 Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
Back in the Building at Full Capacity! Check your eblast from the office for the registrations to attend service with your family. We'd LOVE to see you! Childcare is provided for children 5 and under Please check HERE for the document for health and safety precautions for Sunday School We ARE continuing online on Zoom for K-5th for now if you are not yet comfortable coming into the building. June 13th - Bridging All Ages service at 10am - K-12 invited into the whole service with parents NO in-person Sunday School at the church YES K-5 Sunday School online at 11am June 20th - Flower All Ages service at 10am - K-12 invited into the whole service with parents NO in-person Sunday School at the church YES K-5 Sunday School online at 11am June 27th - Regular church service at 10am YES in-person Sunday School (ie: Ingathering) at the church (Children attend the first part of service with family then head to Sunday School around 10:15) YES K-5 Sunday School online at 11am July 4th - Regular church service at 10am - K-12 welcome to sit with families NO in-person Sunday School at the church NO K-5 Sunday School online at 11am (none offered because it's a holiday and likely very low attendance) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Upcoming Events for All Ages at the Church - Save the Dates! THIS Sat June 12th - 'Hot Ones' Staff Edition- watch the staff answer questions while eating dabs of hot sauce July 17 (Saturday morning): UCL Congregational Softball Game July 18 (Sunday after church): Mosaic Tile Painting (Fundraiser for Sunday School program) Paint a tile to go on our church walls and become a part of our history! July 22 (Thursday evening): Vespers at Antelope Park Bandshell, with A Street Band August 7 (Saturday morning): UCL Talent Show (All ages can perform!!! Stay tuned for more details, and prepare your talents in the meantime!) August 19 (Thursday evening): Third Thursday at 6300 A Street, with A Street Band August 22 (Sunday afternoon): Lawn Games at 6300 A Street. September 2 (Thursday evening): Tent Revival 2.0 Special Middle and High School Events for June! MANDATORY REGISTRATION HERE!!! June 15th - More Pride month fun and shenanigans! Meet to check-in with one another after a long year, and do some other exciting activities. REMEMBER TO REGISTER WITH LINK ABOVE!!! *Sunday School * Zoom Sunday School at 11am Approximately 30 minute program geared towards K-5, but is open to all ages Sundays at 11am We typically have a chalice lighting, story, guided discussion, and/or activity such as a scavenger hunt or art project to be done at home as part of these lessons. Link: https://zoom.us/j/805185601 Password: unitarian Online classes will continue as long as we have regular attendance. If many people shift to in-person, or don't attend over summer, we will re-evaluate. *Middle and HS * In June, middle and high schoolers are welcome to attend the Ingatherings with our K-5th graders as assistants, or can attend service with parents. We also are holding 2 fun events in June! See above for info. DISCORD for Middle and High School We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app. 'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism. Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun. ***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security. https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f _______________________________________________________________________________________________ *Parent and Guardian Chat:* The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours' Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in) Wednesday July 16th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 Thursday the 24th at 8pm https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Family Open Circle: Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Videos This Week: Chelsea's Story- The Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-5: Soul Matters Theme: Play These materials come to us from the Soul Matters Curriculum team From the Mailbox At Play _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: Play Embodiments of Play Seesaws Across the Border https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/30/us/seesaws-border-wall-us-mexico-trnd/index.html Caine's Arcade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U Playfully Singing on the Way to Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xctzp0dp9uc Putting down work to play in puddles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN-MjUC4f9k Playing with Stop-Motion Animation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf0MkEowQ1w&t=3s Playing with Food and Other Stuff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9hWlxyLcYk Playing with Bubble Wrap and Beauty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeFzpshBwwk Playing with Origami https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ4hDppP_SQ The Joy of Playing with Letters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjAl9NFeSRo George Carlin Playing with Words https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSS_PhR9WWo Playing Fetch https://www.facebook.com/fernando.messias.9279/videos/215177476697669/ Playing with Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW8mF2be0I0&list=RDyW8mF2be0I0&index=2 Playing with Tubes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG0jprCQ6Ak Playful Mouse Houses https://mymodernmet.com/anonymouse-miniature-art-mice-shops/?fbclid=IwAR2Jro0MS6Dysko9OQ2yLaOH6rH7gsoLlRwLix1Wk8d7c6hiKUPpXhWrtpw Playing with Squirrels https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=709319816547866 Seriously Playing with Legos https://www.dwell.com/article/worlds-tallest-lego-tower-9c41ffe1 http://www.shareable.net/blog/lego-bombing-and-the-art-of-infrastructure Yarn Play https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/77154/10-impressive-yarnbombing-projects https://www.topcrochetpatterns.com/blog/the-wonderful-world-of-yarn-bombing
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 Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
