Archive for the 'Newsletters' Category

Nov 12 2013

Newsletter November 2013

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Meaning in Life
Newsletter NOVEMBER 2013

Next Meeting

Jim Veitch

from Wellington

How and why did Jesus of Galilee become God?

Thursday, 28 NOVEMBER

Highgate Church buildings,

Maori Hill

Tea and Coffee will be available
between 5.00 and 5.40 pm
Food will be available
$5 for as much as you want to eat plus rent
or
$2 if you come for the meeting only
Kitchen volunteers:
Marjorie and Bruce Spittle
The programme will start at 6 pm

*****

We Start With…

A two minute period of silence.

*****

News from the top

Our Chair is continuing the tradition of having a member of the Dunedin Sea of Faith Local Group on the National Steering Committee. That will be vital for the October 2014 Conference – well done Gretchen.

*****

It’s good to report that Margaret Feist is settling in well at her new Summerset home
12/36 Shetland Street
Wakari
DUNEDIN 9010
New Phone: 950-3012
As with us all, the problem of what to do with so many books is like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

*****

Pen Whitaker’s Memorial Service is to be held on Saturday 16th November at 11.30 at Holy Name Church.

*****

Next Meeting

Jim Veitch writes… I will build on my last talk about the Historical Jesus: the Jesus of history is a Jew of his time who grabbed the attention of a small group who turned his thinking and his ideas into a story for change that challenged the legitimacy of Roman rule and questioned the relevance of the integrity of the Judaism practiced at the time. So how and why was a historical Jewish man divinised to become God – the Christ – and the focus of a new religious tradition: and what does all this mean for a modern day celebration of Christmas?

*****

Opportunity for Action?

From time to time, the discussion at Sea of Faith (in Dunedin, at Conference and in the Steering Committee) has turned to the idea of doing something – but that has become a sticking point as we don’t have a creed (and I don’t think it would be in the interests of Sea of Faith to go down that road). Some of our members are involved with political parties, some with churches, some in Social Action Groups such as The Howard League for Prison Reform and I’m sure most of us give money to worthy causes. In all these ways we are part of a movement for Social Justice – creating a better Society (as Jesus talked about).
On 31st October, Andrew Bradstock’s former Department, Theology and Public Issues, jointly with the Dunedin branch of the Howard League for Prison Reform, held a panel at University on the topic of severing the link between Alcohol and Prison. One of the Keynote Speakers was Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC and he also spoke at a Howard League dinner later that night. Frances, Robin and I went along. It is clear that despite the fact that Government acted on 134 out of the 154 recommendations from the Law Society-led Commission on Alcohol Reform, the ones not acted upon are the major ones that still need to be fixed.
We can note that the abolition of smoking in public places was community-led not Government-led, so too with the same-sex marriage legislation. Alcohol reform will not come about by politicians who often have a three-year view of issues, but by pressure from our communities making change acceptable and inevitable. Changes can take place at a local level too.
Recently the DCC refused permission to have a tent selling alcohol at a primary school function.
The ODT for 5th November carried a report of a plan to reduce the allowed alcohol level in the blood for drivers. Minister Gerry Brownlee is reported as saying this is in response to pressure from the public.
Anyone who knows me is aware that I’m not a wowser or a leader in any Temperance Movement, but I am concerned at the repeat offending (drivers over the allowed blood-alcohol limit) and the numbers of folk in prison who have alcohol dependency problems. The Vice Chancellor at the University of Otago doesn’t wish to stop students drinking but to drink less and enjoy more.
One of our Christchurch Sea of Faith leading lights, Prof Doug Sellman, will be in Dunedin to give an address
Alcohol is a drug not a drink!
– Local councils might succeed where central government has failed!
22nd November 2013 3.30pm – 4.30pm
At pact Office, 80 Filleul Street. Dunedin.
Please ring Margaret on 477 4312 to secure a seat.

