BE HONEST Virtual Baptism Gathering
December 15, 2024 at 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Join us for our new Sunday Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful Offering where we bring Christ and the vision of the New Church explicitly into the circle. While our collaborative looks for the essence of faith beyond dogma, focusing on the call to a life of kindness, the rituals and practices of the church also can help us access this essence. This is what we will explore and make space for during our Sunday Gathering time.
We see deep meaning in the essential sacraments of the church, the Holy Supper and Baptism, as representative of the necessary rhythm of receiving and releasing inherent to health and growth. The Holy Supper resounds as a ritual of LOVE as we receive the bread and wine and remember our reliance on the higher source that gives us life. Baptism reminds us of our need to be HONEST about that which gets in the way of love, so that we might be cleansed and renewed. We will also make space each month to gather around the ritual of anointing as a way to honor our particular USE and call in the world.
This week’s theme is Baptism BE HONEST “What is getting in the way of love?”
We invite you to bring with you any reflections on what you may be ready to release, or need help releasing that you’d like to share aloud or to consider in silence, any readings, art or music that you might like to share with the group and a bowl or dish of water.
Our gathering follows the following format:
BE love.
We will begin with 12 minutes to Be Love together. I’ll offer a meditation to ground us and all attendees are welcome to offer something in the spirit of love related to the theme of the week. We will take this time to honor and rest in our inherent belovedness together, to breathe and to come into the present moment.
BE honest.
Then we will take time to Be Honest with each other. Each person will be given 7 minutes to share. This may be a time to share something related to our theme of baptism, something you are seeking help releasing or ready to release. You are welcome to share with words or to screen share a visual image or piece of music. You are welcome to pose a question in this sharing time if you are looking for insights from others. You are also welcome to be in the circle in silence. This is a time to share something of our honest lived experience and to practice deep listening of one another.
BE useful.
We will Be Useful at the close of our Sunday gathering by participating in a remembering your baptism ritual. Have a bowl or glass of water nearby if you’d like to participate. We will then end our time together with making space for closing thoughts/benedictions/blessings/prayers around the circle.
