It’s Homecoming Sunday and we’re Celebrating Home Once Again: 74 Years and Counting with our annual Water Communion (Blending of the Waters), Building Dedication, and Ms. Dary’s Annual Cake Bake-Off!
As the wheel of the year turns, so we come to our 74th anniversary! Let’s all return to the fold as we celebrate. This will be a jam-packed service.
We will begin with a dedication of our newly renovated Heffner Hall (even as our renovation continues with final touches).
Then we will share our annual Blending of the Waters – Water Communion. The core symbolism of the Water Communion is that we all come from water: as a species on a planet where life began in the ocean, as mammals who float in amniotic fluid as we are prepared for birth, and as beings whose cells are primarily composed of water. And yet, we are separate from one another. We have been apart – since there tends to be a slowing down, a different rhythm in the summer months, even in churches that have services and religious education right through the summer – and now we are reuniting. We are separate and together, the way water scatters into rain and streams and clouds and springs and ponds and puddles and yet flows together again and again, one great planetary ocean. Not only is no drop of water superior to any other, but all water comes from the same place.
After the service, we will hold the Ms. Dary’s Annual Cake Bake-Off. For decades, Dary Shenefelt baked a cake for UUJXN in honor of our founding on September 7th (1951). To honor her legacy, we hold an annual remembrance of UUJXN’s founding day and a special cake bake-off for every anniversary. All are welcome to bring a cake to enter and share with others.
So plan to attend service and stick around afterwards for socializing, sharing memories, greeting friends returning from summer vacations, and coffee and cake!
Topics: Beloved Community, Communion, Intergenerational, Ritual, Special Service, Spiritual Practice, Theme: Building Belonging, UUCJ History, Welcoming