*****

This is the last meeting for this year (we start again on 27th February 2014). My thanks to those who have switched from having a posted paper copy of the Newsletter to an e-mail version. The Dunedin Local Group has not charged for those and the budget has been about $200 per year until recently, when new postage rates have pushed the cost to $230. Since it will now take three days to have a copy of the Newsletter delivered across town, more folk are being pushed towards the new technology and it won’t be long before everyone will be doing that.
Schools are now realising that they don’t have to have expensive computer rooms any more as students are going along with their own computers in their pockets (cell phones) and typically have a machine at home. I know that some of our members use e-books as it is easier to hold a lightweight e-reader than a heavy library book, especially when arthritis in the hands becomes painful.
Change is one true sign of life. I know that all of us have a changed view of our faith since we were younger – that doesn’t frighten us – neither should computers.
Best wishes to everyone for a peaceful Christmas and the best of health that can be reasonably expected in 2014.
Newsletter Editor:
Alan Jackson
55 Evans Street
Opoho
DUNEDIN 9010
Ph: 473 6947
[email protected]

No responses yet

Sep 16 2013

September 2013 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Meaning in Life
Newsletter SEPTEMBER 2013

Next Meeting

Prayer

Led by Ian Fleming

Thursday, 26th September

Highgate Church buildings,
Maori Hill
Tea and Coffee will be available
between 5.00 and 5.40 pm
Food will be available
$5 for as much as you want to eat plus rent
or
$2 if you come for the meeting only
Kitchen volunteers:
Marjorie and Bruce Spittle
The programme will start at 6 pm

*****

We Start With…

A two minute period of silence.

*****

From the Chair

‘A conversation is when you hear yourself say something you’ve never said before’ – from a precious book by Theodore Zeldin that I can no longer find on my shelf.

Some of the best Sea of Faith meetings are those on a single-word topic, such as our one this month on Prayer. With wise and gentle guidance – as will be provided for us by Ian Fleming – we find that hearing others’ views, and giving our own, starts a conversation and exploration that takes us places we’ve never been before. Open-mindedness, flexibility, interest in new ideas, and generosity – these are features of Sea of Faith members, and conversations, that make our meetings very special.

Wearing another hat, I am a member of the Otago Tertiary Chaplaincy Trust Board, which provides chaplaincy services (alongside their Catholic colleagues) to students and staff at the Polytechnic and the University.

The OTCTB had its first meeting 50 years ago, and appointed the first chaplain, Rev. Lewis Lowry, in April 1964. So we are holding a prolonged 50th celebration, starting with a celebration dinner on 27 November this year.

There may be members of Dunedin Sea of Faith who have contributed to, or benefitted from, or otherwise have some interest in, Otago’s chaplaincy service, and who might enjoy attending the dinner. Held in conjunction with two relevant conferences, we expect a good attendance and a very pleasant evening.

Tickets are $65 each. I will have tickets at both the September and October SoF meetings. If you would like to purchase one or two (or more) let me know and we can discuss payment – there are many different ways to pay these days.

Gretchen

Next Meeting
PRAYER

This session will be based necessarily upon our own experiences. It will depend entirely on what we each contribute to the discussion, in response to, (hopefully), helpful leading questions.

Prayer from hymns
Consider the following hymn lines regarding prayer:

  • Praise, my soul, the King of heaven.
  • Now thank we all our God, with heart, and hands and voices.
  • Sweet hour of prayer
  • Take it to the Lord in prayer
  • One thing I of the Lord desire … oh make me clean.
  • Oh for a heart to praise my God
  • Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, unuttered or expressed.
Types of prayer
The Lord’s Prayer. The serenity prayer. Also: public, silent, repetitive, extempore, read, and chain prayers as well as praying in tongues.
Occasions of prayer
Prayer on our own, prayer led by others, prayer in worship, in prayer groups, for healing, for guidance, for blessing, on other occasions.
Compare: praying for a car park, a prayer of love and adoration, a cry for help facing imminent danger and relief for deliverance afterwards.
Prayer can be performed standing, walking, sitting, prostrating, lying, (other?). Hands clasped, arms outstretched, eyes closed, head bowed, (other positions?).
Prayer in development
How has our experience of prayer begun, developed and changed over our lives until now? – From infancy, through childhood, adolescence and adulthood, and through many life changing situations; to the point where now we may or may not pray, and if the latter, we may or may not miss it.
Consider
Have any of the above promptings – or other experiences – been of special significance?

