Auckland Unitarians

with Karn Cleary

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 21 April 2024

I titled today’s service “Remembering Anzac Day”, purposely. It disturbs me to see or hear references to “celebrating” Anzac Day, when I believe it should always be a day of mourning for all those who died so futilely at Gallipoli, and all the others whether they returned or not, who have gone off to war from New Zealand.

The 24th April, the day before Anzac Day is the anniversary of the death of my father, Bror Muller, who died in 1967. This talk is really about my father’s experiences during the Second World War as an enemy alien and, in his words, 100% committed pacifist. I’ll also talk about how those experiences affected his life after the war, and the impact on his family, or at least on me, growing up in the 1950s and 60s.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/remembering-anzac-day-2/

With Rachel Mackintosh & Betsy Marshall

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 14 April 2024

Unitarians are a mixed metaphor. Roots from flora, wings from fauna.

There is no exact Greek mythical creature to represent this idea but perhaps we can think of a dryad or tree-nymph, maybe combined with a phoenix, the bird who rises.

We are a mixed metaphor and a mixed faith, one that values pluralism and whose hymn book is called Singing the Living Tradition.

For more information, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/roots-hold-me-close-wings-set-me-free/

Speaker:- John Maindonald

Worship Leader:- Shirin Caldwell

Recorded 7 April 2024 @ Auckland Unitarian Church

From the time when he returned from his five year journey around the world, Darwin thought long and hard, not just about the relationships between living things, but also about life and living. He moved from relatively orthodox Anglican to an agnostic who never ceased to wonder at the world of nature and the place of humans in it. While he never identified as a Unitarian, he was exposed to multiple sources of Unitarian influence.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/charles-darwins-religious-life-journey/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

Recorded 31 March 2024 @ Auckland Unitarian Church

I preached in this church last year on Easter Sunday. My theme was resurrection — I spoke about the power of love over hate. In the words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Knowing that when life is gone, love is left for shining.”

Since then, as most of you know, I have become a widow. My husband and your minister Clay Nelson died last November. In preparing for this year’s Easter Sunday service, I have read all eight of the Easter sermons he preached here in this church. I have seen that he talked about the necessity of experiencing Good Friday if we are to experience Easter.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-empty-tomb-holding-lament-in-one-hand-and-joy-in-the-other/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rev. Sally Mabelle of Taupo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 24 March 2024.

During my 12 years as a member and lay worship leader at Auckland Unitarian church, we sang that ‘Spirit of Life’ song hundreds of times, to begin nearly every Sunday service. Today, I’d like to draw our attention directly to that same Spirit of Life, which is intimately with us in every moment – I’m talking about our very breath – literally our IN-spiration – and our EX-spiration…a free gift that we receive at birth and is our closest and most constant spiritual companion throughout our whole life. For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/breathing-the-spirit-of-life-what-does-it-mean-and-why-does-it-matter/

Speaker:- John Maindonald

Worship Leader:- Shirin Caldwell

Recorded 17 March 2024 @ Auckland Unitarian Church

Charles Darwin, who lived through the middle years of the 1800s, is familiar to most of us as the man who laid the foundations of the modern theory of evolution. His ideas have had dramatic continuing effects on our view of ourselves and of the world of which we are part. The idea that living things shared a common evolutionary heritage was not new. What was new was the mechanism that Darwin, along with Alfred Wallace who came up with very similar ideas at the same time, proposed. Darwin worked his arguments into a book of almost 500 pages that was widely read and finally carried the day in the world of science. It is a careful assembly of evidence, from animal breeding, from geology, and from the way that different life forms are distributed across different continents and islands.

For more see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/part-of-nature-or-separate-from-nature-charles-darwin-and-evolutionary-biology/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

Recorded 10 March 2024 @ Auckland Unitarian Church

I have recently watched all three seasons of Ted Lasso.

I had been aware of the show for some time but had been put off by the moustache, and the fact that it seemed to be about sport. Though I admire physical grace, I really don’t care about all the winning and losing and fighting over a ball.

I had been missing out. Ted Lasso is a gift.

It is a gift that slowly unwraps. When one of the characters, Danny Rojas, says, “Football is life”, I like his joy but really don’t connect. Football isn’t my life.

Turns out though, that in Ted Lasso, football is a metaphor for life. Turns out that Ted Lasso himself really doesn’t care about all the winning and losing either. He cares about community and people being their best selves. He’s probably a Unitarian, though that doesn’t get mentioned in the script.

For more see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/constrained-and-sustained-and-still-we-rise/

With Karn Cleary

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 3 March 2024

Our speaker planned for today had to drop out at the last moment due to illness. Karn Cleary has thankfully stepped up to fill in and is going to lead our service with a reading, with a few minor changes, of “The liberal church finding its mission: It’s not all about you”, an article by Rev Peter Bullata in the US. Here’s his web page and blog, which is very interesting in itself: https://peterboullata.com/about-4/

For more information, see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-liberal-church-finding-its-mission-its-not-all-about-you/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Viv Allen

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 25 February 2024

I had intended to read one of Clay’s talks entitled, Why should we learn another language? From Sept 2020 in its entirety but after I read it I realised that a lot of it was about Clay’s personal journey. I have experience with my own journey regarding this topic so I’ve added some of my own thoughts and picked out parts of Clays’ speech that are relevant and added some from other sources,

What has this topic got to do with any of our Unitarian principles? A lot.

For more info, see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/why-should-we-learn-another-language/

Speaker:- Laurie Ross
& Worship Leader:- Shirin Caldwell

Laurie Ross © 18 February 2024

A Call to the people of New Zealand, as a Nuclear Free Peacemaker nation, to withdraw from Militarisation and Warfare. It is time for Humanity to end the barbaric practice of war to work for Peace and Justice.

‘Love’ is the foundation of Unitarian fellowship and the quest for ‘Truth’ leads to liberating our minds from warfare doctrines threatening destruction of Life on Earth.

Humanity must end War before War ends Humanity.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/peacemakers-unite-for-a-world-beyond-war/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church, 11 February 2024

Why do we repeat this ritual every year? It isn’t just to brag about our travels. When we share our water in the common bowl, it reminds us that while we are separate people, we are also part of an interdependent community.

You probably know about the water cycle.... For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/water-communion-2024/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- John DiLeo

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 4th February 2024

At the end of October, I travelled to Washington, DC, to present training at and attend the OWASP Global AppSec Conference. On the Sunday before the conference, I had the opportunity to attend the first ThreatModCon, a one-day mini-conference focused on threat modelling.

At that event, I was privileged to hear a presentation by Avi Douglen. Avi is a leader of the OWASP Israel Chapter, and a member of OWASP’s Global Board. He’s a security consultant and threat modelling practitioner, and is one of the signatories of the Threat Modeling Manifesto, created and published in 2020.

