THE NEW UU
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults
WORKSHOP 1: THEOLOGY AND WORSHIP
BY JONALU JOHNSTONE
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/29/2014 9:30:41 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
It behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
This workshop introduces the entire program and introduces participants to one another. It is an opportunity to deepen relationships while learning more about Unitarian Universalism. Activities explain the process-oriented nature of the Unitarian Universalist approach to religion while presenting some of the basic theological understandings shared by most Unitarian Universalists.
The workshop includes introductions to your congregation's worship traditions. If a minister is not one of the facilitators, the minister(s) should be invited to lead Activity 4, Worship in Our Congregation. If using Alternate Activity 3, you may want to invite a music director or choir member to assist.
Before leading this workshop, review Accessibility Guidelines for Workshop Presenters (at www.uua.org/re/tapestry/adults/newuu/introduction/160181.shtml) found in the program Introduction and make any preparations needed to accommodate your group.
If you have only an hour, shorten Activity 3 by five minutes and Activity 4 by 20 minutes, omitting the discussion in dyads and lifting up only some of the elements of worship.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 2 |
Activity 1: Introductions through Sentence Starters | 10 |
Activity 2: Introducing The New UU | 15 |
Activity 3: Cathedral of the World | 20 |
Activity 4: Worship in Our Congregation | 40 |
Closing | 3 |
Alternate Activity 1: The Big Questions | 30 |
Alternate Activity 2: Diversity of Beliefs within Unitarian Universalism | 20 |
Alternate Activity 3: Review of the Hymnbook | 30 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Consider how you initially came to your congregation. Did you grow up in this congregation? Did you grow up as a Unitarian Universalist in a different congregation? Did you come to Unitarian Universalism as an adult? If you grew up UU, what were the key experiences that led you to embrace it as your adult religious home? If you did not grow up UU, what were your concerns and questions when you first visited and became involved with the congregation?
Recall early experiences in your congregation that helped you feel welcomed and those experiences which left you confused or frustrated. Consider how both positive and negative experiences led you to where you are today in your spiritual journey. Share these experiences with your co-facilitator(s). Discuss how your congregation differs now from when you first came, and how it remains the same.
WORKSHOP PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
As people arrive, introduce yourself and invite them to make a name tag and sign in by providing contact information. Point out rest rooms and refreshments and direct people to the child care space if you are providing child care.
Including All Participants
Speak directly to each person who arrives.
OPENING (2 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
At the designated starting time, bring participants together and welcome them. Introduce the chalice lighting by saying, "The chalice is a symbol of Unitarian Universalism, often used in our congregations to bring us together in a spirit of reverence." Invite a volunteer to light the chalice. Share Reading 441 in Singing the Living Tradition, "To Worship," by Jacob Trapp, responsively with the group.
ACTIVITY 1: INTRODUCTIONS THROUGH SENTENCE STARTERS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Introduce the activity with these or similar words:
We're going to introduce ourselves by sharing something about our own experiences or beliefs. As the basket comes to you, tell us your name. In the basket are sentence starters. Draw out a sentence and complete it aloud. There are no right or wrong answers, only your answer. If you pick one that you can't or don't want to answer, feel free to try a different one. Pauses for thinking are fine. After completing your response, pass the basket on.
Model the process for participants, encouraging brevity.
Be supportive of all responses. After each person has had a chance to complete a sentence, explain how this activity has reflected Unitarian Universalist theology:
Unitarian Universalist theology has both individual and group components. Personal experience is the beginning of Unitarian Universalist theology. Each of us develops our own beliefs. At the same time, we support and challenge one another in those beliefs through our sharing together about what we believe. This is not an easy task, but we have just been doing theology, in a distinctively Unitarian Universalist manner. As UUs, we expect people to bring their own experiences and understandings of religious questions rather than to subscribe to a particular set of beliefs or a particular theological viewpoint. However, we also expect that in the course of sharing with one another, our theologies will be shaped and deepened, or even changed.
