Tapestry of Faith: Signs of Our Faith: A Program about Being UU Every Day for Grades 2-3

Faith In Action: Collecting Prayers and Meditations

Preparation for Activity

  • Choose a date for the collection, and publicize it via congregational newsletter, website, and pulpit announcements.

Description of Activity

Participants collect the favorite prayers and meditations of members of the congregation and share them with the ministry team.

On collection day, set up a table that is accessible to everyone entering or leaving the building. Provide paper and pens. Ask congregants to share any favorite prayers or meditations. Suggest they share words from their childhood or youth, words that are part of a current spiritual practice, and/or words that address specific occasions, such as a grace for meals or a Jewish prayer for lighting Sabbath candles.

Invite the children to explore the collection. Can they identify common themes or words in the pieces? Are any of the prayers or meditations familiar to the children?

Give the collection to the congregational ministry team. Invite them to use the prayers and meditations in worship, as graces before potlucks, and as readings to open meetings. Meditations can be used to center groups before religious education workshops, at retreats, and myriad congregational activities.

A word of caution: Be aware of copyright issues. Any piece submitted by an original author may be reprinted with their permission. If a prayer or meditation was written by someone else, you may use it in worship, but you may not reprint it or publish it without the author's permission.

Including All Participants

Have at least one adult available on collection day to transcribe any prayer or meditation a congregational member asks to dictate.