Religious Education: September 10, 2021

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Religious Education & Faith Development Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation at White Plains September 10, 2021 2021-2022 RE Theme: Community, Wholeness, Discovering Our New Normal. Introducing Raquel Hello CUUC community, I am Raquel Belkin (she/her) and will be joining you this year as part of my field education requirement at Union Theological Seminary where I am in my second year. My religious background is Jewish-Pagan. At CUUC, I will be focusing on youth ministry, supporting the Youth Group and Coming of Age class. I am excited to meet you this Sunday afternoon at outdoor religious education and worship, or in the future! Seeking a Childcare Provider We are adding another childcare provider to our team led by Diane. Do you have a babysitter you love or know an adult (18 and older) who’s kind and gentle? Please contact Diane (dakmv@aol.com) or Tracy (cucwptracy@gmail.com).  Sunday Morning  Online Online Worship Sun Sep 12, 10:00am “Ingathering” ~ Rev. Meredith Garmon This Sunday we hold our online service in the Summer Zoom room, so we can share a word together. To participate in our water ceremony from home, have a small bowl with a half-inch of tap water in it, and a small glass of water. This could be special water, maybe that you collected from a place you visited over the summer, or simple tap water is fine. To join our online worship, click https://bit.ly/CUUC-SummerWorship or phone in (audio only): 1-929-436-2866 · Meeting: 336 956 2210 · Passcode: 468468.  Orders of service are e-mailed and uploaded to our website prior to each Sunday.  Revisit past services anytime at our YouTube Channel and subscribe! Sunday Afternoon  In-Person  Outside If the weather is inclement or threatening and we need to cancel, we will send out an email and post a notice on the CUUC website. Childcare Sun Sep 12, 4:00-5:30pm, Outdoor Playground Diane will offer childcare for young children on our outdoor playground. Everyone will wear masks. Drop off and pick up on the playground.  Outdoor, In-Person Religious Education Sun Sep 12, 4:00pm, Upper Parking Lot We are excited to partner with the CUUC PlaceKeepers for these first sessions to help the children and youth connect with our sacred grounds, and cultivate curiosity about Place in relation to ourselves, each other, and the planet. 1st-12th grade RE classes and Youth Group start meeting outside at CUUC this Sunday! In our first gathering, we will offer a bag/backpack blessing and give you a token to serve as a reminder that you carry the warmth of this community with you. Then we will break off into groups for connecting, check-in, and games. We will end with a healing water ritual at the river birch spring (a source of the Atlantic Ocean on our property!), acknowledging all we are carrying from the past 19 months, symbolically transferring the weight of the experience into an object provided by the earth, then releasing it into the running stream and sharing gratitude for the earth and these moments together. SAFETY NOTES: All adult leaders are vaccinated. Everyone will observe pandemic safety protocols including wearing masks. Dress for a walk in the woods and wear socks with closed-toe shoes. Bug spray will be available at the RE welcome table to self-administer. To protect plants and avoid ticks, everyone will stay on groomed paths.  4:00pm Drop Off, Upper Parking Lot: Park in the lower lot then walk your child or youth to the upper parking lot. We will keep the upper lot as free of cars as possible. Start at the RE welcome table for bug spray, name tags, family registration form, and RE volunteer ethics form.  5:30pm Pick Up, Lower Parking Lot Worship Area: After RE, the children, youth, and adults will walk down the stream to the lower parking lot where outdoor worship is held and reunite with their families. Children up to 5th grade must be met by their adult; they will not be released to run through the parking lot.  Outdoor, In-Person Worship Sun Sep 12, 4:30pm, Lower Parking Lot “Ingathering” ~ Rev. Meredith Garmon Bring your lawn chair and gather with us in the lower parking lot for an in-person version of the morning's online worship. Please wear your mask and maintain social distance. Childcare will be available 4:00-5:30pm on the outside playground.  Connecting in Community Journey Groups   Time to Sign Up. Our Journey Groups are for exploring together, and spiritually growing and deepening, each in our own way. Journey Groups meet once a month, Sep through Jun, to examine monthly themes. You won't want to miss a single meeting! And even if you can only come occasionally, you'll find them valuable. Signing up does not commit you to attend -- it helps us plan. Many of last year's facilitators are returning. While you are welcome to rejoin a group you were in before, we encourage everyone to try a new meeting this year. Click here to sign up for a Jourey Group onlline. Click here for the September reading packet, "On the Journey: Curiosity." Halloween Party   Saturday, October 30th, Early Afternoon Start thinking about your Halloween costumes!  We're planning a party outside at CUUC. Trick-or-Treating. Games. Fun for all ages! We invite all CUUC committees, teams, youth group, and individuals to occupy a spot along the trick-or-treat circuit and help full up our trick-or-treaters' bags with goodies.  Online Story Time Postponed Story time is taking a short break. We will let you know when it begins again. Barbara Mair has been reading for months and it's been lovely to see her relationship with the children develop. We welcome additional readers! If you have a favorite book for approx. ages 8-13 and would like to read it online for 30 minutes each Thursday evening until you finish the book, we'd love to have you! The group typically has check-in 7:15-7:30pm then story 7:30-8:00pm. Contact Tracy at cuucwptracy@gmail.com.  Attn: Families Registration   We ask all PreK-12th grade families to please complete a new registration form. This will assist us in planning classes and activities for 2021-2022.   Click here for the registration form.  Thank you! Verify Your Newsletter Group(s)   All RE newsletter groups have rolled over, e.g., last year's 1st grade families have been moved to the the 2nd grade newsletter group.  Please use the "update subscription preferences" link at the bottom of this newsletter and follow the instructions to view your newsletter groups and verify that they are correct for the 2021-2022 school year.  We will occasionally send newsletters that are designed for specific age groups.  *Kindergarten families, please add yourselves to the new 2021-2022 kindergarten list.   *To sign up a NEW e-mail address, click here.  Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation at White Plains   468 Rosedale Ave · White Plains, NY 10605-5419