A New Year, a New Chair

We enter Fall 2015 with excitement for a great year. This year will continue to build upon the work we have done in the past several years: great Spirit Play stories, more developed Teen curriculum, more Fifth Sunday get togethers and more holiday activities.

And, we have a new chair! Thanks to Meg MacArthur for her leadership for many years. We look forward to Karen Hiebel leading our great committee in the future. Karen brings a lot of ideas and experience to the program. She has taught religious education over the years since bringing in her toddler (now 15) to the program. She's served just about every post imaginable at UUFC: from membership to finance to president. We are grateful for her experience and energy as we develop programming for the children and youth.

Fellowship and lunch among teachers

Teacher Training was August 16. A special thank you to all our teachers who took time to not only teach, but to come to this session. Keeping a Safe Church environment was discussed, along with expectations from teachers among themselves as well as with the children. We also practiced a Spirit Play class, which some of our teachers did some method acting as the part of the children.

Our teaching year began on August 23. The children had an introduction to rituals and more specifically, the Water Ceremony. This is an important UU tradition practiced by many congregations: it is the time when we return from our summer adventures and gather as a community to start a new fall together. We share water from our travels both near and far, mixing the water together to show the bond we share as a congregation. The children had a chance to discuss what a ritual, as well as this ritual, meant and we then had a small water ceremony to bond as a class.

Spirit Play Water Ceremony

Things to look forward to in the fall:

• Parent Orientation is Sunday, September 13. We will provide food. In addition to covering the necessary topics, we also hope to hear from you and what you and your family hope to gain from the program. Please come ready for an engaging discussion.
• Spirit Play will continue to mirror the first Sundays in the service, exploring a variety of world religions throughout the fall. In the spring, we will use the stories to explore a variety of topics. 
• The Teens will also continue to finish out the world religions. We also hope they can find time in their busy schedules to get together for some painting and fellowship.
• We hope to put together a Crop Walk group of children and youth for the October 4 walk.
• A Pumpkin Carving party is planned for the fall.
• Our next Fifth Sunday is November 27. Might be a great day to get together with our Thanksgiving leftovers!