UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION OF WA INC

Perth Congregation

 

Announcing the ...
ANZUA 2007 CONFERENCE
on the theme 
A Faith for the Third Millennium: the Scope of a Unitarian Vision

  being held on 29 & 30 September, and 1 October
to be hosted by the Perth Congregation.

For the details of the:

● Conference Flyer
● Conference Programme
● Conference: FAQs
● Speakers: Biographies and Abstracts
● Registration Form
● Submission of Motions
● Workshop Presentation Application

please go to the ANZUA website at
www.anzua.org/anzua_alt
and select accordingly.

 

What We Believe

  • Unitarians believe in the freedom of religious expression, and that individuals should be encouraged to develop their own personal theology.
  • You can present your religious opinions openly, without fear of censure, in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
  • We welcome diverse people and views.

 

Join us in the search for the meaning of life!

 

 

Meetings

Meetings are at Drabble House, 6 Webster St Nedlands (behind the Nedlands Library) on the first , third and fifth Sundays of every month at 10.30 am. All are welcome to attend.

 

 

 

BELIEFS - COULD YOU BE A UNITARIAN?

 

Are you looking for a community in which to seek spiritual growth, while being free to decide what you want to believe?

 

Unitarians believe in the freedom of religious expression, and that individuals should be encouraged to develop their own personal theology. You can present your religious opinions openly, without fear of censure, in an atmosphere of mutual respect. We welcome diverse people and views.

 

Are you looking for a spiritual search which can call on all the world’s religions and spirituality for ideas?

 

While our main dialogue has traditionally been with the Judeo-Christian tradition, we believe that truth comes to us from many sources – not least from our own life experience, including direct experiences of the transcending mystery and wonder. We believe that all religions possess intrinsic merit and potential value and reach out to know the great truths found in other religious expressions, including humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, teachings of Earth centred traditions which instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, and spiritual teachings and writing which may not be part of any particular religious tradition. We seek also to be inspired by women and men who have lived their lives with justice, compassion and love, perhaps confronting oppressive powers and structures in the process.

 

Would you like to belong to a supportive and creative congregation?

 

We are open to the fellowship of others in celebration and worship, discussion and friendship, and believe in the importance of a religious community. Fellowship can provide strength and encouragement for daily living. We believe that the governing principle in human relationships is the principle of love, which always seeks the welfare of others and never seeks to hurt or destroy.

 

Do you want to be part of a community that is committed to defending personal freedom and human dignity?

 

We believe in the worth and dignity of each human being. All people on earth have equal claim to life, liberty and justice – and freedom of religion. We are part of a long, liberal tradition of reason and tolerance, hope and liberation. We also believe in the ethical application of religion, and in joining our strength with others to create a more just society.  

 

Are you looking for a home that respects your deep spiritual and philosophical questioning?

 

We believe in the authority of reason and conscience. The ultimate arbiter in religion is not a church, document or official, but the personal choice and decision of the individual. We encourage each other to be true to ourselves. All teachings and propositions, whether religious or secular, should be subjected to scrutiny and critical evaluation. We also believe in travelling on a never-ending search for truth with open hearts and minds.

 

If you would like to read our constitution, click here

 

 

 

CONTACT US

 

Email: unitarianswa@iinet.net.au

 

Postal address: PO Box 332, Fremantle WA 6959.

 

Telephone: Rev Peter Ferguson, 0417 997 785

 

Web Administrator:  phantom@ois.com.au

 

OTHER UNITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS

 

To see details of other Australian and New Zealand congregations, click here.

 

 

OTHER PROGRESSIVE RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS IN PERTH

 

Sea of Faith     www.sof-in-australia.org

Progressive Religious Thought dwoodroffe@iinet.net.au

Eremos   baxterfamily@westnet.com.au

on site www.wollastoncollege.com.au Wollaston & under conference centre hit- 'cached' this will bring up cache of confcentre.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNITARIAN CEREMONIES

 

Unitarian baptisms or christenings

Parents and godparents are invited to promise to provide a secure and loving environment in which the child can grow physically, emotionally intellectually and spiritually. They can also be formal naming ceremonies for the child.

Water is used as a symbol of the renewal and regeneration of life, which is represented well in a young child. Baptisms may take place in the church, at the child’s home, or in some other appropriate venue.

 

Wedding ceremonies

The service will be tailored to suit the wishes of the bride and bridegroom. Unitarian weddings can be held out of doors, in people’s homes, or in churches or other suitable venues.

