Children’s Religious Education Message – 1-17-22

Jan 17, 2022

Special Message from Children’s Religious Education:

It is less resource-intensive to maintain a program on life support than to shut it down completely and start it up again later.

The sentiment of that sentence has been the spark of discussion in every CRE Committee meeting since the spring of 2020; that and “So … what are we gonna do?”

Your CRE Committee consists of 10 people, each of whom has been regularly planning, scheming, and scraping to ensure that two not-quite-burned-out adults are available every other Sunday for every age group offering (there are three of them) for the past 22 months. This is how we spread our thin ranks in order to keep the children connected to each other and to this church. Why? – because it is less resource-intensive to maintain a program on life support than to shut it down completely and hope it can be started up again later.

It is the hope of the CRE Committee that the children who pass through our classrooms, be they physical or virtual, become the service attending, tithing, and volunteering UUs of tomorrow; that they will do more than just maintain the adult ranks of our congregation. Hold that thought and read on because we need your help to make it so!

How can you help us?

  • Join the CRE Committee. We meet on the second Sunday of the month via Zoom. Timing is flexible.
  • No curriculum is one-size-fits-all-ages. We need your creativity to keep our program offerings inclusive and enticing.
  • Share with us your educational expertise – regardless of age, whether or not you have children in the program – help us better understand what works in this new physical + virtual world and what does not.
  • Volunteer to be a teaching assistant. No education experience is necessary, and it is how many of us began.
  • Are you a planner, an organizer? Contact Marguerite and ask how you can aid her and Caleb.

(See https://www.firstuunash.org/fd-volunteer-roles/ for some specific volunteer role details, including descriptions and time commitments.)

We don’t believe there can be a vibrant congregation of the future without a corresponding religious education program. We can’t have a vibrant religious education program without volunteers. We need you to help us move the program back into the full light of day, not just maintain it; return it to a power that matches our congregation … that matches you.

~ Jason Plummer, for and with the Children’s Religious Education Committee

Updates

Sunday school for PreK-8th grade will resume in February. The Children’s Religious Education Committee is able to plan only one month ahead at this time, so stay tuned for updates about March and beyond.

Youth Group for 9th-12th grades continues as usual, but check back to see if that will be on Zoom or in person.

This Sunday (Jan 23): There is no programming for children or youth, other than the congregational meeting….

Next Sunday (Jan 30): As this is a fifth Sunday, there is no programming for children or youth.

Congregational Meeting (Jan 23): On Zoom, Sunday, January 30, immediately following the 10 a.m. service.

The Board of Directors has called a January Mid-Year Congregational Meeting for important updates, and several issues which require a congregational vote. The virtual meeting will be on Jan. 23, starting at 11 a.m. (approximately 10 minutes after the virtual service on Zoom). All are encouraged to attend, and that includes children and youth—it’s like taking them to the voting booth with you, a perfect example of how to honor our 5th Principle: “We covenant to affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.”

The link and meeting materials are posted on the website. If you are joining live for the service, the Zoom link will be placed in the chat.

 

Sunday School (preK-8th grade)—February  

11 a.m., 2nd and 4th Sundays

PreK-1st Grade

 

Youth Group (9th-12 grades)—January & February

11 a.m.- 12:20 p.m., 1st and 3rd Sundays

Current policy states that coming into church spaces means you (youth and adult) are attesting to having been vaccinated if eligible. All participants will remain masked and practice distancing. When the weather permits, we will meet on the deck off the Youth Room (Norris House); when it does not, we will meet in the Youth Room. If COVID conditions are prohibitive, we will meet on Zoom: