Mark Your Calendars
(events are located at the church, unless listed otherwise)
Choir practice--each Wed @ 6:45pm and Sun @ 9:45am
Ethical Issues in Care at the End of Life--Wed, Sept 1 @ 2-3pm, Auditoriums A & B, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center
Family Promise Cheyenne (FPC) rotation--Sun, Sept 5 - Sun, Sept 12
Ingathering Picnic--Sun, Sept 12 after the service
Bridge Out of Poverty--Tues, Sep 14 @ 9am-5pm at LCCC
Spiritual Practice Worship (and Potluck)--Thurs, Sept 16 @ 5:30pm
Dinner at the COMEA Shelter--Sat, Sept 18 @ 5:30pm
International Day of Peace--Tues, Sept 21, State Capitol Rotunda
Path to Membership class- Sat, Oct 2 @ 9am
MDD District Conference--Oct 8-10, Ogden, UT
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
"There's a line from Charlie Parker, that's probably worth remembering, "if you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn;" chances are you'll never be reborn." - David Dondero
I am writing this newsletter snugly ensconced in my friend Mike's Oakland apartment, having completed a two day UUA training on the Philosophy of Religious Education. Folks, it blew my mind. Every single piece of the training- the women who facilitated (Gaia Brown and Betty Skwarek), the participants from around the country and the Mt Diablo church who hosted us and cared for us so conscientiously- every piece of the experience was so profound and imbued with a sense of purpose. We were gathered to discover how to best serve our children and it was a task that every person was willing to bring their whole selves to.
This was an unusual experience for me. I am easily embarrassed by displays of emotion that I find contrived or flaky. I don't join things easily and I am deeply critical of shared experiences that seem to rely more on bad boundaries and a desire to share than an actual exchange of ideas.
I think the most radical idea that came out of the training was almost the most simple idea: we are called to love. I think most of us already believe that; we approach our obligations or service in the church with a strong sense of the love that guides us in that action. What the training really clarified for me was how as a DRE it can be easy to lose sight of that and even encourage others to lose sight of love as the guiding force behind our religious education.
We have amazing resources as UU's for our RE program. We have thoughtful, vetted curricula and scads of resources to back them up. It is so easy to get caught up in promoting the wealth of our collective traditions that we can forget that it is actually us, the people in the church with our messy, complicated, imperfect lives that the children really need. The curricula is impressive and I am deeply grateful to have it but without people willing to show up and invest their curiosity and compassion, without our desire to share a piece of ourselves with the rising generation of this church - we are robbing our children of our greatest gift.
I feel extremely fortunate to have had this training early in my DRE career. There is such an urge when you start a new job to get it right- to show how competent you are- which is a good thing! But it is far more important that I reinforce the idea that the curriculum is a distant second and we welcome all of you, with whatever skills you have to share to come and share it with our children. They will be blessed by your presence and your concern and I believe you will be blessed in return.
As Unitarians we are encouraged to explore such wide and deep interests, seeing social justice as a spiritual act, art as religion and good food as sacrament. We have so much to share with our children and this training gave me such inspiration and motivation to get to work and create a program that really reflects that. If you would like to have a bigger part in this please don't hesitate to contact me, you'll be glad you did.
Sara Burlingame
