Auckland Unitarians

Saunoama’ali Dr Karanina Sumeo is the immediate past Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner and will speak about her experience leading the Pacific Pay Gap Enquiry. Speaker:-  Karanina Sumeo Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh ⁠Karanina Sumeo © 7 December 2025For more information, see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/pacific-pay-gap-enquiry-and-human-rights/

A third space is neither home, school nor work but a space where people can be themselves, be with friends. A café, a bar, a museum, even a park. may be places where many of our most vulnerable communities do not feel welcome or feel they need to be out of sight. Similar to a church, Merge Community and Café is a space where all communities are welcome.  Speaker:- Margaret Lewis Worship Leader:- S...

Neurodivergence. What does it mean – what are the challenges faced, and how can neurotypical individuals assist in mitigating these challenges and ensuring neurodivergent people are included, respected and accommodated? Speakers:- Nikki Smith-Eklund (she/they) M Hum Rts & Dr. Tof Eklund (they/them) Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh Nikki Smith-Eklund & Tof Eklund © 23 November 2025For mor...

20 November is International Day of Remembrance of all those in the transgender community murdered in hate crimes in the previous 12 months. The transgender community have become the target of disinformation and vilification by politicians and the far-right. Perhaps it is time for the rest of us to stand up to transphobia. Speaker & Worship Leader:- Maria HaywardMaria Hayward © 16 November 202...

A look at  Rutger Bregman’s book,  Humankind: A Hopeful History , with an in-depth look at a real life shipwreck incident, similar to  Lord of the Flies  but with a very different outcome. How might we look at humanity and ourselves differently, if we were aware that people in emergencies tend to be very generous and caring, rather than self-centered and panicky? Speaker & Worship Leader:- Joe...

On 21 February 2023 Archimedes’ arrow of time is released, to speed over 254 days to its destination: death. On 21 February we receive news of Clay’s terminal diagnosis and driving home from the hospital appointment I begin sobbing. This is not a problem for my driving, actually, but Clay suggests I pull over. Which I do into the side of a car minding its own business in the next lane. The kindnes...

According to Bishop Ussher’s treatise published in 1650, the universe began precisely on October 23, 4004 BC—at sunset. Science disagrees, — by about 13.8 billion years. This service explores how embracing scientific understanding can deepen, not diminish, our sense of awe, wonder, and the sacred. Speaker:- Kate Lewis Worship Leader:- Ted ZornFor more information see:- https://aucklandunitarian.or...

Speaker:-Barbara Thomborson Worship Leader:- Karn Cleary This joyful service celebrates the life of our congregation and is our annual memorial to the life of its creator, Rev. Dr. Norbert Čapek. As minister to Unitarians in Prague, Czechoslovakia, he was a 20th century Unitarian martyr, killed by Nazis in 1942. For more information see:- https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/flower-communion-2025/

The gospel according to Jubilation Choir is love of the naked voice; love of losing ourselves in a sea of harmony and love of bringing a gospel sensibility to songs from all genres. Worship Leader:- Judy Lightstone Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 24 August 2025 For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/jubilation-choir/

with Maria Hayward Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 3 August 2025 Refugees: People like you and me. A picture show and commentary about New Zealand’s Refugee Reception Centre at Mangere (Te Āhuru Mōwai). What does it look like, which agencies are based there and what happens during the 5-6 week stay for former refugees. For more information see https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/the-refugee-rec...

To come In this place, in this community, we covenant to serve humankind in fellowship, that all souls shall grow in harmony. We face challenges in this endeavour, though we repeat the statement every week. Certainly, we believe that all souls should grow in harmony. You may know this story of former Auckland Councillor, the late Efeso Collins. This story takes place at the swearing in when he was...

Speaker:- Ron Ahnen Worship Leader:- Viv Allen Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 24 November 2024 As you all know, we just finished an election in the U.S. with so many different candidates—not just presidential ones—putting forth many competing claims about what “the truth” is. The good news is that we’ve got fact-checkers and journalists all trying to help us sort out exactly what is and is n...

with Barbara Thomborson Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 17 November 2024 Ageing and death are two timeless themes, universal to our human experience. Our culture’s near phobia about death has created unneeded anxiety and irrational fear about “passing on, passing away, kicking the bucket, giving up the ghost, breathing your last, losing your life, expiring (like a use-by date), or just plain...

with John Maindonald Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 10 November 2024 Today, no business of any size uses paper based accounting. The move from paper based systems started in the late 1950s when large corporations started using computer mainframes, as they were called, for basic operations. In the 1980s personal computers made computer-based accounting systems widely available. For more info...

