Chalice Dinners
Chalice Dinner Groups forming!
There is a larger movement afoot in the world of spiritual and religious communities right now. A hunger for something more communal, connected, and unscripted than what the typical Sunday morning service experience provides. Across several creeds and denominations, we’re seeing a broad movement towards what some are calling, “Dinner Church”.
We need to learn new and joyful ways of being in community, solidarity and mutual support of one another. Not just in the realm of the abstract, but in the actual. By gathering in each others’ homes, sharing food and meaningful conversation, this is what we aim to build.
As part of a Chalice Dinner circle, we will link you up by neighborhood, pairing you with a small group of about 8 or so, of folks from different age groups, backgrounds, genders, etc – as a way to build up a diversity of connections and support among our community.
You’ll meet up once a month, share a meal, and discuss things near and dear to our individual and collective heart – topics like “Covenant”, sharing our Spiritual Biographies, and what it means to live our UU Values in the larger world.
Steady nourishment for both body and spirit.
If you would like to get involved, you can fill out this online form here:
https://forms.gle/
Or read through a sample get-together template below:
- Arrival – Take the first 30 or so minutes to let people simply land. Partner with that evening’s host to greet folks warmly, take this time for yourself to get grounded, centered. Take some deep breaths. Grab a beverage. Say your hellos. Consider working with the host or coordinator to have name tags on hand.
- Prepare the Feast – Once everyone has had a moment to land, load up your plates and gather around your agreed upon SHARED dinner space.
- Chalice Lighting/Grace – (5 minutes) Before you sit down to eat, take a moment to light a candle or chalice on the shared dinner table, and share the words from your packet. Your facilitator can read these or invite another circle member to read them aloud.
- Check Ins – (15-20 minutes) Once people have had a moment to settle in, use the icebreaker prompt provided or choose a compelling question of your own choosing related to the night’s theme. If dining with children, please try to include them in the discussion.
- Reflection/Round 1 – (20 minutes) Go around the table and ask folks to reflect upon their responses and impressions to the material in this month’s packet. If kiddos are with you, it can be helpful to get them situated with kid care or an activity before dropping into this next layer of discussion.
- Round 2 – (20 minutes) Use the prompt question provided.
- Round 3 – (20 minutes) – Activity. See included.
- Check-Outs:
Check out (Learn, Yearn, or Turn) — Reminder: in a “Learn, Yearn, or Turn” check out, you’ll each share a word or phrase about only one of these three options:
- ● “Learn” — a word or phrase about something you learned during our time
- ● “Yearn” — a word or phrase about something you are longing for right now
- ● “Turn” — a word or phrase about something you hope for in our next time together
Nuts & Bolts: Before you leave, try to nail down your next dinner time together. And make arrangements for how your group would like to communicate about who will bring what (sign-up sheet, email, text thread, etc.)
- Chalice Extinguishing Words/Close – Your facilitator or other group member may choose to close with a song or other ritual that feels celebratory and communal.