2022-11-18

Religious Exploration: November 20, 2022

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Religious Exploration & Faith Development
Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation at White Plains
November 20, 2022

2022-2023 RE Theme: Unitarian Universalist Identity
Overview of the Year & Upcoming Schedule

Full K-7th Grade Schedule & Full 8th-12th Grade Schedule
Spotlight
For Your Calendars
2022-2023 Class & Youth Group Schedules
K-7th Grade 
(.pdf) |  8th-12th Grade (.pdf)

Canned Goods Collection
for the Ecumenical Food Pantry

This Sunday, November 20th
Please bring shelf stable items for the Ecumenical Food Pantry.

During worship this Sunday, there will be an invitation to go up front and place our cans and items together for donation to the Food Pantry for distribution to our neighbors who are experiencing food insecurity. Here's a chance to help in a concrete way, and to encourage our younger members toward compassion and the joy of helping. Especially welcome are canned yams and jelly, but any shelf-stable items will be most appreciated. Contact John Cavallero, jcwpny@gmail.com.

Gift Cards for Coachman Family Center

Sundays, November 20 - December 18

Make sure to visit the Coachman Gift Cards table in the Fireside Area this holiday season! Sign up and donate what you can so we meet our goal of presenting a $25 gift card to each school-aged child at the Coachman Family Center, a local shelter for families experiencing homelessness. You can bring cash or check, and the Hunger and Homelessness committee will purchase the gift cards to be delivered to the approximately 200 children currently living at Coachman. You can also mail checks to CUUC with the memo "Coachman Gift Cards." Or you can donate online at cucwp.org by clicking the yellow Donate button and selecting "Coachman Gift Cards" from the dropdown list. Thank you in advance for helping us improve the season for those in our local community! Contact Jacy Good (goodjacy@gmail.com).
Sunday, November 20th
For Your Calendars
2022-2023 Class & Youth Group Schedules
K-7th Grade 
(.pdf) |  8th-12th Grade (.pdf)

Last Call
Identity Hexagons

We are making a CUUC mosaic to celebrate our multilayered and rich identities!

Community members of all ages are invited to write, draw, and design on the hexagons to represent aspects of your identity. This Sunday, hexagon tiles and markers will be available again for you to share your identities. Then, we will invite the youth to arrange and display them so we can all appreciate the richness of our community. 

Holiday Donations

Remember to bring canned goods and shelf stable items for the Ecumenical Food Pantry. Bring them to the front of the sanctuary when prompted during worship. 

Now through December 11 you can also donate gently used toys and animals. Look for collection boxes in our lobbies. And through December 18th you can purchase gift cards for families at the Coachman shelter. Look for the table in the Fireside Area. 

Childcare

Sundays, 9:45am-11:45am, Room 32, Yellow Hallway
Diane, Hans, and Max T welcome young children in childcare. We offer a safe, loving environment where our youngest build community. We wear masks and play outside when weather permits. 

1st-12th Grade RE Does Not Meet Nov 20 & 27

Join us for
Whole Congregation Worship


2022-2023 Class & Youth Group Schedules
K-7th Grade (.pdf) |  8th-12th Grade (.pdf)


Quiet Activity Area in the Sanctuary

We offer a quiet activity area in the sanctuary for families, especially when we have whole congregation worship.

We know that even when their hands are busy, our young people are connecting with the rituals, words, and music of our faith. Doing a quiet activity or sitting on the floor can help them manage the time more comfortably. We ask parents/caregivers to sit near your children so you can monitor activity and help our young UUs learn to navigate the worship space.

10:00am Worship
In Person & Livestream

“Thanksgiving” ~ Rev. Meredith Garmon
Visit our website for the Sunday order of service

Covid safety policy update: We are no longer requiring proof of vaccination. We continue to require masks for those in the building. *This Sunday, we will be permitted to remove masks for the cornbread and cider ceremony. 

Click here to join the live-stream of our Sunday Worship or phone in (audio only): 646-876-9923 · Webinar: 761 321 991 · Passcode: 468468. Everyone live-streaming the service is invited to stay online afterward to socialize on Zoom. Log in to bit.ly/CUUC-CoffeeHour or phone: 929-436-2866. Meeting: 336 956 2210, Passcode: 468468.

1st-3rd, 4th-5th, 6th-7th OWL
Parent Orientation

Sun Nov 20, 11:30am-1:00pm, Room 11
David B is leading OWL parent orientation for families with children and youth in 1st-7th grades. Parent orientation is required for all participating families. 1st-3rd OWL begins Sunday morning, January 22nd. 4th-5th & 6th-7th OWL begin Friday evening, February 10th.

Rethinking Thanksgiving
From Land Acknowledgement to LANDBACK

Sun Nov 20, 4:00pm Online
Tonatierra, American Indian Law Alliance, NDN Collective, Sogorea Te Land Trust and the Indigenous Solidarity Network invite you to hear from Indigenous leaders who will give updates from the frontlines of this fight. Indigenous solidarity is an essential part of the struggle for racial and environmental justice.

