Religious Education Update for September 17

Dear RE families,

Welcome to the new church year! I loved the intergenerational
sharing at last Sunday's Water and Stone Ingathering, and I was
excited to see so many children and youth in attendance. The service
was rich with music, deep sharing of our families' spiritual and
physical journeys this summer, and a celebration of our wonderful
community.

The Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma deeply value and respect our
children and youth, an attribute that drew me to join our community.

This coming Sunday, the 4-10 year olds will be going on a UU
Pilgrimage (without leaving the building), and learning about the
roots of Unitarianism and why our ancestors broke away from the
Trinitarians. This lesson is from Holidays and Holy Days, my personal
favorite of all the UU curricula. The children will create their own
chalices to take home.

The Youth Group (grades 7-9) will be walking with their advisor, Lara
Abel, to Baskin and Robbins over the pedestrian footbridge downtown,
and planning for their activities this year. I will be asking parents
to sign a permission slip for the walk.

Our youngest will be in the nursery for storytimes and toys.

The following is a brief update on some RE concerns and plans:

1. Facilities- The Petaluma Women's Club Board is working on bringing
the upstairs classroom up to code, which involves adding some safety
railings across the bottom of the windows. Until this safety and
insurance liability issue is resolved, we'll combine our 4-10 year
old age groups in the Fireside Room. Our Board is also looking into
renting space at the Christian Science Church next door, as our Youth
group has not had an adequate meeting space at the Women's Club. I
truly appreciate all the support from our board in working through
these facility issues.

2. Future intergenerational worship and celebrations-
I have been working with the Worship Associates to plan for future
intergenerational events. We are now working collaboratively on a
Day of the Dead observance in late October, a Stone Soup all church
celebration in November, and holiday festivities in December. You
will be hearing more information about these events as they approach.

3. Registration for RE- I will be asking every family to complete a
short registration form, beginning this Sunday, giving important
contact information for our children and youth. I will also be asking
for families to say how they would like to contribute to RE this
year- by teaching or assisting with classes, by helping with special
celebrations, and in many other ways. The more families are involved,
the richer our program will become.

I look forward to the new church year and hope to see you soon.

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education