Hello to all of you!!

We are beginning a new church year this month! Tomorrow will be our last single service until May and we will worship together, young and old, with the Water In-Gathering!

I have a lot of news for you in this post, and there are still a lot of unfilled volunteer positions in our RE program! Please read through this update, think about how you might be able to help, and sign up! I am truly excited about the program changes that our capital campaign is helping to push to the front burner, we have a vision that will feed us all in new and wonderful ways, and I need your help to make it happen!

In this blog:

• This Sunday- September 11th:
  • Come to the October Theme talk! at 8:45 am
  • Join us for the Water In-Gathering worship
  • Stay for an RE program overview- after church, for parents and RE volunteers
• It’s time to REGISTER for the 2016-17 church year!
• Upcoming Sundays- more info on each at the end of this post!
  • September 17th- Senior Youth orientation and overnight (parents too, at 6pm!)
  • September 18th- Bring your weight in Food Drive and RE Begins!
  • September 23rd @ 6pm in Sanctuary- Coming of Age program orientation (8th grade youth and parents)
  • October 7- first Sparks and Purple flames (social groups for 5-6th and 7-8th grades)
  • October 8- first Families Tuugether night
• Family resources for September’s theme: A people of Covenant
• Descriptions of Volunteer opportunities if you’re not sure how you’d like to get involved!

This Sunday: 

• Monthly Theme talk 8:45 am (childcare provided)- this is a monthly offering intended to provide a much needed opportunity for parents, RE teachers, and other adults in our congregation to dig a bit more deeply into the monthly worship theme in a small group discussion.  These talks will hopefully help us to better find connections between church and our lives throughout the week. For parents and RE volunteers, it  may also provide some ideas for how to talk with our children about Unitarian Universalism and the exploration of ideas in the context of a spiritual community. Whomever you are, I hope you will come join us and see what it’s all about! This month we’ll be talking about what it means to be “A community of Healing”
• Water In-Gathering- worship for all ages at 10am (the last single service till May) This annual service includes an opportunity for each of us to bring and share a small amount of water from somewhere meaningful, whether it’s your kitchen sink, or the lake you spend your summers. Join us for this beautiful start to a new year!
• RE Volunteering info session– 11:30am- This week we were planning to have a teacher training, but we are still in need of many volunteers for this year, so instead we will be having an information session to explain some of the new changes this year, and articulate the volunteer needs we have to make it all happen. You are not committing to anything by coming to this gathering, so please join me!

Registration: Every year we ask families to register for the church program, and this year is no exception! Please take a few minutes right now and register-click here– it does not require a ton of time and is tremendously helpful in planning the program!  If you are not sure how you are able to volunteer, feel free to reach out to me and we can talk about possibilities- there is something for everyone, I promise! (see below for some ideas )

Upcoming Sundays- Mark your calendars!

• September 17th- Senior Youth orientation and overnight (parents too, at 6pm!)- We will begin the evening with an orientation for families which will include an overview of the year, a bit of paperwork, and an opportunity for Q & A. The orientation should take about an hour and the youth will remain for an overnight. Please email for more information if you haven’t received more details already!
• September 18th-
  •  RE Begins! for grades pre-k through 7th grade. Begin worship in the sanctuary and then head downstairs (parents and children) after the story for all ages to join us for the beginning of a new RE year!
  • Bring-Your-Weight-in-Food Drive benefiting the Seacoast Family Food Pantry. Our community’s generosity at this strategic time of year makes a big difference in the community. Early donations may be dropped off at the church during office hours the week prior to Food Drive Sunday. (Tues-Friday, 9-2)
• September 23rd @ 6pm in Sanctuary- Coming of Age program orientation (8th grade youth and parents)- This is an important gathering if your 8th grader is planning to participate in this incredible year long program. Again, if you haven’t already received a more detailed email, please reach out!
• October 7- first Sparks and Purple flames (social groups for 5-6th and 7-8th grades)- I will be reaching out to families in the next week with more details, but we will be gathering at Church on October 7th from 7-9pm. You can register for this program along with your basic RE registration (link is above!)
• October 8- first Families Tuugether night- 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 starting in October, 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 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.

Family resources for September: ‘We are a community of covenant’– 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.

This month, as we explore the idea of covenant, 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!

