This episode of the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (AUUF) podcast recounts the story of the Flower Communion, an annual service in many Unitarian Universalist churches. It was created by Norbert Čapek in 1923 at the Unitarian church in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Čapek was seeking a ceremony to strengthen the community of his church, arriving at the symbolism of the flower communion.
The Prague church was founded by Čapek and became the largest Unitarian church in the world. After occupying Czechoslovakia, the Nazis considered Čapek and his preaching to be subversive, and he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp, where he died in 1942.
The podcast was recorded at AUUF's service on April 27, 2025. Chris Basgier led the service, and Jim Newton was the service associate.
AUUF is a faith community of shared values: equity, justice, pluralism, interdependence, generosity, and transformation, all in the service of love. We believe each of us has the right to seek spiritual truth and develop our own theology instead of accepting a religious creed. Our members represent all religious and non-religious beliefs. We join to build the Beloved Community, sharing our joys and sorrows as we walk together along the spiritual path.
AUUF is one of more than 1,000 Unitarian Universalist congregations around the U.S. If you're in the Auburn-Opelika area, we invite you to join us Sunday mornings at 10:00. Visit our website at auuf.org.
Our theme music is "A Call to the Soul" by Folk Acoustic Music, available from Pixabay.
