Issue 8085

THE

INQUIRER £3 | Issue 8085 | July 2024

Inside this issue…

Intersectional justice What matters to Unitarians in 2024: our Social Action Audit The welcoming kitchen

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The voice of British and Irish Unitarians and Free Christians

New growth: the wisdom of the forest There’s a lot that trees can teach us, if only we are willing to learn

THE

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A note from the editor On 4th July, the UK voted for a new government. Throughout the election campaign, many politicians used the word ‘growth’ to entice support. When we Unitarians talk about growth, it’s usually to lament the size of our congregations. But… Is this helpful?

As a rather hopeless gardener, I know all too well that you can’t force a plant to grow. What you can do, though, is water it. For Unitarians, this means stepping outside of our comfort zones.

It means doing something dierent and daring, and opening the doors even wider. It means engaging with issues that matter, and actively supporting those in physical, emotional, and spiritual need.

In this month’s issue, we discuss our role as Unitarians in the midst of devastating global conict, and nd ways to take our values from paper to practice. We champion positive growth in our communities, explore outside-of-the-box approaches to creating welcoming spaces, and celebrate our rich heritage.

While there’s much to be glad about, it’s an understatement to say that we live in challenging times. Often, it can feel as though the sky is falling in. But we can always choose hope, love, and – importantly – connection. And in making these choices, we grow.

Laura Autumn Cox

Contents A note from the editor Intersectional justice: our Unitarian duty to act now – Shana Parvin Begum Degrowth: solution or delusion?

– Rev. Mark Hutchinson From little acorns mighty oaks grow – Rev. Laura Dobson Who’s allowed in your kitchen?

–Rev. Arek Malecki Reawakening Wakeeld chapel – Chris Carr Remembering Dr. J. Jeremy Goring – Alan Ruston What matters to Unitarians in 2024? Our Social Action Audit – Ann Howell Love and fear: is the sky falling in?

– Rev. Danny Crosby Letters to the editor Padiham celebrated – Valerie Walker

2 3 5 6 8 10 11 12 14 15 16

Shana Parvin Begum explains why speaking up during dicult times is fundamental to being a Unitarian, and part of our duty as peace-loving people

Intersectional justice: our Unitarian duty to act now As I write this article my heart bleeds as people are massacred in Rafa, the last Palestinian refugee camp where displaced people could gather safely. We often rally together in the streets for climate justice, yet very few of us call for a ceasere in Gaza, where Palestinians have been living in what is essentially an open-air prison long before October 2023. How can we as Unitarians live true to our values, and stand up for intersectional justice?

The term ‘intersectional justice’ recognises the entwined nature of environmental, social, feminist, and racial justice. Gaza is a prime example that shows how these strands of justice can’t be separated.

As reported in the Guardian, scientists estimate that more than 281,000 tons of carbon dioxide were generated

by Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza in the rst two months of the war. This, the Guardian states, is greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than twenty of the world’s most climatevulnerable nations.

The impact of the war goes far beyond environmental destruction.

The human death toll alone has reached 37,000 Palestinians since the rst bombings on 7th October.

This gure is unlikely to include ‘excess deaths’ – those with medical conditions who couldn’t access the care they needed. This is undeniably intentional annihilation, and continues to send shockwaves of grief across the world. The racial justice element runs deep. The United Nations has called on the international community to prevent genocide in Gaza, and yet the murders continue.

Fighting for intersectional justice links directly to our Unitarian ethos of diversity, inclusion, and acceptance.

Calling for a permanent ceasere is the most humane response to what is happening in Gaza, and we as Unitarians have a responsibility to speak out.

Building intentional awareness In May 2021, I learned that the Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem had been attacked, and that in Sheikh Jarrah, innocent people were forced to leave their homes so others could settle there – and I joined a protest.

Al-Aqsa being attacked is a regular occurrence, particularly during the last 10 days of Ramadan, the holiest time when Muslims spend their days and nights in vigil at the mosque and are at their most vulnerable. We just don’t hear about these attacks in mainstream news.

When the Iraq war happened, I only knew what I saw on TV, and that was bad enough. Today, one of the key dierences of witnessing military conict and war atrocities around the world is social media. As much as I dislike the corporate powers that control platforms like Instagram, they oer the everyday person, like you and me, a chance to see and share what is happening on the ground in real-time. News channels are limited in what they can share, partly due to the risk to journalists. A few years ago I followed a number of Gazawww.inquirer.org.uk | Page 3

based journalists who have since been martyred. ‘Martyred’ is a term used for the unlawful taking of innocent lives. Words like ‘died’ and ‘killed’ don’t do those lives justice.

The content you see on social media reects your likes and preferences. So, consider what interests and proles you engage with. Any feminist, queer, social justice, or racial justice brand or inuencer will be sharing content relevant to intersectional justice issues.

Challenging antisemitic rhetoric It’s understandable to feel uncomfortable when speaking about the situation in Gaza. The allegation of antisemitism has been used countless times to silence legitimate criticism of Israel. United Nations ocials, human rights groups,

Above: shopping centre, Cardi city centre, January 2024 Previous page: the Israeli Embassy, London, May 2021 peaceful protestors, and international institutions have all been smeared with this label.

The founder of South Wales Jews 4 Collective Liberation said to me that this is what the powers want us to believe.

If people are made to feel that this is a ‘conict’ between Muslims and Jews, they will stay silent because they have no stake. But the conict in Gaza is not a case of Muslims against Jews. There are Jewish and Christian Palestinians, and churches have also been targeted.

Talking about the weaponization of antisemitism, Avi Shlaim, leading British-Israeli historian of Iraqi Jewish descent, says: “Antisemitism has been weaponised to whitewash Israeli apartheid, Israeli occupation, and Israeli war crimes. It’s also been weaponised to attack supporters of Palestinian rights and critics of Israel. […] In most cases criticism of Israel are evidence-based and legitimate. They relate to Israeli actions, and they have nothing to do with the hatred of Jews.”

