Unfortunately, our programmed main speaker, Steve Parker, was not able to attend our assembly on Sunday, but another Mr Parker, Michael, stood in at the last minute: we’re extremely grateful to him for stepping in!
First-time host, Gareth was our front-man for this month’s assembly on the theme of ‘Journeys’. While the runners of the Brighton Half Marathon pounded the pavements outside, our fabulous house-band and choir set the pace with our first journey-themed song, the Proclaimers’ 500 Miles.
Rosa, Sunday Assembly Brighton regular contributor, read a beautiful poem written especially for the service. She described the journey she had been on by writing a poem, and then scrapping it, conscious of the wide remit of the theme, pushing herself to explore an unfamiliar style. She observed that journeys prompt us to push our boundaries wide, to explore new places and ideas, but they often return us home to a place of familiarity and comfort. She told of her personal journey through life, reliving a particular memory of visiting Carsten Holler’s giant slides in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern, that created a playground for her and her partner to enjoy, and reflected on her happiness in choosing to share her journey with a man who makes her laugh.
As our main speaker, Michael Parker talked about his personal journey, that led him to join Band of Brothers, a charitable group who act as role models and provide mentorship for young men experiencing difficult life situations. He described how the group are able to explore and recount their own journeys, allowing them to recognise and overcome the obstacles that can act as deterrents in achieving personal goals.
The second song was REM’s ‘Man on the Moon’….but a bit quicker! This led us neatly onto a talk by our favourite moustached science enthusiast, Russell Arnott, who spoke about the ‘Best Journey Ever!’, and the requirements of travelling to the moon. He cleared up any confusion over the first men on the moon (‘Neil‘ Armstrong, not ‘Lance’, and Buzz ‘Aldrin‘, as opposed to ‘Lightyear’). and shared with us some interesting facts about journeying to the moon: the escape velocity to leave planet earth requires a speed of 40,270 km/h; radiation exposure is arguably the most dangerous aspect of living in space; and the Saturn V rocket has perhaps the worst fuel consumption ever: a shocking 18cm to the gallon!
We finished with our final song, Don’t Stop Believing by Journey (you see what we did there?!).
Join us next time for Sunday Assembly Brighton on Sunday 27th March at 11am at [map id=”1″]St Andrew’s, Waterloo Street, Hove[/map] . If you would like to help us set up on the day, or plan the events in advance, or if you have any feedback for us, then please contact us at sundayassemblybrighton@gmail.com.
For upcoming events & details of the next planning meeting, please refer to our Facebook page: facebook.com/sundayassemblybrighton
Or do you fancy writing this blog as a guest blogger? Drop us an email to the address above.
Safe travels everybody!
Jo xx
Sunday Assembly Brighton 