September 10, 2022: Religious Exploration - Special Events

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View this email in your browser September 10, 2002 Two Community Activities This Saturday We Look Forward to Seeing You! K-12 Families Supporting  HOPE's Soup Kitchen Saturday, Sept 10, 10:30am-12:00pm in the CUUC Kitchen HOPE Community Services in New Rochelle is busier than ever. A dedicated team at CUUC has been preparing weekly meals for the Soup Kitchen for many years. We are now inviting our families and youth to help provide to-go breakfasts and lunches. Bring in frozen breakfast foods (French toast, pancakes, waffles, frozen sausages or patties--no pork), self-stable milk, and fruit cups, and make bag lunches this Saturday, September 10, from 10:30am to 12:00pm. We hope to make this a monthly social justice activity! We may explore alternating months with K-5th grade families and youth in 6th-12th grade. Join us and feel free to bring friends. Food for the bag lunches will be provided. RSVP with Christine Haran (christineharan@yahoo.com) so we know how many people to expect and how much food to bring for sandwiches. Enchanted Movie Party & Potluck for All Ages Saturday, Sept 10, 12:00-2:00pm at CUUC in Fellowship Hall We're having a movie party! Arturo Cruz Avellán invites you to an Enchanted movie party to celebrate its 15th anniversary and in anticipation of the September release of the sequel, Disenchanted! We invite you to dress up as one of the movie characters (or your favorite Marvel/DC character), wear your dancing shoes, and get ready to sing along. Bring a potluck dish to share and please label dishes containing nuts. We will provide drinks and a cake. RSVP with Arturo, arturocruzavellan@gmail.com. Nurturing  Cherished  Community  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

This Week in Religious Education: December 4-11, 2019

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6th

8th-12th Grade Youth Group, 6:30-8:30pm making holiday paper chains and other decorations for the sanctuary. RSVP with Cyndi & Daniel Tillman in the GroupMe chat or by email at cccdtil@aol.com and dtillman13@gmail.com.

 

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8th

Childcare is available at 9:30am. We begin every Sunday in the sanctuary at 10:00am. Music Director Adam Kent invites children and youth to find a nook under the piano where they can enjoy the centering music he plays before worship, 10:00-10:10am. Following the Time for All Ages, children and youth leave for RE classes and youth group, which meet until 11;30am. Children 3rd grade and younger must be picked up in their classroom at 11:30am; children 4th grade and older will be allowed to leave for coffee hour.

 

CHRISTMAS EVE OPPORTUNITY

Rev. Kimberley is planning a beautiful Christmas Eve service that will include many voices. We invite children, youth, young adults, adults and families to participate by reading short passages during the service. Contact Tracy to volunteer.

 

RE ASSISTANTS NEEDED

All adults have the opportunity to serve as assistants in Religious Education classes. No preparation required! Just spend an hour with our amazing children and youth while you fulfill our Safe Congregation practice of having two adults with our young people at all times. The 8th-9th Grade Coming of Age class needs an assistant this Sunday. Click HERE to view all available dates - then volunteer!

 

RE NEWSLETTERS

On Sundays when classes meet, each class receives their own weekly newsletter. Click on the class below to read this week's newsletter. If you would like to receive one or more RE newsletters in your e-mail, sign up here.

• Nursery Families & Childcare Providers: ABC UU Values
• K-1st Grade Families & Teachers: Our Whole Lives
• 2nd-3rd Grade Families & Teachers: Passport to Spirituality
• 4th-5th Grade Families & Teachers: Bibleodeon
• 6th-7th Grade Families & Teachers: Neighboring Faiths & World Religions
• 8th-9th Grade Families & Teachers: Coming of Age
• 10th-12th Grade Families & Youth Advisors: Youth Group

IN THE COMING WEEKS

• *Fri Dec 13 (not Dec 20), 6:30-8:30pm – Faith Friday: Rev. Kimberley's class, Habits of the Heart; Journey Groups for adults and children; 8th-12th Youth Group. Click here for the December packet.
• Sat Dec 14, 3:00-5:00pm - Gingerbread House Decorating at the Rockland UU Congregation in Pomona, NY (click here for the flyer). RSVP by December 11th.
• Sat Dec 14, 3:00-5:00pm – CUUC is participating in a new Youth Interfaith and Justice Leadership Lab. South Presbyterian Church invites 6th-12th grade youth to gather and hear from Dale Williams, Executive Director of Midnight Run, about finding common ground with the homeless. Youth will then wrap holiday gifts for distribution on the Christmas Eve Midnight Run. More information and a RSVP contact below. 
• Sun Dec 15 – All begin in worship at 10:00am then leave for classes. The Youth Group is attending worship. Community meal and winter concert following worship. 
• Sun Dec 22 – Whole Congregation Worship Sunday: Holiday Pageant. There are roles for everyone! Or come dressed in Star Wars costumes, continuing the tradition. And there will be a special surprise, not to be missed! No RE classes or Youth Group. 
• Tues Dec 24, 5:30pm – Christmas Eve worship service. Rev. Kimberley is planning a beautiful Christmas Eve service that will include many voices. We invite children, youth, young adults, adults and families to participate by reading short passages during the service. Contact Tracy to volunteer.

