We Belong to One Another
- Apr 25
- 25 min read
Updated: Apr 26
Sunday Service, 26 April 2026
Led by Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall
Musical Prelude: Smetana, From the Homeland: I. Moderato (performed by Kiana Garvey and Andrew Robinson)
Opening Words: ‘You Belong Here’ by Erika A. Hewitt (adapted)
As we enter into this time of worship,
let us put away the pressures of the world
that ask us to perform, to put on a brave face,
to pretend we’re on top of things and we’re holding it together,
to make out we’re someone other than who we truly are.
Silence those voices that ask you to be perfect.
This is a space of compassion and hospitality.
You do not have to do anything special to earn
the love and care contained within this community.
You do not have to be braver, smarter, stronger, better
than you are in this moment to belong here, with us.
You only have to bring the gift of your body, no matter how able;
your seeking mind, no matter how restless and busy;
your tender heart, no matter how broken.
Bring your whole self – all that you are, and all that you love –
to this hour, as we remind each other of what really matters,
what is most worthy, in this one life that we share.
You are so very welcome. Let us join in worship together. (pause)
Words of Welcome and Introduction:
These words from Erika A. Hewitt welcome all who have gathered this morning for our Sunday service. Welcome to those who have gathered in-person at Essex Church, to all who are joining via Zoom, and anyone tuning in at a later date via YouTube or listening to the podcast stream. For anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m Jane Blackall, and I’m minister with Kensington Unitarians.
This morning we’re holding our annual Membership Service, when we will welcome all the new members who have joined our community this year, and all members will be invited to reaffirm their commitment and belonging to our church through a responsive prayer for our ministry.
I’ve given this service the title ‘We Belong to One Another’, after one of our favourite hymns, which of course we’ll be singing later on, but I want to share its opening verse (which is also on the front of your order of service): ‘We belong to one another; to each other we are bound as we build a world together, full of joy that we have found. What we are we owe to others, when they need us, we respond. We belong to one another, and we hold a common bond.’
Over the next hour we will reflect on this sense of belonging to each other both in the universal sense – through a kind of human kinship, or perhaps even kinship with the entire web of life – and also in the particular sense of belonging in this community of Kensington Unitarians. If we truly belong to one another then what does that require of us in terms of responsibility and mutuality?
Chalice Lighting: ‘We Rekindle Our Commitment’ by Paul Sprecher (adapted)
Let’s light our chalice flame now, as we do each week. It’s a moment for us to stop and take a breath, settle ourselves down, put aside any preoccupations we came in carrying. This simple ritual connects us in solidarity with Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists the world over, and reminds us of the proud and historic progressive religious tradition of which this gathering is part.
(light chalice)
As we light this chalice,
we rekindle our commitment:
to nurture and share our beloved faith,
to reflect on, deepen, and embody our shared values,
to proclaim the Good News that all are worthy and all are welcome,
that God is Love, and none shall be left behind, as we seek true liberation for all.
Hymn 193 (purple): ‘We Laugh, We Cry’
Let us sing together now. Our first hymn is number 193 in your purple books: ‘We Laugh, We Cry’. It’s an old favourite and quite a long one so we should be well-warmed up by the time we finish. For those joining on zoom the words will be up on screen. Feel free to stand or sit as you prefer.
We laugh, we cry, we live, we die; we dance, we sing our song.
We need to feel there's something here to which we all belong.
We need to feel the freedom just to have some time alone.
But most of all we need close friends we can call our very own.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love;
and we have found a need to be together.
We have our hearts to give
we have our thoughts to receive;
and we believe that sharing is an answer.
A child is born among us and we feel a special glow.
We see time's endless journey as we watch the baby grow.
We thrill to hear imagination freely running wild.
We dedicate our minds and hearts to the spirit of this child.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love;
and we have found a time to be together.
And with the grace of age,
we share the wonder of youth,
and we believe that growing is an answer
Our lives are full of wonder and our time is very brief.
The death of one among us fills us all with pain and grief.
But as we live, so shall we die, and when our lives are done
the memories we shared with friends, they will linger on and on.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love;
and we have found a place to be together.
We have the right to grow, we have the gift to believe
that peace within our living is an answer.
