Workshop 8: Gently Down the Stream: Polity

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

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Introduction
From Faith Like a River

As connected as we are—to friends, to family, to each other—we often feel ultimately on our own as we make our way through life, and that can be a frightening prospect. We can overcome this fear only by reaching out to one another, and in our shared courage, we will learn. — Phoebe Eng, Asian…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Faith Like a River

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 5 Activity 1: What Is Polity? 25 Activity 2: Cambridge Platform 20 Activity 3: The Historical Parade of Membership 35 Activity 4: Community of Congregations 20 Faith in Action: Lifting Up Covenantal Relationships Closing 5 Alternate Activity 1:…
Spiritual Preparation
From Faith Like a River

Consider what being part of a Unitarian Universalist congregation means to you. If your congregation has a covenant, you may want to read it and consider its words. Reflect on these questions: How does being a part of this community call to you? What gifts do you bring to your congregation? What…
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….
Activity 1: What Is Polity?
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Leader Resource 1, What is Polity? Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 1, What is Polity? and familiarize yourself with its contents. Write the title “Polity” on a sheet of newsprint and post it….
Activity 2: Cambridge Platform
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity A copy of the story “The Cambridge Platform” Handout 1, Summary of Agreements from the Cambridge Platform, 1648 Preparation for Activity Print out the story and read it several times so you will be comfortable presenting it….
Activity 3: The Historical Parade of Membership
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 35 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 2, The Historical Parade of Membership Newsprint, markers, and tape Your congregation’s bylaws that apply to membership Materials describing membership at your congregation Words your congregation uses to welcome new members Timepie…
Activity 4: Community of Congregations
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 3, A Community of Congregations Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 3 and prepare to present its contents. Visit the UUA website. Become familiar with the list of related and affiliated…
Closing
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 Taking It Home Handout 2, Signs of Membership — A Self-Reflective Exercise Optional: Faith in Action from this…
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: Lifting Up Covenantal Relationships
From Faith Like a River

Materials for Activity Covenant is Foundational to Congregational Polity on UUA.org Computer, projector, and speakers Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Test equipment; queue “What do we promise one another?” video (3:02) Create a slide and project or write on newsprint and…
Alternate Activity 1: Evolutions of Ordained Ministry
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 4, Evolutions of Ordained Ministry Congregational bylaws, ministerial covenant, words of installation, or, with the permission of your minister, the ministerial contract Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 4, Evolutio…
Alternate Activity 2: Debating Membership
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 2, The Historical Parade of Membership Leader Resource 5, Membership Debate Scenarios Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 2 and familiarize yourself with its contents. Print and prepare Leader Resource 5 for all…
Taking It Home: Gently Down the Stream: Polity
From Faith Like a River

As connected as we are—to friends, to family, to each other—we often feel ultimately on our own as we make our way through life, and that can be a frightening prospect. We can overcome this fear only by reaching out to one another, and in our shared courage, we will learn. — Phoebe Eng, Asian…
The Cambridge Platform
From Faith Like a River

In 1637, the settlers in what was to become the town of Dedham, Massachusetts, wanted to start a church. The problem was, the roughly 30 families didn’t know each other, and, therefore, didn’t know what sort of church to begin….
Handout 1: Summary of Agreements from the Cambridge Platform, 1648
From Faith Like a River

Here are some of the agreements made by the signers of the Cambridge Platform (or, more formally, as A Platform of Church Discipline Gathered Out of the Word of God and Agreed Upon by the Elders and Messengers of the Churches Assembled in the Synod at Cambridge in New England): Differences with t…
Handout 2: Signs of Membership: A Self-Reflective Exercise
From Faith Like a River

Conrad Wright writes, in Congregational Polity: A Historical Survey of Unitarian and Universalist Practice, that in the Unitarian Universalist tradition of congregational polity, “it is left to the individual to decide whether he or she belongs within the covenant of a particular local religious…
Leader Resource 1: What is Polity?
From Faith Like a River

Definitions from Donald K. McKim, Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996). DEFINITIONS Polity (from Greek, politeia, and Latin, politia, “administration of a commonwealth), a form of church government adopted by an ecclesiastical body.
Leader Resource 2: The Historical Parade of Membership
From Faith Like a River

The notion that it is the right of every congregation to determine its own qualifications for membership is basic to congregational polity….
Leader Resource 3: A Community of Congregations
From Faith Like a River

While freedom and independence were among the first concerns of those who founded the first Universalist churches and the precursors to the Unitarian churches, so, too, was association….
Leader Resource 4: Evolutions of Ordained Ministry
From Faith Like a River

Unitarian In the list of men who subscribed to the 1637 covenant of community of Dedham, Massachusetts appear the names John Allin and John Hunting….
Leader Resource 5: Membership Debate Scenarios
From Faith Like a River

Make a copy of this resource and cut it in half, the PRO section on one half and the CON section on the other half. PRO: It is 1963, in Chicago, and you are delegates to the UUA’s General Assembly. You support an amendment to the UUA’s Constitution and Bylaws that would require congregations to…
Find Out More
From Faith Like a River

Commission on Appraisal, Interdependence: Renewing Congregational Polity (Boston: UUA, 1997) Hughes, Peter, ed. The Cambridge Platform: Contemporary Reader’s Edition (Boston: Skinner House Books, 2008) Wesley, Alice Blair….

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The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Workshop 8: Gently Down the Stream: Polity

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