Water Communion Service (September)
Each September, when we gather for the first time in our sanctuary after the summer season and the Ferry Beach retreat, we are invited to bring water from a place of meaning to us, often representing a particularly meaningful experience from our summer. The water we bring and offer for the Water Communion service is representative of the value we place on water as a life force, used not only to nourish and sustain our bodies, but also in our rituals as welcome new lives into our church community, with our baby and child dedication ceremonies. Water from home faucets is just as significant as that from the Galapagos Islands, as the intent is to bring a personal meaning to this life force that sustains us. As we pour our water into the common bowl, we share our name, the place the water came from and what we will bring to the common bowl of our beloved community in the year to come. We always have water available for those who would like to participate.
All Souls (November)
During our candlelight All Soul’s Service, we reflect on death, bereavement and other losses. We also remember loved ones we have lost by lighting candles and writing their names in our All Souls books.
Please bring photographs and mementos of your loved one for the tables at the back of the sanctuary. After the service, we will celebrate the lives of all our lost loved ones by planting bulbs in their honor in our church gardens.
Children’s Candlelight Christmas Service (December 24)
The best Christmas Eve service for families with children and those young at heart. We’ll enjoy a skit about how some take a journey and find the true meaning of Christmas along the way. We’ll sing some Christmas carols and light candles for all babies born since last Christmas Eve. As is our tradition, at the close of the service, we will light candles while we sing Silent Night, together.
Candlelight Christmas Eve Service (December 24)
Candles, music and readings celebrate the enduring light in a dark season. Candles are lighted for babies born since last Christmas Eve.
Blessing of the Animals (May)
The animals in our lives can often transform our anxiety to calm, give us new perspectives, and bring sheer, in-the-moment joy. We learn so much from them. Come and celebrate our furry, hairy, winged, and scaled friends at our Blessing of the Animals service. Animals of all shapes and sizes are welcome. (Those that bite, sting or scratch should be constrained.) If you can’t bring your animal, bring a photo! We will also light candles for those animals who’ve died since our last Animal Blessing service. This worship will be held downstairs in Barnum Hall.
Flower Communion and Bridging (June)
We’ll celebrate the UUCM family in this last ‘regular’ church service of the year. Seniors graduating from high school will be honored. Also please bring a blossom to share in our annual flower communion, which began in Czechoslovakia after WWI, when Rev. Norbert Capek created this service to bring uplift into the lives of his parishioners who had suffered through the dark time of war.
Child Dedication
At the beginning of our service, we will dedicate babies and young children. In our Unitarian Universalist tradition, we dedicate children to the highest ideals of life. The congregation dedicates itself to supporting the parents/guardians and the children as they grow. And we rededicate ourselves to creating a more sane and just world, a world in which all children are welcomed and may thrive.