Holidays and Traditions

Holidays

In the month of December, Unitarian Universalists celebrate Chalica, more information can be found on Wikipedia.

Traditions

Flower Communion happens in May.

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.

In the month of August, the Marquette Unitarian Universalist Congregation holds Peace Camp. Peace Camp is a weekend of family fun and fellowship!

Water Communion happens in September.

The Water Communion, also sometimes called Water Ceremony, was first used at a Unitarian Universalist (UU) worship service in the 1980s. Many UU congregations now hold a Water Communion once a year, often at the beginning of the new church year (September).

Members bring to the service a small amount of water from 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.

 

Traditional Bread Communion happens in November.

A spiritual experience of coming together to nurture each other in body and spirit. Dough is provided for hands on bread baking. We share in bread of all kinds after the service. Members are asked to bring a bread and/or spread for the table of sharing