Coming of Age Script - May 7, 2017
All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church
Welcome, Announcements and Ringing of Bell – Luke
Welcome to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church. My name is Luke Brobin. Today is a most auspicious day as we celebrate our Coming of Age service. If this is your first time visiting we particularly want to welcome you. And we want you all to know that regardless of who you are or who you love, regardless of your political stance or socio-economic status, regardless of your race or gender identity or sexual orientation, you are welcome here. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask any member and they’ll be happy to help you.
Announcements – Alair
My name is Alair Ferguson-Hautzingerand I have a few announcements to share. (Current announcements to be determined – usually around 4 or so)
If you have any brief, personal joys and concerns you’d like to share with us, there are Joy & Concern cards in a hymnal near you. Please feel free to fill one out and drop it into the offering plate as it goes by. Due to our special service today, we will not be reading them out loud today but will instead put them in the e-letter.
Now let’s take a moment to turn and greet those around us with a smile, a handshake, a hug, or a - peace out!
(Give time for greetings)
Ethan
My name is Ethan Witte. We gather here each week, not compelled by a common creed, but committed to a common goal of global justice and personal wholeness. It is our presence here, our willingness to share our time, energy and passions for the betterment of ourselves and of humankind that make this place sacred, that makes this holy ground.
Let us just take a breath in and be aware of the sacredness of this hour in this place… as we ring the bell.(Ethan rings the bell)
Chalice Lighting– Kian
Maturity involves being honest and true to oneself, making decisions based on a conscious internal process, assuming responsibility for one’s decisions, having healthy relationships with others, and developing one’s own true gifts. It involves thinking about one’s environment and deciding what one will and won’t accept. – Mary Pipher
Reading – Damian
We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another, unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations. – Anais Nin
Coming of Age Ceremony
Slide 1 of my PowerPoint
Laurie:Alair, Damian, Emily, Ethan, Kian, Lily, Luke and Madi - you have set aside time to contemplate who you are. You have intentionally thought about the big questions in life. Who am I? Is there a god? What is my purpose?
Kris:You have shared with one another your stories– stories of laughter and celebrations, and stories of sadness and pain. You have dared to be authentic and true to who you each are.
Slide 2
Laurie:Youhave held a sacred space for one another’s fears and desires. Whether in serious conversations or serious goofing off, you created a space where every piece of who you are was invited in and welcomed and valued.
Kris:We have spent time with you, seeking to listen to your stories and to share our own. We have been honored to be with you for this one small step of your journey and we pledge to continue to support you. We are here, should you ever need us. Now we ask everyone to be a part of this service and read the responses on the screen as indicated.
Slide 3
Parents:We are proud of you for taking this time to contemplate your true identities, to craft an intentional understanding of who you are and what you value. We see your passage from child to young adult and we cherish who you will become.
Slide 4
Youth:We thank each of you for your support and guidance, for your unconditional love and acceptance. As we gain further independence and chart our own course in life, we promise to live out the values we have learned from you and have internalized in our lives. We promise to live fully and freely who we are and to never stop seeking truth and meaning in every moment.
Slide 5
Congregation: We welcome you into our midst as young adults with many gifts to share. We are eager to learn your vision for our church, our community, our world. We look forward to your leadership and service to this congregation. Together, we will continue to learn and grow from one another as we seek to build a community of justice, equity and peace. We give you our best wishes and love.
Sharing of Credos: each credo is about 1 to 1 ½ minutes long
Slide 6,7,8- while Alair presents credo
Slide 9 - while Alair’s parent(s) present Pledge & Charge
Slide 10,11,12 -while Damian presents credo
Slide 13 – while Damian’s parent(s) present Pledge & Charge
Slide 14,15,16 - while Emily presents credo
Slide 17 - while Emily’s parent(s) present Pledge & Charge
Slide 18, 19, 20– while Ethan presents credo
Slide 21 - while Ethan’s parent(s) present Pledge & Charge
Slide 22, 23, 24– while Kian presents credo
Slide 25 while Kian’s parent(s) present Pledge & Charge
Slide 26, 27, 28– while Lily presents credo
Slide 29 - while Lily’s parent(s) present Pledge & Charge
Slide 30, 31, 32– while Luke presents credo
Slide 33 – while Luke’s parent(s) present Pledge & Charge
Slide 34, 35, 36– while Madi present’s credo
Slide 37 - while Madi’s parent(s) present Pledge & Charge
Slide 38
Advisors’ Blessing – Blessings to you and your future.
Slide 39
Applause
Slide 40
Kris: “Education” etymologically means “leading out” or “bringing out”, an idea which owes itself to an improbable but long influential theory put forward by Plato. He believed that we have pre-existing immortal souls which know all things in their disembodied state, but which we forget at birth. On Plato’s theory, learning is thus remembering; schooling is the activity of bringing out what is immemorially lodged in our minds. The theory was modified in more sensible directions by later thinkers, who saw education as the evocation of talents and capabilities implicit in the individual, rather than innate knowledge. In one good sense, this is closer to the mark:we still think that human gifts can be helped to flourish if given the right opportunities. - A.C. Grayling
Offertory Reading – Lily
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no “brief candle” for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. – George Bernard Shaw.
The offering will now be joyfully given and gratefully received.
Closing Words – Emily & Madi
Emily
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Madi
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
Emily
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
Madi
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.