We seek elusive answers to the questions of this life.
We seek to put an end to all the waste of human strife.
We search for truth, equality, and blessed peace of mind.
And then we come together here, to make sense of what we find.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love;
and we have found a joy to be together.
And in our search for peace, maybe we'll finally see:
even to question truly is an answer.
Candles of Joy and Concern:
Each week when we gather together, we share a simple ritual of candles of joy and concern, an opportunity to light a candle and share something that is in our heart with the community. So we’ve an opportunity now, for anyone who would like to do so, to light a candle and say a few words about what it represents. We’ll go to the people in the building first, then to Zoom.
So I invite some of you here in person to come and light a candle and then if you wish to tell us who or what you light your candle for – please keep it brief – be considerate of others. I’m going to ask you to come to the lectern to speak, as we want people to be able to hear you.
(in person candles)
And if that’s everyone in the room we’ll go over to the people on Zoom next – you might like to switch to gallery view at this stage – just unmute yourselves when you are ready and speak out – and we should be able to hear you and see you up on the big screen here in the church.
(zoom candles)
And I’m going to light one more candle, as we often do, to represent all those joys and concerns that we hold in our hearts this day, but which we don’t feel able to speak out loud. (light candle)
Time of Prayer & Reflection: based on words by Maureen Killoran
Let’s take those joys and concerns into an extended time of prayer. This prayer is based on words by Maureen Killoran. You might want to adjust your position for comfort, close your eyes, or soften your gaze. There might be a posture that helps you feel more prayerful. Whatever helps you get into the right state of body and mind for us to pray together – to be fully present – with ourselves, with each other, and with that which is both within us and beyond us. (pause)
Spirit of Life, God of All Love, in whom we live and move and have our being,
we turn our full attention to you, the light within and without,
as we tune in to the depths of this life, and the greater wisdom
to which – and through which – we are all intimately connected.
Be with us now as we allow ourselves to drop into the
silence and stillness at the very centre of our being. (pause)
Here we are gathered – called perhaps by our sense of sacred purpose,
or duty, or the longing for community; called to be together on this day
to worship; to lift up that which is of highest worth and which directs our lives.
Here we are gathered – called to hold ourselves to our highest values –
to remind ourselves of those hopes and dreams and possibilities which,
sometimes, in the rough-and-tumble of this world, it can be hard to hold on to.
Here we are gathered – called to do our part in weaving a web of human community.
Here, now, some of us have come in pain, bearing sufferings both physical and emotional.
For those who are dealing with health concerns, we pray for courage and healing.
For those who are feeling lonely and isolated, we pray for comfort and connection.
For those who are feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, we pray for rest and solace.
May we pause for a moment now, and hold gently all the concerns,
named and unnamed, that are present in our gathering. (pause)
And here, now, some of us have come with joy bubbling in our hearts – despite everything.
May we give ourselves permission to feel those joyful moments even in the midst of struggle.
May we rejoice together, recalling that our joys are multiplied when they are shared.
May we remember and return to gratitude for the simple pleasures of our days.
May we pause for a moment, and in our silence, may we give thanks for
any blessings, no matter how small, that have touched our life this week. (pause)
And in a good few moments of shared silence and stillness now,
may we speak inwardly some of those deepest prayers of our hearts,
reaching out in faith and hope to the One Who Holds All.
Let us each lift up whatever is on our heart this day,
and ask for what we most need. (long pause)
Spirit of Life – God of all Love – as this time of prayer comes to a close, we offer up
our joys and concerns, our hopes and fears, our beauty and brokenness,
and we call on you for insight, healing, and renewal.
As we look forward now to the coming week,
help us to live well each day and be our best selves;
using our unique gifts in the service of love, justice and peace. Amen.
Hymn (on sheet): ‘We Belong to One Another’
Let’s sing again now – our second hymn is the one for which this service was named – and it’s on your hymn sheet – ‘We Belong to One Another’.
We belong to one another. To each other we are bound
As we build a world together full of joy that we have found.
What we are we owe to others. When they need us, we respond.
We belong to one another and we hold a common bond.
We rely on one another at the dawning of our days
When we learn from those around us how to live in loving ways.
