Auckland Unitarians Auckland Unitarians

Speaker:- Peter Lineham

Worship Leader:- Ruby Johnson

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 28th April 2024



Ralph Waldo Emerson knew how to upset Unitarians, for he had been one of them. Emerson was from a Unitarian family, trained at Harvard College, and his brother William was educated at Gottingen and was a minister. Waldo became minister of Second Church Boston in 1829. But he took a break, after the death of his wife, and headed to Europe. Returning he wrote this extraordinary essay, Nature, from which I read. He was a mystery to his fellow Unitarians. In 1838 he spoke to the Divinity Class at Harvard, in words that caused a huge controversy...



For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-american-transcendentalists/

with Karn Cleary

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 21 April 2024



I titled today’s service “Remembering Anzac Day”, purposely. It disturbs me to see or hear references to “celebrating” Anzac Day, when I believe it should always be a day of mourning for all those who died so futilely at Gallipoli, and all the others whether they returned or not, who have gone off to war from New Zealand.

The 24th April, the day before Anzac Day is the anniversary of the death of my father, Bror Muller, who died in 1967. This talk is really about my father’s experiences during the Second World War as an enemy alien and, in his words, 100% committed pacifist. I’ll also talk about how those experiences affected his life after the war, and the impact on his family, or at least on me, growing up in the 1950s and 60s.



For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/remembering-anzac-day-2/

With Rachel Mackintosh & Betsy Marshall

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 14 April 2024



Unitarians are a mixed metaphor. Roots from flora, wings from fauna.

There is no exact Greek mythical creature to represent this idea but perhaps we can think of a dryad or tree-nymph, maybe combined with a phoenix, the bird who rises.

We are a mixed metaphor and a mixed faith, one that values pluralism and whose hymn book is called Singing the Living Tradition.



For more information, see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/roots-hold-me-close-wings-set-me-free/

Speaker:- John Maindonald



Worship Leader:- Shirin Caldwell



Recorded 7 April 2024 @ Auckland Unitarian Church


From the time when he returned from his five year journey around the world, Darwin thought long and hard, not just about the relationships between living things, but also about life and living. He moved from relatively orthodox Anglican to an agnostic who never ceased to wonder at the world of nature and the place of humans in it. While he never identified as a Unitarian, he was exposed to multiple sources of Unitarian influence.



For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/charles-darwins-religious-life-journey/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh



Recorded 31 March 2024 @ Auckland Unitarian Church



I preached in this church last year on Easter Sunday. My theme was resurrection — I spoke about the power of love over hate. In the words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Knowing that when life is gone, love is left for shining.”



Since then, as most of you know, I have become a widow. My husband and your minister Clay Nelson died last November. In preparing for this year’s Easter Sunday service, I have read all eight of the Easter sermons he preached here in this church. I have seen that he talked about the necessity of experiencing Good Friday if we are to experience Easter.



For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-empty-tomb-holding-lament-in-one-hand-and-joy-in-the-other/

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rev. Sally Mabelle of Taupo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 24 March 2024.

During my 12 years as a member and lay worship leader at Auckland Unitarian church, we sang that ‘Spirit of Life’ song hundreds of times, to begin nearly every Sunday service. Today, I’d like to draw our attention directly to that same Spirit of Life, which is intimately with us in every moment – I’m talking about our very breath – literally our IN-spiration – and our EX-spiration…a free gift that we receive at birth and is our closest and most constant spiritual companion throughout our whole life.

For more information see:-

https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/breathing-the-spirit-of-life-what-does-it-mean-and-why-does-it-matter/