[Minister/DRE calls youth forward where they will stand together, bringing a flower for their mentor.]
Minister/DRE: Today, we honor a journey that some of our youth have been on to mindfully enter the next phase of their lives. We call this particular stage “Coming of Age,” and it represents an opening up of their spiritual horizons. In their Coming of Age program, they have spent time learning about the values of Unitarian Universalism, our principles, the things that matter most to us as individuals and as a community. They have explored some other faith traditions, and sought to learn more about the history, rituals, and practices that support life for people of many different spiritual paths. And, this is ultimately a time when we have invited them to think specifically about their own path. We have affirmed their agency – the fact that they get to make choices as they determine for themselves what makes a good life, what values will ground and center them, what they most need to thrive, and how they will leave their unique imprint on the world.
One part of the Coming of Age curriculum is working with a mentor in the congregation, who serves as a sounding board and conversation partner with youth as they are writing their personal credos or statements of values or faith. You’ve heard a little about what they are discovering, and we know those things will continue to shift over time, as they discover and discern their life path.
It is a great gift of faith communities that we become part of one another’s lives. One of our jobs is to be a life witness for one another—and to celebrate with one another the milestones and joys even as we provide comfort and support for one another during challenges and losses. This is a part of what it means to be a spiritual community. In the Coming of Age service, we have the sacred opportunity to say out loud to these young people what is always true, but often goes unsaid.
In a moment I will call up the mentors for our coming-of-age youth. Mentors, when you are called on please come up and join your mentee.
[When each mentor joins the CoA youth, their mentee gives them their flower.]
I invite forward [mentor’s name], mentor to [youth’s name]. [Repeat for each pair.]
Mentors, thank you for dedication to supporting these youth along the path in their journeys. We invite you to join us in a common liturgy of blessing, guided by the words on screen.
Mentors:
We give thanks for the unique gift that is you,
and we delight in who you are becoming.
We are grateful to offer you
some of the wisdom we have learned,
and we open our hearts to learn from you.
Remember that your questions are themselves sacred,
and you can seek community among Unitarian Universalists
no matter where your journey leads.
Minister/DRE: Would the parents, grandparents, siblings, and extended family of the youth who are coming of age please rise and say these words together?
Parents/Grandparents/Siblings/Families:
We give thanks for the unique gift that is you, and we delight in who you are becoming.
We are grateful to have been here for your beginning,
we celebrate this milestone on your journey,
and we look forward to your future.
We offer you our love and support
at each step of your journey,
and we bless your path of spiritual discovery.
Minister/DRE: And now I want to invite all of you who consider yourselves to be a part of this spiritual community, whether you are an official member of this congregation, a friend, or you simply claim this community as your own… would you rise in body or spirit, and let us say these words together:
Congregation:
We give thanks for the unique gift that is you,
and we delight in who you are becoming.
Thank you for showing us more about love,
beauty, creativity, resilience, and joy.
We offer you our care, and the gift of spiritual community.
We want to partner with you in making this world
a more loving and just place
for future generations.
Thank you for holding us accountable
to our stated values and boldest dreams.
Thank you for reminding us
to laugh, play, make art, and imagine
what is not yet possible.
Minister/DRE: And now would you join me in a spirit of prayer as we bless the path of these youth who are coming of age:
Spirit of Life and Possibility, we give you thanks for [names of the youth] and for young people everywhere who embody our hopes for the future.
We see the unique gifts that each of them are. We give thanks for the lessons they have learned on their journeys thus far. We celebrate their triumphs, and we mourn the things that bring them pain. We want them to be happy and at ease, able to transform their suffering into wisdom, free to be themselves and to experience all life has to offer.
As a spiritual community, as we want to bless their path today…
Let’s take just a moment to reflect on the things we wish we would have known at this juncture of our own lives…
What core values or essential qualities have we learned matter most when all of the nonsense fades away?
Now, in the spirit of prayer, let us call out a few of those things, imagining them perhaps as stones that might pave the way forward… safe touch stones that might guide their journey.
[The congregation calls out their items. If needed, the leader can suggest: authenticity, courage, clarity, flexibility, community, networks of support, always be yourself, invest in relationships, be compassionate, etc.]
Minister/DRE: [Names of youth]… receive our blessings. Know that we care for you, and are here for you as a spiritual community. May you always know that you have value and worth not because of what you do, but solely based on who you are—a child of the universe, deeply beloved. And, we also hope you will be moved to do some amazing things in the world. Yours is a path of plenitude and potential…
May you travel it authentically and with the blessing of beloved community.
Blessed Be.