As we grow, we need each other and the gifts that we can share.
As our lives come to their ending, how we need each other’s care.
We give thanks for one another, for each heart and hand and face.
We are grateful for the blessings that infuse our lives with grace.
May we offer our abundance. As we’re given, may we give.
In our thanks for one another, may we help each other live.
Reading: ‘These Are My People’ by UU Minister Karen G. Johnston (read by Julia)
I have heard that the Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzburg has a spiritual practice when she flies. Waiting to board at the airport gate, she looks at the people sitting there and says to herself, These are my people.
A random, possibly ragtag, set of strangers are her people? Seriously? Yes, seriously.
I have begun doing this. At the gate. On board. For the next few hours, these are my people. With weather delays, even longer.
And I have begun doing it elsewhere. When riding the train. Attending a concert. In the grocery store. I even did it in January, when I was one of hundreds of clergy who travelled to Minneapolis to march with tens of thousands for the future of our nation. Every so often, in that frigid cold, I would feel the crowd around me and think: These people: they are mine and I am theirs.
They weren’t my besties nor my chosen family. Not even my immediate neighbours, but the ones that the universe cast as my temporary lot. Random. Not of my choosing.
Except I choose to choose them. As a spiritual practice, it stretches me. This embrace of others that I believe my faith asks of me (requires of me?) is not necessarily logical, as well as occasionally mystical and nearly always complicated.
Does this change anything? Bring about healing or justice? I’m not certain, but I can’t help wondering if this one way we get closer to Love at the Centre.
Does this transform me? Hell, yes. It commits me to the very nature of reality: interdependence. It reminds me that I—that we—belong to each other, like it or not.
I’m thankful for the deep (so deep) and real (so real) and true (so true) ways in which we risk growing Beloved Community. In which we dare creating mutual aid networks beyond those besties. In which we risk creating and sustaining the necessary, complex, messy, sometimes prickly, sometimes joyful community coalitions to get us through this authoritarian nightmare.
These are my people.
You are my people.
(pause)
Spirit of Life and Love, Ever-Presence of Interdependence and Transformation,
if we shall be known by the company we keep, may that company support us
in daring and risking a greater wholeness than we have known thus far. Amen.
Words for Meditation: ‘For When We Greet Each Other’ by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Thanks Julia. We’re moving into a time of meditation now. To take us into stillness I’m going to share a poem by one of my new favourites, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, which comes at this notion of belonging from a slightly different angle. Following the poem, we will hold a few minutes of shared silence, which will end with the sound of a bell. Then we’ll hear some more lovely music for meditation from Kiana and Andrew. So let’s do what we need to do to get comfortable – adjust your position – put your feet flat on the floor to ground yourself – close your eyes. As ever, these words and music are just an offering, feel free to use this time to meditate in your own way.
‘For When We Greet Each Other’ by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
I want a new ritual for when we meet each other—
strangers or beloveds, friends or rivals, elders or children.
It begins by holding each other’s eyes
the way we behold sunrises or the first cherry blooms,
which is to say we assume we’ll find beauty there.
And perhaps some display of open hands—
a gesture with palms up—that suggests both
I offer myself to you and I receive you.
There should be a quiet moment in which
we hear each other breathe—
knowing it’s the sound of the ocean inside us.
If there are words at all, let them be formed
mostly of vowels so they’re heard more as song
than as spitting, more like river current and less
like throwing stones, words that mean something like
I do not know what you carry, but in this moment
I will help you carry it.
Or something like,
Everything depends on us treating each other well.
And if we said it enough, perhaps we’d believe it,
and if we believed it enough, perhaps we’d live it,
treating every other human like someone
who holds our very existence in their hands,
like someone whose life has been given us to serve,
even if it’s only to walk together safely down the street,
hold a door, pass the salt, share a sunset,
offer a smile, and say with our actions you belong.
Period of Silence and Stillness (~3 minutes) – end with a bell
Interlude: Florence Price, Adoration (performed by Kiana Garvey and Andrew Robinson)
Reading: ‘On Membership’ by Victoria Weinstein (adapted) (read by John)
This reading, from UU minister Victoria Weinstein, is the welcome she offers to new members of her own church, and it says something important about what it means to belong to a church like this one. She writes:
Here in this church, human beings have gathered for centuries seeking a higher purpose and deeper life than they could find alone. We are grateful today for each one of you, that you have found your way here, and that you have decided to make a commitment to this faith community. We hope that as members of this church you will allow yourselves to know and to be known, to minister to and to be ministered unto, to love and to be loved, by this congregation.
