Ceremonies

For infants, young adopted children, or children whose families have recently joined the congregation, at our church parents can choose to have a naming ceremony or a more traditional baptism. Either way, it's a celebration of the blessing of new life, an expression of the parents' hopes for their child, and a call to the parents and the congregation's members to lead and nurture the child's spiritual life as it grows. Adults are not required to be or become baptized when joining the Unitarian Universalist faith.

Schedule a child dedication/baptism

Beginning in kindergarten, children at Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church learn about the beliefs and ceremonies of world religions and share what they’ve learned with the congregation. Each of these presentations is a life cycle ceremony, as is affirmation of belief. The final life cycle ceremony, Roots and Wings, comes with graduation from high school.

Our 8th grade teens spend a year learning about Unitarian Universalism and other religions and exploring, together and in their own hearts, their own beliefs. In May the congregation celebrates and affirms their individual search for truth and meaning at a special "Affirmation of Belief" service which features the youth reading their statements of personal belief (credo statements) to the congregation. Teens who have affirmed their beliefs are offered the opportunity to join the church, but are not automatically made members. Teens who have not been affirmed must generally wait until they are 18 to join.

You don’t have to convert to Unitarian Universalism. No creedal confession or belief statement is necessary to join as an adult, nor is it necessary to revoke your previous faith. Adults are not required to be or become baptized when joining Unitarian Universalism. Instead we hold a new member’s ceremony to welcome you to the congregation.

We celebrate several types of communion.

At Easter and on World Communion Sunday there’s the traditional bread and wine communion (except that we use grape juice, not because we are opposed to alcohol, but so everyone can participate). There are no barriers to participation in communion. People of all ages and beliefs are welcome at the communion table.

Then there’s the spring Flower communion service created by Norbert Capek (1870-1942), who founded the Unitarian Church of Czechoslovakia. Because members of his church had been persecuted for their religious beliefs, he created a symbolic ritual that would bind people more closely together without alienating those to found that bread and wine communion reminded them of dark times in their lives. As no two flowers are alike, no two people are alike. Together different flowers form a beautiful bouquet which would not be the same without the unique addition of each individual flower. So it is with our church community: it would not be the same without each and every one of us.

We also hold a Water Communion at the beginning of the new church year in September. Members bring a small amount of water from a place that is special to them. People one by one pour their water together into a large bowl. As the water is added, the person who brought it explains why this water is special to them. The combined water is symbolic of our shared faith coming from many different sources.

Services for loved ones who have passed on are very personal occasions. Because of this, each memorial service and funeral is developed by the family of the deceased and the minister to celebrate the life of the loved one and specially honor the memory of that individual.

There is no one standard Unitarian Universalist wedding service. Each service is developed by the couple and the minister to best reflect the couple’s beliefs, hopes, and relationship.

In addition to blessing heterosexual unions, Unitarian Universalist congregations and ministers welcome the opportunity to bless same-sex marriages, even in the states where they are not yet legally recognized.

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Schedule a wedding