Posted on by David Steers

Christmas Reflections

Over the period of Advent in the run up to Christmas at Dunmurry we have uploaded three videos generally reflecting on Advent and Christmas carols, their origin and use, as well as the Christmas story itself. You can see them all by clicking on the videos below.

Christmas Reflections: The Christmas Story

Christmas Reflections
The Christmas Story

First Dunmurry (NS) Presbyterian Church

Told by Sue Steers FRSA
Organ: Allen Yarr
Trumpet: Jack Steers

Carols:
Hark! the herald angels sing
O Little town of Bethlehem
O Come, all ye faithful
It came upon the midnight clear

Click on the video above to see the Christmas Reflections

Two Christmas Carols: Deck the hall (1784) & Ding, dong merrily on high (1924)

Two Christmas Carols

Click on the link above to see this short exploration of two well-known carols:
Deck the hall with boughs of holly (first published 1784)
Ding, dong merrily on high (first published in 1924)

Filmed at First Dunmurry (NS) Presbyterian Church and at the Continental Market, Belfast

Trumpet played by Jack Steers

Advent Reflections: ‘Hark the glad sound!’ by Rev Philip Doddridge 1702-1751

A Short Reflection for Advent

Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes
writtten by Rev Philip Doddridge DD (1702-1751)

Trumpet: Jack Steers

Click on the link above to see the video

Posted on by David Steers

Faith and Freedom – Autumn and Winter 2022

The new issue of Faith and Freedom is available now. Our cover picture shows James Martineau on top of his house in Prince’s Park, Liverpool (from a lithograph by John R. Isaac and now held by the Library of Congress).

The cover of our latest issue

Historian Jim Kenny (well known for his blog The Priory and the Cast Iron Shore, which he publishes under the name Glen Huntley) gives the first full account of the house Martineau built in Liverpool overlooking the Park. Planned in detail by Martineau himself, including a curious network of subterranean passages, it was described by a visitor as A pie-crust sort of house, with all the “curiosities and niceties that a Unitarian Minister could wish.” In the lithograph, based on an original watercolour by W.G. Herdman, James Martineau looks down on the ‘Fancy Fair’ in aid of local hospitals. The building is long gone now although the site became the centre of a struggle between developers and conservationists in recent times and the underground passages were still discoverable then, and may yet have survived to the present day.

Passage entrance on the site of Martineau’s house, c.2001. Courtesy of Friends of Williamson’s Tunnels

These and more illustrations accompany the article which tell this fascinating story of a unique house, the brainchild of the most significant Unitarian theologian of the nineteenth century, and built in the most prosperous suburb of Liverpool.

An Edwardian postcard showing nearby Prince’s Park and the Prince’s Park Mansions, neighbours of James Martineau.

Ian Rocksborough-Smith, assistant professor of US history at the University of Fraser Valley in S’ólh Téméxw/British Columbia, Canada, writes about ‘The Ambiguities of White Catholic Liberalism’ in the context of a ‘A Case Study in the Aftermath of the 1951 Race Riot in Cicero, Illinois’. He writes:

‘What did religiously-inclined white racial liberalism look like through the mid-twentieth century at a local level? This article looks at the intersections of race, religion, and civil rights in the wake of the 1951 race riot in Cicero, Illinois. Specifically, it considers the efforts of white Catholic liberals who advocated for racial reform measures well ahead of the mainstream orthodoxies of the Catholic Church – the latter of which did not pivot substantively towards civil and human rights until after Vatican II in the early-mid 1960s.’

We also have two fine examples of thoughtful and challenging sermons, the first on ‘Catching the Spirit’ given by London District Minister Jim Corrigall at New Unity congregation, North London, and the second ‘On Agreeing – But Not Quite – with Adam Gopnik’s Liberal Credo’ by Frank Walker given in the chapel of Harris Manchester College, Oxford.

Reviews include two books (in English and Welsh) reviewed by Graham Murphy, former Principal of Unitarian College, Manchester, and a Welsh-speaker, which explore the identity of Y Smotyn Du, ‘the Black Spot’, the heartland of Welsh-speaking Unitarianism, as well as two reviews on peacebuilding in the Middle East and Christian pluralism in Britain today. These are by Marcus Braybrooke, Anglican minister and a leading figure in inter-faith relations both nationally and internationally. In addition Lena Cockroft, current moderator of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland, reviews a book on mindfulness and golf.

Books Reviewed

Eric Jones, Best Foot Forward, South East Wales Unitarian Society, 2020, pp 112, £6.95 pbk.

