Activity time: 8 minutes

Materials for Activity

• Faithful Journeys Path
• Signpost for Session 16 (Leader Resource 2) and pins, glue stick or tape
• Optional: Newsprint, markers and tape
• Copies of Singing the Journey, supplement to the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook, Singing the Living Tradition, or copies of Session 1, Handout 2, "Woyaya"
• Optional: A copy of the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook, Singing the Living Tradition, for the alternate song "I'm On My Way"

Preparation for Activity

• Print out Leader Resource 2 and cut out the signpost.
• Customize, print out and photocopy the Taking It Home section for all participants.
• If you are not familiar with "Woyaya," Hymn 1020 in Singing the Journey, ask your music director to teach it to you. Or, invite a musical volunteer to come teach it to the children. Online, listen to a recording of Rev. Lynn Ungar singing “Woyaya.”
• Optional: Prepare to teach and lead the alternate song "I'm on My Way," Hymn 116 in Singing the Living Tradition. You may wish to review Session 8 to learn about Egbert Ethelred Brown, the Unitarian minister after whom this hymn is named.
• Optional: Write song lyrics on newsprint and post.
• Optional: Arrange with worship leaders and your director of religious education to take the song on a parade around your congregation or into the worship service. Check with anyone who might be conducting other meetings or activities along your intended parade route.

Description of Activity

Gather the group in a circle. Thank the children for participating and sharing their stories and ideas in this session. Share a couple of your favorite moments from previous Faithful Journeys sessions.

Point out the Faithful Journeys Path. Say, in your own words:

We've been on a journey together across hundreds of years and seven Principles. Our signposts helped guide our journey, just as the Principles can help us know the right things to do on our own life journeys. I hope you will all continue to make faithful footprints and make tracks in faith, even after our time in Faithful Journeys together is done. We have one more signpost to add.

Post the signpost "Get Moving" on the Faithful Journeys Path. Use examples from the talks by today's visitors or the children's own Faithful Footprints to explain what the signpost means.

Tell the children the closing song will be one they sang in the first session, "Woyaya." Re-teach it if necessary and sing the song together. This song lends itself to repetition; you may wish to sing it a few times through. If you will use "I'm On My Way" instead, teach the song and then lead it.

Distribute the Taking It Home handout. Thank the children, and tell them how much you have appreciated their participation. If you will continue your religious education program with the same group of children and a new curriculum, you may wish to briefly describe what to expect at their next meeting, before dismissing the group.

Variation

Turn the song into a parade through your congregation or a closing song for the day's congregational worship service. If your Faithful Journeys Path is portable, remove it from its display location and have a few children carry it as they walk. Or, detach Faithful Footprints and signposts for children to carry.