We were all struggling with sleep issues ten days ago: it was the morning of our Annual Religious Education (RE) Sleepover at the meetinghouse and about the only person in chipper spirits early that morning was my seven-year old, who seems to wake up every morning with more than one person's share of energy. The group had put in a full day the day before: duckpin bowling in Waterbury, homemade pizza at the meeting-house for dinner, an evening full of games and ice cream sundaes, followed by a brief worship service and some quiet time before the lights went out for the night. We feasted on eggs and pancakes that Sunday morning, cleaned up and left for a hike at the White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield. It was a cold morning--brisk!--but thankfully, no snow.
When I have described this annual sleepover event to other Directors of Religious Education in the Clara Barton District, they are most often amazed that we include all of the students in our RE program for the overnight. Apparently many other congregations (if they hold such an event) will limit the participants to only the high school crowd or perhaps include the seventh and eighth grade students. As I think back on the history of our sleepover's evolution, it seems that the all-ages inclusion came about due to a characteristic of smaller congregations: a shortage of volunteers. The parents willing to spend the night, initially, had younger children and thus our "inclusive" approach to the RE sleepover was born.
It's an interesting event to be a part of . . . anyone who has spent more than sixteen hours in the company of someone else is bound to see a different side or two of that individual. The sleepover allows us all to be in community with one another in a way that's hard to achieve in the short span of a Sunday morning RE class. We get a chance to see each other at our best and maybe worst (or at least tired!) and still be there in the morning. It's also a chance to just be silly and laugh like crazy. Monica's games have a way of celebrating the various qualities of our students, whether it be one's competitive nature in the obstacle course or another's ability to collaborate with a peer during the egg-drop. Spending time in community with others this way enables us to learn not only a bit more about the friend we sit with on Sunday mornings, but also a little bit more about ourselves.
Six of our older RE students will be sharing some of their insights with the rest of the congregation as we celebrate their Coming of Age on Sunday, April 10. I hope you can join us for this multigenerational service as we embrace these teens during this very important time of their lives.
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Do fish count as more than one pet?
The sanctuary was filled with people, there was a lively buzz of excitement in the air and the inviting smell of lasagna wafted out of the kitchen. The sounds of the drums that were played earlier were still ringing in my ears, and we were in the middle of a heated debate: do fish count as more than one pet? The game we were playing involves filling in various blocks on a sheet of paper, labeling each section with the person's name that fits the description. For example, if someone I met in the room had been to a General Assembly (the national meeting held by the Unitarian Universalist Society each June), I could place their name in the box titled "Been to G.A."
It's a game the teens and tweens of our congregation are familiar with. For each of the middle school and high school rallies we have attended in the past few years. a similar ice-breaking game has been played. It gives the members of the group a chance to get to know one another and to move around the room in a relaxed fashion. It also is a great way to find out some interesting information about the game's participants. Who does speak a foreign language fluently? Who has lived in more than four states? Who is a life-long Unitarian Universalist?
As I drove my children to school on Monday morning, I shared with them the events of last Saturday: the hard work the adults put in at the Visioning Workshop, the delicious food and thought-provoking conversation that was shared at the Stewardship Dinner. And as I related the details of the game mentioned above, I also shared with them how much fun it was to see the adults enjoying themselves as well . . . having as much fun with that particular game as the kids do at their own activities.
Do fish count as more than one pet? In a two-cat/lots of fish household, could I legitimately occupy that space labeled "has more than 3 pets?" It's an important piece of information; I may need it before the Annual RE sleepover March 19.
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
It's a game the teens and tweens of our congregation are familiar with. For each of the middle school and high school rallies we have attended in the past few years. a similar ice-breaking game has been played. It gives the members of the group a chance to get to know one another and to move around the room in a relaxed fashion. It also is a great way to find out some interesting information about the game's participants. Who does speak a foreign language fluently? Who has lived in more than four states? Who is a life-long Unitarian Universalist?
As I drove my children to school on Monday morning, I shared with them the events of last Saturday: the hard work the adults put in at the Visioning Workshop, the delicious food and thought-provoking conversation that was shared at the Stewardship Dinner. And as I related the details of the game mentioned above, I also shared with them how much fun it was to see the adults enjoying themselves as well . . . having as much fun with that particular game as the kids do at their own activities.
