Coming Up in RE

What’s happening in our Children’s Ministry on Sunday, January 29th:

First Parish is pleased to offer another Multigenerational Play experience with Alorie Parkhill. This year's show is "Under the Big Top" and explores growing up and having the courage to try new things. Today, children ages 5 and up who are participating in the play will be rehearsing with Alorie and her helpers in the Commons. All other children and youth 5 and older are invited to join Leslie, Rowan, Reed and Pat in the Brackett Room to either make props for the play or to join a philosopher's "tea" chat group talking about the theme of "growing up". Meanwhile, children ages 2 to 5 will be doing our "Friendship Finders" activities with Sonia and Amy; and our babies are invited to play with Michelle in Parish Hall.

Our Youth Group will meet today from 7 to 9pm for a game night. They look forward to leading Youth Sunday next week, February 5th on the theme of "Keeping Your Hands on the Wheel". Please join us for their sharings, and the First Chalice, First Mentor, and Blessing of the New Driver rite-of-passage ceremonies!

Roberta, our Director of Religious Exploration and Youth Ministry is away this week on vacation. Leslie is DRE for the day. If you have any questions, feel free to ask her or any of our RE volunteers.

Roberta Altamari, Director of Religious Exploration and Youth Ministry

What’s happening in our Children’s Ministry on Sunday, February 5th:

Today is a special multigenerational service when our senior high youth will lead us in worship and we will recognize our 8-year-olds with their First Chalice, our 11-year-olds with their First Mentor, and our new drivers with a blessing by Rev. Gary. Please join us!

After the service, there will be a rehearsal for the multigenerational play "Under the Big Top" for all children and teens INCLUDING anyone who wants to play one of the tigers or lions.

Roberta Altamari, Director of Religious Exploration and Youth Ministry

Winter 2011-2012 Program

Here within find some great ways to celebrate the holidays and the winter season. Meaningful activities such as these are a great time to invite a friend to First Parish. If you know a family who might be interested in our liberal faith, the Multigenerational Play would be a perfect way to introduce them to how amazing our community is ….

the multigenerational First Parish Play!

Kids and their adult helpers will rehearse during regular R.E. time on the following Sundays: Jan. 8, Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Jan. 29, Feb. 12, Feb. 19, Feb. 26, and March 4. We will also rehearse on Sunday, February 5 from 11:15am to 12:30 (following the Youth Sunday service); and then we will conclude with a dress rehearsal at 9 am on March 10th and the performance will be a part of the inter-generational service on March 11th at 10 am.

Adults who want to be a part of the play will rehearse from 11:45am to 12:45pm on the following Sundays: Jan. 22, Feb. 12, and Feb. 26; and then join with the kids for the Jan. 8 and March 4 10am rehearsals, the Feb. 5 11:15am rehearsal, and the March 10 dress rehearsal at 9am.

Some members of our Youth Group will also be rehearsing during regular YG time for the clown scene and will hopefully then join with the kids for the Jan. 8 and March 4 10am rehearsals, the Feb. 5 11:15am rehearsal, and the March 10 dress rehearsal at 9am.

Youth Sunday

Join us for one of our favorite annual worship services, Youth Sunday! This year, Youth Sunday will be on February 5th, and will once again include affirming our growing children and being inspired by our Senior High youth as they lead us in worship. If your child is 8 or 11 and wishes to be recognized in our First Chalice or First Mentor special rite-of-passage ceremonies, please contact Roberta at DRE

fpsudbury.org by December 31st. (Children close to these ages who missed participating last year are welcome to do so this year.) For more information about these ceremonies, see our website at http://www.fpsudbury.org/Public/ReligiousExploration/RitesOfPassage and/or contact Roberta for more details.

Save these dates: We know it’s a busy time of year and here are a few opportunities to find warmth and connect with yourselves and others ….

Join us for a special breakfast

The R.E. committee will continue our new tradition of offering breakfast opportunities for sharing feedback about Religious Exploration at First Parish and for connecting with other parents and volunteers who care about all of our children and teens. Save the date and plan to join us: March 4, 2012 from 9 to 9:45am.

