Traditions Unitarian Universalists celebrate:

• Water Communion (just after Labor Day): An intergenerational service that Unitarian Universalist churches and fellowships celebrate across the world. People are asked to bring a small amount of water from summertime for our ritual mingling of the waters.

• Thanksgiving Bread Service (the week before Thanksgiving): People bring breads and muffins, and we set a table of gratitude and intention.

• Christmas Eve: A candlelit service for all ages as we light candles of Hanukkah and celebrate Christmas Eve.

• Easter: An intergenerational service that explores ways to understand and celebrate this time of year.

• Flower Communion (mid-June): Originally created in 1923 by Unitarian minister Norbert Capek of Prague, the Flower Communion is an annual ritual that celebrates beauty, human uniqueness, diversity and community. Everyone brings a flower and places it in a shared vase. The congregation and minister bless the flowers, and everyone brings home a different flower than the one they brought.

Special services every year or two:

• Blessing of the Animals: UUFES members and friends bring their animal companions to this service. Furry, hairy, horny and scaly pets willing to sit with a measure of containment through a half hour or so of loving attention are welcome. We bless them and celebrate ways they enrich our lives.

• Día de los Muertos (early November): We remember the many lives that have enriched ours. People place photographs and small keepsakes of loved ones, friends and pets on the Ofrenda (altar) which we create together during the service.

• Winter Solstice (mid-December): We mark the return of the light by remembering pagan traditions, calling the directions and contemplating darkness and light.

• Christmas Morning (when Christmas falls on a Sunday): A contemplative service of music and warm company for UUFES and her neighborhood.