Our church staff are enthusiastically wrapping up their plans for the fall, including themed worship services and activities for friends of all ages, as summer days shorten and we see some color in the leaves around us. Our Reopening Team continues to monitor the health and well being of our community and the surrounding region, establishing protocols for meeting safely. Our church buildings are receiving some updates that will enhance our radical welcome to friends of all ages. We are excited to return to ‘live’ worship, streamed from our beautiful sanctuary for our traditional Water Communion service marking the start of a new church year. While our Sunday morning services will remain streamed online, we are able to meet in small groups on campus. Religious Education gatherings in person in small group models are possible! In addition to opening our Sanctuary for quiet reflective visits we are inviting children and teens back to Fellowship Hall.
These are some of our offerings planned for September for families and friends of all ages that encourage us to ‘Embrace Possibility,’ the first monthly theme of our new year!
Evening Sanctuary: A time for quiet early evening reflection in our beautiful worship space
Family Chalice Lightings: Families may join worship to light our chalice during live services
Family Worship All Month: All services will be Family Friendly, including interactive components and connections throughout our weeks!
Invitations for our young folx to come to campus include UU activities such as:
- Blessing of our Backpacks and All Things New (Children & Teens of all ages)
- Story Circle for UU Littles on a Saturday morning (Pre-K/Kindergarten ages)
- UU After School Drop-In (Weekday for Older Children)
- Youth Groups (For our Middle and High Schoolers on Sunday afternoons)
- Chalice Making throughout the month and after church (all ages)
Activities will connect children to our worship and monthly themes. Our Youth Groups will work together on community projects and our older teens will begin ‘Coming of Age.’ Older teens are also invited to join friends from the First Congregational Church (FCCR) for our newly formed MultiFaith Youth Spirit Group! We will gently welcome children and teens back to their familiar spaces, offering structure and content that invites sharing and team building. We look forward to offering Our Whole Lives to different age groups (grades 5 & 6 and grades 7 & 8) in the late winter, after we’ve had time to develop connections between youth and adult volunteers. Family and weekly UUCR email messages will include details and it is likely that registrations will be required for most activities so that we can safely monitor how many people gather and we have records for contact tracing throughout the fall.
As we meet with our children and youth, we will learn how to safely inhabit our space.
We are also working hard to strengthen our adult volunteer pools for specialized programs that we will offer this year and next. Our Whole Lives Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Jubilee Kids (contemporary anti-racism curricula) both require training before content can be delivered. Current facilitator training for OWL is scarce and we hope to host training here at UUCR. We are also obtaining leader training for Jubilee Kids & Youth (https://rochesterunitarian.org/circle-of-beloveds).
If you are interested in being a future facilitator for either of these specialized programs kindly be in touch.
I hope you are feeling excited about what is possible. At UUCR, we know how to build community and we know how to create space where friends of all ages learn and grow. Come be part of what unfolds this fall! Please reach out with questions, concerns, suggestions, inspirations or just to connect.
With hope and gratitude,
Sally Liebermann