Goronwy Evans, Procio’r Cof, Y Lolfa, 2021, pp 208, ISBN 978-1-80099-042-5, £9.99 pbk.

Ron Kronish, Profiles in Peace: Voices of Peacebuilders in the Midst of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Publisher Ron Kronish in Israel, 2022. Available on Amazon Kindle and as a paperback 978-1734470093, $ 22.97.

Alan Race, My Journey as a Religious Pluralist: A Christian Theology of Religions Reclaimed. An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers, pp.202. ISBN 978-1-7252-9823-1, pbk £20.00. Hbk 978-1-7252-9822-4, e-bk 978-1-7252-9824-8

Martin Wells, No One Playing. The essence of mindfulness in golf and in life. John Hunt Publishing, 2022, pp 108. ISBN: 978-1-78904-781-3, pbk £ 8.99. ISBN: 978-1-78904-782-0, e-book £ 4.99.

Subscription Details

An annual subscription for each volume (two issues) costs £16.00 (postage included) in the United Kingdom. Single copies can be ordered at a cost of £8.00 each (postage included). Cheques should be made out to Faith and Freedom and sent to the business manager:

Nigel Clarke,
Business Manager, Faith and Freedom,
16 Fairfields,
Kirton in Lindsey,
Gainsborough,
Lincolnshire.
DN21 4GA.

It is also possible to pay online. For more details see our website: https://www.faithandfreedom.org.uk/subs.htm

Posted on by David Steers

Advent Reflections

First Dunmurry (NS) Presbyterian Church

Reflections for Advent

The Rev Philip Doddridge DD (1702-1751) was one of the most significant dissenting ministers in the first half of the eighteenth century. Among other things he was the author of the Advent carol ‘Hark the glad sound! The Saviour comes’. This short reflection by Rev Dr David Steers, minister of the First Presbyterian (Non-Subscribing) Church, Dunmurry, looks at Philip Doddridge and his hymn in the context of Advent. Jack Steers plays the hymn on the trumpet.

Illustration of Philip Doddridge, engraving by George Vertue after Andrea Soldi, National Portrait Gallery. Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
Posted on by David Steers

The History of the Bible

Three illustrated talks on the History of the Bible given at First Dunmurry (NS) Presbyterian Church in October and November 2022. Available to view in three parts on video.

The History of the Bible Part 1

The Formation of the Bible

Click on the video above to see Part One

Title page of the first edition of the American Revised Edition of 1901, once owned by Rev Alexander Gordon

The History of the Bible Part 2

The Translation of the Bible

Click on the video above to see Part Two

God speaks to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Medieval carving in the Chapter House, Salisbury Cathedral

The History of the Bible Part 3

The Interpretation of the Bible

Click on the video above to see Part Three

Revised Version of 1885

Medieval Biblical Interpretation. The Last Judgement, St Thomas’s Church, Salisbury

Posted on by David Steers

The lying in state of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Service of prayer from First Dunmurry NSP Church, Friday, 9th September

At the time of writing the coffin of Her Majesty the Queen is lying in state in Westminster Hall and many thousands of people are queuing in order to be able to pay their last respects. Special services have been held all over the country in the last week and at First Dunmurry (NS) Presbyterian Church we held a short service of prayer and reflection on Friday, 9th December. An edited audio recording of the service can be heard by clicking on the video above. Allen Yarr is the organist.

Below are some images from the lying in state in Westminster Hall.

Pallbearers carry the Queen’s coffin into Westminster Hall
A short service was held on the arrival of the Queen’s coffin
With the Imperial State Crown atop the coffin the Queen is guarded by members of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals

Earlier in the week, on Monday, 12th September a very moving service of thanksgiving for the life of the Queen was held in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh. Below are some images from that occasion.

The coffin is brought in to the Cathedral
The sermon was delivered by the Moderator of the Church of Scotland
The ancient Crown of Scotland, part of the Honours of Scotland, is placed on the Royal Standard of Scotland

Services of thanksgiving for the life of the Queen were also held in Belfast and Cardiff.

The service at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast

I shall not die, but live, and shall
the works of God discover.
The Lord hath me chastised sore,
but not to death giv’n over.
O set ye open unto me
the gates of righteousness;
Then will I enter into them,
and I the Lord will bless.
This is the gate of God, by it
the just shall enter in.
Thee will I praise, for thou me heard’st
and hast my safety been.

Translation of Psalm 118 v.17-21 which was sung in Scots Gaelic by Karen Matheson at the service in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh.

