One of the Sundays around Labor Day starts the program year for most UU congregations. Reflecting historical roots, the slower pace of summer affords ministers and church volunteers time to relax and recharge, time to vacation while children are out of school and the weather is nice.

Many UU congregations celebrate the start of the new program year with a water service — sometimes called the Water Communion. Parishioners bring water to pour in a communal bowl at the front of the sanctuary, samples of water experienced during the summer. Symbolically, the Water Communion honors our individual journeys mixing to form the beloved community. In this episode of the AUUF podcast, Rev. Marti Keller shares the origin of the water service.

AUUF is a multi-religious faith community with shared values, including equity, justice, pluralism, interdependence, generosity, and transformation, all in the service of love. We believe each of us has the right to seek spiritual truth and develop our own theology rather than accept a single religious creed.

AUUF is one of more than 1,000 Unitarian Universalist congregations around the U.S. and Canada. If you're in the Auburn-Opelika (Alabama) area, we hope you'll join us Sunday mornings at 10:00. Visit our website at auuf.org.

Our theme music is "A Call to the Soul" by Folk Acoustic Music. It's available on Pixabay.