FAITHFUL JOURNEYS
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 1: THE JOURNEY BEGINS
BY BY ALICE ANACHEKA-NASEMANN AND LYNN UNGAR SUSAN DANA LAWRENCE, DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR JUDITH A. FREDIANI, DIRECTOR OF LIFESPAN FAITH DEVELOPMENT
© Copyright 2009 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/7/2014 1:25:30 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
In our era the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action. — Dag Hammarskjold
This session introduces the program and welcomes participants as faithful travelers. Children learn how beliefs about what is right and fair connect with actions people can take to express their beliefs. They are guided to begin forming concepts of faith and faith in action.
The children walk a Faithful Journeys Path, stopping to hear three stories about people who put their Unitarian Universalist faith into action. They are introduced to the Unitarian Universalist Principles, in both adult and children's language, as statements of our shared Unitarian Universalist beliefs. They create a group covenant, establishing behavior expectations for the group.
A Faithful Journeys Path is posted and decorated with its first signpost, a green light; it will be displayed throughout the program. The children learn they will move forward on the path — symbolically, by attaching cut-out footprints — as they practice different ways to turn their faith and beliefs into action.
You are encouraged to choose a standard opening for Faithful Journeys sessions and begin using it in this session. Before doing so, you may want to review Leader Resource 1, Alternate Openings.
Leader Resource 2 gives guidance for making the Faithful Journeys Path.
Alternate Activity 1, Candles of Joys and Sorrows, appears only in this session. If your sessions have time, you might make this activity a regular part of your Closing.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Group Behavior Covenant | 5 |
Activity 2: Move It! Song — "Woyaya" | 5 |
Activity 3: Story Path — UU Faithful Journeys | 15 |
Activity 4: Decorating Our Faithful Journeys Path | 15 |
Activity 5: UU Principles Matching Game | 10 |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Candles of Joys and Sorrows | 7 |
Alternate Activity 2: Move It! All My Friends and Neighbors Game | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
If it would be helpful in creating sacred space, light a candle or chalice. Reflect upon your own journey as a Unitarian Universalist. Take a few moments to ponder:
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle. Light the chalice. Point out the chalice-lighting words on the newsprint and invite the group to read together:
We light this flame for the light of truth, the warmth of love, and the energy of action.
Indicate the poster(s) of the Unitarian Universalist Principles. Say, in your own words:
These are the Unitarian Universalist Principles. Each time we meet, we will learn more about them and what they mean. We are also going to learn how we can take action based on them. Let's get started.
Including All Participants
If not all participants are fluent readers, take the time to teach the group to say the opening words from memory.
If the group has children who are sensitive to perfumes or other chemicals, use unscented candles or an electric or battery-operated flame. An electric or battery-operated flame is also recommended if you may not use open flames or if any participants are afraid of fire.
ACTIVITY 1: GROUP BEHAVIOR COVENANT (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Making a covenant empowers children to take responsibility for their individual and collective behavior in Faithful Journeys, and helps create a safe place for learning.
Ask if any of the children know what a covenant is. Affirm/tell them it is a promise that people agree on together. Explain that the group will list the behaviors they think will help create a positive learning environment in Faithful Journeys. Then everyone, including co-leaders, will covenant to use these behaviors. Ask:
What behaviors will help our group be a place where everyone feels safe, feels welcome, and is able to learn and have fun?
Write children's suggestions on newsprint. Prompt, if needed, with: listening to one another other, including everybody, sharing, taking turns, helping one another, keeping our hands to ourselves, or kindness. Help children reframe "don'ts" (don't insult others, don't steal, don't lie) as desirable behaviors (use kind words, respect others' property, be honest).
When ideas stop flowing or the list seems complete, tell the children you will include their suggestions in a group behavior covenant for everyone in Faithful Journeys, including co-leaders, to sign next time the group meets. Say:
When you sign the covenant, it means you agree to promise the rest of us that you will follow it.
Assure the children that if anyone ever feels the covenant is being broken, they can talk to a leader, who will make sure the matter is resolved.
Note: Keep this exercise brief. If children are not engaged in the process, be sure the most important rules are included and then move on to the next activity.
ACTIVITY 2: MOVE IT! SONG — WOYAYA (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather in a circle and teach participants the song you have chosen. Sing it once or twice through. Tell participants they will sing it again in the next activity.
