2023-01-20

Religious Exploration: January 22 ,2023

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Religious Exploration & Faith Development
Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation at White Plains
January 22, 2023

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

View past newsletters at bit.ly/CUUCRENews
Spotlight

New RE Council Lead

Join us in welcoming Karen Dreher as the new RE Council lead. Karen will support the Council in preparing for work focused on the future of RE at CUUC. Thank you, Karen, and welcome to the team!

Kids Clothing Drive
Help Organize Donations Tomorrow

The Reproductive Justice and Hunger and Homelessness Social Justice teams are collecting gently used clothing for infants, children, and teens (newborn–18) to be distributed to local families in need through 914Cares.

Tomorrow! Saturday, January 21, we will be sorting and organizing donations and need at least 3 families/volunteers from RE to help sort the clothes and get them ready to donate.  We'll be working in Fellowship Hall from 10 to 1:00 (perhaps wrapping up sooner). Contact Carolyn Hanson (carolynhanson77@gmail.com) if you can support the effort. Even 30 minutes or an hour would be a big help! All ages welcome--we will have jobs for kids and this is an excellent volunteer opportunity for youth. 

Saturday morning is the last opportunity to donate clothing. Bring them in before 9:30am.  
    * Gently used clothes for infants, children, and teens (ages newborn-18);
    * New socks and underwear for children and teens; and
    * New or gently used sneakers for children and teens.

Backpack Drive
 

Sponsor a Backpack, now through January 29
This is the time of the school year when those inexpensive backpacks bought last fall are now frayed and falling apart.

That's why the Hunger & Homelessness team is holding a backpack drive to support Next Generation Youth Services. How can you help? SPONSOR a backpack - $40 buys a backpack; smaller amounts help us purchase supplies. Stop by our table to WRITE a note of encouragement - we will add a note to each backpack. Then come help us STUFF the backpacks on Sun Feb 5 during the morning Religious Exploration program. Questions? Contact: Kathleen Kiernan (kathleenpkiernan@gmail.com). Click here to see our backpack drive flyer.
Sunday, January 22

Religious Exploration
1st-9th Grade Classes

10:00-11:15am (8th-9th OWL ends 11:45am)
We encourage children and youth to stop by the sanctuary to hear the gathering music from special guests, Biryani Boys. 

1st-3rd Grade Class,  Our Whole Lives
Room 33, Yellow Hallway 
Christine H, Laura S, Norm H and Irene C begin the Our Whole Lives curriculum with the children this Sunday. Session 1, Our Wonderful Bodies, builds on children’s knowledge about the parts of their body and the ways our bodies and abilities are similar and different. Children in 3rd grade and younger must be picked up in their classrooms. Please do so right after worship so RE leaders can go to other activities. If you are attending OWL parent orientation at 11:30am, children may remain in childcare. 

4th-5th Grade Class, Toolbox of Faith
Room 41, Green Hallway
Laura G is leading session 8, Power (Hammer) with Nicholas A. The hammer symbolizes power. In this session, there are opportunities to reflect on the power each of us has to work for good. Sometimes, when we see injustice, we can feel powerless to change it. We sometimes feel that the real power resides with an authority outside ourselves, such as the government. Yet, in fact we can find our own power and use it for good. This session explores the power to seek truth, the power to question authority or the status quo, the power to speak out against injustice, and the power to band together with others who share our values and goals to make a difference for what is good and just.
 

6th-7th Grade Class, Riddle & Mystery
Room 13, Red Hallway
Gus C is leading session 7, Stuff Happens with Patricia L. The flat statement that "stuff happens" seems to ask that we shrug, accept whatever fate befalls us and shuffle on, head down, through life. Sixth graders want more. They want to know why bad things happen, and especially why bad things happen to good people. This session explores some possibilities, presenting a variety of religions' answers. Youth respond to a story from Hebrew scripture where God allows Satan to test Job by sending bad things his way. The group considers Unitarian Universalist ideas, especially the importance of putting faith into action by working to redress bad things, no matter why they have happened.

8th-9th Grade Class,  Our Whole Lives (OWL)
Room 11, Red Hallway | OWL classes meet until 11:45am
Alex S and Cyndi T are leading session 16, Redefining Abstinence and session 23, Sexual Decision Making. Youth who get educated about the legitimacy of nonintercourse sexual options can make informed decisions about their sexual boundaries, health, and emotional well-being. Youth will have the opportunity to apply all of their knowledge to consider how they will make future decisions about sexual behavior. A key goal of these workshops is to increase the youth’s confidence in their ability to make healthy and wise decisions. 

