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RE Links at The First Church in Salem! Check out the: |
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First Church Religious Education The First Church in Salem provides Religious Education each and every Sunday of the church year for ages P/K through High School. We strive to provide a broad based interfaith curriculum that introduces our children to many stories from the Bible. Our Sunday School presents a pageant in the Spring, as well as extra-curricula activities, Family Fun Nights, and acting workshops. Please contact the church for more information. In addition, child care is offered for infants and toddlers. We also provide Religious Education for adults, through Bible Study,
small discussion groups, and our popular Reel Spirituality programs. In the meantime, scroll down to read the latests articles on Religious Education from the church newsletter, The Herald. * * * * * * * January 2010 Our fabulously talented First Church RE Players outdid themselves with this year’s Christmas Pageant! Congratulations to all! They are a funny and talented and bunch of kids! Thanks to Max Burbank for the all the work he puts into this event. We truly appreciate him! Our Christmas party was fun for all. Even Santa had a blast! We have excellent volunteers, friend and parents who care very much about this community and pitch in to make our big events successful. Even snowstorms two years in a row have not stopped our special Christmas Sunday events from going on! Heartfelt thanks to all. Religious Education at the First Church is ready to jump into 2010! We are looking forward to the relative peace and quiet of the winter months. The children are enjoying looking at the Bible through a Unitarian Universalist perspective. We all have lots of fun in class each week. Look for our 2010 calendar in the mail. Our growing program depends on volunteers helping out in the classrooms each week. With six separate groups on Sunday mornings and 26 Sundays left in the Church School year, there are many opportunities! If you are a parent of a child in the RE program, we need you to volunteer periodically in our classrooms. Members of the Religious Education Committee will be recruiting and signing up “classroom angels” during Fellowship throughout the winter. All the important events that make First Church’s holiday traditions special for our children simply would not happen without the strong and loving support we get from the congregation. As the Religious Education program continues to grow, we thank you for your dedication and commitment more than ever. Thanks for all you do for our great kids! Happy New Year, Deb DiGiulio,
December 2009 The miracle is this - the more we share, the
more we have. Here at First Church we went all out to celebrate October. Our annual Fall Family Fun Night was memorable with more than 70 friends and members taking part in the fun and games. Special thanks to our event coordinator Bob Soucy. Bob’s love for both children and Halloween were evident in his joie de vie as he hosted this intergenerational event. Can’t wait until next year Bob! Watching our children as they march around the Meeting House on
Halloween Sunday in costume for our Halloween Parade is always such
a treat for the adults, as well as a special Halloween tradition
for the families. Our students then “partied” in Willson
Hall, with games, stories and crafts, even team scarecrow building!
Fun was had by all. The mission of overseeing our growing Religious Education program is a very important part of the ministry of the First Church. Our Religious Education committee, chaired by Valentina Burbank, is helping to grow our next generation of Unitarian Universalists. The RE committee met in October to begin envisioning the future of our RE program in this congregation. We have a wonderful and diverse group gathered for our committee and welcome anyone who would like to join us in preparing UUs who are ready to take on the future! We invite all who are interested to come to our next meeting on Wednesday, November 4th at 7PM. Our wonderful program could not function without our volunteers, both parents and non-parents. So far this year we have been blessed with fabulous volunteers who are more willing than ever to teach a class, complete a task, manage an event or offer other needed help. This great outpouring of talented help is having a very positive effect on the quality and quantity of our programming. We are so thankful for the varied and wonderful gifts this community brings to our children. If you are able, please share your special talents with our kids, after all …” the more we share, the more we have”. See you upstairs, Deb DiGiulio
November 2009 The miracle is this - the more we share, the more we have. Here at First Church we went all out to celebrate October. Our annual Fall Family Fun Night was memorable with more than 70 friends and members taking part in the fun and games. Special thanks to our event coordinator Bob Soucy. Bob’s love for both children and Halloween were evident in his joie de vie as he hosted this intergenerational event. Can’t wait until next year Bob! Watching our children as they march around the Meeting House on
Halloween Sunday in costume for our Halloween Parade is always such
a treat for the adults, as well as a special Halloween tradition
for the families. Our students then “partied” in Willson
Hall, with games, stories and crafts, even team scarecrow building!
