Workshop 12: I've Got Tears Like the Raindrops: Freedom

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

We can choose between hating our neighbors or feeling kindly toward them. We can avenge or forgive. We can participate in political life; we can also leave politics to the demagogues. We can help the suffering, the ill, the unfortunate; we can let them die….
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Faith Like a River

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 5 Activity 1: Slavery and Antislavery 25 Activity 2: How Is Freedom Achieved? 25 Activity 3: Martha and Waitstill Sharp 20 Activity 4: Litany of Allies 30 Faith in Action: Our Congregation’s Justice Work Closing 5 Alternate Activity 1: Working for…
Spiritual Preparation
From Faith Like a River

Take time to reflect on these questions: What does freedom mean to you? How is your freedom related to others’ freedom? You may wish to ask participants to engage in this same spiritual practice so that they, too, arrive at the workshop centered and ready to engage with the material and the group.
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 Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook, for all participants Optional: Decorative cloth Optional: Keyboard or piano Preparation for Activity Set up a…
Activity 1: Slavery and Antislavery
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 1, Slavery and Antislavery Leader Resource 2, Slavery and Antislavery Quotes Bowl or basket Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 1, Slavery and Antislavery and prepare to present its contents….
Activity 2: How Is Freedom Achieved?
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Handout 1, How Is Freedom Achieved? Leader Resource 3, Mary Livermore, Portrait Leader Resource 4, Olympia Brown, Portrait Optional: Computer and digital projector Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 1, How is Freedom…
Activity 3: Martha and Waitstill Sharp
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape A copy of the story “Righteous Among the Nations — Martha and Waitstill Sharp” Optional: Computer and digital projector Preparation for Activity Print out the story “Righteous Among the Nations — Martha and Waitstill…
Activity 4: Litany of Allies
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Paper, pens, and markers Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the UUA hymnbook Optional: Percussion instruments Preparation for Activity Write on newsprint: We would remember those in bonds as bound with them….
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 from Workshop 13 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: Our Congregation's Justice Work
From Faith Like a River

Preparation for Activity Talk with your minister, religious educator, congregational historian, and/or long-time members about your congregation’s history of social justice work. Invite them to visit the workshop to share what they know. Description of Activity Even our younger congregations may…
Alternate Activity 1: Working for Freedom
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Write on newsprint and post: What made you decide to act? What concerns or fears did you have about being involved? What moral or religious values called you to be involved? What shining moments…
Taking It Home: I've Got Tears Like the Raindrops: Freedom
From Faith Like a River

We can choose between hating our neighbors or feeling kindly toward them. We can avenge or forgive. We can participate in political life; we can also leave politics to the demagogues. We can help the suffering, the ill, the unfortunate; we can let them die….
Righteous Among the Nations: Martha and Waitstill Sharp
From Faith Like a River

Working through the night, Martha and Waitstill Sharp burned all their notes and papers. After this they would keep no records of the refugees they smuggled out of Nazi-occupied Europe. For their own safety and for the safety of those they were assisting, nothing could be written. A simple church…
Handout 1: How Is Freedom Achieved?
From Faith Like a River

Mary Livermore, in addresses to the Women’s Centenary Aid Society and the mass meeting of the Centennial Assembly of Universalists in Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1870 said: I long for the women of our church to come up to their birthright, to take their places….
Leader Resource 1: Slavery and Antislavery
From Faith Like a River

The debate about slavery in the United States proved contentious within both Unitarianism and Universalism. While some of the country’s leading abolitionists were women and men who identified as Unitarian or Universalist, each of the young denominations struggled to articulate a unified stand.
Leader Resource 2: Slavery and Antislavery Quotes
From Faith Like a River

1….
Leader Resource 3: Mary Livermore, Portrait
From Faith Like a River

From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.
Leader Resource 4: Olympia Brown, Portrait
From Faith Like a River

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

Unitarians and the Fugitive Slave Law Strange, Douglas. “From Treason to Antislavery Patriotism: Unitarian Conservatives and the Fugitive Slave Law,” Harvard Library Bulletin, Vol. XXV, No. 4 and “Abolition… as Maleficence: Southern Unitarians Versus ‘Puritan Fanaticism’ — 1831 — 1860,”…