Our Services

Unitarian House, 99 Osmond Terrace, Norwood
Unitarian House, 99 Osmond Terrace, Norwood

We look forward to welcoming you to join us for our regular gatherings.  These include:

  • Weekly services held at our Norwood meeting house at 99 Osmond Terrace, Norwood, at 10.30 am Sundays. Services typically last for about an hour, followed by a social hour with coffee and tea provided . Services are generally led by our Minister, Kris Hanna, and occasionally led by guests or church members.
  • Monthly vesper services at our Shady Grove Chapel are held on the first Sunday of every month (except January), at either 4 or 5 pm, depending on the season. These are conducted by members of the congregation, visiting speakers, or the Minister. Services are followed by a shared, bring-a-plate meal. Shady Grove is situated in the Adelaide Hills in native bushland at the end of Tadmor Lane which intersects Shady Grove Road, between Littlehampton and Balhannah.

Words of Spirit gathering: an alternative form of worship. These take place on the third Wednesday of each month from 6 pm until 7 pm. All are welcome.

What and how:
Though individual services may vary in content and order, our Sunday services generally have these components:

  • Opening words or an invocation as we light our chalice flame
  • A story for all ages, generally directed to the children (but usually with relevance to the adults too).
  • Sunday Club–a separate space and activities for children directed by qualified carers and parents.
  • A time for individual worshippers to light candles to mark recent significant events in tbeir spiritual lives – joys, concerns, sorrows, landmarks
  • A time of reflection, meditation and private prayer
  • 2 or 3 contemporary hymns or songs
  • An address and a related reading of 15-20 minutes. This time may include activities, discussion, or audio-visuals. (As befits a free church, the purpose of our preaching is not to expound doctrine, but to ‘afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.’ You may therefore hear things that will challenge you to deeper personal reflection, and stir you up to a more considered personal faith and more ethical living.)
  • Excellent and varied musical interludes, ranging from classical, to jazz, to folk, to R and B.

For a schedule of this month’s service topics, please refer to our current Newsletter.

Podcasts

An archive of audio podcasts of recent service addresses is accessible on our Expanding Horizons site

Online  

We have created a closed Facebook group for creating and maintaining informal connections between our members, called SA Unitarians Coffee Hour. You DO need a Facebook account to participate in the Facebook group. To join the SA Unitarians Coffee Hour closed Facebook group, click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/saunitarians/

Don’t forget, you can also listen to our back catalogue of services through our podcast Expanding Horizons: https://unitariansa.podbean.com/. Our Facebook page holds all of the above information and is regularly updated with the latest: https://www.facebook.com/saunitarians/. And of course, our website is at: https://unitariansa.org.au/.