Oldham Unitarians
NEWSLETTER
September – December 2009
Dates for your Diary …
Sunday Services 11.00 - 12.00
September
06. Service conducted by Rev Dr David Doel
13. Service conducted by Sue Pounder
20. Service conducted by Dawn Buckle
27. Service conducted by Danny Crosby
October
04. Service conducted by Rev Dr David Doel
11. Service conducted by Danny Crosby
18. Service conducted by Rev. Penny Johnson
25. Service conducted by Danny Crosby
November
01. Service conducted by Rev Dr David Doel
08. Service conducted by Danny Crosby
15. Service conducted by Aled Jones
22. Service conducted by Danny Crosby
29. Service conducted by Anna Jarvis
December
06. Service conducted by Rev Dr David Doel
13. Service conducted by Danny Crosby
20. Service conducted by Anna Jarvis (Carol Service)
27. Service conducted by Danny Crosby
January 2010
03. Service conducted by Rev Dr David Doel
Dear Readers and members,
As you may have noticed in the preaching plan for the next few months, we have Danny Crosby as a student pastor for the coming year. We welcome Danny, although he is not a stranger to us as he has preached at Oldham in the past, and we hope his time with us will be a happy and mutually enriching one.
David Doel will be preaching on the first Sunday of each month again so this leaves the pulpit in a state gender imbalance. I have done my best to fill the vacancies with women to redress that, if only in part. However, I think we can rest assured that services
and sermons will be as challenging and thought-provoking as ever.
Our congregations are still small, but lively, and our younger members add their exuberance. Denise, our Sunday School teacher, has felt unable to carry on after a recent loss and her contribution is missed. Chapel Committee is still working on refurbishing th
building and we are about to install new windows to make its appearance less anonymous.
Trevor Clarke
Festivals to share over the next few months:
September
08. Nativity of Virgin Mary
19/20. Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day)(Jewish)
19-27. Navaratri and Durgapuja (triumph of good over evil and
feast of the Mother Goddess)(Hindu)
20. Eid ul Fitr (end of Ramadan)(Muslim)
28. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)(Jewish)
28. Dasera (Rama’s victory over Ravana)(Hindu)
29. St. Michael’s Day
Sept./Oct. Harvest Festival
October
07. Pavarana (end of the rainy season)(Buddhist)
17. Diwali (New Year)(Hindu)
31. Hallowe’en
November
01. All Hallows/All Saints Day
01. Samhain (Pagan)
02. All Souls’ Day
02. Sangha Day (Buddhists celebrate their worldwide community)
02. Birthday of Guru Nanak (Sikh)
08. Remembrance Sunday
11. St. Martin’s Day
27. Eid al Adha (end of pilgrimage to Mecca)(Muslim)
29. Advent starts
30. St. Andrew’s Day
December
08. Immaculate Conception
09. Bodhi Day (Buddha’s enlightenment)
12-19. Hanukkah (Jewish)
18. Al Hijirah (Muslim New Year and flight of Muhammad from
Mecca to Medina)
21. Yule (Pagan)
24. Christmas Eve
25. Christmas Day
26. St. Stephen’s Day
27. Ashura (Sunni Muslim)
27. Martyrdom of Hussein (Shia Muslim)
Autumn Speaks from Seasons of the Soul
by Robert Terry Weston
Out of doors
The colors of bright autumn and the bright sun
Tell of the beauty of that which dies
But always comes again.
They speak directly to the heart
Of the Eternal which outlives all moments
And yet lives only in them,
Outlives all forms, yet comes again in them as in ourselves.
It is said that there is nothing new in the world,
No thought, even, which others have not thought
Yet every thought is new to one who for oneself
Thinks it for the first time.
Each miracle of life is also rebirth, life born again,
Though every individual be new,
Existing at one's birth for the first time.
Life in each one, as in the leaf and flower,
Accepts and yet cheats death.
There is a sadness in the autumn leaf:
I feel a sorrow that its beauty dies
And feel its message for the lives of those,
As of myself, whom I have known and loved.
The leaf comes not again, though other leaves
And flowers will bloom, and other lives,
Richer than we have been, shall take our place.
Perhaps the autumn teaches us a wiser grace
Through which we live, by learning to let go.
You Are Invited To
An Evening of
Medieval Music
Dance
and
Food
with
Mossley Recorder Consort
Greaves Early Dance
Saddleworth Consort
At Chapel
Saturday 19th September
7pm until 10pm
Admission £5
Tickets and further information from Marian 0161 287 3371
(Ample car parking available)
Editors Note:
Contributions to the Newsletter are welcome.
Please submit any items for inclusion to:
Trevor Clarke,
5 Sunderland Avenue
Ashton under Lyne OL6 8PF
Email:
Oldham Unitarian Chapel founded in 1813
is open to all who wish to worship
with an open mind,
in a spirit of freedom, reason and tolerance.
We do not all hold the same beliefs, rather each person is encouraged
'to develop his or her faith in a continuing search for truth.'
| President: Mr T. Clarke | |
| Treasurer: Mrs K.M. Pearson | |
| Secretary: Mrs C. Hall |
Unitarian Chapel
Connaught Street / King Street
Oldham
OL8 1 EB
Tel: 0161 620 1810
Lettings Officer: Mrs M. Nuttall – Tel: 0161 287 3371
Registered Charity No. 1111295