We never really know what combination of fate and friendship and good luck it is that brings certain people together in this world for any purpose. But we believe that membership in the church calls each of us here to celebrate the fate that has drawn us together, and to regard each one a spiritual friend and a potential teacher, even of occasional hard lessons.
The relationships we form in our church are based on needs of the soul — needs that render each of us vulnerable, and therefore reliant on each other’s grace and goodness, and generosity of spirit. As members of this church we pledge to be guardians of each other’s spirits, to respect the ultimate privacy of each one’s human struggle, and to believe in each one’s inherent dignity.
Finally, as members of this congregation, we know that we can always rely on the wisdom of our covenant which reminds us of our true purpose in being together:
In the bonds of fellowship and love, we unite to cultivate reverence, to promote spiritual growth and ethical commitment; to minister to each other’s needs and to those of humanity; to celebrate the sacred moments of life’s passage; and to honour the holiness at the heart of being.
May it be so for the greater good of all.
Hymn (on sheet): ‘Church is More than Just a Building’
Time for a bonus hymn, it’s on your hymn sheet, ‘Church is More than Just a Building’.
Church is more than just a building,
more than wood or metal or brick.
Church is how we love our neighbour.
Church is how we tend to the sick,
Feed the hungry and heal the suffering,
welcome strangers and give to the poor.
All our service is as worship,
all our presence an open door.
Church is more than a weekly gathering.
Church is faith that’s come alive,
Filling hearts and minds with passion,
peace and hope that ever abide.
Even when our building’s empty,
we are touched by the deepest of grace.
When the holy lives within us
we are in a holy place.
We’re the church in the path we follow,
showing care to those in pain.
In the midst of fear and sorrow,
we’re the church and here we’ll remain,
Seeking justice, showing kindness,
singing praises in all that we do.
Church is more than just a building.
It’s our work toward a world made new.
Mini-Reflection: ‘The Meaning of Membership’ by Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall
At the top of the service, I said that we’d reflect on the idea of belonging to each other, in both the universal sense and also the particular sense of belonging to this, our beloved community of Kensington Unitarians, aka Essex Church.
Last week I put a call out to members of the congregation and asked them to say, in just a sentence or two, what being a member means to them. Thanks to everyone who responded – I’ve put all those responses in the service text that is up on the website (scroll to the bottom of the page) – they’re more-or-less anonymised but some have identifying features! We’re just going to share a few fragments of those responses now – I’m going to ask Brian to help me read them out – to just give a sense of the variety of things people said about their sense of belonging as members of this community.
‘Essex Church has been a home for me for since 1983. It has given me a sense of continuity in my life throughout its ups and downs. I have made many friends, sadly some are now deceased. The Church has been through ups and downs too and it still remains my home.’
‘It’s important to me to have a place where I have the time and space to work through how to be a better person and to be encouraged to do that, and to think more of others and how to make the world a better place.’
‘Sundays are reserved for Kensington Unitarians; they're how I start and end that day each week, and I look forward to them all. Pitching my tent in the virtual space of Essex Church, sitting around our chalice flame, singing loudly, reflecting quietly, and laughing together.’
‘I’m grateful for the opportunity to come and share spiritual community with people in a gentle, simple way. I can be joyful, tearful, exhausted, open or closed, and know I still have a place.’
‘This church and the Unitarian faith is a place of refuge and stability in my life. I can relax, breathe and belong, knowing I am in a community of openness and care.’
‘Each service has given me food for reflection afterwards and a sense of kinship with everyone there. It’s been by joining other activities like the weekly H&S online that I feel closeness to individuals and the group.’
‘The Sunday service has become an anchor in my week, a reminder that belonging travels across oceans and time zones, carried by shared values and the company of people who care about the same questions.’
‘I come to church not to be told what to believe but how to explore ideas behind and beyond words. I value the connections in our congregations that operate on many different levels but are based on our shared values of community, spirituality, and conscience.’
