crown cynicism of mere and retired Methodist preacher, which Charles III avowedly serves in ‘church and state.’” in her fabulous books and talks on the public interest. The archbishop temple mysticism, in which the of Canterbury, it seems, serves esoteric mystical knowledge of the the crown as a symbol, not really Christian tradition is traced back Charles as a fallible human being, to Solomon’s temple of the Old Testament (a symbolic who is vowing to serve his tenure of the crown in the royal microcosm of creation, representing the days/process priesthood and is therefore guided by the archbishop of of creation, the sacred, inner, ‘Holy of Holies’, beyond Canterbury as high priest or archbishop. time) and, I would suggest, further back still in the lineage This ancient tradition of the combination of crown and of the temple mysticism within the ancient wisdom or priesthood deserves more respect than a post-modern what might be termed the Perennial Philosophy. Of cynicism of mere ‘church and state’, as valid as that particular interest is that the Cosmati Pavement, made by may be in the modern day. Of particular interest is to craftsmen from Rome, depicts hidden symbolism of the recognise that this tradition of royal priesthood extends cosmic order, known only to initiates of the oral tradition back in time as far as Egyptian monarchs, who were of temple mysticism; such initiates are depicted in an Pharos, the holders of the spiritual light, and as such, the altar retable as holding a palm branch as a symbol of the leaders, chiefs, kings/pharaohs, whilst also being priests holding of the esoteric priestly knowledge, which we might in a so-called royal priesthood that served the nation. understand as holding the spiritual light or life-energy.

So, we can see revealed in the modern-day coronation, a Dr Margaret Barker reveals that The Cosmati Pavement tradition of royal priesthood that extends from antiquity, is a form of mosaic that ‘sets in stone’ a hidden mystical from ancient egyptian pharaohs, through ancient Rome, royal theology before the high altar of Westminster to the present day.

Abbey, where monarchs have been crowned for about Roman Caesars were similarly regarded as pontifex maximus, the Supreme pontifex and chief high priest of the 1000 years, and contains an inscription inserted into the Cosmati patterns, in order to help decipher its hidden college of pontis of ancient Rome, a title later also held mystical meaning. by the pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Of course, Royal theology makes a statement about the nature and in the Romanisation of the early Catholic Church, the Page 8 | Issue 8083 – 11 May 2024

“Temple mysticism held the sacred secret of the incarnation of God, in the sense that God’s presence is incarnate in the whole Creation/ World.”

Shown left: Cosmati Pavement photo by amanderson2 via Wikimedia Commons.

role of a monarch in the royal priesthood, based on the secret of the Old Testament Solomon’s temple. Behind the high altar was a retable (which I understand is now in the abbey museum), in which there is a central panel depiction of Christ attended by his mother Mary and St John, both holding palm branches. Barker suggests that Mary and St John are deliberately illustrated with palm branches in order to show that Jesus rst passed the tradition to his mother, appearing to her post-resurrection as an angel of light, as guardian of the esoteric teaching, symbolised by the golden palm branch from the tree of life. Mary then passed the tradition to St John on her death, who subsequently holds the palm branch. This story is apparently documented in early Christian texts from Ireland and in Ethiopia and Syria. Holding a palm branch is a common theme in Christian art.

In the book of Revelation, the virgin gives birth to Christ, the son/sun of God, who is enthroned in the holy of holies of the temple of Solomon. This tradition extends to Egyptian mythology where the throne of the Pharoah is depicted as held aloft on the head/crown of the goddess Isis, whose name means ‘throne’ (See, Head of Isis, sarcophagus of Ramesses III, 12th Century BCE).

Therefore there is a nicety in the traditional Christian symbolism of the Christ child being depicted as seated on his mother’s lap, like Horus on the lap of Isis, which symbolises that the Christ (or we might say, the Christed Ones or Pharaohs) are enthroned on the greater, ery and winged mother principal of God. The sons/suns of God were the divinised or illumined ones, who held the light as Pharos and are raised up on the crown of the mother aspect of God. The throne in the holy of holies is also sometimes described as a chariot with four wheels, which is what Barker suggests is symbolised in the circular patterns of the Cosmati Pavement, as ‘wheels within wheels’ or ‘eyes’, representing the living one or ones (which we might think of as Divine Consciousness or Christed ones or Illumined/ Enlightened Beings) symbolised as the feminine divine mother, the Holy Spirit, the Great Mother, the Great Lady Wisdom Sophia, the Queen of Heaven, or the principle of Incarnating Divine Being, who was known as

‘the One within the Four’.