Back in the Building at Full Capacity! Sunday School Ingatherings for K-5th graders in person begin this Sunday!!! Check your eblast from the office for the registrations to attend service with your family. We'd LOVE to see you! Childcare is provided for children 5 and under. Middle and high school can join as helpers, or attend service with parents (see below for 2 special events in June) Please check HERE for the document for health and safety precautions for Sunday School We ARE continuing online on Zoom for now if you are not yet comfortable coming into the building. Special Middle and High School Events for June! MANDATORY REGISTRATION FOR THESE 2 EVENTS HERE!!! June 9th and 16th from 6-7:30pm Middle and High School Youth are invited to meet up for socializing and to celebrate Pride month! June 9th - Join the LGBTQA Welcoming Committee for a rainbow decorating party in preparation for Pride Month and the Pride Parade! Regardless of your position on the rainbow, (LGBTQ or Ally) we can all celebrate togetherness. Fabric markers, paint, poster-making materials, yard signs, and a few white bandanas will be provided. Bring anything else you'd like to decorate with rainbows (ie: shirts, hats, shoes, etc). This year, the Unitarian Church will participate in the Pride Parade where 'the people are the rainbow'! Help make our sign, your own sign, or your outfit for Pride, or simply join to meet-up and say hello if rainbows aren't your thing. ALL 6-8th are welcome to join. June 15th - More Pride month fun and shenanigans! Meet to check-in with one another after a long year, and do some other exciting activities. REMEMBER TO REGISTER WITH LINK ABOVE!!! *Sunday School * Zoom Sunday School at 11am Approximately 30 minute program geared towards K-5, but is open to all ages Sundays at 11am We typically have a chalice lighting, story, guided discussion, and/or activity such as a scavenger hunt or art project to be done at home as part of these lessons. Link: https://zoom.us/j/805185601 Password: unitarian Online classes will continue as long as we have regular attendance. If many people shift to in-person, or don't attend over summer, we will re-evaluate. *Middle and HS * Plans are in the works for what will happen this summer - stay tuned. In June, middle and high schoolers are welcome to attend the Ingatherings with our K-5th graders as assistants, or can attend service with parents. We also are holding 2 fun events in June! See above for info. DISCORD for Middle and High School We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app. 'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism. Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun. ***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security. https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f _______________________________________________________________________________________________ *Parent and Guardian Chat:* The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours' Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in) Thursday the 10th at 8pm https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 Wednesday July 16th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Family Open Circle: Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Videos This Week: Chelsea's Story- Four Funny Potatoes https://youtu.be/VfEJuIQvR1A _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-5: Soul Matters Theme: Play These materials come to us from the Soul Matters Curriculum team At the Table Around the Neighborhood _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: Play Wise Words Let us arrive as children to this huge playground – the universe. Roger Bourland In play we move below the level of the serious, as the child does; but we can also move above it-- in the realm of the beautiful and the sacred. Johan Huizinga If I get to pick what I want to do, then it's play... if someone else tells me that I have to do it, then it's work. Patricia Nourot They are enlightened who join in this play knowing it as play, for people suffer only because they take as serious what the gods made for fun. Alan Watts In rare moments of deep play, we can lay aside our sense of self, shed time’s continuum, ignore pain, and sit quietly in the absolute present, watching the world’s ordinary miracles. No mind or heart hobbles. No analyzing or explaining. No questing for logic. No promises. No goals. No relationships. No worry. One is completely open to whatever drama may unfold. Diane Ackerman To play is to listen to the imperative inner force that wants to take form and be acted out without reason. It is the joyful, spontaneous expression of oneself. Michelle Cassou and Stewart Cubley You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. anonymous We don’t stop playing because we grow old, but rather we grow old because we stop playing. Karl Groos To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it! Charlie Chaplin It is interesting that Hindus, when they speak of the creation of the universe, do not call it the work of God, they call it the play of God, the Vishnu-lila, lila meaning "play." And they look upon the whole manifestation of all the universes as a play, as a sport, as a kind of dance. Alan Watts I realized that the way of play was a part of all religions. St. Paul proclaimed himself a 'fool for Christ.' Jews honor the Sabbath, that time to stop working and to take pleasure in life. Hindus say that the universe was created as 'lila,' divine play. (After all, the Omnipresent Eternal One needed something to do.) Muslim Sufis teach through jokes about Mulla Nasruddin, a laughable sage/fool. Native Americans celebrate bawdy trickster-figures. (Try attending a Cherokee "Booger Event.") Buddhists practice meditative games of breathing, attention, and joyful presence. Zen teachers poke fun at dogma, as in master Feng's pronouncement: 'The Buddha is a bullheaded jail keeper, and the Patriarchs are horse-faced old maids!' It seemed the whole world was playing with Spirit in a thousand delightful ways. Drew Leder The world of play favors exuberance, license, abandon. [In it,] selves can be revised. Diane Ackerman Time is a game played beautifully by children. Heraclitus Don’t play the saxophone. Let it play you. Charlie Parker The children sat in a circle around him & he said, I don’t believe in life anymore & no one said anything for a while because he was older than they were & maybe knew something they didn’t, but then someone said, let’s play a game & someone said, Spy & someone else said, Chase & soon there was no one there but the man sitting alone. StoryPeople Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature. Tom Robbins I count that day lost when I am not moved to laughter or tears, but even more if I have not played. George Sheehan I tell you; we are here on Earth to fart around and don’t let anybody tell you different. Kurt Vonnegut Life is for sure the greatest game that you’ll ever play. Steven Redhead --  Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