 

Funeral services

Unitarian clergy try to fit in with the needs of the bereaved. Some families wish to avoid traditional religious language and prefer a service which reflects the belief of the deceased person.

Where appropriate, family members and friends are encouraged to take part in the ceremony. This may be done by giving the eulogy or reading a suitable passage or poem.

 

How are Unitarian ministers educated?

In the United States ministerial training is offered at Starr King School for Ministry in Berkeley, California, Meadeville Lombard Theological School in Chicago and the Harvard University Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In England, Unitarians study at Manchester College, Oxford and the Unitarian College in Manchester.

 

Do Unitarians celebrate Christmas and Easter?

Some do, and some do not, depending on their individual beliefs. Some Christmas carols have been written by Unitarians. Edmund Sears, for example, wrote “It came upon the midnight clear that glorious song of old”. Sir John Bowring wrote the Good Friday hymn “ In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time”

 

If you would like to arrange a Unitarian baptism, christening, wedding ceremony or funeral service, please contact our Minister, Peter Ferguson, on 0417997785.

 

 

 

 

HISTORY OF UNITARIANISM

 

Early Unitarianism

Historically the name “Unitarian” derives from the conviction that God is absolutely and indivisibly one.

For more than 250 years in the early church, Unitarian ideas co-existed with several different theologies about the nature of God and the person of Jesus Christ. However, in 325CE the Council of Nicea declared that belief in the indivisibility of God was a heresy, as Jesus Christ was also God. In 381 the Council of Constantinople added the Holy Spirit to the Godhead, establishing the Holy Trinity of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

 

The Rise of Modern Unitarianism

The forerunners of modern Unitarianism date back to the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century.

In several countries the death penalty was introduced for those who embraced Unitarian thoughts.

Unitarians suffered severe persecution at the hands of both Protestant and Catholic Churches until the early 1800s. Nevertheless, the movement spread from Italy through central and eastern Europe to England and subsequently the New World.

 

Unitarianism Today

During the 20th Century the Unitarians gradually moved away from their historical anti-Trinitarian emphasis, at the same time coming to understand their faith as wider than their Judeo-Christian heritage.

The name “Unitarian” now says less about a belief in the oneness of God, but more about our view that life is unitary: that we are all part of the interdependent web of existence.

 

Unitarians in Australia and New Zealand.

 

The first Unitarian congregation was founded in Sydney in 1850, and soon afterwards communities were established in Melbourne (1852) and Adelaide (1854).

 

Unitarian services in New Zealand can be traced back to Auckland in 1863. Today there are also Unitarian congregations in Christchurch, Blenheim and Wellington.

 

The Western Australian Unitarian Association started November 2000 and originally met at the Scout Hall in Subiaco in Rokeby Road. We are a group of all ages, interested in a search for meaning.

 

 

 

 

MEETINGS

 

 

.2006 Calendar

 

UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION OF WA INC

Perth Congregation

MEETINGS AT 10.30 A.M.

on  1st   ,  3rd    &    5th   SUNDAYS IN THE MONTH

at  DRABBLE HOUSE  6 WEBSTER STREET NEDLANDS

Contact Peter  9339 5342  or   PO Box 332 Fremantle 6959

website: http://www.unitarianswa.iinet.net.au

email:  unitarianswa@iinet.net.au

 

                        DATES  TO  REMEMBER

 

7 Jan 07
Peter Ferguson
Reconciling Religion with Reason
9339 5342
21 Jan 07
Andrew McDonald
Aporia ?
Noon Committee Meeting
9207-1171
0401-136-071
4 Feb 07
Peter Ferguson
Reconciling Religion with Reason
9339 5342
18 Feb 07
Victoria Martin
David Hicks
9371-2325
4 Mar 07
Peter Ferguson
Reconciling Religion with Reason
9339 5342
18 Mar 07
Wade McDonald
Howard’s War in Iraq
1 Apr 07
Peter Ferguson
Reconciling Religion with Reason
9339 5342
15 Apr 07
Rob Halsey
Being God-less in  God
9418-2513
29 Apr 07
Anibeth Desierto
Human Rights & Democratic Crisis in the Philippines.
5th Sun-Pot Luck Lunch–finger foods
6 May 07
Peter Ferguson
A Faith for the Future
9339 5342
20 May 07
Phil Chilton
Social Justice Aspect of Work Choices Legislation
0417-904-329
3 Jun 07
Peter Ferguson
Sleeping next to Cannibals
9339 5342
17 Jun 07
Godfrey Barrett-Lennard
Where (ultimately) does human life reside?
9341-3442
1 Jul 07
Peter Ferguson
A Faith for the Future
9337 2068
15 Jul 07
Kelly Banz