A DEFINITION
The Wikipedia article defines prayer as an “act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity, an object of worship, or a spiritual entity through deliberate communication”. Prayer can go all the way from primitive magic incantation to the highest form of community worship.
The article is usefully extensive. I came away thinking that prayer seems almost intrinsic to the human species. Or maybe only in the past? And only to some?

Ian Fleming

Last Meeting

David Kitchingman led us through a recent book of Jared Diamond’s “What we can learn from traditional societies”. David worked in PNG for five years and Jared worked there over a long period observing and talking to the local people (who speak 1000 of the world’s 7000 different languages – how they evolved is told in Jared’s “Guns, Germs and Steel”). When David first went there he observed a people who were slim, fit and relatively healthy (no diabetes or hypertension). Over time, the western diet high in salt, sugar and saturated fat has physically changed people dramatically. Their genes, suited to the traditional lifestyle, have now become lethal for them. Not only their bodies but their religions have changed over time, adapting to different environmental constraints, and this has also been a trend in European-type communities. Jared Diamond, like Ian Harris and Lloyd Geering sees religion changing. Perhaps providing comfort in times of pain and death being its most valued modern contribution.

*****

Newsletter Editor:
Alan Jackson
55 Evans Street
Opoho
DUNEDIN 9010
Ph: 473 6947
[email protected]

No responses yet

Aug 13 2013

August 2013 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Meaning in Life
Newsletter AUGUST 2013

Next Meeting

David Kitchingman

What can we learn from traditional societies?

Thursday, 22nd August

Highgate Church buildings,
Maori Hill
Tea and Coffee will be available
between 5.00 and 5.40 pm
Food will be available
$5 for as much as you want to eat plus rent
or
$2 if you come for the meeting only
Kitchen volunteers:
Marjorie and Bruce Spittle
The programme will start at 6 pm

*****

We Start With…

A two minute period of silence.

*****

From the Chair

Sir Lloyd Geering’s address on 1st August was a remarkable occasion. With nearly 30 members of Dunedin SoF, and over 30 visitors, we had a very good audience for this world-class thinker and presenter. Lloyd spoke for an hour on the widest range of history, theology, evolution, and scientific thought. He then explained his address was three chapters of his most recent book ‘From the Big Bang to God’ which I now have in front of me. It has eleven chapters, and is in three parts, from which you’ll see the breadth of the thinking he has developed over his 95 years:

  • The evolution of the physical universe
  • The evolution of the human thought world
  • The human situation

Sir Lloyd is hugely generous with his time, and we were very honoured to have had this opportunity to hear him. I’d like to thank all members at the meeting for their help in welcoming guests and assisting in making the meeting run smoothly.

If you wish to get in touch with me you can do so at
phone: 473 0031 mobile: 027 473 0031
[email protected]
Kind regards,
Gretchen Kivell