Barker reveals that the central circular globe within the four circles of the Cosmati Pavements represents the ‘archetypal universe’, symbolised as ‘the One within the Four’, or the Fourfold One in the centre. The central circular globe is made of swirling marble, symbolising the primal chaos of life within divine creation, with the feminine holy spirit, as the mother of God and all incarnated creation, at the heart of the holy of holies. Temple mysticism held the sacred secret of the incarnation of God, in the sense that God’s presence is incarnate in the whole Creation/World. This divine truth was heavily guarded by Roman Catholicism and many ‘mystics’ were burned as ‘heretics’ for a direct revelation of God’s Presence; such theologies as pantheism or panentheism or even paganism which held such beliefs openly were regarded as dangerous heresies.

The proportions of the Cosmati Pavement represent the proportions of the temple of Solomon and the holy of holies. It is full of stars and includes an inscription, now incomplete, that reads ‘...if the reader reects carefully on all that is set here, he will discover the meaning of the primum mobile’, the archetypal universe...So, in a postmodern resurrection of the hidden esoteric mysteries of ancient temple mysticism: ‘Long Live the King!’, as royal symbol on earth of the crowning Sun of God...

Source: Dr Margaret Barker’s talk at the Friends of Sophia Fifth Annual Conference, You Tube.

See: https://tinyurl.com/yckc86zy

Jenny Miller The Rev Jenny Miller is an interfaith minister and a friend of Godalming and Oxford Unitarians.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 9

Do you have a vision for unlocking the potential of our Unitarian faith and social witness during the coming fve years?

Working as part of a ministry team, do you have the strategic leadership skills to bring out the best in others and so enable them to share our Unitarian ideals and help create a vibrant religious community whose purpose is to help Unitarian communities thrive? Are you passionate about spreading our Unitarian message?

If you are, the London District and Provincial Assembly (LDPA) Council wants to hear from you.

Eligibility This role is open to: • Ministers and lay pastors who are on the GA Roll.

• Candidates who are active Unitarians but not on the GA Roll.

• Applicants who meet the criteria in the person(s) specifcation and who can strongly demonstrate the essential qualities and skills outlined in the job description.

• Candidates on a part-time basis as a job share or, if the candidate can demonstrate the full range of qualities, skills and vision required, full-time (up to 37 hours).

Financial package The fnancial package: • Will depend on the depth of experience and range of skills demonstrated by the successful candidate.

• Takes account of the 2024 stipend review recommendations published by the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GA).

See: https://tinyurl.com/StipendReview • Will include a housing allowance and London Weighting taking account of the recommendations published by the GA.

Application pack For an application pack, please email Rev Sue Sinnamon (ssinnamon@gmail.com).

The pack will include: • A person specifcation • A job description • Background information • An application form

Timetable Deadline for applications: 18:00 hours Saturday 8 June 2024 by email to ssinnamon@gmail.com.

Candidates who are shortlisted will be informed by Thursday 13 June.

Interview dates: Thursday 27 and Friday 28 June 2024.

Start date: subject to availability but ideally in September 2024.

A season for joy and for pain I recently travelled with a dear friend Alex to my little brother, ‘our Jack’s’ wedding. Alex and I had a wonderful weekend and she moved to London a few days later. I know we will miss each other massively. So we made the most of the weekend and shared a great deal of laughter and tears.

I have, over recent years, conducted and participated in several family funerals, holding folk through this painful and tear-lled rite of passage. This included the loss of two younger cousins last year. The last time I was up in North Yorkshire, where our Jack lives, I conducted his dad’s funeral. Jack’s dad was my stepdad growing up. He was a dicult man who had many children. (Jack is the same age as his eldest daughter’s granddaughter.) It is an understatement to say I had a dicult time growing up with that man. We siblings were all deeply aected. Following his funeral, I went through a dicult personal time, which certainly contributed to my marriage’s failure. It took a long time to come to terms with the complex emotions that followed his death. The last few years have been a time for healing.

The weekend proved to me how much healing has occurred. It was a time of great joy, lled with humour and so much laughter. There were many amusing moments.

