Social justice work and children: CROP walk SUNDAY

In April I visited the Chicago area with my family. We spent 1/2 a day in the city visiting a few of the sites. There were a lot of homeless people asking for money and I gave away all the spare cash I had. I didn't really talk about it with my family.

What I didn't realize was how my eight -year- old was paying attention. The Sunday after we returned from Chicago, FUSS member Nancy Peterson came to Children's Chapel to talk with the kids about the upcoming CROP walk. My daughter made a connection at that moment. Seeing all the homeless people disturbed her and the CROP walk was a way she could do something about it. She asked me about participating in the walk, and so, we picked up the forms and I helped her make an online contribution site for out- of- town family to donate.

I have to say honestly that if I had tried to get my daughter to participate, she probably would have been less interested. I am not even sure I could have had a conversation about what we experienced in Chicago at the time either. But, allowing her the experience to walk a city street and confront a troubling reality in our society and then having a church community that offers concrete ways to make a difference, opened up the possibility of her making a connection. Things are not always fair and she can make a difference in that. I think this is one of the best parts of what we do together that I, certainly, can not do alone.

We'll be walking in the Schenectady CROP walk this Sunday. Maybe we'll see you there.

Hot off the Press!!! U.U. Spirituality and Parenting

Many parents ask me about books on Unitarian Universalism and parenting. There's a new book out on Unitarian Universalist parenting by professional religious educator Michelle Richards. It's called Tending the Flame: The Art of Unitarian Universalist Parenting. There is also a blog that Michelle writes that you can find here. Her latest post is on spiritual practices with children. It touches on some of the practices children are introduced to in our religious education classes.

Circus Yoga at FUSS: Parents welcome!

This Sunday our children in the Pre K thru third grade classes will have an opportunity to participate in Circus Yoga.

Circus Yoga teacher Christine Carpenter will lead the group. I am excited about this because we have been offering yoga in different forms to our children through Spirit Play. I often see children moving through yoga poses on their own or with a friend when I am in the classroom. My hope is that Circus Yoga can broaden our understanding of the spiritual practice of yoga in community.

Parents are welcome to join us! Come in comfortable clothing.

We will be in the PreK/K room and the back half of the dining room. Circus Yoga will run from 10:30 -11:30 AM. Then we will offer a snack.

the growth of world religions in 90 seconds

Multigenerational Religious Education

This Sunday Religious Education will be part of CC&C.

From 9:30 - 10:15 we'll show part of a fiilm titled: Three Faiths: One God. It's a look at the similarities between Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Childcare will be available in the nursery!

The following Sunday, March 21, will be a multigenerational worship service and we'll hear stories from these same wisdom traditions told by youth from Children at the Well.

On Stewardship

Last Sunday in Children's Chapel we talked about stewardship. I talked about what it meant to be a steward and the children offered ways in which they were stewards.

We can be stewards in big and small ways. Stewardship calls us to think locally and globally.

Globally our children have been collecting pennies in our Pennies for Peace project. We will collect pennies until our May Children's Chapel. Then we will count them and donate them. The jar for collecting pennies is in the Waters House entry. We also have it at Children's Chapel.

Locally, very local, we are looking for help painting classrooms in Waters House this Sunday. Buildings and Grounds chair Kim Schnell has been really wonderful in keeping attention on Waters House and working on fixing it up. We Need You! We will be painting Sunday between noon and 3 pm. Come at any time and stay for as long as you are able. The Religious Education Council will provide pizza. Please consider being a steward of our space.

Charter for Compassion

Charter for Compassion