For example, a United Methodist service on Earth Day 2013 in Austin, TX includes a water communion.
[3] The first Water Ritual was held at the November 1980 Women and Religion Continental Convocation of Unitarian Universalists in East Lansing, Michigan.
[4][5] It was created by activist Carolyn McDade and UU leader Lucile Schuck Longview[5] "as a way for women who lived far apart to connect the work each was doing locally to the whole".
Due to the nature of Unitarian Universalism, traditions vary from one congregation to another; however, most Water Communions follow the same basic framework.
Throughout the year, members of the congregation collect small amounts of water that have meaning for them, either from a special location (e.g., the family home, an ocean or river, memento of a trip) or a special occasion (first rain after a dry spell).