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Emmy's Friday Update
and Monthly Column
Emmy's Friday Update
For Sunday April 28th
Greetings CYM Families & Friends!
t’s hard to believe that April is coming to a close and Spring is in full swing. After what can be assumed the last frost of the season, we have upper 70s temps in the weekly forecast! I hope you can take a look at the Save the Date portion of this update and fit some of the upcoming UUSE community events in your calendar. Spring is a time of intention and for hope for the future. Let’s grow together!
Tomorrow is the 2nd annual Mayfair at UUSE! Be sure to swing by for the Pagan Group’s Beltane ritual, and to participate in fun activities put together by our dedicated volunteers with a variety of passions to share. The CYM committee will offer a thoughtful and artistic approach to teaching activism to our children and youth. I also hear there is going to be amazing food available thanks to a West African cuisine food truck! And don’t forget to gather your empty cans and bottles to bring along and support the UUSE Youth Group, who will be collecting returnables on site.
Here’s what else is happening in CYM this Sunday, April 28, 2024:
Nursery: Childcare will be available in our nursery at 11 AM for children age 3 and under.
Spirit Play: “The Good Shepherd and the Lost Sheep” - A parable told by Jesus which teaches that each and every one is important and all should be treated with love.
Workshop Adventures & The Fifth Dimension: “Birdhouses” - A combined class will work on birdhouses with outdoor educator Lynn Dove (and a few extra hands to assist with basic tools.) Students will assemble and prepare birdhouses to be put up on the UUSE grounds!
OWL: “Contraception and Safer Sex” - Participants learn that careful, consistent use of protection against pregnancy and STIs can make sexual behavior more caring and responsible. They practice evaluating behaviors and their risk for unintended pregnancies and STIs, in an affirming and accepting atmosphere that promotes personal responsibility and planning for the consequences of sexual behavior. Options include bringing in a guest speaker or taking a field trip to a reproductive health center.
High School Youth Group: Will meet to plan the details of their bake sale and work on details of the mural on the Garden Level.
Save the Date:
APRIL
TOMORROW Sat, April 27: UUSE 2nd Annual Mayfair! A variety of booths will be set up in the Sanctuary and the UUSE Pagan Group will lead a Beltane ritual. Activities for the whole family! Mayfair Cookie Competition!: Who makes the best cookie? Enter your tried-and-true family recipe or a new experiment you’ve been wanting to try. It’s a multi-generational competition—There will be prizes for an adult and a kid winner. Bragging rights and a beautiful UUSE Master Cookie Baker Apron are up for grabs! To Enter 1. Contact Jennifer Klee at jenduvklee@gmail.com to reserve your spot in the competition. 2. Bake! Since this is a competition and we want everyone to sample many cookies, please make 6-8 dozen SMALL, bite sized cookies. 3. Send the list of ingredients to Jennifer so we can have that information available for people with allergies. Questions? Contact Jennifer Klee at jenduvklee@gmail.com
MAY
Sat, May 4: Spring clean-up of the UUSE grounds - Would your family enjoy getting outside and earning a prize for completing family-friendly tasks? Come lend a hand to the Building & Grounds committee, breakfast foods will be provided! Please shoot me an email if your family plans on joining so I can have enough prizes on hand!
Sun, May 5: Youth Group Bake Sale, CYM family potluck lunch then All Congregation Meeting - Bring cash for the Youth Group Bake Sale and then please join us on the Garden Level at 12:15 for a potluck lunch before the All Congregation meeting at 1 PM in the Sanctuary. Please let me know asap if you need childcare in order to attend that All Congregation meeting! Items to be discussed are important proposed changes to policy and information about upcoming voting at the annual meeting.
Fri, May 10 - Sat, May 11: High School Youth Group Lock-In. More details coming soon.
Sat, May 11: Watercolor lesson with Carolyn Emerson from 10am-12pm on the Garden Level! CYM families are invited to learn and create with expert instruction. A great opportunity to create a gift for Mother’s Day the following day! Open to all ages, please RSVP by email to me at dcym@uuse.org.
How You Can Help in CYM:
NEEDED: A couple
volunteers to help out at the CYM booth at Mayfair on Saturday, April 27! Please email if you are interested and available to help. Thanks!
Nursery (ages 3 and under)
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084EAFAC2CA3FFCE9-nursery
Workshop Adventure (Grades 1 through 5) https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084EAFAC2CA3FFCE9-workshop
Twilight Zone (6th, 7th and 8th grades) https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084EAFAC2CA3FFCE9-5thdimension
High School Youth Group (Grades 9-12)
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084EAFAC2CA3FFCE9-high Faith In Action (Grades 10-12)https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084EAFAC2CA3FFCE9-faith
CYM program calendar for 2023-2024
CYM Committee Members:
Desiree Holian-Borgnis, Chair
Michelle Spadaccini
Paula Baker
Heather Alexson
Sudha Sevins
Committee email: uusecym@uuse.org
Angela Attardo, CYM Program Assistant
With Love and Gratitude,
Emmy Galbraith
Cell: (860)576-7889
Director of Children and Youth Ministry's Monthly Column for May
A Children and Youth Ministry Message from Emmy Galbraith, DCYM
Is pluralism a difficult concept to explain to children? I see it as giving a name to something they already experience and don't know what to call it. Just like the advances of modern society, through which we think we've gained a better handle on the world. Adulthood can deceive us through the promise of knowledge gained. But while education is valuable, it steps away from the inherent wisdom of the universe. The day a baby is born, that baby holds infinite wisdom. No one has taught them a thing, but they know how to cry out and ask for exactly everything they know they need. Such wisdom. And then everything that is taught, steps away from that birth day wisdom. On the other hand, I also take comfort in knowing that if I live to be 100 years old, I will have something new to learn every day. Infinite things in fact. Children know this. Their excitement to learn is proof. Pluralism. We give a name to talk with them about what they already know.
For talking with children, UU curriculum Soul Matters suggests: “You can think about pluralism as a fancy word for ‘many’ or ‘lots.’ Our UU Faith believes that diversity of thought, ideas, people, cultures, and beliefs is a gift. And not only that diversity is good but also that having many different beliefs and views helps us understand things better. Or to put it another way, our faith tells us that we need everyone’s different ideas and perspectives and background to perceive the whole!”
Folks discussing pluralism within the Unitarian Universalist Association have shared these ideas about this sacred UU value: "Pluralism is more than diversity. While diversity is good, it does not say anything about how diverse people interact. We can be diverse and segregated or diverse and fighting. Pluralism is when diversity is acknowledged and engaged toward positive ends by the diverse people.
We celebrate that we are all sacred beings, diverse in culture, experience, and theology. We covenant to learn from one another in our free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We embrace our differences and commonalities with Love, curiosity, and respect.”
I delight in preparing to talk with the children this May about Pluralism. I’ll be sure to share with you what they teach me.