RE News

Religious Education  -  July - August News

There will be no regular Spirit Play or We Believe classes during the summer. However, we will attempt to have other activities if volunteers are willing to assist.  Being considered are trips to the Shawangunk Nature Preserve in Cold Brook, Spring Farm Cares in Clinton and the Herkimer Diamond Mines.

Julie Pawelek and Malcolm Buffington will clean and organize the R.E. Rooms and do what needs to be done one day during the summer to make the best environment we can for the kids. If you would like to help contact either Julie or Malcolm.
 
The monies from the Change jar totaled over $130.00 from the Spirit Play Art Sale.  Of that, $120 will be given for a library in Africa.  The Blue Pig from the We Believe Class had over $21.00. The children/youth will decide what cause to donate their offering.
 
We would like as many children/youth in the congregation to come to our services and are looking for ways to fit this part of our worship

Thanks to Lynn Shaw for creating more story baskets for Spirit Play!  We wouldn't have any new material without the support and creative efforts of our volunteers.  If anyone else is interested in this basket-making project, see Julie Pawelek.  The story scripts are already made, and your job would be to hunt down or create the materials listed in the "materials needed" section of the script.  It's like a scavenger hunt for non-artists or an art project for those with artistic talents.

The R.E. Committee set a goal of establishing a comprehensive R.E. program for all members of the congregation.  We are planning some activities for the We Believe class during the Spring.

Religious Education Notes

Julie Pawalek would like help from creative persons to make lesson materials baskets for Spirit Play.  Thanks to Sarah Cannon, Ami Redmond, and Roberta Parry, several  baskets were created this month.  Thank you.

Kids Change Jar

Each Sunday, the children are given the opportunity to contribute change to a big mason' jar when they come forward during the service.  (One young lady even arrived one Sunday with the dollar bill the tooth fairy left for her!)   As the church year comes to a close next June, the children will make a decision together about what to do with the money they have collected.  It will be given to a worthy cause that the children care about.  Habits of generosity can't be encouraged too early.

Food Bank

Thank you for continuing to support our "We Believe" service project.  Please bring in some non-perishable foods. The collection box is in the kitchen.  Thank you
 

Volunteers Needed for Spirit Play

Spirit Play has resumed! Our Montessori-based program is off to a good start, but is in need of staff
volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering to be a story-teller or door keeper, please contact Julie Pawelek as listed in the directory, as soon as possible.

Training for a door-keeper position will take very little time and your services would only be required during regular church hours on Sunday mornings. The children and I would greatly appreciate your help. Please consider signing up for once a month, once every two months, or more often. Thank you!

A note from Julie Pawelek

Sandy Scofield and Ami Redmond have joined me in cleaning out, organizing, and preparing the RE classroom for the opening of Spirit Play. Several hours of time and organizational expertise were donated by these selfless members of our church and I would just like to thank them for helping our program open smoothly. I couldn't have done it without them!

Previously published
 

Reminder:  All students of any RE program need to have filled out a registration form.  If you have not already done so, please see an RE instructor/leader as soon as possible.  Spirit Play needs volunteers who will enjoy making lesson baskets, being a doorkeeper, or story-telling.
Thank you for the continued support and encouragement.  A special thanks goes out to Sandy Scofield and Phyllis Brockley for volunteering their time, talent, supplies, and creativity when they made beautiful baskets for the Spirit Play curriculum.
Spirit Play Policies and Procedures:  Spirit Play participants must be in the age range of 4-10.  Registration forms must be filled out for each student attending and can be found on the bulletin board outside the RE room.  There will always be two adults, coordinated by Julie Pawelek, present in the
classroom to supervise the children.  Children will be released to the Spirit Play classroom after the "story for all ages" by the minister or guest speaker.  Parents may pick up their children shortly after the beginning of coffee hour, but we may not be finished right away.  Please be patient with us as we prepare the kids for leaving.  Parents may wait at the door or someone will send word that class is over and children may be picked up. We will not send the children out of the room without their parent or guardian.
Please be aware that after the nursery closes (promptly at the start of coffee hour) and Spirit Play has ended, the children are the responsibility of their parents and supervision will not be provided by the church.  Thank you!

What is SpiritPlay?
SpiritPlay is a new Unitarian Universalist model of religious education, developed by Nita Penfold, D.Min, Rev. Ralph Roberts, and Beverly Leute Bruce. Dr. Penfold will be coming in May to our congregation in Utica to train religious educators and teachers in our St. Lawrence District in this exciting model!
SpiritPlay is a Unitarian Universalist model of religious education that teaches through wondering, stories, art; it is based on Montessouri methods.

