The Water Communion
The
Water Communion, also sometimes called Water Ceremony, was first used
at a Unitarian Universalist service in the 1980s. Many UU congregations
now hold a Water Communion once a year. At BUUF we do this at the
beginning of the new year.
Members
bring to the service a small amount of water from a place that is
special to them. During the service, people one by one pour their water
together into a large bowl. As the water is added, the person who
brought it tells why this water is special to them. The combined water
is symbolic of our shared faith coming from many different sources.
CHALICA
Chalica
is an unofficial holiday originally conceived by Daylene Marshall of
Vancouver, BC as a way to celebrate and put into intentional practice
the Seven Principles of the Unitarian Universalist tradition - one a
night, for seven nights. The celebration begins on the first Monday of
December, and is marked by the lighting of a chalice each day (or
evening). Gifts that reflect the particular day's Principle may be
given, however the focus tends to be more on mindfulness and action.
For ideas on ways to celebrate Chalica, see http://www.uuidentity.com/chalica
All Heretics Day
All Heretics Day is a day when Unitarians around the world celebrate our history of heresy and the freedom this has brought.
A Heretic is one who maintains religious opinions contrary to those
accepted by his or her church and makes the choice to stand for those
opinions. Unitarian Universalist liberal religious history is filled
with prominent people who chose to speak out and stand as independent
thinkers for their convictions. People like Michael Servetus, Francis
David,Joseph Priestley (Unitarian minister and noted scientist who
discovered oxygen), Thomas Jefferson. In Australia, our Unitarian
pioneers were treated as heretics in their day - John Crawford Woods,
Martha Turner, Thomas Fyshe Palmer, and Catherine Helen Spence.
Many Unitarians consider themselves to be heretics to the prevailing
religious views in their societies and unlike people in other
religions, think heresy is a positive thing.
Thirty years ago, Rev. Dick Weston-Jones, minister for the Christchurch
NZ Unitarians, started this Unitarian holiday to celebrate those whose
courage led to our freedom to enjoy our lives and express our beliefs
as we choose. Without their heresy, our freedom would be less. Some had
been Unitarians, while others like Martin Luther King Jr. were not
Unitarians, however lived in ways that opened our world to more freedom
and love.
All Heretics Day is celebrated on April 1st every year in memory of
those who were both heroes and heretics, reformers, questioners, and
seekers. They defied the religious conventions of their times and made
greater choices for us all today.
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