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Brighton Unitarians
Newsletter July 2014
Sustaining a sacred space
in the heart of Brighton
2
Welcome
We welcome all who seek a better life through spir-
itual and intellectual exploration.
We have respect for all faiths, coupled with a mod-
ern religious outlook that encourages freedom of
individual thought and conscience.
We welcome all who believe that religion is wider
than any one sect and deeper than any one set of
opinions.
We do not impose a particular creed on our mem-
bers or ministers.
We affirm the worth of all people regardless of age,
nationality, gender, sexual orientation, ability or
background.
We seek to provide strength and encouragement
for the spiritual journey and daily living.
We believe that all life on our planet is intercon-
nected.
We believe that how a person lives is a measure of
their faith.
3
Pulpit arrangements for July All services start at 11 a.m.
06 Jef Jones, Lay Leader, BUC
The Gifts and Problems of Language
Piano: Nick Andrews
13 Phillida Simpson, BUC Member
Piano: Joe Ward
20 Jef Jones, Lay Leader, BUC
The Nature of Time
Piano: Pamela Nickels
27 Stephen Crowther, BUC Member
Piano: Kathy Pitt
And from 6.30 - 7.30 p.m.: Evening Prayers
Members and visitors are politely reminded that our church is a sacred
space. If you need to speak to others before a service starts, or you ar-
rive after the start, please be as quiet as possible. Thank you.
Worthing Unitarians
Worthing Unitarians meet at The Friends Meeting House, 34 Mill
Road, West Worthing, the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month at 2.45 p.m.
To contact the Worthing Minister, the Reverend Jane Barton, telephone
01903 202477 or email [email protected].
06 Reflective meeting with music, silence, candle lighting
20 Folk and the Spirit - recorded songs of Maddy Prior.
Commentary: The Rev Jane Barton
4
Dates for your Diary (All events take place in Brighton Unitarian
Church unless otherwise stated).
Thursday 3rd July, 5 - 8 p.m.: TakePart in the City. Many events taking place
in New Road. See page 6 for more information.
Friday 4th July, 12.30 - 1.15 p.m.: Lunchtime Concert. Caroline Collingridge
(flute) and Margaret Grimsdell (piano) play "Hungarian Inspirations". £3.50.
Doors 12.15 p.m. See page 16 for more details.
Saturday 5th July, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.: Makers Boutique. Handmade contemporary
arts and crafts market. One of our regular hirers, go to
www.makersboutique.co.uk for more information. See page 12 for more dates.
Sunday 6th July, 3 p.m.: Anniversary Service at Ditchling Unitarian Chapel.
All welcome to this ‘Butterfly Sunday’. See page 9.
Sunday 6th July, 5 - 7 p.m.: Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra Summer Con-
cert. Piano: Jeremy Young. Includes Mozart’s String Divertimento in D major
K136. Tickets £15 (Friends of Brighton Philharmonic £12) from Dome Office,
at the door on the day, or online: www.brightonticketshop.com. See page 17.
Tuesday 8th July, 7.30 - 9.30 p.m.: Music for the Soul. Event run by Brighton &
Hove Interfaith Contact Group, held at Hove Methodist Church. See page 12.
Friday 11th July, 12.30 - 1.15 p.m.: Lunchtime Concert. Nick Andrews and
Friends, with special guest Rosie Evans singing songs for a summer afternoon.
Doors 12.15 p.m. £3.50. See page 16.
Saturday 12th July, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Interfaith Climate Conference. Hosted by
and held at the Brighthelm Centre, North Road, Brighton. Open to all. Speakers
include Caroline Lucas. See page 12.
Friday 18th July, 12.30 - 1.15 p.m.: Lunchtime Concert. The John Lake Trio
will perform original material which flirts on the border between jazz and clas-
sical music. Doors 12.15 p.m. £3.50. See page 16 for more details.
Friday 18th July, 7.15 p.m.: Confluence. A Performance of Indian Classical
Music. Amitava Majumdar (Sarod), Shruti Adhikari (Santoor), Prodyut
Mukherjee (Tabla) and Shiv Shankar Ray (Tabla). Tickets £10 from
www.tablalab.com/events. See page 8.
