On Saturday 7th October, the two congregations in the Northern Unitarian area – ourselves and
Stockton Unitarians – held our annual get together at Stockton Unitarian Chapel, starting at
11am. Ann Howell, the Unitarian Social Action Officer, was our guest speaker, as well as our worship leader on Sunday 8th. Find out more about her role here: Social Action Officer. It was an excellent gathering of Unitarians from both North East congregations, and a chance for us to discuss the future. Ann led us through a discussion of what social action causes we considered most important, asking us to choose four out of a list of ten, then choose one as most important. We all agreed that ultimately, all the causes were linked by the need to tackle human inequality, and damage to the natural world. We look forward to next year!

Here’s Brian Robson’s report on being a delegate at the UK Unitarian national meeting, the General Assembly (GA):

It was an honour and a privilege to be the NUA representative at this years GA meetings. The hotel staff were most welcoming and the rooms very airy and bright overlooking a golf course and woodland. The chef accommodated me very well catering to my rather faddy diet and full-on vegan tastes!

It was such a pleasure to re-acquaint myself with fellow Unitarians, many of whom I hadn’t seen since the pre-Covid Birmingham meetings. I attended a plethora of talks and discussions, particularly a fascinating insight into Unitarianism in the Welsh valleys from back in the day.

I experienced some odd synchronicities which I seem to experience as a regular occurrence. I am particularly interested in the spiritualty of Swiss psycho-analyst Carl Jung who wrote extensively
on this subject.

In the emergency motion which was thrust on us very late in the day, I consulted with our NUA membership and I voted for it, as requested by all concerned.

My lasting memory was the final get together when we all joined in as one, singing many of my favourite hymns. I had to brush several tears away, recalling the countless services I have attended during my ten year membership of Newcastle Unitarians, where ultimately I found God.

Brian Robson