ACTIVITY 3: STORY PATH — UU FAITHFUL JOURNEYS (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity introduces the idea that being a Unitarian Universalist means acting in a way that reflects our beliefs and our Principles. Three examples from our Unitarian Universalist heritage model the concept that drives this program and accustom children to hearing stories of people putting their faith into action.
Ask the children why they think this program is called Faithful Journeys. Allow some responses. Then say:
A journey means a trip or an expedition. We have fun along the way, we make friends, and we learn. Sometimes, on a journey, we have to make decisions about how to solve problems or which way we should go.
On a real journey, we bring things we might need, such as food, clothes, and a toothbrush. On a faithful journey, we also bring something we need — our faith.
Faith means what we believe about life. It includes the ideas we believe about ourselves, about what is true and important, and about how people should treat each other and the Earth.
We are not the first Unitarian Universalists to take a faithful journey. Each time we meet in Faithful Journeys, we will hear stories from our heritage about people who acted in faith. Today we are going to hear about three people's journeys in faith, one long ago, one closer to now, and one that is still going on.
As we follow the ribbon (or tape), imagine this path leads back in time. We are going back almost two hundred years. Our first story is about a Universalist woman named Harriot Kezia Hunt.
Following the ribbon or masking tape, walk to your first storytelling area. Carry the sound instrument with you. Lead the group in singing a verse of the song "Woyaya."
When you arrive, show the items that represent Harriot Kezia Hunt. Use the instrument to establish listening silence. You may say:
Let's get ready to listen. When I hit the chime (or turn the rain stick over), listen as carefully as you can. See how long you can hear its sound. When you can no longer hear it, open your eyes and you will know it is time for the story to begin.
Tell the story about Harriot Kezia Hunt. Sound the instrument again to signal the end of the story.
Lead a brief discussion with these questions:
Tell the children, "Now it is time to continue our faithful journey." Explain that you will go forward in time, about one hundred years, to hear about a Universalist man named Toribio Quimada. As the group moves along the path to the second storytelling area, sing another verse of "Woyaya." Share the story about Toribio Quimada. Lead a discussion:
Say, "There is one more stop on our faithful journey. We are coming back to our own time." Lead the group to the third story station, singing a verse of "Woyaya." Share the story about Annie Arnzen. Lead a discussion:
Thank the children for coming on the faithful journey with you.
Including All Participants
Make sure the path between the story stations is accessible to all.
ACTIVITY 4: DECORATING OUR FAITHFUL JOURNEYS PATH (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Children will mark the Faithful Journeys Path with their own footprints, decorate the path with trees, and learn how they will mark their progress along the path in future sessions, with signposts and their own symbolic footprints and wheelchair tracks.
Gather near the Faithful Journeys Path. Say:
Faithful Journeys is a journey we will take together and this is the path we will make as we go. Each time we meet, we will find out how some other Unitarian Universalists have taken action in the world. As we go along, we will learn ways we can put our beliefs into action, too.
Show the group the cut-out footprints and wheelchair tracks. Tell them that, in future sessions, they will have a chance to record their own faithful actions on these to post on the Faithful Journeys Path. Then say:
Today we will work together to decorate our Faithful Journeys Path with trees. We are also going to put our footprints on it to show we are ready to start our journey.
Have participants remove their shoes and sit at work tables. Explain that while they make trees for the Faithful Journeys Path, children will be called up one at a time to step into the paint and then step onto a piece of paper, guided by a leader.
Label each foot-printed paper with the child's name, and set it aside to dry. Before calling up the next child, help children clean and dry their feet, using the water and paper towels, and ask them to return to their work tables to work on the trees for the poster.
Including All Participants
Some children may be unable or unwilling to take off shoes and socks and step in paint. Help as needed. You can also trace children's shod feet on paper and help them paint their footprints a color they choose, or invite them to paint footprints cut out from Leader Resource 3.
ACTIVITY 5: U U PRINCIPLES MATCHING GAME (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather children in a circle at a large work table or on the floor. Show them the two baskets. Say, in your own words:
Unitarian Universalists have written down seven Principles to express what we believe. Adults worked together to get the words of the Principles exactly right.
Show the basket with the adult Principles cards. Then say:
Then adults wrote the Principles again in easier words, to help children know what they mean.
Show the basket with children's Principles. Pass this basket around, inviting children to take one card, without showing it to anyone. If you have fewer children than cards, pass the basket until it is empty (some children will have more than one card).
