Celebrating Me and My World: Our Hands

The Discovery class (preschool and kindergarten at 9:30) explores what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist by celebrating what makes each of us wonderful and then extending outward to see the world is a wonderful place as well. Today the children explored their hands. From the curriculum, Celebrating Me and My World: "As Unitarian Universalists, we believe that we should keep on learning and growing. Young children learn about the world by manipulating things with their hands--to explore, to discover, to play, and to make beautiful things." The children played games using their hands, talked about some of the things we can do with our hands, and made paintings of their hands. Unitarian Universalists believe that we should always keep on learning about our world and ourselves. We use our hands to help us learn. What are some things your hands have helped you to learn?

Lighthouse Chapel Teams

Lighthouse Chapel teams are a chance for children and youth to work together on a project benefiting our church or community. On each chapel Sunday, children and youth can choose from one of three teams.



Open Minds: Creates things for our classroom and chapel space, helps with planning chapel worship, or makes props to be used in intergenerational worship services.
Today our Open Minds team created salmon puppets for the "salmon pagent" worship service on October 16.



Loving Hearts: Reaches out to people in our church community by making cards or small gifts of support or celebration. Today our Loving Hearts team made "thinking of you" cards to be used by the Caring Team.



Helping Hands: Works for social justice through service projects and raising awareness about needs in our community or around the world. Today our Helping Hands team made posters advertising the Trick or Treat for Unicef collection on October 30.

Forgiveness Sunday

Today the children and youth joined the adults in the sanctuary for our annual forgiveness ritual. Afterwards, the children at 9:30 met together to do some forgiveness-themed crafts.

The forgiveness tokens can be given to someone to help in making an apology, or as a token of forgiveness, or as a reminder to carry around of the importance of making amends with others.

This honey pot was inspired by the Jewish tradition of dipping apples in honey to celebrate the new year, Rosh Hashanah. Apples and honey are a traditional treat on Rosh Hashanah, symbolizing the sweetness of a new year.

Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the new year, is followed ten days later by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. During these ten days, the Days of Awe, Jewish people work to set things right in their relationships with others and with God.

Here are some possible uses for this honey pot your child has made. Maybe you will think of others:

1. At dinner time (or another time when you are together as a family) pass the pot around. Have each person take an apple and share a wish with everyone for the coming year. Encourage wishes for the good of the family as a whole.

2. You and your child could use the apples to talk about things you are sorry for or want to forgive someone for. Each apple represents a member of your family. Take turns considering each apple and the person it represents. Is there anything you need to do to set things right with that person? (Is there something you’d like to apologize for, or something you’d like to forgive them for?)

The most important custom of the Days of Awe is to apologize to others for things we have done to offend them in the past year. The desire to have a fresh start and to repair relationships is universal. Like our Jewish friends, we Unitarian Universalists believe in forgiving others, and in trying to right the wrongs we have done.

The Flaming Chalice and Covenants

Classes at 11:00 have been learning about the Flaming Chalice, our primary religious symbol of Unitarian Universalism. The older children heard the story of Jon Hus, an early Christian reformer who taught equality and religious freedom.

Our flaming chalice is like a big cup. It represents our community. We put a candle in our chalice because the flame is mysterious and beautiful. It can remind us of the spirit of love and mystery that some people call God. It can remind us of the importance of knowledge and of learning about our world. It can remind us of the power we have to change ourselves and the world for the better.

One of the things we do together as Unitarian Universalists is to create covenants. Covenants are agreements about how we will be with one another and in the world. With our children, we explain that a covenant is a promise. We make promises with one another about how we will treat each other and the world. Here is the covenant that our preschool and kindergarten class wrote together this past week.

World Religions--First Stop: Judiasm

Classes at 9:30 this year are learning about World Religions. This week our elementary age classes studied about Judaism.










On Wednesday, one of the most important Jewish Holidays, the Jewish new year Rosh Hashanah, is celebrated.











Rosh Hashanah is a time of introspection and prayer, as well as celebration. It is a time to ask forgiveness of others who we have wronged during the year and to do good deeds.

Today in the Explorer's Class (grades 4-5 at 9:30) children talked about the religions they will be learning about this year and some of the holidays we will be celebrating together. We shared jokes from around the world and went outside to play a tag game played in another part of the world (Blind Man's Bluff). We learned that the over-arching theme will be "Under the Sky All People Are One Family." We talked about things we'd like to do in class.