You only need to go to a rally or look online to see the amount of Jewish support against Israel’s actions. This includes young Jewish folk as well as Holocaust survivors shouting “not in my name” – calling for permanent ceasere and a stop to the occupation. It is not antisemitic to speak out against the horrendous actions in Gaza. It is our duty as peace-loving people.

Taking action In Cardi, where I Iive, there is a weekly march in the city centre co-organised by groups including Stop the War Cardi, and Black Lives Matter Cardi. The community keeps on growing. Queers, Muslims, Jews, adults, children, and everything in between, out marching together with Page 4 | Issue 8085 – 11 July 2024

“I often get asked what the point is in weekly rallies, and if they really make a dierence.

My response is always the same – if we plant seeds now, future generations can enjoy the trees.” banners and music. Protest drumming is one of my own personal joys. I often get asked what the point is in weekly rallies, and if they really make a dierence. My response is always the same – if we plant seeds now, future generations can enjoy the trees.

In Wales, we also have the Cymru Peace Coalition, where people from all over Wales join together to take action in shutting down arms factories for as long as possible. We do this to disrupt the manufacturing of weapons that are used in the massacre of Palestinian lives.

You don’t have to go on a march or shut down an arms factory to take action. You could donate, if you’re able, to aid charities working in Gaza. The Sameer Project provides tents in Southern Gaza (you can donate at https://bit. ly/tents4gaza). But most importantly, you could start conversations with the people you know, and encourage engagement – not debate.

Our place in a changing world For there to be growth in our movement, we need to get up close and personal with intersectional justice. We need to step outside of our comfort zone. History, and future generations, will ask what we did to stand against oppression.

What legacy will we leave for there to be growth within ourselves and the movement?

Congregations often speak about the desire to have more diversity and young people, and I wonder what steps are being taken to meet people where they are, and the conditions we invite people in. You’ll nd the most marginalised people ghting for liberation and justice, and it should also be those with the most privilege standing up and speaking out.

Unitarianism is a radical faith. Being radical means leaning into our discomfort. What are we willing to sacrice to become true custodians of justice? We don’t need to be experts. We only need to have eyes, ears, and most importantly, a heart. Not all hearts beat the same, but let’s make ours beat together. It’s never too late to speak out and take action. There is still work to do in our movement on anti-colonialism and anti-racism. What will you do?

For more information, listen to episode four of the People so Bold podcast, where the UK Unitarian Social Action ocer, Ann Howell, talks to social justice activist Adam Slate (UUA ministry student). You can also email shana@yara-luna.com to nd out how to oer support.

Shana Parvin Begum Shana Parvin Begum is a ministry student and intersectional justice activist based in Cardi.

Rev. Mark Hutchinson challenges the concept of degrowth, and examines how positive growth can be pursued in alignment with Unitarian values

Degrowth: solution or delusion?

Environmental activists, and many others, are always condent that one solution to the disaster of the ecological crisis is ‘degrowth.’ This is generated from the understandable position that we are a nite planet and cannot therefore continue to grow forever in economic terms. We are, as Kate Raworth writes in her book Doughnut Economics, addicted to growth. More importantly, our nancial system does not know how to operate without the concept and reality of growth.

The issue is splendidly highlighted by the following quotes that oer a confused response to a complex issue: “The economy is not real. It is merely one way of imagining our world. Gross domestic product is not real either. It is just a clever way of measuring some of the stu we humans get up to. Growth was a great invention. Now get over it.”

The Growth Delusion, David Pilling “No country has ever ended human deprivation without a growing economy. And no country has ever ended ecological degradation with one.”

Growth: A Reckoning, Daniel Susskind How long has economic growth been ‘a thing’?

Today we take growth for granted, and yet for the vast majority of human history, it was an exception. This changed with the onset of the industrial revolution, leading to gradual lifestyle improvements. This has continued right up until the current time, with the last 15 years seeing more than a billion people taken out of absolute poverty.

Gross domestic product (GDP) was fashioned in the 1940s to measure how much output could be transferred to the war eort – a very necessary calculation. Now we are in an ecological crisis, and this war needs equally brazen new thinking. This includes the full recognition of the role of the state as advocated by Mariana Mazzucato in The Value of Everything, the development of new concepts around what it means to be economically inactive, and a new understanding of work ethic.

What is ‘degrowth’?

Degrowth is grounded in the idea that tackling the growth dilemma seriously must come at some sort of cost. The uncomfortable truth is that something must change to mitigate the probable limitations of a nite planet.

Then there is degrowth as purposeful recession, leading to more human diculties around our increasingly connected economic planet. One way of addressing this is redistribution. According to David Susskind, to keep one billion out of absolute poverty, the remaining seven billion (including almost all in Western Europe) must reduce their standard of living.

The concept of degrowth is bad, impossible politics because for it to work, it must be persuasive. Five minutes of news listening or reading will show which persuasiveness is holding sway in large parts of the world right now, and it is not about degrowth or accepting climate change actions.

So, what’s this got to do with Unitarianism?

Our faith is extremely strong in recognising the importance of reason and science. Therefore we know that there are trade-os for growth, including inequality and climate destruction. An even more unpalatable trade-o may be the inability to assist others as we would like.

By holding a position of degrowth, we are abandoning one of humanity’s most cherished skills: imagination. This means we need to consider some of our deeply felt Unitarian positions.