Avi’s presentation is titled “The Threats to Our Community,” and I’m going to share with you much of the content from that talk.

As I listened that day, it became clear to me that the threats he spelled out – and the countermeasures he recommended – would apply to any community that relies on mutual trust and respect to function. Communities like ours. So, I asked for a copy of his slide deck, to use in a future talk at my church – he was surprised by the request, but agreed immediately.

In October, Avi spoke for an hour – I’m going to try to do his ideas justice in less than 20 minutes. We’ll see how that goes.

Before I begin, I need to provide a general content warning. While I won’t be going into details of any, I will be naming many abusive behaviours. If this could be triggering for you, I welcome you to remove yourself from this space to protect your well-being.

For more information see:-https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-threats-to-our-community/

With Rachel Mackintosh Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 21 January 2024

Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said. “One can’t believe impossible things.”

“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” “THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS”, LEWIS CARROLL (CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON)

We know, because of science, the enlightenment, telescopes, that compared with us, the universe is big. We may have seen that meme that shows two photos of the Milky Way, one taken before, and one taken after we have made a mistake: clue, it’s the same photo.

My musing today has as its starting point, not Alice, actually, but the quote: “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

My sermon topic “Bending the arc of the universe” has taken liberties with the quote already, and may seem arrogant – how could we bend the arc of the universe? – but I am aiming rather for audacious. As Paul said when I sent him my title, “May as well aim big.”

Meditation / Discussion Questions:-

For more information see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/bending-the-arc-of-the-universe/

With Alix Geard Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 31 December 2023 Good morning, community of Auckland Unitarians. Kia ora koutou! As we gather on this last Sunday of the year, New Year’s Eve, we find ourselves between times, standing on the bridge that connects the past and the future. Today, our theme is “Reflections and Resolutions” – a time to look back at the footprints we’ve left on the path of the past year and to gaze forward with hope and intention into the uncharted territory of the coming year. There are cliches at this time of year. We might at well make use of them. Janus, the 2-headed god of doorways, transitions and January looks both back and forward. I encourage us all to take some time to think, to feel, to breathe, to examine… and to gather ourselves together as we move into the new year. For more information see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/reflections-and-resolutions/

Speaker:- Jonathan Mason Worship Leader:- Phebe Mason Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 17 December 2023 Each year, as we celebrate Christmas, I have wondered what really happened in Bethlehem. The Nativity Scene is embedded in our seasonable culture. In our Unitarian hymn book, we have about 25 hymns that refer to Bethlehem, the Star, and the manger scene. So this year, with the request for sermons, I thought I would review the historical evidence for the Nativity before Christmas. Now the good news is that for events that occurred 2000 years ago, you can believe whatever you wish. And I’ll skip over the Immaculate Conception, which Unitarians and even many Christians don’t believe. For more information see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/lukes-christmas-story/

Speaker:- Paul Tonson
Worship Leader:- Alix Geard

Recorded 10 December 2023 @ Auckland Unitarian Church

From my earliest years I’ve known about Jesus of Nazareth and in my youth I was especially drawn to him as a charismatic individual. Later I loved the idea of him as a sign of contradiction, a life-long challenge to my easy preconceptions and natural prejudices. Last week a number of you recalled elements of Jesus’ surprising behaviour and message, e.g. towards women, towards authorities, and confronting his parents and disciples.

BUT

All this time in the church I’ve been told that he is uniquely GOD and MAN, the messiah and my saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord. In hindsight, I have never needed that bit! Now I have the tools to show from the NT many strong threads to understand Jesus as an exemplar of a life we can all enter into.

Jesus as an exemplary figure lives out a path of purpose and empowerment that others can emulate. This understanding of him offers a gospel that is egalitarian and universalist. This is the direction of my three addresses.

For more, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/jesus-the-messiah/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Betsy Marshall

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 3rd December 2023

Today we gather to celebrate the opening of this building on 4 December 1901 – exactly 122 years ago tomorrow.

As Clay Nelson said in his service for new members in 2015, the anniversary of the building is a time to be reminded that “we didn’t get here out of nothing, we are connected to those who came before, and others in the future will be connected to us, a reminder of our oneness”.

The focus of today is not just on the past but also on our aspirations for the future – hopefully a future in which Auckland Unitarians continue as a vibrant faith community as well as a force for social and political good.

For the 'Where to from here?' part of the service the congregation broke into structured small group discussions using a format known as 'Table Talk', facilitated by Marlon Drake of Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga.

For more information see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/our-rich-history-and-where-to-from-here/

Speaker:- Paul Tonson
Worship Leader:- Ted Zorn

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 26 November 2023

The path ahead of us

JESUS WITHOUT CHRIST is a possible title for a book that has been germinating in my mind recently. In preparing for today with Ted, I was delighted to find that numbers of this congregation may share the questions that give rise to such a title. This discovery has confirmed our intention over three sessions to look candidly at the ways we may usefully speak of and even emulate Jesus of Nazareth.

For more see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/rabbi-jesus-the-teacher/

Speaker:- Rachel Mackintosh
Worship Leaders:- Ted Zorn, Kate Lewis

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 5th November 2023

Our recently retired minister, Clay Nelson, died on Thursday (2 November 2023). Those of us who have known Clay are grieving.

So, we’ve changed this service to reflect on coming together in grief and the wonder of life.

Rachel MacIntosh, Clay’s wife, will present a talk that Clay wrote and presented to us a couple years back called “Welcome to Limbo. Please leave your certainties at the door.” Appropriately, it’s about how we respond to chaos, uncertainty, and the unexpected.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/welcome-to-limbo-please-leave-your-certainties-at-the-door/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Kate Lewis.

Recorded 19th November 2023 @ Auckland Unitarian Church.

I’m very aware that this is the first service since Clay died that we’re not using one of his talks. I’ve been on the calendar for months, and Ted and I decided that this would be an alright topic for today since we’re hurting and I hope that some of these words may be useful for all of us in dealing with grief.

I also feel the need to give a disclaimer because I’m an academic, and this isn’t my field. I am talking about self-compassion because becoming more compassionate towards myself and others is a path that I am on and something I’m striving for. I have become interested in the psychology behind it and have done some reading, and I’m convinced that most of us can benefit from an increased dose of self-kindness.

