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On the first Sunday after Labor Day, many Unitarian Universalist congregations kick off the new congregational year with an Ingathering service, and some congregations include the Water Communion ritual (or Water Ceremony) in this service.

Themes often used include: reunion; re-gathering; re-covenanting as a community of faith; hospitality; returning home to the church community that holds us; hope; looking forward with excitement to church year. The service may be intergenerational in whole or in part.

Unitarian Universalist Perspectives

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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7

  • Against gray leaves, a chalice of green stems and a "flame" of red leaves
    Come, let us enter this space of hope and community. Come, let us enter this space with our sorrows, our joys, our passion and compassion. Come. let us enter this space with the stories of our ancestors, for their strength and wisdom beats in our hearts....
    Opening | By Katie Romano Griffin | March 15, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Community Ministry Sunday, Connections, Generations, History, Homecoming / Ingathering, Humanism, Interdependence, New Member Ceremony, Purpose, Scout Sunday, Tradition, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Vision, Water Communion
  • A close-up photo of the stacked hands, solidarity-style, of three people.
    Our communities of memory and promise are founded upon covenants because we all need a defense against the impulse of immediate feelings that challenge our best intentions. It is necessary to be reminded from time to time of what you said you were going to do, and what you really want, over and...
    Reading | By Kendyl L. R. Gibbons | February 21, 2018 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Building/Space Dedication, Business Meetings, Commitment, Community, Connections, Covenant, Homecoming / Ingathering, Installations, Integrity, Interdependence, Living Our Faith, Ordinations, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • A ruler and diagram of the Fibonacci spiral
    Creator of Life, Source of All Being It was from the particles of the Universe that you formed me... Iron and carbon and phosphorous Mixed with energy, passion and dreams. I was made in your image, says ancient Scripture. Made from the colors of the rainbow, Shaped with bones straight and curved,...
    Meditation | By Cynthia Frado | December 8, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Atheism, Coming of Age, Connections, Direct Experience, Diversity, God, Homecoming / Ingathering, Identity, Inclusion, Individualism, Integrity, National Coming Out Day, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Reverence, Secular, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Unitarian Universalism, United Nations Day, WorshipWeb
  • lip of a water jug
    And so we gather, from the ebb and flow of our lives Thirsty for connection to ourselves Thirsty for connection to others Thirsty for connection to the larger life. As we light this chalice May all who gather here be filled: Filled with joy and hope Filled with compassion and love Here, may we be...
    Chalice Lighting | By Gregory Pelley | September 15, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Agnosticism, Body, Community, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Earth, Homecoming / Ingathering, Hope, Humanism, Joy, Love, Nature, Searching, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion, WorshipWeb
  • Photo of a river rushing over rocks.
    As drops of rain that find each other and build to become a track, a rivulet, a stream, a river, a sea, so are we drawn together; so are we fortunate to find each other; so are we bound together, on this shared passage toward an unknown ocean and eternity.
    Affirmation | By Elizabeth Lerner Maclay | September 15, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Community, Connections, Earth, Earth-Centered, Homecoming / Ingathering, Nature, New Member Ceremony, Relationships, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Water Communion, WorshipWeb
  • Gabrielle Rockenfield GA Chalice
    The flame of our chalice this morning is a symbol of the warmth and brightness of our connections. The flame lights our way back together again From our separate summer lives, and it lights our way forward Into this new church year of promise and renewal.
    Chalice Lighting | By Janet Parsons | February 18, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Caring, Commitment, Community, Connections, Discernment, Faith, Friendship, Growth, Homecoming / Ingathering, Hope, Unitarian Universalism, Unity
  • Unitarian Universalist Association Chalice
    Many Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations follow an annual Ingathering tradition on the first Sunday after Labor Day that includes a Water Communion/Ceremony ritual. Specific traditions vary widely, but often they include introductory remarks, a time for reflection, a sharing of water that...
    Ritual | By Eric Cherry | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Connections, Earth, Globalism, Homecoming / Ingathering, Interdependence, International, Nature, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion