I think no one can surpass the eloquence of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as he delivered his I Have A Dream speech. Even after more than forty years this speech is thrilling to read or hear—it is prophetic, challenging, inspiring, urgent, hopeful and faith-filled.

While reading it, I couldn’t help but think of faith communities and the potential we have to change people’s lives, just as his speech has done. As he questioned America’s promises to all people, as he urged unity of purpose, and as he supported his dream with faith and hope so must all of us do the same for each other and for the world.

We Unitarian Universalists write and talk much of building the beloved community, but the real work to do so is difficult. It requires time, the gift of presence, patience, honesty, empathy, deep listening and accepting that to evolve in heart, mind, and soul takes effort and encouragement. As the children, youth and adult religious education (RE) programs begin on September 12, I hope we can practice the chant I taught to the children who attended the summer camp: “When I breathe in, I breath in peace—when I breathe out, I breathe out love,” a chant that forces us to slow down, be present, and discern what is most important in our lives.

My dream(s) for this year are:

• That all adults know the children and youth by name and have at least one conversation with them
• That great joy and lots of laughter and gratitude will be apparent in our inter-generational services
• That our children and youth will participate in meaningful social justice activities
• That children, youth, and adults will support and mentor each other to greater spiritual depth and practice
• That the church will find the perfect DRE
• That church work will be thought of as holy and sacred work

It is delightful to welcome our children and youth back to RE classes and all the adults who will challenge, inspire and mentor them. This year’s teachers are Nancy Tenbrink*, Lorraine Whalen*, Suzette Williams*, Rebecca Howard, Susan Mendel, Elizabeth Watson, Mike Begnaud, Kimberly Peterson, Steve Tenbrink, Kristine Coblentz*, Warren Houghteling*, and Gordon Keating. (*Returning teachers from last year—thanks!!)

It’s also delightful to welcome Theresa Cull as the new RE chair this year. I’m grateful for the RE committee members who’ve agreed to stay on the committee for one more year: Mark Peterson, Jim Cooley, Kay Ulrich, Tara Adams, and Elizabeth Watson. We will miss Amber Ripoll’s contributions on last year’s committee.

I’m more than pleased to have Pam Risley, Danise Begnaud, Mike Adams, Connor Schultz, and Cameron Van Cleave agree to join the new Youth-Adult Committee, which will focus only on the youth program (7-12^th grades).

You Need to Know

1. RE classes start on September 12 from 10-11 a.m. for preschool-8^th grade. High school meets from 11-noon.
2. The Children and Youth Safety Policy was ratified by the Board and is now in effect. You can view the policy on the church website (under Religious Exploration). I hope all church members will become familiar with the policy and support it.
3. Children and youth are welcome to sit with their parents at each service for the first 20 minutes or through Time for All Ages. Childcare will be provided after they leave the service in the Assembly Room or on the playground.
4. OWL sexuality education classes will meet on most Sundays (see church calendar) from 4:30-8 p.m. from August 29-Nov. 14. This is a closed group.

The church summer camp was so fun for me (and I think the kids). Many thanks to Susie Schillaci, Elizabeth Watson, Robyn Schultz, Kristine Coblentz, Tamara McMahon, Stephanie Richard, Susan Mendel, Kimberly Peterson, Tara Adams, Monica Thompson, Kristen Dors, and Petra McDowell. 6-7^th grade helpers (who were superb!!) included Rowan Cantua, Donnie Thompson, Kai Coblentz, Drake Terrill, Theodore Peterson, Nica Vasquez, and Rory Cooley. With 24 younger kids this was a group effort to keep kids safe, included and cared for.

See you soon,
Benette Sherman
Interim Director of Religious Exploration

IMAGINATION AND INVITATIONS

By Shel Silverstein

Once I spoke the language of the flowers,

Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,

Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,

And shared a conversation with the housefly in my bed.

Once I heard and answered all the questions of the crickets,

And joined the crying of each falling dying flake of snow,

Once I spoke the languages of the flowers……

How did it go? How did it go?

Shel Silverstein’s poetry is remarkably fanciful, imaginative, and inviting. His poems invite us to a place that is full of comedy, pathos, naughtiness, and beauty. I have a secret desire for the religious exploration (RE) teachers and youth advisors, and certainly for myself, to demonstrate some of Silverstein’s talents of imagination. Unitarian Univeralist roots are in the Jewish and Christian religions and as such, we have repeated a didactic approach in our RE programs—that is, we have a body of knowledge we want to transfer to others. This can, but doesn’t need to, belie a more interactive, experiential, imaginative, and emotional style of learning.

As we start another ‘church year’ in September we will once again use Tapestry of Faith curricula for children. The names of these curricula, Moral Tales, Toolbox of Faith, Riddle and Mystery, and Creating Home imply fancy storytelling, practical experience, and creativity. How wonderful to explore Unitarian Universalism and one’s ongoing experiences with life in these ways! There are possibilities in art, movement, writing, telling stories, serving others, and more in these curricula.

The middle school class of 7-8^th graders will use The Questing Year, which sounds like an adventure in self-discovery. The high school class will use a variety of resources to focus on UU identity, ethical identity, spiritual identity, and faith development. These can be realized through retreats, games, curricula, service, role-plays, and discussions.

As the RE committee and I develop a broadened adult RE program we will consider how adults can continue to grow in imagination and wisdom while having fun and making new friends. We hope to finalize a schedule of 2-3 new groups/activities/programs by September with the official adult RE program starting in mid-September or early October.

Imagination, comedy, pathos, and beauty are fine and important ingredients in an RE program. Here, on the following page, is an invitation to you:

I look forward to seeing you and your children once again.

Benette Sherman
Interim DRE

RE PROGRAM DATES/NEWS

All children and youth need to have registrations on file with the DRE office by September 12. Registration forms are on the church website or you can email the DRE for a copy.