Now, ask a volunteer to pull a card from the adult Principles basket and give it to you. Read the adult Principle aloud to the group. Ask the volunteer to guess which child has the card with the same Principle in easier language (it's okay if a child volunteers themself).
Read the selected child's card(s) out loud to the group and ask, "Does that seem like a match?"
Lead a brief discussion about why or why not it is a good match. If it is not a match, have the volunteer guess again. If it is a match, the child whose card matched now picks a card from the adult Principles basket. Repeat the process until all seven Principles have been matched in pairs of adult and children's language.
Including All Participants
Make sure to read clearly from all cards to assist sight- and/or hearing-impaired participants.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity accustoms children to a closing ritual that affirms their part in the faith community.
Gather the group in a circle. Thank the children for participating and sharing their stories and ideas in this session. Tell them something you liked about the way they worked together as a community.
Point out the Faithful Journeys Path. Say, in your own words:
Our Faithful Journeys Path shows our journey to live our lives and act in ways that reflect our Unitarian Universalist beliefs. Just like Harriot Kezia Hunt, Toribio Quimada, Annie Arnzen and many other Unitarian Universalists, we each have a faithful journey. As we go forward on our path, we will find signposts to help direct us along the way. Today's signpost is a green light for GO! We are on our path!
Post the traffic light on the Faithful Journeys Path.
Distribute handouts with lyrics (or point out the words to the UU Principles Song). Tell the children it is sung to the tune of "Old McDonald Had a Farm." Lead the children in singing it once through. Collect handouts for reuse in future sessions.
Distribute the Taking It Home and UU Principles handouts.
Thank the children, tell them you look forward to seeing them next time, and dismiss the group.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few minutes to evaluate the session with your co-leader immediately afterward, while it is fresh. Share your thoughts with any other team co-leaders and your director of religious education. You might find it helpful to consider these questions:
TAKING IT HOME
In our era the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action. — Dag Hammarskjold
IN TODAY'S SESSION... Children were introduced to the central idea of the Faithful Journeys curriculum: Unitarian Universalists express faith in our actions and behaviors. We began the journey together, learning the song "Woyaya" and creating paint footprints to place on the Faithful Journeys Path we will travel together in the coming weeks. We played a matching game with the Unitarian Universalist Principles, matching the version of the Principles adults use with language that has been adapted for children. Faithful Journeys uses the Principles as a foundation of understanding how our beliefs translate into action.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Read and talk about the Principles together:
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:
The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try... Pay extra attention to times when your child's actions reflect the Principles. Point these instances out and help them articulate how their behavior reflects Unitarian Universalist beliefs. Your child will have the opportunity to share these actions with the Faithful Journeys group next time we meet.
FAMILY ADVENTURE
Walking in Principle. Select a Principle to act on and set out together on a Faithful Journeys walk. You might clean up litter as you walk together, as an expression of the importance of the interdependent web. Or, take an observation walk in which you try to notice and learn as much as you can as an expression of the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
A FAMILY RITUAL
Using the Principles handout your child brought home, write down each Principle on a slip of paper. Fold the slips in half and place them in a small container. Each morning, have each member of the family pull out a slip of paper. Challenge yourselves to think of something you can do during the day to match the Principle you selected. At dinnertime, talk about what you did.
A FAMILY GAME
Using the Principles handout your child brought home, create match game cards with adult language on one set and children's language on the other. Play a traditional match game in which the goal is to turn over the cards and find a match that pairs the children's language of a particular Principle with the adult language.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: CANDLES OF JOYS AND SORROWS (7 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Determine if your room and building policies allow for open flames. If not, consider doing this activity with a felt board and felt candles or with beads in a jar.
Begin by lighting a "starter" candle. Invite the children to come forward one at a time and light a candle of joy and sorrow from the starter candle and push it into the sand. The child should then face the group and tell them what the candle is for. Translate the language so they understand that their joys and sorrows are things that have made them feel very happy/grateful or sad/worried.
Candles of joy and sorrow offer the opportunity for children to experience what is a weekly ritual in many Unitarian Universalist congregations. This activity can deepen the sense of community in the Faithful Journeys group. It gives participants a chance to name those things they carry in their hearts, encourages listening to others, and, in many cases, makes a link with the adult worship experience.
IMPORTANT: Do not leave burning candles unattended. When all who wish to participate have done so, blow out the candles and put away the matches.
