Opening (3 minutes)
Materials for Activity
- Altar or centering table
- Cloth for covering altar or centering table
- Chalice and candle
- Small votive candle
- Narrow taper candle
- Matches or lighter
- Copies of Handout 1: Move in the Hand for all participants
- Optional: Everyday objects to enhance the altar or centering table
Preparation for Activity
- Review and photocopy Handout 1: Move in the Hand.
- Prepare the altar or centering table with the cloth you have brought, a chalice and candle, a votive candle, a taper candle, and matches or a lighter.
- Light the votive candle in advance for a smooth chalice-lighting. During the workshop opening, a volunteer will use the taper candle to carry the flame from the votive to the chalice.
- Optional: You may wish to enhance the altar with some of the "everyday" items you brought for Activity 4: Sacred in the Everyday.
Description of Activity
Distribute Handout 1: Move in the Hand. Offer these words of welcome:Welcome to this program on Unitarian Universalist spirituality as lived in our day to day lives. We'll look at times of the day and actions of the day and how we might make them part of our spiritual practice. I'm glad you are here!
Invite a participant to light the chalice. Show the participant how to use the taper candle to carry the flame from the votive candle to the chalice candle. Ask him/her to blow out the taper candle after he/she has lit the chalice.
Lead the group in reciting the unison chalice-lighting words as the participant kindles the flame.
Invite participants to read silently along with you as you read aloud the Unitarian Universalist Principle and Source that this workshop highlights.
Including All Participants
All participants in your workshop, particularly those who are hard of hearing, will absorb the material better if you use a microphone, speak in an engaging manner, use body language, and make frequent eye contact with participants.Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
