Materials

• Chalice or LED/battery-operated candle
• Optional: Computer with Internet access

Preparation

• Choose and plan a way for participants to experience worship.

Description

Opening

Use your established opening ritual. Or, light the chalice and share this quote:

An authentic life is the most personal form of worship. Everyday life has become my prayer. — Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance

Check-In

Focus

For this session's focus, experience one or more worship services. There are several options for doing this:

• Watch Unitarian Universalist worship online. There are many sites available. The General Assembly pages on the UUA website have Unitarian Universalist worship services from past GAs. Many congregations have posted virtual worship services they provided during the pandemic; search “UU worship” on YouTube.
• Individually or as a group, attend a service in your own or another Unitarian Universalist congregation.
• Individually or together, attend a worship service of another faith community. Reach out to leaders of local faith communities. Ask for a suggestion of a specific service your group could attend and ask for guidelines as to how visitors may participate.

Questions

• What are the various parts of the service you attended or viewed? What was the meaning or purpose of each part?
• Who participated in the worship service and how? For example, how was the service led? How did people participate?
• How did you feel during the worship service? How did you feel after attending or viewing the service? What key elements made an impression on you, and what was the impression?

Deeper Questions

• In the Unitarian Universalist worship service, what are some elements that make it "feel" Unitarian Universalist? Are these elements exclusive to our worship services?
• What would you add to these worship services and why?
• Do particular parts of the service speak to you? Can you explain why? Are the parts you responded to typical in a Unitarian Universalist worship service? Have you noticed them in the worship services of other religions?
• What do you think people seek from worship? What do you seek?
• Discuss the Opening quote. Does any part of the quote resonate with you and your Unitarian Universalist faith?

Optional Activity

• Plan a worship service for your congregation. If your congregation does not traditionally hold a youth-led service, maybe it is time to start one. This is a big project and you will need help. Talk to your religious educator, minister, and worship committee, and the families of youth involved. The Coming of Age Handbook, by Sarah Gibb Millspaugh, has useful resources for planning worship.
• Invite someone who plans worship services in your congregation to meet with the group. It might be the minister or a lay leader. Ask them to describe to the group the process from start to finish, keeping their presentation to ten minutes or less. Leave time for questions. If possible, before the visit, invite participants to list questions they would like to ask.

Check-Out

Closing

Use your established closing ritual, or one created by participant teams in an earlier small group ministry session.

Coming of Age Handbook for Congregations

By Sarah Gibb Millspaugh

From inSpirit: The UU Book and Gift Shop

Comprehensive guidebook for religious educators of adolescents...

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