Watford Unitarians

Our new website is now live at https://www.watfordunitarians.org/

The next worship service will be on Sunday 3 September 2023 at 3,00pm, when we welcome Rev Feargus O'Connor back to the Quaker Meeting House, Church Road, Watford.

The "February" service will be a week early, Sunday 29 January (tomorrow @ 3pm at the Quaker Meeting House), and will be led by Wade Miller Knight.

Rev'd Ashley Hills
Very sad news: Rev'd Ashley Hills died peacefully at home in south London on Thursday, 20th October, at the age of 85. His wife Liz and daughter Beth were with him.

Rev'd Ashley Hills had been seriously ill for several months with bouts of hospital treatment. He remained an active Unitarian to the end, continuing to lead services this year in the London District and further afield, and remaining a trustee and wise counsellor for many of us in the District. He led his last service at Stannington in Sheffield in April; he'd preached at Maidstone the previous month. He was widely admired and loved, and will be sorely missed.

Rev'd Ashley was an Honorary Life Member of our LDPA District and a three-time District President, as well as a General Baptist Messenger (a lifetime honour). Funeral arrangements are still to be made. Our thoughts and prayers are with Liz and the family.
Rev'd Jim Corrigall, District Minister

Yet another celebration for Watford Unitarians, as Pat Fox celebrates her 80th birthday. Yesterday we gathered at the Pomeroy restaurant in Amersham for a lunch to mark the occasion.

We welcome Rev Sarah Tinker to lead worship on Sunday at 3pm.

See the latest issue of "The Inquirer". We're on page 11, bottom right corner.

Something to celebrate - this month, Alan and Beryl both have their 80th birthdays, while Steven & Camilla have their 23rd Wedding Anniversary. To mark these occasions, we met for lunch at the Miller & Carter Steakhouse in Rickmansworth. Photo shows (l-r) Valerie Walker, Pat Fox, Beryl Brooks, Alan Ruston, Rosemary Ruston, Camilla Williams, Steven Williams.

Today, for the first time in over a year, Watford Unitarians actually met physically for worship. It was at the Ruston household in Oxhey, and was led by Julian Meek. The theme was "It's getting worse", which we hope isn't true for us!

Tomorrow (Sunday) for the first time on over a year, Watford Unitarians will be meeting in person for worship. Julian Meek will be preaching. We can't yet return to the Quaker Meeting House, so will be meeting at the Rustons' home in Oxhey. Sunday 4 July @ 3pm.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - We have decided that the next monthly service (December 6 @ 3pm GMT/UTC) will be via Zoom. The decision as to when to return to our regular place (the Quaker Meeting House) will be reviewed on a month-by-month basis, taking into account government regulations in force at the time and the position of the Quaker authorities. The next service will be led by members of the congregation on the theme of Christmas - the Zoom link will be available on request a couple of days beforehand.

For the first time since lockdown, we met up in August for a mid-monthly meeting at the Ruston's home in Oxhey. We started in the garden, but were driven indoors by a change in the weather.

We've just held our first service via Zoom - a few teething problems, but we managed to get through it successfully. Alan Ruston led worship, and there were five of us listening in. We're going to try it again next month.

Mothering Sunday Service Dunham Road Unitarian Chapel Altrincham, conducted by Rev Danny Crosby

Greetings all
Beryl has had to cancel the service on the first April Sunday, and there is no way of knowing when they will resume. Congregations are setting up arrangements so Unitarians can be in contact. Here are two suggestion that you might like to consider:
Rosslyn Hill Chapel Hampstead. We get their weekly newsletter. The most recent one is below. If you click on the you tube reference below, a short description about what it is hoped to provide can be seen. This will commence tomorrow. You can subscribe to it without problem and it can be deleted at any time. There is also on a Wednesday another opportunity to make contact. The envisaged service should be a way of not being a lonely Unitarian voice.
I’ve not looked at ukunitariantv for a while, and there are quite a few good new features. One of the best for our purposes is the option marked Services. There used to be just about a dozen to choose from all over the country – now there are about 45. You have a tour of the country congregations you may never have heard of with a large range of service conductors. For those who know him, there is David Arthur at the start walking into the Wakefield chapel.
The LDPA have also announced they are putting on something similar on their website regularly. Just try these items and see what you think. There will be others.
All the best
Alan Ruston

We had our AGM last Sunday, and we also had a group photo taken. See it here, along with a photo of Alan Ruston chairing the meeting.

