Flower Communion, also known as Flower Ceremony, Flower Festival, or Flower Celebration, is a ritual service common in Unitarian Universalism, though the specific practices vary between congregations. It is usually held on the last Sunday of worship in late May or June, as some congregations recess from holding services during the summer. Some congregations hold the ceremony earlier in the spring, sometimes coinciding with Mother's Day or Easter.
During the ritual, congregants contribute flowers to a central location, and later the flowers are distributed among the participants.
History
The Flower Celebration as it is celebrated today was initiated in Prague on 4 June 1923 by Norbert Čapek, who was also the founder of the Unitarian Church in Czechoslovakia. For this reason he turned to the beauty of nature and had a communion of flowers instead of the Eucharist. Though Unitarian Universalists often refer to the ritual as a Flower Ceremony, Festival, or Communion, Čapek's term "Oslava Květin" is more accurately translated as "Flower Celebration", a term which continues to be preferred by Czech Unitarians today.
The ritual was brought to the United States in 1940 by the Rev. Maja Čapek, Norbert's wife, It was widely adopted by the American Unitarian churches, and their successor Unitarian Universalist congregations.
Earlier Unitarian "Flower Services", documented in Midwestern U.S. Unitarian congregations beginning circa 1880, were somewhat different in form from Čapek's service.
thumb|right|200px|A floral arrangement created for a Flower Communion at a Unitarian Universalist Church for Easter celebrations 2009
Ritual
In its essentials, the ritual involves the following: a reading by Norbert Čapek, the history of the ritual, and hymns. Czech Unitarian Iva Fišerová has written: "The flower is the most beloved symbol for Czech Unitarians... The symbol of various unique beings -- flowers/people -- uniting to create a unique bouquet... Parting and being given a flower as a symbol of anybody in attendance whom I am expected to accept as my brother or sister."
Additionally, the choice and contribution of a flower by each congregant symbolizes the free will with which the congregant approaches the ceremony.