Fun was had by all. The mission of overseeing our growing Religious Education program is a very important part of the ministry of the First Church. Our Religious Education committee, chaired by Valentina Burbank, is helping to grow our next generation of Unitarian Universalists. The RE committee met in October to begin envisioning the future of our RE program in this congregation. We have a wonderful and diverse group gathered for our committee and welcome anyone who would like to join us in preparing UUs who are ready to take on the future! We invite all who are interested to come to our next meeting on Wednesday, November 4th at 7PM. Our wonderful program could not function without our volunteers, both parents and non-parents. So far this year we have been blessed with fabulous volunteers who are more willing than ever to teach a class, complete a task, manage an event or offer other needed help. This great outpouring of talented help is having a very positive effect on the quality and quantity of our programming. We are so thankful for the varied and wonderful gifts this community brings to our children. If you are able, please share your special talents with our kids, after all …” the more we share, the more we have”.
October 2009 October in Salem - For those of us who live here, those three words have many different meaning: pride in our history, fun community events, and exciting family traditions, but also frustration with traffic, large noisy crowds and even less parking than usual! For our children October simply means Halloween, the second most
fun day of the year! On Sunday, October 25th we will host our annual costume parade around the Meeting House. Please plan to have children dressed in their costumes and ready to show-off! The entire congregation always enjoys seeing the fun, scary and - I hate to say it- super cute costumes on the children. Then we will be off to our First Church Halloween party in Willson Hall. This year we are lucky enough to be adding one more special event to our Halloween calendar. On Sunday, November 1st. the entire RE program will be special guests at the Witch House, or as it is also known, the Jonathan Corwin House. The Witch House and the First Church have connections that go back to before the Corwin family even built the house! Our children will have a special lesson before their visit to help familiarize them with the history of the Witch House and its connections to our First Church history. Thanks to our Archivist Kristen Kobialka (aka Kobi) for researching the connections for us. See the side bar for additional historical information. October in Salem is a vibrant and busy month. October at the First Church is a special time for our children to grow in community with each other, the congregation, and our Salem neighbors. Hope to see you at our special events, Deb DiGiulio
September 2009 Wow! September is here! As much as I hate to see the summer end I can’t help but catch the Fall excitement. A new academic year seems to offer such promise and anticipation. Fresh books, new clothes, new classes and teachers, September is a chance to begin again. Religious Education at the First Church is ready for a new year filled with all the great traditions and learning we love as well as some fun and promising new ideas. Religious Education will be slightly different this year as we have changed the age groupings for our classes in order to better accommodate all our students. We have grown from four classes to five, plus nursery. This new grouping helps us teach age appropriate themes and creates classes of a more manageable size. We now have a Middle School class and our Coming of Age group has become the High School class. We look forward to all our favorite traditional events like Halloween Sunday, our pageant, and Youth Sunday. These events keep all our children and youth bonded as a community and become special childhood memories for students and their families. In addition to these special events we have added a short group worship element for special Sundays during the year. This worship will be just for RE and offer spiritual elements as well as add ritual to our RE experience here at the First Church. We will use Willson Hall for these events which will take place during regular RE class time. Each service will have a chalice lighting, a story or mini sermon, hymns, and a closing and last about 15 minutes. Parents and adults are always invited. Please remember that our program depends on volunteers. As we grow our need for our volunteers increases! Volunteer Sunday will be Sunday September 20. So be sure to come and look over the many the volunteer opportunities. With the High school and Middle school groups we have some new and exciting volunteer spots to fill! All RE families will receive the RE schedule, registration and volunteer forms in the mail the first week of September. Homecoming Sunday is September 13. We will have a special welcome
meeting in Wilson Hall for all our students during our class time
on this day. Parents are invited. Peace,
June 2009 The Miracle of the Plastic Eggs: A Story of Generosity and Faith
Those of us involved in planning the egg hunt experience it in
a slightly different way. We suffer though the agonies of plastic
egg anxiety. This past Easter we calculated it would take over 700
eggs to achieve our goal of 12 eggs per child. We were stunned by
this large number. Could we ever get that many eggs? In our worry
we had Reverend Jeff announce the shocking number of needed eggs
from the pulpit, asking for donations. We sent email reminders and
made more announcements. We worried that the kids would be disappointed. Oh my, did we get eggs! By 10:30 am The First Church had well over 1200 filled eggs for the children’s egg hunt. Well over. In 20 minutes we had gone from high anxiety to “Oh my gosh look at all these eggs!” Next year I will have faith that the 400 eggs at 10:10am will multiply into enough for the entire crowd by the time service begins. And I will no longer worry on Sundae Sunday or Chocolate Sunday or any other event the First Church puts on for its children. Nor will I worry about volunteers or supplies or teachers or any other support the Religious Education needs for the students. With love and generosity this congregation always creates the best kinds of miracles, the ones where we roll up our sleeves and work together to make it happen.