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 3rd November 2024 Barbara Kingsolver, in her novel Demon Copperhead, has Demon say this: “… she looked at me in the eyes, and we were sad together for a while. I’ll never forget how that felt. Like not being hungry.” Like not being hungry. She looked at me in the eyes, and we were sad together for a while. I’ll n...

Speaker:- Randolph Hollingsworth Worship Leader:- Viv Allen Recorded at Auckland Unitarian Church 15 September 2024 With scarce documentary evidence, one might be tempted to relegate to the sidelines any efforts to examine the political ideologies of Annie Jane Allen Schnackenberg (1835-1905) of Auckland, New Zealand. A national leader who oversaw the petition campaigns of the Women's Christian Te...

Speaker:- Peter Lineham Worship Leader:- Ruby Johnson Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 28th April 2024 Ralph Waldo Emerson knew how to upset Unitarians, for he had been one of them. Emerson was from a Unitarian family, trained at Harvard College, and his brother William was educated at Gottingen and was a minister. Waldo became minister of Second Church Boston in 1829. But he took a break, aft...

with Karn Cleary Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 21 April 2024 I titled today’s service “Remembering Anzac Day”, purposely. It disturbs me to see or hear references to “celebrating” Anzac Day, when I believe it should always be a day of mourning for all those who died so futilely at Gallipoli, and all the others whether they returned or not, who have gone off to war from New Zealand. The 24th...

With Rachel Mackintosh & Betsy Marshall Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 14 April 2024 Unitarians are a mixed metaphor. Roots from flora, wings from fauna. There is no exact Greek mythical creature to represent this idea but perhaps we can think of a dryad or tree-nymph, maybe combined with a phoenix, the bird who rises. We are a mixed metaphor and a mixed faith, one that values pluralism...

Speaker:- John Maindonald Worship Leader:- Shirin Caldwell Recorded 7 April 2024 @ Auckland Unitarian Church From the time when he returned from his five year journey around the world, Darwin thought long and hard, not just about the relationships between living things, but also about life and living. He moved from relatively orthodox Anglican to an agnostic who never ceased to wonder at the world...

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh Recorded 31 March 2024 @ Auckland Unitarian Church I preached in this church last year on Easter Sunday . My theme was resurrection — I spoke about the power of love over hate. In the words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Knowing that when life is gone, love is left for shining.” Since then, as most of you know, I have become a widow. My husband and...

Speaker & Worship Leader:-  Rev. Sally Mabelle  of  Taupo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 24 March 2024. During my 12 years as a member and lay worship leader at Auckland Unitarian church, we sang that ‘Spirit of Life’ song hundreds of times, to begin nearly every Sunday service. Today, I’d like to draw our attention directly to that same Spirit of Life,...

Speaker:- John Maindonald Worship Leader:- Shirin Caldwell Recorded 17 March 2024 @ Auckland Unitarian Church Charles Darwin, who lived through the middle years of the 1800s, is familiar to most of us as the man who laid the foundations of the modern theory of evolution. His ideas have had dramatic continuing effects on our view of ourselves and of the world of which we are part. The idea that liv...

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh Recorded 10 March 2024 @ Auckland Unitarian Church I have recently watched all three seasons of Ted Lasso. I had been aware of the show for some time but had been put off by the moustache, and the fact that it seemed to be about sport. Though I admire physical grace, I really don’t care about all the winning and losing and fighting over a ball. I ha...

With Karn Cleary Recorded @ Auckland Unitarian Church 3 March 2024 Our speaker planned for today had to drop out at the last moment due to illness. Karn Cleary has thankfully stepped up to fill in and is going to lead our service with a reading, with a few minor changes, of  “The liberal church finding its mission: It’s not all about you”, an article by Rev Peter Bullata  in the US. Here’s his web...