For further information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-healing-power-of-self-compassion/

Speaker & Worship Leader:-
Viv Allen

Viv Allen led a service centred around a reading of a Clay Nelson sermon from February 2020

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/curiosity-may-be-harmful-to-cats-but-how-about-to-unitarians-2/

Speaker:- Mary Ellen Warren
Worship Leader:- Ruby Johnson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 29 October 2023 For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/world-polio-day/

Speaker:- Grant Williams of
Maritime Union of New Zealand
Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/a-wharfies-story/

with Karn Cleary Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 15 October 2023 For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/flower-communion-4/

Speaker:- John Maindonald
Worship Leader:- Shirin Caldwell

Recorded 8 October 2023 @ Auckland Unitarian Church

John Donne (1572-1631), who wrote the words that I want to ponder today, lived in England in troubled times. He was born to a staunchly Roman Catholic family at a time when it was illegal to be a practicing Catholic.

For more information see:-
https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/no-person-is-an-island-unto-themselves/

Speaker:- Peter Lineham

Worship Leader:- Ruby Johnson

I was very struck by an article in the Washington Post on 21 August of this year by Perry Bacon jnr....

Recorded 1 October 2023 by Auckland Unitarian Church

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/finding-your-home-in-the-church-community/

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 24 September 2023

Speakers & Worship Leaders:- Rachel Mackintosh & Betsy Marshall

In early 2014, our Unitarian community was coming to terms with the fact that after only eight months, due to visa issues, we’d lost the American minister we’d contracted for two years. Fortunately the Ministerial Search Committee wasted no time in resurrecting itself to identify what we might do to support our Church’s dual strategy of working towards a full-time ministry and strengthening lay leadership.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/cornucopia-a-tribute-to-clay-nelson/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 17 September 2023

Here is a factoid about your minister I hope to have kept from you for nine years. In secondary school, I was a band nerd. I wasn’t the cool one playing the sexy alto sax like I wanted. Instead, I was consigned over my objections to playing the tuba. It was even more humiliating as I was one of the smallest in the band. For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/pomp-and-circumstance-a-valedictory/

Speaker:- Paul Watson of Essentially Men
Worship Leader:- Ted Zorn

Kia ora everyone, and a heartfelt thanks to Ted for that beautiful introduction. When I first met you Ted around 20 months ago I instantly liked you, and I think one of the reasons is because as you presented last week ‘You’ve always had a thing for language’. I think our brains connected quickly, my Auckland spelling, speaking and debating days came flooding back as an articulate American shared his recent struggles, learnings, and pain with me.

Recorded 10 September 2023

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/a-new-way-of-being-men-being-real/

with Ted Zorn Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 27 August 2023

I’ve always had a thing for language. I think I inherited this from my dad. Dad wasn’t highly educated, nor widely read – the only magazines he ever subscribed to were Reader’s Digest and TV Guide, and I never knew him to read a novel — but he loved to play with language.

He often used words that were either made up or some version of a word he’d learned while serving overseas in the military. He would latch on to words and phrases that were new to him.

When he came to New Zealand for the first time, the term flatmate caught his eye – it’s not a term used in the USA — so for his remaining years, he referred to my daughter, his granddaughter, as “my little Kiwi American flatmate”.

In fact, he had nicknames for just about everyone – or at least everyone he liked. They were not all flattering.

For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/a-rose-by-any-other-name-is-not-a-rose-part-2/

With John DiLeo

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church, 20th August 2023

As we were driving home from last Sunday’s service, I was thinking on what I should talk about this week.

During that service, we celebrated Clay’s years with this church as our paid minister, and we acknowledged that phase of our community’s life was coming to a close.

During the Notices that day, Ted reminded us all of the need for members to step up and fill the void Clay’s retirement has created. We can no longer sit back and let him come up with all the ideas week after week, because – simply put – it’s not his job any more.

The ‘theme’ or ‘slogan’ that popped into my head during last Sunday’s drive home was simple: “One Community – Many Voices.”

For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/mystery/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church, 13th August 2023

As has been mentioned once or twice recently, and to my great sadness, I am retiring at the end of the month. Because I have loved all forty-one years of my ordained ministry in two denominations and my nine years with you, I want to scream, “Nah, this isn’t how I planned it.” But, ”Yeah, it is the reality I must come to accept…kind of.”

The expectation of ministers, when they retire, is to absent themselves for at least a year from the congregation they served to make room for the new minister. As trained UU ministers don’t grow on trees here or in Australia, and it will be a while before we can hire my replacement, I’ve been asked to help fill the vacuum on a voluntary basis while you figure out where you want to go.

For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/nah-yeah/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh.

Recorded 6th August 2023 at Auckland Unitarian Church.

I met Clay 10 years ago at a residential training for community organising. The basis of the training was storytelling.

At the opening of the training, all participants were asked to tell stories about a time we had spoken truth to power. Clay’s story was about taking the Anglican Bishop of Auckland to the Human Rights Commission for violation of the Human Rights Act because he refused to ordain a gay priest.

My story was about standing up to a union leader who, to a largely but not totally white male audience, had used the phrase “dirty girls of the Philippines” to refer to migrant sex workers. I confronted him privately and told him I had been offended at his use of language that was imperialist, misogynist and anti-worker. He went back to that audience and apologised, even though many of them had found his language perfectly acceptable.

As all the people in the room told their stories, we began to see that all of us had not only identified injustices but had also had moments of courage where we had spoken up. Some of our stories had had successful outcomes, but many had not. Many of us had acted alone. All of our stories had promise. When one person shows courage in the face of injustice, that act holds the kernel of transformational change.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/were-gonna-sit-at-the-welcome-table/

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church, 30th July 2023

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rev. Clay Nelson

My father loved words. The Oxford English Dictionary and books on etymology, the study of the origin of words and how their meanings have changed throughout history, were never far from his fingertips. If he couldn’t find just the right word for the book he was writing, he had no reluctance in just creating a word that captured his intent. He passed on his love of words to me. That was to my benefit in seminary, where I was required to take two semesters of word study. It was essential to preparing sermons. Our task was to fully understand biblical words in all their meanings, translations and uses in biblical times so they could be applied relevantly in our modern and cultural context. I know it sounds boring and tedious, but thanks to Dad, I loved it.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/organic-generosity/

With Rev. Clay Nelson

Piano:- Frank Chen

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 23rd July 2023

You might remember me telling you the story of the 1969 UUA General Assembly in Boston. It was at the height of the Black empowerment movement in America. For that reason, many Black UUs attended instead of the token few who usually came. White UUs were shocked and wondered where they all came from. They had always been there since the 18th century but had been generally ignored or discounted. We were more diverse than we had been aware of or at least acknowledged. But in 1969, systemic racism reared its ugly head, undermining that diversity and many Black UUs walked out the door, never to return. Much has happened within Unitarian Universalism since then. So, it was highly newsworthy when Sofia Betancourt, a woman, a person of colour and openly queer, was overwhelmingly elected as president of the UUA.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/whiteness-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/

With Kate Lewis

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 16th July 2023

Many of us have lost a sense of belonging in one place or another, having made a life around the world from where we were born and grew up. There is a longing for a beloved past and people, and despair when we realize that when we go back everything has changed and feel grief at what has been lost.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/coming-to-a-sense-of-belonging-matariki-in-our-time-and-place/

With Paul Henriques.