Take equality, which should be equality for all, not equality of opportunity. Most people know we are not equal, and that total equality is not achievable. From the solid ground Continued on page 13 > www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 5

Rev. Laura Dobson shares her reverence for the mighty oak, and explores the lessons we can learn from our leafy companions

From little acorns mighty oaks grow Trees have a lot to give and a lot to teach us. They oer shelter, stability, and beauty, as well as providing shade, food and habitat for wildlife, adding nutrients to the soil, and stimulating human imagination.

I begin every day with this spoken and body prayer:

oldest tree in Savernake Forest, was a tiny sapling at the Battle of Hastings in 1066! Gog and Magog, “Oaks are great the ‘Oaks of Avalon’ in Glastonbury, This day, may I be like a tree: may be 2,000 years old.

A shelter for all who come; spiritual teachers, Oak trees have captured the Growing towards the light, human imagination for millennia. oering us freely their Bending with the wind, They were sacred to thunder and Bearing good fruit; lessons in resilience lightning gods, such as the Celtic Rooted in the Earth Dagda, the Norse Thor, and the And grounded in Love. and generosity, and Greek Zeus. Druids held their sacred rites in oak groves. Oaks nurturing community.”

I then walk the dog in local woods. feature frequently in the Hebrew I am grateful for the calming presence Bible, where they are sometimes of the trees, as I walk, sit, and sing known as terebinths – for example, beneath their welcoming canopy. in the stories of Abraham, Jacob, Oaks have always been one of my favourite trees. On the Joshua, Gideon, and Obadiah – in which they symbolise farm where I grew up, a huge oak stands at the edge of the stability, faithfulness, and the power and protection of farmyard, guardian of farm and family. I am not the only the divine. one to consider oaks special. Oak is the national tree of In shamanic practices, oak is often the axis mundi, serving as many countries. There are a number of famous individual a doorway to other worlds, enabling the practitioner to travel ancient oaks in the UK, including the Major Oak in through its roots to the lower realm of the ancestors and Sherwood Forest (said to have sheltered Robin Hood), nature spirits, and through its branches to the upper realm the Royal Oak (in which Charles II hid after the battle of the angels and ascended masters or enlightened ones. of Worcester in 1651), and Macbeth’s Oak in Birnam Oaks are great spiritual teachers, oering us freely Wood, Perth. their lessons in resilience and generosity, and nurturing Oaks can live for over 1,000 years. The Big Belly Oak, the community. Oaks can survive the harshest conditions and Page 6 | Issue 8085 – 11 July 2024

adverse events like being struck by lightning. They teach us the importance of staying grounded and steadfast in the face of adversity, and growing wise by learning from experience.

Oaks epitomise generous service to the community. They play a huge part in our ecosystems, and are ecosystems in themselves. UK native oaks (pedunculate and sessile) support over 2,300 dierent species – birds, mammals, invertebrates, fungi, lichens, and bryophytes – 326 of which are completely dependent on them (such as the oak leaf blister fungi), and another 229 that are rarely found on trees other than oak (such as the oak leaf-roller beetle).

All stages of the tree – from acorn to sapling to maturity to deadwood – support obligate and highly associated species.

Trees contribute to woodland ecosystems by providing shade, adding leaves and deadwood to woodland oor litter, and nutrient cycling through the interactions between their roots and other soil organisms. The shelter and support that oaks provide for myriad other life forms can inspire us to support those in need, care for one another, and contribute to the wellbeing of our wider communities.

With their extensive root systems, oaks encourage us to maintain a deep connection with our heritage; our roots.

I recently discovered that one of my Transcendentalist heroes, the writer and naturalist Henry David Thoreau, had a passion for ancient oaks. In 1860 he spent several months exploring the ancient oak woodland of Inches Wood in Boxborough, Massachusetts, cataloguing trees and recording his ndings in his journal. On 3rd January 1861, with civil war approaching, Thoreau wrote that Inches Wood was, “likely to be cut o within a few years for ship timber and the like.” His fears were realised when, by 1862, the owner had cut all the old trees and sold the timber to the Union Navy.

Today, the survival of oaks is threatened by climate change, development, and disease. Worldwide, over a third of primary forests were cut down between 1900 and 2015. Britain has lost almost half of its ancient woodland since the 1930s and is now one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with only half our biodiversity left. Since 2014 southern England and Wales have been aected by acute oak decline, caused by drought, waterlogging, and pollution, which stress trees and lead to infections by bacteria, fungi, and insects, causing leaf loss, cracked bark, and ‘bleeding’.

Aected trees can die within ve years.

Woods and forests are biodiversity hubs. We neglect them at our peril. There are many things that we can do to help the cause of our precious ancient trees. Here are two actions you might like to consider: • Join Unitarians for Climate Justice (U4CJ) – we share information, inspire and encourage each other, and come together to take action. Our latest action was joining the multi-organisation Restore Nature Now march in London on 22nd June. You can join the WhatsApp community here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/ KtgToQ9CaFHBBSsPsq0La8.

• Support the Woodland Trust, whose work includes planting trees, funding research on oak decline and other tree crises, managing the ancient tree inventory, and calling for full legal protection for all ancient trees.

Visit https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/.

In these times, when our society seems more divided than ever before, may we be inspired to welcome all to our

expansive canopy, and do all we can to provide nourishment for body and soul. As the saying goes, from little acorns mighty oaks grow. We grow strong when we consistently nurture one-another in belonging.

A last word from Henry David Thoreau’s poem Friendship, which describes his friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson: Two sturdy oaks I mean, which side by side Withstand the winter’s storm, And, spite of wind and tide, Grow up the meadow’s pride, For both are strong.

Above they barely touch, but, undermined Down to their deepest source, Admiring you shall nd Their roots are intertwined Insep’rably.

Rev. Laura Dobson Rev. Laura Dobson is a minister with Chorlton Unitarians in Manchester and Honorary Secretary of the Manchester District Association of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 7

Rev. Arek Malecki oers an intriguing and eective approach to help create a welcoming environment for all

Who’s allowed in your kitchen?

