The Sunday service opening our week exploring the topic of 'Theology of the Body' led by Kate McKenna. Kate McKenna is minister with the Unitarian church in Bury (Lancashire). This will be her ninth Summer School, and her fourth year on the panel. The intentional spiritual community formed each year at Summer School is her inspiration for trying to create that 'kingdom' elsewhere in the movement and in the world. She is very much looking forward to serving as Minister for the Week this year, and, as always, to seeing Summer School work its magic on newcomers and on those who have been a few, or many, times before.

A bonus fifth theme talk exploring the question 'How, Then, Shall We Live?' by Bill Darlison (Bill was unfortunately unable to be present at summer school due to ill health but this is a after-the-event recording of the talk he prepared to give). Before his retirement in 2010, Bill was the senior minister of the Dublin Unitarian Church. In the early seventies, he studied for the Roman Catholic priesthood in Rome, but left before ordination and resumed work as a teacher. He joined the Unitarians in 1988, becoming a minister in 1994. In 2013-14 he was President of the General Assembly. He has written for The Inquirer, The Unitarian, The Astrological Journal, The Furrow, The Irish Times, and The Gnostic. He is the author of two collections of spiritual stories and has recently published 'The Celestial Journey of the Soul'. 'The Gospel and the Zodiac: The Secret Truth about Jesus', was published by Duckworth in 2007, and was translated into German and Czech.

The fourth of a series of five theme talks exploring the question 'How, Then, Shall We Live?' by Rob Gregson. Rob Gregson is a dad, proud gay man, eldest son, gardener and activist. He currently directs Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ, a social justice ministry representing the 21 NJ UU congregations on issues ranging from environmental justice to antiracism to gun violence prevention. From 2010 to 2015, Rev. Gregson helped to found and direct SimpleGifts: Unitarian Centre for Social Justice, a community centre/social justice training program based in East London. Prior to that, he served as the first settled parish minister at the First UU Fellowship of Hunterdon County (Baptistown NJ) and full time interfaith chaplain at the Boston Alzheimer's Centre. Rob calls South Orange, NJ "home" with his two teenage children, Cory (13) and Addy (12)-former stars of the British Unitarian stage and screen.

The third of a series of five theme talks exploring the question 'How, Then, Shall We Live?' by Helen Simpson. Helen Simpson works as a therapist in the NHS and uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with her clients. This technique uses the ancient wisdom of Buddhism to help people live a life of meaning despite their emotional difficulties. She also writes and performs comedy this year has begun dong stand up. She is also a guerrilla artist and is responsible for a number of random art installations around Norwich using pom poms and recycled materials. She loves to bring weirdness, humour and colour to the world and to help people grow into themselves. She regularly does services as the Octagon Chapel in Norwich where she lives with her partner Saint. Helen says: 'I am honoured to be giving one of the theme talks in this my fifth year of Summer School.'

The second of a series of five theme talks exploring the question 'How, Then, Shall We Live?' by Michael Allured. By day Michael works in the civil service advising on improving the life chances of looked-after children and care leavers. Since 2001 Michael has been an active member of Golders Green Unitarians, where he regularly leads Sunday worship and has facilitated workshops exploring everyday spirituality and Unitarian history. Michael is entering his second year of training for the Unitarian ministry at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and is reading for a Masters in Christian Theology.

The first of a series of five theme talks exploring the question 'How, Then, Shall We Live?' by Jane Blackall. Jane has been a Unitarian since 1999, and has been a great enthusiast for summer school ever since then, attending all but one of the summer schools since 2000 and being a member of the organising team most years since 2005 (apart from a two-year mini-break intended to curb her nascent megalomania). Having previously worked in academic research in the field of medical imaging and radiological sciences, Jane changed direction entirely, and for the last decade has worked part-time with Kensington Unitarians, mostly focusing on communications and adult religious education. She completed a part-time degree in Philosophy, Religion, and Ethics at Heythrop College in 2017 and has been accepted for ministry training which will start this autumn. In between work, study, and mucking about on the internet, Jane enjoys baking, birdwatching, crafts, and dancing, and is a keen spectator of cycling.

The Sunday service opening our week exploring the question 'How, Then, Shall We Live?' led by Sheena Gabriel. Raised in the Pentecostal church, I discovered my spiritual home amongst Unitarians 22 years ago. In 2009 I became Lay Leader for Godalming Unitarians, and after training became their minister in 2012. Together with my husband Rob (a retired G.P.) I lead weekly meditation sessions, and have a special interest in the interface between psychology, spirituality and creativity. I am currently training to be a Spiritual Director at the London Centre for Spiritual Direction, where I'm immersing myself more fully within the Christian heritage that shaped me. I previously worked as a tutor in further education, as an arts / group facilitator in psychiatric and palliative care, and as a counsellor within the NHS. I have a deep affection for Summer School - having attended my first one in 1997. My time spent at Great Hucklow has been transformative - and it's now become a sacred place of pilgrimage for me.

The fifth of a series of five theme talks on 'Walk Your Path with Joy' by Kate McKenna. Kate is minister with Bury (Lancashire) Unitarians, and is enjoying her new home in the North West. For the first time in over twenty years she has what she laughably calls a garden, in which she has managed so far not to kill lavender, mint, and French beans. She is becoming a dog bore, and has more Playmobil than you - and it increasingly seems as though the Playmobil can't all be for the purposes of sermon illustration. This is Kate's sixth Summer School, and her second as a member of the panel. Having originally come to Summer School thinking it must all surely be hype, it is now the spiritual and social highlight of her year.

The fourth of a series of five theme talks on 'Walk Your Path with Joy' by Nancy Crumbine, featuring a story by Lindy Latham, and poetry read by Christine Thompson and others. Nancy is a Unitarian Universalist minister, writer, actor, public speaker, and professor. She has been Theme Speaker and Workshop leader at Summer School over many years. She was the Essex Hall Lecturer at GA in 2005 and one of the speakers for the International Elizabeth Tarbox RE Week held in England in April, 2008, a conference which brought together religious educators from the US and the UK. Nancy is the author of Humility, Anger, and Grace: Meditations Towards a Life that Matters and The Unitarian Paradox. Her articles and poems appear in a number of anthologies, most recently in two volumes of The Still Puddle Poets.

The third of a series of five theme talks on 'Walk Your Path with Joy' by Claire MacDonald. Claire says: "I am a London based writer with a background in theatre and recently completed Unitarian ministry training at Harris Manchester College Oxford. My Unitarian journey began in York, then moved to New York where I was part of the Unitarian First Congregational Society in Brooklyn and continued in London with a community ministry attachment at Newington Green Chapel, just before my training. Part of my commitment to Unitarianism is through the model of social action that the charity Simple Gifts in Bethnal Green works with - creating collaborative events in community with local people of all faiths. For me, Summer School's model of community and care, exchange and dialogue, fun and mindfulness, also reflects this approach - doing together what we cannot do apart, and shaping models of creative community. This is my third Summer School. I have co-led one Summer School workshop, with John Harley, and been a happy workshop participant and an eager listener to morning talks. Outside Summer School I have volunteered with Simple Gifts for three years now and I am part of a team now developing a centre for arts and social change in the Mansford Street chapel where Simple Gifts has been based."