Our Community
About Us > Our Community
Our spiritual community is a Chapel of ‘open minds, loving hearts and helping hands’
We encourage everyone to explore their personal spiritual path, make bonds of friendship and help the wider world. Chapel members are an eclectic, enquiring and talented group with diverse passions and talents. Our wide variety of Chapel activities will mean you’ll soon find something to match your own interests and skills. Subscribe weekly email for the latest news.
Some of us help out at Sunday services, serve each other refreshments, create beautiful floral displays, and generally contribute to our warm welcome. Being involved in activities or small groups - poetry, reading, social action, singing, ethics, spiritual development - offers loads of new ways to connect, to get to know and support one another.
The service on Sunday is the beating heart of our community, giving people the opportunity to reconnect with themselves, each other and that which they hold to be of highest worth. Our Children’s Chapel and crèche programme called Bright Lights on Sunday mornings which offers open-minded activities for babies and children up to the age of 12. Other activities throughout the week enable deeper connections, learning and fellowship.
Sunday Welcome Team
We aim to offer a warm welcome each time you come to the Chapel. There are lots of ways in which we go out of our way to ensure this happens. Being involved in this welcome is fun too – meet new friends and feel part of our spiritual community. We offer friendship, food, and fulfilment.
Stewards
This is our opportunity to welcome visitors, new and old. Two regular members of our community volunteer every Sunday morning to create a warm and friendly atmosphere for each new arrival; they are greeted with a smile, an order of service and an invitation to stay for a chat over refreshments after the service. We encourage visitors to enquire about our approach to religion and spirituality and look around our historic building. If you come to services regularly, why not sign up to be a steward? It’s good to see old friends and to make new ones. Please contact us.
Flower Group
The Chapel is beautiful, but is brought to life by the addition of joyful flowers and decorations for services, festivals and special events. You can join our volunteer group to help decorate the Chapel for Special decorations are provided for Easter, Harvest, Remembrance Sunday and Christmas time. Members and friends may also choose to sponsor a Sunday arrangement as a tribute or memorial. If you would like to be involved, or contribute to Sunday flowers for someone special, do get in touch with the Flower Group.
Refreshments
After the morning service there is time to chat, discuss and share inspired ideas over tea and coffee. Help is always appreciated and our hosts say they enjoy the contact and can help to make newcomers feel more at home. Please contact us.
Pot luck meals
We have enjoyed a tradition of monthly pot luck lunches, usually on the last Sunday - a chance to relax, develop connections and deepen friendships. We hope to bring back this popular fixture of Chapel life and all are welcome to join our food and friendship group. Like to help? Contact us.
Study Groups and Spiritual Development Courses
Do you feel you would like to explore questions of meaning, value and purpose and gain deeper understanding of life, yourself and others? Our study groups and courses take place on weekday evenings online and in person. Recent courses have included studying the antiracism book ‘Me and White Supremacy’ and the creative mindfulness book ‘The Listening Path’. Our regular Soul Deep spiritual development gathering is an opportunity to explore deeper questions based on the monthly theme for Sunday services. Soul Deep continues on Tuesday nights from 29 June. Our next spiritual development course will begin in September: Build Your Own Belief System, explores personal beliefs, past experiences and future paths. For more information, contact Rev Kate Dean.
Poetry Group
Poetry Group meets on the first Monday in the month and welcomes anyone who likes to read, write or listen to poetry. Members are invited to email their contributions in advance, so that they can be published in time for the meeting, and later shared with the community through our mailing list. Contact the group via the Chapel Administrator.
Social Action
The Social Action group creates opportunities for the congregation to put Unitarian principles of social justice into practice, and to serve the wider community. We support local, national and international charities, contributing funds, raising awareness of social issues, and being involved in campaigns. Read more...