Sparks and Purple flames (social groups for 5-6th and 7-8th grades) this Friday we will be meeting together here at South Church from 7-9pm. Bring a flashlight (we’re playing a great game in the dark!), wear sneakers and bring a favorite snack to share. If you are not registered for this program, email me for details on that! If you are registered, please RSVP so I know you’re coming!

Senior Youth Immigration Justice Trip- informational potluck- Sunday, Jan 7 at 5:30pm. Immediately following our regular youth group gathering, Parents and youth are invited to a potluck to dig into specifics around the Immigration Justice trip we are planning in June. Come if you’re sure you want to participate, come if you are not at all sure, but still considering. We’ll go over logistics, fundraising commitments, concerns, and finances. Bring a dish to share! See you there!

Families Tuugether, Saturday, January 13th, 4:30-8pm  Open to children 8 months through Sixth grade, Families Tuugether is a popular program for families of young kids; an opportunity for parents to reconnect and to recharge. Offered monthly during the church year, children are dropped off at South Church at 4:30pm with a potluck dish to share (Ready to serve, please.), and parents head up to the sanctuary for a short group gathering before heading out to enjoy some quite time. Children will strengthen friendships, enjoy a movie, and play fun games. Parents return to get their child no later than 8pm. Please note: Families MUST RSVP (kirsten@southchurch-uu.org)  if they plan to come to this event, so that we are able to meet the staffing needs. Program is be closed after 25 children register, to ensure we have a safe and fun event.

Martin Luther King Jr weekend- in addition to some conversations in RE over the next two weeks related to MLK, I wanted to let you know that there is a special pancake breakfast and worship service for MLK at South Church on Monday morning (breakfast at 8:30, music/service at 10 followed by walk on Portsmouth’s Black Heritage Trail. Concluding at noon). It is sponsored by the Seacoast NAACP, and would be a meaningful way to engage in the work of this justice leader with older children. There are opportunities to volunteer during the breakfast as well, so reach out if you’d like to get involved.

Theme workshops for January:

Family resources for January: ‘We are a community of intention’ . One of the wonderful things about theme based church is that there are multiple opportunities for parents and children to explore a specific idea throughout each month. This means there are also lots of opportunities for ideas and inspirations we come across on Sundays at South Church to find their way into our lives throughout the week. This could be very meaningful for your family and for our community.  As we explore themes throughout the year think about ways you might take those conversations home to your dinner tables, night time rituals, car drives, and morning routines.  Here’s a small framework to whet your palate, let me know if you have any great family moments!

[From Soul Matters RE Packet:] Playing off our monthly theme question of “What does it mean to be a people of intention?”, we invite parents to ask “What does it mean to be a parent of intention” or “What does it mean to be a family of intention?”

A Book Suggestion:

The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way, By Wayne Dyer

Ideas for Reflection:

How to Create a Sankalpa, by Kelly McGonigal, Yoga International.  The yoga tradition offers a profound formula for realizing your heartfelt desires—without asking you to change who you are. It’s the practice of sankalpa (resolve), as suggested by Rev. Rebecca “Beckett” Coppola, Minister, Kingston Unitarian Fellowship, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Right Intention (Samma Sankappa) From The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering by Bhikkhu Bodhi. A reading from the Vipassana tradition in Buddhism for those interested in more depth, as suggested by Rev. Rebecca “Beckett” Coppola, Minister, Kingston Unitarian Fellowship, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

26 Things to Say to Nurture Your Child’s Inner Voice

Ideas for Meditation

Two-Minute Meditation for Crazy-Busy People – Waylon Lewis of Elephant Journal.

 Video about Three Kings Day:

Dora Celebrates Three Kings Day (30 min)

A Family Game

Game of Choices  Help young children learn about choices and intentions.

Movie Ideas

Field of Dreams (PG) A farmer is called to change his life and follow a dream—an inner voice—that guides him to turn his cornfield into a baseball field where extraordinary and magical things happen.

Ratatouille (G) (We’ll be watching this at Families Tuugether on the 13th!) Remy, a resident of Paris, appreciates good food, and has quite a sophisticated palate. He would love to become a chef so he can create and enjoy culinary masterpieces to his heart’s delight. Despite the fact that he is, well … a rat, he never lets that stand in the way of his pie-in-the-sky dream.

October Sky (PG) The future of the young Homer Hickam seems predetermined. Just like his father he is supposed to work in the mine – a fate that he shares with almost all men that live in his town. That is until Homer watches the rocket launch of the Sputnik satellite and is inspired by this to build rockets for the science fair.

Our monthly church-wide themes this year:
A community of…

September: Welcome
October: Courage
November: Abundance
December: Hope
January: Intention
February: Perseverence
March: Balance
April: Emergence
May: Creativity