Including All Participants
Children who are physically unable or reluctant to light candles and stand to address the group may invite other children to light candles for them, or you may offer to do it yourself. Allow children to speak joys and sorrows from where they sit.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: MOVE IT! ALL MY FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS GAME (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Children build community as they learn more about one another while having fun and being active. If your session has time, play this game immediately after the Opening as a warm-up for learning a song in Activity 2.
Invite the children to bring chairs into a circle. Have an adult leader stand in the center. Make sure there are no empty chairs. Say:
I am going to look for some friends and neighbors. I will say what friends and neighbors I am looking for. For example, I might look for people who love pizza, who are eight years old, who love to read, who have a pet, or who are wearing the color red. If what I say includes you, stand up and change to a different seat.
Meanwhile, I am going to look for a seat that becomes free. That will leave a new person in the middle to look for friends and neighbors.
Before you begin, offer these rules:
Begin the game by saying, "I am looking for all my friends and neighbors who ... enjoy making pictures." If needed, help the person who is left in the middle to think of a phrase to add to "I am looking for all my friends and neighbors who ... "
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
STORY: ANNIE ARNZEN — MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Adapted from "A Week at SOS Children's Village, Tlokweng, Botswana ," by Annie Arnzen, on the "A Precious Cause" website. Used with permission.
Annie first went to Botswana in 2006, when she was in eighth grade. She and her family attend the North Parish, Unitarian Universalist, in North Andover, Massachusetts . She is still helping to raise funds for children affected by AIDS in Botswana .
"Look out the window, Annie," my dad exclaimed. Gripping the arm of my seat, I gazed out the plane window. For the first time, I laid eyes on the country of Botswana .
Over the years I had heard many stories from my dad about his time in Africa while in the Peace Corps. When I learned he was going to Africa on business, I asked to go along. I was eager for an adventure, to attempt to make a difference and to find my own stories in this place, which felt a world away.
My dad said he would bring me with him to Botswana . He had two conditions: One, I had to find some meaningful work to do while we were there. Two, I had to earn the money to pay for half of the ticket. With those words, I could already see my wildest dreams begin.
While earning money by babysitting, pet-sitting, and shoveling snow for our neighbors, I got my heart set on working in an orphanage. When I learned that Botswana has the second worst rate of AIDS in the world, all I could think was, there must be thousands of children whose parents cannot take care of them because of this disease.
Finding an orphanage in such a small country, so far away, that would allow a thirteen-year-old girl from the United States to volunteer doesn't sound easy. It was even harder than it sounded! Finally, five days before our trip to Botswana , we got a call saying the SOS Children's Village would be happy to have me. I felt like I was on top of the world. You can imagine the awe and joy I felt while sitting on the plane, finally flying to Botswana .
The next morning, as we pulled in through the front gate of the SOS Children's Village, it felt like we were entering another world. I was expecting something that looked like the orphanage in the movie Annie, but I was greeted by something very different. I was startled by a cluster of fifteen houses painted in neon shades of purple, pink, blue, green, and brown.
There are two SOS Children's Villages in Botswana . Both villages have sixteen houses as well as a few youth houses, providing a safe environment for four hundred children. In each house they build a "family" of about ten children, including a mama and an auntie to look after them. Brothers and sisters who come to SOS together are not split up. The purpose of SOS is to build families for children whose parents cannot take care of them, and educate them so they can flourish on their own in the future.
After Derrick James, the director, gave us a tour of the orphanage, my dad and I expected time for a typical American good-bye. But the principal of the kindergarten said, "Come with me," and I quickly followed. I looked back at my dad, whose face was a mixture of shock and encouragement as he watched me walk away.
We stopped in front of a small building, which stood just before the kindergarten. "This is where you will work with the babies," she said and then turned and walked away. I stood and looked at the door for a few minutes. Then I took a deep breath and walked in. I was greeted by ten little faces the color of ebony, all between the ages of one and three.
A woman walked over to greet me. She introduced herself as Mama Florence, and those were the only words of English I would hear from her all week. For the entire week, I played and worked with those ten little children.
When I arrived home, I was full of new stories, experiences, and friends. But I felt so empty thinking about the children I was leaving behind and could no longer do anything to help. This is why when I received a letter from Derrick James six months later, a bubble of joy rose within me. His letter said SOS was trying to build another orphanage, because there were still so many children who needed a safe place to live and learn. Derrick said an orphanage costs a lot of money. They were still $300,000 short. He was writing to see if there was anything I could do to help here in the United States .
