UUCM

Families

Kids’ Connection – Summer Mode

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There is important news from the Family Ministry Team this month. Big changes are coming our way.

We want to acknowledge the work of two very important people on our Team, as they prepare to step away in order to explore and develop other aspects of their interesting lives. First, Jo Waters will be stepping away from the Team in order to enjoy many of her other interests here at UUCM and in her life more generally. Her exit leaves us with the important task of filling the role she so competently and generously played as Team leader. Personally, I am grateful that Jo was in the position of Team leader when I joined the Family Ministry Team earlier this year. She guided me into the Family Ministry Team endeavors in a kind and supportive manner that made me feel welcome and gave me room to define my own ways of making a contribution to the group. Her leadership will be missed.

In addition to Jo, our talented and much beloved Kids Connection teacher, Aiden McCarthy, will end his service at the end of the month of June in order to devote more time to his primary job and his varied interests. Without Aiden assuming the lead teacher role each Sunday, we will revert to our staffing pattern before Aiden joined us. Each Sunday, Kids Connection will be staffed by one of the Family Ministry Team members (Cheryl Spaulding, Lindsay Dunckle, Rene Wiley) and a second person from the community. If you would like to volunteer to be the second teacher on a given Sunday in July or August, please contact a member of the Family Ministry team. Volunteering in Kids Connection is its own special version of UUCM joy in which most anyone and everyone can participate.

On the topic of Kids Connection this summer, beginning on Sunday, July 2, and running through August 27, we will offer our special summer program entitled “Can Do Summer.” This program “aims to instill in our children the ‘can do spirit’ and the ability to face challenges that occur in life with an open mind and flexibility.” Some of the “can do” activities slated for this summer’s Kids Connection meetings include Fairy Houses, Paper Airplanes, Blanket Forts (Who doesn’t love blanket forts?), Junk Sculpture, and Toothpick Architecture. We hope to see your children this summer so that we can spend some quality time with them making paper airplanes, junk sculpture, or toothpick architecture inside of blanket forts for some would be fairies. It should be fun!

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES:
Can Do Summer—Kids Connection, Sundays, July 2 – August 27
We will meet upstairs every Sunday during the summer.

We look forward to seeing you and your children as we head into the warm and sometimes low-key months ahead of us!

February is Love!

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How appropriate is it that the theme for the month of February is Love! This is the month of Valentines Day of course, but it’s also a time of new beginnings of many things. In the world of UUCM, Rev Jan Onnie has joined us as our sabbatical leave minister, we have hired Aiden McCarthy to be our new Kids Connection teacher (mentored by Lindsay and myself), and one of our new members Cheryl Spaulding has decided to join our Family Ministry Team. […]

Profile of Jesse Wightman

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“He is a good kid…”

These words from Jennifer, Jesse’s mother, are based on what a great kid Jesse is and not “motherly bias.”

Many remember the little boy running up and down the aisle in the UUCM sanctuary, racing with Norah Wiley close on his heels, indifferent to the solemnity of the service.

[…]

Mommy & Me Choir

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The irresistible sound of children singing comes to the UU Community of the Mountains! Our goal is to have lots of fun leading up to performances at the Sunday, December 11th service, and again at 5pm on Christmas Eve. 

Those interested should join in on for this first gathering where we will determine ongoing rehearsal days and times. 

If you have any questions or want more information, contact Music@uugrassvalley.org

Parents’ Group Gathering

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Calling all parents and others actively raising children. Join together with your peers in a gathering meant to feed your spirits as well as your stomachs. Come bring your questions, thoughts, desires and plans for the kind of support you need.

We will be meeting in the sanctuary during the lunch hour of noon to 1pm, this gathering will be facilitated by Chanti Smith with support from Lindsay Dunckel. Childcare is NOT provided.

The Alter Show

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Come take a field trip to see our beloved Altar Show at their new location of the ASIF Studio. We will gather on the Front Patio of UUCM at noon after service and either carpool or caravan over to 940 Idaho Maryland Road. If you would rather, you can meet us there. Admission is free.

Family Ministry | New School Year

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For many people, September feels more like new years than does January 1. September is the start of a new school year, a new church year, and a renewal of rhythms and routines around home and family. The summer fun is over and it’s time for our young people to get back to work.

Should I Bring My Child For Religious Education?

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You may be asking, is the program at this Fellowship right for our family? Is it worth the commitment of time? The answers depend on what you want for your children:

If you wish your child to develop values of kindness, tolerance, generosity, responsibility, and caring, our religious education program and our community will help you.

If you hope your child will be an independent thinker, ready to think critically about all dogma presented to him/her, from advertising to media images to peer pressure to dogmatic religion, our program will help you.

If you want your child to experience his/her spiritual side, to nurture the spontaneous religious nature of all children, to stay in touch with wonder and gratitude, our program will help you.

If you want your child to be part of a community that will help him/her deal with the awesome forces of birth, growth, sex, and death, our community will help you.

If you want your child to respect the inherent worth of every human being and understand the structures of oppression and injustice that keep so many from living full lives, our program will help you.

If you wish your child to know more about the world’s religions and the world’s peoples, and respect the truths and longings for the sacred embedded in all of them, our program will help you.

If you wish your child to feel a deeply caring connection with our Earth and see him or herself as part of an interdependent web of all its parts and creatures, our program will help you.

If you wish your child to understand the religious significance of holidays in ways that cannot be taught in public schools, so that these holidays can be milestones in their spiritual life each year, our program will help you.

Working as a team, we, you, your children, and our community will nourish these values and, we believe, make a difference in your lives.

Copyright: 2005 Betsy Darr