Covenant, Definition: a formal and serious agreement or promise. In Jewish and Christian theology, an agreement between God and God’s people; in Unitarian Universalism, an agreement about how we will strive to be in relationship with one another.  Synonyms: commitment; trust; bond; pact; pledge; agreement; understanding

To seek the truth in love means that even when we stumble, we continue to love. Even when we flail, we stay in relationship. To seek the truth in love means that we talk about the hard things rather than denying that things can be hard. This is a very difficult task. It is not something that I have found easy to do, but it is something that I continue to try to be brave enough to do.~ Rev. Anne Mason, Soul Matters Minister

Programs happening this year in RE (For parents and volunteers looking for the perfect role!): 

Spirit Play: Our Pre-Kinder (4 year olds) and Kindergarten classroom usesSpirit Play, a montessori approach to religious education that invites children to explore life’s big questions through stories, “wonderings,” “work” (activities) and songs. Later in the fall and throughout the year 3 year olds are welcome to move up into the classroom as well. Interested in being a spirit play teacher? we will be offering a training for this classroom in late September! We’d love to have you join us!

Theme based Workshops: Students in 1st-7th grade* will be engaged in a workshop styled program beginning this fall. The monthly workshops will be created by congregants in connection with the month’s worship theme, so specific offerings will change throughout the year. Often, the groups will be open to a range of ages, and as we begin to experiment more details about the exact structure will become clear, so stay tuned!  Volunteer as a workshop presenter (short term commitment – a single month), or sign on as a small group leader (1-2 times/month for the year) We’d love to have you join us!

OWL- Our Whole Lives- Comprehensive Sexuality Education– This year we are offering programs for 5th grade (an 8 week program) and 7th grade (a year long program). OWL is a nationally acclaimed program and it is an invaluable experience for our children/youth. You can read more about it here: uua.org/re/owl  OWL instructors are needed! We will pay for your training! Please reach out if you are interested.

Coming of Age– This is a rite of passage year for our 8th grade students. They will be spending this year (at 11 am most Sundays) exploring big questions, getting to know a mentor and one another, and creating a personal credo. The COA program is a really special year for our kids and for every adult who gets to be involved. We are looking for a few more facilitators to help make the program run throughout the year, and also need mentors to match with each of the participating youth. Please reach out if you’re interested!

Teacher Training for all RE volunteers- September 11th at 11:30am-1:30 pm: No matter how you decide to engage in our RE program, teacher training is important so our volunteers understand our safety policies and procedures, know what their jobs entail, and how the program works! This training is also a great opportunity to meet other volunteers and we do a fair amount of deepening and reflection to boot. It’s two hours well spent, and I’ll feed you, to boot!

Hello to all of you!!

It is hard to believe it is August already! It has been an exciting summer at South Church with lots of construction. If you haven’t been at church you will be surprised when you return! We also had a wonderful service learning trip at the end of June with the 13 youth pictured above, who traveled to West Virginia for a week of hard work and mind opening experiences. We met some wonderful people, got good and messy, and really got to know each other in a new way as well. Join us on September 4th and you can hear more about it during worship or at the slideshow and discussion following the service that day! Finally, there were nearly 70 of us on Star Island in July, and if you didn’t make it I hope you consider it next year- such fun!

I have a lot of news for you in this post, and a big request– this year we need for folks to step in and help us make some big changes in our RE program. Please think about how you might be able to help, and sign up! I am truly excited about the program changes that our capital campaign is helping to push to the front burner, I have a vision that will feed us all in new and wonderful ways, and I need your help to make it happen! If this is news to you, check out this post for some background info: Introducing-theme-based-workshops/

In this blog:

• It’s time to REGISTER for the 2016-17 church year!
• This year in RE & Volunteer opportunities
  • Spirit Play (pre K-Kinder)
  • Theme based workshops- 1st-7th grades
  • OWL for 5th grade
  • OWL for 7th grade
  • Coming of Age for 8th grade
• Teacher Training for all RE volunteers- September 11th at 11:30am
• Family resources for theme based church
• Upcoming Sundays- more info on each at the end of this post!
  • August 14 (this week!)- RE Theme talk 8:45 am (childcare provided)- “A community of Covenant”
  • August 28th- RE is offsite @ the Urban Forestry Center
  • September 4th- Appalachia worship and coffee hour discussion
  • September 11th- RE theme talk 8:45 am (childcare provided)- “A community of Healing”
  • ALSO on Sept. 11th- Water In-Gathering (all ages in worship)
  • September 17th- Senior Youth orientation and overnight (parents too, at 6pm!)
  • September 18th- Bring your weight in Food Drive and RE Begins! 