Big Questions and Tough Stuff

These are books and resources related to the topic of our final two sessions of our parenting group. Most of these titles are available in the Lighthouse to view or borrow.

Big Questions and Tough Stuff: Religion
Hide and Seek With God
”Where one might find God differs from religion to religion; in fact, answers to this question may well be a part of what differentiates one religion from another. Jews might say they find God in historical actions of freedom and justice; Christians might say God is revealed in the love found in the life and person of Jesus; and Muslims might say they find the one God in the words of the Quran. God is found in everything that is: earth and sky; light and dark; people's caring actions; within ourselves; and even in the not knowing. For if God is a symbol for ultimate reality, values, and mystery,one's unknowing can be considered one's ultimate reality. This metaphor in which God hides and humans search is supported by the UU Principle which urges us to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We search in all of our Sources: our own experience, the `words and deeds of prophetic women and men,wisdom from the world religions, Jewish and Christian teachings, and humanist teachings.” This storybook contains 29 enchanting tales that portray God in many different forms--as transcendent mystery, the mother and father of life, peace and silence, light and darkness, and more. These delightful stories offer children the beginnings of a religious language for talking about God.

Let’s Talk About Interfaith Families: This booklet is designed to help us explore how we live our lives as UU people who embrace a pluralistic and inclusive faith. It will help us to think about and to discuss the concept and the reality of interfaith families. The booklet begins with a discussion of faith structures and practices and how we integrate different faith stances into family life. It then suggests ways to build bridges of understanding and create interfaith ceremonies and celebrations for UU families.


Parents as Resident Theologians includes 6 sessions and 12 readings to help parents and kids explore together their beliefs about God, prayer and other religious issues.

Bridge Magazine: Online magazine dedicated to a coexistence in a world made up of billions of unique individuals who all deserve the right to live as they choose. Includes resources for interfaith families.

Unitarian Universalism is a Really Long Name by Jennifer Dant
This one-of-a-kind picture book is a colorful introduction to Unitarian Universalism for children ages five to nine. Simple language and appealing illustrations offer children accessible answers to commonly asked questions such as: Who are we? What do we believe? How do we worship? Who leads us? Do we read the Bible? What is our religious symbol? Do we pray? What is Sunday school? How do we celebrate? "This appealing book answers children’s basic questions about Unitarian Universalism with friendly words and charming pictures—an excellent resource

Meet Jesus: The Life and Lessons of a Beloved Teacher by Lynn Tuttle Gunney
Meet Jesus is a picture book that introduces young children (ages 4-8) to Jesus and his lessons of love, kindness, forgiveness and peace. Meet Jesus emphasizes the humanity rather than the divinity of Jesus, giving the story broad appeal for liberal or progressive Christians and non-Christians alike. The text includes Bible references with corresponding Bible passages in the back of the book.

Big Questions and Tough Stuff: Life Issues
OWL parent guides A session-by-session guide to what children will learn through the OWL curriculum. Helps parents answer children's tough questions about sexuality issues.

Badger’s Parting Gifts by Susan Varley. A gentle book about death and the gifts our loved ones leave behind.

The Tenth Good Thing about Barney by Judith Viorst When a young boy’s cat dies, his parents help him to deal with his grief by holding a funeral for the cat. They ask him to think of ten good things about his cat, and after talking about death with his father, the boy is finally able to think of the tenth good thing: his cat is in the ground helping to grow flowers.

What Every 21st Century Parent Needs to Know by Debra Haffner
Addresses the big questions, including drinking, drugs and teen sex. Utilizing what she calls the Affirming Parent style, Haffner offers a number of viable solutions to common problems, ranging from Internet use to over-scheduling. An ordained Unitarian minister, Haffner’s tendency is to interpret the stats about children and youth from the bright side. readers will appreciate her just-the-facts-please approach.

The Shelter of Each Other by Mary Pipher An honest appraisal of the pressures on families. Phipher doesn't blame parents for everything. She gives many examples of the way in which outside pressures and the lack of a supporting culture can tear families apart. She offers principles and practical guidelines to help families bond and shelter each other while still giving each other room to grow.

Taking it Home: Families and Faith These booklets were written for congregations and families to use at home and in community to support them through life transitions and spiritual/ethical challenges. Topics include marriage and committed relationships, divorce and broken relationships, families and loss, and the time/money balance. http://www.uua.org/religiouseducation/families/20092.shtml