8th-12th Grade, Youth Group
Room 14, Red Hallway
Youth Group does not meet this Sunday so youth are invited to attend worship. The next Youth Group gatherings are Sunday, February 12 and Friday, February 17. 

10:00am Worship
In Person and Online

“Participation” ~ Rev. Meredith Garmon
The “Four P’s” of meaningful membership are: Presence, Participation, Pledge, and Practice. How are we doing on the second one?

Visit our website for the Sunday order of service. We continue to wear masks for Sunday morning worship and RE in the building. Revisit past services anytime at youtube.com/TheLiberalPulpit and subscribe!

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-7th OWL Parent Orientation
Make Up Session

11:30am Room 41, Green Hallway
David B is leading a second orientation for parents who were not able to attend in November. Parent orientation is required for children and youth to participate in classes. 
Upcoming RE Schedule
Fri Jan 20, 6:15pm: Youth Group meets at CUUC. 
Sun Jan 22: 1st-7th grade classes (1st-3rd grade OWL begins!), 8th-9th grade OWL. Youth Group attends worship. After worship: OWL parent orientation makeup & CoM Community Chat, new CUUC Reconciliation process.
Sun Jan 29: 1st-7th grade classes & 8th-9th OWL. Youth Group attends worship. 
Sat Feb 4, 10:30am: 10:30am RE/Meals for HOPE.
Sun Feb 5: K class with Tracy, 1st-12th grade Social Justice program. After worship: Mid-year RE check-in with families during the CUUC Brunch.
Sun Feb 12: 1st-7th grade Chapel with Tracy and 8th-12th grade Youth Group. OWL youth attend Youth Group.
Tue Feb 14, 7pm (will likely reschedule): Parents & Caregivers of MS & HS Youth Covenant Group.
Sun Feb 19: Whole Congregation Worship. RE does not meet. (School holiday)
Sun Feb 26: Whole Congregation Worship. RE does not meet. (School holiday)
Community

Mid-Year RE Check-In

11:30am Sunday, February 5, Fellowship Hall
Join RE leaders during the community brunch for a mid-year check-in. We welcome your feedback and ideas! Look for the table identified for RE conversations.  

Community Conversation
Exploring the Future of RE at CUUC

 

Sun, May 7, 11:30am, Fellowship Hall and Zoom 8428
Times are changing, as are family needs and schedules. Join members of the RE Council and Tracy for a visioning discussion about the future of RE at CUUC. We will discuss feedback shared by the Self-Assessment Committee from the congregational survey, then explore what Religious Exploration and faith development might look like here in the coming years. It is exciting to think about what we can build together! Contact Tracy B, cuucwptracy@gmail.com.

Wanted: Recruits for Reconciliation

Learn more at the COM Community Chat, Sun Jan 22, 11:30am, Fellowship Hall & Zoom 6161

The Committee on Ministry is initiating a new process for raising concerns, engaging in healthy conflict, and promoting reconciliation - and we need your help! We are asking congregants to nominate themselves or others for our Reconciliation Support Team. Skills in communication, mediation, and active listening are helpful but not required. RST members will be trained in our reconciliation process, and then be “on call” to help when conflicts arise. Click here to read our letter for details. Then come to the COM Community Chat after worship on Sun Jan 22 to learn more. Contact: Al Rocchi (alrocchi@verizon.net), Ginny Strand (vcs165@gmail.com).
Spring OWL Classes
Invite Friends & Help Publicize

This year, we are offering the Our Whole Lives (OWL) curriculum for 1st-9th graders and parents/caregivers. Our classes are open to the community and this curriculum is indispensable, supporting healthy decision making and self-esteem, understanding dynamics in relationships, affirming all sexual orientations and gender identities, and encouraging communication between parents and their children. We encourage you to spread the word. 
The 8th-9th grade class is already underway. Coming up, the 1st-3rd grade class starts in January during Sunday morning RE. The 4th-5th, 6th-7th grade and parent/caregiver classes will be offered at CUUC over three Friday evenings, February 10, March 10, and April 14. The parent and caregiver class will include additional online dates to complete all twelve sessions. Classes are open to all who share the values of self-worth, health, responsibility and justice.

This is a great opportunity to invite friends and community members who are new to Unitarian Universalism and CUUC. Please help us advertise by sharing two pamphlets with friends, in your online groups, and elsewhere: Spring 2023 Sunday morning 1st-3rd grade class and family resources; and Friday evening 4th-5th, 6th-7th & Parent/Caregiver classes
Weekly Newsletters
Stay up to date by receiving the weekly RE newsletter (sign up here; read past Issues here) and weekly CUUC e-Communitarian (sign up here; read past issues here).
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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