Activity time: 15 minutes

Materials for Activity

• Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, for all participants
• Leader Resource 2, Come Into This Circle
• Affirmation Station papers from Activity 4, Celebration
• Centering table and cloth
• Chalice, candle and matches
• Roses
• Optional: A piano or a recorded version of the song

Preparation for Activity

• Purchase enough roses for every participant.
• Set up the centering table with the cloth, chalice, and roses.
• Recruit a volunteer to read Leader Resource 2, Come Into This Circle in the Closing.
• Optional: Arrange for musical accompaniment.

Description of Activity

Begin the closing worship by thanking the participants for all that they have brought to the group throughout the program. Then ask participants to settle into a spirit of worship and invite a volunteer to read Leader Resource 2, Come Into This Circle.

Ask participants to take out their Affirmation Station paper from Activity 4, Celebration. Invite them to reflect on what people wrote about them for three or four minutes. Ask them to choose one thing that they would like to share from their paper. After they have chosen one thing to share, invite them to come to the centering table, take a rose, and read the statement they have chosen. Ask all participants and leaders to take a turn.

Then introduce the closing song, Hymn 396 in Singing the Living Tradition, "I Know This Rose Will Open" by Mary E. Grigolia. Share the following background:

Mary E. Grigolia is a Unitarian Universalist minister who has served congregations in Strongville and Oberlin, Ohio. Ask everyone to read the words then ask, "What does this song have to do with what we have talked about during this program?"

Invite participants to rise in body or spirit and sing "I Know This Rose Will Open."

Finally, invite a participant to extinguish the chalice and distribute Taking It Home.

Including All Participants

An invitation to "rise in body or spirit" accommodates participants of all physical abilities.