Interfaith Movie Night for Younger Teens

We will be hosting an interfaith movie night for 6th through 9th graders on Friday, January 6 from 6:30 to 9. Please join us to enjoy a movie together and meet the teens from the Congregational Church in Sudbury. Missy (their religious educator) and I are accepting suggestions for the movie until December 1st. Stay tuned …

What is happening this year

First Parish of Sudbury will be offering wonderful R.E. programs on Sundays.

Our birth to two-year-old Chalice Babies receive loving care from a First Parish adult. They are held, played with, and adored.

Our one-and-a-half to four-year-old Friendship Finders read books, sing songs, and do simple activities that celebrate our Unitarian Universalist values like “everyone is special”, “working together is fun”, and “we live in a big, beautiful world”.

Our four to ten-year-olds enjoy SpiritPlay, a Montessori inspired program that highlights incredible stories and related activities exploring our Unitarian Universalist promises, such as “respect all people” and “insist on peace and freedom for all”. The stories this year will be about UU identity and the UU promises.

Our ten to twelve-year-old UU Explorers learn about religious traditions from around the world that may inspire them in following the Unitarian Universalist promises in their young lives and encourage them to think about their own religious beliefs. The lessons this year will be about UU identity and science & reasoning.

Our twelve to fourteen-year-old Breakfast Club participants enjoy tasty snacks as they engage in deeper exploration of what it means to be a compassionate and free-thinking young person in today’s world. The group will help select what themes they will focus on during the year.

On some Sundays, all of our kids meet together for a special social justice activity or holiday celebration.

This year, we are lucky to have Alorie Parkhill leading another one of her fabulous multigenerational plays. Rehearsals will be during regular RE time from January 8th to March 4th with our dress rehearsal on Saturday, March 10th and the sharing of the play with our community on March 11th.

Our twelve to fourteen-year-olds will meet on some Sunday afternoons (from 1 to 3pm) for the Our Whole Lives program. Our Whole Lives is a comprehensive sexuality program highlighting the importance of mutual respect in all sexual relationships. We give our young teens the tools to think for themselves in the situations they will someday be facing in their young lives. We welcome others to join this class, particularly boys.

Our fourteen-year-olds will meet on some Sunday afternoon or evenings (meeting time to be determined) for the Coming-of-Age program. They will explore Unitarian Universalist history and theology, spiritual practices, and social justice issues. They will also work with mentors, go to New York City to learn about and work with the homeless community, and present a statement of personal belief to the congregation at the end of the year.

Our fourteen to eighteen-year-old teenagers meet later on Sunday nights as a part of our Youth Ministry sharing activities that promote connection, youth-led worship, learning, leadership development, social justice, and community service. They hope to plan and participate on a mission trip this year!

Religious Exploration Wish List:

With some new space opened up in the basement for Religious Exploration use, we are excited to set up the rooms in an engaging way for the children and youth. To do so, we are looking for donated items you no longer need before searching outside our community. If you have anything we are wishing for, please contact Roberta today.
A clean and good condition sofa or love seat in a plain color of tan, maroon, or blue.
A preschool table and 4 to 6 matching chairs

This R.E. part of Website is routinely being updated. It is an invaluable resource as a one-stop place to access all the information you want about what’s happening in our R.E. program.

Volunteer Help needed

And last but not least, there are a wide variety of ways you can help us in our Religious Exploration program this year! From simple and low commitment to rich and rewarding, there are a wide variety of volunteer options to match your interests and time availability. For more information, contact Roberta at DRE

fpsudbury.org or check out our volunteer schedule online ...

Thank you so much to all of our RE volunteer angels!!!!

"When angels visit us, we do not hear the rustle of wings, nor feel the feathery touch of the breast of a dove; but we know their presence by the love they create in our hearts." ~ Mary Baker Eddy

"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly embracing each other." ~ Luciano de Crescenzo

Roberta Altamari
Director of Religious Exploration and Youth Ministry

Back to Public/ReligiousExploration