While we have long said that we are welcoming to families with children, our Sanctuary did not reflect that – until now! Our Sanctuary now includes a welcoming space up front for families with young children. There are cozy seating options, child-sized furniture, soft toys, books, and plenty of coloring supplies – featuring a UU kids activity book and 7 Principles coloring cards. We will still have our classic options for all ages, including mandala coloring sheets and colorful pipe cleaners to keep hands busy while we listen to and watch the worship service. Unlike the cushions that we have used in the past, this new area is permanent and will always be there. We will still be offering Religious Explorations groups for children and youth at the same time as our Sunday morning worship service, but all children and youth are always welcome to attend the worship service with their families at any time. We will also continue to strive to offer an all-ages-friendly service at least once per month when we will not offer additional RE classes during the service.
Why are we doing this now? Our theme this month is Widening the Circle and as we shift to more Family Ministry-oriented programs, we realized that we were leaving kids out of a big piece of our faith–our weekly worship services. We have gone through and are still going through an era of change in our faith and in our congregation. We have adapted in so many ways during the last two years of fear and uncertainty regarding the global pandemic and as we begin to gather together in person again, this is another way that we can adapt and make our worship more accessible for everyone. We know that children need to be included and involved in worship in order to become adults who are involved with worship and seeking out faith communities.
We’ll be talking to our younger kids in the next few weeks about what makes a sacred space and how we might behave in ways that are appropriate for sacred spaces. As always, parents are expected to supervise their children in the worship space and to move to a different location if their kids are needing to express themselves in louder ways that folks might find disruptive. We are working on installing a new screen in Sandburg Hall so that space can also be utilized by anyone who feels the need to move around and process in their own way during the service. That being said, it is up to all of us to be welcoming to families with young children who may be coming back to church after a period away, and especially to new families who are seeking a faith community. Here are some tips for being welcoming to families and children:
Learn and use the names of the children and youth who sit near you in worship.
Help kids near you to navigate the order of service and learn how to find hymns in the hymnals.
Invite kids to serve alongside you in worship as greeters, ushers, pew-tidiers, etc.
Recognize that some certain conditions or neurodivergences may not present physically and that some kids (or adults!) may make noises or act in ways that seem strange to you, but are perfectly normal for them.
For lots more information on this model of worship, check out this link to Grace Lutheran Church and their “pray-ground” https://graceofav.org/prayground/
Vespers at 6:30pm: Widening the Circle led by Sharon LeDuc Program at 7pm: Widening the Circle Theme Talk, led by Rev Claudia. Matters theme: Widening the Circle. We will explore what it means to “widen the circle” in our search for meaning. A few questions to consider for our time together: Are you a circle maker, circle joiner or circle avoider? When has someone “widening the circle” made a difference in your life? Who needs you to “widen the circle” for them?
February Calendar
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Vespers Leader: Rev. Claudia
Program: Listening Circles, Eleanor Lane and Melissa Murphy
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Vespers Leader: Kelly Wedell
Program: Listening Circles, Ed Prestemon and Eleanor Lane
Your UUAsheville Board identified the work of Racial Justice as one of our priority goals during the summer of 2020, working with our Minister of Faith Development, Rev. Claudia Jiménez to assemble and empower the Racial Justice Advisory Council (RJAC), made up of an amazing group of insightful and talented leaders dedicated to help our congregation navigate this important work.
The RJAC has worked with a consultant over the last few months to gather information about our UUAsheville system and sought feedback from our congregation. This initial process has resulted in aDraft Assessment Reportwhich Rev. Claudia shared with us all via email on January 26. She and the RJAC are hosting a series of Listening Circles to engage us in conversation about the assessment findings. Your UUAsheville Board met last Sunday for a Listening Circle session and found it to be a great forum for sharing our thoughts and getting clarification for greater understanding.
Please join one of the upcoming Racial Justice Advisory Council Listening Circles if you have not already. We plan to have at least one member of the Board at each one. We want to hear your thoughts!
Three decades ago, one of our much beloved and influential Unitarian Universalist ministers, The Reverend Melvin Hoover, shared a piece he wrote in a meditation manual entitled Been in the Storm So Long. This brilliant compilation features the writings of 29 African Americans, from 19th-century poets to the thinkers of the time, the early 1990s. Mel’s piece, Spirit of the Pioneer, speaks to me as I embark on the next part of my journey toward Racial Justice and as I dare to explore what I must do to truly be an antiracist person. This is not a new journey, for me, UUAsheville, and for Unitarian Universalism, but a continuing and challenging one begun many decades ago.
I will share these wise words with you as inspiration and an invitation to join me and our congregation on this journey toward Racial Justice:
We can’t change the past, but we can learn from it and build on it.
We can’t control the future, but we can shape it and enhance the possibilities for our children and grandchildren.
We can’t discern in the present the fullness of our actions and their impact, but we can be pioneers in our time, exploring fully the crevices and cracks where knowledge and new insights might be found.
We can explore our spectrum of relationships and confront our complacency and certainty about the way things are.
We can dare to face ourselves in our entirety,
To understand our pain, To feel the tears, To listen to our frustration and confusion, and to discover new capacities and capabilities that will empower and transform us. In the spirit of the pioneer, let us now go forth.
Blessed be and may it be so.
Laural Amabile, Clerk, UUAsheville Board of Trustees
Sunday, February 6, 11am YouTube Rev. Cathy Harrington, Interim Lead Minister
This Sunday we will explore the finer points of Mission and Vision. Who were we? Who are we? Who do we want to become? The pandemic has changed many things about our lives, and we have learned a great deal about what truly matters.
Join us as we contemplate and examine not only the mission and vision of UU Asheville, but also how our personal mission and vision intersects with that of the congregation in this time of transition on so many levels.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR LISTENING CIRCLES
Your UUAsheville Board identified the work of Racial Justice as one of our priority goals during the summer of 2020, working with our Minister of Faith Development, Rev. Claudia Jiménez to assemble and empower the Racial Justice Advisory Council (RJAC), made up of an amazing group of insightful and talented leaders dedicated to help our congregation navigate this important work.