Registration: Every year we ask families to register for the church program, and this year is no exception! Please take a few minutes right now and register-click here– it does not require a ton of time and is tremendously helpful in planning the program!  If you are not sure how you are able to volunteer, feel free to reach out to me and we can talk about possibilities- there is something for everyone, I promise! (see below for some ideas 🙂

This year in RE: 

Spirit Play: Our Pre-Kinder (4 year olds) and Kindergarten classroom uses Spirit Play, a montessori approach to religious education that invites children to explore life’s big questions through stories, “wonderings,” “work” (activities) and songs. Later in the fall and throughout the year 3 year olds are welcome to move up into the classroom as well. Interested in being a spirit play teacher? we will be offering a training for this classroom in late September! We’d love to have you join us!

Theme based Workshops: Students in 1st-7th grade* will be engaged in a workshop styled program beginning this fall. The monthly workshops will be created by congregants in connection with the month’s worship theme, so specific offerings will change throughout the year. Often, the groups will be open to a range of ages, and as we begin to experiment more details about the exact structure will become clear, so stay tuned!  Volunteer as a workshop presenter (short term commitment – a single month), or sign on as a small group leader (1-2 times/month for the year) We’d love to have you join us!

OWL- Our Whole Lives- Comprehensive Sexuality Education– This year we are offering programs for 5th grade (an 8 week program) and 7th grade (a year long program). OWL is a nationally acclaimed program and it is an invaluable experience for our children/youth. You can read more about it here: uua.org/re/owl  OWL instructors are needed! We will pay for your training! Please reach out if you are interested.

Coming of Age– This is a rite of passage year for our 8th grade students. They will be spending this year (at 11 am most Sundays) exploring big questions, getting to know a mentor and one another, and creating a personal credo. The COA program is a really special year for our kids and for every adult who gets to be involved. We are looking for a few more facilitators to help make the program run throughout the year, and also need mentors to match with each of the participating youth. Please reach out if you’re interested!

Teacher Training for all RE volunteers- September 11th at 11:30am-1:30 pm: No matter how you decide to engage in our RE program, teacher training is important so our volunteers understand our safety policies and procedures, know what their jobs entail, and how the program works! This training is also a great opportunity to meet other volunteers and we do a fair amount of deepening and reflection to boot. It’s two hours well spent, and I’ll feed you, to boot!

Family and Volunteer resources for theme-based church: Interested in our monthly themes and wondering if there are resources to use in a small groups, at home, or on Sundays as a volunteer?  Check out the Soul Matters website. This site is a collaborative collection of theme resources, receiving contributions from many of the ~200 participating congregations. There are workshop ideas, opening and closing words, worship materials and much more!  Here’s the theme calendar for this year. Stay tuned for lots more!

Upcoming Sundays- Mark your calendars!

• August 14 (this week!)- RE Theme talk 8:45 am (childcare provided)- this is a brand new monthly offering that I am hoping will provide a much needed opportunity for parents, RE teachers, and other adults in our congregation to dig a bit more deeply into the monthly worship theme in a small group discussion.  These talks will hopefully help us to better find connections between church and our lives throughout the week. For parents, I am hoping it provides some ideas for how to teach our children about Unitarian Universalism and exploration of ideas in the context of a spiritual community. Whomever you are, I hope you will come join us and see what it’s all about! This month we’ll be talking about “A community of Covenant”
• August 28th- RE is offsite @ the Urban Forestry Center– If you are coming to church on the 28th, drive over to the UFC first and drop off your kiddos!  We’ll be doing some nature walks, playing some games and eating watermelon– The day is sure to Delight! (that’s the theme this month!)
• September 4th- Appalachia worship and coffee hour Forum- Worship will begin at 10, and the discussion during coffee hour will start at 11:15. Come hear about our trip to West Virginia, we’ve got some great stories!
• September 11th-RE Theme talk 8:45 am (childcare provided) open to youth and adults- this gathering we will be talking about “A community of Healing”.
• September 11th- Water In-Gathering (all ages in worship)- Each year, members and friends of all ages collect water from special places for our ingathering ritual in the fall. On September 11th, we’ll gather as a community to start the new church year, and all are invited to share a bit of water in the ritual. This is the last day of 10:00 am worship, Starting on September 18th, Worship will be offered at 9am and 11 am.
• September 17th- Senior Youth orientation and welcome back overnight! Parents of high school youth, please plan to join us with your youth at 6 pm for orientation. The youth will then remain for an overnight and will be helping out with the food drive on Sunday morning.
• September 18th- Bring your weight in Food Drive and RE Begins! – We will be hosting our 4th annual food drive for Seacoast Family Food Pantry on September 13th. Donations will be collected curbside from 8:30-11:30 that morning!  Bring as much as you can muster, help us fill the shelves which tend to be pretty sparse in autumn months!