One of the bride’s party thought I was Jack’s dad. When he discovered I was conducting the service, he almost died of shock. I was not what he expected. During the service, our Jack burst into laughter at the line ‘With my body I honour you’. The service was beautifully received, and I feel the ritual brought healing for many of us.

The speeches were a mixed bag. Our Jack’s was fantastic, the others not so much. The running commentary of Jack’s dad’s oldest friend was very funny. (He was not pleased with the father of the bride.) It was a wonderful few hours together. The most amusing conversation was the attempt to explain in what ways we are all related and connected. My sister topped it o with a diagram she drew in a vain attempt to explain it all. It was futile, but brought a great deal of joy and laughter.

There were tears, too. Many folk need more healing. And, it was a rite of passage which revealed that I have healed from some of my own pain. The memories will stay with me all my life. It proved to me once more that there is always a time to laugh and a time to cry.

As Ecclesiastes 3 put it, ‘For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.’ And the seasons turn and pass and come again. There is, ‘A time to weep and a time to laugh’.

I remember the seasons of my life by heart and not merely head – particularly the ones in which I have shed tears.

FROM FROM NOTHING NOTHING TO EVERYTHING TO EVERYTHING

By

By Danny Danny Crosby Crosby

Whether they were tears of joy; tears of sorrow; tears of awe; tears of pain; tears of frustration; tears of relief; tears of laughter. These are the seasons when the most profound experiences have occurred – and deeper understanding has usually followed. In these moments I have learnt what it means to be alive. They have shaped my soul and built my character.

I wonder what this season will bring. For seasons come and go, just like the fallen cherry blossoms.

There is a time to live, even when we feel heartbroken.

The best funerals are lled with both joy and laughter, as we remember our loved ones – those precious memories.

When my family share memories, even the deeply painful and confusing ones bring laughter. I think it is something about surviving, or being among those you love and care about. Just as we bind together in our tears and suering, we are also bound together in our joy and laughter. When people laugh together there is nothing more beautiful. It can be infectious too.

Spiritual freedom brings with it the ability to not take yourself too seriously. But it’s not about picking at other people’s perceived faults and inadequacies. This does not bring people together – it just aids a sense of superiority at the expense of another. There is nothing liberating or freeing in this.

Religion and spirituality are not arenas where humour is often found. And yet, I have come to know that the more spiritually liberated, and the more religious (in its truest sense) I have become, the more I have discovered my own funny bones. When I saw life as a tragedy I never felt more alone, and yet when I began to see life more as kind of divine comedy with tragic elements, I began to feel a part of life once more.

There is a place for silliness, especially in the most dicult of times. The journey home last weekend was one of the most joyful few hours I have ever spent, as my friend and I entertained one another. We shared ridiculous stories from our own lives, including some painful and tragic ones.

She is approaching the rst anniversary of the tragic death of her brother. So we shared deep pain too.

Continued on page 13 > www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 11

Letters to the Editor Disagreements at the top

David Warhurst Associate member of the General Assembly To the Editor ›In the Plenary III business meeting during the recent General Assembly meetings, a disturbing picture emerged of serious disagreements between the elected Treasurer, the Rev Dr Rob Whiteman, and some members of the Executive Committee (EC).

Presenting the nancial report, the Rev Whiteman told us: • That the accounts delegates were being asked to approve were indicative only. These could not be approved as the nal accounts were not yet ready and could be dierent.

• That stripping out items like one-o legacies and funds ‘in kind’ from Essex Hall Trustees, the GA is running an unsus-

•

• •

tainable decit in excess of £200,000 per annum even before funds are diverted to the Innovations scheme.

That he had expressed his concerns in reports to the EC but these had been removed from the published versions.

That the EC had declined to nominate him for re-election as the Treasurer.

That a member of the EC had resigned because of this.

Why has the movement not been told?

These are serious matters and there was a palpable sense of shock in the meeting, as most people were completely unaware of these disagreements.

The EC Convenor, the Rev

Jo James, said that the narrative presented by the Rev Whiteman was not the whole picture and that he had not been renominated because the EC could not work with him.

There are bound to be dierences of opinion from time to time in any organisation. However, it should never be acceptable to cover these up, especially in a charitable body such as the GA. Is it not high time that the EC opened its meetings to appropriately accredited independent observers to ensure that a situation like this can never happen again?

