Workshop 5: God's Gonna Trouble the Water: Martyrs and Sacrifice

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Part of Faith like a River: Themes from Unitarian Universalist History

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Introduction
From Faith Like a River

Let all who live in freedom, won by the sacrifice of others, be untiring in the task begun, till everyone on earth is free. — James Reeb, Unitarian Universalist minister, who was killed in Alabama, March 11, 1965 This workshop examines the commitment and contributions of some martyrs in our…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Faith Like a River

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 10 Activity 1: Introduction 15 Activity 2: Michael Servetus 20 Activity 3: To Live until We Die — Norbert Capek 20 Activity 4: Call to Selma 40 Faith in Action: Stories of Perseverance Closing 5 Alternate Activity 1: Roll Call of British Martyrs 3…
Spiritual Preparation
From Faith Like a River

Consider these questions: Why was your given name chosen? Who chose it for you? (Or have you chosen it for yourself?) Were you given a saint’s name at birth, or at the time of confirmation? If you were given a Hebrew name, how was it chosen? Were you named for someone in your family’s history, a…
Welcoming and Entering
From Faith Like a River

Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Sign-in sheet and pen/pencil Name tags and markers Workshop 1, Leader Resource 1, Schedule Template Workshop 1, Handout 2, Time Line of UU History Preparation for Activity Create and post a workshop agenda on newsprint. The Workshop-at-a-Glance…
Opening
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook A copy of the Spiritual Preparation section from this workshop’s Introduction Optional: Decorative cloth Optiona…
Activity 1: Introduction
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 1, Background — Saints and Martyrs Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 1, Background — Saints and Martyrs and familiarize yourself with its contents….
Activity 2: Michael Servetus
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Tumultuous Times in 16th Century Europe Leader Resource 2, Michael Servetus Leader Resource 3, Michael Servetus, Portrait Workshop 1, Handout 2, Time Line of UU History Optional: Computer and digital projector Preparation for Activity Co…
Activity 3: To Live until We Die - Norbert Capek
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 4, Norbert Capek Leader Resource 5: Norbert Capek, Photograph Handout 2, Capek Prayer Plain paper and markers, pens, color pencils, and crayons Timepiece (minutes) Bell or chime Optional: Computer with Internet access and digital…
Activity 4: Call to Selma
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 40 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 3, The Year 1965 Story, “James Reeb and the Call to Selma” Story, “Viola Liuzzo and the Call to Selma” Workshop 1, Handout 2, Time Line of UU History Optional: Computer with Internet access, and projector Preparation for Activity Read onlin…
Alternate Activity 1: Roll Call of British Martyrs
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity http://www.uuabookstore.org/This-Day-in-Unitarian-Universalist-History-… Day in Unitarian Universalist History by Frank Schulman (Boston, Skinner House, 2004) Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook Preparation…
Alternate Activity 2: Memorial for Unitarian Universalist Martyrs
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Pictures of Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists who died for their beliefs, including Leader Resource 3, Michael Servetus, Portrait and Leader Resource 5, Norbert Capek, Photograph Leader Resources 2 (Servetus) and 4 (Capek) and…
Closing
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Taking It Home Optional: Faith in Action from this workshop and/or Spiritual Preparation from Worshop 6 Preparation for Activity Download and customize Taking It Home as a handout. You may…
Leader Reflection and Planning
From Faith Like a River

After the workshop, co-leaders should talk together to evaluate this workshop and plan future workshops. Use these questions to guide your shared reflection and planning: What parts of the workshop worked well and which did not? Why? How was the success, or lack of success, related to the topics?
Faith In Action: Stories of Perseverance
From Faith Like a River

Description of Activity When we know martyrs only by their final moments, the way in which they died, we are likely to say to ourselves “I could never do that.” But when we look more deeply at the lives they lived, we are more likely to find qualities we have in common with them….
Taking It Home: God's Gonna Trouble the Water: Martyrs and Sacrifice
From Faith Like a River

Let all who live in freedom, won by the sacrifice of others, be untiring in the task begun, till everyone on earth is free. — James Reeb, Unitarian Universalist minister, who was killed in Alabama, March 11, 1965 Of martyrs, Susan Bergman has written: ……
James Reeb and the Call to Selma
From Faith Like a River

James Reeb’s calling emerged slowly, but steadily. He had grown up in Casper, Wyoming, where he met and married his wife Marie. A devout and conservative Christian, after college James began preparation for the Presbyterian ministry. While in seminary, he began to question his faith….
Viola Liuzzo and the Call to Selma
From Faith Like a River

Ain’t gonna let nobody Turn me ‘round Turn me ‘round Turn me round Ain’t gonna let nobody Turn me ‘round Gonna keep on a-walkin’ Keep on a-talkin’ Walking up to freedom land. — African American spiritual The protesters sang and chanted on the 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The…
Handout 1: Tumultuous Times in 16th Century Europe
From Faith Like a River

1509-11 Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) completed “School for Athens” fresco in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican. Set in classical times, the masterwork emphasizes reason, dialogue, and the liberal arts—a marked departure from Michelangelo’s nearby Sistine Chapel, painted around the same time…
Handout 2: Capek Prayer
From Faith Like a River

It is worthwhile to live and fight courageously for sacred ideals. Oh blow ye evil winds into my body’s fire; my soul you’ll never unravel. Even though disappointed a thousand times or fallen in the fight and everything worthless seem, I have lived amidst eternity….
Handout 3: The Year 1965
From Faith Like a River

By any account, the year 1965 in the United States was one of upheaval and transformation. February Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City. Jazz pianist Nat King Cole died in Santa Monica, CA. His last album L-O-V-E rose to number 4 in the Billboard chart later that Spring. March The U.S.
Leader Resource 1: Background: Saints and Martyrs
From Faith Like a River

In Christianity, the term “saints” originally referred to “all believers”—as in the hymn, For All the Saints. But the meaning of saint changed during the Roman Empire’s persecution of Christians, and “martyr” became the prototype of saint….
Leader Resource 2: Michael Servetus
From Faith Like a River

Michael Servetus (pronounced Sir-VEE-tus) (c. 1511-1553) was the most celebrated martyr of the 16th century. His writings include the first systematic description of antitrinitarian thought….
Leader Resource 3: Michael Servetus, Portrait
From Faith Like a River

From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.
Leader Resource 4: Norbert Capek
From Faith Like a River

Norbert Capek (1870-1942) (pronounced CHAH-pek) was a Unitarian minister who, with extraordinary energy, talent, and commitment, brought the Unitarian faith from the United States to thousands in Czechoslovakia….
Leader Resource 5: Norbert Capek, Photograph
From Faith Like a River

From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.
Find Out More
From Faith Like a River

See Victoria Safford’s complete essay, “Living in Exile,” in the online archives of UU World (March/April 2004). Servetus and Capek Biographies Read biographies of Michael Servetus and Norbert Capek online in the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society’s Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist…