Greetings, CTU Members and Friends –
Photo courtesy of Frank Mckenna
August is our month for cultivating our imagination. What can we be? How can we help? What wants to happen? These are some of the questions we will ponder together as we snuggle up for our last month of wintry weather.
Check out a special service on the Aramaic translation of the Lord’s prayer with Patricia Fresen, and another Wellness Workshop!
The Spiritual Care Cafes were a success! See below for August dates.
Also, get excited for the first Sunday in September, when we’ll create a service including our older Unitarian songs and and and a more CTU traditional gathering.
As always, if you are in need of a supportive ear, don’t hesitate to set up time with me. It is an honour to serve this community.
With love and light,
Nima
nimajanettaylor@gmail.com // WhatsApp number: 0760249120
UPCOMING SUNDAY TOPICS
7 August – Special Pan-African Unitarians day (hybrid): NOTE THIS SUNDAY WILL BE GOOGLE MEET NOT ZOOM. Click here for the link. Join us for this special day to celebrate with Unitarians throughout Africa. Roux and Gur will lead us in learning more about our Unitarian partners in other African countries. In French and English with translations. (might run until 12 pm with all the great videos being produced.)
14 August – The Power of Visualisation (hybrid): Our imagination muscle is the strongest muscle in our body! In Buddhism, several practices are designed to cultivate our imagination to see ourselves and the world transformed. Nima will share some of these practices, and we will have some time in meditation to ponder.
21 August– Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic (hybrid): Patricia Fresen, the first South African ordained Roman Catholic Womanpriest, will share her translation of the Lord’s Prayer into Aramaic. What can we learn about the original meaning of this important Christian prayer?
28 August Women’s Month, a reflection: Join us as we reflect on some of the stories that lead to us celebrating women's month.
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
6 August (Saturday), 10 am: Somerset West Fellowship
As the world becomes more disrupted, more quickly and in more ways, how can we cope? Based on the philosophies of Rudolf Steiner, a philosopher and mystic, and Otto Scharmer, a specialist in spiritual leadership, Nima will explore spiritual practices that enable us to become more fully aware of our internal state and how this state impacts our experience of living. We will also explore how to support others in community at a deeper, more holistic level. Bring whatever issue you might be struggling with, and let's try them out on ourselves!The meeting will take place in the Chapel Room at Vonke House, 121 Lourensford Road. Attendance is limited to 30 people. Those who want to attend can sign up by phoning Dave and Jeanie Mayes on 021 850 0863 or sending them an email at davidjeanmayes@gmail.com.
Saturday, 27 August, 1:30 - 5:30 pm Wellness Workshop: Hans will be facilitating another Wellness Workshop with many arts and crafts activities to pursue. We continue on our spiritual journey, as a work of evolving art, where creativity, mindfulness and spirituality meet.. Based on Nima’s recent sharing of Otto Scharmer and Rudolf Steiner’s philosophical works, and the question, how does our future Self want you to show up today? How might we do that?
Can we transmute old fears, old patterns of being and transcend to a better fuller more expansive version of ourselves.
We seek out to explore this in a safe creative space through meditation, applying Ikigai theory, some artistic exercises (collage + crafts, knitting, journalling), and sharing within the circle. Come join with others to Invest some time and deep searching for your higher self as a conscious collective.
Spiritual Care Cafe presented by the Spiritual Care Team
Join Nima, Melanie and Karin as we co-create with you a sacred safe space for our community. Come as you are and share your joys, sorrows or concerns; or if you are feeling alone or lonely, come and join us. You are allowed to come as you are, without your sparkle, or if you are feeling particularly sparkly, join us! We are offering this service online and in-person but not as a hybrid event.
In person gathering at the CTU building, 64 Hout Street, will be Saturday, 13 August 3:30 - 5 pm.
Online gathering on Zoom will be Tuesday, 30 August 7- 8:30 pm.
Format: Quaker-style sharing/meditation. Bring a candle.
20 August, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm: Online/Hout Street Chalice Circle
Nima is leading a Chalice Circle that is always a hybrid event. Contact her at NimaJanetTaylor@gmail.com for more details.
Next council meeting will be Sunday, 18 September, 12p, - 2 pm. All are welcome. Let Nolu know at Community@CapeTownUnitarians.org if you’d like to attend.
Chalice Kids
We have a robust Chalice Kids education project every month. This month will be exploring the theme of Joy with some song and dance with drumming! If you would like for your child to participate, contact Nima, who will help you choose the right group for your kid(s). Email Nima at nimajanettaylor@gmail.com.
Young Adults Chalice Circle
We have a group of young adults who gather for various fun activities and deep discussions. Contact Johan Groenewald at +27-82-897-5000 for more information.
Meet our member, Ana Van Straten
My Spiritual Journey
What was your religious experience/education (or none) growing up?
I grew up in an atheist household and my only exposure to religion was at school, where we sang Christian hymns and where my friends would tell me about their families' religious practices. As a teen I searched for a religion that I could relate to and found beauty and peace in many different communities and philosophies (Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity), but I never settled.
How/when did you first discover Unitarianism?
I found the Cape Town Unitarians online, felt immediately drawn to the community's ethos, and almost went to a Sunday gathering, but then didn't have transport and didn't end up going! A few years later, I rediscovered CTU when I was googling to find a community of like-minded people in Cape Town. It had been so long since my first discovery of CTU that I'd almost completely forgotten about it! I read up on the website and had a strong gut feeling (again) that this was the community for me. This time, partially due to easy access (meeting on Zoom), I attended my first service and felt such a sense of belonging. Now I am attached to the soothing services and group meditations and I notice I'm a lot more grumpy whenever I miss a weekly event.
Why did you choose to participate in the Cape Town Unitarian community?
What I love about CTU is that I am still free to explore so many paths and schools of thought. It is like the church of Openness. I feel so loved and seen at CTU. I feel like myself -- my weird, silly, shy self. It is a wonderful experience! I think this was what I was looking for in the communities I spent time in as a teenager, this affirmation that I'm okay the way I am and that I'm free -- that we're free together.
COMMUNITY UPDATES
Our New Principle Statement
We are happy to share that CTU’s new principle statement was approved at CTU’s Annual General Meeting at the end of May. A huge thanks to Shelley and Melanie, who initiated this process in 2021 because CTU as a community had not consciously examined the origins, wording and meaning of the principles and the impact of taking on another culture’s values, however subtle and over a long period of time. Below is the full text of our new principle:
We are a progressive spiritual tradition that recognises our shared communal responsibility for conscious reconciliation within our locality and the global community, who are a part of our history. We also acknowledge our part in the symbiotic connectedness with all human and non-human life with whom we share this planet. As a result:
We support a respectful, diverse and inclusive community that creates a free, safe space to think, believe and act in accordance with our shared and individual values.
Each voice and perspective is inherently invited and welcomed as they carry significance and importance in our decision-making.
We nurture and embrace each other and the community at large as a basis for our continued sustainability and prosperity.
While these values define who we are as a community, it is in living them that we confirm our commitment to each other..