PLEASE contact me as soon as possible if you are willing to teach or assist or be a floater for Sunday School this summer! If we don't have volunteers - we can't have a program! If we have many people step in to do even just 2-3 times this summer, it would make a huge difference! This isn't just your USUAL plea for volunteers. We genuinely want our children and youth to re-connect, but in order to do so we need people to SHOW UP for them! At this point, we are bordering on keeping just online Sunday School if we don't have people willing to volunteer in-person. Don't think, "Someone else will do it, so I don't have to..." Just a handful of times would make a HUGE difference and allow us to have a program. No complicated curriculum and heavy books this time around - our plan is so simple, easy, and FUN! Email me today for more information. Back in the Building! We are still asking you to please REGISTER for church. This way we can do contact tracing for Covid if issues arrive. This week we are at 50% capacity, and then in June we move to 100% capacity. Check your eblast from the office for the registrations. Childcare is provided for children 5 and under Older children are invited to join in the service Starting in June - IF we have enough volunteers - we will offer Sunday School for K-5th grade Please check HERE for the document for health and safety precautions for Sunday School _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Special Middle and High School Events for June! Save the dates June 9th and 16th from 6-7:30pm Middle and High School Youth are invited to meet up for socializing and to celebrate Pride month! June 9th - Join the LGBTQA Welcoming Committee for a rainbow decorating party in preparation for Pride Month and the Pride Parade! Regardless of your position on the rainbow, (LGBTQ or Ally) we can all celebrate togetherness. Fabric markers, poster-making materials, and a few white bandanas will be provided. Bring anything else you'd like to decorate with rainbows (ie: shirts, hats, shoes, etc). This year, the Unitarian Church will participate in the Pride Parade where 'the people are the rainbow'! Help make our sign, your own sign, or your outfit for Pride, or simply join to meet-up and say hello if rainbows aren't your thing. June 15th - More Pride month fun and shenanigans! Meet to check-in with one another after a long year, and do some other exciting activities led by Abby Lemburg. Look for a required registration coming soon in parent/guardian emails from me in your emails *Sunday School * Zoom Sunday School at 11am Approximately 30 minute program geared towards K-5, but is open to all ages Sundays at 11am We typically have a chalice lighting, story, guided discussion, and/or activity such as a scavenger hunt or art project to be done at home as part of these lessons. Link: https://zoom.us/j/805185601 Password: unitarian Online classes will continue as long as we have regular attendance. If many people shift to in-person, or don't attend over summer, we will re-evaluate. *Middle and HS * Plans are in the works for what will happen this summer - stay tuned. For May, middle and high schoolers are invited into our service in-person with parents and guardians. In June, middle and high schoolers are welcome to attend the Ingatherings with our K-5th graders as assistants, or can attend service with parents. DISCORD for Middle and High School We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app. 'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism. Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun. ***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security. https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f _______________________________________________________________________________________________ *Parent and Guardian Chat:* The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours' Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in) Wednesday July 2nd at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 Thursday the 10th at 8pm https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Family Open Circle: Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Videos This Week: Chelsea's Story- Anansi and the Box of Stories _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-5: Soul Matters Theme: Story These materials come to us from the Soul Matters Curriculum team On the Porch Extra Mile _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: Story Articles & Reflections How Will History Books Remember the 2010s? https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2019/12/27/how-will-history-books-remember-the-2010s-089796 Exploring how the story of our time will be told... The Top 10 Stories that Shaped the World https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180521-the-top-10-stories-that-shaped-the-world 5 things people still get wrong about slavery: debunking slavery’s greatest myths. https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/22/20812883/1619-slavery-project-anniversary A Story Inherited, Jabari S. Jones Full piece found at https://www.uua.org/worship/words/reflection/story-inherited “Not belonging here” is a story I have inherited, an American inheritance. I was born and raised here, yet to some I am and always will be from “somewhere else.”… The Myth of the Absent Black Father, Teddy Burrage https://blackgirlinmaine.com/parenting/the-myth-of-the-absent-black-father/ Debunking the Myth of the Middle Class https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/debunking-the-myth-of-the-middle-class/ notes from BALLE talk, Adrienne Maree Brown http://adriennemareebrown.net/tag/narrative/ Butchering the Mythic West: Setting the story straight about America’s frontier, John Freeman https://www.altaonline.com/books/fiction/a34839129/john-freeman-butchering-the-mythic-west/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits On Neil Gaiman & Why Scary Stories Appeal to Us, brainpickings https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/03/20/neil-gaiman-ghost-stories/  Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
