Building Resilient Congregations

13 participants from eight congregations met at Kingswood on Saturday 17th February, for a training day on Building Resilient Congregations. The main guest speaker was Mr Simon Bland, the General Assembly’s Ministry and Congregational Support Officer. He explained what resilience is – the ability to bounce back in adversity, and spoke about it in relation … Read more

Key Messages from the January 2018 Executive Committee meeting

Stronger Data Protection Act: The Data Protection Act is being strengthened, which will have implications for how all congregations hold personal data. It comes into force on 25th May 2018. Further information to follow shortly. Unitarians Together In Diversity: following her survey in 2017, the District Minister’s book will be published by the Lindsey Press, … Read more

Key Messages from MUA Executive Committee meeting, 11th November 2017

The MUA Annual General Meeting will be taking place at Unitarian New Meeting Church in Birmingham, on Saturday 24th March 2018. Further details to follow shortly. The Spring Training Day will be on the theme ‘Building Resilient Congregations’. Further details to follow shortly. Diane Rutter, President e-mail dianerutter2004@yahoo.co.uk Sue Woolley, District Minister e-mail: revsuewoolley@gmail.com

Keeping our congregations safe

On Saturday 4th November, Unitarian New Meeting Church in Birmingham played host to a Local Leadership Strategy Group training day on Safeguarding, led by Rev. John Harley, the General Assembly’s Safeguarding Officer, and Liz Hills, of Lewisham Unitarians. It was a fascinating and insightful day. 25 Unitarians from around the District, and further afield, worked … Read more

MUA Lunch focuses on Compassion

Unitarians from round the Midlands enjoyed an interesting talk by our Guest Speaker, Rev. Feargus O’Connor, minister of Golders Green and St. Alban’s Unitarians. Feargus chose to talk about the Charter for Compassion, an initiative launched by Karen Armstrong in 2010, which believes that the world could be made a better, more sustainable place for … Read more

And Nobody Dropped the Baby …

Seven Unitarian lay worship leaders and trainee celebrants gathered at Kingswood Meeting House on Saturday 6th May, to learn the do’s and don’ts about conducting Naming Ceremonies and Baptisms. Following two sessions in the morning, about the practicalities, and how to put a service together, led by Rev. Sue Woolley, and the early afternoon session, … Read more

Wonderfully enjoyable Training Day on Weddings

On Saturday 1st April, eight participants came together from the Midlands and farther afield, to learn how to conduct a Unitarian Wedding. The day was led by Rev. Martin Whitell, District Minister of the London & South East District & Provincial Assembly. The handouts were marvellous – so very useful for the future – but … Read more

Celebrating High Tides and Low Tides at the District AGM

Saturday 25th March saw nearly 40 Unitarians from across the District meeting at Kingswood Meeting House to take part in the 151st Annual General Meeting of the Midland Unitarian Association. The business meeting was over in just under an hour, and included a special presentation to our dedicated Treasurer, Mr. Sandy Ellis, to mark his … Read more

Participants discover How Unitarians Do Communion

Seventeen participants from seven MUA congregations enjoyed a rich day of sharing and learning at Kingswood Meeting House on Saturday 4th March. In the four sessions, led respectively by Sue Woolley, Cressida Pryor, Diane Rutter, and Simon Hall, we learned about Flower Communion, Earth Spirit Communion, Free Christian Communion, and Water Communion. What made the … Read more