The new Watford Unitarian Newsletter is now available, with articles about an inter-faith pilgrimage and Unitarian Discovery Holiday, as well as a cartoon.
http://www.ukunitarians.org.uk/watford/newsletter.php

Watford Unitarians: Newsletters

The new Watford Unitarian Newsletter is now on the website, with thoughtful articles by Rosemary Ruston and Camilla Williams, an account by Steven Williams of last year's Unitarian Discovery Holiday, and a cartoon to mark Twelfth Night. http://www.ukunitarians.org.uk/watford/newsletter.php

Watford Unitarians: Newsletters

Our next service is on Sunday, 2 September 2018 at 3pm, and it will be the welcome return of the London District Minister, Rev. Martin Whitell.

Introduction: The Fellowship held its congregational service around the theme of community and what it is. The following quotation is from a manuscript written by Rev Dr. Phillip Hewett, Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver about the establishment of the early Unitarian Church in Poland. It is an extension of our service.

“It was the German sociologist Ferdinand Tonning who first coined the distinction between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. Any form of organization established by a contractual arrangement between separate individuals to serve some aspect or other of their common interests would be called a Gesellschaft... A political party, a tennis club.
Within a Gemeinschaft, on the other hand, people are related as whole persons. The group understands and accepts all its members in every phase of their being; the whole of life becomes a shared enterprise without the personal integrity of the individual being sacrificed. The family or clan is the prototype of Gemeinschaft: it stands for community in the full sense, as against the collective. Or to put it in another way, it is an organism rather than an organization. Within Gesellschaft there can be communication; within Gemeinscaft there is communion. “

Hewett goes on to write: “I see community as the wholeness which controls and uses the values inherent both in individualism and in collectivism, without permitting either one to become the destructive force into which it so rapidly develops when pushed into isolation” – two poles he says contained within a sphere, like the earth.

(Rev. Dr. Phillip Hewett was a Unitarian Minister in the UK and Canada, who died earlier this year).

Our next service is 5 August 2018. The preacher will be Marta Pacini, who hasn't preached here before. So let's have a good turnout to encourage her.

The next Service of Worship will be on 6 May 2018 at 3pm at the Friends Meeting House, Watford, led by Rev. Feargus O'Connor.

The Limits of Liberal Religion - Some people come to us looking for things we cannot simply give. We must make them welcome and comfortable as we help them find those things in themselves.

Frank Lloyd Wright: The Man Who Built America - BBC Two The story of Frank Lloyd Wright, possibly America's greatest ever architect.

The latest Newsletter is now on the website. It includes an article about Truth by Wendy Williams, an account of the Flower Communion by Beryl Brooks, and accounts of FUSE by Steven & Camilla Williams, and a "Lamb" cartoon.
http://www.ukunitarians.org.uk/watford/newsletter.php

Watford Unitarians: Newsletters

"Unitarian Universalists don't want to convert you. We want to talk with you, to understand you, and welcome you into our community, just as you are. We don't expect everyone to think like we do, but we offer loving fellowship to everyone who wants to work towards a more just and compassionate world."

This image was created by our admin, Thomas Earthman, and we offer it as an invitation and hope you will share it as well.

Jesus said love one another. Love your neighbour. Love your self. Love your God.

What if he actually meant it? What if it's like, that simple? We love. That's it. We love our neighbours. We love Muslims. We love gay people. We love atheists. We love immigrants. We love all sorts of people.

And how about we don't make it any more complicated than that? How about we forget about believing impossible things? How about we forget about heaven and hell and rising from the dead and a thousand other things we're supposed to believe?

How about we just concentrate on LOVE, and maybe worry about those other things if we have time?

We have decided to stick to one commandment: love. And when we get that one right, we'll start worrying about other things.

If you want a religion that cares more about love than doctrine, maybe you could join us.

If you want a religion that is more interested in getting heaven into people than getting people into heaven maybe you could join us.

If you want a religion that keeps things simple, if you want a religion that's committed to the simple idea we should love one another, you're most welcome to join us.

We are Bank Street Unitarian Chapel
Open Hearts, Open Minds

The current newsletter is now on the website. In it you'll find articles about FUSE by Beryl Brooks and Camilla Williams, Steven Williams writes about Unitarian Discovery Holiday, and there is a "Lamb" cartoon. http://www.ukunitarians.org.uk/watford/newsletter.php

Watford Unitarians: Newsletters