Religious Exploration Corner: Children’s Program News

Greetings to All!

I have been enjoying my time working in the UU Fellowship and plan to share thoughts and news bi-weeky in the newsletter. I encourage you to communicate with me, as I look forward to receiving your thoughts, impressions, and questions! (Email)

Our Sunday routine once we come downstairs includes:

LIGHTING THE CHALICE and sharing experiences in response to a question from the Time for All Ages and/or one I pose. For example; “Tell us about a kindness you witnessed or did this week or tell us about a kindness you hope to do in the coming week” Because lighting a candle is a popular activity, I brought a larger challis filled with sand and several candles, so everyone who wants a turn lighting the chalice, can have one.

BIG IDEAS ROUNDTABLE TALK

We use a “talking gourd” to help us take turns and focus on the speaker. For the next several months we are exploring the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism. An example of a BIG IDEA would be, each one sharing our ideas or experience with “What does it mean to be equal with someone?” or “How do we show someone that we value them?”

We follow the “Rules of the Workshop” when talking to each other. I can provide handouts of the Rules of the Workshop and the Seven Principles translated into child level language to anyone interested in reading them.

ACTIVITY TIME

We do various activities which amplify the ideas we discuss. Example; when Reverend Barbara asked the congregation to think about how they might help “hold up the sky” in reference to the story she read, we played a game of toss where the team members tried to help each other get as many paper balls into the container as they could, increasing the difficulty over time. We were learning how to cooperate with one another, an important contribution to making our world better and “holding up the sky”.

We will be writing each of the Seven Principles on decorated rocks over the coming weeks with a goal of enhancing our outdoor area. You are all invited to participate in this activity as well, at your leisure. Rock painting was inspired by the fun Fall Picnic activity organized by Martha Kraus, of the Membership Engagement Team.

CLOSING CIRCLE

Following activity time, we will return to the service in order to participate in the Closing Circle.