A profile of Miles & Jane Howarth published in "The Unitarian" October 2004.
Miles Howarth
It's said that some have fame thrust upon them. In my case it was your Editor's
request for this autobiographical article.
OK - I'm a Unitarian born and bred. My mother's family had been Lancashire
Unitarians for many generations. Heirlooms include a silk parasol carried at
the Opening Ceremony of Bank Street Chapel, Bolton in 1856, a Bible presented
to the first couple married at Stand Chapel in 1839 and an armchair belonging
to John Edward Taylor, the Unitarian Founder of the (Manchester) Guardian
1791-1844. John Gregson, whose Iegacy established the John Gregson Trust for
the upkeep of historic Unitarian Chapels, was a great-uncle of mine.
Enough of history and nostalgia. What matters is the present and the future.
Actually I don't like the word 'Unitarian'. It smacks of seventeenth century
theological controversy. Whatever may be the history of organised Unitarianism
in the UK, and elsewhere, many people across the ages have preferred their
religion to be intelligible (a better word than 'rational' which unwisely
excludes emotion), consumerist (a more descriptive word than 'free'),
progressive (life will always move on) and people-centred (Robinson Crusoe
faced an impossible religious problem). Membership of a religious community
implies a recognition that it can provide valuable support to one's faith life,
and that it's worthwhile investing time, loyalty and resources for the purpose.
For me Unitarianism provides a tradition and a community which suit me better
than any others I have encountered. If I were attracted elsewhere, it would
probably be because Unitarianism has failed to realise its enormous potential -
hesitating to progress beyond its origins in the Christian tradition and, in
the UK, its nineteenth century impetus. When at Oxford University I attended
Services at Manchester College Chapel. The problem with such beautiful
buildings is that they tend to dictate the forms of religious activity which
take place in them. As time goes by, such activities can become decreasingly
relevant to life in the real world.
These thoughts may help to explain why I have found particular value in the DIY
approach to religion which is possible within a Fellowship. The inherent
flexibility and mutual ministry have many attractions. Jane and I have been
heavily involved in the development of the Chelmsford Unitarian Fellowship in
Chelmsford since we moved to Essex in the mid-1970s. Such thoughts may also
explain why we are also active members of the Sea of Faith Network 'exploring
religious faith seen as a human creation'. Both are hard work, but creating and
building has always been so. Most Sea of Faith members (who include quite a few
Anglican clergy) would subscribe to the current GA Object, but does this Object
go far enough in defining what we religious liberals actually stand for? My own
view is that it doesn't. Perhaps we should look carefully at the affirmations
of the American Unitarian Universalist Association. They are more positive, and
move beyond Christianity. And UUA membership is still expanding. The current
debate about the organisation of the Unitarian movement in the UK is necessary.
More important is the debate about where we are going and how we might have
more impact on ourselves and others. 'More of the same' is hardly a good policy
when you're on a downward path. Keep young and avoid cynicism by adapting.
My professional career was in educational administration - teaching, then
Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and latterly Essex County Councils. I am
fortunate. This experience provides useful background for various voluntary
activities. Since my first retirement, after busy years of public service, I
have taken on various commitments to the Unitarian movement nationally,
particularly where I have felt able to make a useful contribution - the
Executive Committee of the British and Foreign Unitarian Association, the
Hibbert and Gregson Trusts and, nostalgically after Presidency of the Foy
Society many years ago, Trusteeship of their hostel at Flagg, Derbyshire. It's
great having a Unitarian network of friendship with like-minded people in most
parts of the UK; and, internationally, through IRF and IARF. I also believe in
service to other types of community Chairmanship of the Parish Council of our
village near Chelmsford and of an educational trust providing grants within the
Borough of Chelmsford.
In the 1950s Lawrence Redfern, the highly successful minister of Ullet Road,
Liverpool, remarked to me that 'Theology is dead'. I now agree. Whatever we
mean by 'God', it is amply clear that the spiritual dimension remains a
powerful motivator. Given our history and principles, Unitarians could take a
lead in exploring and developing what makes for a resilient and responsible
support structure for living life today. WorldWIde. Here we could work together
with other religious liberals - not just those of Christian origin. After
largely wasting the twentieth century (!), it's worth our moving ahead with
great vigour.