Finding optimism Chalice is a recognised symbol The Rev Peter Hewis Oxford Unitarians To the Editor>Our traditional chalice has had even more recognition than those described by Paulette Reed (Inquirer, 30 March). A few years ago, I was asked to conduct a marriage blessing in Oxford’s Somerville College for a couple living in the USA. The bride was a British journalist working in the USA. As I walked into the college, a couple asked if I was a Unitarian. They had spotted my bag which had been bought from the Unitarian College, and had a traditional chalice in an oset circle on one side. They then told me that they were Unitarians, members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and arriving to play at the ceremony.

Before that event, in 1968 I was travelling from London to Manchester on a train and wearing a Chalice tie. A man opposite asked if I had been in the Olympics! It gave me the opportunity to tell him the story of the chalice and of our faith. He was a Congregationalist from Cheshire and was so interested that he promised to visit one of our churches, I hope that he did.

Page 12 | Issue 8083 – 11 May 2024

Gordon Lowthian Gloucester To the Editor>Recently I shared a morning coee (and a cake, of course!) at a local museum of Nature in Art with a friend of many years from our congregation. It was a bit of a catchup, as I’m not a regular attender. I’m afraid there was an air of pessimism in our conversation and after a while we parted on a ‘wait and see what happens’ understanding, but not very positive.

I had been given a few issues of The Inquirer and, contrary to my usual habit, I read them almost straight away.

I had to read Ant Howe’s contribution in the 13 April issue twice, it was so uplifting! My usual mood of pessimism was changed by Ant’s positive approach to the current situation, and I felt better in myself and keen for our witness to continue for as long as possible. For what it’s worth, I’m a fourth generation Unitarian and now in my eighth decade.

However, my chief worry now is – how long will my current positive view last?

2024 Honorary members

Seasons of joy Continued from page 11 >

Celia Midgley: (left) ‘I have felt it important to serve our movement at many levels: local, district, national and international. I have tried to do that.’

John Midgley: ‘I have never wanted to be anything other than a Unitarian minister, which I have been for nearly 58 years. It has been a profound privilege.… Now, here I am being honoured for what I have given to the Unitarian movement, when the truth is that the Unitarian Movement has given me far, far more than I have given it.’

Dot Hewerdine: ‘I believe that the ripples we start through our beloved faith are both potent and wholesome.

We don’t need to know how far they go or who they touch. We just need to ensure they continue to be potent and wholesome and trust in the process and the future!’

It was a beautiful few hours of loving connection and memories will stay with me for ever.

In the face of the diculties that we all face, sharing laughter helps us to stay open-hearted and fully engaged.

It holds us together when all around us seems to be falling apart. It can also connect us once again, when we are tempted to retreat back into ourselves. Laughter is the greatest medicine. Maybe it is truly the closest thing to the grace of God. None of us knows what the coming seasons will bring.

There will be tears, but not always of sorrow, there will be joy and laughter too, if we can but stay open-hearted and refuse to retreat back into those shells of self-protection. Let’s not be afraid of our tears, for there are tears of laughter too. Let’s enjoy every season; for none of us knows how many seasons we have left. Let’s not forget, in the words of Conrad Hyers, ‘The rst and last word belong to God and therefore not to death but life, not to sorrow but joy, not to weeping but laughter. For surely it is God who has the last laugh.’

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 13

Lynda Kane, a Northern Irish minister new to the GA Roll, shares her ordination address

Our faith is not complicated I am acutely aware that speaking from a pulpit is a very small part of what ministry is about. I remain grateful for the opportunity to have preached from many pulpits across our denomination and I continue to consider it a privilege which is not lost on me. May I oer a huge thank you to all the clergy and congregations who have invited me into their pulpits over the past decade of lay preaching. Though now I’m ocially o the market!

As a lay preacher, I quickly knew that my role should neither start nor stop with a couple of hours on a Sunday. aren’t likely to remember much It wasn’t enough to talk to congreof what I say in my kids talks, but gations once a week. I had a deep they’ll remember how I make them yearning to be part of something feel. (And yes, talking to the kids and to create something through still remains my favourite part of the actions that reached beyond a pul“St Francis of Assisi service.) It’s the same with sermons, pit. Actions that met people whersaid, ‘Preach the gospel people may recall the odd soundbite ever they are in life and wherever or two, but they will remember how they needed me most. And that at all times; when they felt in church. How the experiwould transpire to be as their minnecessary use words.’ ” ence of church leaves them feeling. ister.

