Sacred Words Project
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The Vision & Plans for Our Project
The idea is simple: Traditional theological language opens a door to a long and deep discussion about what it means to be human. Given this, why not bring these sacred words into conversation with our monthly themes? This is what our 2019-20 Sacred Words project was all about. We created worship resource packets on a number of sacred words and then paired them with our more general monthly themes for that year. This deepened our monthly worship "conversations" and helped us begin to retrieve the gift of these sacred words from which we UUs have long cut ourselves off. So what's next? Well, during 2020-21 we're going to step back and work on laying the groundwork for an expansion of the project that will be rolled out in the 2021-22 church year. That expansion is two-fold: More sacred word worship packets and the creation of small group packets! Worship Packets In addition to the 9 sacred words packets we've developed, we'll be creating at least 4 more. The possibilities we are exploring include: Calling, Covenant, Incarnation, Evil, Sabbath, Pilgrimage, Ritual and, no surprise, God/Divinity. Some of these worship resource packets may be available as early as Spring 2021. Small Group Packets We're developing small group discussion packets to go with our nine original sacred words as well as the new sacred words we decide on. Additionally, we're creating a stand-alone Sacred Words Journey curriculum that can used in a 5-6 week "class" or more time-condensed journey (over two months rather than over an entire year) In The Meantime...We hope Soul Matters members will use our original nine sacred words worship packets to deepen their engagement with this year's 2020-21 general themes. If you've not already purchased them, you can do that HERE.
You are welcome to pair the nine sacred words with the 2020-21 themes as you wish, of course. If you are looking for a little help with that pairing, here are our suggestions: Month 2020-21 General Theme Suggested Sacred Word Pairing September Renewal Awakening October Deep Listening Prayer, Soul November Healing Grace, Surrender December Stillness Prayer, Soul, Mysticism January Imagination February Beloved Community Blessing March Commitment Faith April Becoming Awakening May Story June Play And we'd love to hear from you! As we go about our work this year, we'd love your input. What sacred words are you especially hoping we cover? What would you like to see us include in the design of our small group packets and curriculum? And what about children's RE curriculum? We're thinking of phasing that in soon after we're done with the small group packets, but if a group of RE leaders are interested, we'd be thrilled to speed up that timeline! We also have a wonderful team of Sacred Words Advisors and researchers and always welcome more. That's for being part of this journey! |