#BELIEVEINGOOD
on insta @brumunitarians
Sunday gatherings, 11am, that welcome non-theists as well as those with a faith belief. With free, professionally-led children's provision every first and third Sunday of the month. Tea, coffee and connection afterwards. We look forward to welcoming you!
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Over autumn we'll be exploring an overarching theme of 'Place', with a varied and thought-provoking series of Sunday gatherings designed to be inclusive of everyone, from atheists to those with their own belief systems. We have gatherings in the running on varied topics, including one inspired by the Birmingham artist John Newling's work on puddles; by the Ladywood Regeneration; looking at our relationship and feelings/love for Birmingham; examining our place in the year around the autumn equinox; a gathering featuring renowned live artist Stacy Makishi, a very special series of gatherings in December as we run up to Christmas, and much more still to be announced. As always, please keep an eye on our website for the most up-to-date information.
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Looking for community, reflection, and connection, where all are welcome irrespective of belief? Join us! Whatever your belief or non-belief, you're welcome here.
Children and their noise are welcome any Sunday, not just on the first and third Sundays.
follow us on insta @brumunitarians
ABOUT​
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Brum Unitarians is a radically inclusive community meeting weekly in the centre of Birmingham, with a 300+ year history of social action. We are focused not on what we believe (plenty of us are atheists) but instead on the values we share, and the way we can best live those values out in the world.
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In ​2025 we started a new series of 'non-religious' Sunday gatherings inclusive of people of all faiths and none. We believe there's good in gathering together, singing together and sharing time together, across our different stances on belief, and we're focused on being inclusive of all. A bit like a church where everyone’s welcome, including atheists, and where inspiration is taken from sources beyond simply religious texts.
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Join us if:
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You have a gap in your life you'd like to fill with more community and connection
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You like the idea of a space in your week to bring you back to yourself: a space to step away from the practicalities of work, caring, consumerism, etc and to reflect more consciously about what you are doing and who you are being in the world
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You have an interest in religion and/or spirituality but haven't found a place that feels comfortable for you
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The idea of a children's programme examining their values, the world around them and how they fit into it appeals to you for any child/ren in your life: we are currently on the lookout for additional families who are motivated by this, and someone to volunteer to assist on a funding bid connected to it. Contact us if that could be you!​
On the first and third Sundays of the month dedicated childcare and children's activities will be available during the gatherings, professionally-led, at no cost. There'll be tea, coffee and chat at the end.
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Whoever you are, wherever you're from, whatever you believe or don't believe, whatever your background, the colour of your skin, however you identify, whatever you've done and whoever you love: there is a place for you here.
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Our building is wheelchair accessible and has an induction hearing loop, and we are welcoming of all diversities including neurodiversities. If you have any accessibility needs that you want to discuss before attending, please just get in touch.
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SUNDAYS / COMING UP
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What if humans focused less on religion and more on building community and changing the world for the better? We welcome people of all beliefs, including those who don't identify with any religion. What matters to us is the values we share and the way we try to live those out in the world. Our focus is on honest inquiry and practical change, rather than dogma or rigid belief systems. Our gatherings bring people together to explore life's big questions, drawing on wisdom from multiple traditions, our ethics and our own life experiences. Amongst our community in Birmingham, you can find all sorts of people, from committed atheists through to those who have specific faith heritages like Christianity or paganism, and yet others who take an eclectic approach to faith. We put less emphasis on formal beliefs and more on connection, meaning and practical living.
If you walk into one of our Sunday gatherings, you’ll find a welcome, a time to greet others, a
time for silence and meditation, a time for sharing joys and sorrows, excellent music, and a
message delivered by our minister or a guest visitor / lay member. So it may look a bit like
what you might recognise as a ‘church’ service, but without the traditional religious elements
and language which go along with that.
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All our gatherings are a space for everyone, from 0 to 99+. Children's laughter, cries and conversation are welcome expressions of their presence. There are always toys and books in the lobby for children to explore, whatever the week. There's tea, coffee and connection straight after.
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11am. Come join!​​
Upcoming dates for your diary:​
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Sunday 14th September - the second in our resumed 'non-religious' Sunday gatherings at 11am. This gathering is titled "Home Bab” and might be described as a love letter to Birmingham, delivered by Angela Maher, one of our experienced lay gatherings leaders.
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Sunday 21st September - a gathering around the Autumn Equinox, looking at balance in both the natural world and our own lives.
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Sunday 28th September - a gathering led by Suse, one of our lay gatherings leaders looking at 'place' from the particular angle of green space, access to it, and some hopeful stories of change.
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Sunday 5th October - "Barriers around and within", a gathering considering the explosion in foodbanks since 2010, and the factors that keep us divided, both from the resources we need and each other. We will be running a collection for The Ladywood Project for foodbank essentials: please bring non-perishable food items and (new) hygiene items.
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​Sunday 12th October - "Finding our place - through webcomics". A gathering led by a member of our community and one of our lay gatherings leaders, Aleks Zglinska (she/they). As the world of news and media has changed, one of the most fluid of changes was the ease with which comics and illustrated media moved to online spaces. Webcomics started in the 1980s, and today many of us consume and share them in online spaces. They have become a space for modern philosophy and communication of complex topics. In particular, they have given many artists direct access to vast audiences, without the intermediary of traditional print media. Aleks loves the gentle ministry of sharing these little gems, and is excited to introduce you to some of her favourites.​
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Sunday 26th October - "Neighbours, the Good Samaritan, and radical inclusion?" This gathering will be led by Angela, one of our experienced lay leaders. She will invite us to consider what it means to "love your neighbour as yourself", not as a rule but as a practice of radical inclusion. We'll look at how the Christian story of The Good Samaritan can be relevant in a modern context independent of Christian faith, thinking about both empathy and care for others, and for ourselves. We'll also be invited into a loving-kindness meditation from the Buddhist tradition.