The program:
  encourages independent thinking through wondering questions;
  gives children real choices within the structure of the classroom;
  creates communities of children in mixed-age classrooms;
  develops an underlying sense of the wonder and mystery of life; and
  supports congregational polity through the choices in lessons;

Volunteers who have taught and used the SpiritPlay model report that their own spiritual lives were greatly enriched and enhanced. SpiritPlay integrates easily with regular worship and with social justice, unifying the three core aspects of congregational life: worship, religious education, and faith in action.
SpiritPlay’s stories engage eight areas:
1. Promise stories
2. Sources and Traditions stories
3. Stories of Mystery
4. Beginnings and Endings
5. Sacred Places
6. Spiritual Practices
7. Liturgical (Worship) Practices
8. Unitarian Universalist History
This program tends to engage children where they are and helps them live into their own answers to the abiding questions. The environment, the multisensory approach, the wondering questions, the learning centers, the stories, and the community of children and teachers (and parents) are absolutely appropriate for Unitarian Universalist children and Religious Education Programs. The model engages multiple learning styles and challenges; helps children learn to make meaning of mysteries they encounter; and presents the core stories of our particular faith and theology, inviting children into becoming Unitarian Universalists. It is a model of religious education that engages children from pre-K through grade 4.

Coming of Age

The Coming of Age program for youth in grades 6-8 seeks to promote exploration of self and spiritual beliefs in a supportive environment of mutual trust and respect. The group meets every other Sunday during the regular church service.  Individual adults from the congregation are occasionally invited to co-facilitate in order for youth and adults in the church community to get to know and learn from each other. The youth will also have the opportunity to go to various places of worship to learn about other religious faiths; complete a Secret Society Project (a service to the church); have opportunities for community service; and get-togethers just for fun!  For more information please contact Harv Brockley or Alma Lowry as listed in the directory, or go to:  http://www.uuutica.org/comingofage.htm

From the RE Committee More snacks please!

In our September newsletter we asked parents to bring in cups, napkins, juice, and nonperishable snack items. We have plenty of plates. Those who do not have any children in our program but would like to help out please do. Any donations may be dropped off in the classroom. Thank you from the Children's R.E. Committee.

Borrow Bags

We now have "borrow bags" available for parents with small children who may yet be uncomfortable with the nursery. The bags consist of "quiet toys and books" allowing children to join their parents in the sanctuary for the service. Speakers are also set up in the parlor in case you need to leave the room. This way you won't miss the service.  Ask an usher for a "borrow bag".  We have a policy of requiring parents to pick up their children from the RE classroom after the service. No child will be permitted to leave at the end of class without a parent.  Please stop by the RE rooms by 11:45 to get your students.
We appreciate your cooperation with this policy.

Development of an Identificatlon with the Unitarian Universalist denomination and
an understanding of the UU Principles & Purposes, listed below.

Assist our children in exploring the world's religions.

Enhance the children's involvement with each other and the congregation.

Provide a safe place to promote the use of natural curiosity.

Adults:  We believe in the inherent dignity and worth of every person.

Children: We believe that each and every person is important.
 

Adults: We believe in justice, equity and compassion in human relations.

Children: We believe that all people should be treated fairly.
 

Adults: We believe in acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.

Children: We believe that our Churches are places where all people are accepted, and where we keep on learning together.
 

Adults: We believe in a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

Children: We believe that each person must be free to search for what is right and true in life.
 

Adults: We believe in the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.

Children: We believe that everyone should have a vote about the things that concern them.
 

Adults: We believe in the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.

Children: We believe in working for a peaceful, fair and free world.
 

Adults: We believe in respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Children: We believe in caring for our planet Earth.

Some beliefs are like walled gardens. They encourage exclusiveness,
and the feeling of being especially privileged.
Other beliefs are expansive, and lead the way into wider and deeper sympathies.

Some beliefs are like shadows, darkening children's days with fears of unknown calamities.
Other beliefs are like sunshine, blessing children with the warmth of happiness.

Some beliefs are divisive separating the saved from the unsaved, friends from enemies.
Other beliefs are bonds in a universal brotherhood where sincere differences beautify the pattern.

Some beliefs are like blinders, shutting off the power to choose
one's own direction.
Other beliefs are like gateways, opening up wide vistas for exploration.

Some beliefs weaken a child's selfhood. They blight the
growth of resourcefulness.
Other beliefs nurture self-confidence and enrich the
feeling of personal worth.

Some beliefs are rigid, like the body of death,
impotent in a changing world.
Other beliefs are pliable, like the young sapling,
ever growing wIth the upward thrust of lIte.

- - -from Today's Children and Yesterday's Heritage by Sophia Fahs

We are still collecting donations to the Heifer International project. We are asking each child to do a job at home that will earn a dollar, and in turn contribute the dollar to this worthy cause. Our goal is $20 with which we will “purchase” a flock of chicks. These chicks will be sent to a needy family in Afghanistan. You don’t have to be a child in the RE program to contribute. If you would like to donate to this project contact an RE committee member or one of the RE teachers.