Auckland Unitarians

with Nina Khouri

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 7th August 2022

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/that-i-might-know-my-mind/

with Derek Handley 

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 31st July 2022 

The songs and first reading discussed in this podcast are not included in this audio, links to them can be found on the webpage below.

For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/i-am-the-first-and-the-last/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 24th July 2022

Think back two and half years ago to the day before you heard of Coronavirus breaking out in Wuhan, China. Whatever that was like for you, that was normal. For me, I was a newlywed. I had not even learned what that new normal meant for me yet. I certainly hadn’t anticipated that we would spend most of two and a half years sheltering in place, just the two of us with Waldo for company, discovering what our normal was. So when I hear someone longing for life to return to normal, I’m not sure what their normal is. Perhaps, I should focus on knowing the future instead. Irony, apparently, is my forte.

For more information, links to outside sources etc. see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-idiot-flight-of-butterflies/

with Rev. Clay Nelson 

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 17th July 2022 

I would like to give you a peek behind the curtain to see one of the blessings, or possibly curses, of being in my line of work. If you have been doing it as long as I have, it is nearly impossible not to see the world continuously through theological lenses. It is not a conscious decision anymore. It is just my reality and as involuntary as breathing. Nothing I’m doing is exempt from theological reflection. It doesn’t matter if it is reading my Facebook feed, bingeing on Netflix, hearing music in many genres, holding Rachel’s hand, playing peek-a-boo with a grandchild, eating a Macca burger, playing fetch with Waldo, or walking on the beach after a storm. You get my gist. Bloody everything reverberates with theological discernment for me. Everything. It can be exhausting as it feeds my imagination to overflowing.

For more information, links to outside sources etc. see

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/unconstrained-imagination/

with David Hines 

Worship Leader:- Nina Khouri 

Song Leader:- Sally Mabelle 

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 3rd July 2022 

For more information see  

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/christian-karakia-do-you-think-they-are-appropriate-for-state-schools/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded by Auckland Unitarian Church 26th June 2022

Welcome this morning to history. This is the first public celebration of an indigenous peoples’ holiday in the world. Matariki, sometimes referred to as the Maori New Year, has become a celebration for all New Zealanders. It centres on a cluster of stars that in the west were known as The Pleiades or Seven Sisters. They are 410 light years away and are part of the constellation Taurus.

Videos mentioned in this podcast:-

Opening Words: The story of Matariki https://youtu.be/ELziYVWyRAA

Opening Song: Tirama Matariki https://youtu.be/haJY8w69cVo

Song: Matariki i te pō https://youtu.be/r4x0SP5lz7g

Reading: The stolen stars of Matariki https://youtu.be/l1wSsd9ATog

Video: Te Iwa o Matariki https://youtu.be/ernd7v0xEug

Closing Song: Matariki Tāpuapua https://youtu.be/i_I6ZKzn6p4

For more information, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/its-written-in-the-stars/

with members of the Auckland UU Climate Team – Brenda Bendall, Shirin Caldwell, Jonathan Mason.

Please accept our apologies for the poor sound quality on this episode - recorded directly off zoom.

Links to the various resources referred to in this episode can be found on the page for this service on our website:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/climate-change-issues-and-challenges/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 12th June 2022

A quick perusal of the internet tells me I should wait for one of the equinoxes, when day and night are equal, to muse on balance and absolutely not when the winter solstice is approaching, but where is the fun in that? When reality is in balance in perfect alignment with my life, where is the challenge? My experience says that when I really need to know how to keep my balance is when my world is dark, nameless, unknown, and infinite. It is my spiritual practice to find light in darkness, name the nameless, accept the unknown, and welcome the infinite.

For more information, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/keeping-your-balance-in-an-unbalanced-world/

with Rev. Clay Nelson

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 5th June 2022

Forty years ago, this past week, my seminary released me into the world to begin my ordained ministry. In all those years, an Annual General Meeting has never provoked me to preach a musing on one of the discussions held. It was the discussion/debate about approving a remit for the congregation to endorse the Fairer Futures campaign.

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/forgive-us-our-debts/

with Rev. Clay Nelson 

Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 29th May 2022

No one was more surprised than I when moving to New Zealand that I would put my Anglican collar back on after eight years with the American Unitarian Universalists. I did impose one condition on myself before doing so –– I would no longer dance around my progressive religious views in the pulpit. Traditionalists and conservatives be damned. It was time to stand up for my beliefs. Yet a lot had changed. My sermons were not just on a table at the back of the church gathering dust but on the Internet for all to see. They still are and may always be. I think of them as my afterlife. Taking a position at St Matthew-in-the-city had already made me suspect in the eyes of traditionalists and conservatives. I was about as popular as a skunk at a garden party after my first billboard to go viral globally drew attention to my views on TV, radio, the press and blogs. My notoriety gained me few friends throughout the country. My hate mail and death threats increased dramatically. I gained no popularity when one of my conservative colleagues did some deep dumpster diving on the Internet, discovered my Unitarian connections and outed me on his blog.

For more information see  https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/outed-as-a-unitarian/