Teen Time

We hope everyone comes to enjoy the service on May 31. We will be talking about transitions of all ages, which will include a naming ceremony. On May 15, the teens got together with Theresa and Terre to help plan the service. One of the teens, Emily, tells us a little bit about what happened in this session:

We enjoyed a dinner from Pot Belly Deli, which was very good, then we decided to attempt to do some Israeli folk dancing. After some rather interesting attempts at dancing we finally started to plan the service. The topic we choose was change. That went well and after we did some juggling with stuffed animals. Then the sleepover started, which we kicked it off watching "Wreck It Ralph" with popcorn. In the morning we played Uno and danced to Meghan Trainer.

Thanks Emily! We look forward to seeing what the teens have cooked up for us.

Service Sunday

What's the best way to keep a group of little boys busy on a rainy Sunday? Put them to work!

Sunday was our planned service day. We combined all our projects into one day, and made it a bit of a party. A good mix of teens, older children and young kids worked well together to plant seeds, made laundry soap and make dog biscuits. Let's take these one at a time.

 

The Plants

The service project for this year was to benefit the South Carolina Botanical Garden. We had gone earlier in the fall to do some work to some of the plants. For the spring, we decided that we wanted to give some plants for the butterfly garden. Led by teacher Carolyn Turner, the younger class planted Scarlet Runner Beans. The flowers that the beans produce are delicious to both the butterflies and the hummingbirds. After mixing up the dirt, the children planted the seeds in peat pots, with stakes so that the beans could germinate.

This was Carolyn's last project with Religious Education before she moves to be closer to her daughter and grandchild. Thanks for all you have done for us Carolyn! We will miss you and are grateful for your work in the classroom and with the committee.

We will plant the seedlings at the garden on May 17, at noon, following class. Plan to meet at the Hayden Conference Center at the garden.

The Soap

The teens made laundry soap before and sold it to great acclaim. We decided to make it again. The soap contains washing soda, baking soda, borax and fels naptha. The first three ingredients come in powder form, but not the fels naptha. Grinding that soap is the tricky part of this project. We chose several methods: we ground it in a meat grinder, we grated it and we microwaved it. While microwaving it is entertaining as the soap expands like a balloon, it also creates a strong smell and it takes a while to cool off, so you can crumble it into a powder. Fortunately, it turns out that all these methods are fun for boys, and we got 21 containers of soap made in quick fashion. Look for the soap at the next Trading Post on May 10. We have seven containers in each scent: unscented, lavender and purification. They are not strongly scented. The purification is good for removing strong odors from clothes.

The Biscuits

This is our third year making these bones, which are very popular with our congregation's dogs. They contain egg, flour, oats, dry milk and every dog's favorite: PEANUT BUTTER. Two teams of three worked to make about 100 biscuits, and everyone worked to make the tags to go in the bags of biscuits. We sold some at the auction; look for Max to sell the rest! The proceeds from the sale of the biscuits go to the UUFC general fund.

Flower Communion

While we UUs don't celebrate Easter quite the same way as our Christian neighbors, we do honor the holiday. For us, the holiday celebrates the rebirth of the world: animals have their babies, the trees begin to bud and bloom and there are flowers. Many look back to the ancient roots of the season, with eggs and bunnies and lilies all coming from a variety of traditions.

At UUFC, Easter is a multi-generational service. Rev. Terre spent time in the service to ask what symbols the children could recall, and shared with all the history and meaning behind some of those symbols. Eggs mean more than fertility: the Chinese have a creation story in which the entire universe is contained within an egg. Christians use dogwoods to tell the story of the crucifixion. The Easter bunny is a tradition that came from Germany.

Finally, we shared a truly Unitarian story: that of flower communion. Created in the 1920s by Unitarian minister Norbert Capek in Czechoslovakia, it was a way to celebrate the beauty of the earth seen while congregants walked to church. Each flower would be unique and lovely, much as the person who brought it with them. The flowers were made even more lovely by being shared together.

