Halloween Sunday

It was technically my Sunday off.  As the Director of Religious Education at the Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society, I am allowed one Sunday off each month to free up some additional time to be used toward various trainings and workshops as they occur throughout the year.  But I am also a mom and a member of this congregation and I realized the previous Sunday that I would be here on Halloween: my six-year old son came home that day telling me about the chalice he was working on in his religious education class, and he couldn't wait to go back and finish it the following week.

Halloween morning found us baking chocolate cupcakes at home to bring along for the coffee hour.  I had signed up the "MUUS RE kids" to do coffee back in September, thinking this would be an easy and fun day to participate in that all-important ritual of preparing coffee for after the service.  We loaded up the car with the warm cupcakes, a pot of chili, some cheese, hummos and veggies and were off.

So what treats did Halloween bring us at the meetinghouse on Sunday?  My son joined his classmate in completing their chalices and proudly sharing them with other members of the congregation.  One of the congregation's teenagers, along with the parent volunteer for his class, learned how to work the coffee machine in the kitchen.  In the process of preparing the food together, we heard from this young man about teenage life in Woodbury and what struggles he faces on a daily basis.  As mothers of teens ourselves, we shared with him our families' experiences and gained further insights into the reality of today's young people.  Religious educators come in all shapes and sizes . . .

My hope, with this link to our webpage, is to update parents and others as to the goings-on within the realm of Religious Education at MUUS.  I would like this to be a spot where newcomers can learn more about our program for children and youth, parents (and students) can find out what's been happening in the RE classes on Sunday--and other days of the week--and I can give our community a heads-up regarding upcoming events and activities.  Our Unitarian Universalist faith has much to offer both young and old alike; I look forward to sharing it with you.

Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society