Halloween Parade returns!

Our Halloween Parade returns, this Sunday, following worship! Young and young at heart are invited to dress in costume. Then, if you can, stay for lunch! Social Action Council hosts a luncheon following the parade.

Pumpkin at home of FUUSA DRE Leah Purcell

This Sunday, Religious Education will take place in the Great Hall with an all-ages worship service! UUSS religious education teacher, Belinda Mex Moreno, will share an altar that is part of her family's way of celebrating the holiday Days of the Dead. We plan to create a ritual together by adding to the altar. Please bring a photo or memento of a loved one (family, friends, beloved animal companions) to be honored on the Day of the Dead altar at the front of the hall.  

Practicing Love

Casa de Paz (House of Peace) from Michelle Moore on Vimeo.

This is to me an example of Standing on the Side of Love. Maybe it should even be, Living on the Side of Love. I like the call to be both activists and spiritualists.

Healthy Sexuality is for Everyone

THIS IS A MOVEMENT from Reteaching Gender & Sexuality on Vimeo.

RE for children and youth beginning in September

We have a really exciting year in RE for children and youth shaping up! We are offering nine different programs this year; our regular classes and OWL classes All of out OWL programs are fully staffed with trained facilitators and our regular programs are close!

What follows are class descriptions for all the classes for children and youth. These class descriptions will be on the website soon and a new RE brochure will be out soon as well.

Grades K/1. Love Surrounds Us and Our Whole Lives (OWL). Children, ages 5 -7, meet in a room next door to the nursery. This program explores our Seven Unitarian Universalist Principles. The Principles encompass all the ingredients of a good and faith-filled life based on equality, freedom, peace, acceptance, truth, care, and love.

January-February 2015, during RE, we will offer Our Whole Lives (OWL) an 8 week age- appropriate, sexual education program. This class requires parental orientation and approval. Parents will receive more information with orientation dates in the fall.There is an overview of the Our Whole Lives programs on Thursday, September 11, 7-8:15 PM, at Waters House, at UUSS.

Grades 2-4.  Spirit of Adventure. Children ages 8 - 10 begin together at Waters House for a brief, interactive Children’s Chapel. Unitarian Universalist ritual, sharing, mindfulness practices, curiosity and movement are all part of children’s chapel worship.

After Children’s Chapel, the group divides into two, mixed -age groups and travels with an adult to their Adventure. Spirit of Adventure develops UU identity thru art, nature, exploration, movement, games and fun challenges.

Grades 5/6. Heeding the Call and Our Whole Lives (OWL). September - December 2014 we will offer OWL, an 8 week, age-appropriate sexual education program. OWL fosters the development of sexual health and ethical values as it nurtures the worth and dignity of all participants. Children are encouraged to value themselves and act on their values throughout their whole lives.  This class requires parental orientation and approval. There is an overview of the Our Whole Lives programs on Thursday, September 11, 7-8:15 PM, in Waters House, at UUSS.

January - June, 2015, Heeding the Call: Qualities of a Justicemaker. Heeding the Call is a social justice curriculum that not only explores linked oppressions in our society, but also encourages participants towards personal growth in values that counteract the marginalization of others. Workshops on empathy, courage, abundance, joy, and other qualities ask participants to recognize how these standards can be tools for justice.

Grades 7/8. Popcorn Theology/Neighboring Faiths and Our Whole Lives (OWL). Sunday mornings alternate between Popcorn Theology and Neighboring Faiths. Popcorn Theology utilizes our youth’s interest in learning through visual media. Thru movies, websites, social media, and more, youth examine issues of theological and ethical importance to our world. Neighboring Faith is a world religions program to deepen youth's understanding of the dynamic, fascinating, and varied world in which they live. The youth will have field trips to nearby religious  communities.

Tuesday evenings, October 2014 -May 2015, we will offer OWL, a 27- session, age-appropriate, sexual education program. OWL fosters the development of sexual health and ethical values as it nurtures the worth and dignity of all participants. Youth are encouraged to value themselves and act on their values throughout their whole lives.  This class requires parental orientation and approval. There is an overview of the Our Whole Lives programs on Thursday, September 11, 7-8:15 PM, in Waters House, at UUSS.

