Rites & Rituals

Ritual has been important to humans since we first painted on cave walls. People today still have the need to mark the seasons of the places we live, and the seasons of our lives. I love ritual.

​From baby dedications and new member ceremonies to weddings and memorial services, part of what we do as a congregation is to bring people together, create supportive space for emotions, and give form to our feelings and commitments, through ritual. Ritual can also enhance our interfaith connections, help us deal with tragedy, and support our witness in the public square.

Pictured here:  Celebrating water in-gathering with both children and adults.

Some rituals are entirely personal, such as rituals I have designed for individuals to mark the transition of breast cancer surgery, and to embrace the wise elder stage of life.  Other rites of passage serve entire families or communities. Officiating at weddings is a joy, and I am especially moved by the process of working with family and friends of the deceased to plan and share a Celebration of Life service.

With UU pagan writer and practitioner Margot Adler. I was fortunate to study ritual with her - and learn many earth-centered chants from her - toward the end of her life.

Of course, ritual is part of a congregation's shared life as well. 

Some rituals are pastoral in nature, others are spiritual, and still others are communal. These pictures are from a processional that highlighted many church groups; during the Time for All Ages, I discussed with the children the meanings of objects carried forward by church representatives, and how the various committees and affinity groups of the church help to carry out its mission.

Lay leaders carry objects representing the Buddhist meditation group, the Social Justice Council, and the church choir

The Age of Reason Ceremony can also conducted during Sunday worship. Parents present their child a book in recognition of their growing abilities to read, learn, and use the moral sense, as the congregation celebrates the young ones reaching the Age of Reason.​

I enjoy supporting long-standing traditions of the congregation I serve, creating new opportunities for ritual during worship, as well, and supporting ceremonies for different points in the life cycle of persons.