Hello Everyone, and Happy Spring! April has settled in quickly around here, bright golds and greens are peeking out, and brave spring blooms keep popping up. I hope you are all feeling energized by this change of seasons.

Annual Easter Egg Hunt– Please bring donations of filled easter eggs any time over then next 3 weeks. Our Egg hunt is a group effort– it will be in the sanctuary this year, so big kids can help us hide them immediately after each service!

Attention Children who love to sing: The Children’s Choir is returning, please click to read all about it…

New RE Staff Member! I would like to take a moment to welcome Jennifer Del Deo to our RE staff team! Jen has been an active volunteer for Religious Education for many years. She has served on the Religious Education Council, and volunteered with many young church programs. For the past several years, Jen has been a big part of our Coming of Age and OWL programs as a program facilitator. She will be supporting those programs in particular as she shifts into a staff role. We are so happy to have her join us!

Church Sundays and Other Important dates this month:

• April 5th: Sparks and Flames social groups for 5th-8th meet at Bowl O’Rama in Portsmouth from 7-9. RSVP required
• April 7th: Children’s Chapel meets at 9 and 11(don’t forget your UU7 mission forms and a few coins for the collection!). Coming of age meet with mentors at 11. Senior Youth group meet at 73 Court street at 4pm, at the same time. 7th grade OWL meets at the main church. Parents of Teens are meeting during youth group (4-5:30) at Book and Bar, the topic for this session is: Dating.
• April 13th: Families Tuugether at South Church 4:30-8pm. (please RSVP) Kirsten Hunter will lead the parent discussion in the sanctuary exploring the idea of Wholeness in UU parenting.
• April 14th: PANCAKE BREAKFAST! Please plan to come to church for breakfast. We begin serving at 8am, and continue through 11am. Morning RE programs and OWL 7 meet today- No Senior youth group tonight. Coming of Age will be meeting downstairs at Court Street today.
• April 21st: Easter Service- Whole congregation. Nursery will be open.
• April 28th– *Normal Re program day (see below)
• May 3rd– Sparks and Flames social groups end of year game of MURDER!! at South Church for 5th-8th grade 7-9. RSVP required

[*Normal RE program day: Both services include Spirit Play and Theme workshops for grades 1-5. 11am worship also included: 6-7th grade religious exploration and Coming of Age for 8th grade.  OWL for 7th grade and Senior Youth meet on Sunday evenings at 4-5:30 pm.]

RE Program Calendar: Did you know you can check the RE calendar for the WHOLE YEAR, any time you want!? It’s here, on the RE website

Family resources for April’s theme: A people of Wholeness*

These resources help parents as they engage the question: “What does it mean to be a family of Wholeness?” [*drawn from: https://www.soulmatterssharingcircle.com/ ]

Family Adventure Idea: Making Passover Matzo pizza. Honor of the traditional unleavened bread served during the Jewish holiday of Passover this month by making these matzo pizzas. As you eat, you could reflect on the slices of life- which you celebrate, and which are ignored or minimized.  The pizza represents the whole person with intellectual, spiritual, emotional, vocational, financial, physical and social slices.

Stories to Read Together:

• Meet Jesus, by Lynn Tuttle Gunney Illustrated By: Jane Conteh-Morgan. “Meet Jesus introduces children to Jesus’ life and message of love, kindness, peace and tolerance with simple text and lively, full-color illustrations. This book is a resource for a wide range of liberal religious parents and teachers, appropriate for Unitarian Universalists, progressive Christians, humanists, non-Christians and families blending more than one religious tradition; ideal for church groups and home.” – UUA Bookstore
• Last Stop on Market Street, by Matt de la Peña (Author), Christian Robinson (Illustrator). “A little boy and his Nana take the bus after church to a shelter. There they help serve food to people living there. The inclusiveness comes in how Nana speaks to CJ her grandson about all the different people they encounter on their journey.”

Family Journey: Can Hunt- We are made whole by helping others. Instead of an Egg Hunt, offer a Can Hunt. Hide the cans the same way that Easter Eggs are hidden, on a lawn. You will need sturdy baskets, or the children bring one or two at a time. Make the journey to donate the cans to a Food Bank. Earth Day is another way to frame this idea, finding time to go walking in nature and picking up any trash you find, or making a new commitment to eliminate single-use plastic… there are lots of possibilities!

Family Movie Night Idea: The Wizard of Oz -Becoming whole: “If I only had a brain, a heart, some courage, a home.” However, don’t forget, the flying monkey scene is pretty scary…

For Parents as Faith Formation Guides:

• What Does Mindful Parenting Mean (Self-Love) Blog by Chris Scheller, First Parish of Sudbury UU
• Brokenness (check out the great quote!)-Ministers Message by Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael
• The Good Enough Mother– Sermon by Rev. Karen Gustafson, Michael Servetus Unitarian Society