Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

UUCPA Group Covenants

Committee on Ministry Covenant

Forum Participation Guidelines

Covenant between the Ministers and the Congregation

Children’s Religious Education

Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Respectful, Listen.

Saturday Morning Meditation Group

We come together as spiritual friends to sit in silence, feel held, and share loving and respectful conversations. Our spiritual practice is to speak from the heart and listen with respect and compassion.  Participation is completely voluntary.  All that we say here remains confidential. 

We share what is important to us in the moment--that could be our response to today’s readings or something that is going on in our lives.  With mindfulness, we reflect on life and our condition in it. We are deeply committed to our spiritual path.

Trusting and valuing our relationship, we listen and support, rather than “fix each other” or give unsolicited advice.  We share our response to what has been said with “I messages.”  We do not interrupt or “interrogate” others.  We intentionally create space for each person and pay attention not to dominate the conversation.  We treasure this place where we are held with loving compassion and heard without intrusion or judgment.

Covenant Groups (sample covenant, each group develops its own)

We, the members of this group, make the following covenant with one another:
1. We will take responsibility for own spiritual development and respect the spiritual journeys of others.
2. We will participate in this group for at least six months and attend regularly.
3. We will honor each others' boundaries and our own.
4. We will listen deeply to one another and give each person equal time.
5. We will not disclose confidential information shared by other group members unless we have clear permission.
6. We will regularly invite others to consider joining our group when appropriate, and divide the group when it is time.
7. We will serve the community and/or UUCPA as a group regularly.
8. We will commit to addressing and resolving conflicts in a respectful way.
9. We will encourage others to share their concerns and express their wishes.
10. Before leaving the group, we will attend at least three more meetings after informing the group of our decision.