Blogging @ UCCN

Led by Louise Rogers, a group of UCCN-ers chose to start blogging.  In Louise's words, this is what we've been doing during the blogging workshop.  And there may soon be a few more blogs out there.

What is a blog?

Blogs, or Web logs, are online journals that are updated frequently, sometimes even daily. An update, (also called an entry or a post) is usually quite short, perhaps just a few sentences, and readers can often respond to an entry online. People who write blogs are commonly called bloggers. Bloggers, tongue in cheek, call themselves and their blogs the blogosphere.
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/writing-a-good-blog.html 

The difference between a blog and a website
Public?
Decide on a topic 
Personal profile
Viewing Unitarian blogs 

What do people like about some of these blogs?

• Snappy title
• A title that is understood and if not, an accessible explanation for the title
• Visually attractive, not too busy, no strong image under the writing, not to detract from the writing. If images attached to posts they should be attractive - copyright-free from  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page and http://creativecommons.org/ 
• Style - not too much jargon and complex language, accessible style. An open and honest approach, not being too dogmatic.
• Short pieces like poems which invite the reader to think.

What people don’t like

• To many visuals, too busy, image beneath the text
• Posts are too long
• Too many bees in their bonnets
• Too much political and religious ranting
• Overly complex language, jargon and abbreviations that are not common (OK to use common abbreviations like OK and BBC)
• Too long - not the place for sermons - consider setting up a personal website

Issues

• Confidentiality, writing about other people
• Archiving blogs which are not being added to 

For own blog

• Who is the audience?
• What do they want to know/what do you want to tell them? Information? Advice? Personal stories?
• How do they want this - words, pictures, podcasts, video?
• How often will you blog? Once a week? Once a month?
• How long will each post be?
• Will you allow comments and will you respond to these?

Blog and blogposts

• Your blog will have a title
• Each post will have a title - titles should offer a benefit, promise news or arouse curiosity.
• Do not have long, dense paragraphs
• Perhaps have sub-headings?
• Bulleted lists
• Can use contractions like don’t and can’t - this is not an English exam
• Have an easy style
• Use the word ‘you’ rather than ‘we’
• Explore different blog hosting services

Setting up a blog 

• Google account. To get to your blog sign into your Google account, search fro blogger and your sites will become visible.
• Privacy setting
• Lay-out, including gadgets
• Design
• Adding content - need to save it but until it is published it will not be viewed
• Copyright issues
• Links - use a gadget
• Polls - use a gadget
• Email new post alert - gadget
• Time zone - language and formatting under Settings
• Can write a post and set the time and date when it will be published 
• Labels for pages - determine which labels you want and list them under post settings 

Promoting your blog

• Linking to other sites e.g. UCCN, local congregation, districts
• Asking sites to link to your blog - as above
• Facebook and Twitter - can link via Blogger

New book on 18th century dissent

  A new novel, Agents of Reason, by John Issitt, explores the life of Jeremiah Joyce, a dissenting minister in the 1790s.

Jeremiah was a London radical. He and his associates gave themselves to the cause of freedom - a cause that was always dangerous and compromised.

When the Bastille fell in 1789, English radicals like Jeremiah saw the promise of freedom, but by early 1793 the French Revolution had turned into madness as Robespierre and the guillotine had produced a blood-bath.

In England the fear that the revolution might spread across the channel provoked reactionary responses and the years of William Pitt’s terror began. Radicals were hunted down. Some found themselves in Botany Bay, others charged with sedition or treason, languishing in Newgate and the Tower.

A simple guide to social media

How to market your brand / book / website on social media:

Set up a Facebook page and/or group where you will post regular news items (from your site and those of other relevant sites). Attract attention to it by posting it in other related Facebook groups (search in Groups for related keywords for your topic). Keep it updated regularly.

Set up a Twitter feed where you will post regular news items (from your site and those of other relevant sites). Attract attention to it by following other similar Twitter accounts (search for related keywords for your topic) and retweet and reply to their tweets. Keep it updated regularly.

Set up a blog where you will post regular blogposts about topical items in your subject area. Attract attention to it by adding other similar blogs to your blogroll (search for related keywords for your topic) and post comments on their blogs. Keep it updated regularly.

If you don't "get" Twitter, there's a remarkably succinct and clear summary of what it is and how it works in today's verdict on the Twitter joke trial. (PDF)

Using HootSuite (a paid service), you can also automatically send your blogposts to Twitter and Facebook.

Recommended reading

• ‎The Unitarian Life: Voices from the Past and Present by Stephen Lingwood - a collection of pieces written by various Unitarians through the centuries; gives a good overview of Unitarian thought on many different topics. 
• The Larger View by Vernon Marshall - the history of how Unitarianism became open to other faiths.    
• Unitarian - What's That? by Cliff Reed - another overview, in the form of a Q & A 
• The Unitarians: A Short History by Leonard Smith - gives history of development of Unitarianism (but omits the Earth Spirit strand and most of Transcendentalism)
• Being Together: Unitarians Celebrate Congregational Life - edited by Matthew F. Smith 
• Unitarian Perspectives on Contemporary Social Issues - edited by George Chryssides 
• Unitarian Perspective on Contemporary Religious Thought - edited by George Chryssides
• Elements of Unitarianism by George Chryssides - overview plus potted history. 
• A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism by John A Buehrens and Forrest Church. 
• Love and Death: My Journey through The Valley of the Shadow by Forrest Church 
• The Cathedral of the World: A Universalist Theology by Forrest Church 

You can buy some of these from the UK Unitarian website.