ACTIVITY 2: INTRODUCING THE NEW UU (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute Handout 1, Summary of Workshops. Acknowledge that people come to Unitarian Universalist congregations with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences and come to this program with differing amounts of experience in Unitarian Universalism. Tell the group how long you and other facilitator(s) have been members of the congregation. Describe briefly what each workshop will cover. Let the group know the arrangements for becoming a member of the congregation after the last workshop, if this is part of your congregation's plan.
Tell participants that a major goal of the workshops is to answer any questions they bring about Unitarian Universalism or about your congregation. Invite participants to pose questions freely, explaining that you may defer answering some of their questions until a later workshop. Post a sheet of newsprint to establish a "Parking Lot" (or "Bicycle Rack") for questions. Explain that you will record on newsprint questions to be answered in the course of The New UU, but not necessarily in this first workshop. Invite participants' questions about Unitarian Universalism and the congregation by asking, "What questions need to be addressed in this series of workshops in order for this introduction to Unitarian Universalism to feel complete to you?" Remind them that others will share many of the questions they have. Explain that as other questions come up during the workshops, they can be added to the list and be addressed at the appropriate time.
ACTIVITY 3: CATHEDRAL OF THE WORLD (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to be relaxed, open, and meditative. Read the story "Cathedral of the World" aloud. After reading the story, distribute copies so that participants can refer to the story as they discuss it. Invite discussion with these questions:
Complete the discussion by underlining the theological diversity within Unitarian Universalism using these or similar words:
Unitarian Universalists need not agree on the specifics of our theologies. We may believe differently about God, about what happens after we die, about the role of Jesus, Buddha, and other prophets. We are united in our acceptance of one another, our conviction that our lives on this earth matter, and our belief that truth is revealed in many different ways.
ACTIVITY 4: WORSHIP IN OUR CONGREGATION (40 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity invites participants to consider how worship in your congregation reflects Unitarian Universalist thought and practice and to learn something about the uniqueness of your congregation's liturgy. Begin with words such as:
A question often asked of Unitarian Universalist is: "If you don't all believe in the same God, what are you worshiping?" The word "worship," though, comes from "worth-ship." In our congregations, worship is not about bowing down to a deity, but instead, considering what is of worth. Worship, then, is our opportunity to contemplate what is most worthy in our lives, to discover anew what we value most deeply, to recognize how to align our true values with our actions—indeed, to find what is sacred to us in our lives and to consider how we wish to relate to what we find sacred.
Distribute copies of the Order of Service for participants to refer to as they share their personal experiences of worship in this congregation. Invite participants to pair up with someone they don't know well. Read aloud the questions you have posted. Ask one person in each pair to respond to the questions, without interruption from their partner, for two minutes. After two minutes, ring the bell and invite the other partner to speak. After another two minutes, ring the bell and invite partners to discuss the similarities and differences they discovered in their responses. After five minutes, ring the bell and invite everyone to return to the circle.
Lead a large group discussion with these questions:
Invite further conversation about the elements of the worship service, using material in Leader Resource 2, Elements of Worship, as a starting point. To conclude, ask "Did any of your perceptions about the elements of worship change based on our discussion during this workshop?"
Including All Participants
Find alternate spaces that can be used if some pairs are unable to hear well in the meeting room.
CLOSING (3 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to sing together Hymn 414, "As We Leave This Friendly Place," or say together Reading 705, from Hosea Ballou. Extinguish the chalice.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: THE BIG QUESTIONS (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain that one key difference among religious traditions is what they find to be authoritative. Distribute Handout 2, Unitarian Universalist Sources. Invite volunteers to read each of the Sources aloud. Ask, "What do you think is the effect of having such a diverse set of sources of religious authority?" Explain further using these or similar words:
There are basic "big questions" which all religions strive to answer. If you learned a catechism in your youth, you learned various big questions, along with their answers. In Unitarian Universalist congregations, we still raise the questions, but our answers may be more varied than those of some other religious groups, and subject to modification or deepening over time.
Invite participants to consider this question: "What are the big questions that these sources and religion in general strive to answer?" Offer an example of a "big question," such as "What is the nature of humanity?" Invite participants to move into groups of four to discuss and formulate a list of big questions. Invite groups to select a recorder who will report to the large group. Allow ten minutes for groups to make their lists.