Recorded 2nd July 2023 by Auckland Unitarian Church.

As many of you know, with Auckland Unitarian Church support, I initiated a pilot programme to help dyslexic children in Samoa in a joint programme with their Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. While there I came across information on Samoa’s nonviolent struggle for independence from New Zealand. Back in New Zealand, I began to read up on the subject and in asking friends and family about it, found few knew much about it and some nothing at all. I find it a very sad but interesting story, that certainly deserves knowing about, and thought I would share a bit of it with you this morning.

For more information, including links to the photographs and references, see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/samoas-nonviolent-struggle-for-independence-from-new-zealand-colonial-rule/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 25th June 2023

Over a long life, I often think about the choices I’ve made or were made for me. How have they determined who I am now? How have they pointed me in a positive direction or made my life a personal hell? They have surely done both. Has my life followed a script with little input from me, or has it been totally of my own making? These are the musings I’d like to explore this morning.

For more information see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/are-you-living-the-life-you-chose/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded 11th June 2023 @ Auckland Unitarian Church

I keep getting enquiries about and objections to replacing principles with values (Here are links to the earlier talks on this topic:- 1, 2, 3 & 4). I thought I’d dealt with this issue but, apparently, not satisfactorily for some. So, let me try again.

These changes did not come out of the blue. There are a couple of stories behind them. They tell stories about UU principles and values.

For more information see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/a-ministers-work-is-never-done-and-neither-is-yours/

with Alix Geard.

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 4th June 2023.

I wanted to share something about what the future might look like: especially something new about what’s going on in the space around climate change and degrowth. I’ve been finding that quite depressing, though.

I admit that I even asked ChatGPT for some examples of what I might say. The homilies it came up with were familiar, reassuring, anodyne and almost completely pointless. They did sound good, though.

Instead, I want to throw some ideas at you about what people are like, and how we work together. The ideas are all a bit flawed – they’re working notes and patterns to look out for – but I’ve found them useful.

For more information, including links and discussion questions, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/beyond-growth/

Speaker:- Peter Lineham

Worship Leader:- John DiLeo

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 28th May 2023.

Perhaps the simplest way to introduce this Pentecost theme is to ask you to visualise this scene.

The narrow streets of Jerusalem were in those days dominated by the huge temple on which King Herod the Great had lavished his attention, and was regarded as one of the greatest sites of the Roman world, and the Roman battalion’s barracks and palace for the governor on his infrequent visits, for this was occupied territory, and the fear of public disturbances was a constant imperial fear in a province like Judea which was so distinctive in its fanatical religiosity.

So when any disturbances happened, the regime wanted stability, they wanted to clear the streets, and Roman and Jewish leaders took the same approach.

For more information, including all the discussion questions, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/pentecost-sunday/

Speaker:- Marlon Drake of Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga,

Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh.

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 14th May 2023.

Marlon attended Western Springs College and then moved to Wellington where he was a student activist at Victoria University, serving as President of the students association, campaigning against sexual violence and in favour of mental health support for students. He also worked part time as an organiser in the Living Wage Movement during his time as a law student at Victoria. Marlon is now the full-time community organiser for Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga, a broad-based coalition in Auckland working for social justice.

For more information, including all the discussion questions, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-thrill-of-participatory-social-justice/

with Rev. Clay Nelson.

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 7th May 2023.

This morning is the fourth in a series of musings about what it means to be a living tradition. (Here are links to talks 1, 2, and 3.) How have we changed? Who decides what it means to be a UU today? And who owns the congregation?

When the eight members from diverse backgrounds were appointed to review Article II Bylaws, the first thing they did was consult UU stakeholders. These included, amongst others...

For more information, including all the discussion questions, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-thrill-of-participatory-theology/

with Rev. Clay Nelson.

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 30th April 2023.

I was intrigued by excerpts of Diane Miller’s reflections on the proposed changes to the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Bylaws to be voted on in June at the General Assembly. Dianne was a young pregnant feminist invited to be on the committee charged with revising our purposes. Her son was born during the committee’s work. He was a toddler when what we know as the Seven Principles passed General Assembly in 1985. It was a radical change from such statements in the past. Her son is now a parent with two children, and Diane is retired. She is 74. She is also delighted that the hard work of the committee she served is being revised nearly 40 years later. What struck me most is that, including her generation, which is also mine, three generations of those who became UUs after 1985 have only known the Seven Principles as the definition of who we are.

For more information see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/will-unitarian-universalism-remain-a-living-tradition/

with Rev. Clay Nelson.

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 23rd April 2023.

Last week we explored the many challenges of being a living tradition, the biggest being finding a consensus when we don’t have a creed, holy book of revelation or ecclesiastical authority.

This morning our focus is on the Seven Principles. How they came to be? Their role in our faith. Have they passed their use by date?

For more information see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/have-the-seven-principles-passed-their-use-by-date/

With Rev. Clay Nelson.

Recorded 16th April 2023 by Auckland Unitarian Church

This morning I would like to focus on what it means to be a living tradition. As Unitarian Universalists we sing about it. We proudly proclaim it as what we are. But what does it mean? Most simply put our beliefs are etched in pencil and not carved in stone. But there are consequences. Like being green, being a living tradition isn’t easy.

It is a big topic, so this is the first of several random musings exploring who we are, how we got here and where we are being led. My hope is that we might better understand our Kaupapa, our mission and purpose.

For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/it-isnt-easy-being-a-living-tradition/

with Rachel Mackintosh Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 9th April 2023

At the risk of being grandiose, I begin this sermon a bit like the person who wrote the gospel of Mark. It’s more than 40 years since I read Madeleine L’Engle’s children’s book, A Wrinkle in Time. I have thought about it and talked about it since, but I haven’t relived it. (I didn’t watch the film because I didn’t want to risk my memory being ruined.) Here is my telling of the bits that have stuck with me, with some interpositions along the way.

For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/a-wrinkle-in-time-the-easter-miracle/

Speaker:- Martin Lewis
Worship Leader:- John DiLeo

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church, 2nd April 2023

Gratitude and its ability to uplift and enrich our lives is as extremely important and relevant today as it ever was.

As we are constantly bombarded with negative news and dramatic spin; dire messages through various forms of media, we might descend into feelings of anxiety, depression, hopelessness and despair.