Unitarian Engagement Groups and Small Group Ministry 

Unitarian Engagement Groups - How to start and facilitate groups

Unitarian Christianity 

• David Doel, The Man they called the Christ 
• David Doel, That Glorious Liberty 

Unitarian Earth Spirit 

• Unitarianism and Druidry by Alastair Bate
• Pagan and pantheist tendencies in Unitarianism by Yvonne Aburrow

Press coverage of same-sex marriage campaign

Scottish Unitarians participated in a press conference at the offices of the Scottish Youth Parliament in Edinburgh. The Scottish Youth Parliament has been campaigning alongside the Equality Network, LGBT Youth and NUS LGBT Campaign for marriage equality. Leaders and representatives from the Quakers, Liberal Judaism, Unitarians, Metropolitan Community Church and Pagan Federation want the law changed to allow them to preside over same-sex marriages. A 14-week consultation asks if marriage in Scotland should be allowed for homosexual people through a civil or religious ceremony.

• Coverage in The Scotsman   
• There was a good photograph of Rev Maud Robinson and Rabbi Mark Solomon of Liberal Judaism at the press conference 
• A Press Association article released before the event was carried on several websites  
• And from BBC Scotland   
• Derek McAuley's response

Derek McAuley

Sound systems for churches

I recently spotted this article, Sound Systems for Better Sunday Worship in UU World and notice that Oldham Unitarians have just installed a video screen.

I thought it would be a good idea to improve sound systems in our chapels and churches, so I asked if there was a fund to support this.

Apparently the Millennium Fund is still in existence and could be a source of funding support. It does cover “fittings, furniture and equipment following developmental work eg audio loop systems” Any congregation interested in making an application should contact Derek McAuley.

UUCF on Facebook

The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship now has a Facebook page.

It's a great idea to have a Facebook page or group for your affinity group or society - that way, members can link together; you can raise awareness of your group and the issues you care about.

I'm a member of the CUUPs group (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans) on Facebook, and it has some quite active discussion topics.

Because people see things in the Facebook feed, having a Facebook page boosts the numbers who are interested in your group - but only if you post things (comments and articles) regularly on your wall.

Find out more about Unitarian societies and UU societies.

Welsh Unitarian Chapels open for European Heritage Days

Hen Dŷ Cwrdd, Alma Street, Trecynon, Aberdare
10 Sep 10am talk and walk around three sites in Trecynon

Hen Dŷ Cwrdd Unitarian Chapel, Cefn Coed y Cymer
10 Sep, 2pm-4.30pm; 11 Sep, 2.30pm-7pm (service, 6pm)

Yr Hen Gapel, Llwynrhydowen, Llandysul, Ceredigion
18 Sep 3pm-6pm (talks and choir; refreshments at Alltyrodyn Arms)

More details and photos of the Welsh churches

Introduction to social media

Report by Sue Woolley

Lifespan Religious Education Conference 2011
Star Island, New Hampshire, 16 – 23 July 2011
Report on Social Media Workshop by Sue Woolley

Thanks to the generosity of the Manchester Academy Trust and the Hibbert Trust, I was able to attend this conference. The basic structure of our own Hucklow Summer School is based on this Unitarian Universalist conference, so many elements were familiar to me: the morning devotions, the daily theme talk, the compulsory morning workshops, optional afternoon activities, and lantern-lit procession to evening worship.

The morning workshop that I attended was led by the dynamic Peter Bowden, who is a “church growth consultant and Unitarian Universalist change agent” (to quote himself) who has dedicated his life to helping UU congregations to understand social media and to use them effectively. His blog (which is well worth looking at) is UU growth. I am writing the workshop up without much comment, as the things he was telling us are just as relevant to Unitarian congregations in the UK as to UU congregations in the US, if not more so.

Read the rest of the report →

Reasonable contrast on web pages

For accessibility reasons, it's best to have high contrast text on a non-patterned background.

However, if you must have a fancy background, or you need a widget to turn off the styling of other people's sites, here's a neat bookmarklet that you can drag to your browser toolbar.

B on W

(via 456 Berea Street)

There are also browser add-ons for accessibility that you can get to help you test the contrast of a page.

How to add a favicon to your blog

What's a favicon?
In some browsers, it appears before the web address in the address bar; in others, it appears on the tab where your blog is displayed. It also appears next to the name of your blog if it is listed in someone else's blog-roll.

Making your favicon
You will need a graphics package such as Gimp to do this.

