Blue cloth rippling across chancel at the UU Congregation of Fairfax, VA.

The Water Communion, also sometimes called Water Ceremony, was first used at a Unitarian Universalist (UU) worship service in the 1980s. Many UU congregations now hold a Water Communion once a year, often at the beginning of the new church year (September).

Members bring to the service a small amount of water from a place that is special to them. During the appointed time in the service, people one by one pour their water together into a large bowl. As the water is added, the person who brought it tells why this water is special to them. The combined water is symbolic of our shared faith coming from many different sources. It is often then blessed by the congregation, and sometimes is later boiled and used as the congregation’s “holy water” in child dedication ceremonies and similar events.

Man and child pour water into the common bowl.

From Tapestry of Faith Curricula

Unitarian Universalist Perspectives

A tiny drop of water bouncing off of the surface of water in a bowl.

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  • I invite you to join me in a special ingathering ritual in which we will gather in energy and love from all directions. Your responsive call is the “Gathered Here” chant. Some of you will participate perhaps in a more metaphysical sense and for others your participation may be more metaphorical;...
    Opening | By Jane Altman Page | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Earth-Centered, Homecoming / Ingathering, Paganism, Water Communion
  • 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, Resilience, Unitarian Universalism, Water Communion