For more information, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/unlocking-the-power-of-gratitude/

with John DiLeo

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 26th March 2023 For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/dealing-with-grief/

'Spirit of Life' can be found at

https://youtu.be/sdnr4fNuR74

The 'Time for All Ages' can be found at https://fliphtml5.com/cdscw/fmux/basic

The TED talk can be found at https://www.ted.com/talks/lucy_kalanithi_what_makes_life_worth_living_in_the_face_of_death?language=en

Speaker:- Dan Te Whenua Walker,
Worship Leader:- Ted Zorn.

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 19th March 2023

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/walking-together-in-relationship-a-personal-journey-of-integrating-te-tiriti-values/

 Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 12th March 2023

A father and son are in a horrible car crash that kills the father. The eight-year-old son is rushed to hospital in critical condition. ED staff prep him rapidly and take him to an operating theatre where the surgical team is waiting. Just as he’s about to go under the knife, the surgeon says, “I can’t operate — that’s my son.”

How can this be?

I opened the service with this riddle.

You may have heard it before.

You may have been confounded or you may have found the answer obvious.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/making-the-invisible-visible/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Vivienne Allen

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 5th March 2023

have always been drawn to trees. Until I turned 10 I spent most of my spare time climbing trees on our farm. Back then I divided all trees into two categories; good and bad; the good ones were those great for climbing such as Pohutukawa, some Lawsons, oaks and others with wide low branches. The bad ones which were not good for climbing were trees like Lombardy poplars that were too upright or didn’t have low branches. Luckily our sharemilkers had 7 children for me to play with and our favourite activity was to climb trees. We even used to enjoy climbing the nectarine trees in the orchard in summer, sitting up in the branches munching nectarines on a hot day.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/my-passionate-journey/

With Ruby Johnson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 26th February 2023

I think that a lot of people are attracted to Unitarianism because they were cast out by, or have left, other faith-based communities. The fourth principle of Unitarian Universalism is that we engage in “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning”. Those of us who have come to this church as cast-offs from other faith traditions will attest that free inquiry is not necessarily a hallmark of organised religion.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/a-still-small-voice/

with Alix Geard

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 19th February 2023

Sometimes you choose a theme for a service and then life throws you complications.

I had planned to take my text today from that most varied and human of sources, the microblogging site Tumblr. Every so often in my craft or philosophy groups some words turn up from the person known on Tumblr as higgsboshark:

FROM <HTTPS://WWW.TUMBLR.COM/HIGGSBOSHARK/179475660451/THE-THING-ABOUT-KNITTING-IS-ITS-MUCH-HARDER-TO>The thing about knitting is it’s much harder to fear the existential futility of all your actions while you’re doing it.Like ok, sure, sometimes it’s hard to believe you’ve made any positive impact on the world. But it’s pretty easy to believe you’ve made a sock. Look at it. There it is. Put it on, now your foot’s warm.Checkmate, nihilism.

There are several hashtags that follow this. My favourites are #the sock is not a metaphor for anything #it’s just a sock #that’s all it needs to be.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/socks-and-songs/

with Jonathan Mason

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 12th February 2023

The question of whether there is life in the universe is one of the big questions of the 20th and 21st century. Movies such as ET, Contact, Arrival and Interstellar have explored these issues along with alien invasion movies such as Independence Day. I remember growing up watching the night sky with a sense of wonder, In my search for the mystery in life, Unitarian Principle #4, I have found the question of whether there is other life in the universe to be one of the profound mysteries that I reflect on. The answer to this question may also impact Unitarian Principle #7, on the interdependency of humans with our world, in ways that I’ll discuss later. In the following talk, I’ll go over the prevailing science on Extra terrestrial life and then discuss its implications for our world and Unitarianism. This is a personal talk giving my views on issues, apologies for those who have different views.

For more information see:- 

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/is-there-other-life-in-the-universe-implications-for-unitarians/

with Tunisia Set Ārena, 

Worship leader:- Nina Khouri

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 5th February 2023

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/decolonising-decolonisation/

with John DiLeo

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 29th January 2023

Todays sermon isa reading of “Getting Through the Night” By Mary Wellemeyer

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/getting-through-the-night/

with David Hines 

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 22nd January 2023

My original subject for today was Gonna lay down my sword and shield, which was about concentration camps in World War 2, and how this appalling story was the background to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

But it was such a complicated story I couldn’t get my head around it. And I was looking for a new topic.

And then Jacinda came up with the idea of resigning …. And it was obvious.

 For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/election-wishlist-2023/

With Rachel Mackintosh

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 15th January 2023

If you think about the vastness of space, and how enormous our galaxy is, and how big our planet is, and how small we are, I’m not really eating all that much cheese.

Thanks to Kay for finding and sharing that.

For more information see
https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/thats-how-the-light-gets-in/

with David Hines.

David Hines and panelists © 11th December 2022

A panel of leading religious and non-religious leaders discuss the government’s new religion in schools programme.

The panel:-

Paul Morris, Emeritus Professor, School of Social and Cultural Studies, Victoria University of Wellington / Te Herenga Waka.

Secular Education Network chair Penny Ehrhardt, and New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists vice-president Sara Passmore, have already spoken in our church, but that was before we had the full text of the government’s plans. They’ll be on Zoom.

Anjum Rahman, Founder and Project Co-Lead of Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono, who must be the best known Muslim leader in the country, due to her frequent interviews on TV. She has also advocated for religious studies and the end of Christian religious instruction (Bible in Schools).

David Zwartz former president New Zealand Jewish Council will be speaking for most Jewish people.

Also this statement was read to the meeting from Robert Hunt, chair, NZ Buddhist Council, on behalf of the Executive Committee.

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 11th December 2022

With Ted Zorn.

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 8th January 2023

Today, I want to talk about finding our humanity in a technologized world and the dangers of relying too heavily on technology to do tasks that we expect to be done by humans. Specifically, I want to delve into the questions raised by the fact that a machine like ChatGPT can write a speech, a personal letter, or your child’s essay assignment.

For those who may not be familiar, ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI. It has been trained on a vast amount of data and is able to generate human-like text on a variety of topics. It is a relatively new technology and its capabilities are still being explored and refined.

For more information see
https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/finding-our-humanity-in-a-technologized-world/

With Alix Geard, Ted Zorn.

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 1st January 2023

On this first day of the year, I want to talk about meaning. Specifically, I want to talk about how we take our small blue planet’s gravitationally-bound sweep around its star and turn one point on that circuit into a time for parties and new year’s resolutions and setting up a calendar for the year to come. About how different people – and peoples – do that differently, and how we navigate getting along together.

For more information see
https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-shape-of-the-year/

With Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 18th December 2022

I don’t consider it Christmas until I have watched It’s a Wonderful Life. I ticked that off last Sunday. So, for me, it’s now Christmas.

