This Week in Religious Education

This week will be one of my favorites of the whole year, with the Children's Annual Meeting at 11:00. The Annual Meeting is when the kids get to practice our form of polity, congregational polity, and use democratic processes to decide some real things for the RE program.

You can read about the 2018 Children's Annual Meeting on the "Children's Chalice" blog: https://childrenschalice.wordpress.com/2018/04/18/the-2018-childrens-annual-meeting/

This meeting is primarily for the elementary aged kids, but younger and older kids are welcome if they are interested. There will be three committees to join during the meeting:

1. The Open Minds Committee (which will nominate programs for the Summer RE class)

2. The Helping Hands Committee (which will nominate ideas for the Spring Service Project the kids will work on for the rest of the RE time in this church year)

3. The Loving Hearts Committee (which will nominate recipients for next year's Shared Children's Offering)

All the children will get to vote on all three issues, and we'll announce the decisions following the meeting. Please plan to attend for this practice in congregational polity and the democratic process for our kids!

9:15

• Nursery Care
• All Ages Spirit Play: Our Church is Like a Chalice

11:00

• Nursery Care
• Pre-K Spirit Play: Our Church is Like a Chalice (also welcome to attend the Children's Annual Meeting instead if they prefer)
• Labyrinth Learning for 1st-5th grade: Children's Annual Meeting
• Middle School: a lesson about Cults

12:00

• Congregational Meeting in the Sanctuary

12:30

• All Church Potluck Lunch

12:45

• High School Group Soul Matters on the theme of Wholeness
• Adult Soul Matters "Drop In" Group on the theme of Wholeness
  

If you have not already done so, please take some time this week to complete the registration form for the new program year.

Children's Registration

Youth Registration

For the past week I have been away from OUUC, having traveled to San Diego for the annual in-person meeting of the Religious Education Credentialing Committee. This committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association is responsible for the Religious Education Credentialing program. I went through that program and earned the Master Level Credential in 2014, and I now serve as Chair Elect of the Committee.

We meet in person once a year, moving to different locations around the country, so that candidates for credentialing can appear before the committee for their credentialing interview. Candidates craft portfolios of reflections and work samples to show their competency in required and elective areas of this work, lead the committee in worship and give a presentation on some aspect of their work they feel shows their best, and then must answer very challenging questions posed by the committee for 40 minutes. It's a big deal!

This program nurtures and affirms the professionalism and excellence of religious educators, and it is a pleasure and an honor to work with this wonderful committee of dedicated UU's. And I also appreciate all of you at OUUC who have supported my professional growth as a religious educator, both when I was working toward credentialing and after.

Sara Lewis, credentialed religious educator, master level

Director of Lifespan Religious Education

Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 10am-2pm

Available by appointment: Saturday through Thursday

Sabbath Day (when I will not check email or respond to calls): Friday

olydre@gmail.com or dre@ouuc.org

360-786-6383 x. 102