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CURRENT
PROGRAMME - LATEST NEWSLETTER
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Chair:
Yvonne Bracken-Kemish is a music teacher
and singer. She has conducted research into educational
methods and given talks to our group on that topic. She
conducts Humanist weddings and parental commitment
ceremonies. With three small
children her activities have had to be somewhat
curtailed over the past few years!
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Secretary - Alan Grandy.
Newsletter Martin Lake
e.mail walker@martinlake.plus.com
Meetings
Current meetings information is on the
latest newsletter see here
We meet on the second
Wednesday of every month except August. Doors open at 7.30pm and the
business of the meeting starts at 8.pm. The topics covered by our
meetings range from matters of international concern, such as the
role of the United Nations and "third world" poverty,
through social and humanitarian issues, philosophical and scientific
discussions to questions about the role of Humanism itself
Meetings start 7.30
for 8 pm and finish 10 pm.
see Newsletter
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Social
Events
Every summer we enjoy a garden party
which is held in a member's garden. There are refreshments, quiz,
raffle, items for sale but, as ever, the main pleasure is the
opportunity for relaxed conversation. Please contact the group for
details.
We also mark the winter solstice with a
dinner, usually just after the New Year.
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Sutton Humanist Group was founded late
in 1955 by George and Marjorie Mepham. It held its inaugural public
meeting on Sunday, 15 January, 1956. Since then it has maintained a
regular programme of meetings and discussions. It also raises funds
for charities and holds various social events for members and
friends.
George Mepham created a tradition of
raising funds for good causes, usually for charities that could use
our donations for the benefit of the people of Sutton, although we
have also supported suitable ventures further afield, like the
Atheist centre in Bombay.
Our main fund raising event is now our
annual concert at the Charles Cryer Studio Theatre in Carshalton. It
is arranged each year by Yvonne Bracken-Kemish, who presents a
varied programme performed by a company of young and more
experienced musicians. We have sometimes had dancers, magicians and
other types of performance as well. This year's concert will be held
on Sunday 19th October
Talks
on Humanism
Over the years, Sutton Humanists have
given talks in and around the borough. Requests have come from many
groups and societies seeking information about Humanism. Members
have also taken sessions in schools wanting to broaden their pupils'
perspectives. All our talks are informative only; we respect the
right of others to differ from us and do not try to convert them.
The Group will provide a speaker to any group interested to learn
about Humanism.
Looking
to the Future
Modern technological advance poses ever
more complex moral questions, which extend traditional ethics to its
limits and beyond. The "secularisation of society" is part
of the process of coming to terms with new social realities. The
vast majority of people seek, as ever, to maintain moral standards,
but the old formulae no longer suffice. We have to think more
radically than ever before. Sutton Humanist Group is open to all
people who have serious concerns about personal and social morality
and do not wish to express them through religious affiliation. We
provide opportunities to meet like-minded people and, where
appropriate to co-operate in practical action.
George
Mepham
A co-founder of Sutton Humanists, George
Mepham (1917-1995) exemplified very fully the Humanist way of life.
He worked tirelessly for his humanitarian ideals and participated
keenly in many of the voluntary organisations in the borough. He was
well known in and around Sutton for conducting non-religious
funerals. His sudden death in may 1995 at the age of 78 sadly
prevented him from witnessing the fortieth anniversary of the
Humanist group to which he dedicated most of his free time.
A
Local Connection
Frank Dickinson, the designer and
builder of Little Holland House in Beeches Avenue, Carshalton, lived
by Humanist principles. On a beam in his living room he carved the
legend: Serve Humanity, the Gods We Know Not.
Dickinson and his wife Florence made
their vows at the Ethical Church in Bayswater. In his unpublished
autobiography, Dickinson describes how, after visiting the register
office, they went to the choral service in a hall "filled with
members of the church, relatives and friends, also members of the
local socialist group." He goes on: "The service ended,
refreshments and dancing followed, the Principal leading the dance
with the bride who was carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers. The
whole service was everything that could be desired, reverence and
rejoicing in complete harmony...."
The "Principal" that Dickinson
mentions was almost certainly Stanton Coit. He transformed his
original West London Ethical Society into and "Ethical
Church" because he valued ceremony as a complement to
rationality. There was no theology and the congregation did not
worship God. This "church" is one of the important
antecedents of the British Humanist Association.
Little Holland House is now owned by
Sutton Borough Council and is occasionally open to the public -
usually on one Sunday each month.
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