Posted on by David Steers

The world is charged with the grandeur of God

Hawarden, North Wales

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil

These opening lines from God’s Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins supply us with the opening words and the theme of this week’s online service. Filmed at various locations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland places visited include the Hawarden estate, Flintshire, North Wales; the sand dunes at Formby near Liverpool; the Derbyshire Peak district; the River Thames (Isis) at Oxford; Norton Priory, Cheshire; Sefton Park, Liverpool; Rathmullan, county Down; and Dunmurry, county Antrim. As we look at these varied landscapes we explore the meaning of this idea of the divine presence in the natural world alongside readings from Gerard Manley Hopkins, Thomas Merton and Ernesto Cardenal.

Sefton Park – the heron flies over the lake

The world is charged with the grandeur of God – click on the video above to see the meditation and reflections

In the service Graham Murphy reads two poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins – Binsey Poplars and Pied Beauty, both recorded at Gladstone’s Library, Hawarden, Flintshire. In addition Robert Neill and Emma McCrudden read extracts from the works of Thomas Merton and Ernesto Cardenal.

Binsey, near Oxford

Music played includes:

For the beauty of the earth, played by Allen Yarr, organist of First Presbyterian (NS) Church, Dunmurry.

Come let us sing of a wonderful love, played by John Strain, organist of Ballee Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.

O love that wilt not let me go, played by John Strain.

Let saints on earth in concert sing, played by Allen Yarr.

Norton Priory, Cheshire, walled garden
Formby, sand dunes
The River Thames at Oxford

Let me seek, then, the gift of silence, and poverty, and solitude, where everything I touch is turned into a prayer: where the sky is my prayer, the birds are my prayer, the wind in the trees is my prayer, for God is all in all. – Thomas Merton

Posted on by David Steers

Oxford

Divinity School
Fieze above the entrance to the Bodleian

To accompany our service of worship conducted from Oxford we have a few views of various parts of the university and its environs.

Click on the video to see the service

The service features readings, hymns and prayers as well as poems relating to Oxford. As part of the service we are very pleased to have Graham Murphy read Duns Scotus’s Oxford, by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Oxford, by C.S. Lewis.

Readings:
Psalm 139 read by Rev Dr David Steers
Duns Scotus’s Oxford by Gerard Manley Hopkins, read by Graham Murphy
Oxford by C.S. Lewis, read by Graham Murphy
Oxford (extract) by T. Lovatt Williams, read by Sue Steers

Hymns:
‘The King of Love my shepherd is’, Alfie McClelland (Clough)
‘From all that dwell below the skies’, Allen Yarr (Dunmurry)
‘Lord of all hopefulness’, John Strain (Ballee)
‘Be still for the presence of the Lord’, Laura Patterson (Downpatrick)
‘In Christ Alone’, John Strain (Ballee)
‘It is well with my soul’, Allen Yarr (Dunmurry)

In the service you will see:
Radcliffe Camera, Brasenose College, River Thames (Isis), Harris Manchester College, Mansfield College, New College, Christ Church (Peckwater Quad, Tom Quad, Memorial Garden), Christ Church Meadow, Old English Longhorn Cattle, Divinity School, Bodleian Library, Sheldonian Theatre, Christ Church Cathedral, University Church, Martyrs Memorial.

Portmeadow
Tom Quad, Christ Church
Christ Church cloisters
Blue Boar Quad
Old English Longhorn Cattle, Christ Church Meadow
New College
New College, antechapel
New College cloisters
St Patrick, New College cloisters
Posted on by David Steers

Sea-born Reflections

Travelling across the Irish Sea from Belfast to Liverpool I was struck by the tranquility and the blue-ness of the sea. I filmed the scene for a couple of minutes, partly in the hope of seeing a pod of dolphins swim past, but found it strangely calming. So with sections of hat film to start and close this short video I put together a few Sea-born Reflections:

Reflections while crossing the Irish Sea.

Click on the video above to see the Reflections.

Conducted by the Rev Dr David Steers, First Presbyterian (NS) Church, Dunmurry.

Hymns: Will your anchor hold in the storms of life played by Laura Patterson (organist Downpatrick) and O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness played on the piano by Allen Yarr (organist Dunmurry).

Posted on by David Steers

Dunmurry Garden Wildlife

Your enjoyment of the world is never right, till every morning you awake in Heaven: see yourself in your Father’s palace; and look upon the skies, the earth, and the air as celestial joys: having such a reverend esteem of all, as if you were among the angels.

