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A Note from Reverend Bonnie

Celebrate!

What are the religious values we strive to uphold? Teaching our children the value of community, that people will be more supportive in their lives than things. That what we do now affects the world for years to come. That spirituality should nurture wonder and often be downright fun, but should not instill fear or guilt. That we all do things that are wrong now and then, but that we are loved anyway. That God is available to all people of the world through their own religious perspectives, and our own way of openness and freedom of conscience allows us to respect and celebrate this diversity.

I think this is a fabulous religious tradition. It's important that we're here to declare this perspective to the world. These values make a difference in the lives of adults and children. "Stewardship" is about holding these values sacred and participating in making a difference. As we talk about Stewardship this month, know that we are stewards of values as much as a building; we are stewards of the future as much as the present. I hope you'll Celebrate Stewardship with us.

We have a chance for real fun this year, as our stewardship campaign will focus around small group parties! That's part of the celebration. Attend a party just for fun, or make plans to be at the luncheon on March 19 if you can't make one of the other parties.

Please remember that one quarter of your pledge directly supports Religious Education. The rest supports worship, social action, and community building activities. It all supports the values we wish to teach our children. I think they are values worth celebrating!

Faithfully,
Rev. Bonnie

March RE Calendar

RE Council and Committees

Have you ever attended one of our potlucks, or helped your children make crafts at the Christmas party, or received a thank you note for teaching, or enjoyed the Christmas pageant? If you have, then you've seen our five Religious Education committees in action. The members of these committees are people just like you, with demanding jobs and active children and busy lives. Yet they understand that in order for our Religious Education department to do the important work we do, we need people to help make it happen.

As spring rapidly approaches, most of these committees will be looking to find new members to replace departing ones. You may be approached by one of the committee chairs and we hope that you will consider joining. We have tried to streamline the responsibilities of each group so that most of them only meet 3 to 4 times a year. The five committees are: Curriculum, Family Support and Outreach, Special Events, Teacher Support, and Worship. Each one is an integral part of our multi-faceted RE program. If any of these committees sound interesting to you now, please don't hesitate to contact [Joan Casey] for further information.

Online Parenting Support

There are two ways to hook up with other UU parents, one locally and one nationally.

Our Family Support and Outreach Committee has created a uuparenting group on Yahoo. Just go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/uuparenting to get started.

The UUA also hosts a UU parenting email discussion list. Recent discussion has become lively with topics such as whether to 'force' children to attend Sunday School, child-rearing and consumerism, and trying to raise children as UUs. Parents and guardians are exchanging wonderful stories, advice and perspectives. If you are interested in being on this list, please go to http://lists.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/uu-parenting to find out how to sign up.

Another online source of information for UU parents is at http://www.uua.org/families/. You can find information about family rituals in the "Families at Home" site, ways to help your children cope with life changes such as divorce and death in the "Taking It Home" series of booklets and a treasure trove of other information.

Teacher Support Coffees

The Teacher Support Committee is hosting a planning coffee for spring teachers on Sunday, March 5 from 8:30 - 9:00 am & 10:00 - 10:30 am. There will be refreshments (bagels, donuts, coffee, juice) in Room 001 of the lower level, with childcare available down the hall in Room 006. Members of the Teacher Support Committee will be on hand too.

We hope to see many, if not most, of our spring teachers there. The morning really helps teams stay in touch, problem solve and plan.

Help Wanted!

Wanted: Folks who are interested in helping with childcare for some of our events from time to time, like New U classes and Newcomer Dinners. Dates and hours vary, as do the ages of the children. We need adults over 18 years of age who can be background screened. We pay $10 an hour. If you are interested, please speak to Joan Casey for further details.

Youth Coffeehouse

Everyone had a delightful time on Saturday, February 4, when the sanctuary was once again filled with the performances of our talented kids. There were funny skits, magic acts, music and even a fencing act. Special thanks to Jan Chamberlin and Kevin Quinn for overseeing the sound system.

Summer Fun

Camp UniStar is a camp for Unitarian Universalist individuals and families and other like-minded people. It is located on Star Island in Cass Lake, a part of the Chippewa National Forest in northern Minnesota. During the season, the camp offers ten family weeks with various programs, a workweek, two youth weeks, Boundary Waters canoe trips, and September group retreats. The lake encourages water activities; the forest trails attract hikers; sunrises and sunsets invite meditation. Each year UniStar campers return for peace, quiet, and serenity to an island retreat with no roads or commercial enterprise. Star Island even has its own lake, Windigo, acknowledged in Ripley's Believe It or Not series as "the lake in the island in the lake." For more information, check out their website at http://www.campunistar.org/program/.

Faith Beyond Walls

Excerpt from a thank you letter written by Reena Hajat, director of Faith Beyond Walls, the organization that helped hurricane victims:

"Good News! Families are moving into the units. Three are in and we are waiting on three more families. One woman cried when she saw the apartment, cried when she saw all the furniture, and then cried when she saw the museum full of stuff. She was so happy!

I personally want to thank you and all the Eliot Chapel crew for your dedication to this project. You guys were awesome!"

The Senior Youth and Barbara Bleisch, one of their advisors, were honored by the organization for all their hard work.

Committed Couples' Collaborative Communications
For the Chronically Time-Crunched

Does daily life have you so swamped that you barely see your partner - never mind meaningfully talk to him or her? Then this event is for you! The Family Support and Outreach Committee and ACME are excited to offer an introduction to communication strategies for committed couples. Please join us at Eliot on Sunday, April 2nd at 7.00 pm. See the RE bulletin board for further information and childcare sign-up.

Playgroup Fun

If you've got a little one, we would love for you to join us in the nursery at 9:30 am on Friday, March 10 for play (the kids) and conversation (the adults). We meet the second Friday of each month. We love to have new babies visit us too! We look forward to meeting some new families.

Have a Milestone in your life to share? Have a Milestone in your life to share? Know of an Eliot student living his or her faith? Please contact Joan Casey so that we can share your family's news in REjuvenation!, our children's RE newsletter, and on our RE bulletin board leading into Adams Hall. For More News... To find about our 4 new babies, a new family and who celebrated birthdays in March, be sure to pick up a copy of REjuvenation! at Eliot. Religious Education Department Rev. Bonnie Vegiard, Programs Minister Joan Casey, Religious Education Director Susan Maginn, Youth Director This newsletter is a product of the Eliot Chapel Religious Education Department. Please direct any articles, comments, or questions to Joan Casey (Religious Education Director) at 314-821-0911 or at . An article must be submitted no later than the 20th of each month to ensure it appearing in the next issue. Back To Top