Community and Worship Programs creates connections within, among, and beyond us, calling us to our better selves, calling us to live with wisdom and compassion.

Unitarian Universalist worship styles vary by congregation, and even within congregations. Some congregations’ worship is contemporary and high tech. Some congregations’ worship is traditional and formal. Some feature exuberant music, some include long periods of silent reflection.

Elements of a typical Unitarian Universalist Westside Congregation Sunday morning program include:

• Words of welcome
• Lighting a flaming chalice, the symbol of our faith
• Lighting candle for current events or causes
• Music, both instrumental and vocal and in a variety of styles
• A time for lifting up the joys and concerns of the congregation
• A meditation or prayer
• Readings—ancient or contemporary
• A sermon or talk is given by a professional minister, a guest speaker, or a member of the congregation
• An offering, collecting financial donations for the congregation, or for justice work in the community.

From time to time, our services incorporate holiday celebrations and longer musical performances

. Copyright Unitarian Universalist Association

Our Symbol: The Flaming Chalice

A flame within a chalice (a cup with a stem and foot) is a primary symbol of the Unitarian Universalist faith tradition. Many of our congregations kindle a flaming chalice in gatherings and worships and feature the chalice symbol prominently.

Hans Deutsch, an Austrian artist, first brought together the chalice and the flame as a Unitarian symbol during his work with the Unitarian Service Committee during World War II. To Deutsch, the image had connotations of sacrifice and love.

To Unitarian Universalists today the flaming chalice is a symbol of hope, the sacred, the quest for truth, the warmth of community, the light of reason, and more.

We light a flaming chalice in worship to create a reverent space for reflection, prayer, meditation, and singing.

UUWC continues our Values development to clarify what timeless values we will embody in all we do. This is not intended to replace the UU Principles but rather to emphasize how we, at this time in our congregation, intend to focus our actions in our daily and congregational life.

In our Phase Two Values Exercise process, members of the Council, the Committee on Shared Ministry, and representatives of the general Congregation met for more than two hours on 8/10 to work with the groups of values ideas that were produced in the Congregational Values Exercise.

We studied examples from several other congregations and spiritual organizations. Lively discussion ensued about word meaning and how to articulate the best expression of what we heard our congregational members telling us. You will notice that we used verbs to express our intention to be in action.

Please read through the Proposed UUWC Values Statements below. We invite you to “try them on” and discuss with others. If you’d like to express your feedback on the Values Statements in writing, please email to NikaQuirk@mac.com.

We will also include time for feedback in our September Townhall.

Thanks for continuing to participate in our ongoing congregational exploration of who we choose to be and how we wish to be known in our larger NM community.

Nika Quirk, your Council Moderator

8/22/2

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