Annual Meetings 2011

Going to the Annual General Assembly meetings is a major part of my year. Not only do I have the opportunity of helping to plan for the way forward in voting and opinion sharing, I also get to hear about new ideas for worship and the future of Unitarianism in all its forms.

There are various Societies and panels that exist within our movement which range from beliefs such as Christianity, Earth Spirit, Psychic and Universalist as well as those which carry the banner of our Social Justice side such as Women’s League, Peace Fellowship, International Association for Religious Freedom and loads of others. We’re a hard working bunch.

I usually attend the meetings as a delegate so have to attend the business meetings as well and as much as these are important, they can also be laborious and tiring. A lot of information has to be absorbed and there are always opinions which need to be aired. It’s still nice to be part of it.

Even though all the meetings and workshops are important and mostly enjoyable, these are only part of the reason for my attendance. The most important part and the part which I find most fulfilling is being with other Unitarians.

I always return from the meetings with a feeling best described ‘as if I’ve just swallowed a chill pill’. It’s so spiritually nourishing to be able to spend time with like minded people who have the same reverence and respect for worship and a love of humankind.

I should be able to find such nourishment at my own chapel but, as I’m sure other worship leaders will agree, there is always the hurdle of being the leader. On the rare Sundays when I’m not leading worship I try to attend another chapel just to be part of the congregation and have my batteries recharged. Perhaps it’s because such opportunities are so rare that I find the three days spent at the General Assembly meetings so refreshing.

At home, I used to be able to use our conservatory as a Peace Room and did find it helped in calming my spirit, but we’re going through a lot of work on the house at the moment and, once again, rubbish has been put in the conservatory and workmen with dirty boots seem to be passing in and out so much that its spiritual feel has been lost and once we’re all clear again I’ll need to get a friend to cleanse the room again to make it suitable for prayer. Perhaps I’m just a fussy beggar who hasn’t bothered to try and find a way round the hurdles of life. I’ve probably gone off at a tangent here ........ typical!

Whatever has been going on in my life around this time of year, I’ve always found the GA Meetings enjoyable and nourishing. Guess I’ll have to wait another year for that same flame of inspiration, or I could find a way to keep it burning in my day to day life. I think the latter sounds better, a year seems a long, long, long way away.

Smiles and blessings.