Jane Howarth
I was originally an active Anglican, benefiting from services focusing on
ethics. A move of house and a new vicar, together with preparation for
confirmation, meant that the emphasis changed to the Anglican doctrinal system.
This tightly argued system holds together until belief in an important element
is undermined. In my late teens I wanted to be sure that a belief system with
which I was identifying was credible. My suggestion that the young people's
group should look at the first few hundred years of Christianity merely
elicited a distant stare from the minister, but no response. The net result was
a considerable amount of lonely thinking which led by stages to the sudden and
overwhelming conclusion that there was no God. This is not something to wish on
anyone, as it not only undermines a system of religious belief but leaves you
to piece together a basis for your ethics and your relationships to others and
to the created world. How much of the Christian ethical teaching could stand on
its own merit without the doctrine? All that takes a bit of coping with.
After five years as a junior civil servant at 10, Downing Street, during which
I read Bishop John Robinson's Honest to God, I went to Liverpool University, a
wonderful experience, to train as a probation officer. I really enjoy the
Winnie the Pooh stories. I am not a Rabbit character who can go and fetch what
he needs, but more like Pooh, who waits for things to come to him. The change
of career was the result of being taken over out of the blue by a sudden
certainty that I should become a probation officer. Liverpool was a fertile
place for things coming to me, and one of these was a powerful and enduring
vision of the interconnectedness of all life. You never know when these things
are going to happen - this one came during a tussle with a milk machine at Lime
Street station one evening, when three strangers two small boys and a bowler
hatted man joined in.
I met Miles when I moved to Northamptonshire to work, and he introduced me to
Unitarians like Bill Steiner in the Bedfordshire Fellowship. Like Martineau,
who revised a hymn book after only a few years to take account of Darwin's
discoveries about evolution, Bill sought to rethink religion to take account of
new knowledge. I have felt increasingly at home as a Unitarian (it does take
time) and see our emphasis on the individual search for what is true for us in
the light of the totality of our experience, and on the lack of immutable
creeds, as extremely precious safeguards. They are, I think, the only
safeguards against the common misuse of religion whereby too many members of
many religions claim the superiority and exclusivity of their beliefs and use
these claims to attack one another.
I still find myself wondering about the mystery behind creation and I am very
interested in the thinking that is being developed in Sea of Faith and
elsewhere about just what we mean by 'God'. The remembered experience of the
interconnectedness of all life has remained a basis for how to live and relate
to people, as well as giving me a sense that 'God' is the Whole, known and
unknown. I value the encouragement, spiritual companionship and friendships
that come from being in Unitarian company. Occasionally there is disappointment
when someone implies that different views about the mystery, or different
approaches to expressing our religion in services, are not 'Unitarian'. I have
gained enormously from the new perspectives I get when I share ideas and
services with people whose beliefs differ from mine, and this surely is part of
the blessing of our tradition.
Miles and I are founder members of Chelmsford Unitarian Fellowship, and take
our turn in leading informal moments of recollection, acknowledgment,
meditation, and renewal before our discussion meetings. We can therefore
appreciate the challenges facing Unitarian ministers and Lay Preachers in
trying to satisfy all of us. I am very glad that our children had the
opportunity to experience activities such as YUC week and IRF.
I believe organised religion results from an innate spiritual sense. Religions
will continue to rise and fall. Sadly aspects of most organised religions have
more to do with mediaeval battlements to keep out invaders than genuine
pathways that strengthen life-affirming spiritual perspectives, or the skills
needed to live together in difference. A key, multi-layered, but courageous (as
Sir Humphrey would call it) challenge of today is managing spiritual difference
and working on specific social issues with people from other religions. To me,
helping this delicate process is a way for non-creedal Unitarians to be true to
their social and religious tradition.