Sunday 20th July, 5 - 7 p.m.: Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra Summer
5
Concert. Programme includes Schubert’s Marche Militaire (String Quartet)
and Tchaikovsky. Tickets £15 (Friends of Brighton Philharmonic £12) from
Dome Office, at the door on the day, or online:
www.brightonticketshop.com. See page 17.
Friday 25th July, 12.30 - 1.15p.m.: Lunchtime Concert. ‘The London Pi-
ano School’. Ambrose Page, piano, and Sarah Tobias and Peter Morris, nar-
rators. Doors 12.15 p.m. £3.50. See page 16 for more details.
For more events in the UK, go to www.ukunitarians.org.uk/pulse/ (for dis-
trict events) or www.unitarian.org.uk/index.shtml (UK-wide). The diary in-
cludes weekend retreats, foreign trips, courses, workshops and so on.
Jef Jones is available in the church on Wednesday afternoons. Phone Jef if
you wish to see him.
Proposed Directory of Skills/Services/Resources
The Committee is considering the possibility of creating a directory of skills/
services/resources available within our congregation. We clearly have many
talented members, professional or otherwise, and it has occurred to us that
most people are unaware of what others do apart from attend our Church!
Also there are a number of elderly and vulnerable members of our congrega-
tion – and not so elderly too – who may prefer to use the services of people
who are known to them and can be trusted, rather than take pot luck in the big
wide world.
Please let me know if you would be interested in listing your service in a di-
rectory such as this, and we will decide whether this is something that is
worth going forward with. You will need to provide me with your name, ser-
vice(s) offered, website address (if any), and contact details.
You can email me ([email protected]) or come and find me after a service.
Jan Eaton
New Member
We are pleased to welcome Helen White as a member of our church.
6
BUC Treasurer
In the last few years BUC has become a busy church. This is great news in
terms of revenue and has led to changes in the Treasurer's role.
In recognition of this, at the beginning of this year our Committee appointed
Christine Clark-Lowes as financial Record Keeper. We were most grateful to
Phillida Simpson for kindly agreeing to take on the role of Treasurer for the
time being.
Phillida has confirmed that she will not be looking to continue as Treasurer
after our AGM in December, so we are now looking for someone new to
take on the role.
With the creation of the Record Keeper post the work involved as Honorary
Treasurer has now significantly reduced.
Training for Church Treasurer is available through the Association of Church
Accountants and Treasurers (ACAT) as well as locally at BUC.
If you would like to find out more about the role of BUC Treasurer please
talk to Phillida or any member of the Committee.
TAKEPART in the City - 3rd July 5pm to 8pm
Make the streets your playground! Enjoy an alternative evening in the city as
New Road is transformed through an array of free sports activities, dance
and fitness displays.
Try your hand at pavement golf, bowl down the middle of the road or get hu-
la-hooping! There will also be fun ping pong games, dance and martial arts
performances and much more in between!
Simply turn up, join in and have fun. More information from Sports Devel-
opment Team, 01273 292724 or email [email protected].
7
From the outside our building is mag-
nificent. Its sturdy Greek pillars and
tall red doors are imposing. However
when people come into the building,
many remark on its peaceful and restor-
ing atmosphere. Many people say that
they are drawn back to our sacred
space and its spiritual ambience.
The church is also very much in de-
mand as a venue and rehearsal space.
The Festival Fringe this year was one
of our busiest. Each week the building
is used by a diverse range of communi-
ty groups who tell us that the church is
just right for them. It feels like home to
them. We also provide Rites of Passage
in keeping with our free, religious faith
and the church is an especially lovely
setting for weddings.
Our church may be magnificent but, as
an old building that gets a lot of use, it
is also expensive to maintain. We have
stewardship of an elegant but demand-
ing Grade 2 listed building. Currently
the pillars and windows are in need of
repairs, the floor in the church needs
sanding and re-varnishing, and the
kitchen needs to be painted. Thanks to
excellent fundraising by the congrega-
tion and some generous legacies and
donations, we will be able to afford this
work. The coming year will be a time
of renovation and repair for the build-
ing.
