From our DRE

It’s that time of year again — the Lifespan RE Committee and I are recruiting volunteers for the summer and 2014-15 RE program year, and I invite YOU to consider teaching this year! You may have questions about volunteering; potential volunteers often raise similar concerns, so here are answers to some of the most common questions that come our way about teaching RE.

Q: Why do teachers volunteer their time?
The best way to get an answer to that is to ask one of our teachers! Sharing the excitement of learning and exploring new ideas with children can be a very special experience. We learn as much, or more, from them as they do from us, and their fresh outlook helps us to keep our youthful perspective. The curriculum materials we provide allow you the opportunity to explore and clarify your own religious ideas and delve into the varied religious heritages that have influenced Unitarian Universalism.

Q: I’m still forming my own beliefs. How can I teach religion to children?
As UU’s, most of us spend our entire lives formulating our religious beliefs. It’s a part of what we’re all about! Since we have no creed, we don’t try to “teach” our children religion. Instead, we help them to question, to wonder, to grow their own spirituality. We teach them how to think about religion, not what to think about it. Our teachers don’t need theological certainty, just open minds and open hearts.

Q: But I don’t know how to teach!
That’s okay — we’ll help you! We’ll have a training workshop on a Saturday in September before classes begin so you’ll feel right at home with our RE program. The Lifespan RE Committee and I will provide support, both practical and emotional, at any time.

Q: But I can’t do it alone!
Of course you can’t, and we don’t expect you to. You’ll be a part of a teaching team of three or four teachers per class. When it’s your turn to teach, another member of your team or a class parent will be there to assist. The DRE and the Lifespan Religious Exploration (LRE) Committee will check in with you, offer suggestions when asked, and help provide the supplies and resources you need.

Q: But I’m not good at arts and crafts (music, drama or whatever).
You don’t have to be! Our curricula are designed to be easy to use and are so complete that all you need to do is follow the directions. Just add love and stir! Remember, the members of your teaching team will have complementary strengths. Our congregation is a wealth of talent, and we will help you find that guitarist-dancer-scientist who can add the touch of expertise you want.

Q: I don’t have kids (or my kids are grown up). Why should I get involved in RE?
Social responsibility begins at home, within our own church family. What better way to assure our future, as well as that of our denomination, than to work with children and youth, who are its heartbeat? It is very rewarding to share the joy of celebration and discovery. The children will benefit from your viewpoint - differing perspectives are invaluable to their growth.

Q: I enjoy the sermons too much to miss them.
Good News! We have two services each Sunday, at 9 and 11 a.m., so you may still participate in worship on weeks when you’re teaching. Many of our teachers, particularly those who don’t have young children currently in RE, volunteer at one service and attend worship at the other each week. Your commitment as a teacher is two Sundays per month (once as lead teacher and once as assistant), so you’ll also have two or three Sundays every month without classroom responsibilities when you can attend the service of your choosing.

Q: I have a crazy schedule, so I can’t teach. Is there another way I can help?
Yes! Our LRE program can use volunteers in countless ways. We need nursery and classroom helpers, teacher substitutes, snack providers and more. We need resource people in many fields. A “guest appearance” adds a dimension to a young person’s religious education. Perhaps you have a professional expertise that could be utilized to support our teaching staff. We also have plenty of opportunities for those who would like to plan or supervise parties or activities, intergenerational events or service projects, or help organize the RE library and supply closets. Choose what interests you!

To learn more about volunteer opportunities or to sign up, visit the LRE table during coffee hour, or contact me at Catherine@uusm.org or 310-829-5436 x105.

— Catherine Farmer Loya

Date Night Event a Success for YRUU

LRE Children’s Subcommittee

 

Summer’s on the horizon, believe it or not, and we’re looking forward to launching our summer RE programs on June 15. This year kids in elementary and middle school will take part in a program called “Principles for UU & Me,” exploring our seven UU Principles through tactile, hands-on projects that will engage young people of all ages who come to our summer sessions. In the preschool class, we’ll be reprising a favorite summer program last offered in 2012: Summer of Seuss! Each week we’ll read a different Dr. Seuss story together, and then will have special crafts and activities to help our younglings explore the themes of the stories. Members of the congregation are invited to sign up for one Sunday, to lead or to assist in either program, elementary/middle or preschool.

 

Please consider spending a morning with our kids! To volunteer, please visit the LRE table during coffee hour on Sundays this month, or contact Catherine Farmer Loya or a member of the LRE Committee. Hurry — summer is approaching fast!

Adult RE

 

Wednesday Night Writers:

A welcoming space for all writers, regardless of prior writing experience or expertise. Join us June 11 and June 25 (second and fourth Wednesdays), 7:00 p.m., Forbes Hall for writing, helpful critiques, and moral support. Unlock your creativity! No sign-ups required – just show up!

 

Long, Strange Trip: A UU History:

We continue our six-part video and discussion series about the history of Unitarian and Universalist thought from the beginning of the Christian era to what we know today as Unitarian Universalism.

 

Join us June 18 (third Wednesdays), 7:00 p.m., Forbes Hall for “Part IV: Universalism.” Learn about the development of Universalism from 1600 to1860 through the early German and English pietists such as Jakob Böhme and Jane Leade, and 18th century English ministers such as George Whitfield, James Relly, Georges de Benneville, and John Murray. Highlights of the hour-long video include:

 

• The emigration of George de Benneville and Murray to America and their roles in the formation of an organized Universalist religion;

• The story of the Thomas Potter incident and the role Judith Sargent Murray played in the movement;

• The theological development of Universalist movement through Murray, Elhanan Winchester, and Hosea Ballou;

• The unprecedented explosion of Universalist churches across America during the first half of the 19th century;

• Why the Universalist movement began its precipitous decline after the death of Hosea Ballou.

• The screening will be followed by guided discussion.

 

You are welcome to bring your own brown-bag supper for pre-workshop socializing at 6:00 p.m. before we get started. Childcare is available on request. Sign up in Forbes Hall at the LRE table after Sunday services.

 

— Karen Hsu Patterson

Justice

 

Bettye Barclay has provided this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for June. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.

 

Week 1. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Week 2. At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. Aristotle

 

Week 3. Until Justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact. Lyndon B. Johnson

 

Week 4. Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice. Desmond Tutu

 

Week 5. At a time when efforts are being made to eradicate discrimination between the sexes in search for social equality and justice, the differences between the sexes are being rediscovered. Carol Gilligan