Tapestry of Faith: A Place of Wholeness: A Program for Youth Exploring Their Own Unitarian Universalist Faith Journeys

Activity 2: Story - Recovery, Rebuilding, and Rebirth of New Orleans

Activity time: 25 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Make copies of the story-one for each leader and four for participant volunteers who will read the quotes. On each of the participant copies, highlight one of the quotes so they know when it is their time to read.
  • Make one copy of Leader Resource 1, Unitarian Universalists' Role in New Orleans Recovery. Cut it into slips of paper, with one action on each slip.

Description of Activity

Tell participants that there are many layers of often unspoken covenant that operate in our lives, and these covenantal relationships call us to act. The role of Unitarian Universalists in New Orleans' recovery, rebuilding, and rebirth after Hurricane Katrina illustrates the complexity of covenant.

Ask for four volunteers to participate in the storytelling by reading quotes from New Orleans Unitarian Universalists. Give each person a copy of the story, with their assigned quote highlighted. Then distribute the slips of paper from Leader Resource 1, Unitarian Universalists' Role in New Orleans Recovery.

Tell participants that you will let them know when it is time to read their slip of paper, and that they should read them one at a time but in no particular order.

Tell the story of how Unitarian Universalists are living covenant in the recovery, rebuilding, and rebirth of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

When you finish telling the story, ask the group:

  • How did Unitarian Universalists in New Orleans and around the country respond to the situation brought about by Hurricane Katrina?
  • How did people know when and how to respond to what was happening in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast?
  • How do you know in covenantal relationships when and how to respond?
  • What is the role of responsibility in covenant?
  • What did you learn from this story about covenant and relationship?

Including All Participants

Try to give every participant a role in telling the story, but also give them the option to pass if they do not want to read aloud.