Do fish count as more than one pet? In a two-cat/lots of fish household, could I legitimately occupy that space labeled "has more than 3 pets?" It's an important piece of information; I may need it before the Annual RE sleepover March 19.
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Lehigh Green, Webster Green and Shy Cherry
I painted my dining room last week. It was a week-long endeavor: buying supplies the Friday of Martin Luther King weekend, choosing colors and moving furniture out of the room, repairing the window frame and filling in holes, taping the room floor to ceiling to cover the trim and lighting. I spent quite a bit of time at my local hardware store, asking for advice and loading up on more paint each time a snowday seemed imminent in the forecast.
After the initial "weekend warrior" sensation in my shoulder, from maneuvering paint-filled rollers across the ceiling and moving the stepladder, I settled into a groove. Taping and repair work was done during the daytime--around dinner and carpooling--while the more meditative painting was completed in the late evening hours, after my six-year-old son was asleep. It felt a bit like the old "Elves and the Shoemaker" story; he would go to sleep each night seeing the room appear one way, only to wake the next morning to something entirely different. Who came each night and did this work?
Painting a room in this fashion gives one quite a bit of quiet time for thinking, and I found myself reflecting on our congregation's Religious Education program. In many ways, its yearly cycle parallels the changes that were taking place in my dining room. Plans are drawn up, decisions made about the particular details and then the program is set in motion each September. We seek advice from the professionals when we're unsure of which approach to take in certain situations, but we carry a vision in our minds of what we hope the final outcome will look like. Everyone has their own opinion of what it might (and should!) look like in the end, but we ultimately hope for a room--or RE program--in which everyone feels comfortable. It's a place where life happens and milestones are celebrated, stories are shared and learning takes place . . . the people in our lives are welcomed at the table.
Painting the dining room took more patience than I had imagined. Time was involved in a fashion over which I had no control: time for allowing the paint to dry before I could add a second coat, time for one stage of the process to be completed before I could move on to another. It was surprisingly gratifying in the end, to step back with the furniture in place and the lights on, to know that this was something of my doing; this new dining room is what my children will remember when they tell their stories as adults, their stories of what they learned around our dining room table.
The work we do as religious educators (and we are all religious educators) is equally gratifying, and just as far-reaching.
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
After the initial "weekend warrior" sensation in my shoulder, from maneuvering paint-filled rollers across the ceiling and moving the stepladder, I settled into a groove. Taping and repair work was done during the daytime--around dinner and carpooling--while the more meditative painting was completed in the late evening hours, after my six-year-old son was asleep. It felt a bit like the old "Elves and the Shoemaker" story; he would go to sleep each night seeing the room appear one way, only to wake the next morning to something entirely different. Who came each night and did this work?
Painting a room in this fashion gives one quite a bit of quiet time for thinking, and I found myself reflecting on our congregation's Religious Education program. In many ways, its yearly cycle parallels the changes that were taking place in my dining room. Plans are drawn up, decisions made about the particular details and then the program is set in motion each September. We seek advice from the professionals when we're unsure of which approach to take in certain situations, but we carry a vision in our minds of what we hope the final outcome will look like. Everyone has their own opinion of what it might (and should!) look like in the end, but we ultimately hope for a room--or RE program--in which everyone feels comfortable. It's a place where life happens and milestones are celebrated, stories are shared and learning takes place . . . the people in our lives are welcomed at the table.
Painting the dining room took more patience than I had imagined. Time was involved in a fashion over which I had no control: time for allowing the paint to dry before I could add a second coat, time for one stage of the process to be completed before I could move on to another. It was surprisingly gratifying in the end, to step back with the furniture in place and the lights on, to know that this was something of my doing; this new dining room is what my children will remember when they tell their stories as adults, their stories of what they learned around our dining room table.
The work we do as religious educators (and we are all religious educators) is equally gratifying, and just as far-reaching.
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
Saturday, December 25, 2010
A Winter Story
Here's the story I shared at the Vespers service last Thursday night. A peaceful day to you all--
'Twas a cold winter's eve.
