Greetings and Best Wishes to all of our Members and Friends... 

The Annual Meeting of the Scottish Unitarian Association is scheduled to take place during the weekend of Sat/Sun June 10/11th. As usual this will be at Scottish Churches House, Dunblane. I have no idea what the programme will be, nor of the charges, times etc. I haven't been informed of these details, but each and every member of the S.U.F. is invited to attend for all or any part of the weekend. Please phone Mr. Stephen (Sec. of the S.U.A.) on 01224 317450 if you would like to receive details of the occasion. *

Thanks to our member, Stuart Rowlands, for the very thought-provoking message he has written and which is included in this Newsletter.

Guess what? Sheila and I had a trip down to Campbeltown hoping to meet one of our members - only to discover that he was on holiday in the Perth area! Anyway, we really enjoyed our trip - by Citylink coach at a cost of only £5 return from Dundee all the way down there! There are some advantages in being retired! 

Please do remember that if you need a visit, or need to talk over some problem, or whatever, please let me know. We enjoy travelling, so any excuse is welcome! 

On a recent visit to the Aberdeen church , I was advised that one of our members had visited the church during a visit to that city. He was welcomed as an SUF member.

Colin

* Details of the 2000 SUA Meetings are now available on the SUA web site

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St. MARK'S UNITARIAN CHURCH, Castle Terrace, Edinburgh, was founded in 1776 as a Universalist Church, and remained a Universalist Church until 1835. Universalism was a response to the Predestination of the Calvinistic Church of Scotland of that time. Predestination, put simply, was the belief that your place in the world was set by God in terms of concrete. It mattered not at all what you did in life - if God decided that you should be a poor beggar, then poor beggar you will be. And so on. But in 1835, the present church was built, and the name of Unitarian was adopted.

The monthly magazine carries the name 'Waymark' and it always carries one of the sermons delivered by the Minister, Rev. Andrew Hill. This is available for an annual subscription of £12 from the church, or by E-mail from: andrew@unitarian.ednet.co.uk

The church premises are used extensively for ecumenical meetings and for concerts.

Services are held on Sundays at 11.00 with coffee available in the hall following the service. If you happen to be in Edinburgh you would be made welcome.

"The truly committed religious person, I suggest, is one who does not run away from his own emptiness. It is one who has found that the emptiness in our heart, if we confront it courageously, is not a pit of death as we fear, but is a wellspring of life."          

Andrew Hill

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RELIGION IN THE INFORMATION AGE

 by Stuart Rowlands, January 2000

 I  think we can safely say that the era of mass religious following is over in Britain, in the sense that most people do not consider the established churches as the source of all spiritual and ethical knowledge and guidance. 

We may have expected the churches to have adapted a little quicker and to have, retained a greater following, but it seems that most people do not see the church as relevant in their everyday lives. 

Most people do turn to the church for christenings, weddings and funerals. Few would disagree that such occasions do not deserve some special blessing, in whatever form that may take. But it is surprising that the established churches have reached such a low point, when they are undoubtedly a great source of good in our communities. 

It is also surprising that some educated people call themselves atheists, when it does not take to much thought to realise that denial of a God is as much a leap of faith as belief in a God

When people do not have enough information, they sometimes jump to the wrong conclusion. That's maybe why people reject the Bible so easily, when what they are really rejecting is the narrow interpretation that the churches expound, or the rather conservative middle-class club that it may have become. 

Devout religious faith does not make much sense in the "information age" when people have access to more facts and opinions than ever before, from every part of the world, from many other belief systems and from a multitude of scientists, philosophers and assorted gurus. Every piece of information needs to be assessed for it's trustworthiness, so why not that from the churches? 

At the height of the Christian Church's powers most followers only had access to one book - guess which one. When we worry about the power of the media today, just think what influence the church had over people thoughts at one time. I'm not saying that the power of religion has been a bad thing, it was most likely a necessary thing, but in these times. we need to take the whole thing in context.

The fact that, today, we have regular moral debates through the media, shows that religious pronouncements are not left unchallenged and that people coming from a religious stance have to argue their case. Rarely are arguments won on the basis of biblical quotation alone. 
Religious organisations established in the middle ages cannot remain unchanged in the face of a democracy and the information age and, so why have we expected them to? 

TRUST is one of the most important features of a good working community. Yet, unfortunately TRUST seems no longer to be found to any great extent in our community!

As a J.P. I can assure you that no great level of TRUST can be placed upon the working practices of the Law & Order institutions. Political Correctness seems to have replaced Justice in all their different aspects of operation.

And speaking of operations, my sons tell me that I would be very foolish to place an absolute TRUST in the services provided by the Health Service. On the one hand, it is no longer 'free', and on the other hand, a determining factor in treatment is the age of the patient!

Nowadays, the labelling of food commodities will indicate a British or even a Scottish origin. It appears that all that this may mean is that the commodity was packed for retail sale in Britain! 'Scottish-reared', I am told means only that the beast was kept in a Scottish field for a maximum of six weeks! So I would be very foolish to TRUST any food label!

And on a personal level, I have been conned and cheated by people whom I trusted! Of course, the words of an old song come to mind: 'My momma don't told me, A girl is a two-face, A one is a thing who leaves you to sing, The blues in the night!' But it's not just in love that men and women cheat each other, it is in just about every aspect of our society!

 WHY????

In a recent E-mail conversation with Colin, we briefly touched on  an old conversation about British Unitarianism and the American Unitarian Universalists. Why don't the Unitarians of the UK join with the UU's? He gave me some basic reasons about the two different countries which I respect, and will elaborate on in any resultant discussion, but I would like to pose the question again for LINK feedback.

Unitarian Universalism is not about countries, it is about a philosophy that transcends all borders. It is  about a basic need to live in peace and learn about each other while being able to appreciate diverse cultures. It is about the sharing of ideas that result in seeking peace in real time not just in a few words uttered on Sunday mornings.

There are also some practical reasons, and I will present my argument from that perspective. The UU is a large organisation which in some instances may not be considered good. But when you seek peace and understanding, amongst other things, it is an obvious necessity. There are information sources not only about UU, but about Humanism in general (if you are not already aware, the UU's started the Humanist Association!). That information includes, but is not limited to, regular seminars which are taped for sale and distribution both nation and world wide. Recently I acquired tapes concerning a lecture on real Bible history by Professor Gerald Larue which was extremely informative. And there are several others dealing with numerous subjects. Colin has copies which I am sure he would make available as would I.

It also has its fair of books, places to go, and of course the UU Network with all of its benefits. There is a ministerial College, specifically Unitarian Universalist, which is no longer to be found in the UK. The number of churches in Britain is falling. WHY? To link up with the American UU's would not be a loss of country or identity rather an opportunity to expand and have an exchange of ideas. All of that and more seems practical.

What do you think?

Terry Duchaene

Twin brothers were sitting in a circle of fellow-pupils during a primary school reading lesson. They stuck at the word 'GRACE'. The teacher tried to coax them out of the stall, saying, "Come on now, what does your father say before a meal?"

Robbie looked at Frankie and Frankie looked at Robbie.

Robbie looked at the teacher. "Please Miss, ma faither says 'Robbie and Frunkie, blaa yer noses.'

(With thanks to 'A dash of Doric', Robbie Shepherd and Norman Harper)

Letter from Dan Stewart of Stirling:

WILLIAM COWPER wrote: