January 12, 2012
Date:
Thursday, January 12, 2012
January 12, 2012
Calendar of upcoming events:
Sunday, 1/15
Guest At Your Table Boxes Collected this Sunday
Neighboring Faiths trip to Ocean Park Meditation Center
Sunday, 1/22
RE Faith in Acton Sunday – trip to Turning Point shelter for K-5th grades
First day of class for 5th-6th grade O.W.L.
Sunday, 1/29
5th-6th O.W.L. meets
Saturday, 2/4
COA/YRUU Overnight at UUCCSM (details to come soon)
Sunday, 2/5
Neighboring Faiths field trip to Taoist Temple in Chinatown
5th-6th O.W.L. meets
Sunday, 2/12
5th-6th O.W.L. meets
Lifespan RE-sponsored Valentine’s Potluck Supper, 5-7pm (see announcement below)
This Week in RE:
PRESCHOOL (Ages 3-5 at 9:00 & 11:00): “Differences are Interesting” This week our preschool class will learn about some of the wonderful ways in which we are different from one another. Meets in the NW room of the cottage.
SPIRIT PLAY: (K-1st at 9:00) “I Live in the Universe” This week we’ll continue our focus on science and nature with a story that places each of us at home within our universe. (K-2nd at 11:00) “Cosmic Creation” This week we’ll begin our next trimester focus – exploring the interconnected web of all existence – with a story about the very beginnings of the universe. Meets in the SE room of the cottage.
THEME WORKSHOPS (2nd-3rd at 9:00 only): “Wisdom Workshop” This week we’ll begin our exploration of January’s theme of WISDOM with special activities to engage participants in thinking about the wisdom that they have already gained through their own experiences, as well as the wisdom the others have to share. Meets in the NE room of the cottage (formerly known as “the couch room”).
UUNIVERSE STORY (4th-5th at 9:00/3rd-5th at 11:00): “Diving into the Deep End, Part II” This week in the UUniverse Story program, we’ll engage in activities to help participants gain an appreciation for the vast time (and, to a certain extent, distance) scales involved in the concept of Deep Time and to give a perspective of where our species sits on the grandest of time and size scales.. Meets in the mural room at the end of the hallway upstairs above Forbes Hall.
NEIGHBORING FAITHS (6th-7th at 9:00 & 11:00): “Buddhism Field Trip” This week our Neighboring Faiths classes will continue their study of Buddhism with a field trip to the Prajnaparamita Buddhist Center. The group will leave from the UUCCSM front courtyard promptly at 8:40 am and expects to return at 11:20 am.
COMING OF AGE (8th at 9:00 only): This Sunday in Coming of Age we’ll screen the film “Contact,” in preparation for next week’s visit from Rev. Silvio Nardoni. This week only, please plan to arrive in class by 8:30 so we have time for the whole movie! Meets in Room 2, the second room down the hallway upstairs above Forbes Hall.
YRUU (9th-12th alternates 9:00/11:00): Meets during the 11:00 service only this week.
This Sunday will be the first YRUU Game Day! Come prepared to have fun with me and Emily! Bring your favorite game and we'll vote on what to play. Also, the YRUU-led service is coming up on March 25. What do you want the theme to be? Bring your ideas and we'll do some brainstorming. Meets in Room 1, the first room at the top of the stairs above Forbes Hall.
Announcements:
· NEXT WEEK Elementary RE Field Trip on Sunday, 1/22: Children in our elementary RE program are invited to take part in our second Faith in Action field trip for the 2011-12 year, a visit to the Turning Point transitional housing shelter for a tour and to prepare lunches for the residents. Be aware: we will make one full-morning trip, leaving after the story in the first service at 9:20 am, and returning at 11:30. If you would like for your child to participate in the trip, please make sure to come to the first service, or meet us in the cottage at 9:20 for the walk to the shelter, located about four blocks from UUCCSM at 1446 16th street. There will be alternate activities offered during each service for children who choose not to participate in the trip. Note: Volunteers are needed to accompany us on the trip, and families will be invited to contribute ingredients for sack lunches. A separate email with information about what is needed will be sent out soon to K-5th parents.
· NEW Valentine’s Craft Party & Potluck, 2/12: All families are invited to a very special Second Sunday Supper on Sunday, February 12th, from 5-7pm. At 5:00 we’ll gather for a Valentine-making project – come and make some for your friends and families, as well as some for UUCCSM members who are ill or otherwise in need of special messages of care. Then at 6:00, take part in a potluck dinner – bring a side dish to share, and we’ll supply make-your-own pita pizza fixings for the main course. Don’t miss it!
· Snack Signups for RE Classes: Parents of each RE class will be contacted soon to request that you sign up to bring snack for your child’s class. Snack is a highly valued part of the RE experience – just ask your kids – and we need your help to provide the supplies. If each parents signs up just a few times per year, we can cover all of our classes without placing the burden of bringing snack on the volunteer teachers who are already donating so much of their time to make our RE program happen. Sign ups will be available at the Lifespan RE table on Sundays during coffee hour – please stop by to sign up, to save us some time making phone calls.
