Religious Education News

March 2010

The next Religious Education meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 9, at 7:00 PM.  - Mary Drucker

Thanks to all those who contributed to and helped with the Valentines Day Potluck.  Sally Patton's workshop “Welcoming Children with Special Needs" will be offered at  the Albany church on Saturday, March 6. This full day workshop costs $60/person, and is sponsored by the SLD RE Committee.   Register online at the district web site (http://.sld.uua.org/calendar1.html) or use a paper registration and a check.    Contact  Malcom Buffington as listed in the directory for more information.

The RE Committee is continuing our program of paying two Spirit Play Instructors and an instructor for 10 to 13 years olds.  As we plan for next year we are estimating a total budget of $6,400.;  we hope to offer the OWL program to 5-18 year olds. 

Wednesday March 24, 2010 6:30 PM:  The R.E Committee will host the Movie "Young at Heart"; a two hour documentary of a senior's singing group. Their inspiring story celebrates the unbreakable bonds of friendship and the life-affirming power of music!  - Malcom Buffington

Spirit Play: 7-9 year olds    - Julie Jacobs

Spirit Play: 4-6 year olds   - Alida Davis

Spirit Play lessons for the younger students will be based on the "Seven Promises" and the older Spirit Play students will continue learning about world religions & their stories.

Traditions With A Wink:  Sarah Cannon

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!  We are in dire need of volunteers in all of our RE Classes.  Volunteer Sign-up sheets are on the classroom doors. Please sign up as you are able!
 - Malcom Buffington

A Re-cap of our SPIRIT PLAY CURRICULUM CALENDAR

The 7-9 Year olds group schedule was as follows:

January 3, The Quarrel  -  Interfaith in my Neighborhood;
January 10, Tiger and Lame Fox  -  Intro to Islam, assisted by Ken Davis;
January 17, Traditions With a Wink, assisted by Ann Carey;
January 24, Baby Hippo and Tortoise, Islam, assisted by Simone Shaheen;
January 31, The Good Samaritan, assisted by Rebecca LaPorte.

February 7, Little Blue and Little Yellow, Five Pillars of Islam, assisted by Nicole Vitelli;
February 14, Valentine’s Day Service, assisted by Ken Davis;
February 21, Intergenerational Service;
February 28, Hey Little Ant. - Alida Davis

With the story, "Interfaith in my Neighborhood", students learned the major differences between Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Students were wondering about the differences and were amazed at the similarities among them. The children explored what it means to be UU, what beliefs were compatible with the different religions, and which ideas would not mesh.  Students were reminded that listening to the ideas of others helps us keep the "green promise" we make as UU’s:  Grow by exploring what is true and right.
 
In December and January, we had studied the ideas of Buddhism and shared some Buddhist tales.  Both the teachers and the students seemed to find this rewarding.  Similarly, in January, students furthered their learning about the practices and beliefs of Islam. The children evaluated the ideas, reflected upon them, and discussed them at length.  We compared the pillars of Islam to the principles of Unitarian Universalism, and the students appreciated many of Islam's ideas, especially the emphasis on charity and peace. In response, some students created their own set of prayer beads, copied with Calligraphy brushes and ink the "words of Muhammad" onto a scroll, and practiced what it would be like to pray on a prayer rug.  We look forward to sharing some Islamic stories next month to contemplate what truths they may hold, and a journey into Judaism.
 
- Julie Jacobs

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.  These monies are donated to
charities of the children’s choice.

Food Bank:  Thank you for continuing to support our  “Traditions with a Wink” service project; by doing so you are teaching our youth how important it is to help others in need.  The Community Food Bank is very grateful for your donations.  Thanks for your support.

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.
 
 

Previously published

Policy & Procedures for Religious Education Classes and Activities

• There will be 2 adults present at all times with children in classes.
• Background checks for staff and volunteers required; paid for and arranged by RE Committee.
• Nursery will open before service and nursery children are to be released ONLY to parents.
• Spirit Play participants will come to service with parents.  After “Story for All Ages” children will follow leaders to the Spirit Play room.  Parents will pick up their own children after classes end.
• We Care children ages 10-14 will go directly to the parlor at 10:30 a.m. and will be released after service.
• Each child may contribute to an offering during the “Story for All Ages” or in “We Care”.

Religious Education News

• Background checks need to be on file for all teachers and volunteers working in the religious education area.  The necessary forms were completed by all members of the R.E. committee
• Sign for nursery door was completed and is now posted
• Pamphlet Committee has not yet met
• Volunteer Sign-up for the month of November is covered. Sign-up lists will be on the classroom doors. Malcolm is also announcing the need for volunteers during the church service. The names    of volunteers should be listed in the newsletter, as a way to acknowledge their contributions, and also to encourage others to give it a try.
• Recruitment of volunteers is currently a contractual duty for teachers.  Since the responsibility has shifted, the contract language should reflect that change.
• Parent ListServ is still being developed by Maureen Casile. Send any and all email addresses to   her attention at maureen-casile@yahoo.com. Maureen is also working on developing an assessment of our    R.E. program.

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.
 
 

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.