News: August 16, 2024
Dear Beloved First UU Community
I remember the first time we had the Feast of All Good Children. In fact, I remember, in 1996 when a creative Religious Education Committee volunteer shared an idea for an annual ritual that sounded like something out of a fairy tale book. Since the beginning of every school year is a time of change, she created an event to mark children’s transitions. Many children and youth may be going into a new grade or even a new school. Or they may be beginning flute lessons, joining a soccer team or moving to a new neighborhood. Some will be moving to new Religious Education groups too.
So, what exactly is this Feast of All Good Children that we do? On a Sunday at the beginning of the school year, parents, siblings, church members gather around a small fire in the children’s courtyard. Each child, teen, and adult, if they wish, tell those gathered in the circle, one by one, what change or transition is happening in their life. Then with a drum roll…brrrrrrrttt… they jump over the fire! Everyone cheers and claps. Exciting, right? During the morning the children have made a GREAT CAKE made from cakes brought in by our loving members. The children have iced and decorated it and after the fire-jumping, it is time to share “the feast” with the community. Bring an uniced sheet cake before either service if you’d like to contribute to the GREAT CAKE.
A good ritual can mark a significant life event, allowing the individual and their community to pay good attention and notice the meaning of a life change. Or the ritual allows us to notice a season or creates a regular structure to ensure we live out our deeply held values.
Our church is filled with ritual events that happen each year. These rituals create the soil in which our members, including our growing children and their families, can root their lives. I hope you were able to see our Blessing of the Backpacks this past Sunday. The whole congregation reached out their arms to the families and blessed them as they begin their new education year. We hope you will join us for the Feast of All Good Children, this Sunday after each service in Channing Hall and the children’s courtyard, as well as our annual RE Dedication in this Sunday’s church service. And note the many ways…like our Feed the Community Food Drive, our Christmas Pageant, our Easter Parade to the Emergency Aid Coalition, our Bread and Flower Communions and more… when we will lean into our values and mark the seasons and transitions in our lives this year.
We hope you will join us for all of them and feel how ritual can ground you, connect you to this beloved community and bring meaning to your life.
See you Sunday,
Carol
I remember the first time we had the Feast of All Good Children. In fact, I remember, in 1996 when a creative Religious Education Committee volunteer shared an idea for an annual ritual that sounded like something out of a fairy tale book. Since the beginning of every school year is a time of change, she created an event to mark children’s transitions. Many children and youth may be going into a new grade or even a new school. Or they may be beginning flute lessons, joining a soccer team or moving to a new neighborhood. Some will be moving to new Religious Education groups too.
So, what exactly is this Feast of All Good Children that we do? On a Sunday at the beginning of the school year, parents, siblings, church members gather around a small fire in the children’s courtyard. Each child, teen, and adult, if they wish, tell those gathered in the circle, one by one, what change or transition is happening in their life. Then with a drum roll…brrrrrrrttt… they jump over the fire! Everyone cheers and claps. Exciting, right? During the morning the children have made a GREAT CAKE made from cakes brought in by our loving members. The children have iced and decorated it and after the fire-jumping, it is time to share “the feast” with the community. Bring an uniced sheet cake before either service if you’d like to contribute to the GREAT CAKE.
A good ritual can mark a significant life event, allowing the individual and their community to pay good attention and notice the meaning of a life change. Or the ritual allows us to notice a season or creates a regular structure to ensure we live out our deeply held values.
Our church is filled with ritual events that happen each year. These rituals create the soil in which our members, including our growing children and their families, can root their lives. I hope you were able to see our Blessing of the Backpacks this past Sunday. The whole congregation reached out their arms to the families and blessed them as they begin their new education year. We hope you will join us for the Feast of All Good Children, this Sunday after each service in Channing Hall and the children’s courtyard, as well as our annual RE Dedication in this Sunday’s church service. And note the many ways…like our Feed the Community Food Drive, our Christmas Pageant, our Easter Parade to the Emergency Aid Coalition, our Bread and Flower Communions and more… when we will lean into our values and mark the seasons and transitions in our lives this year.
We hope you will join us for all of them and feel how ritual can ground you, connect you to this beloved community and bring meaning to your life.
See you Sunday,
Carol