· Guest at Your Table Boxes Collected this Week: Some of you have already brought your Guest at Your Table boxes back to the church, but if you haven’t yet, this Sunday is the time! We’ll collect them in the service, so bring them on in. Money raised through the GAYT program is given to the UU Service Committee to help people in need all over the world.
· Unsupervised Children: Parents, please remember that you are responsible for your children at all times when they are not in RE classes. Even though our church is a safe and loving place, it is not a good idea for children to roam the grounds without their parents. Staff and volunteers are not responsible for supervising children when they are not in our RE classes or official childcare. Also, please remember that children through grade 5 must be picked up by their parents at the end of RE time (10:15 or 12:15). This is one part of our church’s safety policy, and is especially important as our younger RE classes are now held in a separate building from the sanctuary and social hall.
· RE Wish List: I am currently developing a “master wish list” for the RE program, which includes general and lesson-specific RE supply needs for this year’s classes. While the RE operating budget does have some money for supplies, this year’s budget is very tight and donations are happily accepted. The list so far includes:
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RE Furniture
- Kid-size bean bag chair (we’d like to install a reading corner in the Spirit Play classroom)
- Roll-up-able rug, medium-sized
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General Supplies:
- Drawing paper
- Candle lighters
- Chart markers
- Flip chart paper (post-it or standard)
- Pipe cleaners
- Colored poster board pieces
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Backup snack supply
- Cheddar Bunnies (like goldfish crackers but with fewer preservatives, additives)
- Graham crackers, goldfish crackers okay as alternative
- Granola bars, rice cakes, other non-sugary dry good snacks
- Dried fruit (apricots, raisins, apple rings, banana chips, etc.)
- RE Books Wish List on Amazon: Another arm of the “master wish list” for the RE program, is an Amazon Wishlist of books that will be used in RE lessons for this year’s program or that will be valuable resources for teachers & families in our church. We do have some money budgeted for book purchases, but we are running on a tight RE budget since the congregation’s budget cutback a couple of years ago, and donations are happily accepted. If you’d like to help out by donating a book or two to the program, check out the Amazon list at http://tinyurl.com/rewishlist. (Used books in “good” condition are just fine!) THANK YOU to the members who have already sent books our way – they are so appreciated!
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RE Furniture
UU Everyday (resources and ideas for practicing your UU values at home):
Chalice Lighting Words of the Week (January’s Theme – WISDOM):
January 15:
Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.
--George Santayana
For the 2011-12 church year we’re trying out a new way of living as one lifespan religious community: congregation-wide ministry themes. Each month we’ll explore a new theme. The chalice lighting shared here will be used on Sunday in all of our RE classes, and I hope that your family will also share it at home during the following week. I’m tickled by the idea of all of our UUCCSM families sharing a reflection in common each week as we go about our daily lives.
At-Home Activities to Explore our Congregational Theme for January - WISDOM
“Change is Needed for Growth”: (from Nurturing Spirituality in Children by Peggy Joy Jenkins)
This lesson is especially useful when a child is facing a challenge or a risk, perhaps like joining scouts or a soccer team, going away to camp, staying overnight with a friend for the first time, or entering a new school.
Materials: A real houseplant that has become bound by its roots in its current pot and needs transplanting. If a rootbound plant is not available, use a tiny clay flowerpot or a small cardboard transplanting pot, a large tangled mass of string stuffed into the pot, and an artificial flower to be inserted into the string mass.
Lesson: If you don’t use a houseplant, explain that the mass of string represents the roots of the flower. “Roots need a lot of soil to grow in, but these roots have grown so that there is hardly room for any soil. We need to remove the plant from the old pot and put it into a larger one, or the plant will always be limited in size.”
Explain that people are just like the plant, and at times we, too, need more room to grow. Compare the pot to the children’s old ways of thinking about themselves. The old pot, or the old ways, can be so comfortable that sometimes we need to push ourselves out of our “comfort zone.” If not, our growth will become stunted, just as the plant’s growth is stunted when it’s in a container that’s too small for it. The old pot met the needs of the plant at one time and was good for the plant. Now that the plant has grown, a change is necessary so it can continue its growth.
Discuss how, in order to grow and become all that they can be, children must change their old ideas about themselves. Help them see change as a means of “becoming,” and use examples like an acorn breaking apart to sprout a new tree or a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.
Suggested affirmation: I welcome change in my life because it helps me grow.
This Week in UU History: (From This Day in Unitarian Universalist History, by Frank Schulman)
January 13, 1568: Following the Diet of Torda on January 6 in Transylvania, at which Unitarian minister Francis David won debates with Calvinist Bishop Peter Melius, Prince John Sigismund converted to Unitarianism on this day and then issued the Edict of Torda, which declared toleration for other religions.
