Quote du jour
The pursuit of Excellence is gratifying and healthy
The pursuit of perfection is frustrating and neurotic
It is also a terrible waste of time - Edwin Bliss
In a few short weeks the annual RE Sunday will be upon us. During that intergenerational morning, the children and adults in the Religious Education Program are asked to create or contribute to the worship service. I’ve never been here for one of these – but what I’d like to ask you and have you think about on behalf of the group you lead is – “How do I want to remember the year? And what do I want to offer the congregation?” That could be anything (well as long as it’s legal and safe and compatible with our Unitarian Universalist Principles) or nothing at all. A chalice lighting? A song? A prayer? A homily? If you are drawing a blank, give me a call and I’ll be happy to think through the possibilities with you. But please let me know in the next week or so, as we will need to begin planning. You can post in comments, you can send me an email or you can give me a call at the church.
This weekend is the last of this years all program Sundays. Regular classroom teachers have the day free from any leadership role. I will be leading a children’s chapel for all ages, followed by a couple of integrative activities on the theme of Earth Day. If you’re around, please pop in. I seriously thought about devoting a worship service to song parodies, but I’m afraid the younger ones might take me seriously if I start singing “Spirit of Strife”. So Earth Day it is. ..
If you have not yet indicated your teaching commitment for next year, please do so soon. The holy and sacred clipboard and sign up sheet are in the foyer on Sundays with a member of the Religious Education committee to answer your questions.
I wrote in this week's Times about the collective why of teaching, but I also think it’s important to think about the individual why of teaching. We have a shared assumption in many of our churches that Religious Education is only for the young and that once the Affirmation year comes and goes, it’s over. Check. Done. But think on it some more. What about OUR religious education as adults? What about OUR faith development? When I started to feel the twinges and aches of a middle aged back – the medical advice was to ‘strengthen my core’. Building strength in that vital core is what makes us more flexible, resilient and less prone to injury and pain. If we think upon teaching as a way of strengthening our own core – by being present to humans who see the world in very different ways, by stepping outside of our own comfort zones, and by expressing in deed our stated commitment to the wellbeing of our children – it becomes faith development for the teacher as well as the child. You’re not only signing up to teach, you’re signing up for some spiritual, emotional and religious Pilates!
And lastly, in the what’s going on outside department – there are buds on the daffodils in the backyard at my house. And in the warm and sunnier pockets the buds are greening up. Forsythia is blooming and the willows are almost there. After the long winter, I hug these signs of spring closely. What signs of spring are surrounding you? What do you cherish in this season of budding?
In faith,
Rebecca
The pursuit of perfection is frustrating and neurotic
It is also a terrible waste of time - Edwin Bliss
In a few short weeks the annual RE Sunday will be upon us. During that intergenerational morning, the children and adults in the Religious Education Program are asked to create or contribute to the worship service. I’ve never been here for one of these – but what I’d like to ask you and have you think about on behalf of the group you lead is – “How do I want to remember the year? And what do I want to offer the congregation?” That could be anything (well as long as it’s legal and safe and compatible with our Unitarian Universalist Principles) or nothing at all. A chalice lighting? A song? A prayer? A homily? If you are drawing a blank, give me a call and I’ll be happy to think through the possibilities with you. But please let me know in the next week or so, as we will need to begin planning. You can post in comments, you can send me an email or you can give me a call at the church.
This weekend is the last of this years all program Sundays. Regular classroom teachers have the day free from any leadership role. I will be leading a children’s chapel for all ages, followed by a couple of integrative activities on the theme of Earth Day. If you’re around, please pop in. I seriously thought about devoting a worship service to song parodies, but I’m afraid the younger ones might take me seriously if I start singing “Spirit of Strife”. So Earth Day it is. ..
If you have not yet indicated your teaching commitment for next year, please do so soon. The holy and sacred clipboard and sign up sheet are in the foyer on Sundays with a member of the Religious Education committee to answer your questions.
I wrote in this week's Times about the collective why of teaching, but I also think it’s important to think about the individual why of teaching. We have a shared assumption in many of our churches that Religious Education is only for the young and that once the Affirmation year comes and goes, it’s over. Check. Done. But think on it some more. What about OUR religious education as adults? What about OUR faith development? When I started to feel the twinges and aches of a middle aged back – the medical advice was to ‘strengthen my core’. Building strength in that vital core is what makes us more flexible, resilient and less prone to injury and pain. If we think upon teaching as a way of strengthening our own core – by being present to humans who see the world in very different ways, by stepping outside of our own comfort zones, and by expressing in deed our stated commitment to the wellbeing of our children – it becomes faith development for the teacher as well as the child. You’re not only signing up to teach, you’re signing up for some spiritual, emotional and religious Pilates!
And lastly, in the what’s going on outside department – there are buds on the daffodils in the backyard at my house. And in the warm and sunnier pockets the buds are greening up. Forsythia is blooming and the willows are almost there. After the long winter, I hug these signs of spring closely. What signs of spring are surrounding you? What do you cherish in this season of budding?
In faith,
Rebecca
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