Ceremonies and Celebrations
This page features writings about events at our church and
about UUism in general, by members of the Live Oak community, past and present.
Church Dedication Weekend
On November 14-16, 2003 we dedicated our new facility. This was a very
meaningful and long-awaited event for our members. We created this web
page to share the activities with the rest of the UU committee and
interested others!
WHAT
BE A CHILD DEDICATION?
It is a simple ritual where a family commits themselves to raise
their child in the grace of our liberal religious principles and values. If the
youngster is old enough, it can be a lighthouse on their spiritual pilgrimage.
Each child is introduced with a brief paragraph written by the
parent(s) describing their personality and gifts. I employ the time-honored
ritual of anointing with oil as the physical symbol, choosing an essential oil
with appropriate sacred characteristics.
The actual anointing is done by the family and is their choice. I then give the
family a small bottle of the oil for future use in coming of age events. This is
a very moving ritual for the families, minister, and congregation. [Chuck
Freeman, 2004]
Most Unitarian Universalists do not baptize their children because of the common
association of the practice with the "washing away" of "original sin"
- a concept in which few Unitarian Universalists believe. More commonly in our tradition,
we have a ceremony by which we dedicate the child to the community and the community to
the child, and during which, we mark the formal naming of the child. Although often done
for infants and young children, a child dedication and naming is appropriate for children
of any age.[Ann Jacobson, 1996]
If it's not an exclusively Christian church, why do Unitarian Universalists celebrate
Christmas?
Christmas is a part of the Judeo-Christian heritage of Unitarianism, Universalism, and
Unitarian Universalism. Christmas is a part of our family and/or ethnic traditions.
Particular Christmas celebrations, such as St. Lucia's Day, or Posados, may be especially
meaningful to some of us. Christmas is one of the many winter holidays we acknowledge, if
not celebrate, along with Hanukkah and the Winter Solstice. They mark the longest night of
the year and the promise of renewed life brought by the returning light. Christmas lets us
tell UU stories like those of Clara Barton, a Universalist born on Christmas Day, whose
belief in the value of each human life led to the founding of the American Red Cross, and
of Edmund Hamilton Sears, a Unitarian minister inspired to write, "It Came Upon a
Midnight Clear" by the pain of the internecine strife of the Civil War. Christmas
reminds us of the power in the life of one person, like Jesus, to renew the dream of peace
among humankind. Christmas calls us to experience the joys of sharing, giving, receiving,
and expressing love and friendship. Christmas is the story of the birth of a miraculous
baby and reminds us, as Sophia Lyon Fahs tells us, "Each night a child is born is a
holy night." [Ann Jacobson, 1996]
Like many other UU churches, Live Oak celebrates Easter with a focus on spring and
rebirth and by celebrating Flower Communion. The Flower Communion was started 55 years ago
by Norbert Čapek, a Czech Unitarian who was put to death for his
beliefs by the Nazis. Each attendee brings a cut flower to Easter services and brings a
different one home. The flowers we bring symbolize how people of varied individual beliefs
and talents support one another and, in their diversity, make up a harmony richer than if
they were all alike. By taking home a different flower, we symbolize our sharing and love,
and how we gain from one another in our church family.
While visiting family and friends in Houston at the end of February, I
attended the Sunday morning service at All Souls Unitarian Universalist
Church in The Woodlands. I had wanted to attend a UU church that
identified itself as Christian to see how different it would be from Live
Oak and the other UU congregations I had attended. They are currently
meeting in an elementary school auditorium (remember those days?) and on
that day numbered about 25 people. Several welcomed me and two or three
other visitors.
The distinctive elements of the service were the Lord's Prayer, all
hymns ending with "Amen," and the speaker's words often
commencing with "Let us pray." Other than that, the service was
VERY similar to our own at Live Oak Church. Three of the four hymns had
all been sung at Live Oak recently, including "Spirit of Life,"
and the content of the prayers was quite typical of our own opening or
closing words or readings before the sermon. The sermon was about feminine
images of the Divine and feminist thealogy.
I came away thinking that our two churches have more in common as
Unitarian Universalist congregations, rather than being set apart as one
"pluralist" and one "Christian" UU church, strongly
suggesting that there is indeed unity in our diversity.
What is Worship?
Bobbie Hamilton & James Hamilton, May 2000
The term worship is used often in a religious context, but have you ever
wondered what it means "to worship?" The origin of the word worship
comes form the same base as our term "worth." It is a natural human
expression that we do every time we assign worth to something. Or worship
experience may be planned or occur spontaneously whenever we experience the
wonder and mystery of life.
Since the beginning of human existence we have wondered about life. Over time
human beings have perceived a sacredness in life and have created ceremony
around this sacred center, trying to understand life, death and our purpose for
living. Our perception of the "Divine," or that sacredness, has
evolved over time and with our ever changing understanding of the universe. As
scientific knowledge is continuously revealed, and ancient wisdom is repeatedly
rediscovered and re-explained, the wonder of life does not cease and our
questions about "life, the universe, and everything" arise again and
again.
Children and youth, as well as adults, experience a sense of awe, mystery,
and wonder about life. They have never-ending questions about life and their
place within this complex reality. It is important to provide worship
experiences for children and young people within a church community. This helps
them recognize that in the ordinary day-to-day experiences of life, there are
"things of worth," and that these can be celebrated in a caring human
community. This worship experience is the life-giving seed of a religious
education program. It is a time when we discuss and celebrate our religious
roots; when we emphasize the values presented in the class experience; when we
affirm our religious principles and values; and when we feel wonder as a larger
community.
Copyright
©2006, Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church.