Religious Exploration News
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It’s time to register your children for Religious Exploration!
Our new program year is underway and we hope your children will join us for another year of learning, exploring, asking questions, building friendships, and discovering what matters most.
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This Sunday! November 1st
This Sunday will be a typical schedule, with Coffeehouse at 9 AM (kids welcome to participate), Middle Hour RE at 10 AM for all ages, and Traditional Service at 11 AM (kids go to Spirit Explorers after the Time for All Ages). We’re kicking off our new focus theme of Stone Soup and contemplating life, death, and care in our RE groups.
If your child wants to participate in Kids’ Choir, this Sunday they should arrive by 10 AM and let the RE leaders know they want to do that as their RE choice. Kids’ Choir will practice with Tam & Julie Handwerker (Count on Me by Bruno Mars) during Middle Hour in the Sanctuary and then sing early in the 11 AM service.
If your child is in Chalice Kids, UU in Action, or Pluralism Practice and they aren’t planning to sing, they will go to the RE Launchpad and to their classes as usual.
Chalice Kids (4K-1st grade) will be hearing the story “The Fall of Freddie the Leaf” and doing activities with leaves, coloring calavera pictures (Mexican Dia de los Muertos colorful skulls), and visiting our Memorial Garden.
UU in Action (2nd-5th grade) will be focusing on our UU value of love, and meeting Action Hero Rev. Karon Sandberg, a Fellowship member and retired UU hospice chaplain, who will share a story with them called “Dance Together, Spin Apart” about how our energy and love returns to the earth when we die. They will also visit our Memorial Garden, and practice the candle-lighting ritual we do at almost every Fellowship memorial service.
Pluralism Practice is now Middle School Youth Only (No adults)! This week they will have special guest (Fellowship member) Chester Behnke teach them all about ancient Egyptian religion.
Spirit Explorers – If our 4K-5th grade friends (or older kids who want to help) wish to leave for RE after the Time for All Ages around 11:15, they will be with Rev. Christina to learn about the history and symbolism of our UU Flaming Chalice, and then they will have the option to go to:
- UU Play: Free play for 4K-1st graders
- UU Reflect: Calm, quiet, solo activities, books
- UU Make: Painting their own chalice using supplies from The Fire (downtown Appleton studio) which will be glazed and fired so they can take them home in a few weeks. Also, making a single class chalice as a group with maker-space supplies.
- UU Move-It: Go on a chalice scavenger hunt of the building, learn how to light our chalice to be official Fellowship chalice-lighters, and doing a science experiment with different salts to change the color of flames.
Next Sunday! November 8th
Next Sunday will be a typical schedule, with Coffeehouse at 9 AM (kids welcome to participate), Middle Hour RE at 10 AM for all ages, and Traditional Service at 11 AM (kids go to Spirit Explorers after the Time for All Ages). We’re continuing our focus theme of Stone Soup and contemplating life, death, and care in our RE groups.
Nursery kids should be signed in and out at the nursery. Pluralism Practice kids need to be signed in at the RE Launchpad table, but can go directly to the Brown Rroom. Chalice Kids & UU in Action need to be signed in at the RE Launchpad table and wait there until their leader comes to bring them to their room.
Chalice Kids (4K-1st grade) will be hearing the story “Dance Together, Spin Apart” about how our energy and love returns to the earth when we die, and they’ll do activities with dancing, sensory “magic particle” play involving shaving cream, and working together to paint a stone for the Fellowship Memorial Garden.
UU in Action (2nd-5th grade) will be focusing on our UU value of interdependence, and meeting Action Hero Jim Rudolph, a member of our Fellowship’s Care Team, who will introduce them to what our Care Team does, explore active listening and some rituals our Care Team uses, and then they will plan and implement a memorial service for an imaginary class pet, who was beloved and sadly passed from life.
Pluralism Practice is now Middle School Youth Only (No adults)! Next week they will have learn about Mexican/ Central American religion and focus on the celebration El Dia de Los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). They will try Pan de Muertos (a type of bread) and paint calaveras (colorful skulls).
Spirit Explorers – If our 4K-5th grade friends (or older kids who want to help) wish to leave for RE after the Time for All Ages around 11:15, they will continue learning about the history and symbolism of our UU Flaming Chalice, and then they will have the option to go to:
- UU Play: Free play for 4K-1st graders
- UU Reflect: Calm, quiet, solo activities, books
- UU Make: Painting their own chalice using supplies from The Fire (downtown Appleton studio) which will be glazed and fired so they can take them home in a few weeks. Also, making a single class chalice as a group with maker-space supplies.
- UU Move-It: Go on a chalice scavenger hunt of the building, learn how to light our chalice to be official Fellowship chalice-lighters, and doing a science experiment with different salts to change the color of flames.
October 25th – All-Ages Sunday
Boo! There’s a Skeleton Inside You
This Sunday, we had a bone-tastic time at our All-Ages Halloween Service! With a skeleton theme, people of all ages got to choose two fun stations to explore. From Bone Trivia with Seth and Skeleton Contemplative Practice with Mike to Dem Bones Music with Tam, Bone Information with Dr. Paul Fagan, and a Skeleton Craft with Tymber, there was something for everyone to enjoy!
October 21st – BATs Improv Class Trip!
Our BATs (Being A Teenager) group had the opportunity to participate in a two-hour improv class at Comedy City in De Pere! During this workshop our BATs played different improv games like Zip, Zap, Zop, Go, Celebrity Questions, and more! They had such a fun time and were wonderful participants!
