21st January, Rev Geoff Usher: “Martin Luther Reformer”
On the 31st October, 1517 Martin Luther posted his famous 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg and sent a copy to the Archbishop with a strongly worded letter of protest about the sale of indulgences. This service commemorating Luther’s life, will mark the 500th anniversary of the sowing of the seed of the Reformation and the Lutheran Church.
28th January, Colin Whatmough: “Viewing Christianity from a Historical Perspective”
4 February, Martin Horlacher: “Enlightenment: Dehellenisation Versus Reason and Rationality”
If the modern Western world owes how far it has come to any one particular historical and cultural tradition, it is that of the Hellenistic civilisation of Ancient Greece. Arguably, it is this tradition that served as the basis for everything that is good in our world today, more than two millennia later. And yet, today, this worldview is under attack – both in the West and in the East – and our world, along with all human civilisation’s achievements, is in danger.
11 February, No meeting
18 February, Rev. Rex Hunt: “Desert, Spinifex, and Lent for Unitarians”
Remembering we too are desert flowers.
25 February, Carolyn Donnelly: “The significance, explanation, and philosophical background of Charles Schultz’s loved Peanuts comic strips“
4 March, Martin Horlacher: “Tradition: Faith, Power, and the Ties That Bind”
Tradition still has an undeniable hold over much of Western society. But is it for the better…or is a good deal of radical re-thinking required?
11 March, No meeting
18 March, Rev. Geoff Usher: “ The God of the Gaps?”
Modern cosmology—the study of the world around us — has forced many people to consider religious questions in relation to science itself. It seems that the more we discover, the more religious questions we face—particularly questions about the emergence of spirituality in modern cosmologies.
25 March, Rev. John Clifford: “450 years since Torda: memory of a dead horse or reminder for today?”
We’re proud of our history but is it worth more than warm feelings? What can a closer look at Torda show us about tolerance?
1 April, No meeting.
8 April, No meeting.
15 April, Rev. Daniel Jantos: “Rebirths, Renewals and Rennaissance – but what to keep and what to discard?”
We find ourselves in a period of intense technological innovation and change. Some like to think that technology is values neutral. And yet technology is profoundly shaping the way we relate to one another and dictating constructs of personhood and community that must cause us to ask some questions about benefit and harm. Rather than technophobia, this talk invites a chance to review our presumptions about progress and innovation.
( The full text of the service can be accessed here. )
22 April, Morandir Armson: “Christus Resurrexit: The Strange Case of Easter.”
Easter is the most holy and important festival of the Christian calendar. Yet the festival
itself is a very strange mixture of biblical references, Mediaeval Catholic traditions, and near-Eastern Paganism. This presentation will focus on the origins of Easter, one of the stranger festivals in the Christian liturgical calendar.
29 April, Colin Whatmough: “Interpretation & Orthodox Corruption of Scripture – from an Historical Perspective”
The New Testament developed as a set of books that Proto-orththodox Christians could use to provide them with Apostolic Authorities for their views against those of other Christian groups designated as Heretics.
6 May, Rev. Geoff Usher: “In What Do We Trust?
When people ask the question: “Do you believe in God?” they usually mean: “Do you believe in MY God?” And usually, if we are to be truthful, the only reply we as Unitarians can give must be: “Probably not.”
13 May, No meeting
20 May, Martin Horlacher: “Chaos & Gaia: The Maccabean Revolt, Hellenistic
Philosophy, and Ideology Against Reason.”
Small stones can cast large ripples. Depending on how you look at it, the Maccabean Revolt of 167 BC was either the triumph of an oppressed people against their oppressors, or a missed opportunity for humanity as a whole to embrace enlightenment. Had Hellenistic philosophy won the day, as opposed to Abrahamic religion, how differently might the last 2,100 years of human history leading up to today have turned out?
27 May, Morandir Armson: “Colourful, Exuberant, and Happy: An Examination of
Religious Festivals.”
The world is full of festivals. You can throw tomatoes, run with bulls, or roll cheeses. Far more interesting, however, are festivals rooted in religious beliefs and cultural observances. They give you a glimpse into the rich human imagination and have a serious side: commemorating the dead, imploring the help of saints or gods, giving hope for a better future. This presentation will examine a number of religious festivals, seeking to find some of their core features.
3 June, Martin Horlacher: “Identities: The Other and Us”
We all want and need to be part of a “group” – it’s one of the most fundamental aspects of human nature, our need to have an identity. And yet, all too often, it’s so incredibly easy to go along with pack mentality – “groupthink” – instead of using critical thought and our own individual reasoning. What is needed, arguably, is more of a balance of both, particularly in today’s volatile world.
10 June, No meeting.
17 June, Rev. Geoff Usher: “Keeping Our Chalice Alight”
The Flaming chalice—or the chalice and Flame—has become the internationally recognised and adopted symbol of our Unitarian—or Unitarian Universalist—faith. The lighting of our chalice normally constitutes an important part of the opening minutes of our worship services, although it remains free of any single, set ritual or formula.
24 June, Helen Whatmough: “Trust in Our Everyday Life”
1 July, Rev Rex Hunt, “No one Says Much Good of Winter: Seasons and Self.”
Seasons and self.
8 July, Kirribilli markets. No meeting
15 July, Ginna Hastings & Max Lawson, “Robert Louis Stevenson: Presbyterian Pirate”
Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, traveller of the south seas, couldn’t escape his Scottish Presbyterian background. This talk will tell of this fascinating man and discuss his book Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.