Who’s allowed in your kitchen? What I really mean by that is, does your church or chapel operate like a business where only certain sta – a few long-standing members of the community – are trusted enough to do things; where “all are welcome” indeed, but only to enjoy the space when those trusted people are around? Or are you an organic community with a real sense of shared stewardship for the space you’ve got – where there is neither sta nor guest, neither serf nor served, and neither giver nor receiver, for you are all one?

Don’t get me wrong, I do not room and ended in the kitchen. But advocate for simply handing out the best ones also started in the the keys to your chapel, together kitchen, when hosts weren’t quite with the security alarm code, to ready for the guests. Then it was all “Every good house absolutely every person that ever hands on deck. Yes, something steps into the space. Of course, turned out to be dierent than party I’ve been to a level of responsibility is required, planned, but no one cared. Then the after all we are in legal custody of party moved to the living room for started in the living these beautiful historic buildings a while, only to return to the kitchen room and ended in we’ve got, and as trustees we need for the grand nale. to take certain precautions. Besides, I One of the things I started the kitchen.” am almost certain that handing nonchalantly doing at Leicester’s out keys left, right and centre Great Meeting Chapel is giving our would violate some kind of small newcomers a quick, casual tour of print clause in your building the kitchen: “If you ever need a insurance. drink this is your mug cupboard, But given the responsibilities we have towards our buildings, the kettle is over here, if there’s no teabags left here, and the fact that it may not be feasible to just leave the there’s always more over there.” My only agenda? I know door unlocked in perpetuity, can we think about other ways that our ‘hosts’ can get dragged into conversation, or get to help new(ish) people feel not only welcome when we are side-tracked by something else, and may not realise that there to host them, but that it is truly their place too? a newcomer’s cup is empty. Besides, they are here to enjoy the space too! I don’t want anyone to feel like they Every good house party I’ve been to started in the living have to ask for a drink or stay uncomfortable, nor do Page 8 | Issue 8085 – 11 July 2024

I want anyone to feel like they always come here to do some work.

Personally, at any house party, I’d rather help in the kitchen than sit at the table. Cross-table conversations, especially with people I don’t know well, don’t come easily to me. I nd conversations more natural when my hands are busy. Often, I can’t resist the urge to jump in and help when I see an empty cafetiere, particularly at our busy mid-week coee mornings. So by letting others behind the kitchen counter, I am, in a sense, giving up my favourite role.

Yet, I’ve noticed an unexpected eect from my kitchen tours. People quickly began claiming our space as theirs, even when they were very new. It might seem counterintuitive to us. After all, isn’t it rude to make your guests work? Shouldn’t we be looking after them?

Ivan Illich, a catholic priest, philosopher, and social critic, argues for an emphasis on dismantling elements of traditional institutions that limit human potential and innovation. He explored unconventional ideas about societal structures and the distribution of power. Yes, he wrote about it in relation to the education systems, but I reckon it also applies to our churches.

He proposed that new perspectives brought by newcomers, when we give them voice, are crucial for innovation and prevent stagnation. The concept of valuing the perspectives of the newest members, also known as ‘the youngest voices’ (‘youngest’ understood as tenure, not age), is also explored in the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Kimmerer, a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, integrates indigenous wisdom with scientic knowledge in her writing. She reects on the role of new members in a community: “We are showered every day with gifts, but they are not meant for us to keep. Their life is in their movement, in the giving. The more something is shared, the greater its value becomes. This is hard to grasp for a culture steeped in notions of private property. When the berry season comes around, the berries spread out over the forest oor. They don’t care who picks them. They are for everyone to share. The newcomers are not excluded.”

This passage highlights the indigenous perspective of inclusivity and the value of new participants in a communal system. It echoes the sentiment that new members bring essential contributions and fresh perspectives, enriching the community as a whole. Showing newcomers around the kitchen becomes almost a symbolic act: you are not just a guest, an outsider; you are one of us. Kimmerer emphasizes the reciprocity and interconnectedness within natural systems and communities, suggesting that new voices are vital in maintaining balance and fostering spiritual growth.

“Who’s allowed in your kitchen?” is my way of asking who has a say in your community. Do your newcomers freeze at the boundary between the carpeted area and the kitchen oor tiles?

There is a Polish idiomatic expression ‘od kuchni’ – ‘from the kitchen’. To know something ‘from the kitchen’ means to know something from the inside. To be an insider, a member

of the in-crowd, to feel condent in the space. So when you say “all are welcome here” do you also mean that they are welcome in the kitchen, or are you trying to preserve the institutional structure built around the line where two dierent types of ooring meet? If so, what drives you?

The newest members of a group oer invaluable insights and should be given signicant consideration – let them into your kitchen. That tea does not care who brews it, nor is it yours to keep.

Rev. Arek Malecki Rev. Arek Malecki is Minister at the Great Meeting Chapel, Leicester.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 9

Chris Carr celebrates the reopening of Wakeeld Unitarians, sharing a story of growth against the odds

Reawakening Wakeeld chapel According to 1 Corinthians 12:26: “If one part suers, all the parts suer with it, and if one part is honoured, all the parts are glad.”

In the Yorkshire Unitarian Union (YUU), we believe that if one church is hurt, suering, or broken, then it aects us all – no matter the miles between us. We do whatever it takes to try and knit together a community of few churches across a wide geographical area because we care, and are called to do so.

I have been President of the YUU for two and a half years now, and have negotiated both smooth and stormy waters on a number of issues. To alleviate recent diculties surrounding Wakeeld chapel, lots of work had been done by Matti Slaboszewski (YUU treasurer), Simon Bland (Congregational Support Ocer) and others, and I had to make tough leadership choices about whether we let Wakeeld go.

I could see there was a passion for change and a new direction. So, my response was, “not on my watch, and not without a ght.”

On 19 May, I stood ready to take Wakeeld’s rst service after a long period of none at all. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but we had wonderful support by attendees from Scarborough and Doncaster. Sandwiches, pastries, and coees were consumed.

As I was conducting the service about ‘new beginnings’, it struck me how many people had lit the candle, talked, prayed, and sang at Wakeeld chapel before me, and therefore it was my job to make sure many did these actions for years to come. In my address, I spoke about the importance of continuing to embrace tradition, but also of trying new ways of doing things. It is only by carrying the full bundle of past, present, and future that we can survive.

So where does this leave us now? Do we have a platform to build on? We certainly have some assurances about sorting the nances and getting the building back in shape. We have, for now, aimed for a service once a month on the third Sunday, and at the time of writing, I amuse myself tidying up the second service.

But what of community, love, spiritual nurturing? What sort of community do we want to build? One that is self-serving and inward, or one that accepts everyone – the spiritually curious, the eccentric, the downtrodden, the brave? Or the Page 10 | Issue 8085 – 11 July 2024

people that look, act, and do what we think is ‘acceptable’?

Jesus certainly had a ragbag of close followers but they were loving and faithful. I know which I’d rather have – and the spiritual nurturing and nourishment comes from us learning from one another.

After a longish meeting over food and fellowship I was on the train home, wondering what might be missing, and what more could be done. But once a seed is sown, then watered and given light, we wait. The foundations for the growth of something beautiful are there. It is now up to the community to come and share in its ourishing. Aristotle reminds us that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Are you going to become a part of the greater whole, the greater good, and keep Unitarianism alive and well?

As a district president it’s no good me just chairing meetings and turning up to the odd event. I have found I’ve had to be principled, pragmatic, and proactive. It has tested me at times but then if I don’t do this, what is my role actually for? I’m very thankful for working with such good people: the executive and administrator, the people in congregations I meet on a regular basis, and others in the Unitarian movement. Long may it continue with the progress I have seen.

If you would like to support Wakeeld’s newly re-opened chapel, please join us on the third Sunday of each month at 11am. Post code: WF1 1XR. For those travelling by car, there is limited on-site parking but plenty of other options nearby.

For those travelling by train, the chapel is a two-minute walk from the station. Turn right out of the train station entrance, and it’s just round the corner. We hope to welcome you soon.

Chris Carr Chris Carr is President of the Yorkshire Unitarian Union, and worship leader, member, and treasurer of Hull Unitarians.

Alan Ruston looks back on the life of Dr. J. Jeremy Goring, 29 January 1930 – 6 November 2023, a prominent Unitarian with a lasting legacy

Remembering Dr. J. Jeremy Goring

Rosemary and Jeremy Goring, and their son, George

Readers of The Inquirer who have joined us in the 21st century may not have heard of Jeremy Goring; there has been little more than the occasional letter from him in its columns. Those who were its readers in previous decades will recognise a well-known name.

Jeremy was born and brought up in Sussex within a Unitarian family. The Gorings ran an advertising agency that gave us that famous question – ‘are you a Unitarian without knowing it?’ Jeremy’s mother’s maiden name was Bibby, a family long connected with Sussex Unitarianism.

Educated at Brighton, Jeremy took an Oxford University degree in history at New College, staying at the nearby Manchester College. This was followed by a London doctorate in Reformation history. Although untrained, he then entered the Unitarian ministry at Lewisham in 1959, and at the short-lived Strand congregation meeting at Essex Hall until 1964. During this period, Jeremy became what might be called ‘the golden boy of British Unitarianism’. By 1961, he had been co-opted onto the General Assembly Council. He and I rst met in 1963; he had taken over the leadership of the Publicity Committee at Essex Hall, and came to Newington Green where I was a member. He advised us to put the word Unitarian everywhere we could – the diametric opposite to his later views.

Not long after that, the Lindsey Press, the Unitarian publisher, asked Jeremy, Rev. Nicholas Teape and myself to prepare a discussion guide on tolerance. We met on ve occasions in the Embankment Gardens by the Thames, each time in bright summer sunshine. Jeremy made what was for me the signal contribution, demonstrating his considerable historical knowledge and judgement. The Meaning of Tolerance, published in 1964, was the result.

Jeremy married Rosemary Blake in 1958, whose family had equally as long a connection with English Presbyterianism and Unitarianism as her husband’s. They had four children and in 1965 Jeremy left the ministry to become rst a schoolteacher, and then a lecturer at Goldsmiths College in South London.

Jeremy retired in 1987 as its Dean of Humanities and Performing Arts. Latterly, he and his family lived in Lewes, East Sussex, and he became honorary minister at Westgate chapel. He made part of the chapel building into the Westgate One World Centre, which in the view of some took it beyond its Unitarian setting, arming a commitment to the local community.

Jeremy wrote numerous articles and books, the last being Burn Holy Fire: Religion in Lewes since the Reformation, published in 2003. A man of rm principles, he was a life-long vegetarian, and an advocate of natural healing and non-violent resistance. He trained as an analytical psychotherapist.

While Jeremy became increasingly restive within 20th century Unitarianism, he still wrote for the Unitarian History Society, becoming its President in 1990. In 1987 he delivered the Essex Hall Lecture on Martineau, Maurice, and the Unitarian Dilemma. He concluded that both belonged to the Church Universal, transcending the divisions of sect and party: “Like them I believe in that Church and, no matter how discontented I may be with the bit of it I was born into, that is where I belong.”

In the early 1990s Jeremy and his family joined the Nigerian-based Brotherhood of the Cross and the Star, making frequent visits to Africa and accepting leadership roles within it in the UK and Europe.

