Our Services Sundays: morning Worship Service 10:45 evening Sacred Contemplation 6:00 Wednesdays: midday Meditation 1:15 Thursdays: evening Sacred Contemplation 6:15 First Sunday of the month: Bring and Share Lunch in the Priestley Hall One of the oldest and most distinguished of the denominations to arise from the Protestant reformation Unitarianism is an open theological tradition which emphasises freedom of conscience, affirms the inherent worth of all humans and acknowledges the validity of all religious approaches to the Divine. Contacts Website: www.millhillchapel.org Minister Rev’d. Jo James 0113 243 3845 email [email protected] THE RECORD tweet @jojames_ Facilities Manager/Lettings: c/o Chapel 0113 243 3845 July 2015 Chairman of the Congregation Alan Hawkins: [email protected] Mill Hill Unitarian Chapel Director of Music Anthony Norcliffe : [email protected] City Square, Leeds The Record Editor A PLACE OF SPIRITUAL SANCTUARY FOR ALL Email [email protected] @millhillchapel charity number: 1081978 Liberation: Inspiration: Compassion From Our Minister Outside the Chapel Every new month there are new initiatives and new life GAY Pride As a congregation that affirms all minorities, including diverse to celebrate at Mill Hill. sexualities, Mill Hill Chapel will be joining the ‘Leeds Pride’ In June we took the first steps of the newly formulated parade. We also will have a stall at the festivities in August. This walking group; a small but intrepid troupe joined forces at will also be an opportunity to let people know that the chapel is Leeds station and boarded the train for Todmorden on a registered to perform same-sex marriages. If you would you like to beautiful misty Saturday morning. The children played happily take part let Jo know. You don’t have to walk the entire route. Also, mobility scooters are welcome. as we grown ups gazed at the lovely country side of the Calder Valley. At Todmorden we walked to the old Unitarian Church. Other Groups This impressive gothic chapel was built about twenty years We are already in collaboration with the Vegan Interfaith Alliance hosting a food sharing evening after the service on the 3rd after Mill Hill in the 1860s. Sadly the Unitarian community that Thursday of each month at 7.00 pm in the Priestley Hall. Anyone worshipped there for about a hundred years failed to adapt or is welcome to attend, either to help out with cooking, cleaning or change with the times and the building no longer sustains a washing up or simply to share food and fellowship. fixed congregation. It is maintained by the Historic Chapels Trust and a former member of the congregation, Wes, is now Do you want to participate in recycling or other environmental activities? Would an Ecological Group interest you? Alan wants employed as caretaker. Wes was kind enough to let us into the to hear from you. See him at chapel or email: building and show us around. It was most moving to be in this [email protected] great space for a little while, the stained glass and marble The Spiritual Reading Group will on meet on the last Tuesday of columns retain their beauty and grandeur. We held an the month, 28th of July at 6:30. We will be discussing the prayers impromptu service, singing ‘Immortal Invisible’ together, our in this issue. This group is an opportunity to explore and deepen living voices rising to join with others, silent now - though faith. Please tell Jo or email: [email protected] if you present. contemporary custodians of a similar church we have suggestions for reading material. renewed our commitment to do all that lies in our power to Rosemary will be considering what our congregation can do to ensure that we do not let the life ebb away from our own place promote Fair Trade. If you want to get involved with this new of worship, instead of allowing stasis and entropy to become initiative. Please email me: [email protected] or speak to entrenched we will be innovative, flexible, adventurous and me at church. bold. Lots of initiatives confirm this; as you’ll see in the other Guest Worship Leaders pages of the (now monthly) Record, Our book group began its monthly meetings at the end of June with a look at the essay 19th July Stephen Carlile ‘Returning to the Springs’ by John Beuhrens, the group meets 16th August Anthony Dawson on the last Tuesday of each month at 6.30pm in the chapel. IMPORTANT REMINDER: NO SERVICE on 12th JULY From the web: ‘ukunitarians’ facebook page On Tuesday July 28th we will consider not a book or even a As you may know we are also struggling to maintain our rota of chapter but some prayers, one translated by Jacob Trapp and the ‘greeters’, people willing to welcome newcomers to chapel, other by Thomas Merton, both are reproduced in this issue. In give out hymnbooks and make the collection. The truth is that August we are celebrating our serious commitment to Lesbian the most important element of this role is after the service, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) as people to be valued making sure that newcomers feel welcomed, included and and cherished in a place of religious worship. By joining the Leeds looked after. Pride parade and holding a stall at the celebrations afterwards Mill A recent comment on the Unitarian face-book group Hill will visibly affirm the rights of LGBT people. We are also “ukunitarians” caught my attention. Ann Howell writes: looking ahead to having a stand at University ‘Freshers Week’. “A very bright and motivated friend of mine recently visited a Our monthly bring and share lunches are now a firm favourite with Unitarian church in a seaside town on the south coast (that many in the congregation and other innovations, like the shall remain nameless), looking for a new spiritual home. The opportunity to light a candle and share a prayer during worship service really spoke to her and the last hymn nearly moved her are also popular. to tears, so she was very hopeful about this community and Speaking of innovation in worship, the idea of ‘thematic looked forward to engaging with people during coffee after the worship’ is one that has proven successful in many Unitarian service. If only! No one would speak to her! She tried making chapels - and over the past few months I‘ve been experimenting conversation with a few people, but they all skittled back to with it here just to make sure that its achievable before introducing their cliques after a couple of minutes of painfully polite banter. it formally; our theme over Easter extended to the services either She eventually took to standing in a prominent position looking side of holy week, and the following month, May was themed obviously lonely, but no one approached her! This woman is around Uncertainty and Faith, June services considered the Spirit one of the nicest and most interesting people I know - the and Inspiration etc. So for the next year a monthly theme has congregation would have been lucky to have her! She says been chosen and we’ll try to ensure that services reflect the she will try the Quakers next…” theme. (See the next page for a list.) This will be a light touch arrangement - its not something which should be rigid or inflexible The congregation would have been lucky to have had her! and I hope that the chosen themes will integrate well with the holy Thats the truth of our situation too - we can never know who is days and celebrations of the Church Calendar. If you’d like more going to happen across our threshold at any service, are we all information, or if you’d like to suggest changes air propose ready to greet them with warmth and welcome? alternative themes please do let me know. Jo 2015-2016 Worship Themes A reflection from Rev’d. Ant Howe Minister, Birmingham; Holywood March/April The Divine Feminine May Uncertainty and Faith Our forebears dared to proclaim: God is One. There is one eternal source. When we find the Unity of God we also pave the way for June Inspiration the unity of humanity where all are equal under the one "I who am" July: Transformation - God, known by many names, yet eternally One. August: Journeying The very first time God is mentioned in the Bible it is as Spirit. The September: Returning Spirit of God, at the dawn of Eternity, "hovered over the face of the October: Wisdom waters". It is the untamed power and energy of the universe. With God was the Word - the creative force, the Logos, or Christ November: Transcendence which brings order out of chaos, which brings light, and is the December: Wonder same force which dwells within humanity. It is this Christ-nature, so January; Hope evident in Jesus and other great teachers and prophets, that is the February: Resilience 'image of God' in which we are created. The Word is Wisdom March: Rebirth interjecting in time and is God's power at work in the world. It is reason, science, law. April: Growth Jesus of Nazareth showed us how God - Spirit - can not only be regarded as a force, but also as a parent, lover or friend. It is the This month we are sorry to lose our Facilities manager image of God within us which draws to the spiritual and connects Malcolm Clarke who is going with his partner Gillian to us the Ground of all Being. This is a God of love.