The Ugly Duckling Company

We recently received an email from our friend Mandy from Syndal Baptist Church, Melbourne, sharing how their church uses UDC resources. Well, there’s been lots of experimenting in the disciplines that develop a happier life happening “Down Under” during 2018… well, amongst some of the Syndal Baptist community in Melbourne, Victoria anyway! Having been inspired by participating in the evangelism workshop, “A Year of Conversation”, facilitated by Sharon & Paul from the Ugly Duckling Company at Syndal Baptist in fact, May 2017, we felt it was timely for us as a church to facilitate The Happiness Lab starting mid-January 2018 as a way to engage with those who don’t yet know Jesus and who, most likely, would never consider exploring the Christian faith through the kinds of courses we usually invite them to attend. It was also the perfect follow up course to which we could invite guests & visitors who had attended our “Joy to the World” themed Christmas services and it complemented o...

A dozen delegates for The Happiness Lab met for their first session in the Tithe Barn in Shirehampton. They had answered an invitation in the local newspaper, or been personally invited by members of St Mary’s congregation to an exploratory drop-in session one Saturday morning in which they had watched a promotional video and chosen to sign up for the course. Rev Helen Johnson said “I was surprised by the strong response. We had clearly identified a pressing need which people were prepared to do something about. Many of them had no connection with our church, and they stayed with us for all of the sessions.” The course consists of 6 group sessions covering: Savouring and Gratitude, Acts of Kindness, Forgiveness, Friends and Family, Body and Soul, Resilience and Coping strategies. Delegates are invited to do experiments related to these topics during the intervening weeks, in order to find out ‘what works for them’ and thereby increase their happiness. At the start of each session, dele...