22 July,Morandir Armson, “Colourful, Exuberant, and Happy: An Examination of Religious Festivals“
The world is full of festivals. You can throw tomatoes, run with bulls, or roll cheeses. Far more interesting, however, are festivals rooted in religious beliefs and cultural observances. They give you a glimpse into the rich human imagination and have a serious side: commemorating the dead, imploring the help of saints or gods, giving hope for a better future. This presentation will examine a number of religious festivals, seeking to find some of their core features.
29 July, Rev. Geoff Usher, “A radical and Optimistic Heresy.”
Many observers of contemporary society have noted that we are in a period of cultural warfare. Christian fundamentalists and other conservatives are waging a fierce battle against what they perceive to be the evils of liberalism. This is not the first time such a struggle has occurred. At a similar time of deep aocietal conflict over two centuries ago, Universalism arose in America as a radical and optimistic Christian heresy in response to the grim doctrines of eighteenth century Calvinistic Puritanism.
5 August, Martin Horlacher, “The Greek Way.”
In her 1930 masterpiece “The Greek Way”, American author Edith Hamilton demonstrates how the spirit of the Golden Age of Greece, in the fifth century BC, spurred the men and women of that time and place on to achievements that were unparalleled in the ancient world. Be it through the works of Homer, Sophocles and Euripides, the philosophy of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, or the treatises of Xenophon on civilised living, it is the ancient Greeks who arguably came closest to building what might be called the pinnacle of Western civilisation. As Hamilton herself puts it, “The Greeks were the first intellectualists. In a world where the irrational had played the chief role, they came forward as the protagonists of the mind.” There is much we can learn from them today.
12 August, No Service
19 August, Rev. Geoff Usher, “Change.”
Change is the unchangeable law of the universe. It is the only thing that is constant. Indeed, to be constant in nature would be inconstancy. And to blind oneself to change is not to halt it.
26 August, Morandir Armson, “Masonry – Facts and Fallacies.”
The Masonic brotherhood has existed since at least the 16th Century. Ever since the 18th Century, a number of troubling rumours, wild accusations, and bizarre conspiracy theories have swirled around Freemasonry and Freemasons. This presentation will seek to dispel these rumours, explain the truth about Freemasonry, and seek to portray the Masonic brotherhood as it really is – sometimes bizarre, sometimes mundane, but always of interest.
2 September, Dr Max Lawson: “Cervantes’ Don Quixote reconsidered.”
Idealism in a crazy world.
9 September, No meeting.
16 September, Martin Horlacher: “On Virtue: Honesty, Integrity, Ethics and Empathy.”
How do we define right and wrong, particularly in today’s ultra-complicated world? It’s not an easy question to answer, and one that numerous philosophers have been puzzling over for millennia. Consequentialism, virtue ethics, deontology…ends, means, intent…which matters most?
And, arguably most importantly, where does the concept of empathy fit into it?
23 September, Rev Rex Hunt: “Revisiting Harvey Cox’s On Not leaving it to the snake”
The creative advance of any generation rests upon the responsiveness of a pitifully small margin of human consciousness. In the mid 1960s a young fresh-faced associate professor at the Divinity School of Harvard University, called Harvey G. Cox, burst onto the theological scene. An American Baptist by birth, and building a reputation as a bit of a radical, he was a frequent contributor of articles to such esteemed publications as The Christian Century, Theology Today, Christianity and Crisis… and Playboy.
Back then it was his first book, ‘The Secular City’, that was getting rave reviews – both positive and negative – from all and sundry.
But it is from one of his lesser known books, called ‘On Not Leaving it to the Snake’, a collection of previously published articles in various publications, that I want to spend a little more time on today.
7 October, Rev. Daniel Jantos, “Where’s Waldo?”
Sometimes comparisons are not helpful. But given that caution, I am noticing certain gaps in the Australian religious landscape. This is of course just from my own perspective of returning to Australia after having lived in the United States for the past 30 years. I am missing Emerson here. I am missing the influence of what is called in the U.S., “the American Renaissance.” This talk will be an exploration of that movement, Emerson’s thinking and influence, and some reflections and questions about those influences and religious life in Australia.
14 October, No meeting.
21 October, Rev. Geoff Usher, “Toilet paper and Tolerance.”
Religious liberals can too easily fall into the trap of a liberal dogmatism which is merely a left-wing intolerance. Sometimes we pride ourselves for our openness, tolerance and diversity, when in fact we are prepared to be open and tolerant only provided that other people think the same way as we do.
In 1976, consciousness researcher and theorist (and Unitarian Universalist) Julian Jaynes published “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind”. In this groundbreaking but highly controversial book, he argued that, prior to about 1,000 BCE, human consciousness existed in a radically different form from today – one in which the human mind was unable to reason and articulate about mental contents through introspection or meta-reflection. Although a contentious thesis, this idea has found a considerable degree of support in the psychological and philosophical community, and may indeed have some bearing on our own modern age.
4 November, Colin Whatmough, “The Wisdom of Trying to Understand the lessons of History”
11 November, No meeting. Kirribilli markets
18 November, Dr Max Lawson, “Proud to be Part of the Human Race: October 1943, the Rescue of the Danish Jews from annihilation.”
25 November, Helen Whatmough, “Attempting to understand the Appeal of Donald Trump.”
Ethics, politics, psychology.