It might seem that we spend a lot of
time and money on the building, but we
should not lose sight of the great gift it
represents and houses: a religious tradi-
tion based on respect, reason and free-
dom. The church was built by its origi-
nal congregants to be a home for a pro-
gressive, non-creedal community of
seekers. This is what we have inherit-
ed: a place where each person can find
their own truth in a safe and respectful
setting. That purpose remains at its
heart.
From the Lay Leader - Our Sacred Space
Our Unitarian Church offers a person the help and opportunity to develop the
faith that is within. Not to find religion, to learn beliefs, or to be given a faith,
but to help a person live the faith that is meaningful to him or her.
Rev Johanna Boeke
8
Committee Matters
Among the items discussed at June’s meeting were:
The radio mike (this is now in use)
The cleaning of the church windows and repairs to damaged panes
Repairs and re-decoration of the outside kitchen doors
Sanding and varnishing of church/vestibule floor
The resignation of David Usher, District Minister
The next meeting is on Monday 14th July. If you would like something raised,
please see a member of the committee.
Friday 18th July
A performance of Indian Classical Music
Doors 7.15 p.m.
Tickets £10 from www.tablalab.com/events
Amitava Majumdar (Sarod), Shruti Adhikari (Santoor), Prodyut Mukherjee
(Tabla) and Shiv Shankar Ray (Tabla)
9
An invitation from Ditchling Unitarians
You are all cordially invited to join us
on Sunday 6 July 2014 at 3pm
for our Anniversary
to celebrate over 350 years of Unitarian Worship in Ditchling.
William Schmidt will be taking the service and his address is on the theme
"Continuity".
This Anniversary Sunday is traditionally known in the vil-
lage as "Butterfly Sunday" …
and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on
this special day.
Afternoon tea will be in the Village Hall at approx 4pm.
Two new resources
Thanks to Paul Taylor,for donating to our library a copy of The Aquarian Gos-
pels of Jesus the Christ, written by Levi H. Dowling in 1908. It is the story of
the 18 years of Jesus’ life not accounted for in the New Testament. According to
Dowling, Jesus studied meditation in India where he challenged the caste sys-
tem. The book influenced many New Age thinkers concerned with the Age of
Aquarius.
Paul has also donated a CD Rom which contains scriptures and writing from all
of the world’s religions. The Internet Sacred Text Archive holds 1700 religious
books including the Qur'an, The Talmud, the Vedas, works from African and
Native American traditions, and dozens of translations of the Bible.
If you would like to borrow either of these resources please speak to Jef.
10
BUC Summer Picnic
After the Service on Sunday 20th July please bring
food/drink to share and join us on our BUC Summer
Picnic. Like last year we will head off to Stanmer
Park to enjoy our picnic together, relax and maybe
play some games!
We plan to take a few cars (although we are expecting
car parking space to be limited), gathering at BUC af-
ter coffee just before 1 pm and meeting up on the
grassy area just by Stanmer House and the church at
about 1.40pm. (There is also the option to take a no.78
bus.)
If you would like to join us it would help if you can sign up on the list (which
will be available in the hall after our services), indicating if you would like or
can offer lifts.
Best wishes,
Paul Taylor ([email protected] / 07748 175 570)
© Clickos | Dreamstime.com
We used to sing about Jesus: “Jesus
friend of little children be a friend to
me, take my life and ever keep me
close to thee” and “Tell me the stories
of Jesus, I love to hear, Things I would
ask him to tell me, If he were here …”
Right from when I was very young Je-
sus has been there. We went to Purley
Congregational Church: there were
stories about Jesus, descriptions of his
amazing miracles, and those songs we
sung in Church and Junior Church. Je-
sus was a part of my life; a gentle, kind
presence. At bedtime Mum often read
me and my brother Bible stories, and
we made up our short prayers. Jesus
was very approachable and just part of
our lives.
As I went through life, Mum gave me
books that she had discovered and
found helpful. The most influential for
me was one called The Aquarian Gos-
What Does Jesus Mean to Me? In a recent Congregational Service, Jef asked three members of the congre-
gation to present their views on this question. Here is the first contribution,
with the other two to follow in the next issues of the Newsletter.