This was my chance to make a difference for those kids who had made such a difference in me. My family and I started a project called "A Precious Cause" to raise money for SOS. I have been speaking at churches and schools and selling jewelry to reach the ultimate goal of $300,000 for a new orphanage for the children in Botswana . I have been moved by the outpouring of support from people who did not know about SOS before hearing my story. My hope is that as more people learn how the disease, AIDS, is hurting the children of the world, they too will be moved to make a difference.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
STORY: HARRIOT KEZIA HUNT — MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Adapted from multiple sources including a 2005 article, " Mrs. Mott, 'The Celebrated Female Physician , '" in Historic New England online magazine.
Harriot Kezia Hunt, 1805-1875, was barred from medical study at Harvard College because male students objected to her presence. She learned medicine from Elizabeth Mott, who practiced homeopathic medicine in Boston . She applied unsuccessfully to Harvard Medical School — the first woman to try — yet became the first woman in the U.S. to practice medicine professionally. She was a Universalist.
Harriot's younger sister, Sarah, was very sick. Harriot was beginning to feel desperate because nothing the doctors did was helping. In fact, the treatments seemed to make Sarah worse instead of better.
You see, this was more than a hundred years ago — before any of your great-grandparents were even born. No one knew about germs the way we do today, or why people got sick. Most doctors believed you had to force sickness out of a person. They would give sick people medicines made with turpentine and mercury. When the medicines made people vomit or drool, the doctors thought the medicines were working and making the sickness come out. Actually, these were signs the medicines were poison.
Sometimes doctors would cut a patient on purpose. They thought if blood came out of a sick person, it would bring the sickness out with it. Doctors thought this helped patients, but actually it made their bodies weaker and less able to fight their illness.
For one year, Harriot's sister Sarah had suffered through these sorts of treatments. It was time to try something new. Sarah went to see a new kind of doctor: Dr. Mott. She didn't care that everybody thought he was a quack, a fake doctor. He treated Sarah in an entirely new way. He explained that she should get plenty of rest, eat healthy food, and exercise every day. Finally, Sarah began to improve and after some time was cured.
Harriot was very relieved that her sister was better. But she saw other people suffering from the same sorts of treatments that Sarah had experienced. She knew someone had to do something to change things. She decided to take action and become a doctor. She tried to go to medical school, but the students were all men. They protested that they would not study with a woman. So, instead, Harriot studied medicine with Dr. Mott's wife, Elizabeth. Her sister Sarah learned with the Motts, too. Soon, Harriot was treating patients. She taught women how to stay healthy by the same ways that had helped Sarah get better: proper exercise, eating healthy food, and getting enough sleep. Harriot became the first woman to practice medicine in the United States .
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
STORY: TORIBIO QUIMADA — MAKING A DIFFERENCE
By Ellen Gold. Based on information in the book, Maglipay Universalist, by Fred Muir ( Annapolis, Maryland : Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, 2001) and a 2002 review of Muir's book by Rosemary Bray McNatt in UU World magazine.
I bet some of you love to read. Maybe you have a favorite book. Maybe you like to read street signs out loud, or read magazines at home, or read the words to your favorite songs.
Maybe you do not love reading. But most people agree that reading certainly is useful, especially if you are curious about things.
What if you were not allowed to learn to read? What if you were forbidden to read, or told you could not learn to read or write until you were older?
That is what happened to Toribio Quimada. He grew up in the Philippines in the 1930s. The Philippines are a group of islands off the southeast coast of Asia. Toribio lived on the Island of Negros .
Toribio's family were farmers. That is one reason Toribio did not learn to read when he was your age. He and his sisters and brothers worked instead of going to school. They planted rice, herded cattle, and did other farm chores. When he was ten, he started school, but school cost money and his family did not have much. He got to go to the Minglanilla School for only a few years.
There was another reason Toribio did not learn to read when he was your age. It was not important in his family's religion. They were Catholics in a time and place where only priests were allowed to read the Bible. That was one book Toribio very much wanted to read, because he was very curious about religion. But when he was your age, Toribio had no books and could not read at all.
Toribio wanted more from life. He had many questions. He wondered what was true, what God was like, and how religion and faith were connected to all that he did.