Grades 9-12- Senior Youth Group and Our Whole Lives (OWL). Youth group meets Sunday mornings, 10:30 AM - 12 noon in Waters House.  Our youth group is open to the youth of our congregation and their friends. Our advisors work in collaboration with the youth; all working toward empowering the group to be youth-led and directed. Youth group focuses on five components: social action/justice, worship, activities and fellowship, learning, and leadership opportunity. Committed youth group members may also participate in district and continental events, including District Youth Conferences (Cons) and the Youth Caucus at General Assembly. Cons are held throughout the year at various UU congregations throughout the region. These weekend youth retreats offer opportunities for friendship and spiritual reflection in addition to workshops, worship, dances, shared meals and communal living.

Tuesday evenings, February - April 2015, for grades 11/12,  we will offer OWL. OWL is a 12-session, age-appropriate, sexual education program. OWL fosters the development of sexual health and ethical values as it nurtures the worth and dignity of all participants. Youth are encouraged to value themselves and act on their values throughout their whole lives.  This class requires parental orientation and approval. There is an overview of the Our Whole Lives programs on Thursday, September 11, 7-8:15 PM, in Waters House, at UUSS.

Our Whole Lives

For over 10 years, Our Whole Lives (OWL)  has been a cornerstone in our religious education programming at UUSS. OWL honors sexuality as a part of our human experience and provides age-appropriate information. Healthy sexuality education in the context of Unitarian Universalism offers  a safe and open forum for people to make wise and moral decisions regarding relationships.

Teachers who lead the class are trained specifically to teach OWL for their grade level. They attend a 15 -hour training in order to be certified.

This year our RE program is re-committing itself to OWL and will offer additional classes. We will offer two of our OWL classes on a weeknight evening. There is a brochure you can pick up at church, or you can access a pdf brochure through the website here.

Briefly, we will offer an eight-session OWL for grades K/1 in January/February 2015. We will offer an eight-session OWL for grades 5/6, October - December, 2014. We will offer a 27-session OWL for grades 7/8, October, 2014 - May 2015, TUESDAY EVENINGS. And, brand new to UUSS, we will offer a 12-session OWL for grades 11/12, February - April 2015, TUESDAY evenings.

There will be regular RE programming Sunday mornings for youth in grades 7/8 and for senior youth in grades 9-12. Because of the nature of OWL and the length of the program for 7th and 8th graders, youth and their parents need to commit to the entire program and we can not allow youth to join midway. But the nature of our religious community is that people discover UUSS and begin attending throughout the year. Offering OWL on a Tuesday evening allows us to be welcoming on Sunday mornings for all ages.

There will be a general OWL informational session held at UUSS Thursday evening, September 11 from 7-8:15 PM. Additionally, parents with children who are eligible for OWL programs will receive a letter with information on an orientation specific to their child(ren)'s class and led by the OWL facilitators.

RE breakfast Sunday, June 8 @ 9AM

Please join us Sunday for our annual Religious Education celebration! This year our RE Council is hosting a breakfast. It's a chance to celebrate our RE teachers and look back at the year.  Everyone is welcome! We will have a slideshow at 9:45AM.

Henry David Thoreau

"Henry David Thoreau" greets our Coming of Age class at Walden Pond.

I was in high school when I read the book, Walden Pond, by Henry David Thoreau. It had a transformative effect on my 16- year old self, my understanding of nature and philosophy, and my relationship to these things. I have always remembered some form of Thoreau's quote about wanting to "live deliberately." Thoreau, I have come to realize, was my first mindfulness teacher.

In talking with some of the parents of our Coming Of Age youth about the Boston Heritage trip, I realized that many of us were deeply affected by Thoreau's writings.

So it was extra exciting to bring our Coming of Age class to Walden Pond in late April 2014. It was the culmination of our Boston Heritage Trip, in many, many ways.

Thoreau was raised Unitarian. His family was very involved in the abolitionist movement. He was a friend and benefactor of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a former Unitarian preacher and a leading voice in the Transcendental movement of the mid 1800s.  I came to realize more fully how the ideas of Transcendentalism are at some of the core values of current Unitarian Universalism.

We were led around Walden Pond and learned about Thoreau via local historian Richard Smith who takes on the role of Thoreau. As Thoreau, Smith shares stories and answers questions about his time period.  While he spoke, he credited our New York UU youth with the "very active upstate" New York abolitionist movement.

Walden Pond is a kettle pond and one of the deepest in Massachusetts.

Traveling along Walden Pond.

A silent walk thru the woods. We were asked to walk silently and observe sights and sounds.

Original site of Thoreau's cabin

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