I don’t know when it became one of my treasured Christmas traditions, but I can’t remember when it wasn’t. When my kids were teenagers, there was lots of eye-rolling when I insisted that watching it was a family event. Something about it appealed to my Unitarian heart, and I wanted to inoculate theirs. They would ask me when I would find a new tradition. My answer was, “When I stop tearing up at the end.”

For more information see
https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/its-a-wonderful-life-a-uu-christmas-carol/

With Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 4th December 2022

Shakespeare had it wrong. When Juliet tells Romeo, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” she is arguing that it does not matter that Romeo is from her family’s rival house Montague. The reference states that the names of things do not affect what they really are. I disagree. Nothing could be further from the truth.

For more information see
https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/a-rose-by-any-other-name-is-not-a-rose/

With Dr. Rebecca Stafford

Worship Leader:- Rev. Sally Mabelle

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 27th November 2022

For more information see
https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-why-what-and-how-of-gratitude/

With Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Spoonley

Worship Leader: Ted Zorn

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 20th November 2022

Kia ora tatou katoa. Nga mihi na mihi nui. Nga mihi kia koe, Ted. Thanks for the introduction, and te whare e tu nei. Tena koe. I acknowledged the house in which we are standing, sitting. Ted has kindly mentioned the book, Histories of Hate. And so I’ve got a long, have had a long connection in studying the far right. And so earlier this year, as Ted has indicated, the Prime Minister and Cabinet appointed me as a co-director of He Whenua Taurikura. He Whenua, land, Taurikura, peace, so land of peace. And what we’re tasked with doing is bringing together the best research and knowledge that we can to avoid ever having to encounter an event like the March 2019 again. So we’re just getting underway. We had a hui here in Auckland two weeks ago, in which we brought together communities, government departments and experts and we looked at the research that is available, but also the gaps that exist. Coincidentally, this book was written. Histories of Hate, was written before this appointment. But Paul Morris, who some of you might know who’s involved with religious diversity initiatives in New Zealand and is a member of the Jewish community, and I wrote the chapter on what’s happening in countries like New Zealand at the moment. And so I just want to share some thoughts there of what we’re seeing.

For more information see
https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-rise-and-rise-of-hate-speech-in-an-online-world/

With Lyn Farhi

Worship Leader: David Hines

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 13th November 2022

Morena Everyone. I am Lynn Farhi. It is great to be here this morning. As some of you know I have a love of art and creativity in all its forms. Today for brevity’s sake I will just speak about Art and its therapeutic uses. I have used Art therapeutically for the last 14 years in hospice volunteer work and in school chaplaincy. And I thought in light of the Unitarian principle to search for truth and meaning, it may add a tool to some of your toolkits.

For more information see
https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/art-healing-and-universalism/

More art therapy exercises can be found at https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/podcast/20221113_LynFarhi_ArtTherapyExercises.pdf

Worship Leader: David Hines

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 6th November 2022

The image of an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff is a common one in politics. Left-wing and right wing politicians both use it for different policies.

Left wing politicians use it to say: let’s not be tough on criminals, let’s spend money on fixing the social background that made them that way.

Right wing politicians use it to say: let’s not throw money at unemployed people; let’s spend it on getting people back into their jobs. The national party raised this in a speech last week.

I think, there is a place for both. Sometimes we need to look to the long term, and we call it a fence at the top of the cliff.

Sometimes we need compassion now and we want an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

For more information see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/global-warming-an-ambulance-at-the-bottom-of-the-cliff/

Worship Leader: John DiLeo

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 30th October 2022

When I signed up to lead today’s service, I figured it would be easy to come up with things to say. I mean, after all, there’s no shortage of writings and opinions around the Church’s appropriation and subjugation of non-Christian customs and occasions.

I also figured it would be really easy to find information on what Unitarians think about Halloween and other ‘appropriated’ holidays.

For more information see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/whose-holiday-is-it-anyway/

Worship Leader: Rachel Mackintosh

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 23rd October 2022

Ki te kahore he whakakitenga ka ngaro te iwi

“Without foresight or vision the people will be lost.”

This past week a colleague of mine who lives in Taranaki mentioned the town of Patea, which he described as being “nothing since the freezing works closed”.

For 100 years from 1883, the local freezing works had been the heart of the Patea economy. In 1982, the works closed. That’s 40 years ago – 40 years of “nothing”.

The freezing works closed without a vision or a plan for what else could be at the heart of the local economy.

Forty years on, the damage from that lack of foresight can still be felt.

For more information see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/forging-new-pathways/

Worship Leader: David Hines

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 16th October 2022

A couple of days ago I heard about a friend who was 80 years old and said he had aged more in the past year than the previous 10 years. He had a heart attack and prostate problem in the same year.

I had a similar experience this month. I went to my GP for my routine checkup, but I took a longer than usual list of questions: five of them. 

And the doctor shocked me by giving not one but two serious opinions in two consecutive days.

For more information see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/its-scary-when-your-gp-has-bad-news/

Worship Leader: David Hines

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 9th October 2022

After two years of waiting, I’m excited that a government proposal for religious education in state schools is about to be revealed.

But I’m also concerned, because very important questions have still not been answered.

Includes contributions from:-

Sara Passmore, NZ Humanists

Penny Ehrhardt, Secular Education Network (NZ)

For more information see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/religious-education-in-state-schools-is-coming-but-key-questions-are-still-unanswered/

Worship Leader: John DiLeo

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 2nd October 2022

As I’ve mentioned a few times in the past, the themes and musings present in the services I lead tend to reflect things that are on my mind at the moment. In this case, it happens to be birthdays. Mine is this coming Tuesday. It also happens to be one of those “milestone” birthdays – I’ll be turning 55.

For more information see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/why-do-birthdays/

Worship Leader: Nina Khouri.

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 25th September 2022

So, the government has now lifted basically all remaining COVID restrictions. We don’t have a traffic light system anymore, we have very few mask requirements, government vaccine mandates are ending and you don’t even have to isolate if a household member tests positive, so long as you monitor yourself for symptoms and do RATs.

Does anyone else feel like this is just another massive change we have to get our heads around? Another round in the whiplash of the last 2.5 years?

For the last couple of years there’s been a constantly changing regime that intrudes into our daily lives.

To be clear, I think it’s been justified and appropriate and I’m grateful for a government that has protected us this way. But it hasn’t been easy, right?

For more information see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/covid-whiplash-again/

with Ted Zorn & Kate Lewis

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 18th September 2022

I’ve titled my random musings today “FOMO, Imagined Lives and Reclaiming Joy”. FOMO is an acronym for “Fear of Missing Out”.

I’ll start with a confession. I chose this topic because I suffer from FOMO and it has had a profoundly negative impact on the quality of my life and in some cases, the lives of people I care about. But I’m working on practising JOMO (the Joy of Missing Out) and my life is richer as a result.

