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2022-02-18

Religious Education: February 20, 2022

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Religious Education & Faith Development
Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation at White Plains
February 20, 2022

2021-2022 RE Theme: Community, Wholeness, Discovering Our New Normal
Urgent Need

Gus, Helen, and Julieta Caro, a CUUC family and RE teacher, lost their home and belongings recently when a fire burned through their New Rochelle apartment building.
We are organizing support for the family. They are looking for temporary housing near New Rochelle so Julieta can continue in her elementary school. In addition, they need clothing, coats and other winter gear, school supplies, and personal items. Clothing sizes are women’s size M, men’s size M-L (34-30), and children’s size 12-14. Financial donations and gift cards are also welcome. Eventually, they will need to furnish a new home; we will share about those and additional needs as they arise. The family has their hands full managing immediate arrangements so we ask that donations and questions go through Caring and Sharing member, Julie Gans (julieagans@gmail.com & 914-830-0944). Thank you so much. 
Congregation Meeting & Vote 
Members Please Attend & Vote

Sun Feb 27, 11:15am, Zoom 2210
The Board of Trustees will conduct a Special Meeting of the Congregation to vote on reducing the number of Board members and amending some language in our Bylaws. We will not hold online coffee hour after worship so that everyone can attend the meeting. Contact: Joe Majsak (jmajsak@verizon.net).

Nominations for the Nominating Committee

 Please consider serving in a CUUC leadership role! If you'd like to serve on our Nominating and Leadership Development Committee, or want to nominate another member (with their consent), complete our nomination application form (select an application to print, fill in, and mail; or an application to type in, save, and attach to an email). Send form to board chair Joe Majsak, either by email (jmajsak@verizon.net) or USPS mail (26 Blackthorn Lane, White Plains, NY 10606). Application deadline is Sun Mar 13. Contact: Joe Majsak (jmajsak@verizon.net, 914-281-3243). See our letter here.


From the COVID Safety Team
CUUC Returns to In-Person
Worship and RE
Sunday, March 6th!

Vaccinations, masking, and distancing will still be required, but we can now sing our hymns out loud (while keeping our masks on) instead of humming. We won’t be serving refreshments yet, but we will soon have a “Coffee-Free Coffee Hour” time after worship for socializing. We will continue to offer our online livestream of the worship so people may attend remotely. Click here to see the email message from the committee.

Supporting Young People's Mental Health
Nurturing Resilience  

Knowing that our young people need extra support these days, we are introducing weekly resources for nurturing resilience and encouraging caring conversations between young people and their peers, and young people and trusted adults. Visit the growing list of resources here.

Week 5: February 20, 2022
5-7 Minute Video: Managing Intense Emotions

This is our fourth week sharing support materials from the Child Mind Institute’s California Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Project. This series of free videos and print resources for parents, educators, and young people, available in English and Spanish, is designed to promote young people’s emotional health and help them thrive. The five video topics for children, middle school youth, and high school youth are understanding feelings, relaxation skills, understanding thoughts, managing intense emotions, and mindfulness. 

Family discussion: We are inviting your family to watch and discuss one short video each week, during dinner or another family time. You can use the corresponding skill sheets, which offer key takeaways and skills to practice. This week, we encourage you to watch the fourth short video, managing intense emotions, and discuss it together. The suggested activity is learning that when big emotions take over, calming items can help bring us back to the present moment and ride out that intensity. Click the link below for the short managing intense emotions video and skill sheets for your child’s age group: 

Peer Pastoral Care Training
for Youth
The first is March 13th at 1:30pm. Pastoral care is an essential part of religious community and an essential part of caring for each other as human beings. We each can be present to each other as we go through both the hard and joyful parts of life. Compassion, witness, listening, and empathy are gifts we can give each other.  Sharing those gifts with others helps us learn to receive those gifts when we need them.  Registration information coming soon.
Youth Mental Health Training
for Adults

Youth Mental Health First Aid is a model of support developed by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. YMHFA is based on an action plan that 1) focuses on ensuring youth have a voice and a choice in their mental health care and recovery & 2) teaches people how to respond in a crisis or emergency situation. In this training you will learn how to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges and crises in youth and practice applying appropriate steps to help youth.