‘Participating nourishes my soul and fosters my spiritual growth. I find wisdom from spiritual leaders and from members of the congregation on the big questions of life, and care and support for navigating life's highs and lows.
‘Being a member means I feel at home in a loving community of curious, kindred souls, where we value free spiritual exploration and share a commitment to bettering our external and internal worlds. It's a space of solidarity and sanctuary for me.’
‘It took me a long time to commit to membership. I am not much into joining anything, especially a church. However, Essex Church won me over as I knew it would, because, quite simply, it is a place when I do not have to pretend to be anything or anybody other than who I am. I feel valued and loved for the person who goes around dressed in my skin.’
‘There are so many things I love about being a member of Essex Church that I think you could call it my happy place!’
‘Being a member means that I am willing to commit wholeheartedly to my church community.’
Thanks Brian – and thanks again to everyone who contributed – like I said I’ve put all the full contributions up with the service text on the website. Hopefully those few excerpts have given a flavour of what belonging is all about though. A few common themes emerge: there’s a sense of stability, continuity, and commitment; support and solidarity; care and companionship; shared values and purpose; a sense that we’re exploring and joining in something that’s bigger than ourselves.
Earlier in the service, I asked another question: if we truly belong to one another – as members of this congregation, Kensington Unitarians, aka Essex Church – then what does that require of us in terms of responsibility and mutuality? What do we owe to each other? This is, after all, our church, nobody else’s. As Unitarians, we’re very proud of our independence – but that means it’s entirely up to us and we need to take ownership – we are the grown-ups that have to keep the show on the road – this community’s existence and flourishing requires us all to be invested in showing up and doing what we can – so this community is still here for us next month, next year, and for future generations. Don’t forget, we only have this church now, we can only rock up on a Sunday morning and join this community, because a continuous line of people have pitched in over centuries – since Theophilus Lindsey founded the original Essex Church back in 1774 – so many people have done their bit to keep it going.
And now it’s our turn. We haven’t all got the same capacities, skills, or aptitudes. We won’t all be able to contribute in the same way (and that’s a good thing! In this ecosystem there are many niches, and diversity is an asset). But I ask you to ask yourselves: ‘how can I help?’ If you’re here on a Sunday morning (whether in person or online) that might mean looking out for newcomers and striking up conversation, asking what brought them here, showing interest and nurturing connection. It might mean noticing if extra chairs need putting out after the service has started or helping with cleaning tables or washing up. It might mean letting Liz know that you’re ready to step up and volunteer as greeter or coffee-maker, or letting Charlotte know you might be willing and able to help out with the co-hosting online. It might mean taking responsibility for some of the work of church governance or perhaps being a representative for our community at national Unitarian events. Crucially, it might mean signing up and showing up for our small groups, which is where a lot of the spiritual deepening happens, and where supportive and nurturing connections grow.
Showing up for each other and for this community is a truly vital aspect of belonging. And it’s how we’re going to grow this congregation and make a difference in this world.
Speaking of growing this congregation…
Affirming Our Membership: Responsive Prayer for this Ministry
Each year in our membership service we welcome new members, and we encourage all members, old and new, to inwardly and outwardly reaffirm their belonging and commitment to this church community. So I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome eleven new members – ELEVEN! – who have officially joined in the past year: Aisha, Sally, Teresa, LiLi, Harvey, Linda H, Vita, Mussy, Akiko, Linda R, and Margaret. That brings us up to 65 members in total. We’re growing! And if anyone who attends regularly (in-person or online) would like to officially join – it’s not too late. Membership isn’t about money, not here, there’s no subscription fee. It’s about showing your support for this congregation, and what we stand for, and it's good for morale for those of us who are keeping the show on the road when people sign up.
We have a tradition of sharing in a responsive affirmation each year at our membership service. So I’m going to invite you to inwardly affirm your membership, or if you’re not a member affirm your good wishes for the work of this church, by joining in a responsive prayer for this ministry. This is the prayer written for my Induction Service, based on the collectively sourced congregational values, which set out our intentions for this ministry and all that we do together here; we revisit it each year as a reminder of our mutual commitment. The words are printed on your hymn sheet and they’ll also be up on screen in a moment. I invite you to join in with the responses printed in bold.