NO Zoom Sunday School this Sunday! Instead - the Board will be holding the Congregational Meeting at 11am. It would be great to see you all there! Watch your emails from the church office for the link. May 23rd and 30th - Church service in-person and live-streaming. Children are welcome to sit in the sanctuary with their parents. Childcare for age 5 and under. Watch for registration link online. Zoom Sunday School will continue at 11am. We'll begin Sunday School in June IF we have volunteers. PLEASE contact me as soon as possible if you are willing to teach or assist or be a floater for Sunday School this summer! If we don't have volunteers - we can't have a program! Plans for Re-Entry Into the Church Building Are Underway Check out our newsletter for more information https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/newsletter.html *Sunday School * NO Zoom Sunday School this Sunday *Middle and HS * We are joining up with the Omaha youth groups - Wednesdays at 7pm Please email me for more information DISCORD for Middle and High School We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app. 'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism. Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun. ***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security. https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f ______________________________________________________________________________________________ *Parent and Guardian Chat:* The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours' Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in) Thursday the 13th at 8pm https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 Wednesday the 19th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Family Open Circle: Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Videos This Week: Chelsea's Story- Tale of Two Beasts (didn't upload last week - so here it is) Red - A Crayon's Story _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-5: Soul Matters Theme: Story These materials come to us from the Soul Matters Curriculum team From the Mailbox At Play _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: Story Videos & Podcasts The Truth That Sets You Free, Jason Silva: Shots of Awe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ5EbGjTRMo Tell Me A Story: What Narratives Reveal About The Mind From Hidden Brain https://www.npr.org/2020/01/09/794683840/tell-me-a-story-what-narratives-reveal-about-the-mind On stories as magic tricks that expose the peculiar biases of our minds. A Catalyst for Humanity: A Conversation with Isabel Wilkerson Part of Public Health Storytelling: Powerful Narratives for a Healthier World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxVeDIs_XXg The Danger of a Single Story, Chimamanda Adichie https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?nolanguage=en%3Futm_source%3Dtedcomshare Imagining Peace, Pádraig Ó Tuama https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJfBYz6tab8 Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGru_4z1Vc&list=PLcEd0IYai8aRXfTJs4vwQFg4fFCep1iWF&index=1 Rethinking the Story of Human History: Calling today 12,021 rather than 2,021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czgOWmtGVGs  Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
NO Zoom Sunday School this Sunday! Instead - the Board will be holding the Congregational Meeting at 11am. It would be great to see you all there! Watch your emails from the church office for the link. May 23rd and 30th - Church service in-person and live-streaming. Children are welcome to sit in the sanctuary with their parents. Childcare for age 5 and under. Watch for registration link online. Zoom Sunday School will continue at 11am. We'll begin Sunday School in June IF we have volunteers. PLEASE contact me as soon as possible if you are willing to teach or assist or be a floater for Sunday School this summer! If we don't have volunteers - we can't have a program! Plans for Re-Entry Into the Church Building Are Underway Check out our newsletter for more information https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/newsletter.html *Sunday School * NO Zoom Sunday School this Sunday *Middle and HS * We are joining up with the Omaha youth groups - Wednesdays at 7pm Please email me for more information DISCORD for Middle and High School We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app. 'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism. Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun. ***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security. https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f _______________________________________________________________________________________________ *Parent and Guardian Chat:* The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours' Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in) Thursday the 13th at 8pm https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 Wednesday the 19th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Family Open Circle: Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Videos This Week: Chelsea's Story- Tale of Two Beasts (didn't upload last week - so here it is) Red - A Crayon's Story _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-5: Soul Matters Theme: Story These materials come to us from the Soul Matters Curriculum team From the Mailbox At Play _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: Story Videos & Podcasts The Truth That Sets You Free, Jason Silva: Shots of Awe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ5EbGjTRMo Tell Me A Story: What Narratives Reveal About The Mind From Hidden Brain https://www.npr.org/2020/01/09/794683840/tell-me-a-story-what-narratives-reveal-about-the-mind On stories as magic tricks that expose the peculiar biases of our minds. A Catalyst for Humanity: A Conversation with Isabel Wilkerson Part of Public Health Storytelling: Powerful Narratives for a Healthier World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxVeDIs_XXg The Danger of a Single Story, Chimamanda Adichie https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?nolanguage=en%3Futm_source%3Dtedcomshare Imagining Peace, Pádraig Ó Tuama https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJfBYz6tab8 Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGru_4z1Vc&list=PLcEd0IYai8aRXfTJs4vwQFg4fFCep1iWF&index=1 Rethinking the Story of Human History: Calling today 12,021 rather than 2,021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czgOWmtGVGs  Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
