Rite in nature: cultivating religious naturalist ritual leadership in a Unitarian Universalist congregation
Date
2024
DOI
Authors
Chenowith, Eliot Brian Christopher
Version
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington, KY longs for religious naturalist ritual, but a framework for cultivating leaders of religious naturalist ritual does not exist. This project will explore and encourage the development of religious naturalist ritual leadership in a Unitarian Universalist congregation through experimentation and engagement with established ritual theory. Using characteristics of ritual as outlined in the work of Richard Grimes, the intersection of pastoral care and ritual leadership, and ritual improvisation, an ethic of ritual leadership will start to emerge. From this theory of ritual leadership, a curriculum to create a Ritual Design Lab in a congregational context will be formed to form ritual leaders while creating rituals rooted in a religious naturalist worldview.