WAYS TO CONNECT

MULTIGENERATIONAL ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES

MULTI-GEN SERVICES

Multigenerational services (Multi-gens) are led by the Director of Religious Exploration, and are for all members of the congregation to take part in. Classes are not held when we have Multi-gens, as they are planned with the children in mind, with extra songs and movement activities. The Nursery is always provided though. Children and Youth also take part in these services, and participate by reading poetry or other special readings, performing music or skits, lighting and extinguishing the Chalice, and helping in other ways depending on the service.

We generally offer 4 Sunday morning Multi-gens, and 1 evening Christmas Eve Multi-gen each year:

The Water Communion

In August, we have our Water Communion service. This service brings closure to our summer RE programming, and prepares the children and adults for heading back out into the world: to school, work, and wherever each person’s path takes them during the week.

This is a communion specific to Unitarian Universalists, and was created by 2 UU women in the 1980’s.

The Winter Holiday Service

Our Winter Holiday service is held in mid-December, and is focused on one or more of the winter holidays from around the world. These services generally have a lot of music and have parts for all children that are interested in participating!

The Christmas Eve Service

Our Christmas Eve Service combines the reading of the Christmas Story, a secular holiday Story For All Ages, lots of holiday caroling and musicians, ending with a White Elephant gift exchange and a cookie and cider reception!

RE Sunday and Flower Communion

The RE Sunday service and the Flower Communion have been combined the past 2 years, but might be separated into 2 distinct services in the future. RE Sunday is a service that celebrates the children and youth of the RE classes, recognizes and gives thanks to the teachers and volunteers, and also includes a Bridging Ceremony for graduating seniors.

The Flower Communion is a special service that celebrates the beauty of nature, friendship and family, coming together, and sharing with one another.

This is a communion specific to Unitarian Universalists, and was first created 100 years ago!

And one more special service.

This might be a special service for a holiday or holy day like Halloween or the Spring Equinox; a UU related service about the Chalice, our UU Principles or Sources; or on something that the RE has been working on, like a social justice or environmental project.

WEEKLY RE NEWSLETTER

The Weekly RE Newsletter is sent out on Sunday afternoons, and details the events in the different classes that day, along with important information on upcoming gatherings and activities. It also offers extra activities and ideas to help continue religious exploration throughout the week, and discussion questions and prompts for families to expand on what was learned and explored in the classes that day.

THIS MONTH AT A GLANCE, THE MONTHLY UUFT NEWSLETTER

Baskets of Beliefs

Our Soul Matters theme for May is Pluralism, which is “acknowledging and respecting all ethnocultural, religious, socioeconomic, gender, sexual, and linguistic backgrounds”. UU’s are a very diverse group of people that come from many different backgrounds and faiths. We’re a pluralistic group, and for the most part we tend to do a pretty good job at modeling the concept of Pluralism to our children. However, we all bring with us our baskets of beliefs that have been filled up as we go along through life. We pick up our beliefs from both good and not so good experiences and events, through our families, teachers, ministers, friends, books and the internet.

It is up to us to not let our baskets of beliefs become our baggage. A basket is still light enough to carry. To pick and choose from. To remove the rotting piece of belief that once looked so shiny but now, not so much. Baggage simply weighs you down and makes you lug it along.

I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to see our children lugging baggage behind them. I want to see them dancing merrily along through life with their baskets filled with love. I want to see them as parents, grandparents and great grandparents, maybe moving slowly and with aching joints… while the child inside of them still dances in the sunshine with their basket.

We can help our children with this by simply modeling Pluralism. Respecting and including all religions, not just a few that feel comfortable. Respecting and including all genders, all socioeconomic groups, everyone really.

I think that we mostly do a pretty good job at this, but there are times that I wonder though, are we really practicing and modeling the concept of Pluralism if our baskets of beliefs don’t match up perfectly? Because most won’t.

I have a challenge for you! (Don’t worry, it’s not that hard.) Take a very good look at how you view and treat others this month. (See? Easy peasy! I will do the same thing!) At the end of the month, let’s look back and honestly reflect. Would you change anything if you had the chance? What could you have done differently?

Special Events in May!

