Dear SMUUCh Families, I am excited to announce that we will be working with Soul Matters this year in Religious Education. What does this mean? Rev. Rose and I received Soul Matters training from the Director of Congregational Life from the UUA, Scott Taylor. Soul Matters is a collective with established monthly themes. The benefits of thematic Sundays in RE are: 1. A month long look at one theme will give our students and teachers a chance to go more in-depth. Those who don't attend every Sunday will be able to easily join in! 2. The programming is experiential. Students will take part in activities that aid in their understanding of the theme. 3. We will ask big questions together, but also encourage students to develop a well-honed sense of introspection. 4. The themes center around our spiritual values as Unitarian Universalist. This approach helps to create a tangible feeling of UU identity among our youth. 5. Less teaching dates for teachers! More opportunity for them to be able to be a part of the service. Example of a typical thematic month: First Sunday: Children's Chapel introducing the theme. The theme for September is "Covenant." Second and Third Sundays: We will divide our students into three groups with trained teachers. K-2nd, 3rd-5th, and Middle School. Fourth Sunday: We will have a Service is Our Prayer project together reflecting this theme. I hope you may be as excited about the coming changes as I am. Last Week (September 18th): We divided into classes. K-2nd Grade discussed covenant (positive ways to interact with one another in the class and at church). They made paper chain promises. 3rd-5th worked on covenant as well. Once they discussed covenant they went on to build something together (using spaghetti and marshmallows) as a classroom family. M.S. students also talked about covenant. Their conversation looked at the process in a democratic way. Each person expressing their desires and voting on the end result! Next Week (September 25th): Service is Our Prayer. Click Here for Sign-Up. How Can We Be a Community of Covenant? Service is Our Prayer This month in religious education we are asking the question, "How can we be a community of covenant?" In our church covenant we promise to "..serve humanity in fellowship." Our Lady of Hope school is made up of 75% Mexican children that are emerging English speakers with parents who may be incarcerated or even deported. The school lets the children attend for free, but is not able to provide some basic supplies for the teachers to do their job. No workbooks for each child but also no copy paper provided to make copies of workbook sheets. This month's Service is Our Prayer will be to help our kids see that piece of serving our community in fellowship. Please give what you can.
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AuthorHi, I am Rachel Wathen. I have been the Director of Religious Education at Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church in Lenexa, KS for nearly four years. My experiences in this position have taught me just how valuable parents and community are to the spiritual growth of children. This blog will give families ideas to practically live a "Full Week Faith" as Unitarian Universalists. Archives
February 2017
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