PRAYER & SPIRITUAL PRACTICE - Feb 2011
About two years into my first ministry in Meadville, PA, a long time member asked me why I didn’t lead the congregation in prayer.
I responded that as a born and raised Unitarian Universalist, I never had ministerial led prayer, or pastoral prayer, and rarely found it in UU worship services. In addition, I’ve heard repeatedly that UU’s are uncomfortable with public prayer. She challenged my assumptions about UU’s being uncomfortable, and asked me to give it a try because she wanted and needed prayer in her worship service.
Because she means a lot to me, I did offer prayer in worship, and have continued to do so ever since. I’ve never heard any negative critique of my prayers, only gratitude for helping bring people’s hearts together in worship.
I learned at a Unitarian Universalist history conference I attended last fall something important about prayer and other spiritual practices. Rituals such as pastoral prayer, candles of joys and concerns and chalice lighting raise the level of cohesiveness in a community. They do so by affirming a community’s identity.
Rituals are considered by academics as “restricted codes” because they require a shared understanding. Restricted codes offer a common practice that help bond a group. If a group does’t bond, they won’t grow. Seems contrary to common sense that a restricted ritual would help build community rather than turn people off since only “insiders” know what it means. But actually, people are looking for a place to which they can belong and have a sense of community. Best way to achieve a sense of UU community is through practices such as our style of prayer, ex: “Dear Spirit of life and love,” candles for joys and concerns, and chalice lighting.
UU’s have a long history, as noted, in rejecting religious rituals, yet we are now yearning for them as a positive statement of who we are. We are yearning for affirmation and our own story telling us who we are. My ministry will continue to answer this call by encouraging the use of rituals that grow organically out of our communities. I want to see them embellished and strengthened because I want Unitarian Universalism to thrive into the 21st and 22nd centuries, ever onward.
With prayer and love, Kate Walker
Because she means a lot to me, I did offer prayer in worship, and have continued to do so ever since. I’ve never heard any negative critique of my prayers, only gratitude for helping bring people’s hearts together in worship.
I learned at a Unitarian Universalist history conference I attended last fall something important about prayer and other spiritual practices. Rituals such as pastoral prayer, candles of joys and concerns and chalice lighting raise the level of cohesiveness in a community. They do so by affirming a community’s identity.
Rituals are considered by academics as “restricted codes” because they require a shared understanding. Restricted codes offer a common practice that help bond a group. If a group does’t bond, they won’t grow. Seems contrary to common sense that a restricted ritual would help build community rather than turn people off since only “insiders” know what it means. But actually, people are looking for a place to which they can belong and have a sense of community. Best way to achieve a sense of UU community is through practices such as our style of prayer, ex: “Dear Spirit of life and love,” candles for joys and concerns, and chalice lighting.
UU’s have a long history, as noted, in rejecting religious rituals, yet we are now yearning for them as a positive statement of who we are. We are yearning for affirmation and our own story telling us who we are. My ministry will continue to answer this call by encouraging the use of rituals that grow organically out of our communities. I want to see them embellished and strengthened because I want Unitarian Universalism to thrive into the 21st and 22nd centuries, ever onward.
With prayer and love, Kate Walker