Hello religious education family and friends,

Another bridging worship has come and go, and we are transitioning into our Summer schedule. Please read through the info provided here, and come and join us this summer for some fun workshops!

In this post:

• South Church Retreat on STAR ISLAND- You want to come, It’s Wonderful!
• Summer Sundays at South Church
• Fall RE program changes-forum Sunday, June 12th at 11:15-12:30
• Reflection on this months worship theme: Awakening

REady for Change!

It is no secret that we are gearing up for some big adjustments in the coming months (years) as we begin to implement the capital improvements that so many of you contributed toward. It’s incredibly exciting, and while the space constraints will present some real challenges, to our RE program in particular, this need to pull back will also offer an unusual opportunity for our community to think about our priorities and to intentionally realize a new version of ourselves.

That doesn’t happen often. I am really excited for it. However, this is not a one person job!

This blog post is a first step to a plan that is unfolding in a newly formed RE Transition team. To begin, I want to start to inform folks about a new design for our elementary RE program. It will be helpful if you can read this with some thoughts in mind:

How will this new design help parents to make connections with their children in their day to day lives? 

How will this program help us to provide opportunities for self-exploration, collaboration, and joy both for our children and for our RE volunteers?

How will this new program help to build connections across generations and across different groups within our south Church community?

What questions are raised for me? 

Why are we making this change to our program?

• Believe it or not, Parents are the primary religious educators for their children. Theme based ministry will, I believe, offer families more clarity in how to bridge ideas that come up at church, with their lives at home. The simple point that parents are reflecting on a theme in worship upstairs, while their children explore the same idea downstairs, seems to suggest a natural conversation.
• Theme based ministry will allow our congregation to share in a more dynamic way. Similarly to the above point, by sharing in a month long conversation throughout our congregation, we are optimizing opportunities to engage in dialogue with one another around that idea.
• Recruitment can be done throughout the year, and volunteers can move in and out of the program a bit more easily, based on their availability. We will still need to enlist folks to help out a few months in advance of a given theme, but unlike the current RE program model, this plan will allow that recruitment to happen year round instead of all at once during the summer months.
• Workshops will allow us to be more creative about our use of classroom spaces during capital improvements
• This method encourages engagement and creative thinking on the part of our volunteers, our parents, and our kids! 

Theme Based Workshops: What are they?