One of my objectives is to create There has been much written about a worship experience that people ministry over the centuries in terms want to come to. That they enjoy. of its purpose, its ambition or its Going to church shouldn’t feel like role, but I am drawn to the words a duty or a chore. Being in church of St Francis of Assisi when he said, ‘Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary use words.’ should, of course, be thought-provoking and challenging when necessary, but it should also bring a smile and laughThis resonates with me. Whilst there are many occasions ter. I often think if we can’t laugh in church, where can we when we each might have a lot to say and I do appreciate laugh? Overall, I see the analogy of the shepherd and the a well-constructed sentence or two, there are so many ock. That people will want to be part of the group. Pastomore situations in life when words pale into insignicance, ral care is pivotal to this. How I make people feel is pivotal and it is our actions and our conduct that denes us. For to this. As a good shepherd would, I aim to love, nurture what can a minister say to the new-born baby? What and care for my churches to the best of my ability. (And, words of wisdom can we actually impart to those in crihopefully, none of you will leg it up a mountain somesis? What words of comfort do we have that can soothe a where cos I’m not t to chase after you.) grieving soul? All life’s clichés exist for a reason, because My second aim is about the broader idea of church. The quite often our words are simply neither here nor there. spiritual family, the beloved community, the sacred place Rather it is our actions that dene us. Our treatment of where each person feels welcome and accepted, valued others. Our conduct. Our compassion. Our integrity. So and loved. Our church communities should be a safe rather than talk about specic beliefs or my newly fangled space where we can share this journey of life with one understanding of ministry, I’d like to share 3 simple aims another. It should be a place where we form meaningful for my future with Ballyclare, Ballymoney & Cairncastle. relationships and build precious memories. We should Firstly, when I work with children I am aware that they Page 14 | Issue 8083 – 11 May 2024

“Jesus came to show a dierent way of life. An inclusive life. A freethinking life. A life where we help those in need. Where we stand up for the oppressed.”

Shown left: Lynda Kane near the North Antrim coast.

eat, drink and be merry together, sharing regular fellowship. I also don’t think our pulpits or pews should have any o-limits topics, no taboos. Our churches should be authentic to our human experience. And our church should sparkle with relatable, wholesome values that others might see and want to belong. Jesus gave us a clear pattern of such an ethos throughout his ministry and we should endeavour to emulate this.

Lastly, my objective is indeed to preach the gospel, and to act it. Our faith should be a living, breathing, working, everyday reality. If its not, then what’s the point. The Jesus I read of in our scriptures didn’t come to bring us religion, or denominations, or doctrine or theological expositions.

I personally believe He came to show a dierent way of

life. An inclusive life. A free-thinking life. A life where we help those in need. Where we stand up for the oppressed.

Where we vehemently oppose injustice. We are never more dened in this life than by how we treat others, especially the least among us.

I hope to have a ministry where what you see is what you get, because I don’t think our faith is complicated. We love God. We love our neighbours. And we try to be the best human beings we can possibly be, with Jesus as the guiding example.

The Rev Lynda Kane is minister with Ballyclare, Ballymoney & Cairncastle congregations in County Antrim.

She is a minister on the Unitarian General Assembly roll.

New minister revives tradition In the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland (NSPCI) ministry commences with ordination in a new church. Local colleagues, members of the Presbytery (much like a District Association in Great Britain) organise it, but invitations are always extended to ministers of all presbyteries plus clergy of other denominations.

When I was ordained minister of Ballyclare, Ballymoney and Cairncastle congregations in September, I was pleased to have many of those present, but also fellow students and others who had been part of my training at Unitarian College. Since I opted to train in the Unitarian College, I qualied for ministry with the NSPCI, but also was prepared to join the Roll of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.

Although this was something new, it connected with the former practice of the NSPCI and the GA, from its foundation in 1928 up to the late 1980s. At that time, all NSPCI ministers were trained for the GA ministry as well – and the majority of Irish ministry students were trained at Unitarian College, Manchester. With the diculties of travelling to train, for those with families and work commitments, this practice decreased in recent years.

