The Creation of Luminescence
by Rick Kamlet
Luminescence is a time for recognition, reflection, refocus and renewal. In addition to lighting a candle representing the source of all light, during the service we recognize the many facets that are within each person, the many cultures within society, and appreciate the wonderful variety and diversity that makes things whole. We reflect and look within ourselves for our own inner spirituality, our own thirst for knowledge and understanding. We refocus our external efforts toward making the world a better place, toward bringing light to the darkest corners. And, in the end, we renew and re-covenant ourselves to those paths that lead to higher ideals.
While Unitarian Universalists (UU) celebrate our own versions of holidays that may have been originated by other faiths, and while we have great, rich ceremonies that are our own (such as Flower Communion and Water Communion), many of us at the UU Congregation of Santa Clarita Valley felt that it is would be useful for Unitarian Universalists to have a full-fledged holiday celebrating the spirit that is our own unique identity.
My involvement in the concept of this effort began when I wrote this hope into a sermon that I presented to the congregation in 2006. The focus of the sermon was evaluating many of the factors that make various religions strong and popular, almost from a sociological perspective. Some of those factors we simply would not do because they are antithetical to our faith, but some it seemed like we definitely could do and benefit from. Among the factors, I suggested the possibility that creating our own UU holidays was one of the things we could do to make Unitarian Universalism a stronger faith. In my sermon I suggested that having more of our own holidays would provide customs that Unitarian Universalists would find to be inspiring and would look forward to celebrating each year. As one idea, maybe it could be a holiday that celebrates our Unitarian and Universalist ancestors. I mentioned the hope that we could have a rich pallette of common holidays throughout the year, and that they could eventually become something that children would look forward to teaching to their children when they have families.
Rev. Rick Hoyt, then minister of our congregation, followed that shortly thereafter by including the same wish in a sermon he delivered. In it, he challenged the Worship Team to come up with a UU holiday of our own. Start with one new holiday. We took up the challenge!
A team was formed which met every month -- sometimes more often -- for over a year to develop the basic structure of the holiday. For the first year, it was co-led by myself and Erik Felker. The team size varied between 20 people down to just a few people, depending on the stage of the development we were in at any particular time. The objectives were worked out. The concept of the candelabra, the number of candles and the meaning of each of the candles was developed. Crafts were created. Decorative elements were conceptualized. We started the process of getting music written for the occasion. Various activities were evaluated in accordance with the objectives for the holiday.
The first Luminescence celebration was held in February 2007 at our UU Congregation in Santa Clarita, CA. Each year, more materials got developed. The team tried out various elements in a service setting. Some elements became incorporated into the service and traditions for future years. Some were not and then other variations were tried. In 2011, Rev. Stefanie Etzbach-Dale (our then minister) contributed prayers to each of the candle lightings, as well as a concluding prayer. Scott Roewe, Music Director for the congregation, is the one who wrote the wonderful original musical compositions for the holiday, both with lyrics and for playing as instrumentals. Scott graciously contributed the music for everyone, including other congregations, to use during the celebration of the Luminescence holiday as well as for recording!
Outside of holding the service at our local congregation, during the development various iterations were performed at the 2011 District Assembly of the Pacific Southwest District and at the nearby Sepulveda Universalist Unitarian Society ("The Onion") in North Hills, CA in 2013. UU ministerial involvement included Rev. Rick Hoyt (now with First Unitarian Universalist Church of Los Angeles), Rev. Tera Little (our then Intern Minister, now the Minister with Throop Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena) who provided us with inspirational encouragement, Rev. Stefanie Etzbach Dale (now with Unitarian Universalist Church of the UU Fellowship of Redwood City, CA), Rev. Peter Farriday who reviewed the script and helped refine it, and our current minister, Rev. Megan Dowdell. We can't express how grateful we are for all of their involvement, assistance, and encouragement!!!
by Rick Kamlet
Luminescence is a time for recognition, reflection, refocus and renewal. In addition to lighting a candle representing the source of all light, during the service we recognize the many facets that are within each person, the many cultures within society, and appreciate the wonderful variety and diversity that makes things whole. We reflect and look within ourselves for our own inner spirituality, our own thirst for knowledge and understanding. We refocus our external efforts toward making the world a better place, toward bringing light to the darkest corners. And, in the end, we renew and re-covenant ourselves to those paths that lead to higher ideals.
While Unitarian Universalists (UU) celebrate our own versions of holidays that may have been originated by other faiths, and while we have great, rich ceremonies that are our own (such as Flower Communion and Water Communion), many of us at the UU Congregation of Santa Clarita Valley felt that it is would be useful for Unitarian Universalists to have a full-fledged holiday celebrating the spirit that is our own unique identity.
My involvement in the concept of this effort began when I wrote this hope into a sermon that I presented to the congregation in 2006. The focus of the sermon was evaluating many of the factors that make various religions strong and popular, almost from a sociological perspective. Some of those factors we simply would not do because they are antithetical to our faith, but some it seemed like we definitely could do and benefit from. Among the factors, I suggested the possibility that creating our own UU holidays was one of the things we could do to make Unitarian Universalism a stronger faith. In my sermon I suggested that having more of our own holidays would provide customs that Unitarian Universalists would find to be inspiring and would look forward to celebrating each year. As one idea, maybe it could be a holiday that celebrates our Unitarian and Universalist ancestors. I mentioned the hope that we could have a rich pallette of common holidays throughout the year, and that they could eventually become something that children would look forward to teaching to their children when they have families.
Rev. Rick Hoyt, then minister of our congregation, followed that shortly thereafter by including the same wish in a sermon he delivered. In it, he challenged the Worship Team to come up with a UU holiday of our own. Start with one new holiday. We took up the challenge!
A team was formed which met every month -- sometimes more often -- for over a year to develop the basic structure of the holiday. For the first year, it was co-led by myself and Erik Felker. The team size varied between 20 people down to just a few people, depending on the stage of the development we were in at any particular time. The objectives were worked out. The concept of the candelabra, the number of candles and the meaning of each of the candles was developed. Crafts were created. Decorative elements were conceptualized. We started the process of getting music written for the occasion. Various activities were evaluated in accordance with the objectives for the holiday.
The first Luminescence celebration was held in February 2007 at our UU Congregation in Santa Clarita, CA. Each year, more materials got developed. The team tried out various elements in a service setting. Some elements became incorporated into the service and traditions for future years. Some were not and then other variations were tried. In 2011, Rev. Stefanie Etzbach-Dale (our then minister) contributed prayers to each of the candle lightings, as well as a concluding prayer. Scott Roewe, Music Director for the congregation, is the one who wrote the wonderful original musical compositions for the holiday, both with lyrics and for playing as instrumentals. Scott graciously contributed the music for everyone, including other congregations, to use during the celebration of the Luminescence holiday as well as for recording!
Outside of holding the service at our local congregation, during the development various iterations were performed at the 2011 District Assembly of the Pacific Southwest District and at the nearby Sepulveda Universalist Unitarian Society ("The Onion") in North Hills, CA in 2013. UU ministerial involvement included Rev. Rick Hoyt (now with First Unitarian Universalist Church of Los Angeles), Rev. Tera Little (our then Intern Minister, now the Minister with Throop Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena) who provided us with inspirational encouragement, Rev. Stefanie Etzbach Dale (now with Unitarian Universalist Church of the UU Fellowship of Redwood City, CA), Rev. Peter Farriday who reviewed the script and helped refine it, and our current minister, Rev. Megan Dowdell. We can't express how grateful we are for all of their involvement, assistance, and encouragement!!!