Workshop 4: The Verdant Springs: Reformation

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Part of Faith like a River: Themes from Unitarian Universalist History

In This Section

Introduction
From Faith Like a River

Religious reform can never be all at once, but gradually, step by step. If they offer something better, I will gladly learn. — Francis David This workshop considers religious reform movements, as expressed in the interplay of theology and institutions. It considers how there movements fed into…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Faith Like a River

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 5 Activity 1: Francis David 20 Activity 2: Time Line of Reformation 20 Activity 3: Interplay of Theology and Institution 20 Activity 4: Transcendentalism 25 Activity 5: Reform in Our Own Time 15 Faith in Action: Involvement in the Wider Movement…
Spiritual Preparation
From Faith Like a River

Reflect on a time of theological or institutional change in your congregation, perhaps when a new governance model was put in place, or a change in ministry brought a new theological direction. Did your congregation make a change from being Unitarian or Universalist to Unitarian Universalist?…
Welcoming and Entering
From Faith Like a River

Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Sign-in sheet and pen/pencil Name tags and markers Workshop 1, Leader Resource 1, Schedule Template Workshop 1, Handout 2, Time Line of UU History Preparation for Activity Create and post a workshop agenda on newsprint. The Workshop-at-a-Glance…
Opening
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Optional: Decorative cloth Preparation for Activity Set up a worship or centering table with the chalice and (optional) decorative cloth. Optional: Invite a participant in advance to act as…
Activity 1: Francis David
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape A copy of the story “Francis David — Guilty of Innovation” Leader Resource 1, Francis David, Portrait Optional: Computer and digital projector Preparation for Activity Print out the story and prepare to read or tell it.
Activity 2: Time Line of Reformation
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Leader Resource 2, Reformation Workshop 1, Handout 2, Time Line of UU History Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 2, Reformation and become familiar with its contents. Write on newsprint, and post: How is…
Activity 3: Interplay of Theology and Institution
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Leader Resource 3, Theology and Institution Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 3, Theology and Institution and become familiar with its contents. Write the word “THEOLOGY” on one sheet of newsprint and…
Activity 4: The Transcendentalists
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 4, The Transcendentalists Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 4, The Transcendentalists and become familiar with its contents….
Activity 5: Reform in Our Own Time
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Leader Resource 2, Reformation Preparation for Activity From Leader Resource 2, Reformation, choose the quote from Rev. Peter Morales or the quote from Rev. Dr. William Sinkford as the focus of this activity. Write the…
Closing
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Taking It Home Optional: Faith in Action from this workshop and/or Spiritual Preparation section from Workshop 5 Preparation for Activity Download and customize Taking It Home as a handout.
Leader Reflection and Planning
From Faith Like a River

After the workshop, co-leaders should talk together to evaluate this workshop and plan future workshops. Use these questions to guide your shared reflection and planning: What parts of the workshop worked well and which did not? Why? How was the success, or lack of success, related to the topics?
Faith In Action: Involvement in the Wider Movement
From Faith Like a River

Materials for Activity Information on your UUA District or region and the UUA headquarters Computer with Internet access Preparation for Activity Explore the website of the Unitarian Universalist Association and the website of your UUA District (find listings on the UUA district page). Identify…
Alternate Activity 1: Ralph Waldo Emerson - The Divinity School Address
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Divinity School Address Leader Resource 5, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Portrait Optional: Computer and digital projector Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 1, Divinity School Address for all participants….
Alternate Activity 2: Theodore Parker - The Transient and Permanent in Christianity
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 2, The Transient and Permanent in Christianity Leader Resource 6, Theodore Parker, Portrait Optional: Computer and digital projector Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 2 for all participants. Print out Leader Resource 6 to show the group.
Taking It Home: The Verdant Springs: Reformation
From Faith Like a River

Religious reform can never be all at once, but gradually, step by step. If they offer something better, I will gladly learn. — Francis David Consider the types of reform you have discussed in this workshop—the reformation of ideas, the reformation of ways of doing things, the reformation of…
Francis David: Guilty of Innovation

Gail Forsyth-Vail, Gail Tittle, Matthew Tittle

From Faith Like a River

Originally published in Harvest the Power: Developing Lay Leadership, a Tapestry of Faith program by Matt Tittle, Gail Tittle, and Gail Forsyth-Vail (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 2008). For a short time, religious toleration was the rule of the land in sixteenth century Transylvania.
Handout 1: Divinity School Address
From Faith Like a River

Excerpts from a Divinity School Address given by Ralph Waldo Emerson to the Senior Class in Divinity College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sunday evening, July 15, 1838. On human agency… … The intuition of the moral sentiment is an insight of the perfection of the laws of the soul. These laws…
Handout 2: The Transient and Permanent in Christianity
From Faith Like a River

Excerpts from Theodore Parker’s sermon, “The Transient and Permanent in Christianity,” delivered at the Ordination of Rev. Charles C. Shackford in the Hawes Place Church, Boston on May 19, 1841. ……
Leader Resource 1: Francis David, Portrait
From Faith Like a River

From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.
Leader Resource 2: Reformation
From Faith Like a River

Ever since there have been faith communities, there have also been reform movements, efforts focused on the spiritual renewal of the members of the community, and on the mission of the institutions themselves. In the first century, The Apostle Paul wrote of spiritual renewal and reform in his…
Leader Resource 3: Theology and Institution
From Faith Like a River

Reform comes in many ways, both inadvertent and intentional, and affects many areas of congregational life. Most often, reform efforts are directed toward either theology or institutional structures. Here are a few stories of reform efforts and their outcomes, both intended and unintended. The…
Leader Resource 4: The Transcendentalists
From Faith Like a River

Our age is retrospective. It builds the sepulchres of the fathers. It writes biographies, histories, and criticism. The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe?…
Leader Resource 5: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Portrait
From Faith Like a River

From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.
Leader Resource 6: Theodore Parker, Portrait
From Faith Like a River

From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.
Find Out More
From Faith Like a River

Wright, Conrad. http://www.uuabookstore.org/Three-Prophets-of-Religious-Liberalism-P178… Prophets of Religious Liberalism: Channing, Emerson, Parkerhttp://www.uuabookstore.org/Three-Prophets-of-Religious-Liberalism-P175…; (Boston: Skinner House Books, 1994) Howe, Charles A., “The Humiliati,” in…