Thomas Traherne

One of the beauties of Dunmurry is not just the gardens and grounds that surround the church but the variety of animal and bird life that lives there. Louise Steers has been busy filming many of the birds, animals and insects that live there and we have two videos that consist of Louise’s films and photographs of them accompanied by music provided by John Strain on the organ at Ballee. Among the animals you can expect to see in Part One are robins, blue tits, blackbirds, a thrush, grey squirrels, a mouse, ladybirds, a speckled wood butterfly and a peacock butterfly.

Dunmurry Garden Wildlife Part One

Click on the video above to see some of the birds, animals and insects that live in the gardens round the First Presbyterian (NS) Church, Dunmurry. Medley played by John Strain on the organ at Ballee Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.

Dunmurry Garden Wildlife Part One

The second of two films featuring some of the birds, animals and insects that live in the gardens round the First Presbyterian (NS) Church, Dunmurry. All pictures are by Louise. In this case the accompaniment is by John Strain on the organ at Ballee playing God speaks to us in bird and song, For the beauty of the earth, and God who made the earth.

Click on the video above to see Part Two. The video includes forty-two images featuring: blue tit, female chaffinch, male chaffinch. starling, thrush, shieldbug, lacewing, bumblebee, carder bumblebee, hoverfly, ladybird, peacock butterfly, speckled wood butterfly, grey squirrel, hedgehog, wood pigeon, blackbird, magpie, fledgling blue tit, male bullfinch, great tit, robin.

Louise also has her own animation channel (InkLightning), which includes animation like this short video:

Posted on by David Steers

Faith and Freedom – latest issue

Faith and Freedom

Volume 75, Part 1, Spring and Summer 2022, Number 194

The latest issue is now ready.

Professor John Tyndall lecturing at the Royal Institution, 1870

Our lead article is Howard Oliver’s examination of the remarkable career of John Tyndall and his influence on the relationship between science and religion. An outstanding physicist and an excellent lecturer he was also a glaciologist and an experienced mountaineer. Howard Oliver shows that by the 1840s he was a religious freethinker who had explored the role of faith in society in some depth. In 1847 his address in Belfast as President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science caused a furore and opened up the debate about the relationship between religion and science, especially in the light of Darwin’s theory of evolution. Our cover picture depicts his portrait from the cover of Vanity Fair in 1872.

We are delighted too to be able include articles by:

Paul Richards, on the spiritual dimension of the works of Richard Wagner which looks at Wagner and anti-Semitism, myth and religious symbolism, Tristran & Isolde, the Ring Cycle, and Parsifal.

Ann Peart, on the response of Unitarians to ministering during the pandemic, an examination of the imaginative and creative ways in which Unitarian ministers have developed new forms of worship and activity during the Covid-19 crisis.

Feargus O’Connor, on the Unitarian contribution to Animal Welfare, by a well-known advocate for human rights who leads the only annual interfaith celebration of animals in the UK.

And Robert Oulton, on the theology and works of Cynthia Bourgeault, an intriguing Episcopalian theologian and priest who is also an expert in mysticism.

We continue to carry some fine reviews including:

Religious Experience – its nature, validity, forms and problems by Principal J. Ernest Davey MA DD, with a Foreword by John, Lord Alderdice

Author and playwright Philip Orr on a new book of writings by Principal J. Ernest Davey (the leading Irish Presbyterian scholar of the twentieth century, Principal of the main Irish Presbyterian theological college, who was accused of heresy) edited by Lord Alderdice, now Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College.

Mona Siddiqui, Human Struggle: Christian and Muslim Perspectives

Rev Dr Marcus Braybrooke, one of the leaders of the inter-faith movement in Britain, on Human Struggle: Christian and Muslim Perspectives, the 2016 Gifford Lectures by Mona Siddiqui published last year.

Steven Pinker, Rationality: what it is, why it seems scarce, why it matters

Professor David Williams on the place of rationality in human life according to Steven Pinker’s new book.

Daniel Costley, Life’s Journey Creating Unitarian Rites of Passage

The editor’s discussion of Daniel Costley’s Lindsey Press book on constructing special services.

Cover of the issue

Subscription Details

An annual subscription for each volume (two issues) costs £16.00 (postage included) in the United Kingdom. Single copies can be ordered at a cost of £8.00 each (postage included). Cheques should be made out to Faith and Freedom and sent to the business manager:

Nigel Clarke,
Business Manager, Faith and Freedom,
16 Fairfields,
Kirton in Lindsey,
Gainsborough,
Lincolnshire.
DN21 4GA.

It is also possible to pay online. For more details see our website: https://www.faithandfreedom.org.uk/subs.htm