May 2009 “ ...but trailing clouds of glory do we
come” Do children really need religion? They arrive with an innate religious knowledge. They have compassion, hope, and wonder, as well as despair and grief. They come to us with an inborn spirituality, “trailing clouds of glory” into this world. As Unitarian Universalist parents, we want to keep this inner knowledge open and growing. We want children to stay connected to that inner sense of wonder. We want our young ones embrace life as a gift. We want our children to be compassionate, have integrity, and value their world and everyone in it. Many of us are unprepared when our children ask us about God, about the after life, about prayer. We know how we answer these questions will have a lasting impact on how the child views religion and even life. As parents, we need to provide the context in which children can develop their spiritual gifts into healthy values. A church community and a strong Religious Education program are invaluable in moments like this. Religious Education helps children explore the mystery together and provides support and structure for that exploration. We show children how to use their mind and hearts to determine what is right. We expose children to stories, songs, and beliefs to broaden their understanding and develop their spirituality. Regular attendance helps children bond with and feel comfortable in his or her religious community. In our Religious Education program here at The First Church, we only see a child for one hour a week. A big portion of what a child learns and thinks about religion and spirituality comes from the family. Speak to your child freely about the big questions. Celebrate your child’s innate spirituality. Invest family time supporting your commitment for your children to become adults who are still the spiritual beings they were when they came to you, “trailing clouds of glory”. Deb DiGiulio
April 2009 The First Church Village Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parent, I guess attitudes about children haven’t changed as much as
we like to think they have in recent years. I suppose children have
not changed much either in the last 2,500 years. While children have not changed much over the last few thousand years, our society has. Our society is no longer built around neighborhoods; we no longer live with or near extended family. Modern society, with all its instantaneous electronic communication, isolates groups across age lines more than any past society. Generational differences today are almost as divisive as cultural or religious differences were in the past. So how do we build a bridge to this generation of young people? How do we keep our community together? The answer to that is very large. I do feel strongly however that what goes on here in the First Church on Sunday mornings is a key piece to growing authentic community across generational lines. Fellowship hour is a magical throwback to the ancient ideas of community. While you may not notice it, the children are watching you. They are watching to see how you react to them, if you are happy to see them. They are looking for the connection, the feeling of being a neighbor, of being a cherished member of a group. The children want to be a part your village. I would like to thank Socrates for reminding us that the romanticized ideal of childhood is a pipe dream. Children are challenging, they do things that make us crazy and even uncomfortable. But without the children, what good is the village? Deb DiGiulio
March 2009 Chocolate Sunday was a great success! The amount of volunteers who step up and own an event here at the First Church is impressive. Heartfelt thanks to our excellent volunteers who ran the Chocolate Sunday event and to our volunteers for the Darwin Day celebration. You are UU Super Heroes! Our February Kid’s Night Out was fun for all who came. Thanks to our volunteers and to our First Church Youth Group members who helped with the crafts and games. If you have not yet been to a Kids’ Night Out, you are missing a fun time to socialize with other members of our church community. Remember, adults have a good time at this event too. Not having children is never a reason to be excluded from all the fun here at First Church. all are welcome. An important part of growing our church community is getting to know one another better. While Fellowship is a wonderful time to chat, I have discovered a much better way to make friends and meet people, volunteering. For each person whom I have gotten to know better through volunteering in my classroom or working together one of RE’s special events, I have come closer to the ideal of beloved community. When I get to sit with the Alliance on Tuesdays or take part in a First Church community event, I feel I am more connected to our congregation. The best part of the First Church is not our building or our theology, (or even our minister), but each and every person who walks through our door. Getting to know a person who is a stranger to you can be awkward, but working with other members of the congregation in a volunteer capacity is a wonderful ice breaker. You already have something in common with other volunteers, this church! You will meet some fun and interesting new friends. Reach out and become part of our community, you will be glad you did. March this year brings one of Religious Education’s biggest undertakings, Youth Sunday (March 29). Our theme this year, in case you haven’t guessed, is UU Super Heroes. The history of Unitarian Universalism is packed full of extraordinary men and women whose lives can be inspirational for us all. The hardest part of teaching about our heritage is choosing which extraordinary lives to share with our students. Unitarian Universalism is part of the history of this country and of the struggle for freedom in all its forms. Our children and all of us can take great pride in our heritage as Unitarian Universalists. See the side bar the Youth Sunday rehearsal schedule. For an extensive list of UU biographies, check http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/. Happy Spring,