In 1937, Toribio's family moved into the home of a cousin who was not Catholic. Reading the Bible was allowed, and Toribio did it. He studied the Bible very carefully. After reading and thinking and thinking and reading, he made the choice to leave the Catholic Church. He wanted to be part of a religion where the members were allowed to read their religious book. He joined a Protestant church called Iglesia Universal de Cristo, where reading the Bible was encouraged.
Toribio took part in many activities at Iglesia Universal de Cristo. He learned so much that he was asked to teach Sunday school there. He had come a long way from not knowing how to read or write. In time, Toribio became a minister. Sometimes he traveled around the Philippine Islands, so people in many different villages could learn about Iglesia Universal de Cristo. Toribio continued to search for truth and meaning. Yet, even though he was now a minister, neither reading nor his new religion could answer all Toribio's questions.
The most important questions were about God and love. Toribio believed in a God that loved all people, no matter what country they lived in, what religion they were, what they looked like, or whether they broke any rules. He believed we all ought to love everyone, exactly the way the God in Toribio's mind would do.
One day, Toribio found out there was a church in America called a Universalist Church . "Universal" was the kind of love Toribio believed in. Toribio was curious and wrote them a letter. Although his letter got lost and nobody replied, he wrote more letters to Universalist churches in America . Can you imagine, before there was any Internet, if a letter arrived at our congregation from as far away as the Philippines ? Finally, some Universalists in Massachusetts heard from Toribio Quimada and wrote back.
As Toribio read the books they sent him, he was happy that others shared his Universalist ideas. Universalism talked about a God and a love that included the whole universe — every person, and the world we share. In Universalism, everyone could read the Bible, and more: Everyone was encouraged to think their own thoughts about what they read. Toribio liked that.
In 1955, Toribio founded the Universalist Church of the Philippines . He went on to help many people in his country, working on the Island of Negros where he was raised.
Universalism talked about equal love for everyone, and that meant things should be fair. Some people in the Philippines did not agree with that. Some people thought being obedient was more important than seeking fairness. Some did not like the changes Toribio's religion might bring to their country. They set his home on fire, and he died there.
But the people who had learned from Toribio kept practicing Universalism, and so did others. His hard work was never forgotten. The Universalist Church Toribio founded was renamed the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines . Its members are part of our faith today. Like us, they continue to search for truth and meaning. They continue to look for justice and freedom for all people, just as Toribio would have wanted.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
HANDOUT 1: UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST PRINCIPLES, ADULT AND CHILD VERSIONS
Unitarian Universalist Principles
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:
Unitarian Universalist Principles, Children's Version
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
HANDOUT 2: SONG — WOYAYA
Hymn 1020 in Singing the Journey, supplement to Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook. Copyright unknown.
We are going,
Heaven knows where we are going,
But we know within.
And we will get there,
Heaven knows how we will get there,
But we know we will.
It will be hard, we know,
And the road will be muddy and rough,
But we'll get there,
Heaven knows how we will get there,
But we know we will.
Woyaya, woyaya, woyaya, woyaya.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
HANDOUT 3: SONG — COME AND GO WITH ME
Hymn 1018 in Singing the Journey, supplement to Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook.
Come and go with me to that land,
Come and go with me to that land,
Come and go with me to that land where I'm bound.
Come and go with me to that land,
Come and go with me to that land,
Come and go with me to that land where I'm bound.
There'll be freedom in that land ...
There'll be justice in that land ...
There'll be singing in that land ...
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: ALTERNATE OPENINGS
Original sources are unknown for many readings commonly used in Unitarian Universalist congregations.
If you like, select your own opening words to use instead of those provided in the sessions. These readings could work well, or you may prefer to find or write your own. The Unitarian Universalist Association's online Worship Web provides more chalice lightings (at www.uua.org/worship/words/chalice/index.shtml) and opening words (at www.uua.org/worship/words/openings/index.shtml), some of which may work well with children.
We light this chalice to remind ourselves
to treat all people kindly — because they are all our siblings
to take good care of the Earth — because it is our home
to live life full of goodness and love — because that is how we will all
become the best people we can be.