We are starting the re-entry process for our building! Watch for emails from the office about registering for services for yourself and your children. We will be first opening at 25% capacity. If you don't get into the in-person services, please continue to watch services or join Sunday School Sunday online, or join us on Thursday evenings for our music-based services. As we consider re-entry into the building - many hands make for light work. If you are willing and able to be a flexible volunteer and roll with the punches as we navigate re-opening, our children and youth really need dedicated (and vaccinated) adults from our church in their lives. I will be looking for: Online teachers for K-5 In-person teachers for K-5 and Middle/HS In-person assistants for K-5 and Middle/HS 'Floaters' who are willing to be SUPER flexible on Sunday mornings and 'go WHERE needed WHEN needed' What will our format look like? Our Middle/HS will continue to meet online until 5/26 and in-person in June if we meet at church with our steps C and D for re-entry plan. Our K-5th group will meet online at 11am if we are in the 'low-yellow' or higher with the Covid dial. K-5th grade in-person will have a focus on UU Principles, with a fun addition of MAKERSPACE items! We'll be outside as much as possible, and when we are inside, we will focus on CONNECTION and CREATION. It will be SO FUN! Check out this article by Religious Educator, Joy Berry, about the benefits of Makerspace https://www.uua.org/re/blog/makerspace-a-new-way-in-religious-education Curious about what safety measures we'll be taking for Sunday School? Mask Policy Policy for Health with children in Sunday School (cleaning protocols,etc) Plans for Re-Entry Into the Church Building Are Underway Check out our newsletter for more information https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/newsletter.html ______________________________________________________________ The church has a new website - and I have a BLOG! All the weekly emails since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 have now been uploaded for easy access. Monthly Soul Matters themes and the summer series on mindfulness can all be seen according to date. You can access the emails on our church's website here: https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/chelseas-blog *Sunday School * Approximately 30 minute program geared towards K-5, but is open to all ages Sundays at 11am We typically have a chalice lighting, story, guided discussion, and/or activity such as a scavenger hunt or art project to be done at home as part of these lessons. Link: https://zoom.us/j/805185601 Password: unitarian *Middle and HS * We are joining up with the Omaha youth groups - Wednesdays at 7pm Please email me for more information DISCORD for Middle and High School We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app. 'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism. Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun. ***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security. https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f _______________________________________________________________________________________________ *Parent and Guardian Chat:* The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours' Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in) Thursday the 13th at 8pm https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 Wednesday the 19th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Family Open Circle: Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Videos This Week: Chelsea's Story- A Tale of 2 Beasts _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-5: Soul Matters Theme: Story These materials come to us from the Soul Matters Curriculum team At the Table Around the Neighborhood _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: Story Wise Words We do not experience a world and afterward make up stories to understand it. Stories teach us what is real, what is true, and what is possible. They are not abstractions from life (though they can be that); they are necessary for our engagement with life. As the Scottish philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre puts it, “I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’” David Loy There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Maya Angelou There are no true stories; we are making up every one of them. Pema Chodron There are only true stories. We are discovering the truth in them. Christina Baldwin Many of us had thought that myth meant “not true,” when in fact the older meaning of myth is precisely “always true”! Richard Rohr When a person dies, a library is burned. Edmund White Stories are told as spells for binding the world together. John Rouse There is a you telling yourself another story of you. Listen to her. Pádraig Ó Tuama Those who tell the stories, rule the world. Proverb, exact source unknown Storytelling is dangerous to those who profit from the way things are because it has the power to show that the way things are is not permanent, not universal, not necessary. Having that real though limited power to put established institutions into question, imaginative literature has also the responsibility of power. The storyteller is the truth-teller… We will not know our own injustice if we cannot imagine justice. We will not be free if we do not imagine freedom. We cannot demand that anyone try to attain justice and freedom who has not had a chance to imagine them as attainable. Ursula K. Le Guin Change the story, change the world. Terry Pratchett Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten. Neil Gaiman & G.K. Chesterton As I considered it, the truth of the matter was that we were living within an old story; and a new story needed to be told, but we didn’t have the language for it. The old story was of victimization, marginalization, oppression, oppressors; and the new story would see all of us evolving, self-expanding, and finding a new place in this wonderful cosmology that is a reality we have not paid attention to. So, in order to get to that point—and here is where my transformation begins—I had to reconsider what I thought about people, because I had hardened my view of others and who they were and what they meant. I had spent my time raising two little African American boys who had to be taught how to survive in society. In doing that, I taught them to view the world in only one way; and I myself was hardened into a position that either you were with me or you were against me or us. Barbara Holmes Look at the legacy of poor Eve’s exile from Eden: the land shows the bruises of an abusive relationship. It’s not just land that is broken, but more importantly, our relationship to land. As Gary Nabhan has written, we can’t meaningfully proceed with healing, with restoration, without “re-story-ation.” In other words, our relationship with land cannot heal until we hear its stories. But who