OWL program: Deadline for OWL sign up (7th-high school) is August 17.

Summer is upon us and of course gardens are blooming. When I think of religious education in our Unitarian Universalist congregations I don’t usually think of desks, chairs, books and lessons. But I do dream about cultivating the spirits of children and youth in the sense of preparing the site; planting seeds of relationships, ideas, support, and nurturing; and then harvesting friendships, wisdom, compassion, and maturity.

As I recently re-read Transforming Liberal Congregations by Roy Phillips, I noted that William Ellery Channing, the ‘father’ of American Unitarianism also used the metaphor of a garden, saying that Self-culture (or cultivating the spirit, soul or Self) was our purpose in life and was the purpose of religion. He said, “I do not look on a human being as a machine, made to be kept in action by a foreign force, to accomplish an unvarying succession of motions, to do a fixed amount of work, and then to fall to pieces at death, but as a being of free spiritual powers, and I place little value on any culture but that which aims to bring out these, and to give them perpetual impulse and expansion.”

Channing, who also influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalists, rejected Calvinism’s idea that we are born sinful and depraved. Channing said that humans have a sacred potential for growth that is positive and in constant process. Phillips suggests that the role of any congregation is to prepare the soil or cultivate the environment in which such growth is possible. As a gardener I learned just that—feed the soil, not the plant—which I take to mean you plan, you find the right tools, you invite others to help, and you supplement with just the right nutrients. I hope that’s what we can do here at this church.

Late spring and summer are the times when the RE committee and DRE start the important planning (planting?) and dreaming for the coming church year. We decide on curricula to use. We invite people like you to be the gardeners of spirit (RE teachers and youth advisors). We find ways and resources to supplement growth and formation. Please consider that holy service of teaching in RE—consider how nurturing others will influence your growth.

It is as William Ellery Channing so eloquently wrote: “The great end in religious instruction is not to stamp our minds upon the young, but to stir up their own; Not to make them see with our eyes, but to look inquiringly and steadily with their own; Not to give them a definite amount of knowledge, but to inspire a fervent love of truth; not to form an outward regularity, but to touch inward springs.”

Have fun gardening and see you in church,

Benette Sherman
Interim DRE

Summer Day Camp—Me and The Universe is the theme of the day camp (for K-6^th grades), which will be offered from August 9-13 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the church. Deadline for registration is July 15^th. Contact Benette Sherman for more details at dre@uulosalamos.org.

Fall RE start up—September 12^th

“Ministry…is a quality of presence we bring that is grounded in our liberal faith. Singing and preaching, teaching and leading, caring and justice work, are all ministries. It is what we do when we gather in community.” — Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed from Canadian Unitarian, Fall 2002

What would it feel like and be like if everyone engaged in shared ministry? Many of us who are religious educators have multiple perspectives on ‘church-life’. We’ve been, or are parents. Many of us were members of our Unitarian Universalist congregations before we became religious educators. We’ve served on many church committees. Finally, we become a staff person. Our perspectives and experiences help us see the challenges and the successes of any congregation more clearly.

I’ve seen Directors of Religious Education become very frustrated when they think they have to do everything in a Religious Education program. I’ve seen congregations expect that DREs take responsibility for everything that concerns children and youth. I’ve seen DREs who excel in and enjoy doing everything.

But who profits from any of these scenarios? I suggest no one really does. Shared ministry implies that leaders will still lead and still offer direction and support, but also that the entire congregation makes the magic happen and grows the energy.

This is especially important in children and youth ministries. Children and youth need to have experiences with more than their birth or adoptive family. They profit from gaining perspectives of older people, certainly their RE teachers or youth advisors, but also from others who they don’t see as frequently.

Instead of just the RE committee or the DRE planning and implementing the Special Friends program, or Easter Egg Hunt, or other special events, what would it look like or feel like if we had circles of people of all ages planning and implementing these? What kind of magic would happen? Who would profit? I suggest we all would.

CIRCLES: Community, Inclusive, Enriching Circles of Lifelong Enthusiasm for sharing of Self. Consider a CIRCLE of children, teens, young adults, and adults planning and leading the winter solstice celebration, for example. Think of the rich stories the older members could offer about past winter celebrations, or the novel ideas that might be generated from a teen or young adult. Think of the whimsy and sense of possibilities a child could offer. Picture this CIRCLE getting to know each other, practicing chants or playing drums together and then celebrating their accomplishments together. Multiple perspectives within several generations offer the richness and depth many of us yearn for in our congregations.

Within the next few months, the RE committee has the important job of designing a job description for your new DRE. I hope as they do so, they’ll draw the circle wide to include the concept of shared ministry. The new DRE could collaborate on planning, implementation, energizing, evaluating, and supporting these potential CIRCLES. He or she would share in the joy and work of all ages coming together in the creation of life-affirming events and activities.

Blessings,
Benette Sherman, Interim DRE

May 2: Youth Sunday—I hope many of you will attend services to witness and support the youth as they offer their thoughts and presence.

May 2 and 9: RE Sundays—Stop by the RE table in the solarium to ask questions of RE committee members, state concerns, look at next fall’s curricula, review and update children and youth registration forms, register for summer day camp, or sign up to teach children or youth.

May 16: Last day of RE classes

May 23: Flower Communion—Join others in this lovely Unitarian Universalist tradition during the intergenerational services. Bring flowers to share.

May 23: Bridging of graduating high school seniors—Honor and celebrate the graduating seniors who have been an important part of the congregation.

May 23: RE teacher recognition—It’s time to recognize the devotion and energy of the RE teachers who have given so much time to the children and youth this year.

May 30: Switch to one service—Childcare for children (nursery through 6^th grade) offered all through the summer months.