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Orkneys, ho!

Stephen Lingwood’s reportage of a new Unitarian chapel and retreat center in the Orkney Islands appeals to me in a lot of ways.

While this would be the most northerly outpost for Unitarianism in the British Isles, the Unitarian Unitarian Fellowship of Fairbanks (Alaska) is father north, and perhaps too the small group in St. Petersburg. The mind reels. Perhaps the Shetlands next?

This entry was posted by Scott Wells on Monday, 17 July 2006 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Church development, Liminal places, World Unitarianism and Universalism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “Orkneys, ho!”

  1. C. Wess Daniels responds:
    17 July 2006 at 7:16 pm

    Scott - congrats on getting into Scribe - you’ve been in my RSS for a while it’s nice to see you’re a part of the community now.

  2. Scott Wells responds:
    17 July 2006 at 11:47 pm

    Thanks. Looking to your blog, do I take it you also use Ubuntu Linux? It is what all the cool kids are using.

  3. C. Wess Daniels responds:
    18 July 2006 at 1:52 pm

    Hi Scott - funny thing is I don’t use it but I’ve been having some ongoing conversations over the past two weeks about making the switch. I think in the end I am going to stick with OSX - I know the UI too well. How about you?

  4. Scott Wells responds:
    18 July 2006 at 2:55 pm

    Not a Mac fan. Love Ubuntu and can’t see I’d switch.

  5. Sue Mosher responds:
    19 July 2006 at 5:00 pm

    This is wonderful news! The Orkneys are one of my favorite places on the planet — St.Magnus Cathedral, Maes Howe, Scapa Flow, art museum in Stromness, great food, etc. Now I have another reason to plan a return visit.

    For those who want to know more, I found this information at http://users.ox.ac.uk/~wolf1200/chapelonline/HomePage/NewsMayJune06.html :

    Farther afield, what about a complete break at Haughland House, the new Unitarian Retreat House at Shapinsay, Orkney? Full board for 1–4 nights costs £30 per night; full board for five nights costs £140; and full board for 7 nights costs £196. There is an on-going programme of meditation, music, story telling, circle dancing, yoga, reiki, and crafts, and special weekend events throughout the summer and autumn. Email lesleymckeown at hotmail.com for details.

  6. Ole responds:
    26 July 2006 at 8:33 am

    The Finnish UUs are further North, and the Norwegian Unitarians may be so, too.

  7. Scott Wells responds:
    26 July 2006 at 9:53 am

    Ole is right that Helsinki and Oslo farther north (by at least a half a degree) than where I think the Orkneys chapel is. Fairbanks is still in the lead.

  8. Scott Wells responds:
    15 September 2006 at 10:20 pm

    Contact info:

    Hollandstoon Unitarian Chapel,
    Haughland, Shapinsay, Orkney KW17 2DZ
    Tel: (01856) 711 750
    Services: 12.15 pm

    New or newish at http://www.unitarian.org.uk/local_scotland.htm

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