1. Workshop Rotation is a model of Religious Education in which the children experience the monthly theme through a variety of learning styles, by “rotating” each week to a different workshop in a different space.
2. Who leads the workshops? Workshops are led by members of the congregation who have an interest or passion for a particular subject. Ex: nature, art, cooking, gardening, creative writing, games, yoga, meditation, science…
   • Built in to this program are monthly parent and volunteer gatherings that will provide opportunities for participants to reflects in an adult space, and collaborate around workshop ideas. I will share more about this later, but it is going to be really great!  You’ll want to be there!
3. What will the workshops look like?
   • Shorter term, more intensive volunteer opportunities: Workshop leaders will commit to a workshop for an average of 3 consecutive weeks.
     • This will allow us to engage a wider pool of talents in our community, who have specific gifts to share and are able to volunteer for a maneageable chunk of time
     • This will also answer the desire for many of our volunteers to have some opportunities to make deeper connections with other adult volunteers and with our children
     • Some workshop leaders may choose to lead only one or two workshops during the year, others may take on more.
     • There will continue to be a need for consistent long-term volunteers to help facilitate from week to week, for roaming supervisors, and also for less committed classroom assistants and subs to help cover holes. A place for every type of volunteer!
   • Workshops will aim to offer activities that appeal to a variety of learning styles:
     • Unlike the program we have been using in the past few years, this new methodology is less dependent on grade leveled classrooms. The hope is that by offering a variety of workshops on most Sundays, children can better select offerings that fit their learning style. On any given week there might be an art based workshop running along with a music program.
     • Other ideas in the works include opportunities to spend a morning on the kitchen minstry team, (maybe making a recipe for social hour?),  attend worship in the balcony with some focussed activities and the use of worship journals, older elementary kids serving as ushers or even walking workshops that bring us out into our community on a more regular basis. (can you see how this will afford creative use of space?!)
   • Themes will be introduced in depth during the children’s chapel gatherings on the first Sunday of each month, and will also be held up for families through my RE blog.
     • Short gatherings at the start of each Sunday will determine who goes where.. workshops may repeat or may be new from week to week within the framework of the theme.
4. What ages will be doing Workshop Rotation? Currently First grade through 6th grade will be exploring Workshop Rotation on a weekly basis. Pre K-Kinder will continue with Spirit Play, High School and Middle School will participate at times and in ways as appropriate.
5. Will students have “homerooms”? No. When the children arrive they will report to the Ladies parlor, where they’ll meet their teachers. They’ll gather in a large group for a short introduction, the classes will then go to their specified workshops for the morning. That’s where parents/guardians will pick them up. Charts of who is where will be posted in the social hall to assist parents with pick-up. Our plan is to allow children to self-select as we begin this program, we may adjust this plan as the needs arise.
6. On what will the content of the workshops be based?  The “core” of the workshops will be the monthly themes and said theme’s accompanying story. Click here for more information on theme-based workshop rotation from the UUA. http://www.uua.org/re/themes/help-theme-based-ministry/rotation-model
   • As we get comfortable with the use of themes throughout the program, additional opportunities will emerge. We may build in additional connections to the 7 core UU principles and 6 sources of Unitarian Universalism. Having an overlying social justice lens, or community goal may also emerge. There are so many ways that we can grow into this model!

What are the 2016-17 Themes: 

• September: Covenant  — a natural fit, as we do this every September with our kids!
• October: Healing  — imagine a workshop on processing grief, or a group of kids making cards for our pastoral associates to send to members of our church who are experiencing illness or grief
• November: Story — who wants to lead a writers workshop? or to share a story with our kids, build props, and perform it in worship at the end of the month!
• December: Presence — It’s a quick month, but we could spend our class time in a meditation or yoga workshop!  What ideas come up for you!?
•  January: Prophecy
• February: Identity
• March: Risk
• April: Transformation
• May: Embodiment
• June: Zest 

Hello religious education family and friends,

Believe it or not, our RE program for this church year is beginning to wind down. We have a few more weeks of classes and some great upcoming events before transitioning into our Summer schedule. Please read through the info provided here, and come and join us for some of the end of year happenings!

In this post:

• This months worship theme is Transcendence
• Sparks and Purple flames- May 6th
• Mother’s day hanging flower plant sale May 8th
• Beach Clean-up: May 14th 10:30 am
• Families Tuugether- Saturday, May 14th
• South Church Yard Sale- May 28th (rain date the 29th)
• Bridging (High School graduating seniors): June 5th at 10am
• Summer at South Church
• South Church Retreat on STAR ISLAND!!

Hello religious education family and friends,

I almost can’t believe it’s April already! I hope were all finding opportunities to gaze at green sprouts peeping out of the dirt, and to admire the slowly budding lime green edges to the trees before the snow hid the evidence this weekend.

There is a lot of new news to share, so here we go!

In this post:

• Families Tuugether- Saturday, April 9th
• 7-8th grade OWL- Parent Forum April 10th
• Family movie night- April 23rd at 4:30 pm
• Fair Trade Coffee/Tea Sale- Attn: 5th-8th graders! May 1st
• This months worship theme is Compassion
• Save the dates:
  • Mother’s day hanging flower plant sale! During both services, May 8th
  • Beach Clean-up: May 14th
  • Bridging (High School graduating seniors): June 5th at 10am
  • South Church Yard sale in Early JUNE!  Save stuff!

• Mother’s day hanging flower plant sale! During both services, May 8th, we’ll be selling hanging flower pots from Wentworth gardens as a fundraiser for out youth service trip. They are beautiful, so bring your check books! $25/each
• Beach Clean-up: Saturday, May 14th- this event is a collaborative project of our Fellowship Associates and the Religious Education Council, and will be a wonderful day outside helping our community and supporting the work of the Blue Ocean Society.
• Bridging (High School graduating seniors): June 5th at 10am- This is our first Summer schedule service and one that is sure to bring some misty tears as we celebrate another wave of graduates bridging into the welcoming arms of our young adult congregants.
• South Church Yard Sale! Our youth group will be hosting a yard sale in early June to finish up fundraising for their service learning trip to Appalachia. If you find yourself with thrift store donations/sell-able goods, please hold on to it for us! We can take collections this early, but we’ll need donations and customers come June!!