Not without humour, he relished telling the story of an experience at a General Assembly meeting. Behind him was an old, slightly deaf minister. Jeremy heard the minster say to his companion, “Who is he?”, meaning Jeremy. The companion said Jeremy’s name, to which the minister replied, “Oh – I thought you said he’s terribly boring!”

Jeremy was a gure you remembered after meeting him – always courteous, beautifully spoken, and loyal to the tradition of our churches as he saw it. He is survived by his wife Rosemary, his four children, and ve grandchildren.

An obituary by his daughter Margaret can be seen in the Guardian, online version, 21st December 2023.

Alan Ruston Alan Ruston is a historian of Unitarianism and a member of Watford Unitarian Fellowship.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 11

Ann Howell delves into the results of the recent Social Action Audit to discover the issues that matter to Unitarians today

What matters to Unitarians in 2024: our Social Action Audit After the 2023 Annual Meetings, it was clear that we needed a better picture of which social issues UK Unitarians were most concerned about, and our capacity to make an impact. Right away it was clear that climate change was a priority, as Unitarians For Climate Justice (U4CJ) emerged very soon afterwards and joined The Big One climate march in London in 2023.

But what other issues are driving Unitarians, and where is our capacity for engagement?

We set up the Social Action Audit to achieve this goal: see where the core Unitarian values of compassion, tolerance, and respect for all beings were focused, and how they motivate Unitarian individuals and congregations to take action to change society.

What is social action?

Social action has long been part of Unitarian practice. The role of Social Action Ocer was introduced in 2022 to strengthen connections and collective action that speak to our core values around current issues. When we talk about social action, we mean coordinated eorts to improve society at local, national, or even global levels. We mean people coming together to support those in need and tackle the root causes of injustice. Since taking on the role, I have had the opportunity to speak with many congregations around the country about how they engage with social action and what kind of support they need to make a deeper impact.

Our methodology To carry out the Social Action Audit, we put together a team of committed Unitarians (two ministers and a lay worship leader), who all had relevant skills in research and data analysis. At the beginning of this year, Rev. Winnie Gordon, Rev. Stephanie Bisby, Louise Reeve, and I began developing two questionnaires, one for individuals and one for congregations. The questions in both spoke to the Page 12 | Issue 8085 – 11 July 2024

level of engagement with social issues, the moral connection to these issues, and the level of drive and capacity to take further action.

We collected data with two online surveys which were relatively brief to make them easy to complete and boost responses, but we made sure they covered our key ‘data points’, giving us meaningful answers with relevant context. We then followed up with three online focus groups. These groups gave people an opportunity to talk more in-depth about their answers, and let us collect anecdotal evidence about what Unitarian social action looks like in practice.

Key ndings The top four social issues of interest to individuals were: • Economic justice • Housing and homelessness • Peace initiatives, including Gaza and Ukraine • Climate justice This corresponds to what issues respondents thought most aected their local area, which were: housing, food insecurity, and pollution or other climate-related issues. At the congregational level, the top three issues identied were: climate justice, peace initiatives, and mental health support.

The full report is available on the UK Unitarian website (https://www.unitarian.org.uk/social-action-audit-2024/).

We understand that capacity is an issue for many individuals

and congregations who feel stretched and at their limit, and we will continue to address this issue and oer support as best we can. It’s important to remember that even small actions can have signicant ripples. As one focus group attendee pointed out: “One thing we can all do is, in the nicest possible way, to challenge people, friends and family who have certain attitudes to women, people of dierent races, people of dierent sexualities, and have reasonable conversations because at the individual level you can change the way people think.”

Identifying these issues is just the start; nding those with a passion for these issues is the next step. We need to uplift the Unitarians who want to use their interest, knowledge, and experience to help their congregations and the wider movement engage more deeply with the causes that are important to them to make a real dierence.

As we have learned from our focus groups, the benets of engaging with social action are often measurable, such as increased church attendance or membership, but also more intangible but still very valuable, such as a strong sense of belonging within the congregation and stronger community connections. This is, of course, on top of the primary goal: to make a dierence on the issues themselves, such as improving the local environment, or providing aid to those in need. Living our values is how we show the world who we are and how we continue to strengthen our ties to each other.

Being the change we want to see There is a signicant amount of angst and ennui given all we have been through in recent years, and are still experiencing,

especially regarding the climate crisis, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, economic hardship, threats to the ability of the NHS to keep providing care, the collective anxiety in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, and more. It can all feel more than overwhelming, but this is when our faith community can show its strength – to support those in need, to give voice to the marginalised, and to oer the space for exploration of new ideas and new ways of being.

We can be the change we want to see, and now we need to connect with each other and do what we can to relieve suering and spread love and compassion.

In my role as Social Action Ocer, I will continue to do all that I can to foster the connections we need to make our voice heard and increase our impact. If you haven’t already, please sign up for the People So Bold monthly newsletter (email ahowell@unitarian.org.uk), where we will soon be announcing a Social Action Day in London in early October.

Ann Howell Ann Howell is the GA Social Action Ocer, and organiser of innovative Unitarian projects including SimpleGifts and Festival of Unitarians in the South East (FUSE).

Degrowth: solution or delusion?

Continued from page 5 >

of striving for equality of opportunity, we can talk more persuasively about fairness and making things better.

For example, can we learn to celebrate wealth, rather than demonise it? One way we do not celebrate wealth is not paying certain taxes, paying them begrudgingly, or supporting a black market that we know doesn’t pay tax. Without tax there would no NHS, and nothing close to our current set of safety nets for those who struggle nancially. I am proud and happy that my business pays almost £500,000 in taxes each year. I totally understand that many people have to buy as cheaply as possible, but if we can celebrate and encourage paying taxes, we can start to respect wealth creators – wherever we are in the political spectrum. And, it is a much stronger argument for world clampdown against hidden, untaxed wealth.

