Activity time: 35 minutes Materials for Activity If you have more than one hour to present this workshop, review Alternate Activity 2 for ideas on how to expand this experience to 55 minutes in length. Description of Activity Invite the group to self-select into three smaller groups. Explain that...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Review the story in advance so that you can present it effectively. Description of Activity Read the story "The Wise Fool" aloud. Provide copies of the story to people who prefer to read along. After sharing the story, invite participants to take a...

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Optional: Microphone (preferably cordless) Preparation for Activity Be sure that participants have made name tags. If they have not, you may pass around name tag materials while participants introduce themselves. Description of Activity Introduce...

When people hear the word “communion,” they usually think of the Christian service of sharing bread and wine (or grape juice) in commemoration of Jesus’s last supper with his friends. Yet the first definition of the word in the American Heritage Dictionary is not in the least religious at all:...

People often think that money and spirituality are unrelated or even contradictory. We recall the sayings “Money is the root of all evil” and “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Yet money is just a means of...

Nearly every religious tradition encourages taking times of pure rest. In the Jewish tradition this is called “Sabbath,” a complete break from all work. Christians also observe Sabbath, yet differently: one Episcopal priest calls Sabbath a time to do whatever you truly feel called to do and...

Once the great Sufi holy man and wise fool Nasreddin Hodja was walking down the street when a group of women came running up to him. Obviously distressed, they cried out to him, “Help us, Hodja! Help us.”...

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Altar or centering table Cloth for covering altar or centering table Chalice and candle Chalice extinguisher Copies of the customized Taking It Home handout (see Preparation) Optional: Microphone Preparation for Activity Review the Taking It Home...

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Altar or centering table Cloth for covering altar or centering table Chalice and candle Matches or lighter Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the UUA hymnbook (one per person) Optional: A piano, guitar, or other form of accompaniment Optional:...

Materials for Activity Sign-in sheet (see Preparation) Pen or pencil Name tags Bold markers Copies of Spirit in Practice Series Schedule (see Preparation) Group guidelines listed on newsprint or a digital slide (see Preparation) Workshop agenda listed on newsprint or a digital slide (see...

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Easels, tables, or other ways to display artwork (see Preparation) Clock, watch, or timer Optional: Microphone (preferably cordless) Preparation for Activity In advance, invite participants to bring their favorite artwork to share-either the artwor...

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Several different sets of art supplies for "creativity stations" (see Preparation) Tables (see Preparation) Newspaper, plastic tablecloths, or other means of covering the tables Optional: Microphone (preferably cordless) Preparation for Activity...

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 1: Guided Meditation on Art "Art box"-a large cardboard box containing many different kinds of art supplies (see Preparation) Tables (see Preparation) Newspaper, plastic tablecloths, or other means of covering the tables Optional:...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Clock, watch, or timer Bell Newsprint Markers Easel Optional: Microphone (preferably cordless) Description of Activity Invite the group to divide into pairs and take turns answering the question, "In what way-or ways-are you creative in your life?"...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Copies of Story 1: A Painter's Creative Process (one copy for leader, plus several copies for participants who may wish to read along) Optional: Microphone Optional: Pulpit or lectern Optional: Bell Preparation for Activity Review the story in adva...

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Optional: Microphone (preferably cordless) Preparation for Activity Be sure that participants have made name tags. If they have not, you may pass around name tag materials while participants introduce themselves. Description of Activity Introduce...

Let yourself relax. Take in a nice, slow, deep breath. And then let it out. Breathe in. And out. Deep. Slow. Breathing in. And breathing out. (Pause) And let your bodies relax. Let your muscles relax. Let your face relax. Let your mind relax. Whatever you’ve been carrying around with you all day...

A contemporary painter named Debora Jones-Buck has what many consider an unusual approach to her work. She prepares a canvas and then paints a picture on it. Then, when the paint has dried, she paints an entirely different image on top of it. And then another, and another. Eventually she puts the...

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Altar or centering table Cloth for covering altar or centering table Chalice and candle Chalice extinguisher Copies of the customized Taking It Home handout (see Preparation) Optional: Microphone Preparation for Activity Review the Taking It Home...

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Altar or centering table Cloth for covering altar or centering table Chalice and candle Matches or lighter Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the UUA hymnbook (one per person) Optional: A piano, guitar, or other form of accompaniment Optional:...