Hello religious education family and friends,

I am back from an amazing vacation and want to say thank you to each of you who helped keep things rolling while I was away!  Especially Cat Lyons- I don’t think I could have left if not for her!

My apologies for the delay on our March Nuus. Here it is!

In this post:

• Families Tuugether- Saturday, March 12th
• Senior Youth Worship – Sunday, March 13th
• Pancake Breakfast- Palm Sunday, March 20th
• Easter Sunday & Egg Hunt
• Social Justice opportunities for families in March- Empty Bowls!
• Fair Trade Coffee/Tea Sale- Attn: 5th-8th graders! April 3rd
• Senior Youth Appalachia group potluck- April 3rd
• Save the dates:
  • Family movie night- April 23rd at 4:30 pm
  • Mother’s day hanging flower plant sale! During both services, May 8th
  • Beach Clean-up: May 14th
  • Bridging (High School graduating seniors): June 5th at 10am
  • South Church Yard sale in Early JUNE!

• Family Movie Night: April 23rd at 4:30 pm– This is going to be fun! The REC (religious education council) is hosting this evening of fun and bonding for South Church families. We’ll be showing the film: ‘UP’ and stopping a few times to reflect a connect the film’s themes with our own church conversations. This will be an evening not to miss! Stay tuned for details..
• Mother’s day hanging flower plant sale! During both services, May 8th, we’ll be selling beautiful hanging flower pots as a fundraiser for out youth service trip.
• Beach Clean-up: Saturday, May 14th- this event is a collaborative project of our Fellowship Associates and the Religious Education Council, and will be a wonderful day outside helping our community and supporting the work of the Blue Ocean Society.
• Bridging (High School graduating seniors): June 5th at 10am- This is our first Summer schedule service and one that is sure to bring some misty tears as we celebrate another wave of graduates bridging into the welcoming arms of our young adult congregants.
• South Church Yard Sale! Our youth group will be hosting a yard sale in early June to finish up fundraising for their service learning trip to Appalachia. If you find yourself with thrift store donations/sell-able goods, please hold on to it for us! We can take collections this early, but we’ll need donations and customers come June!!

Hello religious education family and friends,

It sure has been a busy 2016 so far! There was a lot of great stuff happening this past month at South Church, including some really lovely inter-generational connections. Thank you to everyone who helped make it all happen! Especially our F.A’s who organized a fantastic game night!!

In this post:

• Heads up: February Vacation…
• Sparks and Purple Flames- This Friday, February 5th
• Fair Trade Coffee/Tea Sale- Attn: 5th-8th graders! Feb 7
• Children’s Chapel- Sunday February 7th
• Senior Youth Appalachia group potluck- Feb 7th
• Junior Youth field trips 2/7 and 2/14
• Families Tuugether- Saturday, February 13th
• Pancake Breakfast- Palm Sunday, March 20th
• Social Justice opportunities for families in February
• Save the date: South Church Yard sale in Early JUNE!

Heads UP: February Vacation- Navigating vacation weeks at Church is always tricky. Many of our volunteer teachers are off on adventures, and our student attendance is spotty too. This month, I’m adding to the challenge, by taking my own kids on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure to Indonesia! This is a much needed opportunity for us, but it means things here at church need to run without me for the second half of the month. Can you Volunteer? We need some help with all ages classes on 2/21 and 2/28 at 9am and 11am. If you would prefer not to volunteer, but are going to be around for either Sunday, and would be willing to be “on call” for Cat Lyons, Please let me know that as well. I’d like to have some extra folks lined up in case of illness so that Cat is well supported. Sign up here if you’re willing to help out!  http://southchurchportsmouth.bringit.bz/public/11b674

Sparks and Purple Flames Social groups- February 5th 7-9pm. This month, Sparks (5th-6th grade) are meeting at Bowl O’Rama in Portsmouth. Purple Flames (7th-8th grade) will be meeting at Indoor Ascent in Dover. RSVP required! Parents should park and walk their child inside. There is a waiver required for Indoor Ascent which you can find on their website.

