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CHILDREN AND YOUTH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAMS |
| RE Booklist
Religious Education Calendar Ohio-Meadville District Youth Adult Committee Religious Education Council |
New Director of Religious Education (DRE) Jolinda Stephens is now in the office. Please get to know her and get involved in YOUR Religious Education (RE) programs! We still need 10-15 more teachers for the fall: please think about joining a teaching team yourself (if you haven't yet), or recruiting friends or family members to sign up for growth, adventure and service! WHAT DOES A SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER DO? Essentially, teaching is a commitment to build caring relationships with a group of children and adults. Volunteers join a team of four people who take turns leading, and usually are on deck for half the regular RE class Sundays (or 14 of 28, from mid-September through mid-May) --there are an additional 10 All Ages Sundays when most teachers get a rest). Also there are three 3.5-hour teacher retreats for building community, sharing worship, support and planning time. New teachers get plenty of help from the DRE and everyone works from interesting UU curriculum books and websites. You'll see lots of details of what's needed in The Discoverer (and in past issues, too) and in the RE brochures --or look at the sign up boards in the Sunday School Info Area outside the kitchen. Please talk to the Director of Religious Education (DRE) or members of Sunday School Committee (Julie Henderson and Katie Swett, co-chairs, Charlie Haldeman, Erin Voithofer, and Cathy Yerington [special helper with the new UUA Tapestry of Faith curricula] about your interests and skills, questions and needs. Our regular Sunday School classes in Religious Education (or "RE") comprise 28 sessions over the year and run through mid-May, at both the 9 am (three classes with combined grades) and 11 am services (classes for most grades as single age groups). These are interspersed with a further ten "All Ages Sunday School" special sessions for holiday Sundays. This pattern will continue in the fall for the next RE "year", starting with the Water Ceremony on Sunday, September 7th. Visit your future class and meet your new teachers after service then. Grade-level classes begin again on September 14th. Pre-registration is encouraged. RE for Youth Brochure 2008-2009 (pdf) and Registration (pdf) Toddlers and little ones aged 2 and 3 are cared for by a paid sitter plus a friendly church volunteer during both services in Room 1. A volunteer nursery caregiver is available to help with babies at the beginning of each service --our fully-equipped, brightly coloured nursery is in the back hallway opposite Rooms 3 & 4. There are also separate glassed in areas -- Slowter Lounge and the Family Room -- at the side and back of the Worship Centre for families to sit together and listen to the service. Map of RE class spaces The Sr Hi covenant group will reconvene September 21st and should meet every two weeks from then on. Pre-registration is required, as space is limited. OWL news In addition to our year long, weekly Gr. 8 class, Sunday School Committee and the OWL [Our Whole Lives comprehensive sexuality education] ministry team will offer optional winter-spring Gr 1 AND Gr 5&6 OWL classes on Sunday mornings, ten sessions held BETWEEN the services, from 9:30 to 10:45 am, starting in January 2009. Required Gr.8 OWL parent orientation Sunday September 7th, 1-4 pm. NEW! Sr Hi OWL class will meet for 9 sessions starting in Septmber, one Sunday morning each month -- interested? Contact the RE Office to reserve space. Books will be for sale in the Sunday School Info Area. More information at Our Whole Lives Parent orientation September 14th 12:30-3pm; permission forms must be signed for youth to participate. LOOKING FOR A RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
PROGRAM FOR YOUR CHILD/REN?
We ask all Sunday School visitors to fill in a pink visitors
form for their initial visit, and teachers will track your
repeat visits on the same page. After three visits, we would encourage
you to register your child/ren and have your family's contact
information entered in the church data base. There is no fee for our RE
programs for children and youth. Please register in whatever way is
most convenient, noting that youth must sign their forms, so need hard
copies. The R.E. office may be small, but it is full of interesting books and videos, both for adults and children. Please make an appointment to come and browse – or look at all the titles on the RE page of the church website. Also have a look at the library books table in the Sunday School Info Area each week – we try to put out topical books for all ages, and keep them changing as relevant. You may borrow books and audio-visual materials for one month, often renewable. If you are interested in the overall structure of all RE activities and groups at First UU, here is a helpful new description. We welcome your questions and comments - and your help!
We are currently recruiting teachers for our expanding 9 am service
classes, and will soon commence recruitment for teachers of
RE programs in 2008-2009. Your help is needed and welcome!
Please note that everyone working with children and youth is screened,
for the safety of the entire community.
Jolinda
Stephens |
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First UU runs many different
programs for upwards
of 180 children and youth, mostly on Sundays, supported by an active
Sunday School Committee, Nursery/Toddler caregivers, Sunday School
teachers, All Ages Sundays team, and the very special teachers and
leaders of our Our Whole Lives (OWL) human sexuality class for Grade 8
youth, our Coming of Age (CoA) program for Grade 9 youth, and our Youth
Group Advisors. We hope you will find the UU class or program/s that
are just right for your young people. And we hope to see you at church!
For details of our programs, please
download the two different documents below as appropriate: Here are the signup forms: Note that we have recently established an All-Ages class for children from age 3 through Gr 5 at the 9 am service, which is quieter and more intimate than classes at the 11 am service. For more details, go to page 9 from The Discoverer vol 72 #28. If you would like more information about the Ohio Meadville UU District youth conferences and activities, you can go to their website or read further in this document about our First UU procedures for Youth Conferences or "CONs". If you would like further information about the newly formed Youth Adult Steering Committee (YASC), please refer to page 9 from The Discoverer vol 72 #29 Finally, if you are interested in the overall structure of all RE activities and groups at First UU, here is a helpful new description. We welcome your questions and comments - and help! To contact the Religious Education office, you may phone or e-mail Jolinda Stephens
, the Director of Religious Education |