YOUTH INTERFAITH AND JUSTICE LEADERSHIP LAB
CUUC is participating in a new Youth Interfaith and Justice Leadership Lab with the Westchester Muslim Center, South Presbyterian Church and Woodlands Temple. Saturday, December 14th, 3:00-5:00pm, 6th-12th grade youth are invited to attend a presentation with Dale Williams, Executive Director of Midnight Run, where he will talk about finding common ground with the homeless. Dale was homeless in NYC as a young man. He will share his story, what the Midnight Run means to those who are homeless and ways of engaging with those we serve on the run. After Dale’s talk, we will wrap holiday gifts for distribution on the Christmas Eve Midnight Run. Saturday, December 14th, 3:00-5:00pm in Fellowship Hall, South Church, 343 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry. Parking on the street or off Washington behind the Church. All are welcome. Snacks will be served. RSVP to learninglab@southpres.org or call Marie-Louise, Interim Director, 917-647-7881.  

LGBTPQIA+ SUPPORT DURING THE HOLIDAYS While many are celebrating the holidays, many are also struggling with families who make it difficult to share their full selves or celebrate their loves, or families who have rejected them for doing so. To our LGBTPQIA+ family of all ages and stages: You are whole and holy, and you are loved. PFLAG offers these suggestions for taking care of yourself and navigating gatherings. Know you are not alone. Click here for links to hotlines and other support. If you need a message of unconditional love and affirmation, read this fierce message of support from S. Bear Bergman and know you can call or text Rev. Kimberley (518-423-1964) and Tracy (914-434-7539). Allies and Upstanders, your support is needed! PFLAG offers suggestions for friends and family. The Ossining LGBTQ Alliance shares this guide for being a LGBTQ Ally during the holiday season. 

I look forward to seeing you!

in fellowship, Tracy

All Westchester UU Vespers Service: Fridays

The All Westchester UU Vespers Service invites all UUs of Westchester to gather in community and Worship every other Friday evening.

The All Westchester UU Vespers Services began last September, and for some months alternated between First Unitarian Society of Westchester in Hastings and Community UU Congregation in White Plains. The services are now all hosted at:

First Unitarian Society of Westchester
25 Old Jackson Ave,
Hastings-On-Hudson, NY 10706

The services begin at 7:00pm and are led by a rotation of ministers and a ministerial intern that includes Rev. Peggy Clarke, Rev. Meredith Garmon, and Emily DeTar.

The All Westchester UU Vespers services offer a chance to “decompress” and renew at the end of the work week. They also serve to bring the congregations together and build connections among Westchester UUs. Members of all UU congregations in Westchester are encouraged to attend when they can.

For 2016, the Friday Vespers services are fortnightly (every other Friday):

Fri Jan 8. Rev. Meredith Garmon
Fri Jan 22. Rev. Peggy Clarke
Fri Feb 5. Emily DeTar
Fri Feb 19. Rev. Meredith Garmon
Fri Mar 4. Emily DeTar
Fri Mar 18. Rev. Peggy Clarke
Fri Apr 1. Rev. Meredith Garmon
Fri Apr 15. Rev. Peggy Clarke
Fri Apr 29. Emily DeTar
Fri May 13. Rev. Meredith Garmon

Order of Service

Call to Worship
Chalice Lighting
Centering Silence (5 mins)
Reading
Singing Meditation
Candles of Joy and Sorrow
Prayer
Deepening Into Silence (8 mins)
Singing Meditation
Chalice Extinguishing

The 45-min. service is typically oriented toward the theme of the month, reflected in the selection of the short reading. Themes for the first half of 2016 are:
Jan: Resistance
Feb: Desire
Mar: Liberation
Apr: Creation
May: Blessing
Jun: Simplicity

Child Dedication

From UUA.org:

Baptism/Child Dedication in Unitarian Universalism

Rather than holding Christian-style baptisms or christenings, most Unitarian Universalist congregations have child dedication ceremonies for infants and children.