Rev. Terre had the children surround the flowers and bless them. The children decided to bless the flowers with hope and with love. One child suggested we all give each other hugs after the service. Then, after the blessing, all who wished to came forward to take a different flower.

A truly moving way to celebrate the season of rebirth.

Fifth Sunday Fun and Games

On a beautiful weekend, we had our first fun and games event. People brought their own lunches, as well as food to share and we all enjoyed the lovely weather outside. Parents had a chance to catch up and socialize while the kids had fun on the playground. We had kids of all ages: from one to teenagers and adults with and without kids.

The weather was so nice and the playground so fun, that we didn't even break out any board games this time.

We hope to make this a regular addition to our schedule. If you know a family that has been a little leery about joining our congregation, the Fifth Sunday Fun and Games event might be a good way for them to get to know us in a casual setting.

The Great Kapok Tree

Did you get to see the great performance of The Great Kapok Tree on February 15? If you didn't make it, you missed some Oscar-worthy performances, and a wonderful message that carried through to the service on February 22, about being an effective activist for the earth.

The story talks about our seventh principle, the interdependent web of life. If the kapok tree is hewn, much goes with it. We see many animals, from bees to porcupines to jaguars to monkeys, beg the sleeping lumberjack to leave the tree, as it provides all of them life and sustenance.

Made even more special, the children used a variety of beautiful objects shared by Reverend Terre Balof, who brought them back from her travels to Panama. These are made by indigenous people of the area, to help support their communities.

Great job to the teens who helped narrate the story, as well as the children who played the roles of lumberjack and a host of animals so well.

Kung Fu Movie Fun

On February 22 at noon, come join us at Founders' House for a little movie fun: Kung Fu Panda!

You might ask yourself, "What on earth? What does Kung Fu Panda have to do with world religions? That's a big box office hit." Indeed, it is, but the movie has lessons that related to Buddhism. And, just as importantly, it reminds us that we all deserve respect, no matter what we might appear to be.

Look for  Po the Panda to find inner strength. Shifu the sensei seeks patience. Tigress seeks respect. And Oogway is there to help all of them find their path.

Watch the trailer.

So bring a dish (and maybe a pillow) and we'll all enjoy a fun movie.

Teacher Lunch and Learn

A group of teachers got together in late January to share fellowship, lunch and tips and techniques for successful classes.

The entire group enjoyed a lovely vegan lunch. As we don't always see each other on Sundays, it was an opportunity to catch up after the holiday (and flu) season. The two groups of teachers then broke into two groups to discuss what had worked well in their respective classes, and what could be improved. It was a useful exercise with healthy dialogue.

Here is recap of what was discussed for each group:

Early Learners

All agreed that the lessons have gone well and Spirit Play has made teaching much more fun. Two topics were discussed.

The first was making sure the children got meaning out of the lesson. Suggestions included: 

• discussing the takeaway points during the free play time
• reminding them frequently of the principles on the bulletin board
• identify the principles in every story
• consider reviewing one principle a month

The second was classroom management. The most important thing is that the teachers be consistent in dealing with behavior. Other ideas and suggestions were made and should help maintain a more peaceful environment will not only make the classroom easier for teachers, but more welcome to children who are more quiet and introspective.

Teens

The teens need discussion and a time to socialize together. Most of our teens have been with us for a while. The goal is to engage them more. The teachers concluded using current events and issues, and giving them a safe place to discuss these would be a helpful way of finding UU principles in action.

Also discussed was a way to engage some of the teens that might not participate as much as they should. Body language techniques were discussed, as well as starter sentences to help break the ice if they are hesitant to talk.

Lastly, they discussed ways to make the teens more involved in church decision making. Giving the teens a voice in what they want from their church community might help them transition into being UU adults.


These sessions were helpful to all in making RE a positive experience not just for the students, but for the teachers and the congregation as well.