Family Social Justice Opportunities in February:

• Seacoast Family Promise Sign up: South Church will once again be hosting families experiencing homelessness in our church during the week of February 28th to March 6th. This is a wonderful and fulfilling opportunity for our South Church community to get involved in this amazing program. Volunteers help by cooking/and or serving dinner or by staying overnight with the families. For more information contact the SFP Volunteer Coordination Team at: southchurchsfpcoordinator@gmail.com, Or stop by the SFP table downstairs after the services on January 31st, February 7th and 14th.

Let’s Talk About Poverty–

6pm at the Music Hall Loft- as part of the Innovation & Leadership series. Participate in a conversation about poverty in our community, ways to bring greater awareness to what’s being done, and what more there is to do. Let’s talk about poverty, then let’s do something about it. The event is free, but space is limited; an RSVP is recommended.

Hello and Happy New Year, religious education family and friends!

The news is a little slow to get off the presses this month, but here we go!

In this post:

• Sparks and Purple Flames- This Friday, January 8th
• Senior Youth Alumni Dinner- also January 8th!
• Families Tuugether- January 9th
• Senior Youth OWL orientation- January 10th
• GAME NIGHT! Saturday, January 30th
• RE Sunday/ Teacher Appreciation- January 31st
• Fair Trade Coffee/Tea Sale- Attn: 5th-8th graders! Feb 7
• Senior Youth Appalachia group potluck- Feb 7th
• Social Justice opportunities for families in January

Sparks and Purple Flames Social groups- January 8th 7-9pm. We’re gathering at South Church this month to play the game: Murder! Please RSVP, make sure you wear sneakers, and bring a flashlight and a water bottle!

Please reply if you are planning to attend. Senior Youth OWL will be meeting on Sunday mornings from 10:30-12noon, and will have one overnight at church.  These are the dates: 1/24, 1/30 (overnight), 2/7, 2/14, 2/21, 3/6, 3/20, 4/3, 4/10, 4/17

RE Sunday/ Teacher appreciation- January 31st
Come and join us for a special intergenerational Sunday where we celebrate the more than 75 volunteers that make our RE program happen at South Church.  We will be having a “Brunchish Social Hour” between the two services to show our thanks in the form of snacks, so please plan to bring some tasty finger foods and come early or stay late for the 10-11am social hour on that day!

Fair Trade Coffee/Tea Sale- Attn: 5th-8th graders! Sunday, February 7th to help support Sustainable Harvest international and the UUSC by purchasing coffee, tea, and Chocolate from our Fair trade sale! Run by our 5th-8th grade youth, and recurring every first Sunday during both social hours. If your 5th-8th grader can help, please sign them up here:
http://southchurchportsmouth.bringit.bz/public/38975b

Senior Youth Service Learning- Appalachia Potluck: Feb 7th at 5:30
For those youth who have committed to this year’s service learning trip to War, West Virginia.  We will be holding our second planning meeting immediately following youth group.  Parents do not need to attend this gathering. I will be reaching out with more details soon.

Family Social Justice Opportunities in January:

• Martin Luther King Jr day event at South Church 4 pm until 6 pm January 17 at South Church: The Seacoast Reads: Words of Peace And Protest  Celebrating The Life Of Martin Luther KingAn Open Mic for the seacoast community to express poetry, fiction, song, soliloquy or monologue feelings and opinions on civil rights. Presented by Kate Leigh, Portsmouth Poet Laureate, and the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program.Participants please sign in at 3:30 pm that day or contact Kate Leigh at peacekate@gmail.
• Black Lives Matter vigil in memory of MLK and Tamir Rice organized by Occupy New Hampshire Seacoast, at Exeter Town Hall on Monday, January 18th from 5:30-6:30 pm. Join us on Martin Luther King’s Birthday to remember a child’s tragic, unecessary death. To reflect on how Martin Luther King would react, what he would do and ask of us and where he would lead us in this fight for equality.
  Join us on the steps of Exeter Town Hall, with candles and signs to bring attention to the continuing inequality and institutional issues we have within our legal system. https://www.facebook.com/events/1702437649994321/

It is slowly starting to feel like winter in Portsmouth. Mornings are frosty, and I have had to scrape my windshield a few times.. but really, it’s still pretty mild.  Maybe, you are grateful for this slow lingering fall. Maybe you are waiting for snow.