Child dedication ceremonies are usually crafted by the parents, the congregation's minister, and religious educator working closely together. Many will include the following elements:

• A blessing for the new life of the child
• An expression of the parent or parents’ hopes for the child
• A promise by the congregation to support and nurture the child

If you are interested in having your child dedicated by a Unitarian Universalist minister or educator, either in your home or in the congregation, speak with the professional religious leaders at a congregation near you.

* * *

At Community UU

Twice a year Rev. Meredith and our Director of Religious Education lead the congregation in child dedications during a Sunday service. It takes 5 - 7 minutes, depending on how many children or youth are being dedicated. It goes something like this:

MEREDITH: The world’s faith traditions bring children into religious community in various ways: baptism, christening, bris, namakarana, various forms of child naming, blessing, initiating, and dedicating. Whatever the form, parents have brought their young children into the places of worship from time immemorial: to express their joy and their awe at the gift of new life, and their deep sense of responsibility.

DRE: For us, the dedication is always double. The child is dedicated to all that is good and true – to the ground of being itself, and the ultimate context of meaning. And the congregation hereby becomes dedicated to the child. We delight in what our children are now, while we look forward to what they -- and we -- will become, knowing that their spiritual growth depends in no small part on us, and that ours depends on them. Parents, family, friends along with every member of this congregation share responsibility for the nurturing of every child here. It is our task to teach them the way of beauty and love, peace and justice --  and to learn from them zest and wonder of life.

Meredith then calls the names of the parents/guardians who are bringing children to be dedicated and invites them to come up on the chancel. He then asks the parents to announce to the congregation the name(s) of their child(ren) being dedicated. Our DRE then addresses the child(ren) by name and tells them: you are a part of this community that loves you.

For each child, Meredith dips a rose into the water from the congregation's water communion.

MEREDITH: With this water from our annual water communion, representing this diverse community flowing together, and symbolizing the oneness from which all life springs, and this rose, the symbol of life’s blooming possibilities for you, I touch you now on your brow, on your lips, and on your hands, to dedicate your thought and your speech, and your action to all in life that is good and true and beautiful. Hands the rose to the child or parent. Repeat for each child.

DRE: If you are a relative, or godparent of a child being dedicated, or a visiting family friend, will you please rise. If you are proud to know these young ones, if you look forward to introducing them to the world and helping them become who they will be, please say, “We will.”

If applicable [names of siblings]: you have sisters and brothers being dedicated today. If you promise to help them have a good time here, please say, “We will.”

Will all the children and youth of the congregation rise? If you are happy to get to know these friends, and if you will be kind to them, please say, “We will.”

Every member undertakes the sacred and joyful obligation to know, to nurture, to teach, and to help these children. Will all members now rise and pledge with me the words of the Congregational Dedication printed in your Order of Service:

May you grow to a life of joy.
May you grow to love other people.
May you grow to be courageous to challenge evil.
May you speak the truth you know,
And never cease from seeking to know more.
In everyone you meet,
May you recognize kinship and accept difference.
May you endow those who know you with faith and hope.
May you grow to be strong and gentle.
May you lessen a bit our human sorrows.
And to help to realize our hopes for you,
To guide you and comfort you,
To teach you and learn from you,
We, your religious community, dedicate ourselves.

MEREDITH: We pray that we shall be worthy guardians of these young lives, that the community we build will be one in which they may grow – and grow old – surrounded by beauty, embraced by love, and cradled in the arms of peace.

Mindfulness Meditation Intensive, Sep 25-26

Mindfulness Meditation Intensive led by Rev. Sam Trumbore, Fri-Sat Sep 25-26. Please register with the office (call 946-1660 or email admin@cucwp.org).

Fri Sep 25, 6 - 9pm and Sat Sep 26, 8am - 3pm, at CUUC, Fellowship Hall: This Intensive practice and training session led by Rev. Sam Trumbore gives participants an opportunity to learn Buddhist mindfulness meditation techniques or refresh and deepen their meditation practice. All are welcome from first timers to experts. There will be a potluck vegan lunch on Saturday and all are encouraged to bring something to share. Insight oriented, mindfulness meditation is one of the best for Unitarian Universalists. It helps people train their minds to strengthen concentration and intensify moment-to-moment awareness. Regular practice of this technique quiets and sharpens the mind, opens the heart and can improve one's physical health. Rev. Trumbore is the minister serving the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany, New York. He has practiced Buddhist insight meditation for 30 years and is Past President of the Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship.

Halloween Fun on October 26

Halloween Fun for Children!

Sunday, October 26 at 11:30 a.m.

During the Fall Harvest Brunch, Youth Group members will be hosting some fun Halloween activities for the CUC children. Gather by the door in Fellowship Hall and monsters, ghouls, and ghosts will lead the way.