February 2009 Dust off your baking pans and take out those cookbooks, Chocolate Sunday is coming! February 8th is the day to bake your favorite decadent chocolate treats and help the children of the First Church Sunday School raise funds for their social justice project, The Salem Mission. What a great reason to indulge in a special chocolate treat for yourself too. Please help out by bringing in a special treat to sell and buying a chocolate treat to take home. All funds raised go directly to the Mission Food Pantry. Our students will be celebrating Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday this month. Juniors and seniors will have one Sunday dedicated to a Darwin lesson, and then we will all celebrate Darwin’s 200th birthday on February 15th during our Gathering Sunday. Any friend or member who has special interest in Darwin or evolution is welcome to share their expertise with the RE classes. Just let me know. Our Spring Family Fun Night will be on Friday, February 27th. This is a great social event for the entire First Church family. All are invited to attend. We will play games, make some fun crafts and hang out together. Family Fun Nights are great opportunities to volunteer for RE. We need lots of help with crafts, games and clean- up. See Julie Anderson to sign up to volunteer. Deb DiGiulio
January 2009 The whirlwind months of November and December are behind us. In
terms of fundraising, volunteering, attendance, and community spirit
these last few months have surpassed our greatest expectations.
We have raised a tidy sum for the Salem Mission, had more volunteers
in our program than ever before, our attendance, including new friends
and old, is considerably greater in numbers and more regular, and
our bonds within the greater First Church Community continue to
grow stronger. Happy New Year, Deb DiGiulio,
December 2008 In December RE will be busy with the many activities that have become holiday traditions here at the church. We have been busy working on our Christmas ornaments for our annual ornament sale. In addition to our offering the ornaments to members of the congregation to purchase during Fellowship, the First Church is again lucky enough to be hosting the Garden Club Christmas sale this year. Our students will be selling cider and baked goods along with their handmade ornaments. The proceeds go directly to our social justice project for this year. Anyone who would like to support this event can do so by either sending in baked goods on Saturday, December 6th and 7th or volunteering to spend an hour or two with the children during the event. We had a nice turn out last year and had a great time with the Garden Club members. Our much loved annual Christmas Pageant will take place on December
21st Our Children’s Christmas party is December 21st. This is consistently one of the student’s most loved events for the year. (Chocolate Sunday is a close second!) We will have food, sing songs, and have a visit from Santa, who has a small gift for each child. Please let know if you will be attending this event, as Santa must always be prepared! The Christmas Season is a special time for Religious Education students. In class we will revisit the beautiful story of Jesus’ birth in age appropriate ways. Our traditions and events become the cherished childhood memories of our children. How special that we can all share these moments with our First Church family. Deb DiGiulio
November 2008 As Reverend Jeff is so fond of saying “No one finds themselves in church on Sunday mornings in the 21st century by accident”. As I sit in the Meeting House on Sunday mornings surveying the faces coming in and settling into the pews I find myself feeling a little thrill of joy at every one who arrives. Where did this feeling come from? Who are all these diverse people to me? Why am I so thrilled to see someone whom I do not interact with or possibly think about all week? Why do I seem to feel that same thrill of recognition for each person who walks into the Meeting House? The answer is so simple I didn’t recognize it at first. We are a family. We are connected by our shared experiences here at the First Church. Banker, baker or bar tender, we are related. Mother, minister, widow, child, we are a family. Like a family we care about each other, not in spite of, but because of our differences. Like siblings growing up, we are learning from each other in the most basic ways. Worshipping, working, creating and celebrating together we grow as a community. I was taken by surprise when I recognized the strength of this bond within our wonderful congregation. We are truly a family here. Our children here at the First Church understand intuitively that you and they are related. They do not question or struggle with the whole “church as a community” idea. They know and have always known that the congregation belongs to them and they to it. The First Church is their living room, where family members come and go as they please without fuss. It is part of the fabric of their lives. I hope that the members of our community also view Religious Education in this same fashion. The Religious Education program belongs to all of us and we all belong to the Religious Education program. I hope we consider the moment the children are sung out of the Meeting House as a moment of golden opportunity, a rare chance for us to share the treasure of our experiences, our talents, our selves with our First Church Children. Our Religious Education volunteer