For more information see 

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/fomo-imagined-lives-and-reclaiming-joy/

with Rev. Max Moss

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 11th September 2022

Today's talk was a reading of "A Dead Soldier Looks at the War" by Rev. David Rankin

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/a-dead-soldier-looks-at-the-war/

with John DiLeo

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 4th September 2022

Today's talk was a reading of “The Answer I Wish I'd Given" By Erika A. Hewitt

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/because-we-can/

with Rachel Mackintosh

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 21st August 2022

Burning Down the House was part of the soundtrack of my adolescence.

The song came out two years after the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand that had united a nationwide protest movement from across the political and socio-economic spectrum, where tens of thousands of us had marched together periodically in the year leading up to the tour, and twice a week from 19 July — my mother’s birthday and the day our family went to the airport at dawn to protest the Springboks’ arrival — to 12 September — the fourth anniversary of Steve Biko’s death from severe beating in custody and the date of the final test match of the tour. The second match — against the Waikato provincial team on 25 July — was called off after protesters invaded the pitch. Apart from that one match, the tour went ahead. The movement didn’t achieve its aim of stopping the tour.

The introduction to the subject of the tour on the NZ History website has the subheading, “A country divided”.

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/burning-down-the-house/

with John DiLeo 

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 14th August 2022 

I grew up in a rural part of Connecticut, in the northeastern United States. My home town, Plainfield, was small, the population was almost entirely white Europeans, and – as far as those in authority in my life were concerned – everybodywas cisgendered and straight.

As was the social norm of the time, when someone we knew was gender non-conforming, we were all expected to act as though that fact didn’t exist. Our parents referred to their gay and lesbian relatives and acquaintances as ‘eccentric,’ and to their life partners as ‘roommates.’

We were indoctrinated to the “fact” that being cisgendered and straight was the one true “lifestyle choice,” in much the same way we were indoctrinated to believe our mainstream Christian sect was the one true religion.

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/am-i-doing-this-right/

with Nina Khouri

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 7th August 2022

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/that-i-might-know-my-mind/

with Derek Handley 

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 31st July 2022 

The songs and first reading discussed in this podcast are not included in this audio, links to them can be found on the webpage below.

For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/i-am-the-first-and-the-last/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 24th July 2022

Think back two and half years ago to the day before you heard of Coronavirus breaking out in Wuhan, China. Whatever that was like for you, that was normal. For me, I was a newlywed. I had not even learned what that new normal meant for me yet. I certainly hadn’t anticipated that we would spend most of two and a half years sheltering in place, just the two of us with Waldo for company, discovering what our normal was. So when I hear someone longing for life to return to normal, I’m not sure what their normal is. Perhaps, I should focus on knowing the future instead. Irony, apparently, is my forte.

For more information, links to outside sources etc. see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-idiot-flight-of-butterflies/

with Rev. Clay Nelson 

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 17th July 2022 

I would like to give you a peek behind the curtain to see one of the blessings, or possibly curses, of being in my line of work. If you have been doing it as long as I have, it is nearly impossible not to see the world continuously through theological lenses. It is not a conscious decision anymore. It is just my reality and as involuntary as breathing. Nothing I’m doing is exempt from theological reflection. It doesn’t matter if it is reading my Facebook feed, bingeing on Netflix, hearing music in many genres, holding Rachel’s hand, playing peek-a-boo with a grandchild, eating a Macca burger, playing fetch with Waldo, or walking on the beach after a storm. You get my gist. Bloody everything reverberates with theological discernment for me. Everything. It can be exhausting as it feeds my imagination to overflowing.

For more information, links to outside sources etc. see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/unconstrained-imagination/

with David Hines 

Worship Leader:- Nina Khouri 

Song Leader:- Sally Mabelle 

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 3rd July 2022 

For more information see  

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/christian-karakia-do-you-think-they-are-appropriate-for-state-schools/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 26th June 2022

Welcome this morning to history. This is the first public celebration of an indigenous peoples’ holiday in the world. Matariki, sometimes referred to as the Maori New Year, has become a celebration for all New Zealanders. It centres on a cluster of stars that in the west were known as The Pleiades or Seven Sisters. They are 410 light years away and are part of the constellation Taurus.

Videos mentioned in this podcast:-

Opening Words: The story of Matariki https://youtu.be/ELziYVWyRAA

Opening Song: Tirama Matariki https://youtu.be/haJY8w69cVo

Song: Matariki i te pōhttps://youtu.be/r4x0SP5lz7g

Reading:The stolen stars of Matariki https://youtu.be/l1wSsd9ATog

Video: Te Iwa o Matariki https://youtu.be/ernd7v0xEug

Closing Song: Matariki Tāpuapua https://youtu.be/i_I6ZKzn6p4

For more information, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/its-written-in-the-stars/

with members of the Auckland UU Climate Team – Brenda Bendall, Shirin Caldwell, Jonathan Mason.

Please accept our apologies for the poor sound quality on this episode - recorded directly off zoom.

Links to the various resources referred to in this episode can be found on the page for this service on our website:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/climate-change-issues-and-challenges/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 12th June 2022

A quick perusal of the internet tells me I should wait for one of the equinoxes, when day and night are equal, to muse on balance and absolutely not when the winter solstice is approaching, but where is the fun in that? When reality is in balance in perfect alignment with my life, where is the challenge? My experience says that when I really need to know how to keep my balance is when my world is dark, nameless, unknown, and infinite. It is my spiritual practice to find light in darkness, name the nameless, accept the unknown, and welcome the infinite.

For more information, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/keeping-your-balance-in-an-unbalanced-world/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 5th June 2022

Forty years ago, this past week, my seminary released me into the world to begin my ordained ministry. In all those years, an Annual General Meeting has never provoked me to preach a musing on one of the discussions held. It was the discussion/debate about approving a remit for the congregation to endorse the Fairer Futures campaign.

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/forgive-us-our-debts/

with Rev. Clay Nelson 

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 29th May 2022

No one was more surprised than I when moving to New Zealand that I would put my Anglican collar back on after eight years with the American Unitarian Universalists. I did impose one condition on myself before doing so –– I would no longer dance around my progressive religious views in the pulpit. Traditionalists and conservatives be damned. It was time to stand up for my beliefs. Yet a lot had changed. My sermons were not just on a table at the back of the church gathering dust but on the Internet for all to see. They still are and may always be. I think of them as my afterlife. Taking a position at St Matthew-in-the-city had already made me suspect in the eyes of traditionalists and conservatives. I was about as popular as a skunk at a garden party after my first billboard to go viral globally drew attention to my views on TV, radio, the press and blogs. My notoriety gained me few friends throughout the country. My hate mail and death threats increased dramatically. I gained no popularity when one of my conservative colleagues did some deep dumpster diving on the Internet, discovered my Unitarian connections and outed me on his blog.