There were so many different events happening last month, that it’s kind of nice to only have a few special events this month. It will help to balance out all of those end of the year events that happen at the different schools our children go to, from concerts to awards events to field trips to finals…

Maker’s Night

Maker’s Night will be on the 3rd Friday this month, May 17th from 6-8pm at the UUFT. Bring your favorite art or craft supplies (calling all knitters, weavers of yarn or metal, jewelry makers and more!), the current model you’re building or painting, a paper you’re working on, or even a deck of cards! Sensory materials, Legos, paper, markers, glue, etc will always be available for all ages. Come and enjoy this lovely social event with friends and family!

The Multifaceted MultiGen and the Power of the Flower service (otherwise known as RE Sunday with the Flower Communion) will be on the 19 th of May! I am calling all children and youth to take part in any way that they would like! Musicians, artists, poets, fire starters and extinguishers, speakers, flower carriers, and helpers of all kinds are needed for this special service. Adults can help as well! Please let me know ASAP if you would like to help with this fun service!

This service includes our Annual Flower Communion, so please bring one flower for every person in your family!

This service will end with a Triple C Reception: cookies, coffee, and cocoa! If you would like to donate cookies for the reception, please contact DRE Erin.

The Children and Youth

As all children develop at their own rate, the ages and grades for our classes are flexible (with the exception of Middle School OWL. Perhaps a child feels more comfortable staying in the Spirit Play classroom an extra year, and that is perfectly fine, as long as materials are used as they should be. Perhaps a child is ready for an older class before they are of the age or grade listed, and that is perfectly fine too! The most important thing is that the children feel safe and comfortable in their space. The next most important thing is that they are learning about Unitarian Universalism and the world around them!

After the Time For All Ages in the sanctuary, the children parade out to their classes with their classroom leaders, following the weekly RE Lantern Carrier!

As it is Spring in Kansas, the weather is completely unpredictable. We can have shorts weather one day and then the next day brings snow, (hopefully we can wait until winter for our next snow though)! We do go outside often, so please make sure that your kiddos have a jacket or coat they can slip on, along with comfortable shoes.

Nursery (Birth through Age 3)

Our nursery is staffed by our excellent Nursery Care Provider, Farai, along with one generous volunteer each week. The nursery has seen a few new little ones this past month! It is always fun to watch the babies interact!

Spirit Play (PreK (age 4) through 2nd Grade)

The Spirit Play class, led by Remington Beard, shall explore the theme of Pluralism this month to parallel the main services. Lessons from both Spirit Play and the Soul Matters curriculum will be used. The children will also take part, or just join us for our May 19th Multigen service.

Upper Elementary (3rd through 6th Grade)

The Upper Elementary class is working on a fun social action curriculum called Magic and UU! The month of May will bring this curriculum to a close, which means that all of these kiddos will be bringing home their wands! Parents, you might want to start to work on your own “Expelliarmus” spells! Just kidding, but it is fun to play make believe! Using our imaginations is another way of thinking outside of the box, which can lead to some truly fantastic outcomes.

Youth (7th through 9th Grade)

The Youth will spend the month of May on a variety of different projects.

Middle School OWL (7th through 9th Grade)

Our Whole Lives for Middle School, grades 7-9 is finishing up this coming Sunday, May 5 th with a party! Pizza will be provided for lunch.

The RE Bake Sale!

The RE Bake Sale has been very successful! So many fabulous cooks have whipped up delicious treats and donated them so that the RE Youth and older children can trade them for small amounts of change, folding money, (and even electronic money through Breeze!) that add up to a sizable amount each month! The funds will be used to help enhance our RE program.

Volunteers and 2 Class Leads Needed!

I am looking for 2 Classroom Leads for the upcoming school year! The Youth Room and the Upper Elementary class (Nature’s Savers) are both in need of a regular and reliable classroom leader. This is a paid position.

The Nursery, the Spirit Play class, the Natures Savers class, and the Youth Group all need volunteers!

If you are interested in helping out our Religious Exploration program, please contact DRE Erin erin.forstein@uuft.org for more information! You will be sent a link to a short online form to fill out for an easy background check, which is paid for out of the RE budget.