Quote du jour “Democracy requires space for compromise, and compromise is best won through acknowledging the legitimate concerns of the other.”
- Daniel Yankelovich, Christian Science Monitor, 2004
I’m back to teacher blogging. I am so sorry for my absence of the last couple of weeks, as many of you know, my family has been beset my significant health concerns. Life appears to have calmed down and I’m hoping that we can look forward to less hospital ‘excitement’ in the future months.
As we begin to wind down this church year and look ahead to the next, some significant changes are being made in plans for the Religious Education Program here at UUCGL. The changes have been several years in the making. Surveys, conversations and statistical analysis all led to this iteration of programming. It is our hope that this ministry to our children and families will be one that acknowledges and honors the reality of life in this third millennium. I have copied in a letter which is being distributed throughout the congregation – a letter which specifically addresses the primary years Rotation Workshop. We are also re-visioning Affirmation for ninth graders and a rotation of Neighboring Faiths and Our Whole Lives for seventh and eighth graders, a process you’ll hear more of later. The letter is copied below the body of this blog post - but first, let me update you with a few calendar notes. This coming Sunday, April 6th is the Affirmation Workshop’s concluding worship service. The four high school youth who have participated this year, will lead the service, sharing their music, thoughts and insights with the congregation. We invite all young people, sixth grade on up to join us in this worship morning. Mark the date, May 4th, the Frozen Pickles middle school youth group is hosting the annual teacher appreciation lunch after fellowship hour. I hope you’ll join us for a rollicking good time. AND no one has to cook or clean up afterwards!
Dear All,
As you have heard and read elsewhere, the religious education committee is bringing a change to the model we use in our Sunday morning Religious Education program. There are a number of content and logistical changes being made, all of which are designed to minister to the needs and realities of today. One thing remains constant, and that is our commitment to empowering this community in it’s ministry to children and families.
One of the significant changes involves our primary aged children (grades K-6, inclusive). We will be participating in Workshop Rotation. This program uses a core narrative (usually a story) illustrating foundational values of our faith. With our children, we further explore that story and the values embedded within it in the workshops designed to engage children and adults in 4 different experiential and learning modalities visual/tactile arts, music/ drama, social justice and celebrations/worship. Over a four week period, all the children will experience each workshop and revisit the story. This model holds space for all our children to engage our values even with more sporadic attendance, and gives adults a number of ways to access our church’s teaching ministry.
Logistically, as we recognize that extended teaching commitments are more and more difficult for individuals to make we have created a cooperative program schedule. This shares the responsibility of our teaching ministry among all families in an equitable fashion. In short, it is our expectation that all parents will teach and it is our hope that all parishioners will do so as well.
Over the next few weeks, the religious education committee will be inviting you to choose your leadership role and dates you can volunteer. The rotations and leadership roles are as follows: If you are willing and able to provide a consistent and supportive presence to our children, we are asking you to commit to being a teaching guide for one or more four week rotations. In this role you are the able bodied assistant to the workshop leaders and will stay with the same group of children from week to week. If prefer to take the lead, ‘teaching to your passion’, we are asking you to commit to leading at least one four week workshop rotation in your choice of the four experiential areas. The workshop will be developed for you, or if you prefer to design your own workshop, you are welcome to do so. In this role, you will lead the same lesson over the course of four weeks, for the different age cohorts.
Please look over the calendar below and respond to me at any time, or to the Curriculum Committee (Carol Kusinitz, Martha Curry, Mary O’Connel and Lucy Emple) with your prefer4red role and dates before May 1. If you are a parent and have no preference, or we don’t hear from you by May 1, a leadership role and dates will be assigned to you. If you any questions in the meantime, please contact Carol Kusinitz at 781-631-4976 or chkscribe@comcast.net.