They were out in the dark
When a biting cold wind came and took the last spark
From the lantern Pops carried.
The child was alarmed;
How would they return to their home without harm?
Pops turned to the child and smiled,
"Don't fear. We'll just share some stories
On our winter's walk here . . .
Did I tell you the one about a day when I cried,
When I realized your grandma would probably die
And leave me alone here? Now those were some tears . . ."
He took the child's hand and recounted the years:
Tales of hardship, of anger and deepening sorrow,
And feeling--sometimes--of no hope for tomorrow.
He shared other stories, too--
Of acting with courage,
When someone else might just be discouraged.
The child's heart warmed, the moon rose above
And Pops carried on with more tales of love,
Of happiness, laughter, good times that he had seen,
Friendships that sustained him, wild places he'd been;
A faith in mankind to do right by each other,
A hope that one day we'd live together as brothers.
In no time, it seemed, they saw a light shining afar--
A candle in the window at home, like a star
Shining its light through the cold and the dark,
Bringing them home to the warmth of the hearth.
When the child was grown, had become somewhat older
And thought back on that night as the winds became colder,
It wasn't the chill 'twas remembered nor fright,
But the warmth of that evening
And the promise of light.
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
'Twas a cold winter's eve.
They were out in the dark
When a biting cold wind came and took the last spark
From the lantern Pops carried.
The child was alarmed;
How would they return to their home without harm?
Pops turned to the child and smiled,
"Don't fear. We'll just share some stories
On our winter's walk here . . .
Did I tell you the one about a day when I cried,
When I realized your grandma would probably die
And leave me alone here? Now those were some tears . . ."
He took the child's hand and recounted the years:
Tales of hardship, of anger and deepening sorrow,
And feeling--sometimes--of no hope for tomorrow.
He shared other stories, too--
Of acting with courage,
When someone else might just be discouraged.
The child's heart warmed, the moon rose above
And Pops carried on with more tales of love,
Of happiness, laughter, good times that he had seen,
Friendships that sustained him, wild places he'd been;
A faith in mankind to do right by each other,
A hope that one day we'd live together as brothers.
In no time, it seemed, they saw a light shining afar--
A candle in the window at home, like a star
Shining its light through the cold and the dark,
Bringing them home to the warmth of the hearth.
When the child was grown, had become somewhat older
And thought back on that night as the winds became colder,
It wasn't the chill 'twas remembered nor fright,
But the warmth of that evening
And the promise of light.
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
A little night MUUSic
If you're looking for something to do with your family this Friday night, December 3rd, consider joining us at 7:30 p.m. at the Naugatuck Valley Community College for the "Cats, Dogs, and Yule Logs" concert given by the Wind Ensemble of Western Connecticut. The musical group performing that night--the college's wind ensemble that rehearses at our meetinghouse every Tuesday night--will be giving a holiday concert to benefit pets in need. They have invited various animal rescue groups to be present that evening, to answer questions about their organization and the volunteer work they do.
Our congregation is being allowed to use this event as a fundraiser: the profit from any tickets purchased from Mike Ingber ahead of time, as well as the proceeds from a bake sale during intermission, will be donated to the fundraising portion of MUUS's operating budget for the current fiscal year. Please contact Connie Cole Ingber if you are interested in donating baked goods; RE student volunteers are welcome to assist with the bake sale itself.
The concert will take place at the Mainstage Theatre on the college's campus. The street address is 750 Chase Parkway, Waterbury, Connecticut. Hope to see you there!
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
Our congregation is being allowed to use this event as a fundraiser: the profit from any tickets purchased from Mike Ingber ahead of time, as well as the proceeds from a bake sale during intermission, will be donated to the fundraising portion of MUUS's operating budget for the current fiscal year. Please contact Connie Cole Ingber if you are interested in donating baked goods; RE student volunteers are welcome to assist with the bake sale itself.
The concert will take place at the Mainstage Theatre on the college's campus. The street address is 750 Chase Parkway, Waterbury, Connecticut. Hope to see you there!
