Looking for a Bookshelf

By Andrews, William – Curiosities Of The Church, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Do you have a bookshelf you no longer need? Or would you be willing to help find one? Our Director of Religious Exploration, Chris Scheller, is looking for an additional bookshelf for his office. Any color is fine. The only request is that it is presentable and appropriate to a DRE office. It could be four feet wide or a little more, and six feet plus tall. Please email Chris at  if you might have something that would work or would be willing to help find something. Thank you!

Religious Exploration June 11th

Flower Rangoli — a sacred celebration, Public Domain, Wikimedia

This Sunday all the Religious Education classes will stay in the sanctuary and join the end-of-year intergenerational celebration with our annual flower communion. We’ll also be honoring our graduating seniors in the “bridging” ceremony, and thanking them and the other youth RE guides for their dedication and commitment in teaching Religious Exploration this year. Religious Education will start back up September 10th. Have a wonderful summer!

Please bring your own flowers, one stem for each person in the family, for the flower communion, and a side dish to share for the outdoor cookout if you can.

Nursery care will be provided.

Religious Exploration June 4th

By Clem Rutter, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia

This Sunday is our final gathering in Religious Exploration class for the year, as next Sunday on June 11th we will stay in the sanctuary and join in the multi-generational flower communion and celebration Sunday.

Thus, this Sunday we will have an all-RE gathering to reflect on and close out the year together, and to celebrate and appreciate our community of seekers and learners together.

Nursery Care will be provided.

Religious Exploration May 28th

By W.carter – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia

This coming Sunday, May 28, Alorie had planned to be part of a Quaker-style worship. By now many may have received news that Alorie tragically passed away Tuesday night, succumbing to injuries from a car accident last Friday.We encourage members and friends to join in for this service, to be here to support, remember and love one another in Alorie’s memory.

Children may have questions and we expect that they will be aware that something has happened as so many in our congregation will be experiencing grief and shock this Sunday. Therefore, all children will join together for a special children’s chapel and we will address the topic of death in a way appropriate to all ages, and have some time for questions, as well, led by the Director of Religious Exploration (DRE), Chris. Chris will reach out to parents with the full agenda and will be attentive to any concerns, suggestions, and questions. Parents are encouraged to contact Chris at , with questions and concerns.

Nursery Care will be provided.

Religious Education May 21st

This Sunday is our Rites of Passage Sunday! We will honor the growth and commitment that every child in our religious exploration program has made this year with a gift of gratitude and recognition for their participation. We’ll also be celebrating the accomplishments of two cohorts within the grade school program as they cross thresholds that mark unique stages of growth in our children’s journeys, through our First Chalice and new Chrysalis Passage rituals. As we recognize these points of transition in the growth of their moral and spiritual development, we will simultaneously be honoring them as members of our evolving Unitarian Universalist tradition.

After the ceremony, Spirit Play will hear an amazing Onondaga Creation Story about a turtle that holds up the earth. UU Explorers will explore the power within each of us to do good in the world, when we have the courage and conviction to act. Sometimes, when we see injustice, we can feel powerless to change it. We sometimes feel that the real power resides with an authority outside ourselves, such as the government. Yet, in fact we can find our own power and use it for good. This session explores the power to seek truth, the power to question authority or the status quo, the power to speak out against injustice, and the power to band together with others who share our values and goals to make a difference for what is good and just.

Breakfast Club will meet in the library.

Nursery Care will be provided.

 

I became convinced that non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest.

— Martin Luther King, Jr., Autobiography