11
pel of Jesus the Christ*. This filled in
the parts about Jesus that the Bible
missed out – travelling to India, learn-
ing from rabbis and sages, and more of
his healing and caring for everyone. It
reinforced my broader view of a Jesus
fully human and fully filled with the
Holy Breath. Jesus was called The
Christ because Christ is the name for
Universal Love, and that is what Jesus
was full of. I’ve been captivated by
that view, that God is Love and Jesus
came as a demonstration of that Love.
I think Jesus was a very advanced soul,
who people did not understand and
who some were afraid of. He preached
a new, refreshing and challenging mes-
sage: Love God with all your heart,
and love your neighbour, and your ene-
my, and even love yourself too! He
possessed a brightness, a radiance seen
in his face, a love from his heart, and
an aura that people felt in his presence.
For me it feels easier to talk to Jesus,
than to approach God the omnipotent.
I believe that we are all God’s children,
but I see Jesus as an older brother:
more knowledgeable, more experi-
enced than me. Jesus, to me, is the face
of God, not way off in the vastness of
this incomprehensible universe, but ap-
proachable and always there to listen.
He is my friend. When I pray I may not
always say “Dear Jesus” these days,
but it is often the Jesus channel, the Je-
sus vibration, that I am connecting to
God through.
Jesus is also my saviour. I believe in a
God of Love. So I don’t believe we
need saving from an eternal hell; but
my perceptions of myself often drag
me down. It is all too easy to focus on
the negative - what I believe I’ve done
wrong. Saying sorry to Jesus, especial-
ly when it’s not possible to say sorry to
someone I’ve hurt, helps me to forgive
myself for things I feel I’ve got wrong.
It can be very liberating and helps me
to move on.
2,000 years ago Jesus helped people by
painting pictures of a loving God, by
showing love and by offering for-
giveness. His parables, his stories, his
actions and his sayings were designed
to bring God closer to the people, and
people closer to God. Jesus is here still,
in the stillness, reducing the perceived
gap between people and God, and
guiding us home.
Through the different times in my life I
have sometimes felt a long way from
God and at others quite close. All
through my life though I have felt it is
the light of Jesus that I connect through
when I approach God in the stillness.
Paul Taylor, Brighton Unitarian
Church, 1st June 2014
*The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ,
by Rev. Dr. Levi H. Dowling [1920] is now
available in our library (see page 9) and
online at http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/
agjc/.
12
A regular event at our church, the next
Makers Boutique is on Saturday 5th July.
Brighton & Hove Inter-
faith Contact Group, of
which BUC is a member, is
hosting this event at Hove
Methodist Church: Music
for the Soul.
The Brighthelm Centre, on North
Road, Brighton, is hosting this Inter-
faith Conference if you are interested
in the effects of climate change.
13
Jars of Grace
Thank you to all who put their loose change into the Jars of Grace from Janu-
ary to May this year.
The recipient was Martlets - in honour of our late member Donald McDowell
- and we sent a cheque to them for £120.29, which is a great amount. They’ve
sent a very appreciative letter, saying that this money will certainly go to-
wards the work that they do.
Maria Curtis and Kate Whyman become Unitarian
Ministers
In our Unitarian Tradition, Valediction Services are held on the completion of a
student’s ministerial training and mark their step into recognised ministry. This
year two of these services uniquely involved people who previously chaired the
Brighton Unitarian Church Committee!
On 10th June, at Unitarian College Manchester, Maria Curtis was validated
along with three other students. Held in the ecumenical college chapel, the ser-
vice was conducted by College Principal Rev Alex Bradley. The address was
given by Rev Elizabeth Birtles, who spoke of the Desert Fathers and reminded
us all, but especially those entering ministry, of the need for quiet and contem-
plation in what can be a busy life. It is hoped that Maria will begin her ministry
within the LDPA & SE district.
A fortnight later at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, came the valediction
service for Kate Whyman, and again there were three other students. Sunlight
flooded through the stained glass windows as the students spoke of their various
journeys to ministry and this theme was maintained in the address given by Rev
Dr Arthur Stewart, who also led the service. A moving moment came when we
stood, as the College Principal, Rev Dr Ralph Waller, welcomed each student in-
to the ‘Ministry of Religion’, presenting them with stoles bearing the college
crest. Kate will begin her ministry at Plymouth in the autumn.