1. Find or create a square image - usually your logo. 
2. Reduce it in size to 16 by 16 pixels.

Adding your favicon

1. Go to the design view in your blog (click on design at the top right)
2. Just underneath the heading "Add and arrange page elements" it says "favicon". 
3. Click on the edit link next to favicon
4. Upload your newly-created square 16 x 16 image

Darling Buds

Darling Buds is the blog of Nelly Hench, from Octagon Unitarian Chapel in Norwich. She blogs about life, spirituality, home education, church services and much more. She is also a fan of Julian of Norwich, it seems.

Sound Systems

Just saw this article in UU World: Sound Systems for Better Sunday Worship

It makes some good points about why proper sound and video systems help with a sense of community and inclusion.

Unitarian Society for Psychical Studies

The Unitarian Society for Psychical Studies Annual Conference is on 24th September at Warwick. Cost £17.

LGBTQI Unitarians

Rainbow, the group for LGBTQI Unitarians, now has a website. It explains why there is a need for such a group, lists forthcoming events, and has a resources page with links to similar groups.

It's great to see this group, though I hope it will soon become a national organisation, as there are LGBTQI people in other regions than London and the South-East. However, they do welcome people from other districts.

Of course, there's nothing to stop LGBTQI people in other districts starting their own groups.

The Gospel and the Zodiac

Oldham Unitarian Chapel

Saturday 9th July, 10.30 a.m. till 3.15 p.m.

Speaker and author: Rev. Bill Darlison, will talk about his book, The Gospel and the Zodiac.

In The Gospel and the Zodiac, Unitarian minister Bill Darlison demonstrates that the Gospel of Mark - considered the primary document of Christianity - is deliberately structured around the signs of the zodiac. Darlison argues that the Gospel was originally an esoteric rather than a historical text, and that its stories were never intended to be interpreted in a literal sense. Rather, they are dramatic representations of stages in spiritual development, and repositories of arcane wisdom.

Light lunch and refreshments available.

All are welcome!

Ring to reserve your place: 0161 339 6740 (preferred) or just turn up.

Location: King Street / Connaught Street, Oldham, OL8 1EB

Details:

10 am arrive for coffee / tea

10.30 am presentation The Gospel and the Zodiac

12.30 pm lunch

Afternoon Session

1.30 pm The Gospel and the Zodiac

2.45 pm questions and discussion

3.15 pm coffee / tea

Close.

If you could bring a copy of the Bible for reference to Mark's gospel it would be helpful to you.

Register for this event

Lesbian and Gay Foundation Faithbook

The Lesbian and Gay Foundation have produced a booklet on faith and LGBT, wittily entitled Faithbook.

I was disappointed to see that it does not have a section on Unitarians, just a brief mention on page 43 in the listings section - and we are listed under Christian, which is not entirely accurate. This is a bit sad when we have been LGBT-welcoming since 1970.

Nor is there a section on the Metropolitan Community Church - which is weird when they are a major LGBT church.

I was glad to see it included Wicca (but why no other Pagan traditions?).

New Google tool - what do you love?

What do you love? brings together a variety of Google tools in one place to provide comprehensive information about a topic.

I tried it with the search term Unitarians and it works quite well.

Oldham Unitarians Launch Campaign for Aslyum Seekers

Members of Oldham Unitarian Chapel have launched a campaign to stop the deportation of two asylum seekers who are currently destitute and fear the consequences of being sent back to their own country.

The launch took place at 12pm on June 12th following the Sunday morning service and included a photo opportunity

The two refugees are: Abdoulaye Diabate from the Ivory Coast and Taha Ghasemi from Iran.

Abdoulaye fled the Ivory Coast after experiencing imprisonment and torture in 2006. His sister was caught up in the violence and raped. He does not know if she is still alive.

Taha Ghasemi is a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party who arrived in the United Kingdom in September 2006 following his imprisonment and torture at the hands of Iranian police and the security forces. As a known supporter of the Kurdish cause in Iran he faces immediate arrest and imprisonment should he be returned to Iran.

The campaign for Abdoulaye and Taha will include petitions, letters to MPs and other activities.

Both Abdoulaye and Taha are regular visitors to the Welcome Project sponsored by Oldham Unity. This voluntary support service for destitute asylum seekers takes place every Thursday at Oldham Baptist Church.

A social event for asylum seekers and their families takes place at Oldham Unitarian Chapel on the last Saturday of each month.

Media Links

• Oldham Advertiser: Church launches bid to stop asylum seekers from being deported
• Oldham Chronicle

Bob Pounder

Source: GA Uni-News

A questioning blog

Rev Gill from Rochdale has started a blog called Living in the Question. The name comes from a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke:

'I want to beg you, as much as I can . . . to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves. . . . Do not seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.' -- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

I always enjoy reading her pieces in the Rochdale church newsletter, so I am sure that her blog will be equally full of gems!

The title also reminds me of the character George in Room with a View by E M Forster, who paints a question mark on the door of his room. And of the quip about Unitarianism being the religion where all your answers are questioned!