The training totals 8 hours, which includes two hours of self-paced content and two three-hour, instructor-led group learning sessions on Zoom. Upon completion of the course you will receive a Mental Health First Aider certificate and access to a community forum with other Unitarian Universalist mental health first aiders. Register hereWe invite you to forward your $40 receipt to Tracy for reimbursement. 

Coming Up
Story Time
New Story Starting

Mondays, 7:15pm Check In & 7:30-8:00pm Story
Zoom 6161 | Meeting ID: 616 163 6161 · Passcode: 468468
Monday February 21st, Barbara will begin a new book, The Phoenix and the Carpet by Edith Nesbit. Five children find a magic carpet, able to journey through time and space, and inside it a strange egg which hatches into the Phoenix, an ancient and honorable bird who helps them have adventures which never turn out exactly as planned. Our regular attendees are ages 10-12.  All are welcome! With the start of a new book, it's a great time to join in! Contact: Tracy, cuucwptracy@gmail.com

LGBTQIA Workshop
Trends in Gender Identity, Intersectionality, and Neurodiversity

Sun Mar 6, 11:15am, Sanctuary and Zoom 2210
Childcare will be available

Tony Arrien of the LGBTQIA Social Justice Team presents a workshop and Q&A session to share important trends relevant to teachers, administrators, employers, mental health professionals, LGBTQ allies, and UUs so we can become more aware, inclusive, understanding, supportive, and welcoming of diverse peoples, gender identities, and neurotypes, and appreciate the effect of their combined minority stress. We will learn about the emerging term “Neuroqueer.” Contact: Tony Arrien (arrien@optonline.net).

Online Cooking Class
Great Family Activity

“Chef’s Knife Skills & 30-Minute Sauté Supper Recipe, with John Schwam,” Online, Sun Feb 27, 5:00pm, Zoom 7899

Join this online congregation event to learn easy and fancy chef skills, and create a delicious sauté supper you’ve never had. John Schwam will share food prep techniques plus his recipe for Shrimp Creole Asiastique. Click here for the recipe and to learn more. Contact: John Schwam, jgschwam@gmail.com
Center Lane
Weekly Programming
This Sunday 
February 20th  
RE Classes on Break

Classes for 1st-9th graders do not meet February 20th and 27th due to the week-long school break. We look forward to resuming gatherings in person Sunday, March 6th, 1st-9th grade classes at 10:00am and childcare at 9:45am!
In preparation for our return to in person gatherings, we ask families to send updated vaccination information to Tracy (cuucwptracy@gmail.com). We will continue using blue dots on nametags to indicate completed vaccines, which allow people of all ages to move freely throughout the building. 
10:00am Worship
Online

“Chimp Lessons” ~ Rev. Meredith Garmon

What are we? What sort of animal is the homo sapiens? As we continue to explore this question, what insights arise from research on our chimpanzee cousins?

To join the worship livestream, click https://bit.ly/CUUC-Worship, or phone in (audio only): 646-876-9923. Webinar: 761 321 991, 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.

After worship, join our Virtual Coffee Hour or phone in (audio only): 929-436-2866 · Meeting: 336 956 2210 · Passcode: 468468
For up-to-date information, schedules, and Zoom links, visit the RE overview and schedule. You may also consult our CUUC website calendarFamilies participating in childcare through 12th grade RE, please submit 2021 registration (click here for the form). Read All CUUC Announcements in the Weekly e-Communitarian Newsletter
Tracy Breneman, Director of Faith Development and Religious Education, cuucwptracy@gmail.com
Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation at White Plains  
468 Rosedale Ave · White Plains, NY 10605-5419






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