Last Meeting

It was a remarkably mild August evening for Dunedin that made turning out for 69 people to listen to New Zealand’s best known theologian all the more pleasant.
Lloyd was clearly very much at home amongst friends if one were to judge from the number of hugs and kisses exchanged, as well as the smiles and warm welcoming handshakes all around.
His message was as clear as a bell. We are all fairly well aware of the transition from polytheism to monotheism and the idea that “God is in charge” which can lead to a disconnect between humans and the natural world. A god which created everything and which regulates the earth, and all life on it fulfills the desire to have a “theory of everything” and takes substantial responsibility away from the humans that live on the earth.
Perhaps beginning with David Strauss, who argued against the divine nature of Jesus, continuing with Ludwig Feuerbach who argued that god was a projection of man’s inward nature, and developing in our lifetime with John Robinson’s “Honest to God” which again challenged our traditional image of God we arrive at a time when we realise that God is within us and that we act as God. We take a far more active interest in our weddings and funerals these days and so perhaps we are ready for the idea of “we are God”. We are tackling god-like decisions every day; in hospital operating rooms and science laboratories, as well as in war zones (and from further afield with drones) and so it is easy to appreciate that we have the well-being of the planet in our own hands.
Lloyd argued that the idea of God was great as it gave rise to modern science, but that idea needs to be revisited. It is not so much that God is dead, but the old IDEA of God which is dead.
It is up to US to mobilise and tackle the great problems facing the earth now:

  • The destruction of Mother Earth by placing great strains on her ecology: rapid population growth together with uneven distribution of the food supply, pollution of our land, rivers and oceans, changes in climate caused by humans and the ripping out of earth’s resources as if they were inexhaustible.
  • Militarism: including the existence of enough weapons to annihilate the earth’s population several times over, along with global terrorism, if not in the name of religion, then in the name of greedy warring political factions.
  • Global pandemics such as The Black Death and Spanish ‘flu in the past – SARS, AIDS, avian ‘flu.
  • Economic destitution caused by the aggregation of wealth and power into the hands of fewer countries and fewer people within them and the denial of democracy to ensure fairness.

If we fail, the earth will still be here, along with the bacteria and many insects and plants, but there may well be no human life as there is now. No use either in saying “bring it on, I’m going to a better life in the next world” – that’s a figment of our imagination too.

Next Meeting

David Kitchingman will be introducing the question:
“What can we learn from traditional societies, and particularly from traditional religions?”
His presentation will be a selective response to the publication this year of Jared Diamond’s The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies?
Diamond, an American polymath professor, is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the influential million-copy-bestseller Guns, Germs and Steel, and Collapse, a number one international bestseller.
Diamond’s latest book draws heavily on his intimate association with New Guinea over nearly fifty years. David, having himself spent some time in New Guinea, has been impressed by the book’s broad scope and penetrating insights. The session will touch on varied topics, such as child-rearing and old age, and peace and war, but will focus more on what we might be able to learn from traditional religions, which, like so much else within traditional societies, “ruled” the world until virtually “yesterday”.

*****

Newsletter Editor:
Alan Jackson
55 Evans Street
Opoho
DUNEDIN 9010
Ph: 473 6947
[email protected]

No responses yet

Jul 16 2013

July 2013 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Meaning in Life
Newsletter JULY 2013

 

We Started With…

A two minute period of silence.

*****

From the Chair

As the incoming Chair of Dunedin Sea of Faith I’d like to thank Marjorie Spittle for her excellent work over the last three years and three months as chairperson (these last three while waiting for me to take up the reins). Her warm smile, calm temperament, and commitment have carried our group through another three years of good attendances at interesting and engaging meetings. Marjorie has been assisted by a committee of members, which contributes significantly and with a minimum of fuss. In addition, Marjorie and Bruce have opened up the building, undertaken all the underpinnings needed by each meeting, and locked up afterwards. Thank you Marjorie, thank you both.

I have been a member of Dunedin SoF for many years, following in the footsteps of my mother, Wynne Kershaw. Together we attended and enjoyed two Sea of Faith conferences (some time back), which will stand me in good stead now as Dunedin is to hold the national Sea of Faith conference here in late 2014. We haven’t lost Marjorie’s good offices; she is the Dunedin-based conference organiser. Fortunately for all, quite a lot of the organisation for each conference is carried out nationally, so we hope to be able welcome our northern friends without the usual conference angst.