program is growing by leaps and bounds. At the same time however, the number of students we serve each week is growing. We wish for everyone in our congregation to have the opportunity to experience these wonderful treasures we have among us every week, our children. By volunteering in a classroom or for a special event, you are weaving the fabric that binds our congregation tighter. You are saying to our children, “you are a valuable part of this community, I care about you”. You are growing beloved community and growing your faith. If you wish to discuss the best way for you to share your talents and you self with your First Church children, please see Julie Anderson or myself. We will listen to your needs and answer your questions about what volunteering for RE will be like for you. Come and have some fun, you will be glad you did. After all, every family needs to spend quality time together! Deb DiGiulio
October 2008 Religious Education is off and running this September. We happily welcomed back our old friends and met some new ones on Homecoming Sunday. Our Coming of Age students, lead by Denise Granniss, had a wonderful and moving opening ceremony. We are all proud to have these special young people as part of our church family. The new First Church Youth Group welcomed 12 teens at their first meeting, with several more interested in joining. They are engaged in the process of envisioning and building a new youth community from the ground up. The members laughed, played games, and used most of Wilson Hall for a giant ping-pong game! Our first Religious Education Volunteer Sunday on September 21 was a success! Our volunteer coordinator, Julie Anderson, will be in touch with everyone who has offered their time and talents to our program. We love sharing the special talents of everyone in our congregation with our youngest members. If you are unsure about volunteering, speak with Julie Anderson or me. It really is fun! And maybe some morning when you walk into the First Church, a child will be waving hello to you! World Communion Sunday is October 5th. This is our annual Sunday school bread-baking day. Have your RE students here on time to begin the baking in the downstairs kitchen. Fall Family Fun night is Friday, October 24th. This is one of the favorite events for our students, families, and all who wish to share in some good Halloween fun. We will do crafts, play games, and maybe have a spooky tour of the First Church! We warmly extend this invitation to families who do not have a child in RE- Halloween is a great time of year to have fun with kids! Our Halloween parade will take place Sunday, October 26th. Remember to have your child wear his or her costume to parade in front of the entire congregation. This is a wonderful tradition for both the children, who are so pleased to show off their costumes, as well as the adults, who get to watch the joyful parade around the Meetinghouse. Remember, this year, we are hosting a Hogwarts’ themed Sunday. So for all you fans of Harry Potter, plan your costume accordingly. Happy October! Deb DiGiulio
September 2008 Growing UUs; Children and Adults It is true of Religious Education that the ongoing quality of the program depends on the time and effort of the people who give of themselves to sustain it. Without volunteers, Religious Education at the First Church would simply not exist. This year, as we continue to grow not only in numbers but also in our expanded goals for the program, we need more volunteers than ever. We are adding a Coming of Age class, several Gathering Sundays, and updated our curriculums. We are hoping that our enthusiasm for all this change is shared by the parents and friends of RE! Being a Unitarian Universalist is always a journey. We learn and change and grow as we gain new experiences and knowledge. So how can we teach if we are still learning? This is the best part of teaching our children about our faith, the chance to expand on our own faith development! Sharing our personal example with our young people of what being a UU means, speaking from the heart about the many ways of being a UU, and showing the children that adults still learn and change and develop ideas is fundamental to growing lifelong UUs. Teaching our children is a great opportunity for self growth. As we help the children learn, they can help us remember who we are. As many of us have come from other religious traditions, teaching this year’s theme of UU identity is a great way to learn more about our fascinating UU history. Lifelong UUs will also love being reminded of the great women and men of our faith who influenced so much of the history of this country. There will be a volunteer information event Sunday, September 21st during fellowship. Information, curriculums, and volunteer schedules will be available. RE mostly needs assistants for our regular classroom teachers, so you won’t be alone! What an easy way to try out volunteering with our children! We ask for only one Sunday or event a semester, so you won’t be missing our beloved minister for weeks at a time! Remember, it is not how much you know, but how much you are willing to share of yourself. Volunteer for RE this year! Have fun, grow your faith, get to know some special children, and help build a stronger First Church community. See you September 7th, Homecoming Sunday!
Deb DiGiulio
June 2008 Sunday, June 22 RE Sunday Friday, June 27 Youth Group Party 5:00
- 8:00 p.m. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Max Burbank, Deb DiGuilio, Dave Tutko or Katherine Palmer. Volunteers Needed! * * * * * * * * * * Below please find copies of recent Religious Education Columns from our monthly newsletter, The Herald.
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
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