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Helping Hands
"Do you guys need me to cut out more of these hands, or do you have enough?" The young boy asking the question was a visitor to our congregation; he was standing next to the table in the elementary Religious Education class, scissors in hand. Construction paper hand cut-outs littered the table in a rainbow of colors. The students were in the middle of their lesson for the day: "The Gift of Helping" from the Wonderful Welcome curriculum (see the Tapestry of Faith section at http://www.uua.org/). This lesson talks about how helping one another is an intangible gift we can share with others in our lives--both people we know and people we don't. The students were using the brightly colored hands to make wreaths to bring home, to use as visual reminders of the many different ways they can put their helping hands to work.
I happened to drop in to visit that morning, to sit and listen to the kids' conversation and the lesson's story. The students were obviously enjoying themselves, interacting in an animated fashion with the class teacher and each other. The easy camaraderie and feeling of goodwill in the room was contagious; it stayed with me long after the day's service and into the following week.
That same sense of community and caring was present at the Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society this past Sunday, as Rev. Lloyd led the congregation in celebrating our annual Thanksgiving Service. This was the third year in a row that we've shared our families' special breads--and the stories that go with them--and listened to the lively music of the bluegrass band, Lost Dog. The stories of gratitude shared toward the end of the service got me thinking of all I've been grateful for as the Director of Religious Education here at MUUS:
Here's wishing you many helping hands at your Thanksgiving dinner!
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
I happened to drop in to visit that morning, to sit and listen to the kids' conversation and the lesson's story. The students were obviously enjoying themselves, interacting in an animated fashion with the class teacher and each other. The easy camaraderie and feeling of goodwill in the room was contagious; it stayed with me long after the day's service and into the following week.
That same sense of community and caring was present at the Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society this past Sunday, as Rev. Lloyd led the congregation in celebrating our annual Thanksgiving Service. This was the third year in a row that we've shared our families' special breads--and the stories that go with them--and listened to the lively music of the bluegrass band, Lost Dog. The stories of gratitude shared toward the end of the service got me thinking of all I've been grateful for as the Director of Religious Education here at MUUS:
- a dedicated Religious Education committee, willing to work hard and try new ideas
- a number of inspiring volunteers who lead the many activities and classes our children participate in
- additional volunteers who keep the kids comfortable with generous donations of food, money, and furniture for use in our RE program
- a supportive faith community and minister
- and all the parents who bring their children through our doors, giving them the chance to learn more about Unitarian Universalism. It's a delight to serve such a lively bunch of children and youth.
Here's wishing you many helping hands at your Thanksgiving dinner!
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Been Bad, or Good?
The middle school/high school class at the Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society has been exploring the notions of virtue and sin, good and evil, while working through the curriculum posted by the Unitarian Universalist Association on their website (see "Amazing Grace" under Tapestry of Faith at http://www.uua.org/). After listening to the stories of "Adam and Eve" and "Pandora's Box," one of our female sixth-graders wryly remarked, "It's always the woman's fault."
This past Sunday we discussed the notions of heaven and hell from various viewpoints. Students were in agreement that one quality--such as greed, competition, curiosity--might place one at different points on a continuum of behaviors, depending on its quantity: for example, a small amount of anger could be the necessary impetus to make changes in one's life, but boiling over into an all-out fit of rage would most often be detrimental in almost any situation. The class spent time as a group painting their own interpretations of sin and virtue.
Our youth will have an additional opportunity to explore this topic with the viewing of "Saved!" at Sunday night's session of Popcorn Theology. Watch your email for the details, but have your teen mark the date. These evening gatherings are full of fun and provoking conversation, looking at contemporary films with a Unitarian Universalist lens.
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
This past Sunday we discussed the notions of heaven and hell from various viewpoints. Students were in agreement that one quality--such as greed, competition, curiosity--might place one at different points on a continuum of behaviors, depending on its quantity: for example, a small amount of anger could be the necessary impetus to make changes in one's life, but boiling over into an all-out fit of rage would most often be detrimental in almost any situation. The class spent time as a group painting their own interpretations of sin and virtue.
Our youth will have an additional opportunity to explore this topic with the viewing of "Saved!" at Sunday night's session of Popcorn Theology. Watch your email for the details, but have your teen mark the date. These evening gatherings are full of fun and provoking conversation, looking at contemporary films with a Unitarian Universalist lens.
Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
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