For those attending in person: Please be aware that we are sending a live feed to Zoom every Sunday. If you do not want to be in this live feed, please avoid the center of the sanctuary so you are not in view of the camera. After the service, we edit the recording to eliminate the Candles of Joys and Concerns and then we are posting the service to our Website. Please contact Laurie Cartier if you have any questions about our procedures.

Water Communion Guide

If you are planning to attend in person, please bring a sample of water to share as we gather our waters from special sacred spaces people visited over the summer. For those attending online, we invite you to drop off a sample of water in the water collection bucket that will be placed outside the Dorothy Memorial Entrance on Friday, September 9 from 8 AM till 7 PM.  People attending online will need to type anything they wish to say into the chat of the Zoom meeting on Sunday and someone will read their message for them during the service. Be prepared to speak during the worship service: Gather your thoughts now – what is it about this sample of water or where it came from that speaks to you heart, mind or soul.  Once again we will be offer water based on cardinal directions that embody the spiritual wisdom your water sample embodies. The directions are:

• Waters to the East – element air that embodies encourages spiritual growth, intelligence and a gentile force for change. 
• Waters to the South – embodies learnings that come from difficulties, turmoil, struggle and suffering.  Learnings that come from challenges and doubt that sometimes make us challenge our own beliefs. 
• Waters to the West – bring us wisdom that come from movement, intuition, and visions of things that yet may be. Western waters help us remember our loved ones who have passed, of dreams and memories, and the need to forgive and let go the things that hold us back from being ourselves.
• Waters to the North – symbolize learning / awareness that come from being  centered and grounded.  Northern wisdom reminds us to look deep within ourselves for guidance and understanding. It also bring awareness the interconnectedness and how our  actions send ripples out to into the world. 

Example: Your sample of water is something embodies an experience from your summer that was hard or challenging, then you might want to share your water sample during the time for “Waters from the South.”

• If you’re able, take a moment to practice what you want to say at the service:
  • Keeping in mind that these service run a bit longer than normal try to make your sharing as brief as possible while still including important details
  • In general keeping your sharing to 30-40 seconds is helpful (and if you need a few extra seconds that is OK too)!
• After the service, water that is collected for the service will be available for people to collect and use as they will. The water will be placed in a vessel and place on the Dorothy entrance ramp during the Second Sunday Food Collection on Sunday from noon till one. We’ll have some jars on hand or you can bring your own.

We hope that all this information will help everyone feel prepared for our Water Communion Service. One of our few uniquely Unitarian Universalist rituals. We look forward to seeing your there!