At the end of ten minutes, sound the bell or gong. Ask one group to offer one of its questions. Write the question on newsprint. Ask another group to offer a different question. Continue in this manner until all questions have been offered. If one group comes up with a question that is nearly the same as a question already asked, suggest that those questions be combined.
Briefly address the questions from a Unitarian Universalist perspective, using Leader Resource 3, Common Views Among Unitarian Universalists as a guide. Focus on the basic agreements that exist among UUs, while recognizing the diversity of theologies that live side by side.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: DIVERSITY OF BELIEFS WITHIN UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM (20 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Introduce the activity with these or similar words:
We're going to demonstrate to ourselves the breadth found in Unitarian Universalism by seeing how this group of people who have been drawn to a UU congregation see their own beliefs. I'm going to ask a series of questions and ask people to move to different parts of the room in response. Any time you want to pass or are undecided, you can stay in the middle of the room.
The practice question is, "What's your favorite kind of ice cream?"
Point out one corner for chocolate, one corner for vanilla, one corner for other, and one corner for "I don't like ice cream."
After each question, invite people to talk for a moment or two with people near them about why they answered the way they did. Then, invite one person from each cluster to say something about their choice to the entire group. Keep the answers moving quickly.
Repeat this process for each of the following questions:
Return the group to its seated circle and discuss these questions:
Conclude by reminding the group that although Unitarian Universalists have a diversity of beliefs, we each learn not only from our personal experience, but also learn from one another. We gather not around a common belief system, but around a covenant to walk together.
Including All Participants
Configure the room to maximize the ability of all participants to move around. If necessary, modify the activity by asking for a show of hands for each category.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: REVIEW OF THE HYMNBOOK (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute copies of the hymnbook and Handout 2, Unitarian Universalist Sources. Read the Sources aloud. Invite participants to open the book to the Table of Contents. Point out that the hymnbook is organized around the Sources and that although the final Source was added after the hymnbook was published, the hymnbook does include songs from Earth-based traditions (for example, Hymn 387, "The Earth, Water, Fire, Air").
Invite participants to look at each of the hymns you have selected. If the music director or a choir member is participating, invite them to sing or lead a verse of each song. Ask participants:
Invite participants to turn to the back of the hymnbook to "Topical Index of Hymns." Discuss any surprises about what topics are, or are not, included.
Invite participants turn to the Readings and find something they like. As time allows, invite participants to share their chosen readings aloud.
THE NEW UU: WORKSHOP 1:
STORY: CATHEDRAL OF THE WORLD
Excerpted from Cathedral of the World, by Forrest Church. Copyright 2009 by Forrest Church. Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston.
Imagine awaking one morning from a deep and dreamless sleep to find yourself in the nave of a vast cathedral. Like a child newborn, untutored save to moisture, nurture, rhythm, and the profound comforts at the heart of darkness, you open your eyes upon a world unseen, indeed unimaginable, before. It is a world of light and dancing shadow, stone and glass, life and death. This second birth, at once miraculous and natural, is in some ways not unlike the first. A new awakening, it consecrates your life with sacraments of pain you do not understand and promised joy you will never fully call your own.
Such awakenings may happen only once in a lifetime, or many times. But when they do, what you took for granted before is presented as a gift: difficult, yet precious and good. Not that you know what to do with your gift, or even what it really means, only how much it matters. Awakening to the call stirring deep within you, the call of life itself—the call of God—you begin your pilgrimage.