We light this chalice to celebrate Unitarian Universalism
(Cup hands to make two Us)
This is the church of the open mind
(Cover eyes and open hands)
This is the church of the loving heart
(Cross arms over heart)
This is the church of the helping hands
(Stretch hands out, palms up)
May the light we now kindle
Inspire us to use our powers
To heal and not to harm,
To help and not to hinder,
To bless and not to curse,
To serve you,
Spirit of freedom. — from a Passover Haggadah, Reading 453 in Singing the Living Tradition
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: FAITHFUL JOURNEYS PATH INSTRUCTIONS
The Faithful Journeys Path is meant to be a large visual of a winding path that represents the journey we make as we translate our faith into action. In each session, you will add a signpost to the path, e.g., a green light (Session 1), Be Fair (Session 4), Build World Community (Session 13). Also in each session, you will post Faithful Footprints on the path to represent participants' faithful actions outside of the religious school time. The path should be displayed in your Faithful Journeys meeting room, ideally on a wall, but it could be on a table or even made as a three-dimensional object that you display on the floor.
Draw the path as two parallel lines that curve and bend. You might draw it on a large roll of butcher paper or gift wrap, large sheets of poster board, or pieces of paper taped together. You might attach a very wide ribbon or a length of fabric to the wall with masking tape, weaving it about the room, or drape it over cardboard to make a three-dimensional path with hills, curves, and valleys. You might put your path on corkboard and use pins to attach signposts and Faithful Footprints.
There is no one way to create the Faithful Journeys Path. Design a path that will accommodate a new signpost and participants' Faithful Footprints each time you meet. A Faithful Journeys Path that can be lengthened, if necessary, is probably a good idea.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 3: FAITHFUL FOOTPRINTS
Using different colors of paper, cut out Faithful Footprints to post on the Faithful Journeys Path. To promote inclusion, also provide wheelchairs (Leader Resource 4) as an alternative.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 4: MAKING TRACKS FOR FAITH
Promote inclusion by providing pictures of wheelchairs, using different colors of paper, as an alternative to Faithful Footprints to post on the Faithful Journeys Path.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 5: TREES FOR THE FAITHFUL JOURNEYS PATH
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 6: UU PRINCIPLES MATCHING GAME CARDS
Cut out the game cards. Keep the adult language Principles separate from the children's version.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 7: SIGNPOST FOR SESSION 1
Cut out the traffic light. Color the bottom circle green if using a black and white version. During the Closing, show it to the children and attach it to the Faithful Journeys Path.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 8: UU PRINCIPLES SONG
By Lisa Rubin; used with permission.
Sing to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."
Seven UU Principles,
Come and sing with me!
One!
Everyone is special,
That's what we believe!
With a high five here and a high five there,
Here a high five, there a high five, everywhere a high five ...
Everyone is special!
That's what we believe!
Two!
Treat people kindly!
That's what we believe!
With a back pat here ...
Three!
Take each person as they are!
That's what we believe!
With a welcome here ...
Four!
Grow in spirit, mind, and heart!
That's what we believe!
With a growth spurt here ...
Five!
Act and vote on your concerns!
That's what we believe!
With a "Yes" vote here, and a "No" vote there ...
Here a "Yes", there a "No", everywhere a "Yes" or "No" ...
Six!
Work for peace and justice!
That's what we believe!
With a peace sign here, and a peace sign there ...
Here a sign, there a sign, everywhere a peace sign ...
Seven!
To nature we're connected!
That's what we believe!
With a "web link" here, and a "web link" there ...
Here a link, there a link, everywhere a web link ...
Seven UU Principles,
SING WHAT WE BELIEVE!
FIND OUT MORE
Harriot Hunt and the Motts
The treatment Drs. Elizabeth and Richard Dixon Mott provided her sister, Sarah, inspired Harriot Kezia Hunt to learn the Motts' healing practices. However, in 1830s Boston , the Motts were considered quacks. According to the article, " Mrs. Mott, 'The Celebrated Female Physician (at www.historicnewengland.org/NEHM/2005WinterSpringPage11.htm),' in Historic New England online magazine (2005):
Boston was also home to many alternative medical practitioners who sought to cure patients without poisonous drugs and strong interventions.... Serious competitors in the burgeoning urban medical marketplace, they advertised their cures in local newspapers and directories and gained followings well beyond Boston . Even so, Mrs. Mott was an anomaly in the early nineteenth century, when both traditional medicine and alternative medicine were male preserves. For centuries women had administered home remedies to their sick relatives, but doctors who had graduated from professional medical training programs began to supplant such female healers. It would take decades for women to gain access to medical schools.
Unitarian Universalist Principles
For more about the Unitarian Universalist Principles read With Purpose and Principle: Essays About the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism, edited by Edward A. Frost (Boston: Skinner House Books, 1998).