August 28:  Moving Meditation with Kim at the Island Yoga Space, 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm: yoga, qigong, meditative dance and labyrinth discussion and practice. Donation.

August 29: Drum building during RE; snack for the goodies table please!

September 5: Water communion

September 12:  First Day of Fall Religious Education

September 12:  Waffle Brunch with the senior high:  donations go to begin a micro-loan program administered by the youth and their advisors.

September 13:  Adult comparative religion class begins. Katz Office, 6:30 to 8:30 pm: Judaism with Alan Miller

September 25: Understanding the Bhagavad Gita with Kim Beyer-Nelson, Island Yoga Space, 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm.  Bring a copy of the Gita with you. Donation.

October 2:  Powell’s Bookstore in Portland Pilgrimage.  Meet at Powell’s via train or car, out for a meal with others who have shown up for the event.

October 11:  Adult Comparative Religion:  Christianity 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the church office

October 9:  Jr./Sr. High service at Temple Bnai Torah, (time pending) www.templebnaitorah.org as part of the Neighboring Faith’s curriculum.

October 16: 9:00 am to 4:00 PM at the church office, Introduction to Buddhist Thougth and Practice with Alan Miller, Channie Peters, and Kim Beyer-Nelson

October 16: Deadline for submissions to Good News, the national Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship’s journal. Contact Kim for submission guidelines and departments. Pays in copies.

October 30:  Youth Halloween Dance for UU cluster churches.  Donation.

October 31:  All ages service!  Halloween!

November 8:  Adult Comparative Religion:  Islam 6:30-8:30 at the church office

November 11: Jr./Sr. High Baptist Church visit ( time pending)

Special notes

Pre-K through 5th Grade

On August 29, I hope you will encourage your children to come to RE. Thanks to the work of Herb Hethcote, we have twenty drum frames ready to decorate and strap!  We’ll be creating our drums that day, and having a drum circle outside, weather permitting, along with goodies to celebrate summer’s end and the excitement of fall. All ages are invited, so if you would like to make a drum, we may very well have left-overs!  Come and play with us!

We are actively looking for facilitators to join our Sunday morning team this fall. The Children’s Chapel model is very easy to do: I usually lead the worship experience, and facilitators help with the breakouts (just ½ hour, with everything set up and ready to go for you). I have attached a sheet with the topics and breakouts for your perusal.  Please let me know as soon as possible when and what you would like to do to help. 

 Jr. High (6th through 8th grade)

Our Neighboring Faiths program this year will involve visits to other houses of worship.  If you would like to be a driver and experience these faith traditions as well, please contact Kim Beyer-Nelson or Sherry Kaurin to volunteer. 

I’ve attached a year-long parent release form for you to fill out and send back to me, either by snail-mail or email.  This is an important document; children without release forms will not be able to attend the worship house visits.

I am also looking for facilitators and assistants to teach the program.  Each session has a complete curriculum, and you don’t have to know much about the faith to teach it well. I also recommend to parents the book How to be a Perfect Stranger, which will help you and your children better prepare for a site visit. I will keep a copy of this book in my office for short perusals (it will be ordered in September). 

Would you be interested in hosting a Jr. High potluck and game night or movie night? Call or e-mail Kim and we can talk about particulars!

Also attached, please find a copy of the Neighboring Faith’s calendar. There may be some date changes around visitation days if schedules shift with the houses of worship themselves. I’ll keep folks up to date with e-mails.

Finally, you may want to attend the adult comparative religion programs this fall and winter. Alan Miller and I will be presenting world religions paralleling the faiths presented in the Jr. High Program to help you communicate with your teen or tween as they experience these other faiths. See the calendar for more information.

Sr. High

Our team of advisors and youth leaders have put together a wonderful calendar to follow this year.  Each month, activities will be based on the following:

1st Sunday:  Games and Planning Day

2nd Sunday: Movie Night and discussion

3rd Sunday: Learn about a religion/culture: make food from that culture

4th Sunday: Focus on Music: drum circles, live or recorded music sharing, talking about themes, messages in music

5th Sunday:  Joint Youth Group: connect with other nearby youth groups in an activity

Youth are also invited to journey with the Jr. High students to experience different houses of worship this year.  Please be sure to fill out the parent release form for this year so your youth can participate in this wonderful outreach and learning program.

I would also love to have youth assist in the Pre-K through 5th grade Children’s Chapel experiences.  If your teen would be interested in helping out, please contact Kim Beyer-Nelson

Specials already on the calendar:

September 12:  Waffle Brunch, with donations benefiting the Kiva micro-loan program

October 30 (pending):  UU Cluster Halloween dance and benefit

For Everyone:

We are entering the time of year when I really do need to fill our many volunteer positions in RE.  Without your help, our program will not be possible.  Please encourage church members without children to come and experience RE as well; the programs are so very easy to work with and our kids are so much fun!  If you know someone I should approach to facilitate or assist this coming year, drop me their name and I’ll follow up!

Attached, you will also find an RE registration sheet. Please fill out and return to me in whatever way works…hand-carry, snail mail or via email.  This helps me make sure contact information and children’s health contacts are always up to date.

Finally, check in often on the RE section of the web.  You’ll find calendars, stories, and pictures from RE!  Forms for registration and parent release forms will also be available.

Talk to you again next month!

Namaste (I bow to the Light within you)

Kim Beyer-Nelson

Attachments:

1. Parent release form for Jr./Sr. High Neighboring Faiths trips

2. Neighboring Faiths calendar

3. Pre-K through 5th calendar

4. Neighboring Faiths Driver/facilitator/assistant sign up sheet

5. Islamic visit: attire and behavior guide

 Kim Beyer-Nelson, DRE

RE Table Welcomes All
Check out the RE table before or after church.  We offer an informational flyer for new families, registration forms, and pamphlets from the UUA. We will post photos from classes and events on the bulletin board.  An RE Greeter will be there every week to help newcomers find their way to church and classes.  Contact Kim Beyer-Nelson if you’d like to help with the Greeter Table one Sunday a month.

RE Scholarship Fund Available
Some RE programs cost more than our pledges are able to cover.  In those cases, we ask families to pay extra for an activity, such as the Coming of Age program (The Quest).  In order to ensure that our programs do not become a hardship for families, we have limited scholarship funds available.  Money will be awarded at a 50% subsidy of the total cost of the event.  If you want to request a scholarship, contact the DRE.

Questions?  Contact the DRE or call the Church Office at 206-780-0373.

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