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Vases of daffodils and hyacinth on altar.

The Flower Ceremony, sometimes referred to as Flower Communion or Flower Festival, is an annual ritual that celebrates beauty, human uniqueness, diversity, and community.

Originally created in 1923 by Unitarian minister Norbert Čapek of Prague, Czechoslovakia, the Flower Ceremony was introduced to the United States by Rev. Mája Čapek, Norbert's widow.* This piece on WorshipWeb, by the Revs. Teresa and David Schwartz, tells The Story of Norbert Čapek's Flower Ceremony.

Please visit our Flower Ceremony Centennial page!

In this ceremony, everyone in the congregation brings a flower. Each person places a flower on the altar or in a shared vase. The congregation and minister bless the flowers, and they're redistributed. Each person brings home a different flower than the one they brought.

Faith Without Borders

Celebrating the Flower Ceremony is an excellent opportunity for Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations to express their commitment to our Sixth Principle: We covenant to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all. Read Sixth Principle Resources for the Flower Ceremony.

*Note: Č is a separate latter of the Czech alphabet, pronounced like the "ch" in "chocolate." Čapek is pronounced "CHOP-ek," and Mája is pronounced "Maya."

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  • a white pitcher on a table outdoors holds a tangle of pink, white, and gold wildflowers
    No hot house flowers, these, bred for perfection, dyed and trimmed, and arranged to order, clothed in ribbons and bows. Not these. No, these are hardy, raw and wild. Grown under the sky, they’ve weathered the wind and the rain and the heat. These drew nutrients from the neighborhood soil and...
    Meditation | By Lisa Doege | June 22, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Abundance, Beauty, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Flower Communion, Humility, Nature, Spring, Vulnerability, Wonder, WorshipWeb
  • Jan van Eyck's "The Ghent Altarpiece, Singing Angels," 1427-29.
    In colors bright and essence sweet, like flowers we blossom when we meet.
    Doxology | By Lisa Doege | June 22, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Beauty, Community, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Flower Communion, Nature, WorshipWeb