Dearest BBUUC Members and Friends:

Each year at BBUUC, we have held an Annual Water Sharing Service. Our water sharing ritual is meant to be a homecoming and a time of reconnection for this congregation. The entire congregation is invited to bring a small amount of water that has meaning. Each person or family has the opportunity to share the meaning of their water, and then add it to a communal bowl, ritually and symbolically joining each of us in community. This year, we still want to celebrate our community, even though we can’t gather at the church. So we will do it virtually for our September 6th Worship Service!

We’d like you to consider how water connects us, both literally and symbolically. We are all made of water, and we all need water to live. Now, in this time of pandemic, we are very much like drops of rain, separate from each other, but yearning to come together. We invite you to record a short video and share with the congregation your symbolic (and literal) water. Perhaps you would like to share the connection that ocean water gives you to Mother Earth, or how you recognize that clean water for all is a right and not a privilege. Whatever your connection is, to others in your family, church, the larger community, or even the whole world, we want you to share! 

The basic idea for the video clips is to briefly tell your story to the camera (we’re looking for around 30 seconds each), and then pour the small amount of water out of your shot (make sure you have a bucket or something on the floor!), and then, through the magic of editing, “your water” will accumulate in the communal bowl.  We’ll then go on to the next story.  Everyone, of all ages, is invited to participate – individuals, couples, families.  In this case, “more” is better!

You can shoot these videos using your cellphone, or if you’re familiar with Zoom, you can easily record yourself that way.  David Dean, who’ll be putting this all together, has made a video explaining how to do it – how to shoot it using the settings and formats we’ll need.  

David’s video can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/452715485/e38405855d

We can also assist with shooting it if you need additional help.

Your video will need to be uploaded to our Google Drive by Friday, September 4th, in time to be assembled for the September 6th service. Here is the link to that Google Drive, but you must have a Google account to access it: Water Sharing Videos.

If you do not have a Google account, you can email your video as an attachment to: WaterSharingVideos@bbuuc.org.

Note that email providers have limitations on the size of their attachments.  If you have a file that won’t go through as an attachment, contact worship@bbuuc.org, and we will provide you with a different way to upload your file.

This is an experiment, but we hope it works and has meaning for all of us!  If you have questions or need technical assistance, reach out to Jennifer Bacmeister (onlyjennyodie@yahoo.com) or David Dean (DFDean97@gmail.com). We’re looking forward to seeing everyone’s water-sharing video!

In love and faith,

Linda Mowers, BBUUC Worship Chair

Jennifer Bacmeister, Worship Leader

David Dean, Video Editor