will tell them? In the Western tradition there is a recognized hierarchy of beings, with, of course, the human being on top—the pinnacle of evolution, the darling of Creation—and the plants at the bottom. But in Native ways of knowing, human people are often referred to as “the younger brothers of Creation.” We say that humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn. Robin Wall Kimmerer A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things they have always done. If a war story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil… You can tell it’s a true war story if it embarrasses you. Tim O’Brien, from How To Tell a True War Story We evolve in the midst of narratives meant only for some and ways of being made narrow by fear and power. We must, then, have the courage to listen to the truth of our own lives, to the wisdom that comes from within. enfleshed Your heartache is someone else’s hope. If you make it through, somebody else is going to make it through. Tell your story. Kim McManus Telling, Laura Hershey Full piece at https://www.uua.org/worship/words/reading/telling Those without power risk everything to tell their story and must. Someone, somewhere, will hear your story and decide to fight, to live and refuse compromise... Practice listening beyond, or beneath, opinions. Opinions are only the thinnest surface sitting on top of the deep stories that we all carry. Rev. Rod Richards Only share with people who have earned the right to hear your story... [Ask yourself,] “With whom am I in a relationship that can bear the weight of my story?” Brené Brown We cannot wish old feelings away nor do spiritual exercises for overcoming them until we have woven a healing story that transforms our previous life's experience and gives meaning to whatever pain we have endured. Joan Borysenko  Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
Our first in-person service is planned for May 9th!!! The month of May will include services where children are welcome to attend. We will provide in-person childcare for 5yrs and under. We will stick with Sunday school ONLY ONLINE for May. We will be trying for June 2nd to be our first in-person Sunday School class...AND we still will offer online Sunday school for the foreseeable future. We will be first opening at 25% capacity. Please keep an eye on emails from the office for information about registering for the services. If you don't get into the in-person services, please continue to watch Sunday online, or join us on Thursday evenings for our music-based services. As we consider re-entry into the building - many hands make for light work. If you are willing and able to be a flexible volunteer and roll with the punches as we navigate re-opening, our children and youth really need dedicated (and vaccinated) adults from our church in their lives. I will be looking for: Online teachers for K-5 and Middle/HS In-person teachers for K-5 and Middle/HS In-person assistants for K-5 and Middle/HS 'Floaters' who are willing to be SUPER flexible on Sunday mornings and 'go WHERE needed WHEN needed' Please contact me for more information - we will have a training for volunteers THIS Saturday May 1st, so the more people we have express interest in volunteering by then, the better! This is the link to register for the training (it is not a commitment to volunteer - just if you are interested and want to learn more about precautions, etc) https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWFTMD98MgFpAPsRcqR54TyfI5tXc5wnos0DbOkalSRwta2Q/viewform What will our format look like? Our Middle/HS will continue to meet online until 5/26 and in-person in June if we meet at church with our steps C and D for re-entry plan. Our K-5th group will meet online at 11am if we are in the 'low-yellow' or higher with the Covid dial. K-5th grade in-person will have a focus on UU Principles, with a fun addition of MAKERSPACE items! We'll be outside as much as possible, and when we are inside, we will focus on CONNECTION and CREATION. It will be SO FUN! Check out this article by Religious Educator, Joy Berry, about the benefits of Makerspace https://www.uua.org/re/blog/makerspace-a-new-way-in-religious-education Plans for Re-Entry Into the Church Building Are Underway Check out our newsletter for more information https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/newsletter.html ______________________________________________________________ The church has a new website - and I have a BLOG! All the weekly emails since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 have now been uploaded for easy access. Monthly Soul Matters themes and the summer series on mindfulness can all be seen according to date. You can access the emails on our church's website here: https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/chelseas-blog *Sunday School * Approximately 30 minute program geared towards K-5, but is open to all ages Sundays at 11am We typically have a chalice lighting, story, guided discussion, and/or activity such as a scavenger hunt or art project to be done at home as part of these lessons. Link: https://zoom.us/j/805185601 Password: unitarian *Middle and HS * We are joining up with the Omaha youth groups - Wednesdays at 7pm Please email me for more information DISCORD for Middle and High School We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app. 'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism. Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun. ***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security. https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f _______________________________________________________________________________________________ *Parent and Guardian Chat:* The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours' Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in) Wednesday the 5th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 Thursday the 13th at 8pm https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Family Open Circle: Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Videos This Week: Chelsea's Story- Drum Dream Girl https://youtu.be/42Jvzm1ziww _______________________________________________________________________________________________ POP! Preschool Curriculum Attached you will find 3 worksheets to accompany the videos for this month's preschool curriculum lesson for APRIL Introduction Video 1 Video 2 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-5: Soul Matters Theme: Becoming These materials come to us from the Soul Matters Curriculum team Family Worship Ritual 1 - On Becoming Family Worship Ritual 2 - On Becoming _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: Becoming Articles & Reflections How Will History Books Remember the 2010s? https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2019/12/27/how-will-history-books-remember-the-2010s-089796 Exploring how the story of our time will be told... The Top 10 Stories that Shaped the World https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180521-the-top-10-stories-that-shaped-the-world 5 things people still get wrong about slavery: debunking slavery’s greatest myths. https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/22/20812883/1619-slavery-project-anniversary A Story Inherited, Jabari S. Jones Full piece found at https://www.uua.org/worship/words/reflection/story-inherited “Not belonging here” is a story I have inherited, an American inheritance. I was born and raised here, yet to some I am and always will be from “somewhere else.”