29 Jul 07
Neville Watson  
Uniting Church
THIS DAY HAS BEEN CANCELLED
5th Sun – Pot Luck lunch-finger foods
5 Aug 07
Peter Ferguson
A Faith for the future
9339 5342
19 Aug 07
Laura Gladstone
Ethical Consumerism
93873963
2 Sep 07
Peter Ferguson
A Faith for the Future
9339 5342
16 Sep 07
Jasmine Day
Mummymania
9450-3451
28 Sep 07
to 1st Oct 07
ANZUA CONFERENCE 2007
7 Oct 07
Peter Ferguson
Reconciling Religion with Reason
9339 5342
21 Oct 07
Anna Evangelisti
The City as Dwelling Place
9388-7063
4 Nov 07
Peter Ferguson
Reconciling Religion with Reason
9339 5342
18 Nov 07
Mary Rodwell-for info
www.maryrodwell.com
How the UFO Experience can transform
Consciousness
9454 3306
2 Dec 07
Sebastian Steed
The Value of Myth
9358 0625
16 Dec 07
Peter Ferguson  
Christmas drinks – finger foods
30 Dec 07
NO SERVICE


Donations for Warrawee Women’s Refuge gratefully accepted          1 Dec 07
non-perishable foods – clothing – toiletries  - blankets – school bags – sunhats.

 

To see topics of previous meetings, click here

 

 

Format of meetings

Meetings usually include the following elements:

Lighting of the chalice and reading

Talk of 15-20 minutes

Discussion

Music

Extinguishing of the chalice and reading

 

Content of talks

Our Minister, Peter Ferguson, usually gives one of the sermons each month. Other talks are delivered by members of the congregation, or by invited speakers. The topics of the talks are advertised in the Post Community Newspaper.

 

To see the talks given at previous meetings, click here

 

 

 

 

SOME FAMOUS UNITARIANS

 

John Adams (1735-1826), US President

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) US President and abolitionist

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) writer, author of Little Women.

Susan Anthony (1820-1906) pioneer leader of women’s suffrage

movement.

Bela Bartok (1881-1945) Hungarian composer

Alexander Bell (1847-1922) inventor of the telephone

Ray Bradbury (1920-) science fiction writer.

Robert Burns (1759-1796) Scottish poet and songwriter.

William Ellery Channing (1780-1842) US slave emancipator

William Cohen, US Secretary of Defence during the Clinton administration.

e. e. cummings (1894-1962) poet

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) English scientist and pioneer evolutionist

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English novelist

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) US philosopher

Benjamin Franldin (1706-1790) American scientist and statesman

Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) pioneer US feminist and leading figure in transcendentalist movement

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) Norwegian composer

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) novelist

Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) US composer. Writer of Battle Hymn of the Republic

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) US President and principal author of the Declaration of Independence

Stephen King (1947-) writer

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) poet and writer

Thomas Masaryk (1850-1937) first President of Czechoslovakia

Herman Melville (1819-1891) writer. Author of Moby Dick

Samuel Morse (1791-1872) inventor of the telegraph and Morse code.

Issac Newton (1643-1727) Physicist and mathematician

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) nurse and hospital reformer

Linus Pauling (1901-1994) chemist

Bcatrix Potter (1886-1943) writer. Author of Peter Rabbit

Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) discoverer of oxygen

Paul Revere (1735-1818) American patriot

Pete Seeger (1919-) singer and social activist

Michael Servetus (1511-1553) Spanish theologian and physician

Fausto Sozzini (1539-1604) Italian theologian

Lelio Sozzini (1525-1562) Italian theologian

Catherine Helen Spence (1825 – 1910) Suffragette. Pictured on the Australian $5 note. Writer, feminist, social reformer. Founding member of Adelaide congregation.

George Stephenson (178 1-1848) British engineer. Inventor of the first locomotive.

Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) US statesman who helped found the United Nations

William Taft (1857-1930) US President

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-) writer. Author of Slaughterhouse Five

Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) Founder of Wedgwood pottery.