Activities

Services
As in any religious community, important festivals and rites of passage are observed. Christmas, harvest and springtime occasions such as Easter are celebrated in a non-dogmatic way. Our services usually include hymns, prayers and/or meditations, and lively addresses intended to spark spiritual reflection in the individual.

We celebrate weddings, child naming ceremonies and funerals. Same-sex blessings are also valued, as Unitarians were among the first to acknowledge the sanctity of loving relationships among people of the same gender.

In addition, we celebrate some uniquely Unitarian services, such as the annual Flower Communion , in which flowers are brought and exchanged in recognition of the importance of the individual in relation to their community. In the autumn, after members return from their holidays in far-flung places, we celebrate a Gathering of the Waters Service, in which samples of the waters from around the globe are encouraged to mingle in a common vessel.

Children
Because Unitarians believe attitudes to spiritual matters begin early in life, every attempt is made to allow children the same freedom of exploration enjoyed by their parents. A skilled leader is provided for children’s activities that take place during the main services. These involve fun as well as an opportunity to think and talk about important matters, often involving the content of religious and folk parables and tales from many world sources.

Adult religious education
Arising from the Unitarian view that all religious belief is personal and worked out by the individual, we offer several opportunities each year to address the issues of a personal theology. Small groups meet to hear ideas, reflect upon and discuss them in a safe, non-academic environment. One of the best-known of these, called “Building Your Own Theology”, has been practised in several countries for more than thirty years.

Other activities

We are currently fortunate enough to be able to call on a number of excellent organists or pianists to play at our services, and some members of the congregation have formed a small choir to take the lead in introducing new hymns, or sometimes singing more elaborate pieces on their own.

Most Unitarians are avid readers, and our community has an active book group, in which participants read and discuss works that interest them from a social or spiritual point of view. The book group currently meets monthly.

We also enjoy feasting, and so many of our special events are followed by big shared meals in our hall.

Housing Association
The Croydon Unitarian Housing Association was set up by members of the Church in 1974. It provides sheltered housing for single elderly people at Marten House, a property in South Croydon. The scheme is professionally managed by Eldon Housing, overseen by a management committee largely comprised of Church members.