Workshop 7: We're All Swimming in the Stream Together: Covenant

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

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

In This Section

Introduction
From Faith Like a River

For I say—whether you ever heard, directly, of this little event in Dedham or not—to understand in any depth our liberal free church tradition, or to make much sense of deeply rooted everyday realities of Unitarian Universalist churches now, today, you must understand in your bones the…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Faith Like a River

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 5 Activity 1: What Is Covenant?…
Spiritual Preparation
From Faith Like a River

Read your congregation’s covenant and the ones commonly used by contemporary Unitarian Universalist congregations found in Handout 1, Congregational Covenants. Take time to consider the meaning of these covenants in the congregation and in your life. You may wish to light a candle or in some way…
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: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Optional: Decorative cloth Preparation for Activity Set up a worship or centering table with the chalice and (optional) decorative cloth. Description of Activity Light the chalice and share…
Activity 1: What Is Covenant?
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 35 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape A copy of the story “The Agreement” Group covenant from Workshop 1, Activity 4 Handout 1, Congregational Covenants Preparation for Activity Read the story “The Agreement” and prepare to read or tell it with feeling,…
Activity 2: A History of Statements of Belief
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers and tape Leader Resource 2, A History of Statements of Belief Handout 2, A Collection of Covenants and Statements of Belief Workshop 1, Handout 2, Time Line of UU History Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 2, A…
Activity 3: Building a House of Covenant
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 35 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Congregational Covenants Handout 3, Building a House of Covenant Handout 4, House of Covenant Template Light-color card stock, one 8x11-inch sheet for each participant Scissors, tape and glue sticks, stickers, and fine point markers to…
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 Workshop 8 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: Our Covenant
From Faith Like a River

Materials for Activity Handout 1, Congregational Covenants Preparation for Activity Obtain a copy of your congregation’s covenant and add the text to Handout 1, if you have not done so already. Print out and copy the handout. Invite a minister, historian, or other appropriate person in your…
Alternate Activity 1: A History of Covenant
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Plain paper and pens/pencils Leader Resource 1, A History of Covenant Workshop 1, Handout 2, Time Line of UU History Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 1, A History of Covenant and prepare to present its…
Alternate Activity 2: Unitarian Universalist Principles
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Handout 5, The Unitarian Universalist Principles Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 5. Write on newsprint, and post: Do these statements of Unitarian Universalist Principles constitute a covenant? Why or why not? Are…
Taking It Home: We're All Swimming in the Stream Together: Covenant
From Faith Like a River

For I say—whether you ever heard, directly, of this little event in Dedham or not—to understand in any depth our liberal free church tradition, or to make much sense of deeply rooted everyday realities of Unitarian Universalist churches now, today, you must understand in your bones the…
The Agreement

Barry Lopez

From Faith Like a River

One time…before there were any people walking around this valley there were bear people. They had an agreement with the salmon….The salmon would come upriver every fall and the bears would acknowledge this and take what they needed. This is the way it was with everything. Everyone lived by…
Handout 1: Congregational Covenants
From Faith Like a River

OUR CONGREGATION’S COVENANT (Leader: Add the text of your congregation’s covenant to this handout before copying for the group.) COVENANTS COMMONLY USED IN UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATIONS Love is the doctrine of this church, The quest of truth is its sacrament, And service is its prayer. To…
Handout 2: A Collection of Covenants and Statements of Belief
From Faith Like a River

Rule of Faith, Philadelphia Convention of Universalists (1790) Section 1. OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. We believe the scriptures of the old and new Testament to contain a revelation of the perfections and will of God, and the rule of faith and practice. Section 2. OF THE SUPREME BEING….
Handout 3: Building a House of Covenant
From Faith Like a River

Parts of a covenant include: The Foundation Alice Blair Wesley in her 2000-01 Minns Lecture series “Our Covenant” paraphrased James Luther Adams, saying, Strong effective, lively liberal churches, sometimes capable of altering positively the direction of their whole society, will be those liberal…
Handout 4: House of Covenant Template
From Faith Like a River
Handout 5: The Unitarian Universalist Principles
From Faith Like a River

Unitarian Universalist Principles (1961) The Association, dedicated to the principles of a free faith, shall: (a) Support the free and disciplined search for truth as the foundation of religious fellowship; (b) Cherish and spread the universal truths taught by the great prophets and teachers of…
Leader Resource 1: A History of Covenant
From Faith Like a River

The free church tradition of which we are a part does not offer up a creed, a certain set of beliefs, that everyone must accept in order to belong to the community. Instead, the boundaries of our community are determined by commitment and participation. Our central question is not “What do we…
Leader Resource 2: A History of Statements of Belief
From Faith Like a River

The concepts of voluntary association and freedom of belief were important in the developing Universalist faith, as they were in Unitarianism. Just as the Cambridge Platform of the Puritans was to set the stage for Unitarian societies in North American, so the early history of Universalism in…
Find Out More
From Faith Like a River

Enga… Our Theological Diversity, the 2005 Unitarian Universalist Association Commission on Appraisal Report Hughes, Peter, ed. The Cambridge Platform (Boston: Skinner House, 2008) Wesley, Alice Blair. Our Covenant: The 2000-01 Minns Lectures. (Meadville Lombard Theological School Press, 2002)…