October 18th – Indigenous People’s Sunday
Our kids did great today as we practiced our annual emergency evacuation (fire) drill
Chalice Kids: For the Chalice Kids this is their last Sunday delving into the theme: “Sitting Under the Trees We Did Not Plant, Drinking from the Wells We Did Not Dig.” Everyone has a treasure inside them, and this week we will be learning about some of those treasures we can share with others. They will make their final art piece for the RE Hall Tree — Flowers! Come check out the flowers and wonderful animals they created to share with us! They will have the opportunity to experience the movement of how a seed grows into a flower, as well as planting one in a pot to see if it grows with their help. We wish to thank Connie and Richard Harrington for making such an amazing tree for the hallway. Have you seen it? Come take a look!
Last Monday was Indigenous People’s Day and we celebrated it today! Debra Morningstar, a Fellowship member and Oneida teacher, artist and storyteller was our special guest speaker at the 11 AM service and she also told the Time for All Ages story about a turtle and why we shouldn’t tease people.
UU in Action: Debra Morningstar’s neice, Tina Metzner, joined the UU in Action class at 10:00 as the Action Hero. We discussed what Indigenous Peoples’ Day is and how it was created. Tina led the kids in the activity of making diamond-painting bookmarks with wolf and Dream Catcher motifs.
Pluralism Practice: Debra Morningstar was our guest leader today, helping our Middle Schoolers learn more about Native American religion as they continued their exploration of earth-based religious traditions.
Spirit Explorers: Our 4K-5th graders learned about Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and continued some of the conversation from last week about gender, when they connected this day of Native American celebration to our own UU values through respect. They read the book Phoenix ani’ Gichichi-i’ / Phoenix Gets Greater, about an Ojibwe two-spirit child. Several activities were offered: UU Reflect, UU Play (ages 4 and 5), UU Make (crafts), and UU Move-It (movement and games).
October 11th – National Coming Out Day/ Drag Queen Sunday
Chalice Kids: The 4K-1st graders continued exploring the idea that we “sit in the shade of trees we did not plant, and drink from wells we did not dig,” focusing on gratitude for what came before us and generosity for the future. They decorated birds for the tree in the hallway and admired the diversity of their creations, did a sensory paint project to show that the same materials can create different outcomes, played a movement game, and went on a walk around the Fellowship to find things that help people feel welcome here.
This week we switched the times and ages of UU in Action & Spirit Explorers, which will continue to be the schedule from now on.
UU in Action: Our 2nd-5th grade class spent time with Action Hero Anita Bobbypin, our “Fellowship’s favorite drag queen!” They learned about the UU Shared Value of Pluralism, and enjoyed face paint, decorating crowns, and playing dress-up to practice “sashays.”
Pluralism Practice: Our Middle Schoolers began learning about earth-based religion; this week they focused on modern paganism from one of our Fellowship’s Gathering Circle (Pagan small group) leaders, Tuppence.
Spirit Explorers: Our 4K-5th graders learned about gender diversity and did activities to explore gender and counteract bullying, like taking a tour of the restrooms, and making “what’s on my inside” masks and “bully shields.”
October 4th –
Chalice Kids: The 4K-1st graders continued exploring the idea that we “sit in the shade of trees we did not plant, and drink from wells we did not dig,” focusing on gratitude for what came before us and generosity for the future. They made squirrels that are on display in the hallway tree (come check it out!), had a “golden acorn” scavenger hunt, and enjoyed a gratitude walk around the Fellowship building and grounds.
Spirit Explorers: The 2nd-5th graders learned about the Autumn Equinox and the modern pagan tradition of Mabon. They had the choice of doing various activities with balance, or making woodcut autumn pentacle decorations. They all learned that apples are associated with Mabon, and that if you cut an apple horizontally (through the core), there’s a 5-pointed star (pentagram) inside! Then they all ate some apple slices.
Pluralism Practice: Our Middle Schoolers had an overview of world religion over the centuries, and made a timeline to understand where, when, and how different religions evolved.
UU in Action: Our 4K-5th graders had a tour of the building and grounds with Action Hero Margaret from our landscape committee, and focused on our UU Shared Value of Interdependence.
September 27th – Bring-a-Friend Sunday
Chalice Kids: Our friends in Chalice Kids made mixed-media flowers, took a fieldtrip to our bricks at the front of the building to play hopscotch, and made a classroom chalice!
Spirit Explorers: Our friends in Spirit Explorers played reverse musical chairs and other “inclusion” games, and learned different ways to say or symbolize “welcome,” and then wrote them outside in chalk! They learned that the pineapple is the symbol of hospitality, and enjoyed some fresh pineapple as an end-of-class snack.
Pluralism Practice: Our friends in Pluralism Practice continued their conversation about the question “What is religion?” and those who still needed to, took the Belief-o-Matic quiz.
UU in Action: Our friends in UU in Action had ice cream sundaes while learning about the origins of ice cream sundaes, which is rooted in Unitarianism!
September 20th – Back to Two Services & New Programs!
After an exciting summer, we returned to our two services!
Chalice Kids: Our friends in Chalice Kids worked at multiple stations where they had the opportunity to practice their own water mingling, color flowers, and learn a secret handshake!
Spirit Explorers: Our friends in Spirit Explorers went on a Fellowship scavenger hunt with Rev. Christina where they got to explore the Fellowship and even see the membership book!
Pluralism Practice: Our friends in Pluralism Practice learned about the basic components of a religion, asked “big questions”, and took the Belief-O-Matic quiz!
UU in Action: In UU in Action, our Action Hero was Dave Gerlach, who was celebrating his 50-year membership anniversary. Dave and our friends in UU in Action learned about the UU Shared Value of Transformation, and made a timeline of the Fellowship that spanned from the beginning all the way to the current day. Go visit the timeline in the classroom!