[Thank you to The Rev Jane Barton who attended both services and wrote this piece for the
Newsletter. Eds]
14
Setting-Up for Sunday Services
Thanks to Francis Clark-Lowes and Stephen Crowther who are step-
ping down from setting up the church on Sunday mornings. Both have
been making this vital contribution for several years now and we thank
them for doing so. If you would like to join the Setting Up Rota please
read on….
Getting the church set up for Sunday morning services is, fairly obvi-
ously, an important job.
It includes opening up, getting the hall and kitchen set up for coffee,
buying milk and flowers, checking and tidying up the front steps , pre-
paring the church itself and making sure everything is ready. It takes
about an hour, or less if there are two people.
Some people do the job on their own, some do it in pairs. We need
more people to volunteer so that it can be a less frequent job for
those who do it.
Initially, if you're interested, you could shadow someone doing the job
and see what's involved. If you want to give it a go, you could buddy-
up with someone who already does it and see how you get on. Speak
to Fanny or Jef if you're thinking about trying it, to find out more.
If you see yourself as more of an organiser..... we need someone to
manage the setting-up rota!
Need a Venue in July/August?
If you are thinking about running a summer school or just trialling a
class and think that our hall would be suitable, please contact Mari-
on on 696022. Available daytime and evening slots during July and
August.
15
Evelyn Underhill was an Anglo-
Catholic writer, mystic and poet. She
was the first woman to run spiritual re-
treats for the Church of England and
the first woman to lecture its clergy.
Although she was best known for her
works on Christian mysticism, she was
also a poet and novelist, and for a while
was the theological editor of the Spec-
tator.
As a young woman Underhill was in-
stinctively drawn to Catholicism but
felt she could not commit to its doctri-
nal demands. She eventually settled in
the Anglican church and made it her
spiritual home, although for many
years her spiritual mentor was Baron
Friedrich von Hugel, an Austrian Ro-
man Catholic and theologian. The other
key influence on her religious life was
the 14th century mystic Jan Van
Ruysbroeck, with whom she shared a
love of the natural world. Like
Ruysbroeck she understood God as a
single being, unified and mysterious:
the ultimate essence of all existence
and its ceaseless creator. For this rea-
son she was a pacifist holding that all
life is sacred. All life is the an incarna-
tion of the divine.
Underhill’s God is also the living con-
nection between souls. She wrote “For
the real and vital communion between
souls is invisible and spiritual – so
deeply buried that we can think of it
existing unbroken below the changeful
surface of daily life.” God for her is in-
ward, active and accessible. In some
ways this transcendental God is more
Indian than Anglican or Catholic. Un-
derhill collaborated with Rabindranath
Tagore in 1915 and his influence can
be seen in her subsequent work.
Underhill’s devotion to God was ro-
mantic and passionate but its manifes-
tation was practical. She was concerned
with the day-to-day application of spir-
ituality in prayer and love. She stressed
the rewards of a daily practice of pray-
er without belittling the struggles and
frustrations that come with any attempt
to establish such a practice. “Growth is
gradual.” she said. Her view of prayer
is that it is God’s way of working in the
soul, and the human way of accessing
what she calls the ‘invisible web’. In
our religious lives she cautions us
against constant fervour and spectacu-
lar self-denial. A humble daily practice,
with its dull moments and disappoint-
ments, will ultimately be a more crea-
tive and more reliable resource.
Mystic of the Month - Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941)
16
Lunchtime Concerts
Fridays, 12.30 - 1.15 p.m.
All tickets £3.50
Raising money for the Building
Appeal Fund
July 2014 4th: Caroline Collingridge (flute) and Margaret Grimsdell (piano)
play "Hungarian Inspirations": works by Farkas, Doppler, McDowall,
Bartok, Schubert and Brahms - a real feast of music from the seven-
teenth century to the present!
11th: Nick Andrews and Friends, with Rosie Evans singing songs
for a summer afternoon.
18th: The John Lake Trio will perform original material that flirts
on the border between jazz and classical music. The material is al-
ways melodic and nods toward jazz composers such as Thelonius
Monk, Dave Brubeck and Abdullah Ibrahim and the classical work of
Eric Satie and Isaac Albeniz. John Lake plays piano, Simon Brewin on
bass and Simon Cambers on drums.