Spirit of Life, God of All Love, we ask for your blessing
on this congregation and our shared ministry and mission.
Help us to flourish and thrive; empower us to fulfil our calling.
May this be a community of spiritual commitment;
somewhere we go to reconnect with what matters most in life.
Encourage us to seek your daily guidance; inspire us to pray all ways.
May this be a community of care and compassion;
a safer, softer, kinder space; a holy house of sanctuary.
Grant us the spirit of generosity in our listening and speaking.
May this be a community of authentic connection and realness
where we can show up as our true selves and share our stories.
Help us open our hearts to each other; reveal our common humanity.
May this be a community of learning, growth, and transformation;
in which we are encouraged to use and develop our own unique gifts.
Guide us toward new horizons; call us onward to greater heights and depths.
May this be a community of resistance and liberation;
a church where we speak and act for equality and justice.
Awaken in us the insight, strength, and courage to serve the greater good.
Spirit of Life, God of All Love, we commit ourselves to this shared ministry.
Bless the work of our hearts, minds, and hands in the years to come. Amen.
Hymn (on sheet): ‘The Church Where Love Lives’
Time for one last hymn now, again on your sheet, it’s becoming our theme tune and it’s a great statement of intent for the community we aspire to be: ‘The Church Where Love Lives’.
The church where love lives is a safe place for all
Where we gather in wonder to remember God’s call,
To embody God’s vision of kindness and care
With each song that we sing, with each protest and prayer.
On this sacred foundation of faith and of trust
We are building a world that is gentle and just.
We rejoice and repent, offer praise and forgive
And we welcome all people to the church where love lives.
The church where love lives draws the stranger inside,
Making neighbours of strangers, no neighbour denied,
Till there’s heaven on earth and God’s will has been done,
Till the whole of creation is restored to its home.
On this sacred foundation of faith and of trust
We are building a world that is gentle and just.
We rejoice and repent, offer praise and forgive
And we welcome all people to the church where love lives.
The church where love lives is preparing a feast
For the pained and rejected, for the lost and the least,
For the deeply afraid, for the truly ashamed.
Come and sit at our table. Love has called you by name.
On this sacred foundation of faith and of trust
We are building a world that is gentle and just.
We rejoice and repent, offer praise and forgive
And we welcome all people to the church where love lives.
Announcements:
Thanks to Ramona for hosting and Jeannene for co-hosting. Thanks to Kiana and Andrew for lovely music and Edwin for supporting our singing. Thanks to Julia, John, and Brian for reading. Thanks to Patricia for greeting and David for making coffee. If you’re online stay for a chat with Jeannene if you can. If you’re in-person please do stay for tea and cake (it’s apple and sultana or berry lime drizzle). Please don’t dash off because we have our AGM at 12.30 and we’d appreciate it if members could stay for that. I hope it will be relatively short and painless! But there’s a lot of work that goes into keeping this show on the road and we appreciate it if you take the time to read the annual report and come along to the AGM to engage with our efforts.
Tonight the Better World Book Club is talking about ‘Finding the Mother Tree’ by Suzanne Simard. If you have read the book and don’t yet have the link please let me know and I’ll send it. Next month we’re reading ‘Is This Working?’ by Charlie Colenutt and we have some to lend out. We’ll be talking about that on Sunday 31st May on Zoom so please sign up if you plan to come.
On Friday at 7pm we’ve got our online ‘Heart and Soul’ online contemplative spiritual gathering – this week it’s on the theme of ‘Influence’ – and John and Pat will be minding the shop for me.
Sonya will be here with her Nia Dance class on Friday lunchtime – have a word with Sonya.
I’m about to go on holiday (sort of)! We’ll have guest worship leaders for the next few weeks. Next Sunday the service will be led by Rev. Stephanie Bisby of Doncaster on ‘Early Adopters’. Please support the people leading while I’m away! You’ll still see me popping up here and there. But maybe someone else would like to think about bringing cake next week…?
