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Sermon by the Reverend Geoff Usher, given at the Spirit of Life Unitarian Fellowship, Sunday 21 June 2015.

My brother David conducted the annual service for the Ministerial Old Students Association’s Meeting at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, on Wednesday 2 July 2003. His sermon was on “Spiritual Economy”. It was an excellent sermon, and I want to share it with you today.
A couple of years previously, David represented the Ministerial Fellowship at a conference at Whalley Abbey, just down the road from Padiham where he was then Minister. The conference was put on by an organisation called MODEM, an acronym standing for Management and Organisational Development in Ministry. The purpose of MODEM is to bring the skills of management into closer harmony with the mission of ministry, and vice versa, to bring the spirit of ministry into the workplace. David is interested in such things, so he went along very willingly.

The full text of the sermon is available here.

by Ginna Hastings.

Given the upheaval in the world today, often based upon alleged religious conflict, I suggested this book to my book club. I had to apologize to them somewhat because it turned out to be the history of the European and Asian worlds with regard to the topic – very extensively covered. As a history major myself I did not find this cumbersome, but others without my pre-vocational interests in history found it hard yakka to get through.
The complete talk can be found here.

by Rev.  Geoff Usher.

This is an account of a  fascinating period of history, focusing on a Unitarian hero. If you are interested in the development of religious liberty, this talk is for you.

 

by Rev. Geoff Usher

Some words by Jacob Trapp:
“Put Off Thy Shoes”
So it was said to Moses at the burning bush.
“Put off the shoes of the habitual,” said an Hasidic rabbi. Let your bare feet touch the ground. Experience things afresh.
“He who can no longer stand rapt in wonder and awe,” said Einstein, “is as good as dead. His eyes are closed.”
“If the doors of perception are opened,” said William Blake, “then everything will appear as it is, infinite.”
“From the touch of my feet to the grass,” said Walt Whitman,” spring a hundred affections.”
Those words express what, ideally, worship ought to be, or, more precisely, what worship ought to inspire. Jopie Boeke a true story, told by a professor who taught at the seminary she attended.

To read the complete address, click here.

A talk given by Neil Inall.

It’s a beautiful day outside isn’t it? When we meet family or friends or associates there are two main questions…the first about health and the second about the weather. Hasn’t it been hot, hasn’t it been cold, hasn’t it been humid. Seldom in Australia do we say “hasn’t been wet. I am sick of rain”. Rarely do we make this observation in this the driest of all continents apart from Antartica. If you look at the monthly rainfall figures on the Internet you will see that once again its been a poor wet season in the far north of the country…. and its dry through most of the inland. If you have friends at Tamworth or Broken Hill—certainly Tamworth people will have told you how they have to carry water for their gardens and have done so for many months.
The cotton harvest is about to start in northern NSW and also in Queensland. This harvest will be down 50 percent on last year..50 percent!!
What does that mean in dollars?

To read the full talk, click here.