25th: Ambrose Page (piano), Sarah Tobias and Peter Morris
(narrators). The London Piano School: A concert comprising the piano
works of Muzio Clementi, Jan Ladislav Dussek and John Field who
were all composing astonishing and delightful piano music around the
turn of the eighteenth century. This concert of words and music is
in celebration of their achievements.
There will be a break during August and so we look forward to seeing you again
in September.
17
Brighton Philhar-
monic Orchestra comes
to our church for a Summer
Season of concerts in July and
August.
Performances will be at 5 p.m.
on the following Sundays:
6th July: Piano, Jeremy Young.
Mozart, String divertimento in
D Major K136; Ian Morgan-
Williams, ’Five or six corri-
dors’ for Piano Trio and
’Several Endings’ for Piano
Quartet, and Mozart: Piano
Concerto No 12.
20th July: Schubert, Marche
Militaire (String Quartet);
Tchaikovsky, Andante Cantabi-
le; Peter Copley, String Quartet
No 2; Mozart, Oboe Quartet in
F Major K370.
10th August: Soprano, Katie Thomas. Mozart, Sting Quartet No. 17 ‘Hunt’ in
Bb Major K458; Rob Lane, ‘Evocations’ for String Quartet; Mozart, Exsultate
Jubilate.
24th August: Mozart, Quartet No. 19 ’ Dissonance’ in C Major K465; Adam
Swayne, ‘Reaches’ for String Quartet; Mozart, Flute Quartet No. 1 in D major
K285
Tickets, costing £15 (£12 for Friends of Brighton Philharmonic), available
online at www.brightonticketshop.com, from Dome Box Office or at the door
from 4.30 p.m.
18
Fundraising
The figure on the right shows the amount credit-
ed to the Building Appeal Fund (BAF) account
since October 2013, the start of our financial
year. The £3,000 grant received from the John
Gregson Trust in October 2013 is included.
You can donate to the Building Appeal Fund in
several ways: by making a regular standing or-
der, by buying a copy of Unitarians Talking or
greetings cards, as well as by giving your time
and skills to help us put on events such as the
Spring Fair. See Phillida to talk about regular
donations.
Fundraising is an ongoing activity, since our
historic building requires constant maintenance
and repair. As you’ll see on pages 7 (From the
Lay Leader) and 8 (Committee Matters ), repair
work has been identified in three areas recently:
the doors from the kitchen to the outside area;
the windows, which require specialist cleaning;
and the church floor, which has suffered from general wear and tear and
from moving the chairs whenever an event calls for it. It’s great that our
church is so often in use, though it does take its toll. This is why the cost of
sanding and re-varnishing the wooden floor is being looked into.
£7,886
19
Brighton Unitarian Church
New Road, Brighton BN1 1UF. Tel: 01273 696022 Email: [email protected]
www.brightonunitarian.org.uk
Lay Leader, Jef Jones
incl. pastoral Tel: 01273 710452
care [email protected]
Chair Fanny Tulley
c/o Brighton Unitarian Church
Treasurer Phillida Simpson
Tel: 01273 692001
Secretary Paul Taylor
c/o Brighton Unitarian Church
Administrator Marion Bance
Newsletter Christine & Francis Clark-Lowes
Tel: 01273 602168
Membership Pamela Nickels
Secretary
Music Rota Kathy Pitt
Pulpit Rota Ann Woodhead
Tea/Coffee Rota Andrea Lanzerath
Please contact the
Membership Sec-
retary and the vari-
ous rota organisers
via the church (see
contact details at
the head of this
page).
20
If you’re planning a If you’re planning a
Wedding Wedding oror
Civil PartnershipCivil Partnership
Why not come to Why not come to
Brighton Unitarian Church? Brighton Unitarian Church?
Contact
Marion Bance
on
01273 696022
Child Namings also
arranged
We will help you to plan your per-
fect day. Our church has both a piano
and an organ and the space is ideal
for your flower arrangements, wheth-
er large or small. Why not hire our
hall for an intimate reception?
