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Holidays & Traditions

Flower Communion

"Whatever we can do, great or small, the efforts of all of us are needed to do thy work in this world" (Norbert Capek).

Flower Communion (Spring)

The Flower Ceremony, sometimes referred to as Flower Communion or Flower Festival, is an annual ritual that celebrates beauty, human uniqueness, diversity, and community.

Originally created in 1923 by Unitarian minister Norbert Capek of Prague, Czechoslovakia, the Flower Ceremony was introduced to the United States by Rev. Maya Capek, Norbert's widow. In this ceremony, everyone in the congregation brings a flower. Each person places a flower on the altar or in a shared vase. The congregation and minister bless the flowers, and they're redistributed. Each person brings home a different flower than the one they brought.

Celebrating the Flower Ceremony is an opportunity for our congregations to express commitment to the UU Sixth Principle: "We covenant to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all."

Water Communion

Water Communion

Water Communion (Fall)

Members bring to the service a small amount of water from home or a place that is special to them. During the appointed time in 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. It is often then blessed by the congregation, and sometimes is later boiled and used as the congregation's "holy water" in child dedication ceremonies and similar events. Learn more about the history at uua.org.

 

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