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!

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:

• Hoax-Slayer
• Snopes

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

• McAfee virus info
• Virus Hoaxes
• Symantec security response
• Symantec A to Z listing of threats

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:

• "Palestinian child brides" - remember even if there are photos included, there could be an innocent explanation
• "Starbucks refuse free coffee to soldiers"

True once, but five years out of date:
These were true but out of date, as the scams were shut down in 2005:

• Belize postal scam
• PDS phone scam

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

• Plastic water bottles cause cancer
• Plastic water bottles contain toxins

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:

• Heart attack experience in women

What is a Unitarian?

About 15 Unitarians share what Unitarianism means to them and how they came to be one.

Bob Pounder's induction

What is a Unitarian? (1)

What is a Unitarian? (2)

How to create a blog

Here's a video from Blogger about how to set up a blog.

How to use a URL shortener

Web addresses (URLs) can be very long, and if you are pasting them into an email, Twitter, or printing them in your newsletter, it's better to use a URL shortener. This creates a much shorter version of the web address, which redirects to the long version. This saves space in Twitter, prevents the problem of URLs breaking when they are wrapped round to the next line in emails, and saves your newsletter readers from typing out the long version.

Upper Chapel, Sheffield

Upper Chapel, Sheffield has a lovely courtyard that is used by members of the public wishing to sit in peaceful surroundings to rest, eat their lunch or use as a short cut to the city centre shops. The chapel has three static notice boards used to attract the attention of people passing by. However, the chance find of a discarded A Board by our resourceful caretaker has opened up other possibilities. This is now used to grab the interest of people either walking through or sitting in the courtyard. Displayed in these pictures are two of the recently advertised poster set available from Essex Hall. Perfect for getting people to stop and stare. A boards are great adaptable publicity aids. They can hold posters showing who Unitarians are, advertise forthcoming chapel events, showcase what the congregation stands for, display photos and other material about what has been taking place in the building etc. The opportunities are as endless as the collective imagination of your congregation.

Marion Baker

UK Unitarian Blog Aggregator

I have just created a Yahoo Pipe which pulls together content from UK Unitarian blogs (I can't figure out how to get the blog name and author in there, as they don't appear to be stored in the blogpost bit of the RSS feeds) but it does at least only take an excerpt of the post, and then you click through to the original blogpost). If you go to the Pipe page, you can get a badge for your blog or website which pulls in the latest posts from UK Unitarian blogs. Click on the "Get a Badge" link and follow the steps in the popup.

There is now a page on this blog dedicated to blogposts from UK Unitarian bloggers, as well as links to them on the sidebar on the right.