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Religious Education > 2011 Newsletter Archive OCTOBER 2011
Our first month of sharing Religious Education classes with our friends at First Universalist Society has been a great success. Our students are adjusting very well, making new friends, exploring a new building and have had the opportunity to experience a water communion and an intergenerational service. We are happy to see our families returning and blessed to be on the receiving end of the warm and loving hospitality of our sister church. Our Family Mixer event on September 9th was well attended and First Church folks got to tour the building, greet old friends and meet new friends from FUSS.
To accommodate the combined populations of the two Religious Education programs, we are offering 6 classes based on age/grade. We have a High School group, which meets every other week, a middle school group, the Navigators class of 4th and 5th grade students, the Explorers class of 2nd and 3rd grade students, First Steps for grades K-1 and the 3 to 4 year old class. Childcare is provided for children under age 3 in the nursery. Attendance has been very good and the students are all working well together.
While we are guests of The First Universalist Society we will still be enjoying most of our much loved RE special events. Our Halloween Family Fun Night will take place on October 21st at 6:00 pm here at FUSS. You can anticipate all the usual fun, crafts, games and special surprises we normally expect from this wonderful event, with a few new additions borrowed from the Halloween traditions of our hosts! Be sure to include our upcoming seasonal events on your family calendar for the next few months. Saturday, November
12th, FUSS/FCS will host our first ever variety show. Prepare your special act and watch for details soon; December 9th, parents’ night out (no kidding!); and December 18th is our Christmas Pageant and party. Casting will begin early this year for the Pageant so be prepared. Warm gratitude and thanks to all our kids and families from both congregations who are coming to church every Sunday, meeting new people and embracing change. Without you all, even the best planned and executed program would be meaningless. You are the reason for our Religious Education program. You are our success.
SEPTEMBER 2011
I hope you have all enjoyed your summer and are recharged and ready to take on an exciting year of religious education at the First Church. While our building is undergoing renovations, our religious education program will join with the RE program of the First Universalist Society of Salem (FUSS). This shared RE program provides many rare and wonderful opportunities for the children from both congregations. Students will experience how different groups of Unitarian Universalist worship and express their faith together. Students will explore religious education while building relationships with new UU children and youth, and they will enjoy the talents and caring of a larger group of UU adults. All this while having fun too! So be ready to explore, expand, meet new people and recharge your UU faith as we worship with our UU neighbors at the First Universalist Society of Salem.
Sharing a program with our sister UU church will of course bring changes. The children will be in new classrooms, but they get to explore and know a great old building. The First Universalist Society has some great party spaces and a beautiful light filled hall with a great stage. (Of interest to our theatrically inclined youth perhaps?) We will expand our classroom offerings by adding a class for 3 and 4 year olds. All other classes will continue as before with the children’s familiar teachers and childcare personnel as well the addition of some great volunteer teachers from both churches.
At First Universalist our congregation will get to explore firsthand what a completely intergenerational service looks and feels like. The Homecoming Sunday service, called Rally Sunday at FUSS, will be intergenerational. Several other intergenerational services are scheduled throughout the season. This is a great way to “try on” new ways of worshipping together.
While we can expect many things to be different while we are the guests of our friends at First Universalist, some things will stay the same; our commitment to offering an inclusive, safe and loving space for students to grow and explore their faith, build friendships, and be part of a caring community. So be sure to come to church on Sunday September 11th and as many Sundays as your family is able. You are the heart and soul of our community.
To begin our shared journey of and friendship and faith exploration the joint Religious Education Committees from First church and FUSS have planned a Familyl Mixer on Friday, September 9th at 6:00pm. Please come and meet our FUSS hosts, see the beautiful building and visit your child’s classroom and teacher. We will have pizza, games and other fun. (Even for teens!)
MAY 2011
One quick word about this year’s Youth Sunday theme: Living Our UU Faith. Without you, the members of this congregation, giving so much of your time and serviceto support and sustain the spiritual, physical, and fiscal health of The First Church, our children would not have the opportunity to experience the rich programming we are able to provide them throughout the year. You are role models of how to live our UU faith. Truly, you are the wind beneath our wings.
Our annual Youth Sunday was a success! Thanks to our talented children, and to our teachers, Denise Granniss, Netrista Khatam, Theadora Burbank, and Alina Usmanova. Special thanks to Valentina Burbank who
wrote and directed the production, and to Max Burbank for his valuable assistance. Thanks also to Seth Mascolo and Alicia Diozzi.
We have a busy and exciting month coming up. On May 15 the Religious Education classes will be visiting
Green Meadows Farm in Hamilton, MA as part of our humane farming social justice theme. Green Meadows is
an organic farm and our students will have a hands on tour where they will learn about renewable farm practices, feed the chickens and see the lambs. We might even get to know some pigs! An informational sheet and permission slip are can be found at the church website (www.firstchurchinsalem.org).
Get ready to SING! On Friday, May 20, 6–9:30 pm we will host our first ever Sound of Music Singalong! This
event is for all ages of music lovers. Children should come in their PJ’s and bring a sleeping bag and a pillow
to get comfortable. This is a no-one-will-shush-you movie event! Parents should plan on attending with their children. Guests are welcome.
On Sunday, May 22, RE will host Sundae Sunday. We will have tasty ice cream sundaes and other treats for
sale during Fellowship to benefit the Humane Society’s Fund for Humane Farming. When you participate in an RE fundraising event, you are not only supporting a worthy social justice cause, you are joining with our children as they gain first hand experience putting their Unitarian Universalist faith into action.
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