The committee has developed a very good programme for the rest of this year, a mix of valued visitors and our own members, and always with plenty of time for reflection, questions, and discussion. I look forward to catching up with you.

Gretchen Kivell

*****

Last Meeting

14 hardy souls braved the cold and damp to enjoy the lovely food from the Home of St Barnabas and a further two joined in for the meeting. The clash was with the City Choir Dunedin’s rendition of Verdi’s Requiem and a number of our regulars thoroughly enjoyed a sparkling performance by the Choir. By the time you read this, many of the choir will have travelled to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to accompany those city choirs sing the Requiem.

Colin Gibson was singing in that performance and so was unable to be with us so he gave his paper to David Kitchingman to present. The paper is on our web site (and also accompanies the electronic version of this newsletter).

The Jesus Seminar would certainly be regarded as “leftie” or “very liberal” by many theologians as it strives to discover the real man who was Jesus, what can reliably be believed to be the things he actually said and the things he actually did. The Seminar initially consisted of 200 academics and they used all sorts of routine scientific methods from archaeology, calligraphy, linguistics, history, and so on to form an opinion about what was most likely to have been closest to the truth.

Many will say that that doesn’t matter at all – in the search, faith can be lost, but I have found the opposite. In all the layers which the Seminar has managed to remove, such as some of the stories turning Jesus into some sort of David Copperfield magician for example, I have found that which remains to be more powerful and more honest and to enhance and deepen my faith into the way to bring about creating a better society (“Thy Kingdom Come”). I sometimes think of the hype that surrounds a Hollywood celebrity or a famous politician, the advertising makes the person out to be something quite extraordinary. For me, the Seminar removes the hype, and reveals a very extraordinary man whose ethics and principles I can accept with all of my being.

*****

Next Meeting

Otago Boys’ High celebrates its 150th Anniversary at the start of August and Lloyd is to be a Keynote Speaker. He has agreed to speak to us the night before the school celebrations begin and hence the change in our usual meeting times.

Feel free to invite as many friends as you like to the 6pm meeting (but not to the shared food as we should be unlikely to be able to accommodate everyone there. Stories of feeding the 5000 ringing in my brain as I write this).

Lloyd will give us the Michael King Memorial lecture that he prepared for the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival in May. It was greeted with a standing ovation from the 1400 people who heard it, so it will be Lloyd’s usual exceptional and stimulating address. On the very same day he repeated it, at their request, to the Auckland Sea of Faith group. It is entitled “How Humans Made God”.

Lloyd has certainly had a great deal of public exposure recently with his interview on Kim Hill’s programme on 13th July. If you missed it and have access to a computer you can hear it again as Radio New Zealand supplies copies of all the interesting radio programmes on their podcast site.

“From the Big Bang to God” is the title of his latest book, and that is the theme of his interview with Kim Hill. He integrates the thoughts of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin with those of Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher, John Robinson (“Honest to God”) and his own teachers in Dunedin to show how we are, in a way, god, as we hold the future of the earth in our own hands and are making “god decisions” each day in medicine, crop production, gene selection and so on (to say nothing of the military). The concept of god has changed and the old view needs to be replaced with a modern one, a more liberal understanding which is hard at work in the three Abrahamic faiths.

The radio programme is well worth a listen (and it can be downloaded and saved and heard again and again – well done Radio NZ).

You will need either Sky TV (Channel 83) or a computer to use the internet to go to Face Television’s web page to hear Lloyd and the Dalai Lama in conversation on Wednesday 24th July at 8.30pm. If you have neither… I’m sure you’ll have a friend who does.

*****

Newsletter Editor:
Alan Jackson
55 Evans Street
Opoho
DUNEDIN 9010
Ph: 473 6947
[email protected]

No responses yet

Jun 14 2013

June 2013 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Meaning in Life
Newsletter JUNE 2013


Next meeting

Led by Colin Gibson

The Jesus Seminar

Thursday, 27th June

Highgate Church buildings,
Maori Hill
Tea and Coffee will be available
between 5.00 and 5.40 pm
Food will be available
$5 for as much as you want to eat plus rent
or
$2 if you come for the meeting only
Kitchen volunteers:
Marjorie and Bruce Spittle

The programme will start at 6 pm

*****

We Start With…

A two minute period of silence.