Before you do, look about you; contemplate the mystery and contemplate with awe. This cathedral is as ancient as humankind, its cornerstone the first altar, marked with the tincture of blood and stained with tears. Search for a lifetime (which is all you are surely given) and you shall not know its limits, visit all its transepts, worship at its myriad shrines, nor span its celestial ceiling with your gaze. The builders have worked from time immemorial, destroying and creating, confounding and perfecting, tearing down and raising up arches in this cathedral, buttresses and chapels, organs and theaters, chancels and transepts, gargoyles, idols, and icons. Not a moment passes without work being begun that shall not be finished in the lifetime of the architects who planned it, the patrons who paid for it, the builders who construct it, or the expectant worshippers. Throughout human history, one generation after another has labored lovingly, sometimes fearfully, crafting memorials and consecrating shrines. Untold numbers of these collect dust in long-undisturbed chambers; others (cast centuries or eons ago from their once-respected places) lie shattered in chards or ground into powder on the cathedral floor. Not a moment passes without the dreams of long-dead dreamers being outstripped, shattered, or abandoned, giving way to new visions, each immortal in reach, ephemeral in grasp.
Welcome to the Cathedral of the World.
Above all else, contemplate the windows. In the Cathedral of the World there are windows without number, some long forgotten, covered with many patinas of grime, others revered by millions, the most sacred of shrines. Each in its own way is beautiful. Some are abstract, others representational; some dark and meditative, others bright and dazzling. Each window tells a story about the creation of the world, the meaning of history, the purpose of life, the nature of humankind, the mystery of death. The windows of the cathedral are where the light shines through.
Because the cathedral is so vast, our time so short, and our vision so dim, over the course of our pilgrimage we are able to contemplate only a tiny part of the cathedral, explore a few apses, reflect upon the play of darkness and light through a few of its windows. Yet, by pondering and acting on our ruminations, we discover insights that will invest our days with meaning.
A twenty-first-century theology based on the concept of one light and many windows offers its adherents both breadth and focus. Honoring multiple religious approaches, it only excludes the truth claims of absolutists. That is because fundamentalists claim that the light shines through their window only...
Skeptics draw the opposite conclusion. Seeing the bewildering variety of windows and observing the folly of the worshippers, they conclude there is no light. But the windows are not the light. They are where the light shines through.
We shall never see the light directly, only as refracted through the windows of the cathedral. Prompting humility, life's mystery lies hidden. The light is veiled. Yet, being halfway in size between the creation itself and our body's smallest constituent part, that we can encompass with our minds the universe that encompasses us is a cause for great wonder. Awakened by the light, we stand in the cathedral, trembling with awe.
THE NEW UU: WORKSHOP 1:
HANDOUT 1: SUMMARY OF WORKSHOPS
WORKSHOP | TITLE | DATE |
Workshop 1 | Theology and Worship | |
Workshop 2 | Where Do We Come From? Unitarian Universalist Roots | |
Workshop 3 | How We Grow in Faith — Philosophy of Religious Education | |
Workshop 4 | Social Justice Philosophy and Practice | |
Workshop 5 | How Are Decisions Made? Governance and Polity | |
Workshop 6 | Membership | |
THE NEW UU: WORKSHOP 1:
HANDOUT 2: UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOURCES
The living tradition we share draws from many Sources:
THE NEW UU: WORKSHOP 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: SENTENCE STARTERS
Print out the incomplete sentences, enlarged to at least 16-point type. Cut the pages into strips, with one incomplete sentence on each strip. Select sentences most appropriate to your congregation. Fold strips of paper and put them in a small basket or bowl. Provide a few more than the number of participants you anticipate. If necessary, duplicate some phrases to have enough for all participants and facilitators.
Forgiveness requires...
________________________________________________________________
Prayer offers...
________________________________________________________________
Love means...
________________________________________________________________
A spiritual practice for me is...
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I feel wonder and awe when...
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A person who inspires me...
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Peace comes when ...
________________________________________________________________
A source of comfort for me...
________________________________________________________________
Inspiration comes from...
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For me, Jesus...
________________________________________________________________
I find God through...
________________________________________________________________
Good and evil...
________________________________________________________________
Sometimes I doubt...
________________________________________________________________
Spirituality is... .
________________________________________________________________
When I'm down, I... .
________________________________________________________________
The most important thing in life...
________________________________________________________________
I deeply value...
________________________________________________________________
Worship gives me...
________________________________________________________________
My concept of evil... .
________________________________________________________________
In my experience, church...
________________________________________________________________
Salvation means...
________________________________________________________________
My source of spiritual sustenance...