Join the Indigenous Solidarity Network (SURJ, Catalyst Project, Resource Generation) this season to interrogate the legacy of the ‘Thanksgiving’ holiday and hear from frontline Indigenous leaders on how to join efforts to protect land and water at this year's “Rethinking Thanksgiving: From Land Acknowledgement to LANDBACK.” Speakers include Betty Lyons, Tupac Enrique Acosta, Demetrius Johnson, Corrina Gould, and Jake Edwards. Moderated by Eve Reyes-Aguirre. Live captioning, Spanish Interpretation and ASL interpretation will be available. Register for this webinar here.
Community
For Your Calendars
2022-2023 Class & Youth Group Schedules
K-7th Grade 
(.pdf) |  8th-12th Grade (.pdf)


Transgender Day of Remembrance

To get involved in local action for transgender justice, join our CUUC LGBTQIA+ Social Justice Team. Contact Jennifer Stevens, jennifercstevens@gmail.com.

TODAY Fri Nov 18, 4:00pm, UUA Transgender Day of Remembrance Ceremony
Sunday, November 20th is the official date of the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), memorializing the trans and non-binary people who have died by violent means in the preceding year. The Unitarian Universalist Association invites all to a virtual TDOR Ceremony two days earlier, to honor the lives lost in 2022 and to celebrate the resilience of the transgender community as we grieve together, worship together, and recommit to moving together in solidarity. Register to receive the Zoom link: https://bit.ly/UUA-TransDayofRemembrance2022

Transgender Day of Remembrance Prayer, Rev. Sunshine Wolfe
On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, we remember those who have been murdered for being who they are, those who face violence on a daily basis, those who have lost loved ones, and those who worry for loved ones. May we come to a time when we cease to shame children around gender roles and expression, where we allow for freedom and exploration of identity and expression, and to a world that operates from love especially when things are difficult and confusing. May all of us who live with the threat of violence find support, strength, community, hope, and safety from violence.

Support HOPE Soup Kitchen

Inviting Donations of Food Items from the Congregation

Saturday, December 3rd, CUUC
RE families are preparing 70 to-go breakfasts and lunches each month for HOPE Community Services in New Rochelle. We invite the congregation to donate individual-sized food items such as shelf-stable milk, juice, water, fruit cups, and soft granola bars, as well as napkins, loaves of bread, and peanut butter. Leave them in the labeled bins located in the foyer. Frozen items such as French toast, pancakes, waffles, frozen sausages or patties (no pork) can be brought in Saturday morning, December 3rd or as coordinated with Christine Haran (christineharan@yahoo.com).

Weekly Story Time
Resumes Dec 1

Thursdays, 7:30-8:30pm, Zoom 3131
Barbara M is reading Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt, which she expects to finish by the end of December. Synopsis: The Tillerman children, Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy, have always presented a unified front to the world in spite of the problems they have to deal with.  Their mother is mentally ill and can no longer care for them. They are very resourceful and set out to do something very difficult during the course of the book: find relatives and find a home.

The next book will likely be the 2nd in this series. Barbara notes that it would be easy to bring new participants up to date so don't hesitate to join in! The group curently has upper elementary and middle school participants. Contact: Barbara  M, barbara.k.mair@icloud.com. Resuming Dec 1st, meet in Zoom: https://bit.ly/CUUC-Zoom-3131 | Phone (audio only): 646-876-9923 | Meeting ID: 313 195 3131, Passcode: 468468.

Invite an International Student
to Your Table  

Is there room at your Thanksgiving table? Make a place for an international student! Discover new topics for the family dinner conversation, expand cultural understanding, and help promote world peace one student and host at a time. A wonderful experience for children! All participating students will be fully vaccinated. To sign up, call or email Jane Dixon (lilrhodie@gmail.com, 914-370-0760).

5th-12th Grade LGBTQ+ Night
at the LOFT

New group starting in December!
The Next Meeting is Friday, December 2, 2022

LGBTQ+ Youth Night is a youth-only social & support space for LGBTQ+ and allied youth in 5th-12th grades. Provided in partnership with The LOFT LGBTQ+ Center and WJCS Center Lane. Come out to meet new friends & have fun! Free pizza and snacks provided. When: LGBTQ+ Youth Night meets on the 1st & 3rd Fridays of every month from 6:30-8:30pm. Who: LGBTQ+ and allied youth in 5th-12th grades. Where: The LOFT LGBTQ+ Center, 252 Bryant Ave, White Plains, NY 10605. Register Here (encouraged, but not required). Contact The LOFT (info@loftgaycenter.org) or WJCS Center Lane (centerlane@wjcs.com).

Jubilee 3 Anti-Racism Workshop

Fri Jan 13, 6:00–9:00pm; Sat Jan 14, 9:00am–8:00pm; Sun Jan 15, 12:00–6:30pm, on Zoom 

This is important. Our congregation is in the midst of deep conversations about our future. If we are to live into our intention to build a more diverse congregation, to be more inclusive for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) members, and nurture a more diverse future for our UU faith, we need adults who continue learning so we are well equipped to do the work and include our young people. The Jubilee Three training is an opportunity to model the importance of doing this work in faith community and to support our community in developing a common language and lens to help us move forward together. I hope you will participate with us. Registration opens to all UUs in North America this weekend so register asap to guarantee your spot. Register at https://tinyurl.com/CUUC2023JubileeThree. RE teachers, advisors, and REC leadership, send your registration confirmation to Tracy for reimbursement (cuucwptracy@gmail.com). Parents interested in participating, contact Tracy to discuss financial support. 
For Your Calendars
2022-2023 Class & Youth Group Schedules
K-7th Grade 
(.pdf) |  8th-12th Grade (.pdf)
Tracy Breneman, Director of Religious Exploration and Faith Development, cuucwptracy@gmail.com
Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation at White Plains  
468 Rosedale Ave · White Plains, NY 10605-5419






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