Details of all our various activities are printed on the order of service, and also in the Friday email, so sign up for our mailing list if you haven’t already done so. And the spring newsletter is out! Do take a copy. The congregation very much has a life beyond Sunday mornings; we encourage you to keep in touch, look out for each other, and do what you can to nurture supportive connections.
Just time for our closing words and closing music now.
Benediction: based on words by Cliff Reed
It matters that we come together when we can,
not just for what each may gain
but for what we each may contribute
by our presence and participation.
Remind us, in our heart of hearts, that if
we want our church to be there for us,
then we must be there for our church.
And remind us that, if we want others
to be there for us in our times of need,
then we must be there for them in theirs.
So, in the week to come, as we go about our daily lives,
may we feel a sense of lasting connection to this beloved community.
And may we truly know this church as a place where we belong – our spiritual home. Amen.
Closing Music: Dvorak, arr. Kreisler, Songs My Mother Taught Me (performed by Kiana Garvey and Andrew Robinson)
Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall
26th April 2026
Members' responses to the question on 'The Meaning of Membership':
This is a community where I feel held spiritually, and given space to grow and go on my own journey.
Being a member means that I am willing to commit wholeheartedly to my church community.
It’s important to me to have a place where I have the time and space to work through how to be a better person and to be encouraged to do that, and to think more of others and how to make the world a better place. I also enjoy the in person activities because it is all too easy to spend your time in front of a screen rather than making the time to connect with people face to face.
It took me a long time to commit to membership. I am not much into joining anything, especially a church. However, Essex Church won me over as I knew it would, because, quite simply, it is a place when I do not have to pretend to be anything or anybody other than who I am. I feel valued and loved for the person who goes around dressed in my skin.
It’s getting on for 20 years ago that I started going to Essex Church in Notting Hill. Nowadays I often attend Services online instead. Each one has given me food for reflection afterwards and a sense of kinship with everyone there. It’s been by joining other activities like the weekly Heart and Soul online these days that I feel closeness to individuals and the group. And when I’m in Church, chats over coffee and occasionally going on somewhere afterwards with individuals. In addition, I like the way Unitarians draw on such a comprehensive range of sources from all religions and philosophies.
I used to think church was only about religion and never felt truly connected. But since taking part in the Unitarian Church services, I’ve come to see it as a welcoming place that opens the mind, encourages reflection, and brings people together- making life’s ups and downs feel a little lighter when shared.
Participating in Kensington Church’s services nourishes my soul and fosters my spiritual growth. In the church, I find wisdom from spiritual leaders and from members of the congregation on the big questions of life, and care and support for navigating life's highs and lows.
Belonging is being at home within myself while in the company of others, whether we are aligned or different and meeting one another with respect, compassion, and curiosity.
I deeply value being part of a caring community that rather than search for all the answers is open to looking for the right kind of questions.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to come and share spiritual community with people in a gentle, simple way. I can be joyful, tearful, exhausted, open or closed, and know I still have a place.
There are so many things I love about being a member of Essex Church that I think you could call it my happy place!
Sundays are reserved for Kensington Unitarians; they're how I start and end that day each week, and I look forward to them all. Pitching my tent in the virtual space of Essex Church, sitting around our chalice flame, singing loudly, reflecting quietly, and laughing together.
Being a member means I feel at home in a loving community of curious, kindred souls, where we value free spiritual exploration and share a commitment to bettering our external and internal worlds. It's a space of solidarity and sanctuary for me.
Joining from Thailand, the Sunday service has become an anchor in my week, a reminder that belonging travels across oceans and time zones, carried by shared values and the company of people who care about the same questions.
I come to church not to be told what to believe but how to explore ideas behind and beyond words. I value the connections in our congregations that operate on many different levels but are based on our shared values of community, spirituality, and conscience.
When interacting with people in regular life, I can feel exploited or an encumbrance or trivial. When I am in the presence of members, I feel surrounded by kindness, generosity, and connection, all of which fills me with hope.
This church and the Unitarian faith is a place of refuge and stability in my life. I can relax, breathe and belong, knowing I am in a community of openness and care.
Essex Church has been a home for me for since 1983. It has given me a sense of continuity in my life throughout its ups and downs. I have made many friends, sadly some are now deceased. The Church has been through ups and downs too and it still remains my home.