________________________________________________________________
Religion requires...
________________________________________________________________
Religion offers...
________________________________________________________________
THE NEW UU: WORKSHOP 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: ELEMENTS OF WORSHIP
Unitarian Universalist rites of passage reflect the centrality of the personal experience of the individuals involved.
THE NEW UU: WORKSHOP 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 3: COMMON VIEWS AMONG UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS
BIBLE
Both Unitarianism and Universalism grew out of Christianity. Early Unitarians and Universalists took the Bible seriously, though rarely literally. While we continue to see it as a rich resource of stories and wisdom, most Unitarian Universalists do not see the Bible as authoritative on its own.
CLERGY
The role of clergy and the extent of their authority was an active question of the Reformation. From our radically Protestant heritage, we believe each person must formulate their own beliefs rather than subscribe to what is passed down. Clergy offer their views, which may hold some authority based on their education and experience. However, they hold no more authority for most Unitarian Universalists than other respected members of the community.
GOD
UUs have widely divergent concepts of God. Some espouse belief in God and others do not. Few Unitarian Universalists believe in an anthropomorphic God, tending instead toward concepts such as Nature, Love, or Spirit of Life. Some UUs do not find the term God useful. Rarely do Unitarian Universalists ascribe gender to God, but when they do, they may deliberately use a variety of gender formulations: for example, Mother-Father God.
DIRECTION FROM GOD
Unitarian Universalists do not categorically deny the experience of receiving guidance from a divine or holy source as an individual understands it. Our first Source references "direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder" which could be called God or could be Nature, Ultimate Reality, or other concepts that are meaningful to UUs. UUs do believe that all knowledge, from whatever source, requires testing, and that testing is best done in community.
JESUS
Jesus is generally considered a prophet and teacher rather than God, or the only son of God. Christian Unitarian Universalists endorse the religion taught by Jesus, rather than the religion about Jesus.
AFTERLIFE
While there are a variety of views of the afterlife, most Unitarian Universalists consider this life the important one. Some believe in an ultimate unification with God, or the universe. Many Unitarian Universalists believe that the only afterlife is the legacy people leave on earth. Consistent with the idea of universal salvation, hell is rarely discussed except as a metaphor, as in "hell on earth."
SIN
Unitarian Universalists shy away from talk of sin, but some agree with the Jewish tradition that defines it as "missing the mark"—falling short of our values. That is, we acknowledge that people have shortcomings and make mistakes but have an optimistic view of human nature. Good and evil are usually considered human constructs that result from human actions.
EVOLUTION
Evolution, as a scientific proposition, is widely accepted. Unitarian Universalists rely on scientific process as one of the ways to truth.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Spiritual practices vary widely among Unitarian Universalists. Some practice meditation, either from a tradition such as Buddhism or in a more generic fashion. Prayer is a spiritual practice for some Unitarian Universalists, while some avoid it. Other spiritual practices include music, yoga, Tai Chi, social action, or activities like gardening, walking, or playing with children.
SALVATION
Salvation receives little attention, but when it does, it is often construed as wholeness and health in this life, rather than a state attained after death.
REVELATION
Some traditions are persuaded that God's revelation was given at a particular time and place. In contrast, Unitarian Universalists perceive that truth comes not only from many places, but that we are continually discovering truth. The truth I learn tomorrow may contradict or enhance what I have learned today. The traditional way of saying this is, "Revelation is not sealed."
FIND OUT MORE
Visit the Visitors section of the UUA website (at www.uua.org/visitors/index.html).
Take a look at the UU World magazine (at www.uuworld.org/) online or in hard copy.
Explore the variety of brochures on Unitarian Universalism at your congregation.
Check out these books in your congregation's library or from the UUA Bookstore:
Church, Forrest and John A. Buehrens, A Chosen Faith (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=385) (Boston: Beacon Press, 1994)
Church, Forrest, The Cathedral of the World: A Universalist Theology (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1146), (Boston: Beacon, 2009)
Frevert, Patricia, ed., Welcome: A Unitarian Universalist Primer (Boston: Skinner, 2008).