… The Myth of the Absent Black Father, Teddy Burrage https://blackgirlinmaine.com/parenting/the-myth-of-the-absent-black-father/ Debunking the Myth of the Middle Class https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/debunking-the-myth-of-the-middle-class/ notes from BALLE talk, Adrienne Maree Brown http://adriennemareebrown.net/tag/narrative/ Butchering the Mythic West: Setting the story straight about America’s frontier, John Freeman https://www.altaonline.com/books/fiction/a34839129/john-freeman-butchering-the-mythic-west/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits On Neil Gaiman & Why Scary Stories Appeal to Us, brainpickings https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/03/20/neil-gaiman-ghost-stories/  Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
Our first in-person service is planned for May 9th!!! The month of May will include services where children are welcome to attend. We will stick with Sunday school ONLY ONLINE for May. We will be trying for June 2nd to be our first in-person Sunday School class...AND we still will offer online Sunday school for the foreseeable future. We will be first opening at 25% capacity. Please keep an eye on emails from the office for information about registering for the services. If you don't get into the in-person services, please continue to watch Sunday online, or join us on Thursday evenings for our music-based services. As we consider re-entry into the building - many hands make for light work. If you are willing and able to be a flexible volunteer and roll with the punches as we navigate re-opening, our children and youth really need dedicated (and vaccinated) adults from our church in their lives. I will be looking for: Online teachers for K-5 and Middle/HS In-person teachers for K-5 and Middle/HS In-person assistants for K-5 and Middle/HS 'Floaters' who are willing to be SUPER flexible on Sunday mornings and 'go WHERE needed WHEN needed' Please contact me for more information - we will have a training for volunteers on May 1st, so the more people we have express interest in volunteering by then, the better! This is the link to register for the training (it is not a commitment to volunteer - just if you are interested and want to learn more about precautions, etc) https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWFTMD98MgFpAPsRcqR54TyfI5tXc5wnos0DbOkalSRwta2Q/viewform What will our format look like? Our Middle/HS will continue to meet online until 5/26 and in-person in June if we meet at church with our steps C and D for re-entry plan. Our K-5th group will meet online at 11am if we are in the 'low-yellow' or higher with the Covid dial. K-5th grade in-person will have a focus on UU Principles, with a fun addition of MAKERSPACE items! We'll be outside as much as possible, and when we are inside, we will focus on CONNECTION and CREATION. It will be SO FUN! Plans for Re-Entry Into the Church Building Are Underway Check out our newsletter for more information https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/newsletter.html ______________________________________________________________ The church has a new website - and I have a BLOG! All the weekly emails since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 have now been uploaded for easy access. Monthly Soul Matters themes and the summer series on mindfulness can all be seen according to date. You can access the emails on our church's website here: https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/chelseas-blog *Sunday School * Approximately 30 minute program geared towards K-5, but is open to all ages Sundays at 11am We typically have a chalice lighting, story, guided discussion, and/or activity such as a scavenger hunt or art project to be done at home as part of these lessons. Link: https://zoom.us/j/805185601 Password: unitarian *Middle and HS * We are joining up with the Omaha youth groups - Wednesdays at 7pm Please email me for more information DISCORD for Middle and High School We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app. 'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism. Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun. ***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security. https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f _______________________________________________________________________________________________ *Parent and Guardian Chat:* The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours' Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in) Thursday the 29th at 8pm https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 Wednesday the 5th at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Family Open Circle: Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Videos This Week: Chelsea's Story- The Thing Lou Couldn't Do _______________________________________________________________________________________________ POP! Preschool Curriculum Attached you will find 3 worksheets to accompany the videos for this month's preschool curriculum lesson for APRIL Introduction Video 1 Video 2 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-5: Soul Matters Theme: Becoming These materials come to us from the Soul Matters Curriculum team On the Porch The Extra Mile _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: Becoming Videos & Podcasts Why Is an Ordinary Life Not Good Enough Anymore? – Alain De Botton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KDB42qGT-8 On our modern hunger to become extraordinary, admired and “loved” On the not-so-subtle message that becoming “ordinary” is not good enough! What [would you become] If Money Was No Object? - Alan Watts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khOaAHK7efc&feature=emb_logo I'm Adulting - The Holderness Family https://www.facebook.com/TheHoldernessfamily/videos/437551800438068 Related video Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer-prize winning author and staff writer at The Atlantic, on the future of democracy https://www.iheart.com/podcast/962-the-munk-debates-podcast-p-52131924/episode/anne-applebaum-on-the-future-of-75690167/ The Monk Debates: Be it Resolved, the political survival of the Republican Party requires a clear and irrevocable break with Donald Trump and Trumpism. On what’s becoming of politics... https://munkdebates.com/podcast/republican-party Ian Morris, archaeologist and historian, on the past and future of human civilization https://www.iheart.com/podcast/962-the-munk-debates-podcast-p-52131924/episode/ian-morris-on-the-past-and-75505145/  Dear UU Parents and Guardians,
As we consider re-entry into the building - many hands make for light work. If you are willing and able to be a flexible volunteer and roll with the punches as we navigate re-opening, our children and youth really need dedicated (and vaccinated) adults from our church in their lives. I will be looking for: Online teachers for K-5 and Middle/HS In-person teachers for K-5 and Middle/HS In-person assistants for K-5 and Middle/HS 'Floaters' who are willing to be SUPER flexible on Sunday mornings and 'go WHERE needed WHEN needed' Please contact me for more information - we will have a training for volunteers on May 1st, so the more people we have express interest in volunteering by then, the better! What will our format look like? Our Middle/HS will continue to meet online until 5/26 and in-person in June if we meet at church with our steps C and D for re-entry plan. Our K-5th group will meet online at 11am through steps C and D. If we meet in-person, K-5th grade in-person will have a focus on UU Principles for the foreseeable future, with a fun addition of MAKERSPACE items! We'll be outside as much as possible, and when we are inside, we will focus on CONNECTION and CREATION. It will be SO FUN! Also - We are hiring! Substitute teachers for our Preschool/Nursery room. $10/hr must be 16 or older. It'd be a call on Sunday morning or beforehand "Are you free this day?" You say yes or no. We'd LOVE to have adults from the congregation help out who are wanting to make a little extra cash and spend time with our littlest UUs. Please contact me for more info. [email protected] Plans for Re-Entry Into the Church Building Are Underway Check out our newsletter for more information https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/newsletter.html ______________________________________________________________ The church has a new website - and I have a BLOG! All the weekly emails since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 have now been uploaded for easy access. Monthly Soul Matters themes and the summer series on mindfulness can all be seen according to date. You can access the emails on our church's website here: https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/chelseas-blog *Sunday School * Approximately 30 minute program geared towards K-5, but is open to all ages Sundays at 11am We typically have a chalice lighting, story, guided discussion, and/or activity such as a scavenger hunt or art project to be done at home as part of these lessons. Link: https://zoom.us/j/805185601 Password: unitarian *Middle and HS * We are joining up with the Omaha youth groups - Wednesdays at 7pm Both MS/HS meetings can be found at this link: https://zoom.us/my/firstuuomahareligiouseducation DISCORD for Middle and High School We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app. 'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism. Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun. ***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security. https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f ______________________________________________________________________________________________ *Parent and Guardian Chat:* The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours' Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in) Wednesday the 21st at noon Link: https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 Thursday the 29th at 8pm https://zoom.us/j/5036046295 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Family Open Circle: Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Videos This Week: Chelsea's Story- Stellaluna _______________________________________________________________________________________________ POP! Preschool Curriculum Attached you will find 3 worksheets to accompany the videos for this month's preschool curriculum lesson for APRIL Introduction Video 1 Video 2 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-5: Soul Matters Theme: Becoming These materials come to us from the Soul Matters Curriculum team On the Message Board At the Bedside _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: BecomingWhat Inhibits Our Becomi With her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson established herself as a shimmering voice and trusted guide as America reckons with its racist history and struggles to become a country on a new path. Her newest book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, continues to uncover the unacknowledged and insidious structures that divide us and prevent the full becoming of all our citizens. So as your exercise this month, allow Wilkerson’s new work to take you into a deeper understanding of the challenge ahead of all of us. America will never be a “land of true becoming” as long as the undertow of caste remains in place. Here’s her book and other avenues for exploration: ● Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson - Book https://www.amazon.com/Caste-Origins-Discontents-Isabel-Wilkerson/dp/0593230256 ● NY Times Review https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/books/review-caste-isabel-wilkerson-origins-of-our-discontents.html ● PBS Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0HYnQWMwQ ● Interview with Trevor Noah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m49DT8pPe0 ● Discussion with Bryan Stevenson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP0m0jKORwg |
AuthorChelsea Krafka is the Director of Religious Growth for the Unitarian Church of Lincoln. Archives
August 2021
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