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Immediately after the gathering will be the first time we will "break ground", in connection with our eco-action project for which we've received funding from GrassRoutes/The Bahu Trust, to transform our plain grass area into an insect-friendly, wildlife-rich area. Come ready to have your post-gathering hot drink outside, grab a spade and get digging! (Not compulsory, for those who want to stay inside in the warm!)
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Saturday 1st November - our eco-action launch event! FREE bug/ecology workshop with renowned queer ecologist Jazmeen Isa Qureshi. For everyone, whether you're a professor or a preschooler. With free food! Please book space here to help us manage numbers: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/free-bugecology-workshop-with-renowned-queer-ecologist-jazmeen-isa-qureshi-tickets-1771544219449?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
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Sunday 9th November - "Alternative Remembrance Sunday" gathering led by Angela Maher
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Sunday 16th November - "Another World is Possible: Building Common Space for the Common Good" co-led by Roberta Wedge, visiting us from New Unity, London. This gathering will ask: how can we create common spaces from principles of dignity, justice, and compassion? How can we re-shape our cities to allow everyone to move around with freedom, and even with joy? Drawing inspiration from Dutch cycling infrastructure, we'll be prompted to re-think the phrase “stay in your lane” as a positive metaphor for mutual respect, clear boundaries, and shared harmony. ​
Roberta came to the Unitarian movement via New Unity in London. She has spent much of her adult life gently tootling around London, by bus, by Tube, on foot, and on a succession of very un-TourDeFrance bicycles. Half her family is from the West Midlands, so this visit to Birmingham counts as a re-connection. We're looking forward to welcoming her.
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Looking ahead to December - the first three Sundays in December we have a fantastic Christmas line-up planned. We'll add details here shortly (if you can't wait, check out the MeetUp page for Brum Unitarians) but in short, we have a Toy Service with live artist Stacy Makishi, a Carols for all Sunday gathering, and a Sunday gathering themed around the story of "A Christmas Carol". More to follow soon!
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Stay tuned here for more dates and details to be added, or see our MeetUp group (BRUM unitarians) for the schedule as it currently stands between now and Christmas.
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Join our WhatsApp announcements group to be kept up to date on these and other speakers and events coming up during this year, either by clicking the link below or scanning the QR code below:
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https://chat.whatsapp.com/H7Eir42Tbga9Rb8JiCDDtt
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CEREMONIES
Weddings/marriage
We conduct weddings and blessings for all same-sex, heterosexual and queer unions. We believe that every relationship of love between human beings is sacred. There is no requirement to be a member of Brum Unitarians, or to hold any belief.
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When getting married here, the couple themselves are encouraged to help arrange the ceremony, choosing their own music, rituals, readings and forms of words to make it a meaningful process and ceremony for them, and a joyful and memorable occasion.
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Child dedication/naming ceremonies
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These ceremonies (similar to baptism/christenings) can celebrate a child's birth, adoption, or coming of age into the community of life on earth. They are happy and undogmatic occasions.
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Parents will be encouraged and helped to participate in creating a service that has meaning to them, incorporating rituals (new or old), and words that symbolise their wishes for their child's future.
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Memorial services / funerals
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We can provide bespoke funerals, commemoration services and memorial services to support those who wish to mark their grief at the loss of a loved one, say goodbye, and celebrate their loved one's life in community with others.
Services may include a eulogy, poems or readings, prayers or time for meditation, music with hymns/songs, personal reflection, stories and memories of the departed. We can work with you to reflect your own preferences.
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Please contact Winnie to talk more about any of these:
LEADERSHIP
Our congregation is a collaborative leadership between our committee and our part-time minister Rev Winnie Gordon (she/her) since 2014. Winnie's delivery of Sundays consciously caters for the spectrum of beliefs held by those who attend Unitarian services.
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Originally raised Roman Catholic, Winnie came to Unitarianism in 2006, seeking a place where doubts were welcome and questions encouraged, and she very quickly recognised it as her spiritual home. For Winnie, her practice as a Unitarian is a way of living a life that is inclusive, furthering fairness and equality, and seeking justice for all. She works at fulfilling these precepts in all she does: in conducting inclusive gatherings, aiding in training of 'lay worship' leaders, and in encouraging Unitarian endeavours in anti-racism work. She is also involved with the Ladywood Community Project, a local charity that aids families experiencing financial hardship and poverty.
SPACES
We have a number of spaces for hire, suitable for community groups, events and celebrations, and classes. For queries about room, hall or whole building hire, or car parking space hire, please contact:
unitariannewmeetingbirmingham@yahoo.co.uk
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FIND US
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31 Ryland St, Five Ways, Birmingham B16 8BL
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You'll find our building at the address above, just off Five Ways, - look for the one storey brick building in the photo below.
It’s accessible by any of the local buses going towards Broad Street, by Five Ways Train Station, by Five Ways Metro Tram Stop, and has easy (free) on-site parking too, though is
within the city’s clean air zone.
Contact form for car park and building rental queries
This form is undergoing testing, so if it doesn't work for you, please use the email address for space/car park hire queries instead:
unitariannewmeetingbirmingham@yahoo.co.uk
31 Ryland Street, B16 8BL
