Tapestry of Faith: Virtue Ethics: An Ethical Development Program for High School Youth

Faith In Action: Creating a Ritual

Part of Virtue Ethics

Description of Activity

Youth create a simple forgiveness ritual and share it with others.

If you have a group that is creative or has quite a bit of worship experience, they might enjoy the challenge of creating a ritual around forgiveness. The ritual could involve a meditation. Use Activity 3, Forgiveness Maze or Activity 5, Practice as a basis for a ritual on the topic "What should I focus on as I steer my mind toward a path of forgiveness?"

The ritual could be more concrete. It could involve an act to signify release, such as burning (keeping safety in mind, always) or burying. It might include tying knots in a string to symbolize acts for which one needs to forgive and cutting or knotting the knots while repeating a mantra of forgiveness.

The group can work on one ritual together, or you can break into smaller groups. Share the ritual(s) in the congregational newsletter or lead them during a worship service or chapel.