We are sorry to announce the recent death of Helen Louise Pettigrew, a former member of our congregation, on 8 February 2026. Her funeral will take place on Wednesday 11 March at 9.45am at the West Road Crematorium in Newcastle upon Tyne, the celebrant is Rev. Adele Phillips. All are invited to attend and remember Helen.

Helen Pettigrew joined Newcastle Unitarians around 2012, much the same time that myself and another much-missed member of our congregation, Fiona Tait, joined. Fiona and Helen fast became friends, and the two of them were the first people to lead a Flower Communion service at Newcastle upon Tyne Unitarians. The Flower Communion service is perhaps the most distinctive of Unitarian services – find out more about it at the end of this article – and a video of one of these services, featuring Helen (about four minutes into the video), can be seen below. Since then, it has been an annual feature of our worship.

The three of us joined our fellowship’s Management Committee, and worked together for years to support and grow Unitarianism in Newcastle. Helen and Fiona organised an Earth Spirit Network workshop in 2014, and you can see photos of it here: Newcastle Earth Spirit Network Summer Event 2014. We also promoted Newcastle Unitarians at events including the IDAHOT Day of Remembrance (International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia) in May 2014 (photos here: IDAHOT 2014) and organising Heritage Open Days at our old Church of the Divine Unity building, like this one: Heritage Open Day September 2014. Here’s some photos of these events:

She put in a lot of work to support our congregation, including helping design a publicity plan, looking at having a partnership with an American Unitarian Universalist congregation, the Unitarians of the Blue Ridge, and doing a full inventory of the building contents – not the easiest task given its sheer size!

Helen was a very artistic and creative person, especially known for her photography – some of her photos can be seen online here: Helen Pettigrew’s Photos. In particular, she loved taking macro shots of the natural world, finding the beauty in the small and often over-looked aspects of life. She once came to church with her arm in a sling, and when I asked what had happened, she replied: “I broke my arm photographing a mushroom!” (Apparently she had been crouching down to take the photograph, slipped and fallen.)

One of our Heritage Open Days featured a display of her photos of the natural world. She also loved bookbinding, which she did at the Lit and Phil in Newcastle, enjoyed sewing, and was a great writer as well – two of her prayers are shown here:

Whilst illness meant that around 2023 she eventually stepped down from the Management Committee and stopped attending, we always remembered her sense of humour, creativity and commitment. She died on 8 February 2026. She will be much missed.

The First Newcastle Flower Communion Service, 31^st August 2014

Fiona Tait and Helen Pettigrew put together a service inspired by the Unitarian Universalist Flower Communion service, originated by Dr Norbert Capek (Chah-Peck), founder of the modern Unitarian movement in Czechoslovakia. The basis of the ritual is that each member of the congregation brings with them to the service a single bloom. They are asked to come and place their own chosen flower in the vase on the altar, signifying by this act that it is of their own free will that they join them to the others. The vase filled with flowers then becomes a symbol of our united church fellowship.

The significance of the flower communion is that as no two flowers are alike, so no two people are alike, yet each has a contribution to make. Together the different flowers will form a beautiful bouquet. This common bouquet that is created would not be the same without the unique addition of each individual flower, and thus it is with our church community. It would not be the same without each and every one of us. Thus this service is a statement of our community.

At the end of the service, the congregation  were invited to return to the vase with the following words:  “It is time now for us to share in the Flower Communion. I ask that as you each in turn approach the communion vase you do so quietly- reverently- with a sense of how important it is for each of us to address our world and one another with gentleness, justice and love. I ask that you select a flower- different from the one you brought- that particularly appeals to you. As you take your chosen flower- noting its particular shape and beauty- please remember to handle it carefully. It is a gift that someone has brought to you. It represents that person’s unique humanity, and therefore deserves your kindest touch.”

David Venus.

(Helen and Fiona would like to express their thanks to Rev. Rob Whiteman for his suggestion which led us to the information on the internet which formed the basis for our service.)