But with the development of online and exible training,

the opportunity is once again there for prospective Irish ministers to train alongside Unitarians intended for the ministry in Britain and Ireland. I found my own training a great source of learning and spiritual exploration. I was given the opportunity to consider a range of issues and perspectives that I would never have encountered had I trained in Northern Ireland. What I really liked was that it didn’t shy away from teaching us about some of the realities of ministry, and why it can be so challenging. I’m also pleased to say that my experience with Unitarian College has blessed me with deeply held, lifelong friendships.

So, overall, this training opportunity was something new but also reached back into our shared history, a history that goes back hundreds of years. One of my predecessors at Ballymoney was the Rev David Matts who was ordained in 1868. He was one of the rst students trained at the Unitarian Home Missionary Board in Manchester, which was itself set up to provide ministers for the growing working-class congregations in the expanding industrial cities of Victorian Britain. I am proud to continue in that radical tradition, and I am proud to be a Unitarian minister within the NSPCI. Lynda Kane www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 15

Cork Unitarians commemorate their anti-slavery legacy while hoping to rebuild their re-torn sanctuary

A matter of survival

Shown above: The Rev Mike O’Sullivan said at the mural’s dedication: ‘We are a very inclusive church, and Douglass’s message rhymes with our message, it ts our ethos as an inclusive, welcoming church.’

On 22 April, a mural commemorating the 1845 visit of Frederick Douglass to Cork, painted by the artist Zabou, was dedicated in the courtyard of Cork Unitarian Church. Douglass was invited by Cork Unitarians and stayed for three weeks with members of the congregation, according to the website https://frederickdouglass.ie. His journey had a two-fold purpose. Douglass was campaigning for the abolition of slavery, but he also left America under the threat of kidnapping, as he was still considered enslaved. After he departed, Douglass wrote in thanks to Richard Dowden, treasurer of Cork Unitarians –also pictured on the mural: For the many attentions which you pleased to show me during my somewhat protracted stay in the City… Trampled, reviled and maltreated as I have been by white people …you may readily imagine the grateful emotions which thrill my heart when I meet with facts forever dispelling the darkness of such infernal doctrines.

Maud Robinson writes Cork Unitarian Church recently launched an appeal for ongoing nancial support, possibly in the form of small (or large!!) monthly standing orders through I-Donate (see below). At the moment, their priority is keeping the community alive, and paying their minister.

My original article about the re in The Inquirer contained some incorrect information about the church’s insurance situation. Following a brief snatched conversation, a couple of days after the re, I misunderstood what I was told by the Rev Mike O’Sullivan who was, understandably, exhausted and overwhelmed by the shock of the destructive re. I reported that the church was insured.

I have subsequently been in communication with the Rev Bridget Spain, minister in Dublin, and Colm Noonan, treasurer in Cork. They have both conrmed that unfortunately, the building was not insured; due to its age and disrepair, they were unable to nd a company willing to insure it.

Appeal from the Cork Unitarian Church As we begin the long road to recovery – following the re at our church on 29 January, we nd ourselves in need of your help. We are fortunate to have secured a rent-free premises from Cork City Council until the end of this year. In early 2025 we have to secure another premises and while we are hopeful, we may not get such generosity; leaving us with rent to pay as well as paying our minister and other costs associated with our church and its work.

As a result of the re our cash reserves have been run down and while we can survive until the end of this year, we face a problem for next year. The governance of the NSPCI does not allow for nancial support of its churches. Renting out our church hall provided the majority of our income. Our new temporary home does not aord us that opportunity.

And so, we need your help, we ask for whatever you are able to give, either as a one-o or a continuing donation.

We have a 300-year legacy of social and religious liberalism. We believe Cork needs a church where ‘all welcome’ means exactly that. A church that is in every way LGBTQ+ inclusive. We believe we need a church that allows all to question and nd their own sense of God, however named or understood – one that does not impose.

We get that times are tough, we get that bills and family take priority, it can’t or shouldn’t be any other way. All we ask is that you give whatever you can aord to help us survive and grow, in order to give back to our wonderful city and its people. We oer you our deepest thanks.

Options for donating I-Donate – https://www.iDonate.IE/advanced-donationform/CUC Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/.../corkunitarian-church...

Cork Unitarian Church is registered with the Charities Regulator as #20000646 in the Register of Charities.

Colm Noonan www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 16