January 13, 1819: The Unitarian Association for Protecting the Civil Rights of Unitarians was formed at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street, to protest the persecution of Unitarians in England. Reflecting a split between orthodox and Unitarian Dissenters, Unitarians were under severe civil penalties from laws and court decisions. It was a criminal offense to profess Unitarian belief. Most of the penalties were repealed in 1836 with the Registration Acts.
January 13, 1832: Horatio Alger was born in Revere, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard Divinity School and was ordained in 1864 as a Unitarian minister in Brewster, Massachusetts. Later he moved to New York City and devoted himself to literature, drawing on his experiences in social work at the Newsboys’ Lodging House in New York. His books about young boys made him enormously popular and wealthy. Alger was a prolific writer and produced 119 novels as well as collections of poetry and biographies of Abraham Lincoln and James Garfield. He died on July 18, 1899.
January 14, 1571: The Diet of Maros Vasarhely in Transylvania legally recognized the Unitarian religion as equal to three other recognized religions – Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism. This protection, subsequently reaffirmed by Prince John Sigismund, saved the religion from the extinction it suffered in Poland.
January 14, 1615: John Biddle was baptized at Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucester, England. He was known as the “father of English Unitarianism.” His study of scripture caused him to reject the Trinity and adopt Unitarian belief. After his views were betrayed to a Parliamentary Commission, he was jailed the first of several times for his heresy. The House of Commons declared that Biddle’s work was “blasphemous against the Deity of Christ” in 1647 and ordered that his pamphlet outlining his beliefs should be burned by the hangman (signifying that its publication was a criminal offense). Yet the pamphlet went through several printings. Biddle published many theological works, including a translation of the Rakovian Catechism and the Two-fold Catechism, which contained A Scripture Catechism and a brief Scripture Catechism for Children. He died on September 22, 1662, from a disease contracted in prison.
January 14, 1875: Albert Schweitzer was born in Kayersberg, Upper Alsace, Germany (now part of France). He trained as a theologian and held doctorates in theology, philosophy, music, and medicine, and he was an authority on Bach and on organ construction. In the early 1930’s, Schweitzer went to French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon) as a medical missionary. He wrote many books, including The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906), Civilization and Ethics(1923), Out of My Life and Thought (1931), and The Psychiatric Study of Jesus (1948). A Nobel laureate, Schweitzer left Africa only to lecture in Europe and the United States to raise money for his hospital in Lambarene. Schweitzer was a member of the Unitarian Church of Capetown, South Africa, and accepted an honorary membership in the Unitarian Church of the Larger Fellowship. He died on September 4, 1965.
January 15, 1654: A committee of the British Parliament recommended that John Biddle stand trial for publishing his Two-fold Catechism. Capital punishment was the expected sentence, but Oliver Cromwell dissolved Parliament and banished Biddle to the Scilly Islands off the southwestern coast of England instead.
January 16, 1826: The idea of creating a Boston Sunday School Society was proposed at a teacher’s meeting of the Franklin Sabbath School, organized by Josiah Flagg. Joseph Tuckerman was chosen as the first president. In 1832, the Society changed its name to the Sunday School Society, and it became the Unitarian Sunday School Society in 1858. The Society coordinated the development of hundreds of Sunday school books and teacher-training conferences until 1912, when the Department of Religious Education of the American Unitarian Association took over most of its responsibilities.
January 17, 1827: The Nonconformist Club in London, composed chiefly of Unitarians, resolved to work for repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, which restricted the civil liberties of Dissenters.
January 18, 1778: Joseph Tuckerman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Educated at Harvard University, he became a minister in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in 1801. Tuckerman was the first president of the Boston Sunday School Society, the forerunner of the Unitarian Sunday School Society. He was concerned about the growing poverty in Boston and, under the tutelage of Henry Ware, became the first Unitarian minister-at-large to assist the needy. In 1834, he founded the Benevolent Fraternity of Unitarian Churches in Boston, which became a major influence on the development of professional social work and a model for other ministers and organizations in the United States and England who wanted to address urban poverty. Joseph Tuckerman died on April 20, 1840.
January 18, 1782: Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire. He was a Unitarian lawyer and political leader best known for using his powerful oratorical skills to promote moderate federal unity when the divisions over slavery were growing extreme. He opposed the War or 1812 and, as a member of Congress from New Hampshire, refused to vote for taxes to support the war. Webster moved to Boston and became a leading constitutional lawyer, and eventually a U.S. congressman and then senator representing Massachusetts. As a senator, he opposed the annexation of Texas. Webster also ran for president on the Whig Party and served as secretary of state under William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Millard Fillmore. He supported the Compromise of 1850, allowing slavery where it existed but not in new states. Daniel Webster died on October 24, 1852.