Home » Congregational Management » Worship » Holidays & Ceremonies » Flower Communion
Celebrating the Flower Communion
The Flower Communion usually takes place in the spring near the time of Easter. In this ceremony, members of the congregation are asked beforehand to bring a flower to the Sunday service. Upon entering the sanctuary, each person places his or her flower on the altar or in a shared vase. The flowers are blessed by the minister or congregation during the ceremony, and the sermon usually reflects upon the flowers' symbolism. At the end of the service, each person brings home a flower other than the one that he or she brought.
Reginald Zottoli wrote "The significance of the flower communion is that as no two flowers are alike, so no two people are alike, yet each has a contribution to make. Together the different flowers form a beautiful bouquet. Our common bouquet would not be the same without the unique addition of each individual flower, and thus it is with our church community: it would not be the same without each and every one of us. Thus this service is a statement of our community."
The Flower communion service was originally created in 1923 by Unitarian minister Norbert Capek, who founded the Unitarian Church in Czechoslovakia. The service was later brought to the United States by his wife, Maya.
Words for Worship Services
Faith Without Borders
Celebrating Flower Communion is an excellent opportunity for Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations to express their commitment to our Sixth Principle: We covenant to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all. See Sixth Principle Resources for the Flower Communion.
From Tapestry of Faith Curricula
Unitarian Universalist Perspectives
For more information contact worshipweb @ uua.org.
This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors and congregations. Please consider making a donation today.
Last updated on Friday, May 20, 2011.
Section Navigation
- Copyright & Worship
- Words for Worship
-
Holidays & Ceremonies
- Advent
- All Saints Day
- All Souls Day
- Association Sunday
- Black History
- Blessing of the Animals
- Bridging Ceremony
- Canvass Sunday
- Chalica
- Children's/ RE Sunday
- Children's Sabbath
- Christmas
- Coming of Age
- Coming Out Day
- Diwali
- Earth Day
- Easter
- Fall Equinox
- Father's Day
- Flower Communion
- Good Friday
- Graduation Recognition
- Halloween
- Hanukkah
- Hiroshima Day
- Homecoming/ Ingathering
- IllUUmination
- Justice Sunday
- Kwanzaa
- Labor Day
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday
- Membership Sunday
- Memorial Day
- Mother's Day
- New Year/ Fire Communion
- Palm Sunday
- Partner Church Sunday
- Passover
- Pride Sunday
- Rosh Hashanah
- Samhain
- Transgender Remembrance
- Spring Equinox
- Thanksgiving
- Twelfth Night/ Epiphany
- United Nations Day
- Valentine's Day
- Water Communion
- Winter Solstice/ Yule
- Yom Kippur
- Youth Sunday
- Worship Theory
- Multigenerational
- Multicultural
- Music
- Contemporary Worship
- Technology
- Lay Programs
- Collections
- Young Adults
- Congregational Stories
- Help Shape WorshipWeb
- Wayside Quotations
Updated and Popular
Popular New Searches
For Newcomers
Learn more about the Beliefs & Principles of Unitarian Universalism, or read our online magazine, UU World, for features on today's Unitarian Universalists. Visit an online UU church, or find a congregation near you.
