February 24, 2019 -- Symbols of other Faiths

Welcome song and some stretching to get our wiggles out, followed by:

• A review of this month's theme of Faith.  
• Belief in something even if you don't have proof of it
• You can believe in yourself that you can do something hard--(learn to play piano, or learning to read, etc.).  
• You can have faith in friends and family that they can do their best too, or that they will be there to help you. 
• The flaming chalice is the symbol of our Unitarian Universalist faith (set of beliefs) or religion
• Practiced the ASL sign for Faith.  

Today's focus: "Symbols of Other Faiths" 

Spiritual Theme: Unitarian Universalists believe there is much wisdom in many of the world religions and others faiths.  Becoming more familiar with the symbols of other faiths is a step in learning more about them.  

Activity 1: World Religions field trip via books

Kids worked by themselves or in pairs doing a picture walk through books with beautiful images from other religions.  They used post-its to mark a picture they wanted to share with the whole group.

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Symbol explore: Each child was given a symbol of a faith group and we matched it with the faith / religion it goes with.  Then we created a display of six symbols for them to take home to their houses using dot paint and stencils.  If you left yours here to dry, find it in the Preschool room next time you're at church.  

Closing: Every faith has some powerful symbol(s) to go with it, along with stories and rituals we can learn a lot from. As UUs, we seek to learn more about our own beliefs by asking questions and learning more about other faiths.   

 Continue the conversation at home:  

• What was the picture you found in the book on other faiths/religions?
• Look at the display they made.  (Or at this link if they didn't bring it home yet.)  How is each symbol different or similar to the others?  What symbol do they think is the most interesting?  
• Can you draw any of the symbols without a stencil?  (Take turns trying.)
• Keep an eye out for any of these symbols as you drive around or look in books.   

Reminders: 

If you haven't done so yet, PLEASE take our Family Survey, created by parent Joel Dennison and others, to help us know what you need most, and how parents might best support one another within our congregation. 

This is the last week to sign up for March Mystery Madness.  See the link in the e-news or do so during Coffee Hour this Sunday (absolute final deadline--pairings will happen right after the noon Coffee Hour.  

Worship theme for March: Journey

Sun. March 3

9am Spiritual Exploration: Journey to the Border

Abby Colihan shares her story of going to El Paso Texas recently to help at the border with the asylum seekers there.  

11am Journey of Friendship

Friendships can be a journey, sometimes beginning with a single shared game together.  After a story, time will be made for fellowship and fun with games for different age levels.  Kids are welcome to bring a favorite game from home (that is pretty easy to learn and quick to set-up and play).    

Thank you and wishing you some special times during this vacation week,

Liza     (More pictures posted below)

February 16, 2019 - Adult Workshop on Active Listening

Many thanks to facilitator Patty Crawford for offering her workshop on Active Listening again this year.  Ten people participated in Part I, with Part II coming this Saturday.  (You have to have participated in Part I to do Part II though.).

Patty reports that it was a very thoughtful discussion, and participants were really thoughtfully engaged with the activities.

This is a beloved workshop in our congregation, one that Patty has offered other years as well. It always receives rave reviews, with participants saying it really improves their communication and enriches the relationships with others.

Here are some starter phrases, followed by a brainstorm of different feelings that we bring to situations and conversations.

We hope to offer this workshop again in the future!

February 3, 2019 - Faith in Ourselves and One Another

Sunday Feb. 3, 2019

Introduction:

• Simon Says to get our wiggles out
• Names & Gems of Joy and Concern (just like the adults do Candles of Joy and Concern). At the 11am we followed this with the chorus to this song "I am sending you light..."  
• Introduce this month's theme of Faith. Practiced the ASL sign for Faith.  

Today's focus: "Faith in Ourselves and One Another" (faith in terms of TRUST)

Spiritual Theme: Learning to have faith in ourselves, our friends, and family is key to getting through challenging times in our lives. 

Activities: We'll engage in various trust building activities, starting off small and then building up.  

Trust Yourself: Stone Pass 

Children are seated in a circle and put their hands behind their back or close their eyes while they feel their stone (we let the littlest ones peek).  Then the stones are collected, mixed up, and then passed slowly around the circle.  When each person recognizes their stone, they hold on to it.  They have to have faith in themselves that they know their stone.  

Trust Others: The Human Zipper and the Floating Hula Hoop (aka "Helium Stick").  Descriptions here. 

Closing: Keeping Faith when we feel lonely, scared, or like we can't do it.  Examples from the kids/adult volunteers: sledding down a scary hill, a presentation for school / speaking in front of a large group of people, swim lessons, playing alone downstairs without our siblings, climbing a ladder.    

 Song: Courage, My Friends

Other Faith Sundays in February:

Feb. 3 ~ Faith in Ourselves and One Another

Feb. 10 ~ 7 Principles of our UU Faith in Song, Show and Art

Feb. 17 ~ The Flaming Chalice and Our Inner Faith: Multigenerational Worship Service

Feb. 24 ~ Examples of other Faiths (We'll invite a guest or two to talk with us about their faith.  Please let me know if you have ideas of someone who would be good.). 

Continue the conversation at home:  

• How did you tell your stone apart from the other stones?  Did you have faith you would be able to tell it apart from the other stones?
• Can you think of a time when someone else had faith you could do something, but YOU didn't think you could do it (I shared an example of a running coach who knew I could beat my best time, and I didn't think I could.  But I did!). 
• For the Human Zipper, we had to have faith that others were paying attention to keep the game safe.  What are other examples of when we have to trust others? (Ideas: when we have a friend over and share our toys we have faith they'll be gentle with them.  When we share a Joy or Concern at church, we trust others will listen and won't laugh at us.  The elders at Coffee Hour trust the kids will walk, instead of running--and won't knock them over.). 

See how many examples of having Faith in yourself or others your family notices this week!  I will be away next Sunday, but Janet Poeton will be filling my place and I have faith the children will do a wonderful job remembering our covenant of being kind to themselves and others!  

Reminders: 

Please take our Family Survey, created by parent Joel Dennison and others, to help us know what you need most, and how parents might best support one another within our congregation. You'lll be entered to win a localvore basket!

Sign-ups for March Mystery Madness will start in the next week or two.  Stay tuned for more details.  

Thank you for a great start to our Faith exploration in February, 

Liza