R e l i g i o u s e d u c at i o n
Cindy Beal, DRE
Recently, the Religious Education Council spent a good deal of time in creative reflection about our vision for our program and our Society as part of the Strategic Planning process. We came up with an
image of who we are for our membership, and in the community A beacon of chalice light.
We are the place where the lights are on, where we serve the learning and growth of our members and
members of the community who most need what we have to offer.
We imagined broadly and without limit – We envision a joyful, vibrant, engagement across generations, with
connections throughout the congregation and in the wider community, coming together mindfully and purposefully
to carry out meaningful work and explore meaningful questions.
We envision the exciting possibility that we follow our mission into the world and become The Congregation With
The Lights On. We want to be a place where the lights are on every night, for outreach, learning, worship,
community, and service.
Every vision has a starting point, and we start from a place of strength –
The move to a single 10 am service provides an opportunity for re-imagining our Sunday Morning experience and how we provide specially focused and structured classes and groups such as COA, OWL,
and the High School Youth Group, and how we are able to provide more opportunities for parents and
families on Sundays. We met with nearly every parent of children in grades 4-7 to discuss the implications and possibilities of changes in how we provide opportunities for our middle school young people.
A Task Force took the information from those conversations and is making recommendations to the RE
Council about how to best schedule some of these special focused experiences. We will continue to explore how to maximize our potential impact on young people’s lives, welcome newcomers into our
midst, and support families. We are also excited to be working collaboratively with Worship, Adult Ed,
and Newcomer Connections to explore the Strategic Initiative I – Meet people’s need for spiritual connection, nourishment, learning, and service in a more robust way. These conversations are already underway.
The rest of this Religious Education year at 10 am
Sun. May 4
Fri. May 9
Sun. May 11
Sun. May 18
Sun. May 25
Sun. June 1
Sun. June 8
10 am Worship - Why Pride? A lay-led service by the Big Ol’ Gay Committee.
RE Dream Dioramas, exploring the role of hopes and dreams
4 pm Youth Group
6-9 pm COA Friday
10 am Worship / RE Splat Splot, Prop building activities
No afternoon YG (they will have been camping all weekend)
10 am Service for All Ages: The Orange Splot (with young
people singing, acting, and providing props)
followed by Annual Meeting (adult members) and
Deconstructing DaArt and games (children)
4 pm Youth Group
10 am Worship / RE Extraordinary Engineering
4 pm Youth Group
10 am COA-led Worship Service, older students attend / RE Bouncing Bubbles
4 pm Youth Group
10 am Flower Worship Service for All Ages followed by our Annual Picnic
on the front lawn
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