A new kind of growth In Kim Stanley Robinson’s book The Ministry of the Future, companies and individuals are paid to decarbonise rapidly, in much the same way slavery was bought out. The ction story oers a new approach to growth. Morally repugnant to many? Maybe. Potential solution to an intractable problem?

Also maybe.

Debunking degrowth then asks the inevitable question…

What next? How do we solve these issues? This article was written before the general election, which contained much rhetoric about growth. But growth is still relevant when

approached in the right way.

We as Unitarians have the imagination to ideate around what this positive growth looks like – for the economy, yes, but more importantly for communities and for wellbeing. Wouldn’t it be amazing if our love of experiences as consumers included things like mental health support?

Suddenly, expenditure on mental health would be part of our mindsets and part of our economy.

I do not buy into the delusion of degrowth. In some way, whatever our abilities and age, we must harness all aspects of imagination in art, science, and politics. We must abandon the idea that economic growth is the enemy, and acknowledge new ways of measuring and achieving a value to human existence that recognises frailties and responsibilities. I hope our movement considers rejecting degrowth, and that we go on to oer much, much more to this important debate.

Rev. Mark Hutchinson Rev. Mark Hutchinson is a community minister at Evesham and Unitarian Transformers, and owner of a recycling business.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 13

Love and fear: is the sky falling in?

I was out the other morning walking with Molly, my dog.

As she ran round the park, a couple of women called out to me. They had two dogs of their own, and were trying to lure a third dog onto a lead with treats. One of the women asked, “Do you know who this dog belongs to?”

I didn’t. The women had found the dog wandering around the tennis courts and thought it belonged to an old man.

They seemed quite fraught, and thought the old man must have had an accident.

As other people passed, the women asked if anyone recognised the dog. No one did. Folk began milling round and getting involved. One of the women called a local vet.

The RSPCA, also contacted, determined that something terrible had happened. More people began to gather.

Two women with prams, one with a dog, slowly moved towards us. I asked them if they knew the dog. One calmly said, “Yes, he’s mine. I was calling him and wondered why he didn’t come running. I wondered what was going on.”

It turns out that the dog likes to wander o in the park doing his own thing – lots of dogs do. Molly does. The woman also knew the old man whose dog was much like her own. It seems that things had got completely out of hand. Panic had set in. A simple situation had been blown out of all proportion. The dog was ne and yet fear and anxiety had begun to spread from one little acorn, or in this case, a dog who likes to do his own thing.

It reminded me of that classic children’s story Chicken Licken. An acorn falling on the chicken’s head convinces him that the sky is falling in. He panics and decides he must inform the king. He tells others about it, and they all get caught up in the fear. This leads to disaster at the end as they are all lured into the fox’s lair, and eaten up.

The lesson is how easy it is to get caught up in irrational fear, especially someone else’s. It is important to examine the evidence of our own senses or we too could get caught up in someone else’s fear. Half the park did that day. Now, to be fair, it came from concern and care, but still the fear was unfounded. How often do we see panic ow from the acorns of life? Every day an acorn will fall on someone’s head, but it does not mean that the world is about to end.

Fear is a powerful force and it comes in many forms. There are of course phobias such of spiders, or heights or people we can perceive as dierent. There are internal fears such as commitment and loneliness, the sort of fears that shut us down and close us in. There is fright a healthy kind of fear that kicks in if we nearly get run over or a brick falls from a building being worked on from above. Then there is dread – the worst kind of fear, which stops us living at all.

Love is an equally powerful force, in fact perhaps even more powerful than fear. It too comes in many forms, there is not just the romantic kind that we talk about on Page 14 | Issue 8085 – 11 July 2024

FROM NOTHING TO EVERYTHING

By Rev. Danny Crosby

Valentine’s Day. There is also a deep sense of happiness that comes from a love for life itself, the opposite of dread. There’s the love we feel for friends and family and community too. There is also another kind of love, the type that David Whyte talked about extensively in his book, The Three Marriages: a deep engaged love with life whether that be with our inner selves, others, life itself, a work or calling, for nature and of course a love for God. These two forces ‘love’ and ‘fear’ pull and push at us constantly, like the great tides and whichever one we feed is the one that consumes us. Fear can stop us functioning as it shuts us down completely or perhaps worst it can lead to terrible destruction as we make wrong choices about life and take wrong action. Fear can block us from experiencing the one thing we all need to live happily in this world, it can stop us from knowing love. Love though can drive out fear, it does so by nourishing our souls. As in John 4:18: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

To know love and to share it with others will overcome fear. It has always done so. I know this from personal experience. By constantly turning to love fear is overcome and cannot take hold and by living in love we become beacons of hope to others of what living in and through love can do. Love gives us the courage to overcome fear to face whatever is causing us fear and to walk through it and as we do the fear diminishes. As we do we can feel the love owing again. All we have to do is turn in love and the tide can begin to change direction. Hard to believe, I know, but true. It’s up to us – by simply choosing love, we can cast out fear and be of service to ourselves and the whole world around us. Fear and cynicism are the easy lazy choices.

Love is harder, well actually it’s tougher, but it is most certainly worth it.

Fear is a powerful emotion. We all feel it at times. The fright instinct is vital for our survival. Other forms of fear are less helpful, particularly those we create from within ourselves. These can spiral out of control and lead to problems for ourselves and others. Just as in the cautionary tale of Chicken Licken. So, the next time you feel an acorn falls on your head, don’t assume it’s a sign that the end of the world is nigh. It may just be an acorn falling from a tree – a sign of the natural change and ow of life.

Letters to the editor Unitarians in India Elizabeth Faiers

To the editor › Many of you may remember that, during the GA meetings of 2014, I briey talked about my visit to North East India. I was very lucky to be able to visit many Unitarian churches, communities, and schools during early 2013. I was supported and sponsored by the Bowland Charitable Trust.

