We will celebrate the beginning of a new fellowship year with ritual. We will celebrate our reunion with the Water Ceremony. Unitarian Universalist
communities have been celebrating water communion since the early
1980’s when the service was first designed by Carol McDade and Lucile
Shuck Longvie . At our annual Ingathering service, we will come together
as a family of travelers reuniting after our many separate journeys. 

Thirty years after its creation, this ritual speaks to a deepening awareness
of our solidarity with our human family globally, who lack the most basic
and precious resources. It also speaks eloquently of our interdependence
with all life and with each other. 

Water carries memories—of special trips, of former homes, or of simple,
day-to-day places that have become meaningful to us. As we bring the
sacred together in this ceremony of connectedness, we symbolize the ways
we each contribute to, and receive from, our beloved UUCRT community. 
Today we invite everyone to participate in this ritual of connection by
bringing a sample of water that has meaning to you. There will also be
water available for anyone who would like to participate without bringing
your own water.