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/outed-as-a-unitarian/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 22nd May 2022

I was never a big fan of magicians because I don’t enjoy feeling conned or suspending my disbelief. Then I encountered Penn and Teller. Who couldn’t love magicians with a TV show called Bullshit? They are scientific sceptics and atheists who love making mince out of sacred cows. I particularly enjoyed their trick of making an American flag seem to disappear by wrapping it in a copy of the United States Bill of Rights, and apparently setting the flag on fire, so that the flag is gone but the Bill of Rights remains. I saw the trick first on West Wing. If their unique routine weren’t enough they have written numerous books. I am most drawn to two of their titles: God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales and Every Day is an Atheist Holiday!: More Magical Tales from the Author of God, No!

To find out more visit:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/stewardship-is-more-about-magic-than-money/

with Rev. Clay Nelson 

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 15th May 2022 

If we go far enough in the future, historians may label the present time as the Age of Anxiety. There is certainly enough anxiety floating about for everyone to build a raft. The possible outcomes in Ukraine weigh on us all. Climate change is occurring faster than projected as sea levels and sea water temperatures rise. Poverty due to wealth inequality is creating social instability. Authoritarianism is rearing its head in unexpected places, endangering our freedoms. And then there is Covid. It is on the rise again in its increasing number of variants in the UK, France, US, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Ashley Bloomfield this week announced that models for New Zealand suggest that the number of new cases, hospitalisations and deaths are not expected to go much lower than they are now in the near future and are likely to increase significantly during our winter months. We all know people who have been infected, a growing number of whom are members of this congregation. I learned of two more yesterday. We know going back to a pre-pandemic normal isn’t going to happen. So, what is the new normal going to look like and who in the hell knows?

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-importance-of-napping-to-spiritual-health/

with Rev. Clay Nelson 

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 8th May 2022 

Some have called “This Land Is Your Land”an alternative national anthem in America. It was written and first sung by Woody Guthrie.

Growing up in small-town Oklahoma, Guthrie heard church hymns, outlaw ballads, blues, fiddle tunes and popular music. The Guthries had been fairly prosperous — Woody’s father was a small-time politician and businessman — but the family unravelled during the Depression and his mother’s mental illness. That’s when Woody took to the road to be a street entertainer.

For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/fifth-uu-principle-versus-creeping-authoritarianism/

with Rev. Clay Nelson 

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 1st May 2022 

Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed that “It is a happy talent to know how to play.” But I have found it a difficult talent to utilise over the past couple of years. The last time I can remember being immersed in play was doing the chicken dance at Rachel’s and my wedding. It was also the first day someone entered the country infected with Covid and life changed dramatically for me in two ways. Getting married does that for everyone. The other change encompassing us all occurred six weeks later when we went into lockdown busy hoarding toilet paper.

For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-magic-of-play/

with Rev. Clay Nelson 

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 24th April 2022 

My Dad was a pretty smart guy. He had a lot of academic degrees after his name and when younger I thought of him as the only Renaissance man I knew. Why? He seemed to know the answer to every question I could throw at him. Later I figured out that he was conning me. When he didn’t know the answer, he still gave me one, saying it with enough authority that I bought it hook, line and sinker.

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/why-because/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 17th April 2022

Sherlock Holmes, the master of deductive reasoning, tells us in The Sign of the Four: “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

His approach minutely analyses a clue, making huge claims about the information it must contain. From a stocking found in the river he arrives at the height, weight, social class and personal history of the victim.

Dr Watson is an undeclared Unitarian. Being a scientist, he methodically collects the clues that Holmes finds and does the boring tests and legwork to make the case hang together. He is unwilling to accept the conclusion until the weight of evidence supports it. Dr Watson favours inductive reasoning.

For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/easter-on-trial/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded 10th April 2022 by Auckland Unitarian Church

The Christian world is beginning Holy Week this week. I know that because it always begins the Sunday before Easter with Palm Sunday, the celebration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. I know today is that day because all this week I’ve been inexplicably humming a song I used to teach the children of my parish on Palm Sunday years ago when my theology was more uncritical.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/are-we-the-better-plan/

with Rev. Clay Nelson.

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 3rd April 2022

Kat Liu’s reflection on beating up on herself brought back a happier memory. It was a game my mother played with me when I was little older than a toddler. She would take my arms and force me to hit myself, not so it hurt but until I gleefully giggled when being scolded to stop hitting her baby. She meant no harm. How could she know I would get pretty good at the game? Only when I played it, it did hurt.

Like Kat, I remember bringing home an anatomy test with the highest grade in the class, 98%. But when I showed my parents the test they couldn’t stop laughing that my one mistake was switching uvula with anus. It was funny, why wouldn’t they laugh? Again, they meant no harm. But I was 12. I was very good at feeling shame, not knowing that was different from being embarrassed or being able to laugh at myself. I was black and blue emotionally from beating up my mother’s baby.

For more information, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/stop-hitting-my-friend/

with Rev. Clay Nelson.

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 27th March 2022

When I was a child I liked playing on the teeter-totter at the playground. Apparently, you call it a see-saw here. What I found challenging was finding the balance point with my partner at the other end. I was not a philosophy prodigy at the age of seven, so I had not the words to describe what I knew intuitively: balance is a positive outcome in a precarious world. I did know it was not easily achieved. As likely as not, one end would crash down with prostate-jarring intensity while the other end would fly up threatening to launch the occupant into the stratosphere. Giggling with glee at our failure, we would eagerly try again to teeter without tottering.

For more information, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/teetering-without-tottering/

with Rev. Clay Nelson.

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 20th March 2022

The world is stuck. There is lots of evidence. This premise is supported by recent events in Aotearoa New Zealand. The once admired Prime Minister has been stripped of her beatification, not by anything she has done or failed to do, but by our anxiety displayed on Parliament’s lawn. The pandemic is still taking a toll, never mind to a much lesser degree thanks to her government’s decision to put people’s well-being ahead of the GNP. Russia has declared war in Ukraine and threatens the world with nuclear weapons. Certainly nothing Jacinda has done. Thanks to that war, petrol costs are skyrocketing. Again, not Jacinda’s doing. Due to the pandemic interrupting supply lines, petrol costs, labour shortages due to illness, supporting vulnerable people and businesses, inflation is the monster under the bed everyone thinks Jacinda should scare away. Out of our anxiety we want certainty. That desire gets expressed as a demand for a quick fix, when no such thing exists.

For more information, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/a-failure-of-nerve/