Cambridge Unitarians

Weekly Update 28 February – 7th March

Greetings to you all.

This update contains:

A link for the Morning Service of Mindful Meditation, Music & Conversation. The Music Group meets at 9:50 before the Sunday service, and the monthly bring and share picnic follows
A reminder of that on Saturday 1st March (tomorrow), 2pm-4pm, some of us will be running through the setting up of the live-streaming kit. We meet in the church hall
A note about taking services during the minster’s sabbatical leave in April/May and August/September
A note from Marianna inviting people to a “Spring Day with Sunny Music”, 2-4pm on Thursday 20th March
A note about, and links for, the Thursday Zoom Kiitsu Kyōkai Seiza Meditation & Conversation Meeting, the next one of which takes place on February 27th at 10:30
A note about the Religious Naturalist Lent Course written by the important Religious Naturalist theologian and Unitarian, Henry Nelson Weiman that has been available to members of the congregation since 2014. This year, Lent starts on 5 March
A reminder that the Cambridge Social Mentoring Group being supported by the church and various members of the congregation continues to meet on Fridays between 12 midday and 4pm.
A note about Rowan’s “Rowan’s Secret Postcard Exhibition” at The Guildhall, Cambridge, 1st & 2nd March, 10am-4pm
Links to the minister’s address/podcast
A link to denominational news (Uni-News)

A link for the Morning Service of Mindful Meditation, Music & Conversation

Our regular Sunday Morning Service of Mindful Meditation, Music and Conversation starts at 10:30 and finishes at 11:30/11:40 followed by the bring and share picnic.

This Sunday, the Music Group will rehearse from 9.50, to sing after the service the ‘Irish Blessing’ (May the road rise with you). Marianna will bring copies for all, but if you need to look in advance, the score has been circulated by email to those already signed up. Glancing ahead, we shall practise on the last Sunday of March, for the first Sunday of April.

Should you wish to join the service by Zoom, please use the following permanent link:

Join Sunday Morning Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86882949446?pwd=kliXbdABEfbU8FjDMtNRNJ4Lr2lb5z.1

Meeting ID: 868 8294 9446
Passcode: 612407

A reminder of that on Saturday 1st March (tomorrow), 2pm-4pm, some of us will be running through the setting up of the live-streaming kit. We meet in the church hall

If you are interested in learning how this is done, and perhaps helping during the minister’s sabbatical . . . just come along.

A note about taking services during the minster’s sabbatical leave in April/May and August/September

Our minister, Andrew Brown, is on sabbatical leave this year during April/May and August/September. Part of this time will be spent in Budapest working with the President of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF), Prof. George M. Williams, to produce an English language edition of Imaoka Shin’ichirō’s essays, and to further develop the educational programme of the IARF’s “Free Religion Institute.” In connection with both of these things, Andrew will also be speaking with George at the Annual Meetings of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches in April.

To help make this possible, the Cambridge Unitarian Church’s “Future Directions” group are asking members of the congregation whether they can help to run our Sunday morning services over the coming months? At the moment, they are looking for volunteers to cover April and May.

Please use the following Google form to tell us which dates you are available to help, and which roles you are interested in:

https://forms.gle/1H4uVUaCopDCY6Jo7

Someone from the Future Directions group will be in touch soon with further information.

If you have any queries or difficulties using the form, please contact Jacqui (jacquicarnall@googlemail.com)

A note from Marianna inviting people to a “Spring Day with Sunny Music”, 2-4pm on Thursday 20th March

Marianna invites us to gather at her home near Midsummer Common, on Thursday 20th March, the official first day of Spring. Please pop over between 2 – 4pm, to: 29 Bailey Mews, Auckland Road, CB5 8DR
We will enjoy nibbles and conversation, with bursts of sunny piano music by Enrique Granados! Contact Marianna on:
07568 968606 or ringofvoices@gmail.com

A note about the Thursday morning/evening Zoom Kiitsu Kyōkai Seiza Meditation & Conversation Meeting

The next Kiitsu Kyōkai meeting takes place on March 6th at 7:30pm For more information, please click on either of the two following links:

https://andrewjbrown.blogspot.com/p/kiitsu-kyokai.html
https://www.cambridgeunitarian.org/evening-service/

A note about the Religious Naturalist Lent Course that has been available to the congregation online since 2014. This year, Lent starts on 5 March

This religious naturalist Lent series was first run for the Unitarian congregation in Cambridge in 2014 in which a group of us explored Henry Nelson Wieman‘s thinking, and religious naturalism in general. In connection with this we thought it would be well worth working through Donald Szantho Harrington’s Unitarian, Lenten Manual from 1980 which he based upon some of Wieman’s work and that of his wife, Regina Westcott Wieman. Since then, the blog containing this course has been available for anyone to work through it, should they be so minded. Click on the following link to access the course.

https://memorialunitarian.blogspot.com

A reminder that the Cambridge Social Mentoring Group being supported by the church and various members of the congregation continues to meet on Fridays between 12 midday and 4pm.

Come and join us cooking together, eating together and talking together, it is free to join. Cooking food together from various cultures. Learning about cooking different cuisines together. If you love cooking foods you like, we would provide the ingredients, just tell us what you would like to cook. We are making our own community as we go along, and see what we can do together. It is a place for talking, listening, being heard, silent contemplation, feeling valued and realising our values.

WHO WE ARE: We are a volunteer run and peer support group for good mental health and well-being for Adults. We welcome volunteers to curate well-being sessions.

A note about Rowan’s “Rowan’s Secret Postcard Exhibition”

Come along to The Guildhall, Cambridge on 1st & 2nd March 2025 for Rowan’s Secret Postcard Exhibition. This exciting event invites you to explore anonymous artworks, all created on 5×7” postcard canvases. Each unique ‘postcard’ is for sale, offering you the chance to take home your very own mini-masterpiece. The twist? You won’t know who the artist is until after you’ve bought the piece. It could be someone from the local community or a professional artist! Best of all, entry is free. For more details pleas click on the following link:

Rowan’s Secret Postcard Exhibition

Links to the minister’s address/podcast:

The minister’s blog and podcast (which contain his weekly, Sunday “thought for the day” as well as other, occasional, pieces) can be found at the following links:

CAUTE — MAKING FOOTPRINTS NOT BLUEPRINTS