From the Acting Chairperson

Many thanks to all who turned up for the earlier start of 5pm last month. This enabled us all to clear the dishes and to enjoy a relaxed conversation before the meeting started. The folk in the kitchen really appreciated your help with that. Well done to Librarian Ian for his innovative display of the books. There are DVDs in there as well.

– Marjorie

Next Meeting

Colin Gibson will need very little introduction in this Newsletter, Continue Reading »

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May 10 2013

May 2013 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Meaning in Life
Newsletter MAY 2013


 

 We Start With…

A two minute period of silence.

From the Acting Chairperson

Welcome back to our newsletter editor, Alan, after his break in the North Island. The committee met recently and are well on the way to finalising our programme for the year. Continue Reading »

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Apr 06 2013

April 2013 Newsletter

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The Sea of Faith Network: Exploring Meaning in Life

091011.SOFimage

http//:dsof.blogtown.co.nz

____________________________________________________________

 FROM THE ACTING CHAIR
This newsletter comes to you from the Acting Chairperson as Continue Reading »

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Mar 10 2013

March 2013 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Meaning in Life
Newsletter MARCH 2013


Next meeting

AGM & Library News Continue Reading »

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Feb 15 2013

February 2013 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

 

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Meaning in Life
Newsletter FEBRUARY 2013


 

Next meeting

Richard Egan

Euthanasia and Spirituality Continue Reading »

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Nov 09 2012

November 2012 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Meaning in Life
Newsletter NOVEMBER 2012


 

Next meeting

Dr David Clark, Labour MP

for Dunedin North Continue Reading »

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Oct 18 2012

October 2012 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Spirituality, Religion and Ethics
Newsletter OCTOBER 2012


  From the Chair

Some members have expressed the wish to have Continue Reading »

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Sep 17 2012

September 2012 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Spirituality, Religion and Ethics
Newsletter SEPTEMBER 2012


 

Next meeting

Judith Anne O’Sullivan

Meditation 

Judith Anne O’Sullivan is a Dominican Sister who has practised Meditation in a Dominican Community for the past 50 years and still considers she is a Novice. Judith Anne spent many years in leadership within different countries of Asia and the Pacific and was then gifted with a time of Sabbatical. This was spent in an Ashram in the United States where she learnt the true value of Meditation. 

Continue Reading »

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Aug 09 2012

August 2012 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Spirituality, Religion and Ethics
Newsletter August 2012


 

James Veitch PhD (Birm), ThD (ACT), FRSA.

Who did Jesus think he really was? 

Building blocks for a 21st century faith 

*****

Who did Jesus think he was? 

 This question takes us back to Albert Schweitzer’s “The Psychiatric Study of Jesus” (1913) which put an end to the 19th century attempts to explore the question of who did Jesus think he was and to subsequent attempts to explore it for the next hundred years. Continue Reading »

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Jul 16 2012

July 2012 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimageSea of Faith – Dunedin
Exploring Spirituality, Religion and Ethics
Newsletter May 2012


 

Being Positive about Africa
Prof  Tony Binns

 Tony Binns did his degree at Sheffield, taught at the University of Birmingham and then went to Sussex where he became Reader. He is a past-president of the New Zealand Geographic Society and now holds the Ron Lister Chair of Geography at Otago. Continue Reading »

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Jun 14 2012

June 2012 Newsletter

Published by under Newsletters

091011.SOFimage

Sea of Faith – Dunedin

Exploring Spirituality, Religion and Ethics
Newsletter May 2012



Carl Jung

The house group of six members has had one meeting and three more are planned. Continue Reading »

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