Tuesday 9 November 2010

Off-putting quirks

Andy of thoughtsON has some excellent points in a blog-post entitled It isn't welcoming if I can't figure out how to get inside.

All of these are excellent pointers for Unitarian congregations who don't want to put off newcomers by our funny quirky little habits.

Additional ones for British Unitarians to think about...

Remember to brief the visiting worship leader about what happens with the collection and the notices and the musical interludes. And bring them a glass of water and tell them where the loo is. (Most people do remember most of these, most of the time.)

If you sing the Lord's Prayer / Prayer of Jesus: not everyone knows the tune, or knows the same tune as you.

Children don't always like being sung out of the sanctuary with the same song. Go Now In Peace can get awfully samey. And don't get me started on that Rumi chant, Ours is no caravan of despair.

Please feel free to add your pet peeves in the comments!

Friday 5 November 2010

Hoax emails

If you receive an email warning you of a virus, a scam, or telling some incredible story or urban myth, please always search on Google to see if these are a hoax before forwarding them.

Reputable email debunking sites include:


If you get an email warning of a virus, check at:


These are some of the hoax emails that I have received recently, all false (some dangerously so), all forwarded by well-meaning people. Please do a search to check if it's true before forwarding these things.

Completely false:


True once, but five years out of date:
These were true but out of date, as the scams were shut down in 2005:


Mixture of true and false information:
This one sounds plausible but is a mixture of true and false information:

True, but crucial information omitted:
This one was true, but the email missed out some really important steps in the process and both sexes suffer from atypical heart attacks, so both men and women should be alert: