In our second home worship, we engage families with the widely loved UU Water Ceremony Ritual, sometimes referred to as “Water Communion.” This ritual invites families to collect symbolic water over the summer and then bring it to their congregation’s homecoming/ingathering/opening service in the fall. The water is often seen as representing and celebrating the many ways summertime nourishes and restores us, just as water nourishes and restores us. So for instance, some families bring in water from a favorite pool or water park they frequented or a lake where they camped. Others might bring some tap water from their grandparent’s house they visited. Some bring water they used to tend to gardens. Still others collect water that represents how water wove fun into their summer days, such as water from squirt toys, sprinkles or slip-n-slides. So much of the water that families collect is about how summer nourishes us by telling us to “Get out and play!” It is that playful spirit of fun and adventure we lift up and prepare for in this second worship ritual.

Click this link to access the at-home worship experiences for all ages listed above.

Chalice Home for July

In our first home worship this month, we explore play by sharing the games which connect us, using a favorite game token or two as the object(s) to add to your Chalice Home. Maybe it is a token from a game which is played over and over again – the one everyone refers to as “the family favorite.” Maybe it is that one special game brought out when a beloved family member visits. Maybe it’s everyone’s favorite game, symbolizing the uniqueness of each family member and how your family takes turns picking family games. This worship will then invite everyone to share what they love about the game and how it makes them feel connected to each other.

Reach out to Rev Leia to receive your Chalice Home packet

Chalice Home for June

Welcome to Chalice Home for June and our exploration of the theme of Story. Each month, we offer two family worship experiences that explore our monthly theme and help us expand our Chalice Homes with additional symbolic objects/tokens.

In our second home worship, we explore the heart’s favorite story. In our faith and in our families, we recognize the importance of story in healing and companioning us. We hold a story in our hearts and it arises when we feel brokenhearted and need healing, or when we feel lonely. In honor of this, we will add an object symbolic of these heart-healing stories. Will it be a copy of an illustration from the Velveteen Rabbit, a ring symbolizing the Lord of the Rings, or a starfish symbolizing the Starfish Story? Family members are invited to share their own “heart story.”

Click this link to access the at-home worship experiences for all ages listed above.

Chalice Home in May

Welcome to Chalice Home for May and our exploration of the theme of Story. Each month, we offer two family worship experiences that explore our monthly theme and help us expand our Chalice Homes with additional symbolic objects/tokens.

In our second home worship, we explore the heart’s favorite story. In our faith and in our families, we recognize the importance of story in healing and companioning us. We hold a story in our hearts and it arises when we feel brokenhearted and need healing, or when we feel lonely. In honor of this, we will add an object symbolic of these heart-healing stories. Will it be a copy of an illustration from the Velveteen Rabbit, a ring symbolizing the Lord of the Rings, or a starfish symbolizing the Starfish Story? Family members are invited to share their own “heart story.”

Click this link to access the at-home worship experiences for all ages listed above.

Chalice Home in April

Earth Day

We explore the ways we are becoming people of the earth, in honor of the fact that Earth Day is one of April’s special holidays. In our faith and in our families, we celebrate the interdependent web of life and our calling to become caretakers of our planet. In fact, we become caretakers of the earth often only after we feel and recognize our deep connection to it. There’s a new word called Eutierria (pronounced: You tee air ia) which means “a positive feeling of oneness with the earth and its life forces where the boundaries between self and the rest of nature are obliterated and a deep sense of peace and connectedness pervades consciousness.” (eu =good, tierra = earth, ia = suffix for members of a group of conditions. Albrecht 2010) In honor of this, we will add a symbolic part of nature to our Chalice Home. Will it be a potted flower, a houseplant, a piece of driftwood, a pinecone? We will also invite family members to share a personal story of ways you care for the Earth.

May this spirit of becoming bless and bring to life your days!

Growing & Becoming

Explore how we are growing and who we have become in the past year. It’s been a challenging year for all of us, to say the least. But despite the challenges (and maybe even because of them,) there’s still been room for a lot of growth. This worship invites us to step back and notice the ways our tastes, skills, loves, habits and friendships have changed and expanded. To honor that growing, we invite you to add a measuring tape to your Chalice Home. We are always becoming something new. Let’s celebrate that together.

Commitment to Change

We honor our UU commitment to change. In our faith and in our families we value adaptability, change and flexibility. Change requires us to be open to new ideas, experiences and feelings. That newness is always an invitation to grow! As we UUs are fond of saying, “revelation is not sealed!” We know truth and knowledge grow and we need to grow and reshape our thinking along with it. With this in mind, we will add some play doh or modeling clay to our chalice homes to symbolize adaptation, change and flexibility. We will also invite family members to share a personal story of how change has challenged, exhausted, and exhilarated them. And celebrate how change has helped us all grow.

Curiosity and change. Two central UU commitments. But also two paths that lead to amazing adventures. Both values remind us that we never really know what’s around the next corner. How wonderful is that?!