One community that I visited was in Kseh Rynshang. I was particularly impressed by the leader of this small group. He did not ask for money but asked me to pray for them. They wanted to build a church, which would cost about £4,000. They showed

me where they would build the church, overlooking a beautiful valley where rice was cultivated. On my return home I decided that I would try to raise sucient funds for their needs. This fundraising ocially started at the GA meetings in 2014. Quite a few of you will have one of the chalice suncatchers that I made and sold for this fund.

Finally, I raised over £4,000 and the church was built.

It is small and very pretty. So, thank you, all those who one way or another supported my eorts.

Submission guidelines Have you got an uplifting, interesting, or important story to share? The Inquirer publishes articles that explore spirituality today, grounded in our Unitarian values of connection, acceptance, and compassion.

We’re keen to hear from a diverse range of voices, and encourage authors to write about the evolution of the movement in a fast-changing world.

Please email articles between 600 and 1,000 words to lac170395@gmail.com. Attach your article as a Word document or Google Doc, or paste it into the body of the email.

Please include a suggested title, a highresolution image of yourself, a short author bio (Rev. Individual Person, minister at Somewhere Unitarians), and ideally a photo to accompany the article.

For shorter pieces or news about upcoming events, please add ‘Letter’ to the subject line of your email. You do not need to send a photo to accompany letters, and letters can be published anonymously.

Letters Want to share your thoughts or observations?

Write to the interim editor of The Inquirer, c/o 3 Edmunds Fold, Littleborough, OL15 9LS, or email to lac170395@gmail.com. We’re especially keen to hear from diverse voices.

Something to make you smile

Shared by Joan Sinanan (original author unknown) To the editor › Q: How many Unitarians does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: We choose not to make a statement either in favour or against the need for a lightbulb. However, if in your own journey, you have found that lightbulbs work for you, that is wonderful. You are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your personal relationship with your lightbulb. Present it next month at our annual lightbulb Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of lightbulb traditions, including incandescent, uorescent, long-life, and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.

Te Ministerial Fellowship Conference Organiser Recruitment Te Unitarian Ministerial Fellowship is a professional association that holds two residential conference events per year. One event is attached to the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches Annual Meetings each Spring, and the other falls sometime in Autumn, usually at Te Nightingale Centre in Derbyshire. Tese events contribute to the wider work of the Fellowship’s remit of continuing professional development, strengthening ministerial standards, ministerial support, and collegiality.

We are looking for a skilled administrator to plan and organise our events, raise awareness to build on the experience and success of previous events and oer a range of inclusive and innovative programmes.

Te role will not require the organiser to attend every event though this may be required at times.

Tis is a work remotely role with occasional face-to-face meetings. Te successful applicant will be self-employed and will make the necessary arrangements to comply with all tax, insurance, health and safety at work, and work-life balance requirements.

How to apply Send a Curriculum Vitae and letter of application to Jerey Bowes at jerey.bowes@gmx.com by Wednesday, 31st July 2024.

A job description and person specication can be found here: Please note that the selection panel will refer to the person specication when selecting interviewees, and applicants should be sure to show how they meet all the essential criteria.

Interviews will be held in mid-August.

Benets Te role will be compensated by fee of £2,500 per year, by equal quarterly instalments with reviews at each year end.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 15

Valerie Walker reports on the recent 150th anniversary celebrations at Padiham Unitarians

Padiham celebrated Readers of The Inquirer cannot have failed to see the attractive centre spread in the 30th March issue of this journal heralding the 150th anniversary celebrations of the completion of the present Padiham Chapel building.

Living in the Unitarian desert which is Buckinghamshire, it was a pleasure to be involved in the preparation, and take part in the delivery of, this special celebration. Over four days towards the end of April 2024, Padiham Unitarians invited local people (the Burnley Express online and in print, with text and a colour illustration, informed the wider area) and Unitarians from elsewhere to visit, to learn about Padiham, the chapel, its people and its history and also to join in the celebratory Anniversary Service, which was open to everyone.

a very poor community joined in non- dogmatic worship and worked together to provide education in both basic academic as well as practical skills.

The presentations were not only interesting but could be accessed using small tablets, available to anyone who wished to use them. There were questions to be answered as you moved along, though no test at the end! There was the option for a visitor to use their own smartphone if preferred, but each display panel was clearly printed and illustrated so a relaxed, ‘just looking’ wander was possible too.

Photo by John Hewerdine There were four digital guided tours about the history of the town and its people, displayed on exhibition boards around the chapel which was open from Thursday to Sunday.

Padiham history, the story of the town and how it grew from a cluster of simple cotton weavers’ cottages, the story of the chapel community from its start in the early 19th century, meeting in one of these small houses, to the massive project which was the acquisition of land and the design and building of the new chapel; the people who – while also working long hours at looms – then provided the manual labour to dig foundations and build the chapel. The history of how Unitarianism evolved from earlier non-conformist communities was also displayed.

In addition to the three main exhibitions available to anyone who ‘dropped in’ there was also a tour specically for children and it was a delight to see groups (Year Five) from local primary schools learning how, in the 19th century, Page 16 | Issue 8085 – 11 July 2024

At a celebratory anniversary service held on the afternoon of 27th April, with an address by former Padiham minister Rev. Jim Corrigall, local council dignitaries were joined by a large gathering of Unitarians and friends from Lancashire and further aeld. The service was followed by a ‘Lancashire Tea’; pies and puddings, not scones and cake! See who you can recognise in the picture of the hearty ‘tea’ eaters. (Tea? There was plenty of wine!)

Valerie Walker Valerie Walker is a member of Watford Unitarians and ‘friend’ of Padiham Unitarians.