New Fellowship!

(This is an edited copy of one of Rowan's articles from 'The Inquirer'.
It details how and why LUF came together)

Apparently, it was noted at the GA this year that no new Fellowships have been formed recently.   Well - here is one - The Leicester Unitarian Fellowship!

Last Summer, [i.e. 2006] a group of about 9 or 10 of us (mostly Unitarians) began to think about getting together for Sunday Meetings. We had our discussions on weekend afternoons at a riverside café - a very pleasant spot in which to exchange ideas! Everyone, of course, had their own thoughts on how to organise a Sunday Meeting. Some were critical of such words as 'service' and 'worship', so we decided to call our Sunday Meetings 'Gatherings'. We describe them as 'a different way of being together for an hour or so of spiritual nourishment, in order to celebrate the value of each other and the world'.

We thought that a 'once a month' Gathering would be more suitable for people these days, but also kept it to a Sunday, as this is the day which is often traditionally dedicated to the spiritual aspect of our lives. Also, it was challenge enough for us to organise one meeting a month! Other suggestions were, for example, not to have 'dire' hymns, or the Lord's Prayer (although we have had the Rev Lesley Mckeown's lovely re-translation of it) or long sermons. Everyone wanted it to be participatory. Some of us had been inspired by visiting Unitarian Places of Worship in London and other places, and by talking to other Unitarians from around the country.

Out of that original group, a smaller group of 5 now meet to plan the Gatherings, which have been taking place regularly every month since December 2006. We intend to apply for registration as a Fellowship when we feel that we are securely established. We meet in a lovely, new, state-of-the-art Community Centre in the middle of Leicester, called 'The Peepul Centre' (a pun on the name of an Indian tree). The Centre is huge with a theatre, gym, café, meditation room and so on. It was the brain-child of a group of Indian women, who decided that there should be a proper Community Centre for all the communities in Leicester, and they worked extremely hard to get it off the ground over a number of years, with lottery funding and donations etc. They feel that they have a spiritual ethos, and welcome us as an open, interfaith, independent group, allowing us to rent a lovely room with coloured glass windows, for a small sum per month. It feels quite liberating to be part of a wider spiritual community, rather than being confined to a Chapel. We take in our beautiful Chalice, made for us by the potter husband of a Unitarian friend in Birmingham; flowers; Cd player and music, and leaflets and sit in chairs in a circle (not in pews!) We also tell people about the charge for the room and that donations go to pay for that and for the printing of the programmes and music that we give out.

Although we have a loose format, things do change every month.   However, we always briefly explain about Unitarianism at the start of every Gathering as we have now grown to 20 people! [currently 25-30]. We always have a meditation/prayer/silence and a short talk; we always shake hands with one another and wish one another peace or joy or whatever is appropriate to that Sunday's theme; we always float petals in water for our joys and concerns (rather than lighting candles because of the Centre's fire regulations), and we always have space for people to express their thoughts, as well as bringing their readings and poems. We try to do different things such as, for example, planting seeds when we had the theme of ' New Beginnings' .  And of course, we sing!   For instance, when we had the theme:   ' Peace ,' we sang the John Lennon song 'Imagine', as well as the new inspirational ' Song for Peace' to 'Finlandia'. (This was co-written by one of our Gatherers, and was also taken to the GA this year [2007], so many of you will have sung it, too).

We have had very positive feedback from people, and we think that we are meeting the spiritual needs of the community in a way that is relevant to people's lives today. Some of us are interested in 'Process Unitarianism', looking at theology in a way that sees the process of experience as more important than a body of Biblical knowledge. Others of us simply want to get together in a way that allows us to express and celebrate the spiritual aspect of our lives. Some of us attend various other religious services/meetings as well as the Gatherings.

We also have a small cross-over with Leicester Great Meeting Chapel, (where the Minister takes traditional services at 11am on Sundays, except on the 3rd Sunday of the month when it is at 3pm). Our Fellowship meets at 11am on the 3rd Sunday of the month, so that there is no conflict re timing.   We have linked up with the Charnwood Fellowship in Leicestershire which has been running for well over a year, and receive warm encouragement from them, as well as from other Unitarians throughout the country with whom we have liaised.   So - there is a new Fellowship in Britain after all!

Of course, there will always be a place for traditional services. However, we feel that we are part of the means by which Unitarianism can flourish, rather than worrying that it is dying out with ever-ageing, ever-dwindling congregations, as is happening in some Chapels. We understand that some Ministers also are taking Unitarianism out into the community, by holding services in various places, other than Chapel. Rather than perhaps being stuck in the 19 th century, we hope that with these and other initiatives, Unitarianism will remain diverse and responsive to people's spiritual needs, serving the wider community, so that it is truly part of today's world.

Rowan Songsmith 2007