This months theme of waiting is hand picked for the season. Particularly for the young or young at heart waiting for holidays and celebration. There is some waiting in lines, too, for related reasons. Waiting for cookies to bake, waiting for packages to arrive. Tis the season.

Some among us are waiting for more complicated things. Waiting for the return to normalcy following the death of a loved one. Waiting to heal from loss, waiting for love, waiting for health. This season can be extra hard in complicated moments, in part because there is so much pressure to feel joy.

If we zoom out, our nation is waiting for hard things, too. Waiting for progress on climate policy. Waiting for an end to polarized politics, gun violence, racism. Waiting for women’s rights and gay rights, and gender rights. As I write this, I am pausing to chat with members of our congregation on social media as we prepare to attend the peaceful protest at the Sheraton in Portsmouth. The community is buzzing as a presidential candidate who has decided to run on a platform of hatred is heading to our town to speak to our police union. Tension is high. We are waiting for an end to this destructive dialogue. There is another vigil (for gun violence) on Sunday. There is a vigil for Black Lives Matter on the 22nd. We are waiting.. with candles and tears.

It can all feel like too much. Impossibly heavy. It is interesting to think about waiting as an answer to this feeling of being overwhelmed. Waiting as a spiritual practice.

Here’s a few things I’ve tried over the last two weeks:

1. Waiting is recurrent in many religious faiths. There is something powerful in the idea of submitting to a greater force, or having patience for the arrival of insight, inspiration, wholeness. Consider exploring the theme of waiting in your own faith practice, and see what you uncover.
2. Ritualize waiting in this season’s moments. Using an advent calendar, making special desserts, planning a fun event and relishing in the anticipation. Waiting can be a sweet part of this month, particularly when you name it and appreciate how the extra time adds to the experience.
3. Be intentional when you wait. Think about your loved ones when you are standing in line. Instead of pulling out your phone, or going over checklists in your mind, just picture people you love, reflect on what makes them wonderful. Think about some little thing you love about them.  If you are with your children, ask them to do the same, and afterward, share what you thought about. Invite them to share too.
4. When you are waiting for something that is taking longer than expected, stretch. Touch your toes (or try!). It’s ok if you’re going to be late to drop off at school because someone didn’t put their shoes on when you asked them to do so– they’ll get them tied, and you’ll be on your way. In the mean time, stretch. When you head out you’ll also be a little less tight in the hamstrings!
5. If sadness is the tune of the hour, welcome it. Make a warm cup of tea and sit by a window and cry. Honor your heart and don’t punish it for being blue. I recently realized this is something our kids need to hear, too. They are not oblivious to the myth that the holidays are supposed to be joyous, and when their feelings don’t match, they can feel confused or even lash out.  The movie Inside Out is a great way to explore the complexity of feelings.. if your child has seen it, use it as a reference. While it’s important that we keep a bit of a lid on our own feelings around our kids, but it can be a huge help for them to see us model sadness sometimes, especially this time of year.
6. Recognize the impact that technology and social media have upon your family and yourself. Consider taking a break, or limiting the times of the day when you browse online. The constant stream of news and updates has a powerful effect on our state of mind, and all that stimulation at our fingertips causes us to forgo opportunities for quiet thought. Try to choose waiting, observing,  simply breathing over updates on politics and social networks. That said- parents, be patient navigating technology and social media with your kids. Play a long game, plant seeds, give your teens lots of opportunities to come to their own conclusions about the good and the bad of this new (to us) world. Most important- model healthy habits, and be consistent about your policies around phones and devices. I find myself getting into a little panic about the ever present phone in my teenagers hand, but impulsive restrictions aren’t my best parenting moments. Waiting can be the best idea when we are struck with a flash of panic.
7. Finally, Joseph Campbell said, “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”  I will leave you with this idea, of which I was recently reminded while driving to Maine with our Senior youth. I was listening to my front seat companion as she laid out the clear plans of college, followed by career, and kids, and then work abroad after the kids are raised. I remembered how very certain I was about my own life path when I was 15 years old; My 5 year plan, and 10 year plan, and all of the details I had flushed out. I remember when I came to my first roadblock, and how resistant I was to that change in direction. The next one wasn’t much easier, but somehow along the way I began to give in to the truth. I am not in control, life will take me on whichever road it chooses, and I am just waiting to find out where we’re heading.  I am happy to have your company while we wait.